Philly Sports Today

Heading into the 2008 season, the Eagles’ defense certainly appears to be a major strength. The defensive end position is loaded with guys that will put tons of pressure on opposing quarterbacks and will collect a lot of sacks. Trent Cole is fresh off of a Pro Bowl season and Juqua “My last name ain’t Thomas anymore” Parker are expected to be the starters once the season opens. However, once Victor Abiamiri gets healthy, look for him to get a lot of time at Parker’s spot and eventually take over as the starter, possibly at some point this season. Bringing Chris Clemons, Darren Howard, and Bryan Smith off of the bench is another great luxury for Jim Johnson as all three of them are very capable of racking up sacks. I am a little disappointed that Jerome McDougle was cut since he was finally showing the potential that led him to be a first round pick, but I guess he was just a victim of the numbers game.

Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley are both solid defensive tackles that can clog up holes and stop the run. I still think the team is a little thin at that position by having rookie Trevor Laws and Dan “Mr. Versatility” Klecko as the back-ups, both of whom are major unknowns in terms of their production. Hopefully Laws will play like he did at Notre Dame and Klecko will bring some of that Patriot magic to the Linc. It will be interesting to see how Howard performs at defensive tackle as well. Maybe he’ll actually play well for the first time since he became an Eagle.

Linebacker is by far the position where the Eagles are the weakest on paper. All of them are young and very athletic so it will be interesting to see how/if they are able to gel as a unit and how each individual develops throughout the season. I think that Omar Gaither will have a stellar year, but I’m not completely sold on Stewart Bradley or Chris Gocong yet. I think both of them have the potential to be very good NFL players, but I need to see them do it first. Akeem Jordan is a solid back-up who could adequately fill in if there was an injury and Rocky Boiman should be a special teams star. I have also absolutely loved the way that Joe Mays played during the pre-season and I’m crossing my fingers that it was a sign of things to come.

The Eagles have the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, and Lito Sheppard are all studs. I’m really excited for all three of them to be on the field at the same time. Those three DBs are certainly going to wreak havoc on opposing teams and get their fair share of interceptions. If the Eagles don’t improve on their dreadful 2007 total of 11 interceptions then all three of those players must have had their hands amputated or something. Finally, Joselio Hanson is decent as a fourth cornerback, but I’d like to see him on the field as little as humanly possible.

In addition to having a potentially shaky linebacking corps, I am also skeptical of the safeties. As much as I love Brian Dawkins, I think he has lost a step or four and is probably in his final season as an Eagle. Watching him in the pre-season made me view him as somewhat suspect in coverage at this point in his career. I think Quintin Mikell will do an excellent job at strong safety opposite B-Dawk and I am interested to see how he performs as a starter over the course of a full season. I don’t really have a problem with J.R. Reed and Sean Considine as back-ups, but I don’t think they’re anything special either. Ultimately, if they can come in and not make any major mistakes, that’s all I’m really looking for. Finally, I have high hopes for Quintin Demps. Like DeSean Jackson, Demps is another young stud in the return game and should make a major difference in the kickoff return game. His 101-yard return against the Patriots has instantly raised the expectations for him among Eagles fans. It would almost be disappointing at this point if he and DeSean didn’t have any TD returns in ‘08. Additionally, I really hope Demps will be able to take over for Dawkins next season and give the Eagles a set of Quintins at safety that flock to the ball.

Overall, I expect the defense to carry the team this season. It was already really good last season. In 2008, I expect them to be great. If the defense can meet its potential, it is very possible that the Eagles will be Super Bowl-bound.