Don’t Expect Howie Roseman To Learn From His Mistakes At LB
One of the few things that come from failure, is the opportunity to learn. As a kid, if you put your hand on the stove you may get burned, but at least you learned not to put your hand on the stove. And this season, the Eagles failed. They imploded down the stretch and went out in flames. Thankfully it does seem they have learned some things. For one, the next offensive coordinator will take a larger role in how the offense is run. At least that is what Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman told us in their end-of-season press conference. And after watching Nick’s offense in action last year, they need a change in direction on offense.
But there is another takeaway from the press conference, that tells us Howie Roseman will keep burning his hand on that stove. What he had to say about the team’s linebackers, tells us that he in no way has learned his lesson.
“I think maybe there are some preconceived notions that at the linebacker position, that we don’t care who we play at linebacker. Again, our two Super Bowl teams over the last six years, the linebacker play was good from those guys. I think if anything, it’s my belief in the players that we have, the young players that we have. I have a lot of belief, and I know Coach does, as well, in Nakobe Dean. I believe in the player. I believe in the person. We lost two linebackers at that spot, two good players from our Super Bowl team, and we had Nakobe waiting in the wings. We drafted him for that role. Obviously, it didn’t work out perfectly for him this year. That doesn’t change the belief we have in the player. Then we felt like we’d have the ability to get an off-ball linebacker, WILL linebacker, who can run and hit, and honestly when you watch the tape, Zach Cunningham had a good year. He really did. He had a mentality that we like for that position.”
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That is not a man who realized that he dropped the ball at constructing the roster on defense. Howie Roseman still thinks he can go patchwork at linebacker and everything will work out. He watched the linebacker position get torched week after week and came away thinking, this is fine. If only Dean stayed healthy we would be doing great right now.
And they should give Nakobe Dean another chance. There is no reason for him not to be back. He is still a promising player, who could grow into a great linebacker. But you can’t tell me after this year that you can go into next season putting all of their hopes on his back. And you certainly can’t tell me that you can have a similar crew behind him. But Howie seems to think that everything was okay. It was just the scheme, not his roster.
To be fair, he has to say that. Saying anything else would be admitting it was his fault. Which it was. But can anyone come away from hearing what he had to say and feel confident he will fix the defense next year? They will come back with Dean as their main guy, and they will fill in from there with the cheapest options they can find. Because this is not the first time Howie should have learned this lesson. the same thing happened after the Super Bowl where their linebacker play plummeted because he put his faith in guys like Nate Gerry. Howie keeps burning his hand on the stove and keeps thinking that surely it is someone else’s fault that his hand keeps getting burned.
Every team has to cut corners somewhere. And Howie has always done it at LB. But there is a way to go somewhat cheap, yet still ensure you have talent. The draft. He could finally spend a premium pick on a LB. But based on what Howie is saying, he seems to think just signing the guy no other team wants is still a viable strategy going forward.
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6 Free Agents Who Could Help Fix The Eagles Secondary
CB- Kendall Fuller
Washington didn’t have much good going for them this season, but Fuller was the rare example of something going very well. The one drawback with him is at 28, he is a bit older than many of the guys on this list. But he does have the ability to play in the slot, and even Safety if they feel they need to move him around to extend his career. A younger corner is probably a better option, but Fuller seems to have a lot more good football left in him.
Safety- Kamren Curl
Playing for an irrelevant team in Washington, and being a former 7th-round pick, Curl has slid under the radar. But he is a solid Safety, who can do a bit of everything. Want someone to step up into the box? He can do it. Want someone to drop back in coverage? He can do that too. He is very similar to what Rodney McLeod was when McLeod first joined the Eagles. And after last year, most Eagles fans would kill to have a Safety like McLeod circa 2016.
Safety- CJ Gardner Johnson
Eagles fans are already very familiar with CJ Gardner-Johnson. And while he is far from a perfect player, his playmaking ability was sorely missed by the Eagles. The good news is they have a chance to make up for losing him last year, He is a free agent again. After missing most of the year with an injury, he might be available at a discount once again. There are better safeties in coverage on the market. But what he brings as a playmaker is not to be discounted.
Safety- Xavier McKinney
The Commanders are not the only NFC East Rival who the Eagles can poach talent from. The Giants Xavier McKinney is also on the market. He was tremendous as a cover Safety last season. He held opposing QBs to an elite Passer Rating of 52.1 when targeting him. McKinney allowed 0 TDs and came away with 3 picks. Vic Fangio’s defense relies on having great cover Safeties, and he is one of the best Safeties available in pass coverage. He is no slouch against the run either.
Safety- Jordan Fuller
If they can’t land one of the premium Safeties, Fuller is not a bad backup option. Is he a star? No. But think of him more like Marcus Epps. Epps was nothing special either, but after last season I think we all would have taken him back in a heartbeat. Fuller is a similar caliber of player. The Rams mostly deployed him as a deep Safety. In that role, he came away with 3 picks and only got beat deep a couple of times. Coming away with McKinney or Curl would be preferred. But Fuller would still be an upgrade.
CB- Chidobe Awuzie
Awuzie is a solid corner. He rarely misses a tackle and is reliable in coverage. Is he a star? No. Will he shut down a part of the field? No. But he is a major upgrade over who the Eagles had as their second corner last season. Ideally, they would land Snead or one of the top corners in the draft. But if they cant get Snead, he may be a good insurance policy in case none of the top corners ion the draft fall to 22.
CB- L'Jarius Sneed
The Chiefs defense was elite this year, and L’Jarius Sneed played a huge part in that. He allowed a pass rating against of just 64.5 this season. It was his first year playing predominantly outside after spending most of his career beforehand in the slot. The decision to move him outside paid off.
Update: The Chiefs placed the non-exclusive Franchise Tag on him. So any team interested will now need to work out a trade for him first.
