More Offseason Eagles Defense Analysis

It's been a slow couple of days for the Eagles, and it will likely continue to be until the new CBA is created. Until then, there promises to be a lot of speculation regarding potential moves teams might make when an agreement is finally reached.
One such speculation that continues to thrive is the Eagles' interest in Oakland comeback Nnamdi Asmougha (I'm getting pretty good at spelling his name). Joe Banner's comments on 610 WIP give room for speculation that should the Eagles want to pick up Asmougha, there would be no conflict between his salary and CB Asante Samuel's, a definite good sign for the Eagles'secondary. Giving more room for Asmogha speculation is the announcement that CB Ellis Hobbs will be retiring. Hobbs suffered two neck injuries, with the second being described as "career-ending." Hobbs' departure highlights the ever-present need for an elite CB in the Eagles' secondary to complement Samuel. This would push Dimitri Patterson down in depth, but it would be a good idea to keep him behind Asmougha, since he did have some good games, though these were often overlooked when opposing offenses found ways to get the pass game around him.
One defensive acquisition that won't likely happen is the pick up of the recently released Bob Sanders. After being released by the Colts, there was some talk of the Eagles being interested in the safety, but now team officials are saying they will not try to acquire him, citing his high incident of injuries over the years. This is a smart move, seeing how the Eagles have been affected by injuries over the past eight to nine years. Bringing in a defensive player who's missed about half of the games in his career is not a move this team should be thinking about.
In other offseason news, Eagles safety Nate Allen was honored by his hometown of Fort Meyers, Florida by being named the co-grand marshal of Fort Meyers' Edison Festival of Lights parade. Allen, currently rehabing and training at the NovaCare Complex in Philly after injuries sustained in his 2010 rookie season, was flattered by the invitation and is excited about it. Allen is slated to return to the Eagles in 2011. He was named starting free safety just before the start of the regular season, and performed extremely well until an injury in the second Eagles-Giants game benched him for the remainder of the season, giving Kurt Coleman the starting spot. Allen should be fun to watch next year, and will hopefully be part of a rebuilt and stronger Eagles defensive unit.

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Defensive Considerations for the Eagles

Let me start things off by breathing a sigh of relief. After I published Thursday's post, Twitter was suddenly ablaze with reports that an anonymous league source had said that Andy Reid told all DC candidates (who?!) that the job was closed. Immediately, it morphed into the belief that Jeff Fisher was indeed heading back to Philly. Not true. Thankfully, Les Bowen cleared everything thing up:

So with that out of the way, let's talk about the Eagles' needs. I don't think anyone would disagree that there are issues on defense that need to be addressed ASAP. Cornerback is the top position that needs to be addressed the most. For years, the Eagles had high-quality cornerbacks grounding the secondary, allowing them to make big plays. Now Asante Samuel stands alone, with Dimitri Patterson's performance this season being less-than-stellar. Until Nnamdi Asomugha is picked up by the Eagles or another team, there will be a lot of talk about him. The Eagles could use his speed and ability on the field, and the Eagles could draft a later-round pick to add depth to the position.

Depth would definitely be a good thing to have should the Eagles pick up Al Harris instead of Asomugha. Harris is an excellent CB, but has suffered his share of injuries lately. While this likely won't affect his ability to make plays, it is a concern.


Linebackers are also a concern, as their performance this season was underwhelming. There is hope that Jim Washburn can help fix this problem, but either a standout linebacker needs to be drafted, or there needs to be a pickup on the free agent market, coupled with a later-round linebacker. Carolina's James Anderson could shift Moise Fokou to a backup, and adding Minnesota's Chad Greenway or Kansas City's Tamba Hali would beef up the Eagles' linebacker corps immensely. Another good move would be to bring in Takeo Spikes for a year to help get Jamar Cheney up to elite status.

I'll focus on offense in another post. The biggest offensive assets, Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson, will not be going anywhere if the Eagles want a chance to win the NFC East again and go further in the playoffs. There's a way up, Eagles Nation. Let's hope Big Red, Joe Banner, Jeff Lurie and the rest see it.

Follow on Twitter: @asprice18