Monday, March 22, 2004
So far this off-season the Eagles have lost valuable veterans like Carlos Emmons, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent and Duce Staley. Which player has been the worst loss for the Eagles?
I think most Eagles fans would concentrate on the double defections of Taylor and Vincent, the All Pro corners. With MeShawn now in Dallas and a road game in St. Louis against the Rams in the offing, it seems like the Eagles are vulnerable against the pass now. I'm not so sure of that:
The signing of Jevon Kearse was designed to give Sheldon Brown and Lito Shepard some help by giving the Eagles a formidable pass-rush, something they lacked last year. Hopefully with Kearse crashing the pocket, opposing QBs aren't going to be able to hang in the pocket and deliver a pin-point strike anymore. Plus, remember that both Taylor and Vincent missed big portions of the 2003 season anyway. The Eagles pass defense played fine against some tough teams. It also bears noting that Taylor is entering his ninth season and Vincent his thirteenth. How much gas to they have left in their respective tanks? Maybe not much. True, the Eagles don't appear to have a "shutdown" corner, but then they don't play in a pass-happy division like the AFC West. As long as the Eagles can snare another corner or two in the draft to play in nickel and dime formations, they'll be fine.
Carlos Emmons? He was the Eagles best run-stopper in 2003. Emmons' injury in the 49ers game was probably the most damaging injury the Eagles suffered all year, as shown by Ike Reese's inablity to wrap up the Panthers tailbacks in the NFC title game. However, I think Dhani Jones will replace him well. Jones is younger and faster, but he's also four inches shorter than Emmons and about ten pounds lighter. I have real concerns about the Eagles trending too light in their defensive alignment.
Certainly, I think Emmons loss will be bigger than Taylor and Vincent, but I think the one defection that will hurt the Eagles is losing Duce.
I know that Duce wasn't even the Eagles top rusher in 2003. He actually finished third behind Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook, but Duce is far receiver reciever than the man the Eagles clearly intend to replace him Buckhalter. Duce had 36 catches in 2003 to Buckhalter's 10 (Westbrook had 37 catches). In 2001, the season where Duce and Buckhalter split time in the backfield, Duce had 63 catches to Buckhalter's 13. Losing Duce's versitility is going to hurt: without a good pass-catching threat out of the backfield, the Eagles will lose the ability to stretch the field. Buckhalter needs to prove himself as a receiver, a vital task for a back in the Eagles West Coast offense.
Also, I submit that Duce's character and his leadership were vital to the team during their run of success. Duce did all of the intangibles that don't show up in the stat-sheet: picking up blitzers for Donovan, breaking tackles to turn one and two yard gains into four and five yarders. Remember the tackles Duce in broke in the playoff game against Green Bay to help set up Akers overtime field goal? It is a play like that, which doesn't show up on a statsheet, that shows how important he is. I haven't seen the same kind of fire in the belly from Buckhalter. Brian Westbrook is phenomenally talented, but the "A" running back is going to have to be Buckhalter, who is bigger and more durable than Westbrook. The bottom-line: I'm skeptical that Buckhalter can replace Duce.
.
Goodbye, Duce. Our loss is Pittsburgh's gain, and your departure could be the loss that really hurts the Eagles in '04.
|
I think most Eagles fans would concentrate on the double defections of Taylor and Vincent, the All Pro corners. With MeShawn now in Dallas and a road game in St. Louis against the Rams in the offing, it seems like the Eagles are vulnerable against the pass now. I'm not so sure of that:
The signing of Jevon Kearse was designed to give Sheldon Brown and Lito Shepard some help by giving the Eagles a formidable pass-rush, something they lacked last year. Hopefully with Kearse crashing the pocket, opposing QBs aren't going to be able to hang in the pocket and deliver a pin-point strike anymore. Plus, remember that both Taylor and Vincent missed big portions of the 2003 season anyway. The Eagles pass defense played fine against some tough teams. It also bears noting that Taylor is entering his ninth season and Vincent his thirteenth. How much gas to they have left in their respective tanks? Maybe not much. True, the Eagles don't appear to have a "shutdown" corner, but then they don't play in a pass-happy division like the AFC West. As long as the Eagles can snare another corner or two in the draft to play in nickel and dime formations, they'll be fine.
Carlos Emmons? He was the Eagles best run-stopper in 2003. Emmons' injury in the 49ers game was probably the most damaging injury the Eagles suffered all year, as shown by Ike Reese's inablity to wrap up the Panthers tailbacks in the NFC title game. However, I think Dhani Jones will replace him well. Jones is younger and faster, but he's also four inches shorter than Emmons and about ten pounds lighter. I have real concerns about the Eagles trending too light in their defensive alignment.
Certainly, I think Emmons loss will be bigger than Taylor and Vincent, but I think the one defection that will hurt the Eagles is losing Duce.
I know that Duce wasn't even the Eagles top rusher in 2003. He actually finished third behind Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook, but Duce is far receiver reciever than the man the Eagles clearly intend to replace him Buckhalter. Duce had 36 catches in 2003 to Buckhalter's 10 (Westbrook had 37 catches). In 2001, the season where Duce and Buckhalter split time in the backfield, Duce had 63 catches to Buckhalter's 13. Losing Duce's versitility is going to hurt: without a good pass-catching threat out of the backfield, the Eagles will lose the ability to stretch the field. Buckhalter needs to prove himself as a receiver, a vital task for a back in the Eagles West Coast offense.
Also, I submit that Duce's character and his leadership were vital to the team during their run of success. Duce did all of the intangibles that don't show up in the stat-sheet: picking up blitzers for Donovan, breaking tackles to turn one and two yard gains into four and five yarders. Remember the tackles Duce in broke in the playoff game against Green Bay to help set up Akers overtime field goal? It is a play like that, which doesn't show up on a statsheet, that shows how important he is. I haven't seen the same kind of fire in the belly from Buckhalter. Brian Westbrook is phenomenally talented, but the "A" running back is going to have to be Buckhalter, who is bigger and more durable than Westbrook. The bottom-line: I'm skeptical that Buckhalter can replace Duce.
Goodbye, Duce. Our loss is Pittsburgh's gain, and your departure could be the loss that really hurts the Eagles in '04.
Comments:
Post a Comment
