How Have Philadelphia Eagles Addressed Biggest Weaknesses from 2014?

Given the way some people reacted to the Philadelphia Eagles missing the playoffs in 2014, you would think the team didn't win 10 games. Actually, the Birds weren't bad, and most years, their record would've been good enough to reach the postseason, at which point, technically anything could happen.

Then again, perhaps it wasn't wins and losses or missing the playoffs at all that had fans upset. The Eagles were in the position they were in because there were simply too many glaring weaknesses across their roster. Even had they gotten into the tournament, it would've been difficult to believe they were going anywhere.

With the offseason coming to a close and the NFL barreling toward training camp and the start of a new campaign, the question becomes: Did the Eagles do enough to address those weaknesses? Head coach Chip Kelly overhauled the roster this offseason, but not necessarily in all the areas that needed the most help.

Ultimately, there's only one way to find out if the Eagles' problems were solved, and that's on the football field. However, let's take a closer look at a few of the biggest problem areas and take a stab at whether Kelly did a good enough job of addressing those weaknesses.

Cornerback

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Philadelphia's pass defense finished 32nd and 31st in the NFL the last two seasons, and in all honesty, it had been a mess for far longer. Much of that had to do with the play of the cornerbacks. From Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher, nothing seemed to work.

Asomugha and DRC mercifully are things of the past, while Kelly released Williams and allowed Fletcher to depart as a free agent this offseason. That means another brand-new cornerback tandem, beginning with prized acquisition Byron Maxwell.

Coming over from the Seattle Seahawks, Maxwell is expected to solidify one half of the field. He only has 17 starts in the NFL and is far from an established, elite talent, but he has nice size (6'1", 207 lbs), plays physically and knows how to win at the highest level. Maxwell was a costly free-agent signing, but one the Eagles needed to make.

The other side is open to competition, but there is no shortage of options. Veterans Nolan Carroll and Brandon Boykin are competing for the job, while the Eagles selected three cornerbacks in the draft, including Eric Rowe out of Utah in the second round. For now, Carroll is running with the first-team defense, but Rowe should have every opportunity to win the job.

I'd certainly say Kelly did everything he could in one offseason to fix the cornerback position. Maxwell may not live up to his contract, and there is still some question as to who else will start, but it appears to be a much better situation now than it was the last two years.

Safety

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Of course, safety has been partly responsible for Philadelphia's porous pass defense, as well, and Kelly did next to nothing to address the position in the offseason.

Nate Allen departed in free agency, and while he certainly had his lapses, he was probably closer to a league-average safety than a bad one. The Eagles also pursued defensive back Devin McCourty during the signing period, but he chose to remain with the New England Patriots instead.

That left the Eagles with Earl Wolff, a 2013 fifth-round pick coming off mini-microfracture surgery on his knee, and a collection of young, inexperienced players most NFL fans have probably never heard of. Even Kelly knew this wasn't going to fly, and a rather unexpected change was made.

Among the many moves the Eagles made at cornerback was the signing Walter Thurmond to a free-agent deal. However, after adding three more corners in the draft, suddenly Thurmond's role was in jeopardy. So Kelly did the logical thing, announcing Thurmond was getting a look at safety.

The move makes quite a bit of sense, actually. Thurmond has largely been a nickel cornerback during his NFL career, and the Eagles deploy their safeties in quite a bit of man-to-man coverage against slot receivers. It seems like the transition could be fairly natural.

That being said, it appears the Eagles are relying on a guy who's never played safety before, and one who's only suited up for 27 of the last possible 71 regular-season and playoff games due to injuries and suspension. To say Kelly solidified the position this offseason would be a stretch to say the least.

Offensive Line

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Once again, here's an area that Kelly did next to nothing to address. In fact, Philadelphia cut one player from the offensive line and may be in jeopardy of losing another.

The Eagles released right guard Todd Herremans during the offseason, and while his performance was likely replacement-level, it will cut into the depth, as either Allen Barbre or Matt Tobin will be promoted to starter. The club is also engaged in a standoff with All-Pro left guard Evan Mathis, who has yet to show up for voluntary OTAs and could attempt to force a trade.

Assuming Mathis does show, the Eagles have a fairly solid offensive line, perhaps one of the better groups in the league. Well, provided everyone is healthy, that is, which I'm sorry to say hasn't happened often. Injuries have plagued the unit in two of the past three years, and all five of the projected starters have missed at least four games in a season at some point over that span.

Not only that, but Mathis, Barbre and stud left tackle Jason Peters are all in their 30s, so there's some concern the group could begin to decline any moment now.

Yet the Eagles did nothing but bring in a handful of undrafted free agents. They didn't sign anybody. They didn't take anybody in the draft. Not a thing. They're depending on this aging, injury-prone group and the depth that's struggled when called upon to give them at least one more good year, and it could end in disaster.

Quarterback

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Nick Foles went from a historic 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in 2013 to leading the league in turnovers until his untimely season-ending injury last year. When Mark Sanchez replaced him, the turnovers didn't stop, but the winning did, and the Eagles wound up missing the playoffs after a skid down the stretch.

A case could be made that Foles' struggles were at least in part a result of the issues up front. Regardless, Kelly apparently didn't feel strongly about the signal-caller whom he had amassed a 14-4 record with, trading Foles and draft picks to the St. Louis Rams for Sam Bradford.

Bradford has issues of his own, namely an inability to stay healthy. He's appeared in just seven games over the past two seasons due to consecutive torn ACLs. When he has been in the lineup, Bradford hasn't done very well, posting an 18-30-1 record with a pedestrian 79.3 passer rating for his NFL career.

That being said, there's reason to believe if Bradford can get back on the field, he might be an upgrade. Once the No. 1 overall pick of the draft, Bradford never had any semblance of talent around him in St. Louis. He had nobody to throw the ball to and nobody to protect him, and a steady stream of coaching changes didn't help matters, either.

There's no way to say for sure how the Bradford experiment is going to work out in Philadelphia, but you can't say Kelly didn't address the quarterback position in a big way. Even Kelly himself had to admit to Derrick Gunn for CSN Philadelphia (h/t CSN Philadelphia's Geoff Mosher) that he's unsure whether the move will work, but he explained why he believes it was worth a shot.

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We've got to build it around it, but when you look at all the winning organizations, ... if you want to play with the odds as we want to play, it's got to be with a quarterback situation, and then the only way you're going to get a quarterback is you got to be really not very good so you finish in the top 1-2 in the draft. If we're not very good and we finish with the top 1-2 in the draft, I don't think I'm going to be here, so we better find another way to find a quarterback. And that's what we did with Sam.

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