Thinking About the Linebackers

I had a thought the other night while brainstorming some topics for upcoming posts.  The general sense in Iggles Land seems to be that after year of making a complete hash out of the linebacker position -- letting Trotter walk, making poor draft picks, signing an endless array of washed-up stopgap veterans -- the Eagles have finally figured out how to put together a linebacking corps that could: a) be pretty good and b) stick together for a few years.

Obviously we don't know for sure what to expect next year.  I'm looking forward to Omar being back home on the weak side, but Gocong needs to take it up a couple notches and Stewart Bradley is the walking definition of unproven.  (I don't think anyone's going to find a Reid quote saying he was playing at a "Pro Bowl" level at the end of last year.)  But there's at least the potential that this could be a pretty good group. 

What I find interesting about this is that the Eagles didn't change a single thing about how they approached the position.  They refused to go sign a big money free agent, nor did they spend one of their top two picks on a blue chipper like Paul Posluszny. 

Gocong and Bradley were both third-rounders, but Gaither stuck around until the fifth.  And all three guys had question marks coming out of college.  Gaither was a little undersized, Gocong was a small-school defensive end, and Bradley had a somewhat subpar senior season due to recovering from a serious knee injury suffered his junior year.  It goes too far to suggest they were plucked from the scrap heap -- way too far, in fact -- but none of them was a slam dunk NFL starter.  The fact that they all might make it is either a credit to the Eagles' scouting/coaching staffs or perhaps also a sign that they finally got a little luck at the position. 

Of course, it's also true that they didn't roll the dice with just these three guys.  The last few years, they've been carpet-bombing the position with mid/late-round draft picks and UDFAs who have some question marks.  Just this year, they drafted Joe Mays (undersized) and Andy Studebaker (another DE conversion, this time from Division III) to add to the mix.  I almost feel like the Eagles signed Rocky Boiman just to add some big name credibility (Notre Dame) to their linebacker mix.

So it's an interesting discussion question.  Did the Eagles have the right approach all along, and they just didn't pick the right guys / had some bad luck with draft picks?  Or was it instead that they just happened to get lucky with these three particular guys and that bailed them out?

Comments

[Tracer Bullet]

I do recall Reid saying they'd changed the way the evaluated LBs, but he didn't say what they're doing differently. Luck is a function in every draft pick. Most draft picks washout and even first-rounders fail half the time. But as the saying goes, I'd rather be lucky than good.

[Cornelius]

After the draft a reporter asked Andy about the bad linebacker picks that were made in the past. Andy did say that they changed what they were looking for in linebackers. Give'em credit. They analyzed their mistakes and made changes.

[Wilbert Montgomery]

I don't think this is as black and white an issue as it may appear on the surface. There is more than one way to skin a cat but I have to give it to the Eagles for sticking to their guns. However, until those guns put a Lombardi Trophy in the case, there will be questions. The Birds clearly have a salary cap allocation program that values certain positions above others. The obvious examples are QB, OT, DE and CB. As this strategy was developed, the cap was more of a factor than it really is now (we'll see how that goes with the new CBA). Either way, to be competitive in this league you need to be getting some production from your younger players. Linebacker is one of those positions where, if you can get a athletic and coachable player, you have a real shot at getting production. I think this is what the Birds have been trying to do with this position and I can't say I think it is a bad approach. That said, when you have a shot at a guy like Posluszny and your other option is to trade out of the draft spot, I have to wonder if you're not pushing your luck.