For Position Clues, Watch Special Teams

This Friday night, the Eagles play the Steelers in a game that will be televised on ESPN.  This game is in the traditional "third-game" slot, where teams give their starters their most extensive playing time, before barely playing them in the final preseason tune-up to try to avoid injuries heading into the regular season.

So the starters should play most of the first half this week.   In the second half, we (the crazy ones who care too much about the Eagles) will be watching closely to see who appears to have the edge in some of the tighter position battles.  Those who play well -- and a lot -- can be presumed to have the edge going into the first cuts that have to be made by next week.

It occurs to me, though, that maybe there's a better way to judge where people really are on the depth chart.  After all, teams sometimes give players they're looking to move a lot of time on the field, in the hopes they will interest potential suitors.  Likewise, they might try to bury a guy they want to stash on the practice squad.

But here's one place the Eagles can't afford to lie: special teams.  Last year, our special teams were a disaster.  Some of that can be attributed to the major injuries suffered by our kicker and punter, but a lot of the coverage and return problems were due to poor effort, poor technique and poor talent. 

This preseason, the Eagles' special teams looked very solid in the first game, didn't get to do much in the second, and showed some cracks in the third.  That's not a great trend.  It occurs to me it's probably time to start solidifying the special teams around not just the best 11 guys for each unit, but also the guys who are going to make the final team.  After all, as great a special teamer as linebacker/end Jason Short is, if he's not going to make the team there's no point in running him out there with the first coverage unit when someone else needs to be getting those reps to get ready for the season. 

So watch the position battles in the second half.  See who seems to have the edge as the fourth cornerback or fifth receiver, but also look to see who is -- or isn't -- out there on the first kickoff or punt.  That may tell us all we need to know.