wtfcares Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 With all the talk about who the 2nd string RB is going to be, I feel it’s necessary to have a proper discussion about our starting linebackers. I know Howie and the FO dont really value the position and we usually only play with 2 of them on the field, but this year is truly taking it to the next level. Are people really that comfortable having a combo of Edwards, Gerry, Brown, or Taylor start the season? Edwards and Gerry barely have a smidge of playing experience. Brown has injury concerns, and wasn’t even that good as a starter when healthy. Taylor just started playing football a couple of days ago. Have we ever had a less experienced group at LB? As little as the FO has valued LB, when we won the Super Bowl we had Bradham(relatively high priced LB FA at the time), Kendricks(2nd round pick with lots of starting experience), Hicks(3rd round pick with 2 years NFL starting experience). These guys provided major contributions at times to our run. I know now there’s probably not a lot that can be done to improve the position at this point, but are there any decent experienced FAs left that we can bring even one in to give some experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleJoe8 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Bradham is still on the market and could be a last minute option. I wish they valued the position more, but it’ll be interesting to see how the young guys develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaff Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Not that worried about it, tbh. More worried about the loss of Malcolm Jenkins and DE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EazyEaglez Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Linebacker is what it is and it likely isn’t going to change much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsb235 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Bradham and KGH were dreadful last year, so just getting them off the field means the potential is there for a huge upgrade. I think Edwards is the real deal. He was a beast last year in the snaps he played, and he seems to do pretty well in zone coverage. There are concerns about him in man, but if you have ever watched an Eagles game for the past five years or so, you have been treated to our tight ends and backs abusing linebackers over and over again in man coverage, so it's not like he will be substantially worse in coverage than the average starter around the league. I think Gerry is bad, but he is bad because he can't tackle. Often he was in position to make plays, he just couldn't finish. So at least there's some potential there. As far as depth, I hate the Jatavis Brown signing, as he was bad last year in San Diego. But he is at least as good as Gerry, so we have someone who can step in and perform at the same level. The rookies have athleticism, so they are basically lottery tickets. Personally I think they missed on drafting the kid from Appalachian State whom I think is a day one starter, but they liked Taylor more, so we will see. I think Schwartz clearly messed up by refusing to play Fort, and then releasing him. He showed in Baltimore that he is a decent LB, and certainly better than what we have in Gerry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uscg-green Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 If you've been a eagles fan more than 5 minutes you know the team doesn't care about the position at all lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 We don’t have $$$ to sign anyone expensive we do, but when your $50 million in the hole next season it’s smarter to give younger guys a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beto_eagles Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Strangely enough, I think we'll be fine there. Gerry is OK, Edwards looks promising, I believe Taylor could be an excellent player, Brown at least gives some cheap depth, and Bradley could contribute as well. You mentioned Hicks as part of our LBs in 2017, but he was hurt somewhere around mid-season and we still managed to win the SB without him. For whatever reason, LBs don't seem to be as important in Schwartz's scheme. It'll be fine. If not, hopefully there's a veteran LB available during the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipples Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 I think LB are nearly irrelevant in today’s nfl so... not worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipples Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 1 hour ago, beto_eagles said: Strangely enough, I think we'll be fine there. Gerry is OK, Edwards looks promising, I believe Taylor could be an excellent player, Brown at least gives some cheap depth, and Bradley could contribute as well. You mentioned Hicks as part of our LBs in 2017, but he was hurt somewhere around mid-season and we still managed to win the SB without him. For whatever reason, LBs don't seem to be as important in Schwartz's scheme. It'll be fine. If not, hopefully there's a veteran LB available during the season. It isn’t just Schwartz’s scheme, it’s the league as a whole. The way the game is played today, great linebackers just aren’t necessary anymore. It used to be that a lot of the biggest defensive stars in the league were linebackers. Not really the case anymore. Can anyone here really put together a list of their top 5 linebackers in the NFL today without googling? I sure can’t. Maybe I just don’t follow the rest of the league as much anymore now that I’m older, but I feel like I could name a bunch of big time LBs 15 years ago, but definitely couldn’t today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSEagle Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Make no mistake, Parks will come down and be a "LB" a bunch too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtfcares Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, nipples said: It isn’t just Schwartz’s scheme, it’s the league as a whole. The way the game is played today, great linebackers just aren’t necessary anymore. It used to be that a lot of the biggest defensive stars in the league were linebackers. Not really the case anymore. Can anyone here really put together a list of their top 5 linebackers in the NFL today without googling? I sure can’t. Maybe I just don’t follow the rest of the league as much anymore now that I’m older, but I feel like I could name a bunch of big time LBs 15 years ago, but definitely couldn’t today. While I agree that you likely don’t need top tier players at LB in today’s NFL, I still think you need adequate players. Most teams do invest in the position still. We’re talking about 2-3 out of the 11 starters every play. They still have responsibilities. 3 hours ago, beto_eagles said: Strangely enough, I think we'll be fine there. Gerry is OK, Edwards looks promising, I believe Taylor could be an excellent player, Brown at least gives some cheap depth, and Bradley could contribute as well. You mentioned Hicks as part of our LBs in 2017, but he was hurt somewhere around mid-season and we still managed to win the SB without him. For whatever reason, LBs don't seem to be as important in Schwartz's scheme. It'll be fine. If not, hopefully there's a veteran LB available during the season. You’re right Hicks did get hurt halfway, but then we had more than an adequate backup in Kendricks with a ton of NFL experience step in. Not sure any of our current LBs are better than Kendricks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranklinFldEBUpper Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 2 hours ago, wtfcares said: Not sure any of our current LBs are better than Kendricks. There's not a current linebacker on the roster who would start over the '17 versions of Kendricks, Hicks, and Bradham. That's just the way it is. You can't be great at every position. By definition, there's always going to be a unit on the team that is the worst. It just happens to be linebacker for the Eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsb235 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 3 hours ago, wtfcares said: Not sure any of our current LBs are better than Kendricks. We paid Bradham and Kendricks a combined $11 million in 2017. We will pay Edwards and Gerry a combined $1.5 million this year. So the choice becomes, sign two guys who are at the same level as Bradham and Kendricks, or live with Gerry and Edwards and also get McLeod, Hargrave and Slay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtfcares Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, jsb235 said: We paid Bradham and Kendricks a combined $11 million in 2017. We will pay Edwards and Gerry a combined $1.5 million this year. So the choice becomes, sign two guys who are at the same level as Bradham and Kendricks, or live with Gerry and Edwards and also get McLeod, Hargrave and Slay. I don’t think we needed pay 2 big LB FAs given the young guys we have. I do think we should have gotten 1 though to provide some experience/reliability. While I think Hargrave is a great player, given what we already have on D-Line, For the same money or probably less I’d rather have an actual player at LB, that’s going to play every defensive snap instead of a rotational piece on D-Line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerolithe_Lion Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 We’ve made 6 NFCCGs in The Lurie Era by not giving a crap about LBers. As great as it would be to have some all-pros there, it is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdDownJesus Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Where does Genard Avery fit in? Will he be a LB or DE? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20dawk4life Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I still think Bradham could be back. Bad year to be a free agent with the virus going around and he still hasn't signed anywhere. Bring him back on 5 million per year contract for one or two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranklinFldEBUpper Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 3 hours ago, 3rdDownJesus said: Where does Genard Avery fit in? Will he be a LB or DE? He's a DE all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtfcares Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 8 hours ago, Aerolithe_Lion said: We’ve made 6 NFCCGs in The Lurie Era by not giving a crap about LBers. As great as it would be to have some all-pros there, it is what it is. Never as inexperienced as this. Not saying we need all pros back there, but at least one solid player... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road to Victory Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 13 hours ago, jsb235 said: We paid Bradham and Kendricks a combined $11 million in 2017. We will pay Edwards and Gerry a combined $1.5 million this year. So the choice becomes, sign two guys who are at the same level as Bradham and Kendricks, or live with Gerry and Edwards and also get McLeod, Hargrave and Slay. So we got McLeod, Hargrave and Slay for the difference of $9.5m? That’s news to me... I think you meant to say McLeod, Hargrave OR Slay. At least I hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsb235 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 46 minutes ago, Road to Victory said: So we got McLeod, Hargrave and Slay for the difference of $9.5m? That’s news to me... I think you meant to say McLeod, Hargrave OR Slay. At least I hope so. 2020 cap hits for Slay ($4.3 million), Hargrave ($3.4 million) and McLeod ($2.3 million). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road to Victory Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 9 hours ago, jsb235 said: 2020 cap hits for Slay ($4.3 million), Hargrave ($3.4 million) and McLeod ($2.3 million). It’s not really a fair statement because next year the three cost about $36m but I understand what you meant now. We also still have a lot of cap space this year so it’s not really one or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentwo Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 I'm worried about the LBs. Gerry is not good and I think Edwards is more of a back up spot duty guy. Just not a lot of physical talent at the position. A first or second round draft pick to shore up the position would've helped, but that's not how the team operates. LBs are always last on their list of positions to fill. Its probably a combination of Schwartz's philosophy and the NFL shift towards playing more coverage with extra DBs in place of LBs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penn7980 Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 I'd add that during AR's time with the team, LB was not an area of emphasis either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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