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.

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Asomugha, Pro Bowlers, and Jeff Fisher

In a shift of discussion from coaching to players, there has been no talk from the Eagles about roster movement, but we can be sure they will (hopefully) move quickly during the slim window between the Super Bowl (Feb. 7) and the date the current collective bargaining agreement expires (Mar. 4). In that time, the Eagles would be wise to browse this top free agents list to pick up talent ahead of the 2011 NFL Draft. One name on it keeps coming up is the Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. If the Eagles can pick him up, he could complement Asante Samuel in the Eagles' secondary, solidifying the backfield and beefing up the defense for any potential DC candidate. With this consideration, hopefully people will back off of the speculation that the Eagles will move to a 3-4 defense, since the Raiders also run a 4-3 defense, and keeping this system intact would provide a better potential transition. Asomugha has already been passed on by the Colts as a poor fit for a Cover 2 defense.

In offensive news, Michael Vick told reporters in Honolulu that he hopes to be back in Philly next year, a rehash of his statement that being the Eagles' quarterback gives him the best chance to win a Super Bowl. All of this is really just pep talk at the moment, since there is no way the Eagles will get rid of Vick. The organization has been contemplating giving him a franchise tag, though it is good to know that the cornerstone to the Eagles' rebuilding is happy in his position.

DeSean Jackson is also in Hawaii, and was prepping for the Pro Bowl until he tweaked his knee at a practice, later ruled to be a sprain. He refused to talk about his contract today, but has stated he believes that the Eagles will offer him an extension over the offseason. With his production this past year, especially in divisional games against the Redskins and Giants, it would be foolish not to extend his contract past the one year he has left. Jackson's spot in the Pro Bowl will be filled by the Dallas Cowboys' Miles Austin. That's kind of like sacrilege.

Finally, because the DC drama won't die, news recently broke that Jeff Fisher has been let go by the Titans. Because nature won't allow a vacuum or silence on speculations, many have immediately jumped into the conversation with the idea that Fisher will return to Philly to reprise his role as defensive coordinator. Much of the speculation comes from the recent hiring of the Titans' Jim Washburn and the fact that Fisher spent four of his first five coaching years on the Eagles' defensive staff, serving as DC from 1988-1990. However, at the moment it's doubtful that Fisher will be a candidate, having been a head coach since 1994, way back when the Titans were still the Houston Oilers. Smart money (barring an evaporated candidate pool) is on Fisher looking for a head coaching job for 2011, or short of that, I see him taking the Jim Mora route, perhaps taking a commentating job and job hunting for the 2012-2013 season.

Sure to add to the fuel of the rumor fire is the news that former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner is interested in the spot left vacant by the firing of Bill Shuey. Joyner played for the Eagles from 1986-1993 under Buddy Ryan and DC Jeff Fisher.



Long story short, the Eagles have a lot of spots to fill and decisions to make. Unfortunately, the clock is quickly ticking on these decisions.

Tennessee Titans: Breaking News: Fisher Out?

Breaking News out of Nashville, TN:

According to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated.com, Jeff Fisher and the Tennessee Titans will part ways as soon as Friday. Fisher was 142-120 as the Titan's head coach. Out of his 16 seasons as the Titans head coach, Fisher had 6 winning seasons, and 4 divisional championships, along with 1 Super Bowl appearance. The Titans are already without Defensive Cordinator Chuck Cecil and Defensive line coach Jim Washburn.

Fisher's departure could mean that Vince Young will stay in Tennessee, considering that the whole reason of getting rid of Young was to get rid of the tension between the two, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that: "Parting ways with Jeff Fisher does not change the Vince Young situation. Team still plans to trade or release Vince Young."