Was Andy Reid Shining Light On Nate Allen Or Howie Roseman?

For years Eagles head coach Andy Reid has gone out of way to protect his players.  He’s still doing that but not nearly as much.  It could because he’s on his way out or there could be another reason.  It could be a way to shine light on the poor job done by talent evaluator and Birds GM Howie Roseman.

if you wonder why the Eagles have a problem at the safety position, it’s very simple.  They drafted Allen in the second round in 2010 and Temple safety Jaiquawn Jarrett in second round in 2011.  Allen is now on the bench and Jarrett isn’t on an NFL roster.

Yesterday he shed some light on the obvious problem with the play of Allen, who is a safety who was drafted in the second round in 2010.  Reid was asked why special teams ace Colt Anderson and seventh round pick Kurt Coleman would be starting ahead of Allen in the upcoming battle with the Redskins.

“Colt came in and we asked him to fill in at the line of scrimmage and be a physical player in there and he did a nice job with that”, Reid responded. “We needed that at that time and we’re going to need it this week. They run the football and do a good job with that. So, we’ll leave him in that position and let him continue to do that.”

As for Coleman getting the starting nod and Allen being  benched:

“All three will probably have an opportunity to play”, Reid responded. “But again, right now, Kurt is a little bit more stout in there and we need that. We need that this week.”

First of all, Allen is bigger and faster than both Anderson and Coleman, but he doesn’t play nearly as aggressive.  To me Allen seems hesitant when attacking ball carriers.  The safety catches the runner rather than attacking him.  He’s also a step late when going after the football in the passing game.  Allen doesn’t turn it loose the way he should and play confidently.  Reid shared what Allen needs to do going forward.

“The first thing was to stay healthy”, Reid said. “He’s been up and down with that. Then, just continue to get better. That’s the primary thing; just keep taking steps forward to get better.”

Take a look at the 2010 draft with defensive end Brandon Graham, who is finally starting to play like a number one pick after two and half years of doing nothing.  The second pick was Allen.

The next pick was defensive lineman Daniel Te’o Nesheim, who was obviously a project, who did nothing here and is currently starting for Tampa Bay.  Next up was cornerback Trevard Lindley, who they have brought back here a couple of times, but he isn’t on a NFL roster.

The 2011 draft class is even worse with offensive guard Danny Watkins, who is sitting the bench right now.   How do you draft a 26 year old guard in the first round?  People get guards from all over, but they don’t use first round picks on them.  I’ve heard from a couple of sources that he wants to be fireman much more than a NFL player.  Both Reid and Roseman told he was going to be great.

No other teams have touched Jarrett and he’s out of the league. Here you have a second-round pick, who nobody else in the league will go anywhere near.  I heard both Reid and Roseman sing his praises when he was drafted.

Cornerback Curtis Marsh was drafted in the third round, but can’t get off the bench, despite the poor play of the Eagles starting cornerbacks, Nmandi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Linebacker Casey Matthews was drafted in the fourth round and was a starter at the beginning of his rookie year before losing the job and being relegated to the bench since then.  He plays on the special teams.

I think the 2012 draft was much better with Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks, Vinny Curry, Nick Foles,  Brandon Boykin and Bryce Brown.

There are some people who want to give credit for the 2010 and 2011 drafts to Reid and give credit for the 2012 draft to Roseman, but you can’t do that.  Reid had final say in all of those drafts but Roseman was the guy who went out and evaluated all of these players.  Roseman didn’t have final say in the 2012 draft, so you can’t get credit for that one without also giving him some of the responsibility for the 2010 and 2011 drafts.

I clearly remember him taking credit for both the 2010 and 2011 drafts.  I can’t really say that I know how much Reid was responsible for and how much Roseman was responsible for, but we do know that each of them played the same roles in all three of those drafts.  Who should get the credit for both of them?

Regardless of who the Eagles new coach is, Jeffrey Lurie must make sure Roseman is the guy he wants evaluating and drafting the players.