With the signing of cornerback Asante Samuel, Andy Reid and the Eagles have once again come away with the premier free agent in the NFL. They landed Jon Runyan in 2000 and Jevon Kearse in 2004 — the same year the team pulled off a trade for a stud wideout whose initials rhyme with B.O.Runyan has served as the anchor of the Eagles best offensive line in history. Although he was mostly a bust in Eagle Green, Kearse helped steady a pass rush that led the Eagles to Super Bowl XXXIX. Both signings were met with media buzz and overwhelming approval of he fan base, and with good reason.
Should fans regard the Samuel signing with the same expectations? This free agent coup is not that until other chips fall into place. Samuel himself is not the savior.
Cornerbacks generally don’t pack much punch in a defensive backfield unless you get pressure on the opposing passer. The Eagles generally have excelled in this area under Jim Johnson, who utilizes the blitz as well as any defensive coordinator in the NFL.
Last season, however, the Eagles pass rush was nonexistent for much of the year. Yes, Trent Cole went to the Pro Bowl with 12.5 sacks, but Kearse and Darren Howard were disappointments. The team tied for 9th in the league with 37 sacks, but that stat is smoke and mirrors.
In seven games the team recorded one or less sacks, including a goose egg in three contests. Moreover, nine of their sacks came on one glorious September afternoon against a Lions offensive line that was looser than a woman walking the Vegas strip. Take that game away and the Eagles sacks-per-game average drops from 2.3 to 1.9. The Dolphins, who ranked 24th in the NFL in sacks, averaged 1.9 sacks per game.
Championship-caliber defenses average closer to three sacks each afternoon. The Super Bowl champion Giants put the opposing passer on his butt 3.3 times a game, while the Patriots brought down the signal caller 2.9 times a contest.
Rushing the quarterback’s throws also leads to turnovers. The Eagles managed a paltry 11 picks in 2007. Samuel, playing with the Patriots, had six by himself last year, and has 16 in the last two seasons.
What else do the Eagles need to do to field a championship defense in 2008?
They need a defensive end who can get sacks, not hurries. If the team can indeed sign Chris Clemons, who recorded eight sacks for the Raiders last year, that will help. Lining him up with Trent Cole and Juqua Thomas will make them stronger. Also, they need to hope that Victor Abiamiri comes into his own this season.
In addition, the Birds must address the safety position. And, they must do it from within by moving cornerback Sheldon Brown to line up alongside Brian Dawkins.
Cornerback was a strength for the Eagles when Lito Sheppard was healthy. Granted, he has knee issues so the Samuel signing isn’t horrible by any means. However, if you deal Sheppard for a 3rd- or 4th-round pick, what have you really gained when you figure in the money allocated for Samuel? If you can move him in a deal for Larry Fitzgerald, then do it. All indications, however, are that the Cardinals want more than the Eagles are willing to give up.
So, what do the Eagles do with their cornerbacks?
You still need a safety and there aren’t any premier players in free agency. Keeping Sheppard on the team and moving Brown to safety would fill a need area without signing another player. Brown can hit with the best of them. Switching his position makes sense as you now have a true cover safety in your defensive backfield.
Imagine Samuel, Sheppard, Dawkins and Brown as the starting defensive backfield, knocking opponents unconscious across the middle while picking passes out of the air. You may have a group that rivals Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor, Dawkins and Michael Lewis when three out of four made a Pro Bowl.
More moves must be made before Eagles fans start thinking of traveling to Tampa Bay next February. Samuel himself is not the savior.
Well I have to agree samuels is not the only piece to the puzzel but with the potential signing of clemons it is a great move.As far as trading sheppard or even brown that won’t happen lito is far to valuable to the style of the defense. Our next move should be to the O-line. Big john has maybe two years left in him. We also need a good blocking full back to assist Bwest and add protection for McNabb.Addressing the O-line will allow us to get our wideouts from the draft.
Play fair…if you want to equate the Eagles with the Dolphins by subtracting the nine-sack performance against the Lions, don’t you have to remove the Giants’ 12-sack performance against the Eagles to see who they “really” compare to? 41 sacks instead of 53 knocks that average from 3.3 to 2.6…and more than half of their sacks (28) came from just four games, including the Eagles along with the likes of the Falcons, Bears and 49ers. Without those four games against four teams who didn’t have winning seasons (if not for the hapless Rams, all those sacks would have been against last-place NFC teams), they average just 2.1 sacks/game, way down in 16th place with the Broncos, Bucs, and Redskins. They also had 4 games with one sack or less.
Point is, you start subtracting a game here, a game there to eliminate “inflated” stats and you start repainting the picture of a team’s season.