The Eagles are looking for versatility in their defensive backfield.¬† They’ve got to find someone to start at the safety position next to Quintin Mikell and Ellis Hobbs or a cornerback who can beat him out will start at the right cornerback position.
They want depth in the secondary and having versatile players will help them achieve that.¬† It’s one of the reasons they had Macho Harris lining up on the corner today and Marlin Jackson lining up at safety.
Rookie second round pick safety Nate Allen is also in the equation.  He along with Harris and Jackson will be given a chance to start either the safety or corneback positions.
All of these players could be considered “tweeners”, which can play both the safety and cornerback positions.¬† Offenses are spreading out defenses with three and four wide receiver formations and forcing all the defensive backs to be able to run with wide receivers.
Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott has acknowledged the fact that offenses are forcing safeties into one-on-one situations with wide receivers.¬† If you’re a safety, you have to be able run with wide outs, so it’s a good thing to have safeties who can cover.
Jackson looked gimpy in the drills today which is understandable since he’s recovering from knee surgery.¬† He played cornerback for the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, but the Birds want to see if he can play the safety position as well.
Harris lined up at cornerback today and did a good job against the inexpereinced receivers that were at the practice.¬† The second-year defensive back wants to play much better than he did a year ago. He wasn’t satisfied with his play and he feels he’ll be able to do it because he knows the defense much better.
When asked if he’d like to start at the cornerback spot, Harris shot back, “Everybody wants to start”.
Is it me, or do we seem to pick up more injured players than most other teams?
It’s you. Do you follow other teams as closely? And how many NFL players have a clean bill of health, not many. They’ve all injured.
Schill, I don’t follow other teams as closely. My belief is based on past Eagles’ teams. I don’t ever recall a coach grabbing so many injured players year after year. It seems the Monate Reagors of the world can find a home in Philly, for at least one year. My feeling is that the team looks to save money by bringing in once-productive or once-promising players who have suffered severe injuries.
drummerwinslow, I agree with you. It seems nearly every player the Eagles pickup is coming off a serious injury. I realize all these players don’t have a clean bill of health but they go after guys who they can get cheap because of a major injury (ACL). Marlin Jackson, Montae Reagor, Cornelius Ingram, Jack Iklawgoau (sp?), Stacey Andrews, etc. Factor that in with current players coming off major injuries (Stewart Bradley, Ellis Hobbs, Jamaal Jackson) and that is a just a ridiculous amount of serious injuries.
Yeah, but that’s true for many teams. I don’t think they do it to get guys on the ‘cheap’. There were very little options out there at DB this offseason. Remember drummer, when you refer to ‘I don’t recall a coach’… I kinda agree there, but Reid has been the Eagles coach for the majority of team history since the inception of Free Agency. There were indeed coaches of the Philadelphia Eagles between when free agency started and Reid, but the team sucked then and the internet was barely around, so fans like you and me didn’t have access to the info about players. I think if you’re only comparing Reid/this FO to others of the Eagles, you have to look at the fact that FA is fairly new, and fans knowing so much is too.
if there are lil options at db y tf do u trade sheldon for towels lmao i hate this fo
I would make a Trade with the Panthers for their disgruntled Starting CB Richard Marshall who wants a long-term deal. Trade DT M Patterson and S Q Demps and they can have him tommorrow…
He is a 4 year Veteran who is in his prime and is 6’0″- 195 lbs who can cover,run and is very physical
Meanwhile the Panthers get a starting DT and back-up Safety that they need for their team…
C’mon Howie, make this happen…
I would make a Trade with the Panthers for their disgruntled Starting CB Richard Marshall who wants a long-term deal. Trade DT M Patterson and S Q Demps and they can have him tommorrow…
He is a 4 year Veteran who is in his prime and is 6’0″- 195 lbs who can cover,run and is very physical
Meanwhile the Panthers get a starting DT and back-up Safety that they need for their team…
C’mon Howie, make this happen…
I would make a Trade with the Panthers for their disgruntled Starting CB Richard Marshall who wants a long-term deal. Trade DT M Patterson and S Q Demps and they can have him tommorrow…
He is a 4 year Veteran who is in his prime and is 6’0″- 195 lbs who can cover,run and is very physical
Meanwhile the Panthers get a starting DT and back-up Safety that they need for their team…
C’mon Howie, make this happen…
shoulda just kept sheldon u were already underpaying him and he is better than any1 available or any1 on the eagles roster besides zante i guess once again eagles brass outsmarts itself marlin aka izel toast jenkins jackson
This Front office kills me…they’re shuffling the whole secondary in an attempt to cover not paying their starting corner Sheldon Brown starting money. I hear people in here making excuses for these cheap bastards….”there was not a lot of db’s to choose from”…..Did you know that when you decided to trade Brown to our former GM Heckert? Obviously Heckert knew the lack of DB help in FA and gave Brown the contract he deserved. Drummer you are right on in your observations.. Marlin Jackson is straight from a wheelchair and the Eagles would not have signed him if he wasn’t an injured commodity brought on the cheap. It’s a low risk high reward pick up. they call it ..VALUE…well if you shop at goodwill don’t expect a sears gaurantee. Eagles are known for these kinds of pick ups in key positions. The Corner position is a must have in this passing nfl and you can not just plug a guy in as if he’s a fullback…oh… another position Andy didn’t think was important until he finally broke down and paid for a damn fullback. it’s a shame because we’re going to waste these talented pieces we have in our recievers and skilled positions by not having a franchise quarterback aong with not getting a strong center to anchor the line, and not filling holes in the secondary. We should call the coach “Blindspot Andy”.