Philadelphia Eagles Cleanup Duty: Battle for the Backup TE Position

It is a topic generally not discussed at the water cooler, who will be the backup to tight end superstar Brent Celek, however it is something of high importance for a number of reasons.

For instance, what were to happen if Celek became injured on a freak play and was forced to sit on the sideline for an extended period of time, or even just temporarily?

How about if the man simply just needs to take a break—who is the next best option to line up behind him on the depth chart?

The two leading candidates in training camp are second year man Cornelius Ingram and rookie Clay Harbor.

Cornelius Ingram is an interesting prospect who was the Eagles fifth round draft pick in the 2009 draft. His draft stock dropped significantly after suffering an ACL injury to his left knee his senior year at college.

Prior to that he was considered one of the best tight ends entering the draft who displayed great overall technique, fast for a tight ends, and had extremely soft hands.

Once he showed up to his first camp with the Eagles last year, he immediately began to open eyes catching nearly every ball thrown his way—and started to push Celek for his starting job.

Then he sustained another knee injury, this time to the right knee, and for his second consecutive year, Cornelius watched his team play from the sideline.

Unfortunately so far in this years training camp, Ingram has been somewhat of a let down, crediting a lack of confidence in his knee as the reason for his poor showing. He believes some things have gotten better.

To me, Ingram was the guy that was going to give the Eagles a feared TE duo in the NFL and the red zone woes were an absolute thing of the past, but if he struggles to trust his knee—his NFL career could flash before his very eyes.

In this years draft, the Eagles once again looked to help sure up the tight end position by drafting Clay Harbor in the fourth round out of Missouri State.

He stands at 6'3", 252 lbs according to the Eagles website and if there is one player fans need to watch the progression of—Harbor is the man!

He has been outright phenomenal in training camp, he is running solid routes and is also catching everything his way during his rookie camp. His blocking is also becoming increasingly better since camp started just a week ago.

Beyond that, if you've never listened to an interview of his you should, this kid is extremely smart and very well spoken. He appears eager to get the 2010 season under way and could see ample playing time if he keeps it up.

I believe Harbor will be the second string tight end on the Eagles roster in 2010 for his level of play and work ethic during training camp but also because Ingram has openly admitted he has confidence issues in his leg.

He can obviously work on that but the Eagles need a healthy backup now!

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