Who needs to go? - Defense

[PhillyPhreak54]

Exactly.

Give him some good OLBs and keep blockers off of him and he's fine. He's a numbers to numbers player. That is his effective area. Start getting him outside the numbers and he's out of his comfort zone.

so basically they need to run a 4-4-3 defense. and make sure no one else touches trotter, and on top of that, be sure that he has a clear as day path to the ball carrier in order to make the play.

that, my friends, is the very definition of fearsome middle linebacker. 

No, way to miss the point though. You hear many players and DCs talk about funneling the run back inside to the MLB. Trot can make plays but he can't (nor can any LB) when he has blockers taking him out because the DL gets run over.

[General_Failure]

Meanwhile, he's still going to be awful doing everything else. The one thing he can do, any decent MLB should be able to do.

[ice grillin you]

This thing is a clusterfarg. It has to get fixed from the front first

how tho

the two quality lineman they do have are in their 30's and the young guys they have are horrible...i mean i want a big run stuffing DT as much as anyone but a) do you really think andy is gonna go out and get one b) would that magically make everyone else better

i think there is a lot of delusion with eagles fans that if they imporve position A then positons B thru D will all of sudden be good players...the problem is much deeper than the defensive philosophy of having smallish palyers...it goes to the core of the PP dept...andy and co have been horrible at identifying quality defensive players

since the success of the 02 draft in getting their starting corners its gone like this...

mcdougle - titantic bust and traded up to get him

jamal green - garbage

matt ware - everyone knew he had no position coming out of college still took him - garbage

jr reed - good kick returner but couldnt play defense

dexter wynn - bad kick returner and couldnt play defense

patterson - bleh

mccoy - wtf?

considine - special teamer

killa cole - very nice get

key marshall - worthless

- holla atcha boy!

bunkley - cant get on the field

gocong - lololol

gaither and ramsey - have the potential to be good late round picks

theres the last four years of defensive drafts....atrocious is being to kind....to me this is a tragic inability to indentify and get quality players...therefore its not enough to say just go out and get a big run stuffing tackle and all will be well....because they still have to go get a big run stuffing tackle that can actually play and to ask these guys to do that is asking a whole lot imo

[Wingspan]

both jamal green and jr reed had injuries that kept them from ever being effective again lolololololololoololololololol

[PhillyPhreak54]

This thing is a clusterfarg. It has to get fixed from the front first

how tho

the two quality lineman they do have are in their 30's and the young guys they have are horrible...i mean i want a big run stuffing DT as much as anyone but a) do you really think andy is gonna go out and get one b) would that magically make everyone else better

i think there is a lot of delusion with eagles fans that if they imporve position A then positons B thru D will all of sudden be good players...the problem is much deeper than the defensive philosophy of having smallish palyers...it goes to the core of the PP dept...andy and co have been horrible at identifying quality defensive players

The biggest thing is going to be a change in how they look at and evaluate the DT position. Specifically the spot that Darwin Walker plays. He is useless. He showed signs of being a bum last season but this year e has confirmed that he deserves bum status.

Patterson can play. He is quick off the ball and can make TFL's and win battles against OL because of his leverage. Bunkley has to be the player they thought he would be.

That leaves 3 DT positions open. Well two because Ramsey has shown some flashes. He can also play DE. And maybe moving him to DE full time would help the run because he'd be a bigger DE.

Free agent fat body DT
Patterson
Bunkley
Ramsey
free agent / draft pick fat body DT

The free agent would have to be a guy who demands attention from the C and LG. Leave Patterson singled up on the RG. If you have a big body who takes up two blockers it also helps the MLB.

This would also take a change in JJ's philosophy on DTs. Place an emphasis on size over speed.

[Wingspan]

JJ should in no way be back as defensive coordinator next season.

[SD_Eagle5]

Jon Ritchie was on WIP a few minutes ago and he pretty much said the same thing. He said that offenses fear Trotter. He's big and can move and bust into the line and stop the run. He said he hated going up against Emmons and guys like Trotter because they were big and knew how to play. He said these other guys are too small and they rely on speed too much versus brute strength. He also said that the loss of Kearse affects the run defense because he is a very underrated run defender.

I heard that too and thought he made some great points. When asked about last years draft: "They drafted a skier"

Where I feel our D-line is hurting is shooting the gaps. These guys used to be so quick off the ball that by the time the O-line fired off the D-line was already through the gap. Even if they didn't make it all the way through they would gain a certain amount of leverage since the larger O-line couldn't square up and knock them on their ass. Now it seems as if they're slow off the ball and when they fire out the O-line is just dominating them. Isn't that why JJ likes a quick small D-line? Because they can fire through a gap. These guys are playing the O-line straight up and not shooting the gaps and when you don't have a size advantage it does no good.

[Eaglez]

Saying what the Eagles would do and what they should do are two totally different things. I don't think anyone is delusional about what Reid and Co. will do, but at least one can make comments about the pressing needs of this team.

When I watched the Colts game on Sunday it reminded me of Tecmo Super Bowl. You know how you wrestle with every player and can never get off the blocks without a really good fight? And there were clear lanes for running back or WRs to run through? That's what the Eagles run D reminded me of. On a few runs it still seemed like the D-line was engaged with the OL when Addai was running past them for 10-15 yards. I wanted to scream at the screen, "hit the A button faster!!"

So, getting off blocks, filling gaps, and containing the off-tackle running plays are all things that this defense is horrible at doing. Then, when they do try to contain the outside, they are too stretched out and they get gashed up the middle. The Eagles NEED OLBs who can move from side to side and can shed blockers, the Eagles NEED a run stuffing DT who can occupy a C and  G, and then I think the run defense will see marked improvements.  Moreover, the DEs will have a great opportunity to improve in the pass rush because they might be singled up a lot more on the outside.

Probably won't happen, though.

[troyhstewart]

Walker, McDougal, Dhani Jones should all get their walking papers either immediately after the season if not before.

There are several others like McCoy and Patterson who deserve a demotion, but would be valuable backups.

[RezRob]

alot of people myself included thought the D-line was going to be great this year. Bunkley seemed like a monster, who would fit in nicely. Kearse got hurt, w/o him Howard disappeared. Our Lbs can't expected to engage OLmen on a regular basis. I think our Lb and Secondary are worn out and beaten up because the front 4 blow. Kearse overrated and hurt,Mcdougal bust, Howard bust, Cole undersized. I could jump on the 3-4 bandwagon of course that means total overhaul.

[ice grillin you]

our Lb are worn out and beaten up because the front 4 blow


the linebackers are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than the dline

and the dline isnt very good

[General_Failure]

Kearse is overrated, but without him the line completely disappeared. Gotcha.

[Munson]

Kearse is overrated, but without him the line completely disappeared. Gotcha.

I tried explaining this to him already, he won't ahve any of it.


Kearse is/was a monster and without him the d-line has not only turned to shtein in the running game, but in the pass-rush as well.

[rjs246]

Kearse IS overrated. The money he got and the hype on him would have made you think that we was the defensive savior, which he is not.

BUT, he is a player that has to be accounted for because of his ability to get to the QB and that's where his contributions were largest. He was frequently double teamed or at least had the attention of a second player freeing up space for others to get into the backfield. He was overrated. Anyone with that much hype is bound to be overrated, but he made the rest of the line stronger. It really isn't that complicated.

Too bad he's over-paid and injury prone as all hell.

[Munson]

Kearse IS overrated. The money he got and the hype on him would have made you think that we was the defensive savior, which he is not.

BUT, he is a player that has to be accounted for because of his ability to get to the QB and that's where his contributions were largest. He was frequently double teamed or at least had the attention of a second player freeing up space for others to get into the backfield. He was overrated. Anyone with that much hype is bound to be overrated, but he made the rest of the line stronger. It really isn't that complicated.

Too bad he's over-paid and injury prone as all hell.

Over payed? Yeah...Overrated? Probably...but he was still a great player. Any guy who's good enough to make all the other guys around him better/look better is a great player. It's been tough watching Trent Cole and Howard eat all the double teams since Kearse went down.

I think we all underestimated how good it was having Kearse and Cole at the DE's and  Howard at DT on 3rd downs. Having any one of those guys locked up 1-1 was such an advantage for this defense.

Ugh, injuries.