March 29, 2015
During the 2015 free agency period, Chip Kelly filled a few holes and opened up some others. While the draft remains, one thing still seems fairly certain -- The Eagles will head into the 2015 with some holes on their roster (like every other team in the league). Here are a few players who can offset some of the Eagles' roster deficiencies if they step up in 2015:
The Eagles drafted receivers in the second and third rounds last year. Here were their numbers:
• Jordan Matthews: 67 catches, 872 yards, 8 TD
• Josh Huff: 8 catches, 98 yards, 0 TD
And yet, I've heard that some within the Eagles organization think that Huff may have more upside than Matthews. (That's not a slight on Matthews, who unquestionably has a higher floor than Huff). That thinking may come as a surprise to some fans, who watched Huff make a myriad of rookie mistakes in his first NFL season. However, at times, Huff showed that he can be an explosive player, breaking tackles and getting yards after the catch. For example, watch him weave through the Dallas defense on this impressive catch and run.
Josh Huff made 5 Cowboys defenders miss on his 44-yard catch. (gif via @OhWowHmm) http://t.co/ptxLpT6cav
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 15, 2014
Or look at his explosion on this kick return against the Titans.
GIF - Josh Huff 107 Yrd KO Return for a TD #TENvsPHI http://t.co/x6UpLvgulu
— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) November 23, 2014
Huff's hands need to improve, and the rookie mistakes need to end. But once the game begins to slow down for him, Huff could be legitimate weapon in Chip Kelly's offense. Personally, my feeling is that it's a stretch to say that Huff has more upside than Matthews, but I understand the thinking.
The Eagles would have loved for Wolff to have come out in training camp last year and emphatically won the starting safety job over Nate Allen. He certainly has the athleticism to be a quality starting safety.
However, Wolff has continued to miss time due to a knee injury that doesn't seem to be healing. As noted here late last week, the Eagles are kinda screwed at safety again this year, unless Wolff can stay on the field and begin to live up to his potential.
As we all already know, the Eagles released Todd Herremans this offseason, and it has been rumored that Evan Mathis could soon be on his way out as well. It appears as though Allen Barbre will get the first crack at Herremans' starting RG spot. Tobin could be the next man up at LG if Mathis is gone as well.
However, even if Mathis remains with the team in 2015, the Eagles would benefit greatly from Tobin stepping up his game and winning the starting RG spot. The Eagles are extremely light on OL depth, particularly at the tackle spots, so it would be ideal if Barbre could resume his role as a versatile backup who can fill in at four positions along the line.
Last season, Tobin didn't play well when he was forced into action, however, his NFL debut came at an inopportune time as he was banged up as well. The Eagles like Tobin, and if he can force his way into the starting lineup and be at least an average starting guard, that would help solve a lot of the Eagles' personnel issues along the offensive line.
Graham has had a lot of bad luck throughout his NFL career. He tore his ACL, he had a defensive line coach than insisted on giving way too many snaps to a selfish player in Jason Babin, and he dealt with a scheme change that didn't suit his skill set. 2015 will be the first year Graham is clearly going to be a starter heading into training camp.
When he has gotten pass rush opportunities, Graham has been very good. In the last three seasons, Graham has only played a total of 1290 snaps. By comparison, Trent Cole played a total of 2497 snaps. In that limited action, Graham had 14 sacks and 7 forced fumbles.
If Graham can maintain the same level of disruption over a much larger sample size, the Eagles' pass rush will be a good shape. But Graham has to seize his opportunity.
In 2013, Cooper had somewhat of a "breakout half-season." In 2014, he stunk out loud. I think most Eagles fans will settle for something in between.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
