More Roster Talk

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There were quite a few comments and questions about Monday's post on the roster.  Let's address some of the points. 


Omar Gaither --- I left him off the roster.  I'm not sure what his future is.  He's coming off a Lisfranc injury.  He's not yet ready to practice.  He could be the backup MLB, but I don't think that is a lock.  I wonder if the Eagles might not reach an injury settlement with him and let Omar go elsewhere.  He's really not happy on the bench and clearly isn't part of the future plans. 

Joselio "MmmBop" Hanson --- I left him on the roster.  I think he's very much on the bubble, though.  One of the guys at PE.com, Chris McPherson I think, was saying good things about Hanson.  I know some people will dismiss that as fluff, but the PE.com guys don't go out of their way to single out players on the fringe of the roster.  I'm keeping an open mind on MmmBop.  I want him to get back to his 2008 form.  He has played well for us in the past.  And I was told that an injury affected him down the stretch.  We'll see what happens.

Ricky Sapp --- It sounds like most people had a 2nd round grade on him, but he still fell to the 5th round.  There must be serious concerns about his knee.  We're using him at SAM, somewhat of a new position.  He played a hybrid LB position a lot at Clemson, but still got to rush the passer most of the time.  I think the team would love to put him on IR and let him spend the year learning how to play LB.  I think Sapp is battling Alex Hall for a DE/LB hybrid spot.  I'm not sure we can keep both guys.  Sapp will get a chance to prove himself at Lehigh.  If he looks great then he will play for us this year.  Don't lose sight of the fact that any of these guys can play their way on or off the roster. 

DE spots --- I think Graham will be the starting LDE soon enough.  I'm fine with having Tapp as his backup, but the coaches may feel like Parker is better there because he's been at LDE for several years.  Tapp has started at RDE and had some success.  He's more athletically gifted than Parker and therefore has a better chance of beating LTs when he's on the field.  Depth and versatility...good things.

Quintin Demps --- No one is going to toss him aside.  He's got a chance to win a roster spot.  Heck, he could still be the starting FS.  This weekend he ran with the 3rd team.  Not good.  He's talked a good game this offseason, but now he needs to back that up with on-field action.  Demps is suddenly caught in a numbers crunch.  He has to prove to the coaches that he deserves to be here.  I loved him coming out of UTEP and would really like to see him turn things around.  It is all up to him. 

Dimitri Patterson --- The Eagles love his STs ability.  They like him as a CB.  He played some in the Bears game, with the game on the line.  I'm not sure what his ceiling is.  I don't know if he's good enough to ever be a starting CB.  I do think he is a good backup and STer.  Very good gunner on punts.  That has value. 

King Dunlap --- Someone raised the point that the Eagles could be working him on the right side so that he can be the top backup on both sides.  Excellent point.  That is very possible.  For 2 years he was purely a LT as far as I know.  I'll check into that and see if I can find anything out. 


Laws / Dixon --- Trevor needs to play well to keep his job.  One of the coaches (Reid maybe) talked recently about possibly playing Trevor in the Nickel.  He's a good fit for that.  When we go to a Nickel or Dime look we let our DTs attack up the field.  Trevor can use his quickness and motor to be disruptive.  Dixon is strong enough to push the pocket, but isn't a guy you want on the field in those situations with regularity.  I'm fine with mixing him in to keep things interesting.  Nothing is set at DT beyond the starters in the base unit. 

Martin Rucker --- He's fighting a major uphill battle.  We've got 3 good TEs aside from him, all drafted by us.  I'm sure Rucker would need to outplay Ingram and Harbor by a wide margin to beat them out of a job.  That is possible, but not likely.  Rucker is talented, but isn't such a compelling player that you do anything it takes to keep him. 

Cornelius Ingram --- One important thing to keep in mind when talking about him is that he didn't re-tear the ACL last year in a normal sense.  The previous surgery wasn't done well.  That's what caused the tear.  It isn't as if he's got a degenerative knee.  I think he's got a chance to be right as rain this year.  The Eagles are bringing him along slowly to make sure there are no setbacks. 

Marlin Jackson --- He's had multiple ACL tears in multiple years.  I have no idea what shape his knees are in.  He could make the team and be a starting CB or never play another snap of football.  The Eagles were pretty aggressive in how they went after him so I'm wondering if that doesn't mean they felt really good about his situation.  Marlin is a mystery.  Let's hope I like the conclusion to his story better than I did to It. 


NEW COLUMN

For PE.com I wrote about the mini-camp and some expectations for the season.  I doubt there is much new to those of you who read here daily, but take a gander if you like. 

-Link-
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