Nate Gerry set to lead an underrated Philadelphia Eagles LB group

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Nate Gerry set to lead an underrated Philadelphia Eagles LB group

 

The Philadelphia Eagles have a lineup stacked with star power but the one position group constantly disrespect could be the strength of the defense in years to come.

Howie Roseman didn’t make a big splash at linebacker in 2019 or 2020, but what he did add was young, tough, fiery, and athletic competitors that have this position group trending upwards.

When asked about his position group, linebackers coach Ken Flajole pointed at Nathan Gerry as the leader, while pointing out that the T.J. Edwards and two young guys bring a different skill set as well.

"If you had the privilege of being in our meeting room, you would find out that Nate is really one of the smartest football players in terms of being able to think ahead of problems,” Flajole said via The Athletic, "being able to manage all the things that we asked the mike linebacker to manage. … Quite frankly, I can’t speak to how the fans view our players. I just know I base it on what he means to our defense. I’m in the meeting room with this guy every day, and he always continually impresses me about what he does.”

Gerry is talented and instinctive, but his 14 missed tackles last season were tied for 15th-most in the NFL. Those instincts allow Gerry to call the defense and the Eagles are banking on the fact that the former Nebraska safety has improved every season.

Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley may not pay off until 2021, but Howie Roseman ensured that the Eagles will finally have a ton of speed, youth, and athleticism at the linebacker position for years to come.

https://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/2020/09/01/philadelphia-eagles-nate-gerry-underrate-linebackers/

Firstly, a lineup stacked with star power? Umm do they?

Secondly, this linebacker group isn't underrated it is rated correctly. It's not very good, at all!

[time2rock]

Underrated?  How about UNknown.  Time will tell if they finally have a decent group.  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

1 hour ago, time2rock said:

Underrated?  How about UNknown.  Time will tell if they finally have a decent group.  

Hmm I guess that's fair... Gerry is known, and he's not very good. Edwards is an unknown quantity but may be decent.

[time2rock]

19 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Hmm I guess that's fair... Gerry is known, and he's not very good. Edwards is an unknown quantity but may be decent.

To be fair Gerry was a project when drafted and has shown some level of improvement every year.  Compare him to Jones ... late round pick who has gradually improved to an early pick that has basically shown no growth.  Gerry is the better player at this point.  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

27 minutes ago, time2rock said:

To be fair Gerry was a project when drafted and has shown some level of improvement every year.  Compare him to Jones ... late round pick who has gradually improved to an early pick that has basically shown no growth.  Gerry is the better player at this point.  

Gerry has improved for sure... And as a depth guy that's great, but he's the starter! That's a real issue. 

[time2rock]

7 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Gerry has improved for sure... And as a depth guy that's great, but he's the starter! That's a real issue. 

Well hopefully the guys we drafted this year pan out (and Edwards continues to show improvement) and will eventually push him out of a starting spot.  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

5 hours ago, time2rock said:

Well hopefully the guys we drafted this year pan out (and Edwards continues to show improvement) and will eventually push him out of a starting spot.  

Let's hope so my friend! That's certainly what the Eagles need to do. 

[time2rock]

22 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Let's hope so my friend! That's certainly what the Eagles need to do. 

I've read pretty good reports on Edwards and Riley so far in TC.  But I think they still plan to have Gerry calling the defense - guess makes sense since he has the most experience in it.  Hopefully in a year or so Edwards will be comfortable enough to do so.  And hopefully by then Taylor has worked his way up to a starting role.  His athleticism jumps off the charts ... hopefully he can ball too to earn that spot.  

[jsb235]

4 minutes ago, time2rock said:

And hopefully by then Taylor has worked his way up to a starting role.  His athleticism jumps off the charts ... hopefully he can ball too to earn that spot.  

I don't think they are going to use Taylor properly. He has great size and speed, which makes him ideal for covering tight ends and dropping into coverage, but we use our safety for that role. And the team isn't going to consider him for that spot. At linebacker, a lot of what is required is fitting gaps, shedding blocks and reading plays. So athleticism matters a lot less than football sense and instincts, which this kid doesn't have.

I am hoping I am wrong, and maybe he will compete for a starting job next year with a complete offseason and proper training camp. But my gut feeling is that Gerry and Edwards are your LBs for the next few years (I think Riley gets benched pretty quickly since he struggled pretty mightily in Atlanta. Maybe he has gotten better, but I am not holding my breath.)

[UK_EaglesFan89]

9 hours ago, time2rock said:

I've read pretty good reports on Edwards and Riley so far in TC.  But I think they still plan to have Gerry calling the defense - guess makes sense since he has the most experience in it.  Hopefully in a year or so Edwards will be comfortable enough to do so.  And hopefully by then Taylor has worked his way up to a starting role.  His athleticism jumps off the charts ... hopefully he can ball too to earn that spot.  

Yeah i think right now they have no other choice really. Gerry is the most experienced and has been in this defense the longest so having him call plays makes sense. Hopefully Edwards or one of the rookies can step up in to that role though. 

[NCTANK]

he sucks

[Road to Victory]

Like I said before the season, this is one of the worst LB groups in the league. Crazy, that many argued with me. 

[metal]

oof, this one didn't age well

[NCTANK]

and the entire defense sucks....again

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Gerry is truly terrible... I mean really really bad.

[metal]

I just rewatched the game....I am not telling anyone anything they don't already know but I'm pretty sure he didn't make a single play. To my untrained eye it seemed he was a complete liability on the field. I don't know what Jim Schwartz sees in him but I sure as hell don't get it.

[Kz!]

Imagine being an undersized LB who played safety in college and getting smoked by around 5 yards on every passing play.

[PoconoDon]

vs. the run = 1 kind of OK LB'er in Edwards. The rest are overmatched and can't or won't tackle. When was the last tackle for 1 yard loss made by a LB'er because he read it and got to the hole first and won?

vs. the pass. The Eagles have none. You'd think a former college D-back could at least cover...nope.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Honestly why is Nate Gerry a starter? For the life of me I can't understand it. He makes the odd big play but for the most part he's simply nowhere near good enough. 

[Wormlegs]

They may not value the LB position compared to other teams. They seem to like smaller fastballs than larger thumpers. I would love to see a LB lead stats on this team in terms of tackles, sacks, interceptions.