The Eagles have a problem at the tight end position. They’ve got a Pro Bowl level starter in Brent Celek, but they’ve got problems with the backups. I could see the Birds making some type of move at the position before the season starts.
Second year tight end Cornelius Ingram has been a big disappointment. He had shown tremendous promise a year ago, but he hasn’t recovered from the knee surgery could stop him from playing all year. Today, he had a cyst removed from the back of his knee and his legs just aren’t holding up to the demand of training camp.
Ingram’s legs don’t have the explosiveness that he showed during the early training camp of 2009. The Birds had planned on him being a factor in the red zone and had designed plays for him, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to run any of them.
Rookie Clay Harbor has outplayed Ingram in camp and he will be the number two tight end on the roster. Harbor has good speed, hands and receiving skills. Kevin Kolb seems to already have developed some confidence in the young fella, so he’s going to catch some passes.
The only problem with Harbor is that he can’t block. He didn’t have to block in college, so he’s got an excuse but he can’t block the linebackers and defensive ends in this league. They can’t even think about running behind this young man.
“In college, you could have some bad footwork, be lazy with your technique and if you’re a better athlete than the other guy you’ll block him. In the NFL, you can’t do that,” Harbor said. “You have huge defensive ends who are athletic, very athletic. Just to give yourself a chance to win you have to have perfect technique and come as hard as you can. The blocking has been the biggest change from small college to now. It’s coming along, but it’s a lot harder.
I don’t want to see them leave Harbor in a one-on-one situations with some of the league’s top pass rushers like DeMarcus Ware, Justin Tuck, or Dwight Freeney. It’ll be a recipe for disaster because this young man won’t even slow them up during their pursuit of the quarterback. If they make that mistake of asking this kid to pass block, it could wind up getting Kolb hurt.
I said all of that to say that the Eagles need to sign a tight end. They need to get a guy who can block. They’ve got Celek who is a complete tight end and they’ve got Harbor to run routes when they go to two tight end on passing situations.
If they want to run the football sometimes in two-tight end sets, they need to acquire another tight end, who can block. We also don’t need to see the Eagles run another short yardage play like that 3rd and 1 play they ran against the Bengals.
G – Yup, Harbor’s challenges with pass blocking should be a concern for Andy, especially when there are already concerns over the O Line’s ability to block. I do doubt Andy’s tossing and turning at night and bouncing Tammy out of the bed over running with two TE sets since I doubt he has many plans over actually running the ball. Maybe look like they’ll run but not actaully do it.
I hope AR addresses this asap and it doesn’t turn out to be this years version of andy’s annual bite us in the ass later oversights. AR is so arrogant he thinks he can coach up anyone and make them something they’re not. (Dan Klecko as a fullback? SMH). If this kid cant block I don’t want him in there. We have a TE who can catch already. Get one who can block. if Kolb or anyone of our skill players gets hurt becuz of this guy that would be a travesty. Unless of course G is just being overly dramatic…. Wouldn’t be the first time…lol
I hear the left tackle Jason Peters was a tight end . Maybe he can fill in.
I agree 100% G and have stated this concern for over 2 weeks. Ingram is obviously nowhere near
100% recovered from back to back Knee Surgeries to repair torn ACL’s and most likely will be placed on IR soon and miss the entire 2010 season to allow him 1 more year of rehab and recovery with the hopes of making an impact for 2011 (I doubt he will ever make an impact which is unfortunate but if you don’t play for 2/3 years, it’s like starting all over again and too much time has been lost)
Harbor clearly isn’t ready to be the # 2 TE for he is a Rookie and still learning the system and is not adept at blocking at the NFL Level and physically is not up to par for NFL TE, I still think he makes the 53 Man squad and will contribute on Special teams, catch a few balls and will develop into a good receiving TE/HB in a year or 2 but is not going to make any big impact here in 2010.
I have expressed my concern in the event that Celek gets injured or just needs a rest from time to time.. Celek has taken a lot of heavy hits the last 2 season and he can’t do it all himself…
This is my plan of action, place Ingram land on IR to give him 1 more full year of recovery and then see where he’s at come next Spring, in the meanwhile, the Eagles need to go out and get an experienced TE who has some blocking abilities
Here’s a quick list of who is on the street right now looking for a team
TE – D Campbell 6’5″ 265lbs (11 year vet who played last season with the Saints)
TE – D Dinkins 6’4″ 260 lbs (8 year vet who played last season with the Saints)
TE – C Fitzsimmons 6’4″ 260lbs (7 yer vet last played for Detroit)
TE – LJ Smith 6’3″ 245lbs (7 year vet who played on Eagles and last year with Ravens)
(obviously LJ SMith is familiar with system and could be a short-term quick fix though it would
not be a popular move but I am not sure the Eagles have a lot of options at this point)
I look at around at some of the teams that have depth at TE positions and the Ravens,Bengals come to mind with each team having 3 solid TE’s.. Ravens needs CB help and may be intersested in a Hanson or Patterson for a TE (they have T Heap, E Dickson, D Pitta and D Drew currently on their roster) The Bengals are stacked at TE with rookie J Gresham,R Kelly, C Coffman,& D Coats)
The Eagles were very high on C Coffman coming out of College a couple years back and D Pitta is from BYU and almost a clone of a young B Celek)
Any way you slice it and dice it, the Eagles need to find out about 3-4 postions and get them solidified within the next Week to start prepping for the regular season in this order
#1) Starting RG – the Stacey Andrews experiment is mercifully about to end
#2) Back-Up RB – Is Mike Bell reliable enough to handle the #2 spot (so far it’s no he’s not)
#3) Back-Up TE – Celek needs help, Eagles need an experienced,run blocking TE
#4) Kick-off Returner – C Hall is not quick or explosive enough to play at the NFL level..Nice story and heart of gold, he simply is not athletic enough to play at this level today in 2010
BigE Why not, he lines up as deep as a TE.
“The Eagles were very high on C Coffman coming out of College a couple years back and D Pitta is from BYU and almost a clone of a young B Celek”
Pauli, a young Celek sucked at blocking….
To Jonathan the Sailor,
and Celek is still not that good at blocking either, but he’s the best one they got on the roster..
Not to change the Subject
Anyone watch the Packers just shred a very athletic an fast Colt Defense,,
I am talking the entire 1 st Half when both teams has the #1 Starters in
#1) Rodgers gets rid of the ball quickly and is very accurate
#2) Packers O/Line and Pass-Protections schemes controlled both DE’s (Freeney & Mathis)
#3) PAckers may have the Best overall WR corps in the NFC and possibly the entire NFL
(WR G Jennings,D Driver,J Jones and J Nelson are wuick,strong and can run after the catch)
#4) Packers TE J Finely is the best receiving TE, I have seen in 20 Years.. This guy is 6’5″ and can run and catches everything, he reminds me of a Keith Jackson type.. I have been talking this guy up all camp season but he really put on a clinic tonight agains Colts Safetie’s Bob Saners and L Bethea
who are as good as a Safety Tandem that is in the NFL…
#5) If Eagles can’t sustain drivers and east some clock,Game 1 could get ugly
JonathanS- His Eagles Bio actually says he started his career in 2004 as a tight end and was converted to tackle in 2004. He must have put on too much weight (now at 340+)
PM- weren’t the Colts in the lead 17-14 towards the end of the half.
To Big E,
Colts were leading 17-14 with about 6-7 minutes left until halftime and then the huffs came off
Colt Punt Returner tried fair-catching a ball at his own 5 yard line and misjudged the ball and it bounced off his shoulder into the end-zone in which the Packers recovered for a 21-17 lead (why he even attempted to catch the ball instead of getting out of the way and letting it bounce into the endzone is beyone me..)
On next series, Manning threw a horrible pass in which Rookie Safety (M Burnett who I wanted the Eagles to Draft) intercepted and then Rodgers marched the Packers back down the field for TD and a half-time lead of 28-17. Rogers from the 2nd Period on was on fire and maybe was touched once
by the Colts Pass Rush (Freeney & Mathis were blocked very well and did very little)
Colts O/Line looked very shaky and still cannot run the ball, their All-Pro Center J Saturday is out to about the 2nd/3rd Week of the season, they lost Guard R Lilja to Free-Agency and have some real inexperience along the O/Line right now…
AR ” Celek will play every snap no problem there”
Man is this the best era for qb’s?
did any1 see the games last night my god brady 18-22 273 yards 3tds a perfect qb rating
bradford who was under pressure most of the night 15 for 22 189 yards 2tds
arron rodgers 21/29 195yrds 3td’s
and peyt the great 15/26 214 yards 2tds
just ridiculous qb play last night
im 29 yrs old and im honestly asking is this the best era for qb’s ?
Pwill – Yeah, if you’re looking at stats, because it’s a passing league now more than ever. And especially if you look at preseason where defense don’t gameplan to stop opposing offenses specifically. If you take everything into account, then it’s probably more eqaul because older QBs played in a very different league.
im just looking around the league and besides like 4 5 teams every teams qb is very good
PW, Don’t forget M Vicks stats thru 2 games thus far
12 for 22 with 125 yards passing with 3 Int’s and 1 Fumble lost and a QB rating of 35….
and you and others think he should be the #1 QB for the Eagles.. He cannot play QB, he can scramble and run for 30-40 yards in a game, but that’s not what you want your QB doing, he needs to be able to read defenses and get the ball out quickly to his playmakers which he is unable to do consistently and efficiently, He’s a Bust plain and simple and will be completely out of the NFL after this final season with the Eagles..
But back to the big #’s put up by the above QB’s,
Many Teams along theD/Lines and especially in the Secondaries are running just plain,vanilla coverages and will besaving their packages and more attacking schemes for when the Regular Season begins. I tell you what though, The Packers Offense looked pretty damn good last evening
and will definitely put up some points versus this Eagle defense.. The WR’s/TE for the Packers are probably the best as a group in the NFC and will be a nightmare for many teams Secondaries to handle..
i said he should compete and he would have lost prob but he would have lost because of his terrible game not because any 1 won the job
but he looked good when he played with the number 1 offense in gm 1
vick will surprise u this yr
Played with the #1 versus the Jaguars # 2 Defense..
Now it’s you who sounds like your making excuses on his lackluser performance..
he stunk no excuses here
i said he played well with more of the starters on the field which was true
look he engineered a td at least
he stunk last gm but like am i supposed to be impressed by kolb thusfar
i watched football last night now that was impressive qb play
havent seen that here at all not even close
Paul Mancini – excellent posts. I would add that the Packers also displayed a depth of talent at TE including Quarless from PSU. Also, their 2nd and 3rd string OL’s dominated their opposite numbers on the Colts. Clearly, The Pack is Back. A very tough opener for the Birds.
Also meant to add that your assessment on Vick is right on. If the Eagles believe he is a competent b/u option for Kolb they are delusional. If Kolb goes down at this point, the Birds have no chance this season.
Thanx FishFryFrank…
Did I play softball with you years ago in South Jersey by chance…
When will Eaglesnation realize the real problem with the Philadelphia Eagles was never Donovan McNabb. The current head coach and his entire staff sucks. Just take a moment to understand why the Eagles have not won a superbowl yet…Andy Reid and the front office have yet to understand that size and speed and a power running game is what todays NFL is. We bring in Ernie Sims who weighs what 230 Lbs at will backer??? then we give Stacy andrews 30 mil for what??? Andy reid says Jason peters is the best LT in the game??? this may be true if Andy reid ran the ball behind him more. Our best player Desean jackson is what 5′ 9″ 175 you have got to be kidding. as good as desean is, if your best player is this small it is going to be a long year. remember in all the past Drafts Andy reid kept drafting all these offensive linemen where the hell are they now??? This team will never win a superbowl with this type of thinking. MARK MY WORD ON THIS.
Agreed Talongrip! Eagles fans look through rose colored glasses every year, but the bottom line is this team is to small on the defensive side of the ball.. especially the secondary and front four. Is it me or is Mike Patterson’s play declining every year? This team needs at least one pass rushing DT OVER 330 PDS that can play. They should have moved up from the 14th pick in the 1st rd in 2006 and chose Haloti Ngata who would look very good next to Patterson or Bunkley. I would prefer Bunkley and Ngata but they were in the same draft class.
Agree with Ironman,
I think M Patterson may be one of the most overrated Eagles Starters that have and has gone downhill each of the last 2 years.. You can Add WR J Maclin, LT J Peters, FB L Weaver to this list also..