Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
A couple of free agent linebackers who signed with new teams last week reported the Eagles had shown interest in them. Danny Clark and Nick Greisen said the Eagles had talked to them. We don't know how interested the Eagles truly were, if at all. Some times a team will talk to an agent just to get information. It doesn't always indicate the team is targeting that particular player.
Some Eagles fans took this as a sign the team is looking for a weakside linebacker. I do not think that is the case. Both guys are veterans who can play all three linebacker spots. That tells me the Eagles are thinking about possibly adding a veteran backup. The starter on the weakside will be Omar Gaither
or Akeem Jordan.
Most people think that cutting Takeo Spikes opened a hole on the weak side, but after shifting players around the hole comes up as a backup strongside linebacker. Should the Eagles go get a veteran, it will be a versatile player who can move to any of the spots and also a guy who can contribute on special teams. The fact that the Eagles didn't aggressively go after either player tells you they like what they have and don't feel adding a veteran is a must.
Competition At Fullback?
The Eagles signed fullback Dan Klecko to a two-year deal on Monday. This isn't a splashy, exciting move, but it does provide some good competition for Jason Davis.
The interesting thing to me is that Davis and Klecko are such different players. Davis is 5-11, 240 pounds. Klecko goes about 5-11, 270 pounds. Davis was a good receiver at Illinois, catching more than 40 passes in his junior year. Klecko was a defensive star at Temple. He's got the size and physical style of play to thrive as a lead blocker.
Some people may wonder about converting a defender into a fullback. It happens all the time, actually. Former Eagle Josh Parry was a linebacker in college. Boomer Grigsby, Oliver Hoyte, Corey McIntyre and Jon Bradley were all defensive players.
Most of these guys were linebackers who lacked the speed to cover the whole field. They are collision specialists who thrive on contact in a limited area. Fullback is a relatively easy transition for them. Klecko has played some fullback during his time in the NFL.
Davis certainly has an advantage as a runner and receiver. The blocking category would probably be a draw. One area where Klecko would have an advantage is on playing special teams. You can bet a guy with his size and physical style of play would help the return and coverage units.
As I see it now, the job is wide open. These guys will battle during the summer. A rookie will be added to the mix. May the best man win.
Miscellaneous Draft Thoughts
Pro Days are in full swing right now. This gives kids a chance to improve on an area where they may have struggled at the Combine. Michigan receiver Mario Manningham only ran a 4.58 40-yard dash in Indy. He helped himself a lot by running in the low 4.4 range at his Pro Day. That keeps him in the running to go late in the first round or early in the second.
Running back Jonathan Stewart and defensive end Phillip Merling each decided to have surgery prior to the draft. Stewart has an injured toe. He played with it all year and was able to deal with the pain without it affecting him too much. Merling is having hernia surgery. Both guys will likely miss mini-camps, but should be okay by August. The question now becomes how much these situations hurt their value. Both players had a chance to go in the top 15, but that is a lot less likely now.
Want the names of a couple of "sleepers"? Defensive end Brian Johnston of Gardner-Webb and offensive lineman James Blair of Western Michigan are the kind of players who could open a few eyes come draft day. Johnston is 6-5, 274 pounds. He had a tremendous Pro Day showing. His numbers would have been among the best at the Combine. Johnston is an athletic, high-motor player who needs pro coaching, but he's got NFL size and ability. He wasn't a dominant player in college, but was very productive. I watched a couple of his game tapes recently. Teams did double him as much as possible. They ran away from him when possible. He played in the Hula Bowl and showed that he can beat blockers from big schools. He was quick off the ball and had a couple of sacks. Think of him as a fourth or fifth round target.
Blair played right tackle in college, but projects to be a guard in the NFL. He has a thick build, just like Shawn Andrews and Max Jean-Gilles. He's not as big as them, but is a powerful, physical blocker. James will go late in the draft. He could turn into a good blocker in time.
Klecko brings some muscle
The Eagles don't use their fullback very often. Still, they found it necessary to add another one to their roster. Kind of.
Dan Klecko was introduced on Monday as the Eagles' fullback. At 280-285 pounds and experience mostly as a defensive tackle, the Temple product is making the switch full-time to offense.
“It has been something that I’ve done in the NFL all five years [of my career], so I think the transition will be easier than a lot of people think," he said. "It’s going to be a lot of hard work in changing my mentality to the offensive side of the ball, but we’ll see how it goes from there. It’s going to be an experiment for me too, so we’ll see.”
So the Eagles now have Jason Davis, an undersized fullback coming off a serious knee injury, and Klecko, an oversized fullback with minimal experience, ready to block for Brian Westbrook. Good thing the Eagles rarely have their fullback on the field.
Fred-Ex blames friendship with T.O. for Eagles exit
Fred-Ex blames friendship with T.O. for Eagles exit
Freddie Mitchell was always a confident guy. Actually, confident probably isn't the right word. Cocky is more like it.
So it comes as no surprise that Fred-Ex still thinks he can play. He said so to the Los Angeles Times' Sam Farmer at UCLA's pro day.UCLA, of course, is where Freddie duped NFL scouts into believing he was a real player in the first place.
It is surprising, however, that Mitchell seems to blame his close friendship with Terrell Owens for his departure from the league. Mitchell hasn't played in an NFL game since Super Bowl XXXIX.
This from Farmer is quite interesting.
That's not to say Mitchell has ever referred to himself as average. By his thinking, his career in Philadelphia was cut short because of his friendship with controversial receiver Terrell Owens.
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