• March 28, 2024

Like Gocong Before Him, Ricky Sapp Isn’t 4-3 Outside Linebacker

If I were the Birds I would end the experiment with rookie defensive end Ricky Sapp right now and move him back to putting his hand down at the snap of the ball at defensive end.

This young man isn’t a linebacker.¬† He’s stiff in his drops and he has no idea what’s he’s doing in pass coverage.

I think the Eagles would be wise to move him to defensive end, so that he doesn’t waste his entire rookie season.¬† Like former Eagles linebacker Chris Gocong, he naturally steps forward at the snap of the ball because that’s what he’s used to doing.

He rushed the quarterback in college.¬† He played the joker position at Clemson, which had him rushing the passer nearly all the time.¬† It would have been nice if he could become a linebacker for the Birds, but there’s no way I see that happening.

We may find out that he can rush the passer on the NFL level, which will make him a good pick, but he’s not a linebacker.

After practice today Sapp told us about how leans on second year Sam linebacker Moises Fokou and third year middle linebacker Joe Mays to make sure he’s lining up corectly.¬† Fokou is starting at Sam right now, but Mays is probably getting his last chance to be a starter for the Birds.

GCOBB

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Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 20, 2010 1:21 pm

Thanks for the bad news G..
Maybe this is why he lasted until the 5th Rounder… A good speed rusher without the Size to be an
everydown DE, but still not adept or experienced enough to play LB at the NFL level…

joe_buck_is_creepy
joe_buck_is_creepy
May 20, 2010 1:23 pm

It’s unfortunate b/c he has the talent. He could be a nice player, but only in the right system…or if he puts on a lot of good weight.

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 20, 2010 1:30 pm

Wonder if he can play Center or FS

tcole58
tcole58
May 20, 2010 1:47 pm

When will the birds stop trying to have players play out of there natural position? Stop trying to out smart everybody. They look foolish and just waste time and draftpicks.

Rocko
Rocko
May 20, 2010 2:14 pm

I wish Big Red would stop trying to make people play positions for the first time in their life on the biggest stage of their life that they’re not use to playing. Stop It. It’s killin me and every other eagle fan. It’s wasting precious time and “pissing us fans off”.He did it with gocong and wasted his time with us. Even Gocong was a beast as a DE in college. Sapp is Hella good as a DE/Joker player. He just needs to beef up a bit and he’ll be good at his natural position. It’s rare that a player comes into the NFL, changes positions and excels at it. If that happens, the player is an exceptionally good player who makes a name for himself. Fat daddy tried it with macho and screwed up; even got us lookin at macho as a joke playing FS – AKA “The Dawk” and returning kicks. What a waste of time and talent. No other team in the league drafts players in hopes that they’ll be a superstar in another position. What a waste. I’m sick of this crap. Screw Big Red, and Spadaro for suckin up and spewing out how much he trusts the Fat bastard. Thanks for bringing this up G, I hope Eagles FO reads your articles.

Peace

schiller
schiller
May 20, 2010 2:53 pm

Barely bad news. Rookie looks lost in first OTA. Big deal. Shall we jump to conclusions? Probably not.

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
May 20, 2010 3:02 pm

I’m a little tired of them trying to have players play in a position different than what they played in college. Some players are able to make that transitions but the majority aren’t. It’s not good for the team and not good for the player. It can ruin their career because they spent years in a system that did them no justice where the coaches new they couldn’t play that position. And as a player, you’re going to be willing to do whatever it takes to stay on the field so even though you know you aren’t that comfortable at that position, you’re not going to say it because that may be the only think still keeping you on the roster.

BigE
BigE
May 20, 2010 5:25 pm

College defensive ends don’t make very good linebackers. Get the I dea?

ReidSucks
ReidSucks
May 20, 2010 6:25 pm

I have full confidence that Reid will try to fit a player to his scheme and not the other way around…kind of like square peg in a round hole.

drummerwinslow
drummerwinslow
May 20, 2010 7:02 pm

We may have the best roster in the NFL, after all. The problem, however, may be that their all playing the wrong position. Don’t you agree that DeSean Jackson would make a great nose tackle? Think about it for a second. With his speed and quickness, no one would be able to block him.

Why am I not a GM? Go figure.

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 2:33 am

Exactly how many failed position change experiments have there been? 2? Macho and Gocong? Wow, sounds like a huge trend. You are all over reacting, not a surprise. If Macho turns into a good corner (not saying he will but you all have 0 knowledge to base an opinion that it won’t), than it was 1. 1 failed experiment. Darren Howard at DT worked well. Brian Dawkins at LB worked well. Brian Westbrook at WR worked well. And Ricky Sapp hasn’t taken a single snap with pads on at the NFL level and Garry and you guys are acting like they’ve started him at SAM for a season. Teams try stuff out in training camp – and this isn’t even training camp. He’ll get spots at DE too you dopes. Not to mention that Cole played Nosetackle in college. Ever hear of Chuck Bednarik? Good athletes are good athletes. Sapp was tried for 1 OTA practice at LB and you are all crying apocalypse and doomsday. I’m appalled but not surprised.

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 2:34 am

Has a player in the NFL ever improved at playing a position from their first OTA practice till the regular season? I sure hope so, but you are all discounting that possibility.

nsidious
nsidious
May 21, 2010 4:14 am

I heard good things about Sapp, but G knows football. I’ll be watching him at Lehigh.

ReidSucks
ReidSucks
May 21, 2010 6:01 am

: do you get paychecks from Eagles? Why should there be any expierments? Swtiching Gocong was stupid as it gets. He was a pass rusher. They should never have drafted him to play LB. Can you understand the result of failed experiments? A draft pick wasted. Time spent on conversion wasted. Money paid to the player wasted. And more importantly a player’s career is possibly damaged. What we ought to be appalled at is your desperation to kiss ass of people who haven’t delivered after a decade. Keep shilling……..

dawkplex1221
dawkplex1221
May 21, 2010 7:05 am

What is it with them taking DE and switching them to linebacker!!!! how about they draft a linebacker that acctually plays the damn position!

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 7:14 am

Reids… – No I don’t get paid by them, wish I did. Every draft pick as an experiment. If you’re specifically referring to Gocong, I believe the answer is that Jim Johnson realized that the reality of college football these days is that very few programs have true ‘SAM’ LB roles on their D. If you look at the recent drafts, an overwhelming amount of LB prospects are projected as either 3-4 outside LBs, MLB prospects or weakside LBs. The NFL, and college, offensive systems have changed dramatically to more passing, 3,4,5 WR sets, pass catching TEs and pass catching RB/FBs. The system changed and there aren’t nearly as many SAM types coming out of college. JJ sought a solution to the problem. It didn’t work out with 1, 1, that’s ONE player. Have you ever made one mistake in your life? Was that a travesty? And for Gocong’s career, the dude makes millions to play a game, he’s under thirty in a new system that fits your description of where he fits. If you think a front office should be fired every time one player at one position doesn’t work out, then 31 teams should be uprooted every season.

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 7:15 am

And you all keep forgetting that Fokou is the starter at SAM. It’s not like they’re starting Sapp at SAM. He hasn’t made the team, actually he hasn’t attended a millisecond of training camp.

ReidSucks
ReidSucks
May 21, 2010 7:18 am

blah….blah….blah….blah….

tcole58
tcole58
May 21, 2010 7:20 am

Schill, come on man. You got to know they try to move guys from there nat position too many times. It’s only 2 the past year or so. Just one off the top of my head was Dan Kleco. Let’s see, put him at full back. No let’s try dt. No let’s go back to fb, no dt. That worked out well. Hey, I’m still a beleiver. have been for a looong time. All I’m saying is just draft for that position instead of trying to convert and out smart people. I know these guys are good/great athletes, but that doesn’t mean they can make the change. And you’re right I have 0 knowledge it it can work. But anybody that has played would tell you that there is a big diff between playing dt and fb…cb and safety, and putting your hand down as a de and dropping in space to be a olb.

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 7:27 am

Wasn’t Westbrook an experiment?

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 7:29 am

Here’s the thing with Sapp, forget about LB for a moment. If they Eagles play him at DE, wouldn’t all you negadelph’s say he’s too small? So where does that leave the team? The kid is an extremely athletic prospect who fell in the draft because of his ‘tweener’ status. The birds took a fly on him. if he gets sacks or makes plays regardless of where the Eagles play him, will you guys sit there and say – oh damn, they shouldn’t have drafted him?

tcole58
tcole58
May 21, 2010 7:36 am

Schill, I agree. As long as he makes plays. And you’re right about the “tweener” status. I just was saying draft for position. I think they took many “tweeners” in the past. I don’t always agree with you, but I like your passion for the Birds!!!

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
May 21, 2010 7:37 am

I guess schiller forgot about Greg Lewis at punt returner, Klecko at FB, Maclin at KR, Tony Hunt at FB, Sean Jones at free safety when he’s a strong safety. Macho and Gocong aren’t the only ones that have played in position that its clear they can’t play. Granted, Maclin played KR because of injuries, but I’d rather have had Buckley returning that Maclin because Buckley can return them and Maclin can’t. But all in all these are all guys where Reid had them play a position where they clearly couldn’t but tried to make them into that player. How’d they work out for us?

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
May 21, 2010 7:42 am

Drummer, that was great. We should like up Jackson at DE opposite of Cole. Can you imagine the speed on the ends. No tackles would be able to block all that speed. Let’s put Vick in at CB. He’s probably better than the ones we have. He’s getting paid all that money, let’s see what he’s got. And move Weaver to SS and Mikell move to FS. DId you see those hands from Weaver. No more droppped INTS and he’ll be the big hitter across the middle. And let’s not forget. Kolb has great accuracy. Let’s see how accurate he can kick the ball. He can throw touchdowns and then kick the PAT. Let’s do it. No harm in spending all that time and energy to get someone to play a position they never played before.

tcole58
tcole58
May 21, 2010 7:48 am

Scorp. that’s some funny $hit. Sitting and talkin Birds and throwing a few back would be a blast.

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 7:53 am

Scorp, true, I did forget a few. But for the record, there really isn’t a Strong and Free Safety in the Eagles system. They’re interchangeable. And Maclin returned kicks in college, that wasn’t an ‘experiment’ or changed position for him, he just wasn’t good at it in the NFL. Greg Lewis was a failed experiment there too, but seriously, what NFL team doesn’t try that stuff out. Remember the pats used Moss as a DB? Chad 85 (whatever) kicked the ball, as did flutie. Dion and bo going both ways. Most teams if not all try out different players at various positions. It may be fun to joke about it, but it’s a standard NFL practice.

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
May 21, 2010 8:54 am

I agree Schill. I know other teams do it as well. I just don’t like when the Eagles do it, that’s all. We haven’t really been successful with having a guy play out of his natural position. Most of the guys that play well are in the position they play and when we try to convert someone full time it just hasn’t worked out. Sapp may be a good 3-4 LB but maybe not a good 4-3 LB. We will see. I think people are just tired of the experiments and just get the guys to play the position. Stop trying to outsmart everyone and get a diamond in the rough and just get the guy that can make the easiest transition to your system. It’s already hard enough to learn the system, now you have to learn the system and a new position at the same time. It may work out, but the odds are against it happening.

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
May 21, 2010 9:02 am

Chad Johnson kicked the field goal because of injury. It’s not like they lined him up to kick 40 yard field goals each time. They didn’t move him from WR to K. We’re talking about actually moving a guy from his natural position. Deion went boths ways because he was talented enough to do so. He is an exception. But he did it because he wanted to and not because the coachs wanted him to play a different position.

I would disagree with your assessment of the SS and FS in the Eagles defense. They are clearly different positions where each safety can’t play both. They can probably flip plays around to have the different position in different parts of the field, but you need the guys that are able to do that. If that were the case, we could have line up Mikell at the FS and put Jones in the position where he played most of his career. But the positions are different which is why Dawk was a liability in coverage. If he was a liability, why not switch him to SS and have Mikell play the FS to be in more coverage? Or just switch their responsibilities since there’s no difference in the positions? Because the switch isn’t that easy. You need to have the right guys, to move players around like that and evidently we didn’t have them.

But we can’t use one off cases like Deion Sanders and an injured Bengals kicker to make a case for Andy when we can list at least 5 guys that he put in another position and they failed. I know other teams try it, but even in the NFL, there aren’t a whole lot of success stories. Some guys are good but the chances are against you because playing in the NFL at your own position is already hard enough. We will see what happens though.

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 10:11 am

I’ll be honest, I’ve only heard the ‘the Eagles use two identical safety positions’ used by the team and/or spadaro (cue the haters)… so I’m not sure how legit it is, but I think announcers/analysts have agreed. G? Some help here?

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 21, 2010 12:36 pm

I think what we have bottom line with the Eagles Defense is about 30 players that can all
play “Special Teams” but very few who are diffrence makers when playing their Defensive Positions…
I count T Cole, A Sammuel and maybe a S Bradley if 100% Heatlhy… DO any of these other players really strike fear to the oppsoing Offenses in the NFC. Does anyone think that that QB’s Brees,Farve,Rodgers,Romo,Ryan,Cutler,E Manning,D Mcnabb,P Manning,M Schaub, are going to be shaking in their boots when they face this Phialdelphia Eagle Defense in 2010

schiller
schiller
May 21, 2010 8:57 pm

uh, i think it’s fair to add ernie simms and maybe, bunkley to that group. That said, I’m very very drunk right now…

SONGSRME2
SONGSRME2
May 21, 2010 9:45 pm

Here we go again……they’ll play him out of his natural position then blame him for not picking up the playbook,,,,then trade him for a sock filled with nickels or maybe waive him all together..(*See Chris Gocong)

times yours.

Have one experiment this team had worked yet?

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 22, 2010 8:33 am

LB E Sims will have problems shedding blockers from the big physical O/Lineman of the Cowboys,Giants,49ers,Titans that I think he will have a hard time making plays again the good teams on the Eagles schedule …

SONGSRME2
SONGSRME2
May 22, 2010 9:32 am

schiller are you insane? “wasn’t westbrook an experiment? westbrook was a great back and returner on the collegiate level. He was not playing in a different position in college…it seems you are high on the fumes that’s seeping from Andy’s ass. Pull your head out buddy and be real for a second.

schiller
schiller
May 22, 2010 11:02 am

Song, i was referring to him being used at WR which happened a bunch.

schiller
schiller
May 22, 2010 11:03 am

Paulman, where are you getting that about Sims?

BigE
BigE
May 22, 2010 5:30 pm

It’s funny that a guy was a DE in college and will probably not be ables to transition to LB and if he plays DE for Eagles, Negadelphia will complain about that. What about Stupadelphia drafting a guy who will be eaten up by big pro tackles because he is too small to be a DE and not able to be a LB.
Stupadelphia wins.

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 23, 2010 5:32 am

TO Schiller,
The Lions have had one of the worst defenses in the NFL over the last 4-5-6-7-8 seasons,
They have a HC in his 2nd year in J Schwartz who specialized in having good top defenses…
If he thought E Sims was a real playmaker, why would he trade a former 1st Round Draft choice for a 5th Rd in return…. Sounds like he did not fit into their plans for he simply isn’t physical enough at the point of attack due to his smallish size.. (he’s listed at 6′ but is really like 5′ 10′ and only weighs about 225lbs.. He will not last as an everydown LB in playing in the NFC East…