There are two ways that the Eagles defense can view this past season. One would be through the gaze of the eternal optimist, and believe that they took a step in the right direction in the first half of the season (and they did). The other view is through the gaze of the pessimist, and see all the things wrong that they did and the rankings they ended the season with. Even the most average mind can see that this defense has the potential to be very good, but football has more involved than just projection.
With Chip Kelly’s fast paced offense gone, the defense won’t be mandated to play such a large number of snaps in a game and they will surely have more than 12 game seconds to prepare themselves before they have to come back onto the field during after an offensive 3-and-out. Here are 8 things to takeaway from this season. Some are good. Some aren’t.
- Fletcher Cox is a beast…
There are no questions about this guy, and we kind of already knew he was ridiculously productive. He is an absolute nightmare on the defensive line, and has been playing tremendous football for years now but that isn’t the most important detail. Want to know the scary part about Cox? He is so multi-dimensional that he can play effectively in a 4-3 AND a 3-4 based defense at any technique along the defensive line. He would be the best 3-4 defensive end in the league if it was not for the statistical and physical dominance of J.J. Watt. The problem for Philly now becomes whether or not there will be enough money to pay this guy what he is worth in 2017. By the way, he could easily command a market value of over $65 million in free agency from any team in the league and there will be no shortage of takers for the 25 year old. If Philly can’t pay the bill, they may be down their best player after next season. YIKES! They have another year to figure this out though. We will see what happens. - Vinny’s time has come…
Vinny Curry has been as productive as anyone could have hoped he would be in this defense. He was originally viewed as a miscast 4-3 pass rusher that could not play in a 3-4 base package and he has pleasantly defied everyone’s expectations by producing some high numbers in part time duty. It is believed that Curry will leave in free agency in search of a pay day, and absolutely no one will blame him if he chose to do so. The Eagles will have a tough time figuring out how to pay him the money he deserves considering Cox will be up next in 2017, Brandon Graham just got a new deal last off-season, and Byron Maxwell got a big deal before him. There simply doesn’t seem to be enough money laying around for him to stay. Sorry to say, for Eagles fans, but Vinny will indeed be another talented casualty of NFL business. - The Kiko Alonso Experiment… TBD
It is critical that we be fair to Kiko Alonso this year. He was coming off a major injury, and every defensive coach on the team can probably be quoted about how it is difficult to get your explosiveness back so soon. Typically, the first year back from a tough injury is critical for a player as they become reacclimated to the sheer speed of the game, but this is not a physical task; it is almost exclusively mental. Alonso had to learn to trust his knee again, run with vigor, tackle effectively, and chase players IN HIS MIND before he could efficiently do so on the field. Now that he won’t have to spend the off-season rehabbing, Alonso can focus on film and fine-tune the weaknesses in his game. He will have time next year to prove whether Kelly was completely out of his mind when he traded Lesean McCoy or whether the Eagles could possibly come out of that trade with a young productive alternative to Demeco Ryans or Mychal Kendricks. So for now, hold on to your bust labels, give the guy a chance to show his true potential after a down year. - Inside Linebacker still a position in flux?…
Kiko needs more time to get healthy and trust his knee. Mychal Kendricks took several steps backward from the progress he made last season in this scheme. Demeco Ryans is ANOTHER year older, and Jordan Hicks looks like a stud in the making. A position of strength in the last off-season now looks like a position in transition after the season is over. No one except Hicks played very well during the year, but it is important to consider the fact that Hicks is the only linebacker of these four that had extensive knowledge of what playing in a 3-4 defense is like. It is widely believed that Ryans, Kendricks, and Alonso are miscast in this defense and it does show from time to time but Hicks looked as comfortable as any veteran did during his time on the field. Kelly was originally frowned upon for taking another inside linebacker after trading for Alonzo but taking Hicks in the third round may turn out to be the best of his draft picks from last season. - Brandon Graham fell short of his OWN expectations…
Graham made headlines last off-season when he set a goal for himself of racking up two-sacks per game. He fell very far short of that goal, but he did contribute adequately throughout the season considering the idea that he was replacing a Philadelphia fan-favorite in Trent Cole. Graham posted 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles, which is nothing to sneeze at, but still leaves a lot to be desired for a defense that lacks (and will continue to lack) great play-makers in the secondary going forward. Run defense also fell short of expectations this past season, and although that is not completely Graham’s fault, he was a big part of that front-7. Hopefully, Graham will grow to be just as multi-faceted as Connor Barwin and the real predator position will return to Philadelphia’s defense sooner rather than later. - Marcus Smith… recorded a statistic…
Most Eagles fans gave Smith the label of “bust” last season. Many of those fans were unaware that Smith was actually getting snaps until he recorded a tackle against New Orleans and a half-sack against the Cardinals. Smith still has a long way to go, according to defensive coordinator Billy Davis, but seeing some kind of production on the field is a start. If he can grow to be as serviceable as Brandon Graham was in his duty as a back-up pass rusher behind Trent Cole a few years ago, then we may be talking about a vastly improved pass defense. Needless to say, that is a big “If” and Smith has only taken the first step to a mile long journey. - Byron Maxwell is better than we think but worse than we believed…
It was actually the fault of Eagles fans that Maxwell failed so miserably to live up to the expectations placed upon him during free agency. He was signed to a huge deal, and huge expectations were therefore placed upon him, but they were not the correct expectations. Maxwell was a zone cover corner in Seattle with three All-Pro teammates in the secondary to back him up. Even then, he got picked on quite a bit by opposing teams. His production and his ability to handle the high traffic, thanks to a lack of traffic being thrown toward Richard Sherman, made Kelly believe he could handle himself in this defense as a solid option. However, I believe the coaching staff initially overestimated Maxwell’s ability to play on an island in man-coverage and exposed him as a possible weakness in the secondary. After his strengths and weaknesses were found through self-scouting, he seemed to have much improved performances though. He is indeed being paid like a top flight corner capable of shutting down opposing receivers, but Maxwell is actually the product of a hugely talented secondary in Seattle that made his confidence skyrocket. Byron Maxwell is exactly what he was in Seattle, a great number two option at corner; Nothing more and nothing less. The Eagles gave him the money so they are going to have to make things work for now because they are certainly better with Maxwell than they are without him. - Improved secondary play, but another last place finish…
The Eagles secondary actually improved from the “Cary Williams and Brandon Fletcher” days during the first half of the season, and then completely fell apart during the second half. Tackling became a team issue for the fifth year in a row (spanning Reid’s last years and Kelly’s tenure) and the team’s run defense lost composure as well, which was a defensive strength last season. Eric Rowe is a talented young piece to add to the mix for the future but he has a lot of development and learning to do. Nolan Carroll played well before his injury, but he may be leaving this off-season in search of greener pastures, and a nice pay day from another corner-needy team. The Eagles do not seem to have the money to keep him in town either. Walter Thurmond III also played very impressively during a year he switched from corner to the Eagles version of a hybrid safety. Unfortunately, Thurmond does not expect to return due to the Eagles lack of cap space, so Eagles fans may be in store for another year of weak safety play opposite Malcolm Jenkins in the near future (Jenkins was also deserving of a Pro Bowl berth this past season but was overlooked in this defense by voters, as usual). Dark days are ahead for this group but young guys like Ed Reynolds, Denzel Rice, JaCorey Shephard, and Eric Rowe will look to make those days as bright as possible.
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