We knew it was going to happen soon. Well that time is now. The Eagles have made rookie linebacker Brian Rolle their starting Will linebacker. Rolle played well last week in the short time he was on the field.
He’s replacing rookie Casey Matthews, who was the starting Will linebacker versus the Giants.
“I just showed that I’m willing to go out there and step up and make plays when they need to be made,” Rolle said prior to practice. “Every time I was in there, you heard my name, so the coaches must have seen that light and thought I needed to be on the field more.”
Rolle emphasized his quickness, knowledge of the game and his desire to make plays. He thinks he’s better against the pass than he is against the run, but is trying to do a better job of trusting what he sees in his keys.
The youngster mentioned Redskins middle linebacker London Fletcher as another player who is vertically challenged. He expects the 49ers to test him this week.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun get out there, play in space and hopefully get matched up with Vernon Davis,” Rolle said. “Everybody has their weakness. You can be fast, but being fast isn’t everything, it’s all about technique in this league as well.”
Rolle is very short for a linebacker, standing about 5’10” and weighing about 230 pounds, but he’s got outstanding speed and quickness. Teams aren’t going to try to run away from Rolle, they’ll try to run straight at him to take advantage of his size.
The youngster has good explosiveness, but like Matthews he’s a rookie.
It’s amazing of all the crappy draft picks we’ve had in the last 2 years. Hopefully Rolle can use his size to his advantage by getting under blockers and lower than the ball carrier. But he looks more instinctive and that could mean all the difference.
They may make decisions and plans that leave us scratching our heads, but they (finally) aren’t afraid to pull the trigger if something isn’t working.
Let’s go, Birds!
G,
what the hell is Reids infatuation with Smurfs!?!? Fatty Smurf, Blondie Smurf, Speedy Smurf, etc. etc. Everybody on this team, at positions of needing size, are always too short, or too small! Get some monster, head smashing, men in there! Not little boys! That’s why they get pushed around. Time for major changes!!! I’m sick of the lot of them!
sadly rolle is the best linebacker on the team.. hes short but hes the strongest.. and fastest.. now all we need is lofa in the middle
the only thing more amazing is the amount of ignorant fans that refuse to look at the NFL as a whole (you know – all 32 teams, all 32 organizations) and see that the Eagles are actually one of the better drafting teams in the NFL as highlighted by multiple national news NFL news organizations.- but this is the Philadelphia and we are the ONLY team that has an injured #1 draft pick and a #1 that is not starting (that’s heavy sarcasm) I have done multiple posts on multiple teams – good teams – that show that the draft is just a crap shoot – for every Djax, McCoy, Trent Cole, Celek, Hermanns, Kelce there are some dudes that just don’t work out – but don’t let me slow your roll – keep being amazed
but hold on, I forgot – we don’t talk about the rest of the league because no one cares…………………. exceot to talk about how they are going to beat us
i cant believe nate allen is going to start.. he cant even tackle.. DRC can tackle better than nate allen.. if your gonna start nate allen you might as well move DRC to saftey
Good news indeed and about 1 month late.. but better late than never..
I expect fellow poster Jon Hart to come on here and aplolgize to all of us posters who stated back in August, that Casey Matthew was not NFL Starter material, that he simply lacked the speed and strength to play at the NFL Level as a Starter and that he’s basically a Back-up/Special teamer at best..
Has anyone seen or spoke to J Hart lately .. he’s been extremely quiet since the Matthews move and now demotion… Maybe his neighbors can check in on him for I am starting to get concerned for Jon’s mental and physical well being.
I can believe it and I’m happy that Nate Allen gets the start…In my opinion he is better than both Page and Coleman…Coleman is ass, I’ve requested for him to get his ass sat down a long time back..Now lets see Fokou’s ass down along with Matthews and we’ll be good to go.
agreed Navy. Im 100% behind you on that. That being said…..
The real issue is his undervalue of some positions and some basic football facts.
examples….
Big Oline when we want to throw the ball.
Small Oline when we want to run.
Small LB’s when we use wide 9.
No Wr’s when we wanted to pass in the early 00’s
No kick/puntreturners going into a season.
No FB going into a season
releasing/trading half away our Oline at the start of a season
Not having depth at CB position last year
Not having depth and size variations at LB this season
blown timeouts and non chals.
Bad at 2 min drill.
These are the things that drive me nuts sometimes. I think andy is a good coach BUT…. i dont think he helps himself enough.
Guys, the sky is not falling… we will be ok this year…. i just wish we had a LB on this team.
This is an improvement. Hopefully, they’ll see the light and start Jordan over Fokou as well.
Stevo – the Broncos for a long time were the best rushing team in the NFL and didn’t havean OL over 295 lbs –
but I digress – again – look at ALL 32 teams – I read the San Diego Union Tribune for my morning paper –
here is a comment from the chargers site similar to this one
Chargers know it’s time to turn potential into reality”. Now, after sunday’s game against KC, I wonder if you have comments on the potential and reality contrast. Are the Chargers still working on the potential thing, or what we see is really what they are?
There are a number of players doing really well right now. They’re 2-1, and they’re QB is not playing well .. Agreed, they should have trounced the Chiefs. They won. Let’s see what happens.
Guys act like you have the market cornered on obnoxious fans that bitch, gripe and moan when the team is/does/doesn’t do what you think they should –
primary difference is out here – a blackout is a very very real possibility.
Think its time to over yourselves and all the negativity and get with the program? Remember we WANT the Eagles to win, We WANT all 53 players to do well.
one month in and we’re still trying to figure out who can do what.
This is Andy Reid’s fault!!!!!!
We said day one to bench Matthews ass…and now two losses later the fans have been proven to be correct again.
Get a damn defensive coordinator in ASAP who can take over once Juan’s experiment fails!
The losses we have experienced this year reflects the concerns we had from day one. Not paying attention to linebackers! Not improving the Safety position with a stud available in last year’s draft.
Putting a damn offensive line coach to learn on the job as defensive coordinator.
Self inflicted losses.
Are you kidding me? Matthews still have one more linebacker position F#@k up.
let’s try him on the other side…..it’s imperative he get the opportunity. How would it look if none of our top 4 round picks panned out?
We need some scouts immediately. IS MODRAK OUT THERE?
HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR DRAFTING RHODES DEFENSIVE PLAYERS.
The same players Reid could not replace after letting them go, only to downgrade the positions.
Modrak is retired, but PAulman Is availalbe, I have written the EAgles and told them that if they paid my Travel, Room and Board and some occasional fun $$$ on the side, that I would be willing to come to Philadelphia from January thru April and help assist the GM in developing Scouting Reports ,Drafting Strategies and an Overall Roster Management Program that includes Draft Picks,Free-Agents, and undrafted players to put together a better 53 Man Roster
My Offer still stands
Prior to Nate Allen getting a start there was a stat where we were the only team where none of our first 3 picks from the last 2 drafts were starting.
And that’s not even mentioning the bums we drafted that shouldn’t have even been in the league. OUR FIRST 3 PICKS.
The defensive scheme is not the problem. The other teams offense players were covered but we failed to tackle or deflect passes.
Juan is not the problem. He is only the problem if receivers are running uncovered downfield due to blown coverages and our players look at each other as if the other person was responsible – that’s a scheme problem and we don’t have that.
When your d-linemen and backers get swallowed up on a running play, that’s personnel and individual ability, not coordination.
It is coordination if Juan calls a defense to stop the run and they pass or vice-versa.
If at first you don’t succeed keep on sucking till you do succeed:
With Rolle, Chaney and Fokou starting Sunday against the 49ers, this will be the 45th different linebacker combination the Eagles have used in 13 years under head coach Andy Reid. Courtesy of Ruben Frank
It’s still not too late for Juan Cheerleader to be defensive coordinator of the year for all you babies who have given up on him after only 3 games. Just joking!!!!!!!!!!!
Eric, god point brother.
Whoa, slow down…I dont want to blame any coaches for it is up to the players to handle business once they step foot on the field…But Castillo does deserve the blame just as much as the players…First off, him sitting players for this one and that one, shows he has not done a good job with putting the right personnel on the field…there were a number of plays where we were caught off guard against the Giants…For example a 3rd and 9, we were obvious in our coverage, Giants noticed pass all the way, what they do, hand it to Bradshaw and he picked up the first down…Same game another 3rd and long, we decide to send the house, no disguise simple screen play gets the first. To top it off the fact that he does not have more formations utilizing all 3CB’s is ridicolous
Navy- true about Denver having small 0-line back then but im talking about here in philly. Our Oline was built like a running team and yet all we did is throw. But honestly- im less worried about this Oline than i was 3 weeks ago. at least… maybe i am. lol
Navy and Schiller always want to say what other teams are doing. No one cares what they are doing. And then it doesn’t help that you refer to team that don’t win anything either. Forget what the rest of the league is doing. Do what you do and be you. We don’t run our team like everyone else so using the failures of other teams to admonish this teams failures is stupid. One just reply by saying, Green Bay does this so should Andy. New England does it so should Andy. How much sense does that make? None. The same way you can point out teams are do it you can point out those that don’t. Quite frankly no one in the league has had more defensive draft busts than we have over the past 3 drafts.
BigE, Juan is going to be begging for his old job back after this season. He’s never had to prepare a gameplan, make adjustments for an entire unit during a game and there’s no one on the defensive coaching staff that has. People want to give Andy credit for producing great coordinators like Harbaugh and Chilly. Man those guys were just good at what they did and made Andy look good. Every since Harbaugh left, special teams has been average at best some years. Since JJ died, we know what the D is. They were 3rd in the league his last season. And since Chilly left, the offense has become this hit or miss, erratic play calling machine.
Really scorp – no one has had more draft busts – really – you probably put as much thought and research into that as you do all your other posts – exaclty none – its a typical ignorant, uniformed, unresearched comment to simply trash the Eagles –
No one cares what the other teams are doing? No – wrong again, only the foolish, immature douche bags that want to constantly whine and complain don’t care what other teams are doing – and then the same ones that don’t want to hear about other teams suddenly want to make comparisons when it works for there argument.
,Question – what does constantly pointing out negative things about the eagles do for you? Does it make you drink, feel better, feel worse, what is the reaction you get – And why do you take a fact any fact that may pertain (and my comments about the draft included doing research on Chicago and Pittsburg) to the eagles and even if that direct comparison the the eagles shows the eagles in a positive light twist into the negative – do you WANT it to be bad? So if the league average for replay overturns is 32% sand Ried has 39% overturned and Belicheck is the worst with 24%, and this fact is pointed out to you (not specifically you, just using as an example) why the need to take that or any fact and try to make the eagles look bad?
Do you think if a cowboys fan came on this site they would think this is where Eagle fans come to post about there team?
Scorp – sorry – long day and way too much name calling – I apologize – I am gonna put myself in timeout
Where’s Jon Hart been…..
I believe his Mother just reported him missing to the Local Police/FBI…
Here’s a real concern guys! The Niners skilled positions outside of QB is much better than the Giants.
Look for Vernon Davis to show us what a tight end actually looks like…And Frank Gore is the type back that’s always going forward. I know he’s pissed Matthews have been benched..
Shill…After 2 losses you think the Matthews experiment was worth it?
WAtch out for 49ers 3rd Down RB Kendall Hunter (a Rookie from Oklahoma State) who at 5-9″ 200lbs is a very good pass receiver out of the backfield, and I expect to see some Screens/Draw plays to him who will be a match-up nightmare for Eagles LB’s… Also WR/Return man Ted Ginn has finally blossomed into a productive,exciting player that everyone was hoping he would be when Miami DOlphins made him their 1st Round Pick from Ohio State a few years back.. It appears he has matured and is finally healthy and is an a contrcat Year
Aslo remember that the 49ers played last Sunday in Cincinnati Ohio but instead of flying back to San Francisco, they went to Youngstown Ohio to get a full week of preparation of playing and beating this lost Eagles team.. No cross oountry trip for them which was a very smart move by 1st Year Coach Harbaugh keeping the team focused on the task at hand…
Here is some other News around thre NFL concerning LB’s
Dallas Cowboy MLB Sean Lee (who the Cowboys acquired with the 2nd Round Draft Pick the Eagles traded to them in the 2010 Draft) was named Defensive Player of the Month.. That’s right, the position of the biggest tneed on this Eagle Team . and just to run salt into the wounds of Eagle fans everywhere.. the Cleveland Browns announced today a contract extension of OLB C Gogong to a new 3 year deal for $16.5 Million .. I am serious, I can’t make this stuff up….
This is a good move for the Eagles! I really want to see Rolle & Matthews succeed on this team for a long time, but it’s clear Matthews just isn’t ready right now.. Not only that, he just isn’t strong enough at this point in his life to play the position either.
I think with him watching video, playing occasionally, & working out in the weight room from here to next season – he can really improve his game..
With that being said, Rolle has looked pretty good in the off season & the only knock on him has been his height & lack of weight. But 230 still isn’t to bad for a weak side linebacker.
ANDREW WALTER REID needs to be put on probation
Our back and forth carousel that has been going on here is ridiculous.The only solution to our 11 year problem is FIRE EM immediately!!!!!!!!!!
ERNIE SIMS PART DEUX!!!
Dcar – I challenge you to answer the following question like a civil human being. Now why on earth would you post something like that? Do you think Rolle will suck? Do you want him to suck? Why other than position (and maybe race if you’re that pathetic) do you see a similarity?
Or – and this is my theory – you just get drunk every night and plaster Gcobb with drunk, (to you humorous), and nonsensical hate (which to you is fun)?
Scorp – Navy is right (yeah, I agree with him, go figure). It’s not even an issue of agreeing or not. It’s a fact of basic logic and sense that when fans (and to be fair, you personally do not usually do this) say things like ‘no other team does or would do that’ or ‘we are the absolute worst’ or ‘reid is the worst’ ‘the eagles are the worst at’….etc.etc.etc… THOSE ARE COMPARISON STATEMENTS. So you’re argument that nobody cares about other teams or that other teams are irrelevant is 100% BULLSHIT. It’s flat out wrong and there’s 0 argument otherwise that can hold any weight. There’s nothing to argue about. It’s just blatantly incorrect.
Schiller, wrong, wrong & wrong! First of all dumb@$$, i’m half black. Second, I don’t drink on my night job, third I compared him to Sims because of size & speed, skill to be determined, & last but not least, i’m not routing for anyone to fail, they’re doing that all by themselves! BTW, WTF was so hateful about me saying Ernie Sims part deux!? Don’t start $#!t that ain’t there f^#@ nuts!!! Go back to sucking Reids beanbag with in the Navy!!!!