Andy Reid was gushing about safety-sized rookie linebacker Brian Rolle after the game last night. He talked about how Rolle has shined every time they’ve let him play.
Personally, I love the way he explodes when the ball is thrown. He’s also shown he can beat blocks when coming off the corner on the blitz and he’s a good tackler.
The rookie has proven to be effective at MIKE when they’ve let him take Casey Matthews’ place on pass downs. The former Buckeye has made plays when they’ve let him play WILL, plus he’s very confident in his abilities.
Rolle has proven he can cover the fastest of running backs, as well as step into a hole and attack the running game, but he stands only 5’10”, and weighs about 235 pounds.
The young linebacker from Ohio State seems to be carving a role for himself in the Eagles defense. Although Matthews is starting at middle linebacker, the Birds seem to be trying to get Rolle on the field for as many plays as they can.
In addition, he’s taken over as the number one coverage linebacker in place of 2010 draft pick, Keenan Clayton, who had that role a year ago.
“He’s explosive”, said Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castilo. “He can change direction, and we feel that he has the ability to be a shutdown linebacker, meaning that he can cover backs and do a good job covering backs.”
“I’m a down-and-dirty type guy”, Rolle said. “I love to stick my nose in there. I don’t think people give me enough credit for the way I play the run. They say I’m a good cover guy, but I feel like I’m good against the run as well and am going to stick my nose in there and create havoc.”
It’s fairly simple to me that teams are going to try to run the ball on the Eagles. Rolle is a better pass defender than he is a run defender, plus his lack of size will be something he has to overcome if a team is running the ball at him play after play.
I expect the young man to get on the field for the majority of the Eagles defensive snaps this year. He’s going to get the chance to have a big year because teams are going to go after him with three Pro Bowl corners on the wide receivers.
Rolle will get chances to intercept passes and make plays all over the field because teams will try to attack the Eagles young linebackers.
I think he’s a good football player, but if I were the Eagles I wouldn’t put together a defense and have all of the players be undersized.
ive been telling everyone brian rolle is a beast,, runs a 4.5 and is strong as hell.. he needs to start hes better than clay mathews..
G- they already have built a D around undersized guys.
We rotate our WRs and DL, we can rotate our LBs.
G:
I would do the hurry-up offense and stress the LB’ing corps if the birds want to rotate LB’s. I don’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, I was impressed with Rolle, but the lack of experience in the second tier on D, is waiting to be exploited. You’re right.
G, It seems every chance you get you want to remind us how undersized Rolle is, Did you ever hear of Sam Mills ? How bout London Fletcher? This kid can flat out play, Size wont be a problem with him.
i know a way we can put Rolle on the field…Bench Matthews and slide chaney in the middle.
That will immediately improve our linebacker corp
I stated after the Draft that B Rolle would be a kick-ass Strong Safety for 1st & 2nd Down and then slide him up to an OLB in passing situations..
Having him and Coleman at Safety Positions would negate any strong runnning team that they will play and make up for the undersized LB’s they have.. Then on Passing downs slide up ROlle to replace Fokou and bring in Safety Page or Allen for Deep Pass Coverage…
yes he has looked good , but so did joe mays a couple years back.
is there going to be room for him on the roster? i still think they bring a vet lb in.
Allen will be legit, when he’s healthy he will perform like he did before his injury.
Sure, bring up Kenny Britt but players have their off games.
Haven’t seen a Eagle LB time a blitz to get thru untouched in a long time.
Dude went out and took a roster spot
Rumor Mill from the Windy City (but not confirmed)
Eagles Trade J Hanson, C Harbor and T Laws to the Bears for LB Lance Briggs
and a 3rd Round Pick in 2012
HA, I wish we got Briggs!
NAte Allen started fast last season but was outplayed by Coleman the 2nd half of the season and that was well before he was injured as Allen sppears to hit the Rookie wall in late October.. .. He has not been a 100% and has looked out of sorts all summer camp and pre-season thus far and he probably just needs to heal 100% before getting out there but I do not have as good or strong of a feeling about his future production as I did early last year and think he may end up just being an average player which would be disappointing after an early great start to his career.. 1st thing he needs is to be heatlhy which he doesn’t appear to be..
Outplayed? He got nicked up before his knee injury too, I think it was his hamstring
No excuse tho, not being able to get on the field hurts a player
I am probably one the biggest Kurt Coleman fan, I love his tackling and he puts himself in position to make plays
With that said, we rotate DL and WR, seems like we will do that a little with the LBs
I wouldn’t mind doing that with the safeties
I’m cool with Page/Coleman that’s more than serviceable they might make some plays.
I liked Page in KC before he went to NE.
(healthy) Allen & Jarrett (as he develops) sounds sick
why do make shit up paulman are you 4 years old?
This team is so pass minded. Even when we talk about LBs its about how they can cover. It in my opinion that our Mike should be an effective run stopper more than covering backs. But that’s the Andy state of mind. PASS PASS PASS PASS PASS PASS.
good point ozz. everyone prefers a do-it-all mlb of course
but perhaps the matthews/rolle rotation is a preview of things to come
are there any rumors involving briggs to philadelphia
are we interested in anyway ?
I am not sure about anymore rumors PW,
What I do know is the the Bears needs upgrades at TE and WR where the Eagles have some quality depth to trade.. The Bears also need upgrades along the OL but so do the Eagles and almost every other team in the NFL..
Could a package of TE C Harbor or a D Lee with a WR like R Cooper or J Avant
be attractive enough for the Bears.. Possibly..
Some NFL PLayers released today that the Eagles may took a look at
Steelers- LB Mort Ivy (Excellent Special Teamer and very Physical at 6-1 240lbs and can run )
Patriots LB Ricky Brown at 6-2 235lbs amnd is a 5 Year Vt who played with the Raiders as a back-up and Special Teamer
Couple os ex-Eagles rewleased today
DB’s Macho Harris from the Steelers and Matt WAre from Arizona Cardinals
(It still cracks me up that many Philly Fans and the local Media thought the Macho Harris was an NFL Starter Material)
Another Season Ending for the Giants as LB CLint SIntim tore his kneww up and was placed on IR meaning his 2011 Season is over (this is the 4th significant players from the Giants Defense to be placed on Season ending injury) .. Sintim was a high Draft pick 3 years ago and has never broken into a full-time aStarter or player that they had hoped. but was having his best camp and Preseaon so this is real blow to the Giants and to him.
Lt’s keep harbor and lee..and ship celek’s ass outta here in a trade.
Lee shows he can play and even break off routes to get open.
Paul, I thought you knew everything – Mike Martz (Chi OC), thinks the TE position is less important than Andy read thinks LB is. He doesn’t like to use TEs – thats why they let Greg Olson go.
So you or anyone else’s wish to land Briggs – (and the motivation for the bears to trade one of their better players would be ….um… what?) is pretty much resting on a baseless foundation.
Paul
You blog a lot of crazy stuff (smile), but I like your idea of playing Rolle as a safety, then moving him to linebacker in passing situations. I wonder if Reid & Co. have thought of that.
Paul
Can you get your “sources” to whisper in Reid’s ear?
They let TE G Olsen go for he was in his last year of his Contract and he wanted an extension which they weren’t going to give it to him, so he was a goner after this Season as far as the Bears were concerned and decided to get a mid-round Draft pick instead of him walking after the Season.. (Do your Homework Schill)
Playing Outdoors on that crappty field that is Soldier Filed come Nov/Dec and playoffs, you need a good pass receving TE and especially since the Bears don’t have a great WR corps to being with.. any Coach/GM would know that..
I wouln’t mind seeing Celek be moved, I stated all off-season that Donald Lee would be a great pick-up and eventually become the Starter in an open competition battle with Celek who is probably in the bottom 1/3 of TE’s in the NFC and .. I am still not sold on Harbor being a productive starting type of TE in the NFL ..
Thanks Drummer,
I was hoping they would do this with Rolle right from the get go in camp but wit no OTa an da shortage of quality LB’s, they probably wanted to see how he would do a a full-time LB.. He was an All-State Safety (Ohio) and I think could be just a monster along the back-line and of course who would have to work on PAss-Coverage skills.. But on obvious passing situations, slike him up to FOkou’s spot to cover Backs/TE and he would be fine.. Meanwhile on 1st and 2nd down, he could be that 8th Man in the Box and really help in the defensing the run and again when you look at the Eagles Schedule and especially early on where they face running teams the Rams,Falcons,Giants,49ers , there is no doubt that these 4 opponents will all attempt to pound the ball to shorten the game and to keep the Eagles Offense on the Sidelines..
ha, paul, yeah, speaking of predictions, didn’t you say Brandon Graham would be on IR? Try PUP.
For the rest of you – how cool would it be if B Graham breaks out in the second half/end of the season, into the playoffs!? If our Dline plays as well as washburn system and the new additions has made it look in the preseason, and then they get that boost!? Look I know the guy is coming of a significant injury, so i’m not saying it will happen, but IF!? — Jwash said it himself that B graham was one of his favorite players coming out of the draft in a while.
WHEW how good that could be.
He’s been on PUP for a while (as has W Justice), but I think by tommorrow and as they teweaked to get to the #53 that he will be moved to IR and have him concentrate on being 100% for next season OTA and be raring to go in 2012
Th Way the DE’s have played so far, I don’t think the Eagles have a pressing need to have him return before he’s 100% and with the investment they made in him, they would be foolish to jeopardize his long-term health in that Surgically repaired knee.. I don’t think the Eagles will have the luxury of carrying him on the Roster as a PUP if they don’t feel he can return by week #5.. DE’s Cole,Babin,Tapp,Hunt and even Teo have all played well this Summer Camp and Preseason so far and they will also will have Jenkins and possibly HArgrove who can both rush the passer from the DE position.. I really see little benefit unless he’s 100% Healthy within the next month and probably Graham and the medical staff are the only ones who can asnwer that.. ,
Now WJ is another story I believe and is probably about a month of being able to return, so he likely will remain on the PUP list to start the Season and then be activated come October (after the 5th Week) since there is much more of a need for his return with the lack of depth at OT for the Eagles, bu if Herremans and Mathis play well, then WJ will be a back-up.. but if Herremans struggles of Mathis or even WAtkins struggle, then I see WJ coming back in as Starting RT and Herremans moving back to LG or maybe even RG if Watkins were to struggle.. .
Schill I agree with you. Graham could be a huge jolt for a play off run. I think Graham is going to be a good player kind of like an Osi (except for the crying).
Paulman on PUP allows the team some insurance if we were to lose a DE in the next 6 weeks – which statistically is likely. If not, Graham in this system has to be better than say Teo.
I agreee with you guys that it would be great to have him ready for 2ns Half run,but only if he’s 100%.. Remember he had that major Surgery last mid-December and most people say it takes a good 12-16 months to fully recover
It all depends if he’s healthy enough to play and contribute and so far, I’ve heard that he has a ways to go on his recovery.. You can only have a limited amount of players on “PUP” and then a decision has to be made by week #5 on whether you activated them or place them on season-ending IR list.. So even if he’s healed by late October with no practice reps in almost 10 months time, I am not sure that we can expect anything from him for it will take a while to get into game shape,plus learning and playing in the new schemes.. As far as a comparioson to Osi, I see very little if any comparison.. OSi is leaner,longer with a longer arm span.. Graham reminds me of a Darryl Tapp, a Robert t Mathis who are stocky, short arms, built low to the ground with a burst of speed and strength,.. The biggest thing Graham has to work on is his conditioning,endurance and his cardio stamina, I never saw a player get so winded after just a few plays when watching him play last year.. He needs to improve big time in this area if he want’s to be an everydown player in the NFL, If not, he will end up being an expensive Rotational player who gets on the field 20 times a game and he has too much talent for that.. I wonder if he has some type of breating issues where he hyper ventilates or something but watching him last year there were many times where he had to come of the field only after a few plays for being winded already.. and this occurred all season long with him…
I am very very skeptical about releasing Parker. Fans tend to forget how good is. Honestly I think he is damn near as good as Cole. Yes he wears down {just like Cole), but I gotta believe with Babin and Tapp a rotation is finally feasable. As far as the 4 million dollar cap hit it doesnt effect me one bit. Its not like Im getting the savings. I gotta believe if the Eagles are planning on resigning Jackson that they still can do it with other cuts besides Parker.
Anyone else catch:(I think I saw it of the Eagles website), that they announced that DJax is gonna be the punt returner? That is huge. Im guessing that Rosenhaus and Jackson must know they are getting a contract before 9/11. But even so I thought last year he was only going back in dire situations. Do we risk him back there on a every punt situation? I wouldnt. Also I Love Donald Lee as the starting TE. He is so athletic. I just think Celek isnt very good. Hes big slow and cant block.
Celek is another in a long line of the next “Great White Hope” for the Eagles who was Built up and Over-hyped by the Organization and the local Media and Fans as a Pro-Bowl Type of player when he is simply average..
You can Put him on the list along with QB Kolb, LB Bradley, and I fear LB Matthews will soon be added to this list..
Paulman…you are right on.
Matthews is matt mccy with hair…..here’s the answer for him. HGH
Not bring Race into it ansd I am a white guy too) , but every Season there seems to be that token white player that really isn’t that good get all hyped up..
2011- LB C Matthews & WR R Cooper
2010 – QB K Kolb
2009 – LB Bradley & C Gocong
2008 – TE Celek & WR/Returner J Bloom
2007 – Safety Considine and WR Kevin Curtis
2006 – LB M McCoy , TE MAtt Schoebel and Punter D Johnson
2005 – LB M Simoneau and R Mahe
2004 – FB J Parry and DL S Rayburn
2003 – DE ND Kalu and TE J Thomason
2002 – FB J Ritchie and WR/Special Teamer S Morey
2001 – S Tim Hauck and DL P Grasmanis and Brandon Whiting…
2000 – DE M Maula and Punter S Landeta
Paulman ND Kalu was umm blue black. lol
Hawaiin wasn’t he (like Mahe) . . Anyways,I was starting to run out of names… ha ha , I hope I didn’t offend anyone for I was just putting together a list of some recent players who happened to be white and who also did noy live up to expectation… (Forgot K Detmer, AJ Feeley and M McMahon too)
Paul, here’s why your little analysis is so stupid – anyone of us could make a list of guys, same years, same amount of players that were black. It’s as simple as that. They’re people.
Paulman’s All-time list of Underperforming Posters from GCobb no matter what Race,Creed, or Sexual Orientation/Prefereneces …
2011 (to date) – Schiller
2010 – Schiller
2009 – Schiller
2008 – Schiller
2007 – Schiller
2006 – Schiller
2005 – Schiller
Hey Schill, let me be straight up and honest with you, we all like coming on and offering our opinions, ideas, predictions, bitches, wish lists or whatever and to even bust stones and have a good time poking fun at each other, but when will you ever actually add a suggestion or a comment about any of the articles/subject matter themselves, insted of just commenting on other posters comments. It’s become very annoying and alot of regulars on here are getting tired of it.. Add something to the posts, to the articles or come up with something new yourself, but all we get from you is the old tired response’s on what another poster had commented on are trying to prove them wrong.. by stating How do you know ?? You can’t be certain ?? You can’t possible predict the future (which is what fans do by the way) or the old The team with the most points wins ??? It’s gotten old my friend and your are smart fan that is more than capacble of making suggestions,analysis or adding your insigt to the subject matter for I know you have good ideas and are passionate fan who is knowledgeble about the team and the sport…
Paul, wow, you’ve been holding that in for so long! Feel better? Hope so.
I’m not gonna stop of change by the way.
Hey, hows the Jamal Jackson prediction looking?