Let's Talk About Bryan Smith

Les Bowen continues his semi-regular series of profiles into lesser-known Eagles today with his look at Bryan Smith.

These are absolutely my favorite offseason pieces.  We learn something more about a guy we didn't hear from last year, and unlike all those rookie profiles (which are also enjoyable), at least we know this guy stuck around for a year, so he's likely to be here in September.

A few interesting pieces:

[Smith] weighed 217 at the start of his senior season. That's a nice weight for a 6-2 safety, not for a guy who's going to be putting his hand down in front of 350-pound offensive tackles.

Why so light? Smith said money played a role. Hurricane Rita devastated McNeese housing in September 2005. Smith chose to live off-campus, on a stipend that he said barely covered the basics. Like many college students, he found paying for food a challenge, he said. His diet was poor. The Quarter Pounder was a feast.

Smith knew he could be bigger, maybe ought to be bigger. By the time he finished his college eligibility, his identical twin brother, Ryan, had completed his football career at Stephen F. Austin and was carrying 260 pounds on a frame that was, of course, just like Bryan's. Ryan was driving a beer truck for a living and making enough money to eat whatever he wanted.

This seems like the fifth or sixth time I've heard a variation of this story recently.  If you're a I-AA football coach who wants to have some success, my recommendation would be to spend the extra bucks on a year-round training table for these guys. 

Defensive-line coach Pete Jenkins, a believer in strength over bulk, looked at all the top 2008 defensive ends on film and was unimpressed with the big names, finding them weak and less than impressive in using their hands to fend off blockers. Jenkins really liked the way the kid from McNeese State used his hands. Jenkins thought Smith looked a little like Trent Cole must have looked in college.

I don't have time to do a full work-up of rookie defensive ends, their usual contributions and all of that.  But just out of curiosity, let's take a quick look at all the DEs drafted ahead of Smith last year:

Jason Jones had a nice season for Tennessee, but if I'm a Titans beat writer I'm already working on my, "Sometimes you don't appreciate everything you have until it's gone" story for when Jones discovers his job is going to be a lot harder this year by about the third game of the season.

Smith had to add muscle to an already muscular physique, without becoming bulky or top-heavy. Tricky, especially if you aren't on the A-Rod diet.

"I've worked out a lot, ate the right foods, taken a lot of protein," said Smith, who said he now weighs 250, heading toward 255, he hopes. "Eaten as much as I could, then worked out, so I wouldn't get fat with it. You've got to work real hard [as you add weight]. It's easier to be quick, when you're smaller."

Guys like Cole have proven that weight works just fine if you can back it up with athleticism and don'tquit.

"I think it's an opportunity for me to go out and show what I can do. That's how I take that; I don't think I've got a spot [locked up] or anything," Smith said.

Obviously not. Despite positive reviews last preseason, Smith is the only healthy third-rounder in the Reid Era to never get in a game as a rookie ... Furthermore, Jenkins, the guy who might have been Smith's biggest advocate, retired this offseason. Former special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest is the new defensive-line coach ...

Though there are no draftees to fend off, none of last year's d-ends has left the fold, either. Smith might need someone to get hurt in order to get a real chance to show what he can do.

Ok, so here's where it's time for discussion.  We know a few things:

• Juqua Parker is better suited for a backup, rush end role.
• Victor Abiamiri is better suited for a first and second down role.
• Darren Howard was fantastic playing his hybrid DE/DT role last year.
• If the Eagles felt there was an advantage to any of the available backups taking snaps from Trent Cole, they had a funny way of showing it.

Which leads to some questions:

• It would be nice to give Cole at least some rest, right?
• What happens if VA can't get to the QB from the outside?
• Was Chris Clemons a one-hit wonder in Oakland (even conceding that he finished the year better than he started)?
• Since Smith looks a lot more like Trent Cole than those other guys do, and Trent Cole seems pretty well suited to be the RDE in this system, does that mean Smith's best chance of getting on the field is as Cole's backup?

There are basically two ways the Eagles can handle this.  They can keep everything status quo, play the guys who played last year, and give Smith his chance only when someone in front goes down or stinks up the joint.  Or they can decide that they're not blown away with the veterans and this Smith kid has some talent, so he's going to get extra opportunities to show what he can do, with their bias being towards him winning a spot in the rotation.

Should be interesting to watch.

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It's guys like Smith who demonstrate just how much depth this team now has.  There's still an open question about the "playmakers," which I'm not going to get into today.  But if you're looking at the twos and threes across the board, there seem to be a lot of guys who can play.

This point comes through especially well every time there's a story like this.  A couple years ago, I would have jumped at some of these guys.  Now?  Unless he fulfills my OLB pipe dream, not so much.

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And because the Dawk thing just won't die, I do want to ding this

Cataldi pushed Reid hard on the events surrounding Brian Dawkins' free-agent signing with Denver... Reid called the 1-year, $7 million-plus Denver guarantee to a 35-year-old safety "unheard of.''  Reid implied the Eagles could not have made such an offer, though all available estimates say they have salary-cap space to do just about anything they want this year.

Yes, but this goes right back to the depth/talent question we just talked about.  Sure, they could have kept Dawk, but there would have been an opportunity cost to doing so.  Someone else -- or multiple someone else's -- would have been gone next year so the Eagles could keep Dawk this year.

That was the point with the "who gets an extension" post from a couple days ago.  We know with absolute certainty that the Eagles are going to use up all that cap room this year.  For the long-term good of the franchise, there's no question that keeping a young guy like Bradley or Bunk or any of the other dudes who haven't signed up for the patented Life In Green extension is a bigger deal than keeping Dawkins around. 

Or as Reid said:

"They guaranteed Brian Dawkins - 35 years old - $7 million in his first year. And that's unheard of. And so my feeling was, 'Hey, Brian, that's a great opportunity for you. I can't do that. To keep our team together, I can't do that.' "

Furthermore, at some point don't we have to start questioning exactly what's going on in Denver these days?  It's not just Dawk.  They ditched Jay Cutler -- for a ton of picks, but still.  They signed a bunch of veteran running backs and then drafted Knoshown Moreno, even though their needs were all on the defensive side (at least until they jettisoned their QB). 

Here's a pretty scathing take on their draft day if you're interested.

The NFL is a copycat league, and with the success some of the young, unproven coaches have had recently (most notably in Pittsburgh), it's not all that surprising that lots of teams went with young, unproven new hires this year.

And hey, maybe McDaniels will turn things around and Denver will be great.  But my guess is that you combine the typical flameout rate of NFL head coaches with the total lack of experience many of these guys have, and this is not going to be a recipe for success in a lot of cities. 

Next NFL coaching trend:  retreads.