Thursday, February 12, 2009

Staying with the OL

In the comments section of the last post, Lynch talked about this scenario:

* Tra Thomas is re-signed to a short term deal, effectively one year if not literally. Herremans moves to RT.

* McGlynn, Cole and a first-day rookie compete for the LG job.

* Andrews is backed up by the runner up in the LG competition.

* OT is a serious consideration throughout the draft for the Eagles, and if the talent warrants it, then they jump. Depending on who they get, they may move Herremans back to LG, or move the pick to LG for a year.

* If they don't get an OT they like in the draft, they hope that Andrews bounces back this year and hope to have him and Herremans at OT in 2010, with two of the McGlynn/Cole/rookie guard combo at the two guard spots.


I've been finalizing a plan in my head and you and I are close. I simply don't think you can count on Andrews at RG. Spads hasn't told me anything personally, but his comments on PE.com about whether Andrews is part of the plan should tell you that situation is highly unstable. The Eagles almost always paint the brightest picture for the fans. If Dave has an article questioning whether we can count on him that is not good.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=17319&spadaro=1


The idea I've been kicking around is very similar (as I mentioned).

* Re-sign Tra for LT. I'm not a huge fan of this, but it is the path of least resistance, so to speak.
* Mike McGlynn battles whoever at LG.
* JJ stays in the middle.
* Nick Cole is the RG.
* Todd moves to RT.

* You then spend either a 1st or 2nd round pick on an OL you feel comfortable being a key backup in 2009. William Beatty of UConn makes a lot of sense. He has plenty of LT experience. He could also play RT or possibly G.

* Mike Gibson and Chris Patrick are possible backups. I'd still like a veteran OL to add to the mix. Scott Young will be a FA, but I don't know if he'd have any interest in coming back here. Max Jean-Gilles remains a question mark because of his injury, but he could factor in. You don't need a guy with a bunch of starting experience, but you want someone who isn't new to the league.

* Shawn has to be thought of as the 10th OL. You better find 9 guys you're comfortable with. If Shawn plays, that's great. You simply cannot count on him. At the same time, you feel some obligation to leave room for him. That's why having Nick Cole at RG makes sense to me. Nick is serviceable, but you wouldn't hesitate to replace him with Shawn. And Nick can go back to being on the bench and being a role player/backup.

* King Dunlap is a mystery. He has LT potential, but still probably needs a lot of work. He'll be active the whole offseason. That will help. Last year he was an interesting project. This year he has to show growth. We've seen plenty of guys look good then let up and get cut. Calvin Armstrong really regressed from year 1 to year 2. Let's hope King stays hungry and has a better summer than he did last year. He's the type of player that needs to develop. That means building on what you did the year before. King was solid in 2008. We need to see improvement this year. You can't count on him in your OL plans, but you hope he comes along to the point where you have to account for him.

OT: Tra, Todd
OG: McGlynn, Cole
OC: JJ
b/u: Patrick, Gibson, rookie T/G , mid-level FA
??: Shawn, King, Max

This isn't an ideal scenario, but also doesn't rely on unlikely events. Obviously Gross hitting the market would change things. If Jason Brown hits the market that could change things.

The biggest downside is that you have a lot of new faces/inexperience as backups.

I completely left Winston Justice out of this. I don't think you can count on him in any significant way.
______

4 comments:

shlynch said...

One important element to keep in mind with Andrews: he has a large workout bonus in his contract, $275k. A workout bonus, for those that don't know, generally is paid if you have 80-85% participation at the club's facility during the 12-14 week workout period, usually from late March to early July.

So by the time the draft rolls around, the Eagles will have a good preliminary read on whether Andrews is going to commit to the season. Sure, he could change his mind, but if he is showing up and earning his money every day at workouts, then he is probably going to do the same in training camp. If he doesn't show, well at least you know that a month early.

Andrews is a tough case, because you can't be certain about anything. But they will literally be watching him daily for the month leading up to the draft. That has to help.

Tommy Lawlor said...

Interesting point.

If only we could take Runyan's head and put it on on Shawn's body.

ZackISM said...

Tommy,

I don't get why you are counting Shawn out so much. Since he "returned" from his back injury, he has been at least saying the right things. That to me shows he at least has interest in not burning bridges...

Maybe we can't count on him, but I wouldn't count him out, he's just too valuable to count out. He in my mind is our best player. Not McNabb, not Westbrook, no anyone on defense. Andrews is the key to our offense, and it showed, a lot last year. If we're to rely on Nick Cole (who I'll admit was solid), 2009 is going to be another long bumpy season.

Mark H. said...

I've been wondering if we might see the Eagles try and replace Jamaal Jackson at all, or at least give him some competition. I don't think he's fulfilled his early promise in the last 2 years.

Obviously, the tackles appear to be the major concern here, but the Eagles are notorious for zigging when you think they should zag. After all, we've been concerned about the receivers for years.