Rashad Baker - 5'10, 198 - 27-year old player has been on 4 teams already, but is coming off a career year. Had career highs of 24 tackles and 3 INTs for the Raiders last season. In the past he was mainly a STer. Could be a solid role player.
Good signing by the Eagles. We now have 4 legit NFL Safeties. We also have Byron Parker in the mix. We'll add a rookie or two. That will give us a solid group from which to find 4 or 5 guys. Jones and Baker are here on 1-year deals. That should keep them focused and playing hard to try and impress the Eagles, or other teams, for 2010.
Slowly the Eagles are filling holes on the roster. Next up is RB and TE.
Leonard Weaver
I wrote about him in my latest PE.com column. I'll post a link to that when it goes up tonight. Weaver is a good runner and receiver, but only a marginal blocker. If we do add him we better still draft a fullback.
Reader Comments
RE: Alex Mack?
I'm not sure if he is the Eagles type of C. Bubba was here when Andy arrived. Hank was cut by the Steelers and sat here for a year. We drafted Scott Peters in the 4th round. We drafted Dominic Furio in the 7th several years ago. We signed Jamaal Jackson as a UDFA. Nick Cole was oringally brought here as a UDFA to develop at C.
Would we spend pick 28 on a pure C? I tend to think not. I do like Alex a lot, but the Eagles value versatility. They love Tackles who can stay outside or play Guard and Center. Most of our OL played Tackle in college. That includes guys like Jamaal, Nick, and Shawn. I do think we'll add an interior OL somewhere in the draft.
RE: Knowshon vs Matt Forte
I was shocked to see how well Matt played last year. He was outstanding as a runner and receiver. He was the Bears most reliable offensive player. I think Moreno is more dynamic as a runner. I don't think he will be as good a receiver as Forte. Knowshon will be lucky if he's anywhere close to the rookie that Matt was.
RE: Jay Cutler and the Eagles
Won't happen. Shouldn't happen. The Broncos were only interested in Matt Cassel because he and coach Josh McDaniels knew each other from New England. The point wasn't to get rid of Jay. He's been a very good QB for his short career.
That said, things have gotten awkward in Denver. Someone needs to backdown to help get everyone on the same page. I think Cutler is most at fault. He needs to realize that he's not such an elite player that he can hold the hostage franchise. If he'll pull his head out of his butt, Jay will see that he can have a very good career playing for Denver and Josh McDaniels.
I'm sure the Eagles would be interested if Jay hit the market, but we won't break the bank to make a deal. McDaniels would have little interest in McNabb. Donovan is a veteran QB who is used to doing things a certain way. That is the last kind of player Josh wants to have to bring into his team.
I anticipate Donovan being the starter in 2009. We'll see what happens beyond that point.
RE: my 180 on Shawn
He is openly showing enthusiasm about returning to the team and playing football. That wasn't the case last fall. Shawn was basically looking for excuses to stay away. The fact he called in during Stacy's signing to offer his thoughts showed me a lot. Actions speak louder than words, though. Offseason workouts start in less than 2 weeks. We'll see if Shawn shows up and how he acts. That will give us a quick hint that he's all the way back.
RE: Big Red and running the ball
I understand the skepticism. It is absolutely warranted. I think Big Red will be serious about adjusting the running game this offseason because he can specifically look back and see games we lost (CHI, WAS). You can argue that we should have run more at various points in 2004-07, but it is hard to find games where you can say with some sense of certainty that we lost because we couldn't run.
Andy can remain confident/arrogant about his passing game as long as it produces points and wins. We almost missed the playoffs last year. We were good enough to win the Super Bowl, but barely made the playoffs. Think about that. I think that scenario will be too big for Andy to ignore. He is a smart man. Unfortunately that wisdom is matched by a deadly mixture of patience and stubbornness.
If he doesn't add a blocking TE and skips RB in the first 2 rounds, we'll know I am wrong and nothing has changed. I don't anticipate that being the case.
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3 comments:
Please Andy, see the light! :).
Im glad we've added to strong competitors to the safety position. Im not a big fan of the point of view that someone should get the job just because we want him to succeed. Always have a backup plan, or two or three.
People are so quick to panic over the Eagles FA, but honestly I think we're moving along nicely. We may have upgrades already in place now for each of the positions we've supposedly "lost".
The big key to our season next year imo is to see just how good our defense can be. With the young front 7 another year more experienced it should be quite a force. If Abiamiri or Smith steps it up opposite Cole, watch out, we could be an elite defense ala the steelers or titans or ravens of this past year.
I think you hit it right on the head as to adding a blocking TE and a running back in the first two rounds. I have some questions, however:
Isn't Pettigrew the only blocking TE in the draft?
How much culpability do you give to the offensive line particularly the interior of the line for the Eagles difficulties with the run and the red zone in 2008?
Good to see the organization is listening to you, although it's only the 4th safety ;-).
You haven't mentioned any possible upgrade of our linebackers. Now Angelo Crowell is linked to the Eagles, just namedropping by the manager?
What do you think of Crowell, can he be an upgrade over Jordan (if healthy)?
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