An Embarrassment of Riches

I have to tell you, after five months of having very, very little to write about, the last few days have been information overload.  Wow.  So this is what almost-in-season football is like again.  I had almost forgotten.

Let's start with the special teams.  In yesterday's post, I mentioned the truly awful special teams results for the last few years.  Since it's also special teams interview day for PE.com, it seems like we can probably make some hay here.

First off, I think it's pretty clear at this point that the problems with the special teams can be traced to the same issue that affected so many other areas -- poor drafting.  The Eagles had top five special teams units from 2000 to 2004, then things started to get ugly.

Not coincidentally, the 2003 draft was probably the worst the Eagles have had under Andy Reid.  Compounding that problem was that the 2002 draft was one of the best, at least at the top end.  The three secondary guys and Brian Westbrook would all have made great special teamers, but they were too valuable to use in that role.  The result is that as core ST performers like Ike Reese moved on, there was no one ready to their place. 

In an interesting twist, the Eagles seem to have decided the answer to fixing the special teams isn't the draft any more, which is why they brought in guys like Chris Clemons, Rocky Boiman and (we'll see) Dan Klecko.

And wouldn't you know it, here's ST coordinator Rory Segrest on the unit's leaders:

On who the leaders are: "(LB) Rocky Boiman, (DE) Chris Clemons, you know, Q (S Quintin Mikell) stepped back into the role as he knows the leadership. Last year, he was really focusing on his defensive reps and, this year, I think he feels more comfortable with his defensive reps and he's able to give a little bit more attention back to special teams."

Interesting that the first two guys he mentions are free agent signings.  I guess he really wants to make sure they all (especially Boiman) make the team. 

And since we're on Segrest, it's nice to see there's at least one other person who's not totally infatuated with Stewart Bradley:

On whether he knew last year how good LB Stewart Bradley would be on special teams: "He was a rookie last year. Anytime you've got a bunch of rookies on the field, they're going to make mistakes. Stewart made some mistakes last year, but he obviously, again, he had that physical ability. He got better as the year went along. From a physical standpoint, sure we knew he would be there, but it's just like on offense and defense, young guys make mistakes and that's what occurred last year on special teams a little bit."

The other thing I wondered yesterday is if we could use past special teams performance as a way of seeing who might have the edge in roster battles this year.  Let's take a look. 

I put this table together using the last two Eagles media guides.  Sadly, the older guides don't break out special teams production, so this is as far back as we can go. 

A few things jump out right away:

1.  There was a LOT of turnover on special teams last year.  The top five special teams performers in 2007 were either not on the team the year before or didn't make much of an impact.  Of the top five ST guys in 2006, only one (Joselio Hanson) played a similar role in 2007.  Jason Short was cut, Sean Considine was hurt, and Quintin Mikell and Omar Gaither became starters. 

2.  Rory Segrest is a much tougher grader than John Harbaugh.  In 2006, the Eagles had 161 punts or kickoffs.  In 2007, it was 151.  Small difference, but somehow Harbaugh's guys racked up 95 more "tackles."

3.  Greg Lewis shouldn't get too comfortable.  Lewis has always had a reputation as a standout special teams performer.  Not compared to the seasons Hank Baskett and Jason Avant had last year.  Guess we found our "sixth wide receiver." 

4.  If Nick Cole had 119 points, they must not dock you much for missed blocks. 

5.  Thomas Tapeh has a fair number of special teams points for a guy who "did not play on special teams."

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More later, but for now, one final nugget from PFP 2008 passed along without comment:

"Unfortunately, [Booker's] blocking was so bad and his knowledge of the offense so primitive that Cam Cameron limited him to scout team duty...  Pressed into action as the third-down back in December, Booker responded with several fine games as a receiver.  The trick to using guys like Booker is to focus on what they can do (catch passes, fake defenders out), not what they can't do (block).  The Eagles traded for Booker during the draft.  He'll replace Ryan Moats as the roster's running back least likely to complete a crossword puzzle."