Going into the off-season, most Eagles fans and pundits alike expected the tea, to go out and sign a veteran safety to compete with Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman, and Jaiquawn Jarrett. However, they didn’t address the position until last week when they signed former Redskin and Ram O.J. Atogwe on Wednesday.
In my view, this is a low risk, high reward signing that helps the Birds in many ways. Atogwe is needed for depth reasons. He is more of a free safety, but I could also see him playing strong safety, and has the size to do it at 5’11 205 lbs. Safety has a ton of question this year for the Eagles, and Atogwe can step in if needed.
His main strength as a player is his play making ability. He has 25 interceptions in his career, and is known to force turnovers. At times last season the Eagles defense seemed to stay on the field for too long, and that’s with Asante Samuel. Atogwe could help replace the production of Samuel in certain situations. He has nose for the ball that could help give the ball back to Michael Vick in 2012.
Atogwe is also a locker room guy. He can be a learning tool for the Eagles young safeties and can provide leadership that the Eagles defense desperately needed in 2011.The only real concern is Atogwe’s has an injury history. He missed 3 games last year with the Redskins, who eventually cut him because of his injury concerns.
Atogwe is a player that the Eagles sorely needed last year. He provides depth behind Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett, and can provide insurance in case either of them gets hurt under-performs. He is a great guy for the Eagles to have in the locker room and be a great teacher for the Eagles young players on defense. I also believe that he has untapped potential and could thrive with the right coaching, and the talented players around him. Provided that he stays healthy, this is a player that could reap high rewards for the Eagles.
Atogwe is not the player he was 3-4 Years ago and wouldn’t count on him for much, In fact I would not be surprised if he struggles to make the final 53-Man Roster.. He’s has a lot of injuries the last few seasons (Neck,Should,Knee)
I think the Eagles had some better options out there with a Melvin Bullitt,Chris Harris, Gabril WIlson or even a Kareem Moore than Atogwe but that’s just my opinion.. Word down in Washington is that he is a good Teammate and Locker Room prescence but that he struggled picking up the Redskin Defense and Schemes after playing with the Rams for the previous 6-7 Seasons.. can he bring stability and expereince, sure he can, but he will need to contribute on Special Teams which he hasn’t down in a few years so we will see how he does..
Hey paulman i noticed you have the nack for predicting the future and all so iwas wondering if you could email me the mega millions numbers please..lol How do you know he will struggle to make the team? When a man is faced with the decision on how to feed his familiy and pay bills they get powers out of nowere. And to top it off if a pro football doctor cleared him to play i think he will be ok. you are so negitive why dont you become some other teams so called fan. We need to be happy we have a team to cheer for not every state has a team and i feel with all the negitive coments you come on here and say you are part of the reason the city of brotherly love turned into NEGAdelphia..And when are you going to apply for a job in pro sports since you know so damn much…. Post something to be happy about here or dont post at all.. This is a season for us to cheer just becasue we can.. So please change your ways brother thats if you bleed green. or do you bleed red or blue?
Sorry Scramz, someone has to keep it real and tell it like it is..
I look at Atogwe who made approx $8-10 Million last year with his Signing Bonus and 1st Year Salary with that big Free-Agent Deal he signed with the Redskins so I don’t think he’s playing to put food on his children’s plates.. I see him a lot like Safety Sean Jones ho came from Cleveland who was a tough,hard hitting Safety who just didn’t have the foot speed or the smarts to pick-up the Eagles Defense.. You notice how Sean Jones is on a Different Team every year.. I am not buying into the hype of Players who are older,injured and on the downside of their career’s which is exactly where I think Atogwe is at this place and time …
scramz – I’ve been down this road with Paul many times. He doesn’t “bleed” anything for sports teams. He’s no traditional fan. He isn’t into sports for the thrill/hope of his favorite team winning it all. He’s in it for the general enjoyment, and personal ego fulfillment with is predictions, proposed knowledge (of which he has no advantage over anyone else other than what seems like a lot of time on his hands to do internet research) and jokes.
That’s all for him. Don’t expect him to change his ways – the man is awesome at being consitent. And don’t expect him to behave like normal fans – he ain’t one.
Oh yeah, and he likes to take the negative side when it comes to what Philly fans want because it brings him attention and its a game for him. He was hating on the Phillies even when they were dominant. Now, like a broken clock, he happens to be on point with the Phillies, and he’s taking credit and delighting in it.
Atogwe is the best Safety on the team and if this coaching staff see him as a backup that shows their incompetence.
Our Safeties are ass.
Atogwe is a good addition, my suspicion is that he will start either after he beats someone in practice over the summer or at some point relatively early in the season. Again though, the name that comes to mind when thinking about Atogwe is Bob Sanders and I don’t think he’s as good as Bob Sanders, injuries notwithstanding. Basically, they buried him on the bench after seeing how long it took the defense to, as a whole, last season to get it together. My concern comes in when considering Spagnoula didn’t have a lot a play makers on his defense in St. Louis outside of the D-Line and Atogwe was expendable to him, so how does that work?
Atogwe and Sanders.. I see little comparison Butch
Sanders was cat-like quick, Atogwe weakness is his lack of foot speed
Atogwe was a free-agent and wanted a big contract in which the Rams were unwilling to pay for a rebuilding program and let him walk and signed a more comparable Safety in Q Mikell at 1/2 the $$$$
Atogwe was a Top 5 Safety from 2007-2009 but has been average best the last 2 seasons and as I have noted, it was reported that he had a very difficult time picking up the Redksins Scheme which is why he was beat out for the Starters job in Washington by journeymen players Reed Doughty..
Paulman…Average at best is an improvement from what we have at Safety.