The Decision: Safety

The Eagles have a problem at safety and his name is Jaiquawn Jarrett. The team's second round pick a year ago, Jarrett simply doesn't look like an NFL player, let alone one who can step up and start if necessary. I drew up a frame-by-frame analysis of the Steelers fourth and one conversion, in which Jarrett had a starring role, but unfortunately it was lost into the interwebs. We'll have to move on under the assumption that you already know exactly how bad he's been.

With Jarrett looking like a liability in every facet of the game, keeping him on the 53-man roster—once a forgone conclusion—becomes close to impossible. Unless you're still invested in the sunk cost of the second round pick (get over it) or you expect him to improve quickly (don't count on it), any roster spot he takes up is a waste.

The Eagles really only need a maximum of four safeties. Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman are your default starters. I'm not excited about either player and in fact have concerns about their abilities, but after watching Jarrett be the sole cause of destruction last week, I'm willing to accept some level of risk on that front. There's certainly some upside where those two are involved.

After the starters, you need one solid backup to dress on gamedays. This player needs to be able to step up in case of injury or simply to replace an underperforming starter (see above). We're not talking spectacular here, or even average—just someone who isn't going to embarrass himself. That counts out Jarrett and leaves only one real option: O.J. Atogwe.

That's three safeties. Doesn't the team normally keep four, you say? Couldn't Jarrett be stashed there until we're sure he's hopeless? Yes, that's possible. However, it prevents two more attractive roster options. The first is keeping a fourth safety who can be the special teams maven for Bobby April. Last year that was Colt Anderson, and reports say he's close to returning from injury. Even if the team decides to place Anderson on PUP for six weeks, they have a similar player in Tom Nelson. There's some evidence to suggest that April has sway over the final roster spots. It seems likely he'll use that influence to keep a player like Nelson or Anderson.

The second option is that (at least until Anderson returns from injury) the Eagles go with only three safeties and use the extra roster spot to load up on one of their more talent-laden positions. After all, why stretch to accomodate a poor backup at safety when you would rather keep a fifth defensive tackle or sixth cornerback. Depending on the progress of their rehabbing special teams ace, that's the road I see the Eagles taking right now.

In any scenario, you can say goodbye to Jarrett.

Photo from Getty.

Same As It Ever Was

Deep breaths.

It was just the first preseason game. We can't expect greatness. We can't even reasonably expect quality. So why do I feel so disappointed after last night's first preseason game? I think theguyotc summed it up well in 140 characters:

The reason people are freaking out over a preseason game is because almost everything bad we've seen we also saw last year. #Eagles
— the guy (@theguyotc) August 10, 2012

Yep, that's it. It isn't the fact that we saw many issues with the team—it's that they were the exact same issues that killed playoff hopes in 2011. Watching the first team defense, I briefly wondered if I was seeing a greatest hits collection of last year's worst tackling attempts. Then there were the deja vu coverage breakdowns. That wasn't supposed to happen. Everyone knew what the problems were and they were getting fixed, right? Let's talk highlights and lowlights:

Brian Rolle looked worse than I've ever seen him. Really poor angles to the ball, completely whiffed tackles. Shouldn't he have improved this offseason, not regressed?
On the other hand, some positive signs from rookie Mychal Kendricks. He certainly wasn't perfect, but Kendricks was the only starting linebacker who I saw make a clean wrap-up tackle (twice).
The whole team is lucky that Michael Vick didn't break a finger or three when his hand slammed into Jason Kelce's helmet. Vick deserves more than to be judged on his first two short series, but initial impressions weren't great. He stepped into pressure multiple times when he had a mostly clean pocket. (Although Kelce shouldn't be getting pushed back either.)
While we're on the subject of injuries, I hold my breath every time LeSean McCoy touches the ball in the preseason.
Alex Henery's game-winning field goal was Akers-esque.
Mike Kafka threw a terrible interception on a screen pass. There isn't a quarterback competition, but Nick Foles looked more poised out there than Kafka.
The defensive line did stand out. The Steelers o-line was a revolving door all night and some of that may have been on them. Still, at least so far, Jim Washburn is delivering on his promise for an even better line—and that was without both starting ends. Philip Hunt and Brandon Graham looked like Pro-Bowlers for 20 minutes.
Also exciting: the return game. Brandon Boykin erased all memories of Dion Lewis with his first kick return, and Damaris Johnson showed DeSean-like quickness on punts. Brought tears to my eyes (not really).
Not faulting Nnamdi Asomugha for the touchdown, which looked like a Jaiquawn Jarrett special. However, Antonio Brown did beat him badly one-on-one for a quick slant route. Quickness isn't really Nnamdi's strength at this point.
Finally, Nate Allen will look like a Pro Bowler when he comes back and replaces Jarrett. This image is going to haunt my nightmares:

Roster Competition: The 53-Man Gauntlet

Tonight, we'll see the Eagles suit up and play for the first time this year. Preseason games are a limited and often useless tool for judging the team's prospects, but we can certainly start speculating as to what the team might look like come week one. Some esteemed writers have already started to release their early roster projections. I'm not at that prediction point yet, but it's still worth analyzing where we're at in terms of the 53-man squad.

When you look at the roster right now, you can separate the competition into three categories. There are the locks, players who have roster spots sewn up, barring injury. Then there are the position battles, where we know there is a backup spot to be claimed. Finally, there are the discretionary spots, in which players compete across the team for those final extra jobs that round out the roster.

Let's get the locks out of the way first:

QB (3) - Vick, Kafka, Foles
RB (2) - McCoy, Lewis
TE (2) - Celek, Harbor
WR (5) - Jackson, Maclin, Avant, Cooper, McNutt
OL (7) - Bell, Mathis, Kelce, Watkins, Herremans, Dunlap, Vandervelde
DE (4) - Cole, Babin, Graham, Curry
DT (3) - Jenkins, Cox, Landri (Patterson to PUP)
LB (5) - Kendricks, Ryans, Rolle, Chaney, Matthews
CB (4) - Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie, Boykin, Marsh
S (3) - Allen, Coleman, Jarrett
ST (2) - Henery, Dorenbos

That's 40 out of 53 spots that I have in the bag right now. Yes, even Jarrett. He seems to be doing enough to keep around, thankfully.

Where do we go from here? The position battles, i.e where two or more players are competing for at least one assured job after final cuts (favorites in italics):

RB (1) - Brown vs. Polk
FB (1) - Havili vs. Igwenagu vs. free agent TBD
WR/RET (1) - Hall vs. Johnson
C/G (1) - Reynolds vs. Gibson vs. free agent TBD
G/T (1) - Kelly vs. Washington vs. free agent TBD
DE (1) - Tapp vs. Hunt
DT (1) - Dixon vs. Thornton
LB (1) - Jordan vs. Clayton
CB (1) - Hanson vs. Hughes
S (1) - Atogwe vs. Anderson (potential PUP candidate)
ST (1) - McBriar vs. Henry

That's 11 more spots taken, representing all the major spots of competition to keep an eye on during tonight's game. Then the coaches will have two more spots to play with and use at their discretion. That's where all our expert predictions will really be tested. Which of the above position battles will end with two players that deserve to stay?

The Eagles could keep an extra offensive lineman. They could go heavy on the defensive front, especially with current injuries to three starters. Cliff Harris could sneak on to the roster at cornerback if the team is worried he won't make it to the practice squad. They have Brett Brackett if they want to carry three tight ends. And if Colt Anderson doesn't make it back in time for week one, does Bobby April get to keep a different special teams ace?

So many possibilities. Only 53 jobs.

Photo from Getty.

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better

Tommy Lawlor wonders if Dion Lewis might be the guy to break Marty Mornhinweg's constant dependence on a single running back:

Dion Lewis could be the RB to change all of this. The key is that he’s not just a runner. Dion, based on this summer, looks like he could be a weapon in the passing game as well. He must show that he can be counted on as a blocker. For those who might compare him to Ryan Moats because both guys are small, don’t. Lewis is already an infinitely better blocker than Moats was.

I agree with Tommy that the Eagles need to spread the load around where possible. Running backs just don't last long in the NFL, and the more you can rest them, the healthier they'll be. However, the problem with Lewis is that he's essentially a (very) poor man's version of McCoy. Even if he's as good as recent reports out of training camp suggest, Lewis will always be worse than McCoy at pretty much every phase of the game. Thus, having him replace McCoy is always a loss for the offense.

I think one of the reasons Correll Buckhalter was a good complement to Brian Westbrook is that he could do many of the same things, but had a different style and different strengths. It's (similar to) a comparative advantage problem.

Breakout? Maybe in a Different Uniform

Continuing the theme of hyping up fringe linebackers, John Breitenbach called Keenan Clayton a breakout candidate today:

Clayton still has a ways to go if he wants to see any meaningful action on the Eagle's defense. Still he's shown improvement from year 1 to year 2 and if the same happens as we move into year 3, he could surprise some people. He's buried on the depth chart at the moment but one injury could give him the chance he needs. Clayton also tends to show up in pre-season games (as he did in his rookie year) and he should thrive against third stringers. The Oklahoma product at least deserves a chance to show what he can do in the nickel, where he has the potential to be better than the rest of the Eagles' linebackers.

My take: Clayton seems to be above average in coverage, which is why he was used almost exclusively in the dime packages (1 LB, 6 DBs) last year. But he's still just a tweener: too slow to be a safety, too small to be an every-down linebacker. If the Eagles believe that Casey Matthews, Jamar Chaney, and Brian Rolle have starting potential, Clayton will have to beat out Akeem Jordan for the special teams LB job just to make the team.

All in the Family

There have been a number of poorly-written columns about yesterday's tragedy at Lehigh. This one by Reuben Frank is not one of those:

So why would the Eagles practice Sunday, just minutes after Garrett Reid’s death was announced? Why would Reid insist on being on the sideline Thursday night for the preseason opener against the Steelers?

Because for Andy Reid, the definition of family is a broad one. It covers both his blood relatives and his players. His kids, his team. They’re all part of the same family.

Mike Kafka's VooDoo Trainer

Tim McManus brings us the story of Mike Kafka’s trainer, Jay Schroeder, who has been with him since the QB’s sophomore year of college:

[Schroeder’s] technique literally came to him in a dream, and is based on the assumption that all humans are naturally fast, strong and powerful — it’s just that bad habits and external elements have essentially trained the mind wrong since birth, stunting some abilities. So he retrains it.

Through a series of tests performed by stimulating the nervous system, Schroeder unearths what muscles are not working and which ones are working out of order. Once that is determined, he sends messages to the brain via an electrical modality called POV (for force velocity) that gives the proper information on how to perform what you want to perform.

I can’t be the only one that thinks this doesn’t pass the smell test. Besides, if he’s been working with him for so long, why are the results only evident now? Here’s Schroeder’s website. And more of his SUPER ADVANCED training methods:

“We taught him how to lengthen the appropriate muscles at a high rate of speed so that he could decelerate in the appropriate means, which in turn tells your brain that you can accelerate at a higher level,” said Schroeder. “We prepare him to recover from the strain of arm strength.”

So… Kafka’s been lifting weights?

Jim Washburn is a Quote Machine

Reuben Frank compiled the full transcript of Jim Washburn’s session with the media earlier this week in two parts. It’s so glorious I’m having trouble picking my favorite parts.

“I can’t lie,” Washburn said. “That’s why they don’t want me to talk.”

Please keep talking, Wash.