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Some answers about Eagles' personnel decisions
Monday, September 4, 2006
By DON BENEVENTO
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA
Why, oh why, did the Eagles' 53-man roster turn out as it did after Saturday's cuts?
There must have been numerous questions that arose during the meeting of the Eagles' football operations staff.
Here is a sampling of some of them.
Q: Is keeping a guy like free agent offensive lineman Nick Cole on the team better than having an extra wide receiver such as Darnerien McCants or Jabar Gaffney?
A: Those who run the team apparently think so. The Eagles are loaded up now with 10 offensive linemen, Cole being one of them. There is good argument for him staying. After the Eagles traded Hank Fraley and cut Trey Darilek, Cole is the only backup center on the roster.
Q: Why give up so quickly on cornerback Matt Ware, a third-round pick from only three years ago, and then keep free agent Joselio Hanson on the roster?
A: That was another tough decision, Tom Heckert, the Eagles' general manager, said. "I think when (Hanson) started off the preseason, he made plays. But the thing that kind of threw us over the hump with him is that he could play the inside position in our nickel. So, if something were to happen with Sheldon Brown during a game, he could move inside and play that position where other guys haven't done a whole lot of that."
Heckert also said it simply came down to numbers. The Eagles decided to begin the season with four cornerbacks, where they usually would keep five or six. Even upon the release of Ware, Heckert seemed to indicate the coaching staff believes he has a place in the NFL.
"He was a tough one for us because we like Matt," he said. "He's got ability. It's a matter of what his position is and I think in a team that plays press, where their corners press a lot, I think he's going to be really good."
Q: Why choose Bruce Perry over J.R. Reed as the lead kickoff return man?
A: Again it was a matter of numbers. Perry is a running back and Reed is a safety. Had they kept Reed there would have been five safeties on the roster, and the Eagles are accustomed to going with as few as three safeties.
"We're not down on J.R. at all," Heckert said. "It was just a matter of, do we keep five safeties? It was going to be tough for us to do that. Even if you kept five, how do you keep all five of those active if J.R. was going to be the guy that's going to be the kick returner? We'll see what happens down the road, but we still think J.R. can play for us."
Heckert said the Eagles are comfortable with Perry returning the ball.
Q: With the decision to cut Dedrick Roper and to place Chris Gocong on the injured reserve list, are the Eagles deep enough at linebacker?
A: After much evaluating over the course of the training camp, the staff decided to go with Jeremiah Trotter in the middle with Dhani Jones on the strong side and Matt McCoy on the weak side. That means the Eagles are counting on players like special teamer Jason Short and rookie Omar Gaither to play the backup roles. Shawn Barber is the one veteran backup.
"Another tough cut for us was Roper, because we think Roper is going to be a good football player," Heckert said "Obviously Jason is a big-time special teams player and that helps his cause, but we also think he can be a backup linebacker for us. And we do like Omar, so he's got to step up and prove that we made a right decision there and I think he will."
Q: Why keep 10 defensive linemen?
A: "That was almost like we didn't feel like we had a choice," Heckert said. "We've got 10 good players and to give up on one of those guys, trust me, we got a lot of calls on those guys. We could have traded a number of them, but we just decided that they are just too good of players to let go."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060904/SPORTS02/609040354/1002/SPORTS
Monday, September 4, 2006
By DON BENEVENTO
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA
Why, oh why, did the Eagles' 53-man roster turn out as it did after Saturday's cuts?
There must have been numerous questions that arose during the meeting of the Eagles' football operations staff.
Here is a sampling of some of them.
Q: Is keeping a guy like free agent offensive lineman Nick Cole on the team better than having an extra wide receiver such as Darnerien McCants or Jabar Gaffney?
A: Those who run the team apparently think so. The Eagles are loaded up now with 10 offensive linemen, Cole being one of them. There is good argument for him staying. After the Eagles traded Hank Fraley and cut Trey Darilek, Cole is the only backup center on the roster.
Q: Why give up so quickly on cornerback Matt Ware, a third-round pick from only three years ago, and then keep free agent Joselio Hanson on the roster?
A: That was another tough decision, Tom Heckert, the Eagles' general manager, said. "I think when (Hanson) started off the preseason, he made plays. But the thing that kind of threw us over the hump with him is that he could play the inside position in our nickel. So, if something were to happen with Sheldon Brown during a game, he could move inside and play that position where other guys haven't done a whole lot of that."
Heckert also said it simply came down to numbers. The Eagles decided to begin the season with four cornerbacks, where they usually would keep five or six. Even upon the release of Ware, Heckert seemed to indicate the coaching staff believes he has a place in the NFL.
"He was a tough one for us because we like Matt," he said. "He's got ability. It's a matter of what his position is and I think in a team that plays press, where their corners press a lot, I think he's going to be really good."
Q: Why choose Bruce Perry over J.R. Reed as the lead kickoff return man?
A: Again it was a matter of numbers. Perry is a running back and Reed is a safety. Had they kept Reed there would have been five safeties on the roster, and the Eagles are accustomed to going with as few as three safeties.
"We're not down on J.R. at all," Heckert said. "It was just a matter of, do we keep five safeties? It was going to be tough for us to do that. Even if you kept five, how do you keep all five of those active if J.R. was going to be the guy that's going to be the kick returner? We'll see what happens down the road, but we still think J.R. can play for us."
Heckert said the Eagles are comfortable with Perry returning the ball.
Q: With the decision to cut Dedrick Roper and to place Chris Gocong on the injured reserve list, are the Eagles deep enough at linebacker?
A: After much evaluating over the course of the training camp, the staff decided to go with Jeremiah Trotter in the middle with Dhani Jones on the strong side and Matt McCoy on the weak side. That means the Eagles are counting on players like special teamer Jason Short and rookie Omar Gaither to play the backup roles. Shawn Barber is the one veteran backup.
"Another tough cut for us was Roper, because we think Roper is going to be a good football player," Heckert said "Obviously Jason is a big-time special teams player and that helps his cause, but we also think he can be a backup linebacker for us. And we do like Omar, so he's got to step up and prove that we made a right decision there and I think he will."
Q: Why keep 10 defensive linemen?
A: "That was almost like we didn't feel like we had a choice," Heckert said. "We've got 10 good players and to give up on one of those guys, trust me, we got a lot of calls on those guys. We could have traded a number of them, but we just decided that they are just too good of players to let go."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060904/SPORTS02/609040354/1002/SPORTS