Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Is two better than three?
Stupid question, but bear with me ... The more I think about it, the more I worry about the Eagles decision to let Duce go to the Steelers via free agency.
The Eagles backfield was extremely dangerous in 2003 with Westbrook, Duce and Buckhalter sharing duties. The three accounted for a total of twenty-seven rushing and receiving touchdowns (not including Westbrook's special team TDs). The trio had well over 1,600 yards rushing and 800 receiving yards, and touched the ball over four hundred times in 2003. Offensively, with the receiving corps disappearing for entire games, the running backs were left to carry the Eagles load with Donovan.
Now the Eagles are going with a Westbrook/Buckhalter/Player-To-Be-Named-Later attack. I doubt that they'll have the success. Mind you, the Eagles backfield won't need to be as explosive as it was in 2003. Terrell Owens is going to open up big gaps in opposing defenses by drawing safety attention, which the Eagles think (or hope) will open the field for Pinkston, Mitchell and L.J. Smith to make some big gains.
The problem that I have is that the Eagles are a lot weaker in the backfield than they think with Duce gone.
Let's start with Westbrook: he had an electrifying 2003 season. His touchdown return against the Giants saved the Eagles season. He more than replaced Brian Mitchell as the punt returner, he added an explosiveness to the Eagles backfield that served as a potent ying to Staley and Buckhalter's yang. Who knows how the NFC title game would have played out had Westbrook been on the field breaking a big play early or running a kick back. Westbrook led the Eagles in rushing, and finished second with thirty-seven catches.
The problem with Westbrook is his durability. Can he play the whole sixteen games of the season? He's listed as being twenty pounds lighter than Staley and twenty-two lighter than Buckhalter. He missed both playoff games.
Buckhalter is a different story: he is basically the same back as Duce, except he's about three years younger than Duce and (hopefully) has more gas in his tank. The Eagles intended Buckhalter to replace Duce in 2003, but Westbrook's emergence caused the Eagles to rework those plans. Now with Duce gone, most of his 96 carries in 2003 will get added onto Buckhalter's 126. I don't doubt Buckhalter's tools, or his talent, but I do have three concerns:
-His pass catching. The lack of receptions by Buckhalter in his two full NFL seasons are glaring gaps on his resume:
2001: 10 catches / 130 yards
2003: 13 catches / 133 yards
Pass-catching in the West Coast offense has always been Duce's strong-suit. Consider his last three full years:
2001: 63 catches / 626 yards
2002: 51 catches / 541 yards
2003: 36 catches / 382 yards
Even in his injury-capped 2000 (when he only played five games), Duce had more catches (25) than Buckhalter has had in his career. That's a stat that should make Eagles fans sit up and take notice, because a key to the West Coast offense is a back's ability to take high-percentage, blitz-avoiding screen passes and parlay them into modest gains. Roger Craig made a career out of catching screen passes from Joe Montana, which opened the field for Jerry Rice, John Taylor, and Brent Jones. Will the drop-off in backfield receiving hurt the Eagles ability to spread the field?
-His blocking. Admittedly, I haven't gone back to the tape to take a careful look at Correll's pass-blocking, but Duce's toughness and skill was always one of his biggest assets as a player. He was skilled at making sure blitzing linebackers and safeties stayed away from Donovan in the pocket. McNabb's comfort in the pocket is of vital importance to the Eagles, especially in light of the way that a quick team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers disrupted the Eagles rhythm in 2003.
-Duce's leadership. This is the biggest intangible. Duce was a real leader, a tough, take-charge type with whipped teamates into shape and always came to play in the trenches. I don't see Buckhalter or Westbrook as the leadership types.
So those are my concerns. I think that picking up a back, after getting help at cornerback for Sheldon Brown and Lito Shepard, is a must for the draft. The Eagles need a tough, Duce-type back skilled at pass-catching.
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The Eagles backfield was extremely dangerous in 2003 with Westbrook, Duce and Buckhalter sharing duties. The three accounted for a total of twenty-seven rushing and receiving touchdowns (not including Westbrook's special team TDs). The trio had well over 1,600 yards rushing and 800 receiving yards, and touched the ball over four hundred times in 2003. Offensively, with the receiving corps disappearing for entire games, the running backs were left to carry the Eagles load with Donovan.
Now the Eagles are going with a Westbrook/Buckhalter/Player-To-Be-Named-Later attack. I doubt that they'll have the success. Mind you, the Eagles backfield won't need to be as explosive as it was in 2003. Terrell Owens is going to open up big gaps in opposing defenses by drawing safety attention, which the Eagles think (or hope) will open the field for Pinkston, Mitchell and L.J. Smith to make some big gains.
The problem that I have is that the Eagles are a lot weaker in the backfield than they think with Duce gone.
Let's start with Westbrook: he had an electrifying 2003 season. His touchdown return against the Giants saved the Eagles season. He more than replaced Brian Mitchell as the punt returner, he added an explosiveness to the Eagles backfield that served as a potent ying to Staley and Buckhalter's yang. Who knows how the NFC title game would have played out had Westbrook been on the field breaking a big play early or running a kick back. Westbrook led the Eagles in rushing, and finished second with thirty-seven catches.
The problem with Westbrook is his durability. Can he play the whole sixteen games of the season? He's listed as being twenty pounds lighter than Staley and twenty-two lighter than Buckhalter. He missed both playoff games.
Buckhalter is a different story: he is basically the same back as Duce, except he's about three years younger than Duce and (hopefully) has more gas in his tank. The Eagles intended Buckhalter to replace Duce in 2003, but Westbrook's emergence caused the Eagles to rework those plans. Now with Duce gone, most of his 96 carries in 2003 will get added onto Buckhalter's 126. I don't doubt Buckhalter's tools, or his talent, but I do have three concerns:
-His pass catching. The lack of receptions by Buckhalter in his two full NFL seasons are glaring gaps on his resume:
2001: 10 catches / 130 yards
2003: 13 catches / 133 yards
Pass-catching in the West Coast offense has always been Duce's strong-suit. Consider his last three full years:
2001: 63 catches / 626 yards
2002: 51 catches / 541 yards
2003: 36 catches / 382 yards
Even in his injury-capped 2000 (when he only played five games), Duce had more catches (25) than Buckhalter has had in his career. That's a stat that should make Eagles fans sit up and take notice, because a key to the West Coast offense is a back's ability to take high-percentage, blitz-avoiding screen passes and parlay them into modest gains. Roger Craig made a career out of catching screen passes from Joe Montana, which opened the field for Jerry Rice, John Taylor, and Brent Jones. Will the drop-off in backfield receiving hurt the Eagles ability to spread the field?
-His blocking. Admittedly, I haven't gone back to the tape to take a careful look at Correll's pass-blocking, but Duce's toughness and skill was always one of his biggest assets as a player. He was skilled at making sure blitzing linebackers and safeties stayed away from Donovan in the pocket. McNabb's comfort in the pocket is of vital importance to the Eagles, especially in light of the way that a quick team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers disrupted the Eagles rhythm in 2003.
-Duce's leadership. This is the biggest intangible. Duce was a real leader, a tough, take-charge type with whipped teamates into shape and always came to play in the trenches. I don't see Buckhalter or Westbrook as the leadership types.
So those are my concerns. I think that picking up a back, after getting help at cornerback for Sheldon Brown and Lito Shepard, is a must for the draft. The Eagles need a tough, Duce-type back skilled at pass-catching.
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