August 20, 2015
Eagles OLB Marcus Smith injured his hamstring today during special teams drills, and will have an MRI tomorrow, per a team source. The Eagles were short on depth at outside linebacker before training camp even began, but after losing Travis Long for the season with a torn ACL and now potentially Smith for a period of time, the Eagles' depth on the edge will be tested further.
After the Eagles drafted Smith 26th overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, Smith had an extremely disappointing rookie season, when he played just 74 total snaps and was not credited with a single tackle. However, he has shown more life as a pass rusher during camp and played well in his first preseason game against the Colts, especially in the run game.
If Smith is out for a substantial period of time, the Eagles' depth at OLB should look something like this:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Jack | Connor Barwin | Bryan Braman | Brad Jones |
| Predator | Brandon Graham | Vinny Curry | Brad Jones |
Vinny Curry played at 3-4 OLB today backing up Brandon Graham at the "Predator" position. We reported a few days ago that Curry would see more looks at OLB, but his transition to OLB may be accelerated with the Eagles' depleted depth on the edge. "I've been at outside linebacker all week," said Curry. Expect that to continue.
Another candidate to get more playing time at outside linebacker is Brad Jones, who has experience playing both ILB and OLB with the Packers.
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