Earlier in the week, I took a look at the Eagles’ moves on the offensive side of the ball, and now it’s time to do the same for the defense.
Defensive Line
Gained: Brian Mihalak
Lost: None
If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
The Eagles’ defensive line was one of their greatest strengths in 2014, and there was little reason to even consider changing things up here.
The Birds are going to continue to rely on the growth and development of their budding stars in Fletcher Cox, Cedric Thornton, and Bennie Logan while sprinkling in Vinny Curry and Brandon Bair. Beau Allen and Taylor Hart were here last year, but aren’t necessarily locks to return.
Has The Position Improved? Not through adding new talent, but this group is a strong young one that should improve on their own.
Linebacker
Gained: Kiko Alonso, Jordan Hicks, Brad Jones
Lost: Trent Cole
One of the major gains for this defense was the pickup of Kiko Alonso, a very talented prospect who was a major piece of the Buffalo defense two years ago. If healthy, he should step in immediately and help make this defense better.
Jordan Hicks and Brad Jones were also added, and should improve the team’s depth and be instant contributors on special teams.
Trent Cole was a cap casualty over the off-season. Cole had lost a step, but he was still a valuable member of this defense. He was a good veteran presence and gave the Birds quality, reliable play that they may very well miss.
I’m not sold on Brandon Graham as an answer on the outside. Graham played his best football as an Eagle over the last two years, but when he was afforded an opportunity to start for an injured Cole late last season he disappeared.
With that in mind, I’m not certain that he’s anything more than a part-time player that the Eagles may have just overpayed. However, even if Graham were to disappoint, the Eagles could still play Kendricks on the outside.
Has The Position Improved? Yes
Cornerback
Gained: Byron Maxwell, Eric Rowe
Lost: Cary Williams, Bradley Fletcher
The Eagles made it a priority to upgrade their cornerbacks this winter.
Gone are the erratic Cary Williams and the overmatched Bradley Fletcher, and replacing them are top free agent prize Byron Maxwell and second-round pick Eric Rowe.
I can’t wait to see what Maxwell will add to this defense. He should bring a certain swagger with him after being so successful alongside Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and the Legion of Boom, and the Eagles will need him to be every bit as good as advertised if they’re to stand a chance against the elite receivers in their division.
Rowe represents the future, but I don’t think the Eagles should press him into action if he’s not ready. I would be fine with giving Brandon Boykin a chance to perform on the outside while letting Rowe learn and develop while contributing in dime and nickel packages before taking on a full-time role if it’s not necessary.
Has The Position Improved? Yes
Safety
Gained: N/A
Lost: Nate Allen
The Eagles did well across the board to improve themselves defensively, however the safety position mysteriously went untouched.
The team allowed Nate Allen to leave through free agency, and didn’t so much as sign one other veteran to at least bring some kind of experience or competition to the mix.
They’ll let guys like Earl Wolff and Jaylen Watkins battle it out for the job in Training Camp, but this position is going to remain an issue.
However, if there’s a silver lining here its that with the upgrades at corner it may easier to hide a weakness safety than it has been in recent years.
Has The Position Improved? No, and it may have gotten worse.
Final Thoughts
Unlike the moves on the offensive side of the ball, I really like what the Eagles have done to their defense.
While safety is still a problem, and I’m not at all sold on Brandon Graham, the secondary has improved considerably over what it was a year ago.
The key to this unit is going to be Maxwell. If he’s truly an elite corner, and can go toe-to-toe with guys like Dez Bryant, Odell Beckham, and DeSean Jackson and give the Eagles much better efforts than what they got from Cary Williams or Bradley Fletcher a year ago, than I think that alone will make this defense much stronger.
The front seven was already a strong group, and if they’ve got a secondary behind them that is even slightly above average, then this is a unit that should be expected to keep the Eagles in a majority of football games.
I still am not sold on the strength and depth of the Def/Line and especially in the middle.. Do note that the Eagles Pass Defense was so horrible the last 2 Seasons that Teams didn’t really stay with the run against the Eagles since it was open season passing against their Secondary so I am not sold on how strong this Front 7 Will be in stropping the strong Running games of some of their opponents who like to Run the Ball (Jets,Bills,Panthers,Cardinals)
With a Rebuilt Secondary and new Secondary Coach who did a nice job with the Bronco’s should be much improved but it will still take a half a season for 3-4 New Players and a new Coach to start jelling and playing fast without thinking about it and getting used to playing with other
Front seven is fine…maybe a NT to backup Bennie or another 5 tech….but not a concern…..just need that secondary to gel and that will take until bout week 7 or 8 then you will see them make a run….but I do agree pman what you have said in past we gotta get a more ball control approach on offense….to keep our defense fresh…we got the runners for it
Smart Play-Calling on Offense as well as Execution with determine the fate of the Eagles 2015 Season.. the 4-5 Plays in 1 & 1/2 minutes Drives are not going to help this Team out at all
A nice Things is the Eagles are Playing some Teams that are not real Pass-Happy or Sophisticated in their Passing Attacks
Falcons have new Coaching Staff and probably will lean on QB Ryan and their Passing attack until they get their new System up to Speed
Jets,Bills, Panthers, Cardinals, Redskins are all Run first Teams
The Cowboys are going to try to be balanced and not have Romo tossing the ball some 35-40 times a game
Tamp Bay will be playing a Rookie QB in J Winston
Saints are going to more Physical Run oriented Offense without TE Graham and WR Stills and will lean more on RB Ingram and Scat Back CJ Spiller
Lions are trying to become a more physical, balanced attack under HC jim Caldwell as opposed to having Stafford drop back 40 times a Game..
all true pman…..it was so frustrating watch our Offense go onto the field and go 3 and out in less then 30 seconds…..it seems if we didn’t get that 1st first down the offense would suck on the drive
I”m not saying do away with the hurry up style just know when to use it and not to use it….it makes us a dangerous team knowing we can go speed up or slow down when the situation calls for it
Was my #1 concern when Kelly was hired. Still my #1 concern. “Blur” offence leads to D playing 50% more snaps and getting worn down
#2 Free agency/trading for a MASH unit
#3 Murray’s 6745397 touches last year
#4 “All kid” WR corps
#5 Oline depth when someone goes down?
#6 Sam Bradford???
#7 Sanchez and Tebow when Bradford goes down??????????????????
#8 No seriously, Sanchez is going to play a lot in 2015
#9 Mark Sanchez
#10 Bill Davis
#11 Mark Sanchez will pay this year
#12 Counting on 19 start Maxwell to be good
#13 Who is the other safety again?
#14 Who are the OLBs again?
I think that’s about it….did I mention the QB situation enough??
we have barwin graham and probally alonzo l….I swear your bitching never stops