A View From The Hall - Ray Diddy On Bunkley

[Rome]

A View From the Hall: Where's Bunkley?

by Ray Didinger
Special to ComcastSportsNet.com

Jon Dorenbos, the Eagles new long snapper, is a professional magician. You probably saw him performing his card tricks on TV. It is impressive stuff, but it is only the second best magic act to play in the Eagles locker room this season.

Andy Reid and Jim Johnson performed the most amazing trick of all: They made a 6-foot-3, 306-pound man disappear. Brodrick Bunkley, the first round draft pick. Now you see him, now you don't. No tackles in five weeks, zero sacks all season. A blue-chip prospect gone – poof – just like that.

Brodrick Bunkley is the most puzzling story of this Eagles season. Why isn't he playing? The Eagles rush defense ranks 29th in the NFL. They have given up an average of 186 yards on the ground in their last six games. Teams are shredding their defensive line week after week Yet Bunkley, the hulking tackle from Florida State, can't get on the field.

Why?

Reid has not offered an explanation, but what else is new? Early in the season, Johnson said Bunkley was behind the other tackles because he missed two weeks of training camp due to his holdout. More recently, the defensive coordinator has taken a harder line and said the rookie has not performed well enough to earn more snaps.

Here are my two questions:

(1) Isn't it possible that Bunkley might have performed better if he were given more of an opportunity? How much can he show – good or bad – playing just a handful of snaps?

(2) Even if Bunkley is a little rough around the edges, could he possibly be less effective than the veterans who are playing ahead of him now?

In the last three games, Washington, Carolina and Indianapolis have rushed the ball 104 times against the Eagles. In those games, Darwin Walker was credited with one solo tackle. Sam Rayburn was credited with three tackles. Darren Howard, who splits time between tackle and end, was shutout. So it's not like Bunkley is trying to break into the Fearsome Foursome or the Steel Curtain.

Some people feel the Eagles are punishing Bunkley for his holdout. I don't buy that. They are paying him a lot of money – a six-year contract worth $17.5 million with $9.7 million guaranteed – so they would only spite themselves by keeping him on the bench. It would make no sense, especially with the team fighting to make the playoffs.

I've heard other people say the Eagles are punishing Bunkley for missing the team charter to Indianapolis. Yes, Reid was angry enough to deactivate Bunkley for the Colts game, but the truth is, the kid was buried long before that. In the last two months, Bunkley has hardly played at all. He has one assisted tackle in his last eight games, that's it.

I wish I could explain it, but I can't.

The Eagles have a glaring need for a physical presence in the middle of their defensive line. They need a tackle who can shed a block and get to the football. At the moment, the holes are snapping open like the starting gate at Churchill Downs and guys like Ladell Betts and Joseph Addai are hitting the second level at full speed. Tiki Barber must be smiling as he watches those films preparing for Sunday's date with the Eagles at the Meadowlands.

Mike Patterson is trying (12 solo tackles, 13 assists in the last four games), but he is an undersized tackle who needs help. Putting Bunkley next to him would seem to make sense. Conversely, keeping Bunkley on the sidelines at this point makes no sense. I don't get it, I really don't.

Fans are now referring to Bunkley as a bust. They are comparing him to Jon Harris, the defensive end from Virginia who was selected in the first round of the 1997 draft by Ray Rhodes. Harris was a nice kid who tried hard, but he never should have been a first round pick. Most draft analysts (myself included) had him projected as a fourth or fifth round selection. Harris lasted only two seasons with the Eagles but, really, he was a huge mistake from Day One.

Bunkley is a different case. Unlike Harris, Bunkley was a very good college player. In his final year at Florida State, he had nine quarterback sacks and set a school record with 25 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He was projected as a first round pick by every NFL team. He was the #1 defensive tackle on my draft board ahead of Haloti Ngata, who was drafted 12th overall by Baltimore and John McCargo, who was drafted 26th by Buffalo.

Bunkley was impressive at the NFL Scouting Combine. I sometimes think scouts put too much stock in those workouts, but when Bunkley ran the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds and did 44 repetitions on the weights (225 pounds) it confirmed what I felt all along: this kid is the real thing.

After watching him on film, I made the following observations:

▪ Quick, explosive player. Best suited for one-gap defense.
▪ Good motor, plays hard, chases down ball carries sideline to sideline.
▪ Good balance, fights off blocks, seldom on the ground.
▪ Collapses pass pocket, lives in opponent's backfield.

The negatives: Two knee injuries suffered early in his college career, but he only missed one game in his final three seasons at Florida State. A minor brush with the law, shoplifting a video game in 2003, but the Seminole coaches chalked it up to immaturity. Otherwise, they said, Bunkley was a good kid.

I thought the Eagles lucked out when Bunkley fell in their laps on draft day. I was surprised he slipped to the 14th pick. I felt he was a better fit for their defense than Ngata, a 6-4, 340-pounder who went two picks earlier to the Ravens. Of course, now the fans are saying Ngata is the better player and it is hard to argue since he is starting for a very good defense in Baltimore.

But I know what I saw last season when I watched Bunkley make big plays in big spots for Florida State. And I know what I saw at the Eagles training camp when Bunkley was crushing people on the practice field. I remember at one point, Ron Jaworski said: "Bunkley is a monster." Jeremiah Trotter said, "He's an absolute beast."

Now people are calling Bunkley an absolute bust and that's a concern because once that label goes on, it is hard to get off. And if a young player hears it often enough, he might start to believe it himself. Then it's all over.

I can't argue with the coaches about Bunkley's performance early in the season. He did not play well. He stood straight up when the ball was snapped and that allowed blockers to knock him back. He relied too much on one move – the bull rush – on pass plays. He didn't dazzle anyone – his best game was two tackles, one assist against Green Bay in Week 4 – but he wasn't on the field very much.

I really believe if he had played more, he would have played better and gained some confidence and we wouldn't be trying to solve this puzzle in Week 14. And who knows, the Eagles defense might look a whole lot better than it does right now.

Amen to the quotes in bold.

Also - one solo tackle from Darwin Walker.  One tackle in three games = train ticket out of town.  NOW.

[Feva]

In the last three games, Washington, Carolina and Indianapolis have rushed the ball 104 times against the Eagles. In those games, Darwin Walker was credited with one solo tackle.

Ouch.

[PhillyPhreak54]

farg giving Walker any kind of ticket. He's an engineer. Let him build his own mode of transportation.

Get Bunkley in there. JJ said he would play more this week.

[Feva]

Soooo... we should count on seeing Bunkley 5 snaps this week? 

[MDS]

Well, you know, they ran the ball to the outside and cut it back in the middle a few times. So...it's not his fault.

[Quasimoto]

I would love to see Bunk in there this week.  He can't possibly do worse than those stats.  Jesus christ.  Darwin Walker needs to get the farg out of town. 

And for god sakes... ACTIVATE LAJUAN RAMSEY!

[ttllabtoof]

Nice job.  Thanks for posting the entire story.  Next time try a link.  It may be smaller, but the size of your post doesn't show how smart you are.

Which I guess goes without saying in your case.  Now go kill yourself, I'll be able to get by on my own finding Eagles stories.

[methdeez]

Nice job.  Thanks for posting the entire story.  Next time try a link.  It may be smaller, but the size of your post doesn't show how smart you are.

Which I guess goes without saying in your case.  Now go kill yourself, I'll be able to get by on my own finding Eagles stories.

Dude, we already have way too many bitter white men around here. And most of those guys are at least funny sometimes. Why don't you take it down a notch?

[Philly_Crew]

Nice job.  Thanks for posting the entire story.  Next time try a link.  It may be smaller, but the size of your post doesn't show how smart you are.

Which I guess goes without saying in your case.  Now go kill yourself, I'll be able to get by on my own finding Eagles stories.

Stick it, dickwad.

[Sgt PSN]

Damn.  Now you know you're a farging cock faced ass master when Philly Crew starts talking shtein. 


Seriously dude, you're a farging idiot and I wish you nothing more than a slow painful death. 

[ice grillin you]

pretty depressing this morning on espn they had a big story on how great this years rookie class is and how it will go down as maybe the all time best...somehow the eagles managed to come out of it with the worst draft in the nfl (so far)

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Meh - I think they knew Justice was a project and an athlete.  That was never intended to be a pick for now.  He still figures to man the LT spot for years.  Gaither was a nice find so late in the draft, and I wouldn't close the door on LaJuan Ramsey or Bunkley just yet.  Jean-Gilles could also be a big part of the OL (literally and figuratively).

Obviously, I have no idea what to expect from Gocong or Bloom, but I'm not expecting much.  I am, however, disappointed that Avant hasn't been able to get more time this year.  I think he's better suited to the slot and to the move-the-chains routes, but Baskett's consistently on the field more, despite no production.

Let's just say the Eagles 2006 draft has not yet paid any big dividends and could end up being a massive bust, but the jury's most certainly still out.

[Sgt PSN]

It's hard to say if he's the worst pick because he hasn't been on the field.  Then again, it's not like the players in front of him have been playing at a pro bowl level either.   So is it because he's actually being out played by the likes of Darwin Walker or has he just been getting a raw deal and not gotten a legitmate chance? 

Or, is it [es]Coach Reid is just waiting until the playoffs to unleash the beast because no one will know how to game plan for him.[/es]

[ice grillin you]

Let's just say the Eagles 2006 draft has not yet paid any big dividends

other than gaither the last two games its paid NO dividends

before gaither the entire rookie class combined was in for maybe 100 plays the whole year

anyway i said 'so far'...my point is many many other teams have had no problem getting multiple rookies on the field...and not just on the field but an inordinate amount are studs and tons are big contributers...in relation to that is what im talking about...how come in possibly the best all around draft ever the eagles cant get any players on the field and have the single worst pick in the draft thus far in bunkley

in two years who knows the eagles draft could turn out to be ok but so far yuck

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Reid and JJ not giving Bunkley much of a chance to play is for two reasons, IMO:

1.  He hasn't shown anything in practice or in games to impress them at all, partially because he reported late to training camp and out of shape.
2.  They're punishing him for reporting late.  Still.  Because they're like it.

I think it's more #1 than #2.  I don't know which one I'd prefer, though.