Saturday, April 7, 2007

Takeo Spikes and More

The Eagles offseason has seen the team essentially move laterally on offense and make an upgrade on defense.

The centerpiece of the offseason so far has obviously been the Takeo Spikes deal. A couple weeks ago, the team sent DT Darwin Walker and a conditional 2008 7th round draft pick to Buffalo for WIL Takeo Spikes and QB Kelly Holcomb. The Eagles are looking to make room for last year’s top pick Brodrick Bunkley to play more snaps and upgrade the Linebackers.

Darwin Walker, when fresh and motivated, is probably one of the best interior pass rushers in football. He’s got strong hands and he can get off the ball when he feels like it. Problem is, since getting his contract extension several seasons ago, he lost his fire. He’s lazy and is beaten off the ball on most of the snaps he plays. Unfortunately, because Bunkley wasn’t ready to play last year and Sam Rayburn isn’t very good, Walker had to play too many snaps and he wore down. He was too tired to fire off the ball and he got beat up. Bunkley is going to have to step up now and become the player the Eagles expected him to be when they drafted him last year. Fans really didn’t like Walker anymore, but he definitely made a difference in both games against Dallas this year.

Spikes, although not the player he used to be, is an upgrade for a LB Corp that desperately needs it. It means either Dhani Jones or Jeremiah Trotter see fewer snaps, and that can only be a good thing. Spikes is expected to play the WIL position, bumping Omar Gaither out of the slot he occupied at the end of last season. Gaither could either move to SAM, his position at the University of Tennessee, or take some snaps at MIKE, what the Eagles intended when they selected him last year.

Takeo has suffered from a couple leg injuries in recent years, and they’ve stopped him from reaching his potential. He was never the same player he was with the Bengals after he was acquired, but he still had his moments. He brings good athleticism, solid tackling ability and leadership to bring some life into an uninspiring defense as of late. No matter where he plays, and he can play all three Linebacker positions, Spikes will make a difference in Jim Johnson’s aggressive defense.

Kelly Holcomb was probably thrown in the deal to trim payroll. Assuming he’s not traded on draft day, he won’t be any more than the 3rd QB behind Donovan McNabb and A.J. Feeley. He’s a good fit in the role because under the unlikely circumstance both McNabb and Feeley get hurt, it’ll be nice to have a veteran with starting experience ready to play. This is the deepest the Eagles have been at QB for a while.

Losing Donte Stallworth hurt, but Kevin Curtis should be an adequate replacement. It’s going to be interesting to see how he does finally out of the shadow of Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. He has great hands and some pretty good downfield speed, so he should be able to make a difference. The offense had no problem putting up points last year even when Stallworth is hurt, so I doubt they miss a beat with another good receiver in his place. Bethel Johnson was also added to bring some speed to the table and possibly challenge Jeremy Bloom for the kick returning job. Like Ed Jasper, I expect Johnson to be cut before week one.

Montae Reagor was added to improve depth on the line. Some say he’s about as good as Darwin Walker, and even though he’s another small guy, it was a good signing. He has a lot of experience and for a couple years, he was a good pass rusher. Hopefully he allows us to have a good rotation on the interior and keep Patterson and Bunkley fresh.

There’s still some work to be done through free agency and the draft. Offensively, they’re pretty much set. They may opt to draft a Tight End in anticipation of L.J. Smith walking after this season, and the Eagles have shown the tendency to look down the road during the draft instead of drafting for quick fixes. Some versatility could be added in the backfield, and it would make a lot of fans happy if they drafted Brian Leonard from Rutgers.

Depth is needed on defense. Some size could be added on the line to improve the run defense, and allow Trent Cole and Patterson to rotate in and out and stay fresh. At Linebacker, the Eagles could still use another future starting caliber player. Trotter is getting older, and his snaps need to be limited. Dhani Jones needs to be removed from football, and I have no idea why he’s still on the roster. Gaither and Spikes should have starting spots secured, but it’ll be an open competition. The Eagles really want to see what guys like Gocong, Richmond They all have the physical ability, but they need to stay healthy and show they can be football players. and Roper can do.

The secondary needs some help, and I expect the Eagles to address it early and often in the draft. At the moment, there’s only really one starting quality safety on the team in Brian Dawkins, and he’s 34 years old. Youth needs to be added, and I don’t mean with a second day pick like Sean Considine. The Eagles need to get someone who can step in right away to replace Sean and eventually becoming the next Free Safety. At corner, Lito Sheppard proved he’s still a great player, but this year it was Sheldon Brown who struggled. Rod Hood walked in the offseason and Will Peterson is a decent player when healthy, but they still need to add another CB.

That Aussie punter was added as well. Hopefully he either pushes or replaces Dirk Johnson, who had a very inconsistent year last season.

Overall, the Eagles have had an okay offseason so far, and have done just about as well as they could with as little cash as they had to spend. Early indications are that next year’s cap numbers are a lot better, so the Eagles could make some gains next March. It’s too early to worry about that now though; we have a potential NFC Champion quality team to watch this year.

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