I like what the Eagles did by getting a bevy of speedy pass rushers to pressure opposing quarterbacks, but they’ve got to be kidding if they think Ellis Hobbs is the answer at the cornerback position.
I think the corner position is now the weakest position on the defense and Hobbs is the weaker of the two starting corners.
They’re not big at the cornerback spot and they’re not physical which could be a recipe for disaster in the NFC East, which has numerous big athletic and physical receivers. Every one of their NFC East rivals has big receivers.
Team general manager Howie Roseman was really reaching when he said, “We have some guys who are going to have an opportunity. Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel were starters on (an undefeated) team.¬† Ellis is feeling great, looks great.”
The only reason that team was undefeated was because of their offense, not their defense.  Their defense was mediocre at best and Hobbs was one of their weakest spots.
Hobbs was a target then and will be a target again if they line him up on the corner.¬† They don’t even know whether he’s going to be able to play because of the neck injury he suffered last season.
Hobbs is an outstanding kickoff return man and he’s finished at and near the top of the league during his time in the NFL, but I don’t think he’s a good corner.
Why do you think Bill Belichick was willing to trade Hobbs, who is without a doubt one of the best kickoff returners in the league for Greg Lewis, who was a mediocre wide receiver?
I think it was because he’s not a good cornerback.
G, you really need to do your homework before you start making these sorts of comments. To say New England’s defense that year was “mediocre at best” shows you don’t know what you’re talking about. Here’s their defensive rankings that year (2007) amongst all NFL teams:
-Points/game: 4th
-Yards/game: 4th
-Pass yards/game: 6th
Not exactly “mediocre” stats. Their pass yards per game ranking is actually very impressive given that teams were forced to throw against them because they were down so much and you would think it would inflate their yards per game stat.
Whatever the stats are Ellis Hobbs is not a good cover or tackling corner. He is a kick returner third down and backup corner.
I like E Hobbs as a Returner and as a Nickle Back, but I don’t think he’s physical enough or has the Coverage skills to be an everydown CB in the NFL with todays WR’s (and this was before his injuries)
I go back to a some previous statements that the CB and Center positions needed to be addressed in the draft, and they really weren’t ..
CB Lindley from Kentucky was ranked anywhere from the #18 to #25 ranked CB by many Scouts
and puiblications for his overall lack of speed and lack of recovery and tackling skills
Eagles drafted him with their 4th Rd pick (Overall # 105)
heres a list of CB’s that will most likely contribute sooner in the NFL and have more upside per most Scouts and we all rated higher than LIndley and were chosen after the #105 Selections
4th Rd # 111 Overall W Thurmond from Oregon picked by Seahawks
4th Rd # 126 Overall A Owusu-Ansah by the Cowboys (one of the steals of the entire draft)
5th Rd # 135 Overall D Franks of Oklahoma by the Falcons
5th Rd # 137 Overall P Cox of Oklahome St by the Broncos (another steal of the draft)
5th Rd # 138 Overall W McFadden of Auburn by the Radiers
5th Rd # 141 Overall J Moore of Kansas by the Bears
Bottom line, is that the Eagles missed a great opportunity with all these selections in Rd 4/Rd 5
to address the CB postion and coming away with T Lindley was not good enough for me. Most
have Lindley as a possible nickle Back at best once he learns the Pro Game. The Eagles needed
1 to 2 potential Starters at this position (CB) from this draft within 2-3 years and didn’t do it..
0505
CB
The Pats didn’t trade Hobbs for Lewis. Come on this kind of stuff is why people don’t take this site seriously. Blatant mistakes like that.
I believe it was 2 fifth round picks and the Pats are like the Eagles in accumulating draft picks.
Every team in the AFC East division was horrible and I remember them in quite a few shootouts when they got out of the division. I remember the Eagles have a big day against that defense and the Giants scored a lot of points against them in the final regular game of the season. Bill Belichick is a brilliant coach but all in all, that defense was mediocre.
Fair points G but I think New England’s defense was underrated. They created a ton of turnovers that year and didn’t give up a lot of yards to opposing offenses. I think they were ranked 4th in that category as well (Total Yards). Even really good defenses will have their days where teams have no trouble moving the ball on them but for the most part, they were much better than “mediocre” and there are few teams I dislike more than the Patriots.
The Pats Defense was good in 2007, but not one of their best ones…
Hobbs and Sammuel played well but were by no means shutdown or physical enough for Belechick’ liking which is why neother one of them are with the PAts any longer
Hobbs would be a 3rd/4th CB on 75 % of the teams in the NFL (outside of Eagles,Lions,Chiefs and maybe the Seahawks)
He is a great return guy for sure, but as a NFL Starter at CB, I think that is pushing it a bit…
The Pats D was good in 07 but they were the beneficiary of having an offense that was scoring 50 points every game. Everyone knows, that when an offense is that powerful and the other team can’t match, it makes playing defense much easier because everything is so predicatable. Having said that, I won’t take anything away from the 07 defense but they were only solid nothing more. Stats don’t always show the whole truth. No one will ever remember the 2007 New England defense even though they were ranked high in many categories. The Patriots real defenses were earlier in the decade when their offense didn’t score a lot of point and they shut people down.
Anyhow, Hobbs isn’t a very good CB. He’s a decent 3rd CB but shouldn’t be starting. If he is starting then that means the guys behind him aren’t that good either.
Paulman & scorpio, I agree with you both. Maybe one of our young guys can step up. Just because Lindley was rated lower than a lot of other CBs, doesn’t mean he won’t have a successful NFL career. Asante Samuel was drafted in the 4th round and Al Harris was drafted in the 6th. I’m sure during those drafts, there were many CBs rated higher than each of them but look how they turned out.
When you are up by 40 points you make opposing offenses one dimensional. The Colts have been getting by with average defenses for years. It’s much easier to stop someone when you know what they are going to do.
Micah, I will agree with your point but at the same time, you can’t discredit a defense because of a potent offense. The defense still had to do their job and shut teams down.
To “Bachman Turner Overdrive” above…
You ain’t seen nothing yet…. but back on topic…
2007 is an eternity in Football time.. to expect that a Tandem of Hobbs & Sammuel are going to play
like they did from 3-4 years in a better system with better coaching and better supporting players around is wishful thinking at best… Bottom line is that Eagles need an upgrade at CB to contend
in the NFC and the NFC East…
Check out the QB’s this season they will face ..Rodgers,Peyton,Schaub,Cutler, Ryan,Farve and of Course Romo,McNabb,Eli twice in divisonal games, then look at the Wr’s they will be covering
G Jennings,R Wayne,A Johnson,M Ausin,S Smith,R WHite,D Bryant, S Rice, P Harvin, C Cooley, F Davis, M Crabtree, G Olson,H Nicks,V Davis,J Whitten, T Gonzales, and on and on and on
They play some very expereienced QB and WR’s this year and will need a consistent big time
Pass-Rush from the front 4 as well as physical,tight coverages from the Secondary to have a chance….
Let’s look at the CB tandems in the NFC East.
Cowboys: Terence Newman/ Mike Jenkins
Giants: Corey Webster/ Aaron Ross (or Terrell Thomas)
Redskins: Fred Smoot/ Carlos Rogers
Eagles: Asante Samuel/ Ellis Hobbs
While I don’t think Samuel and Hobbs would be the best tandem in the league, i do think they can hold their own in this division. Everyone is talking about the QB’s the Eagles have to face, but these other 3 teams in the NFC East face the same QB’s.
Bottom line is that while yes they aren’t the best tandem in the league, a secondary consisting of Samuel, Hobbs, Mikell, Allen (Harris, Jackson) can hold their own not only in this division but in the NFC as well. Not to mention, a better pass rush will benefit everyone of those guys. Can you imagine Samuel jumping even more routes when a QB hurries the throw due to a better pass rush?
You have to have quite an imagination to expect to see a lot of pressute on the QB. Wait until; these guys play somebody good.
There’s only one reason Hobbs is on the Eagles and that’s because his talent level does not command starting cornerback money, period. If they wanted to pay a starting cornerback with good coverage skills, and hitting ability they would have signed Sheldon Brown. Brown was hurt at the tail end of last year yet put it on the line for his teammates. The Eagles deserves, Hobbs, as well as Kolb. This team will win 6 games max, and now I know that those cockroaches of Cowboys fans were right. Eagles will never win a Superbowl. Never. They care more about the bottom line than loading the team with extraordinary talent. Snyder over in Washington will finally get the residuals for putting his money where is mouth is. They will be contenders with a superbowl winning coach, A franchise quarterback, a pro bowl running back, Receiver, and tight end…..and a top 10 defense. Yeah, just plug in Ellis Hobbs….he’s champ baily without cover skills.
btc no one is discrediting their defense. We’re just pointing out the obvious fact that playing defense that year was easy because their offense forced other teams to be one dimensional. Try doing play action when you’re down 30. Point is the DBs got to relax more than usual because the next big play wasn’t going to cost the game and they didn’t have to worry about the opposing offense keeping them off balanced. There’s a reason Hobbs went so cheap. He’s a good football player because he’s an excellent return man but ok CB.
Eaglesbeliever, the difference is our best CB can’t tackle. All of those teams have CBs that can/do tackle, make plays against the run and can be physical when they need to be. Ours can’t. In overall play, Our CBs might be ranked 3rd only because of Samuel’s playmaking ability. But when we play against the same physical receivers, as the other teams, our CBs will be worst off.
The Lindley pick didn’t get me excited after what seemed a reach with the third round pick.
I’m very curious about all the SEC picks this year because Phil Savage is the SEC expert consultant brought in by Andy. Savage has been a pro GM(you can argue if he was good or not) covering the SEC for the past few years. The media “experts” had all the other SEC picks as very good value picks by the Eagles. Lindley seemed like the one questions mark. If Savage brought some special knowledge to the war room, this years draft class could be special. Picks 8-13 seem as good or better than picks 3-7 from my untrained eyes.
The job of a CB is not to make plays against the run. If we are constantly relying on CB’s against the run, then we are in even more trouble. The D-Line, LB’s and Safety’s should be enough to handle the run.
Most CB’s in the league get what….50 – 60 tackles at most a year? While i’m not trying to defend the lazy tackling we’ve seen from Samuel, i’m just saying that against the run, the CB is not an important position. Defending against the pass is their bread and butter (obviously) and I know that Samuel can do that. While he does have flaws in the tackling area, I still don’t think he gets enough credit for being a playmaker. The guy is a top 5 corner in the league, despite his flaws.
Please don’t get me wrong…i’m not saying the Eagles have the best CB’s in the league. I’m just saying that Samuel on the #1 WR and then a mix of Hobbs, Harris, Jackson, Hanson, Lindley will be enough to hold down the #2 receiever on most teams.
For those interested, check out this article regarding CB’s pass tackling and stop %. You’ll be surprised to see a couple things…http://www.footballoutsiders.com/extra-points/2010/stat-day-pass-tackles-cornerbacks-0
EagleBeliever, The Cowboys must have recieved your memo on CB’s really shouldn’t be able to tackle.
They put their foot so far up samuels behind when he talk, I smell shoe polish. Good point Believer. By the way, I’m selling the Skuykill River for a discounted price, and it seems you’re the perfect prospect for such a great body of water. Since, you have bought the Eagles hype, I’m sure you’ll be the first taker. Drop me an email and name your price.
EB:
We are talking about corners tackling receivers and backs who have cought passes not being linebackers
And that is my point exactly BigE…both Samuel, Brown and Hanson were better than average at stopping the receiver after the catch…
go back and watch the game film…while they may no be the best run stoppers, when their guy catches the ball they do make the tackle…like i said its being over hyped by the media because of a few tackles that Samuel didn’t make on RB sweeps and swing passes…i agree that he shouldn’t get a pass, that he should be called out for it like he has, but its not as much of a weakness as some of the other areas of the defense..