The observation thread

[shorebird]

Did Barry Sanders ever avg. 5.7 per carry a season?

Twice. He averaged 6.1 in 1997.

It will be interesting to see what Peterson ends up with.

[BigEd76]

CB Tanard Davis signed from Carolina's practice squad

Gasperson released



Bye Sheldon 

[Displaced]

CB Tanard Davis signed from Carolina's practice squad

Gasperson released



Bye Sheldon 

Well there goes any chance of the Eagles drafting a "shut down" corner in April.  Nevermind signing...dare I say Dante Hall?

On the otherhand the door is now wide open for the return of James Thrash now that Gasperson is gone.  We all remember how his big day against the Eagles back in 2000 so impressed Reid&Co they just had to sign him that off season.

[Don Ho]

^^^^^^^

merry xmas to us!

[ice grillin you]

the eagle corners are more than fine...theres many areas of need ahead of a cornerback

[BigEd76]

map for Bills game

eastern PA
most of New York
Maryland
DC
northern Virginia
southern Oklahoma
northern Texas


Harlan and Gannon again

[Don Ho]

good, game is not on in hawaii so i can wear my new Eagles tshirt i received for xmas to the sportsbar.  what a statement to close the season.

[Displaced]

the eagle corners are more than fine...theres many areas of need ahead of a cornerback

Don't know that I agree with that statement. 

Lito can't stay healthy, Sheldon is dependable but gets beat deep way too much and when it comes to Burress neither one of them has an answer.

Don't make me bring up what Thrash did to that secondary in the first Washington game.  If not for that stinker they would be in the playoffs.

The eagles face Owens and Burress twice a year.  They need help at that position in order to be competitive.

[ice grillin you]

i totally disagree...sheldon gets beat less than most corners in the league...and hes all around one of the better corners...but hes on your favorite team so you tend to scrutinize his failures much more...

lito getting hurt too much is a legit point but what are you gonna do take a first round pick on a position because they might get hurt...unless youre suggesting getting rid of lito and replace him with a draft pick...id much rather take a high pick on a position that sucks

[reese125]

.id much rather take a high pick on a position that sucks

Not that the safety position sucked so so bad this year, but I would say its the most important area this year in the draft, that and special teams

When you finish dead last in major categories such as defensive INT's, field position and return yards, you have no choice but to address--but again--they always go opposite, so who the f knows

[Displaced]

i totally disagree...sheldon gets beat less than most corners in the league...and hes all around one of the better corners...but hes on your favorite team so you tend to scrutinize his failures much more...

lito getting hurt too much is a legit point but what are you gonna do take a first round pick on a position because they might get hurt...unless youre suggesting getting rid of lito and replace him with a draft pick...id much rather take a high pick on a position that sucks

I still have a few games on my DVR so I will watch a couple of them again while I have a few weeks reprieve from the good Jesuits but I feel like I distinctly remember Sheldon getting beat deep.  Maybe the passes did not always connect but Sheldon was in a trail position.

Don't get me wrong I like Sheldon and Lito.  I think Sheldon is one of the smartest corners around and Lito is a gamebreaker when he is on but neither one of them has any clue what to do with Burress.  The guy won that last game single handedly or should I say single leggedly?

Another thing, how often do you hear an anouncer say "that was a coverage sack" about the Eagles defense?  They can't play physical bump and run and get beat underneath playing off.  It was so frustrating watching teams convert on third down the last couple of years.

[Feva]

i totally disagree...sheldon gets beat less than most corners in the league...and hes all around one of the better corners...but hes on your favorite team so you tend to scrutinize his failures much more...

lito getting hurt too much is a legit point but what are you gonna do take a first round pick on a position because they might get hurt...unless youre suggesting getting rid of lito and replace him with a draft pick...id much rather take a high pick on a position that sucks

The CB position isn't as OK as you might think, though.  Even if Lito & Sheldon are fine (which I think they are)... where do you go after that?  Will James has been terrible this season, he lost his nickel spot to Joselio... and it'll be a miracle if he's back next year (not that the Eagles would or should want him).  So that will create a hole depth-wise. Then, do you trust Hanson to play the nickel full time next year and beyond?  He's a decent DB I suppose, but I don't trust him in situations against regular 3 WR sets.  Nick Graham is a body.  Nothing more, nothing less.

There's not really much depth outside of Lito & Sheldon... and we've already established that Lito has durability issues.  They need more quality at CB.  I'm not saying go CB in the 1st round, but it should be addressed... and earlier in the draft rather than later.

[Don Ho]

There's not really much depth outside of Lito & Sheldon... and we've already established that Lito has durability issues.  They need more quality at CB.  I'm not saying go CB in the 1st round, but it should be addressed... and earlier in the draft rather than later.

well said.  agreed that it's not necessary to take a CB in the first round as there will be some quality ones available in the next two rounds.  sure would be nice to get a CB on day one.

[ice grillin you]

i totally disagree...sheldon gets beat less than most corners in the league...and hes all around one of the better corners...but hes on your favorite team so you tend to scrutinize his failures much more...

lito getting hurt too much is a legit point but what are you gonna do take a first round pick on a position because they might get hurt...unless youre suggesting getting rid of lito and replace him with a draft pick...id much rather take a high pick on a position that sucks

The CB position isn't as OK as you might think, though.  Even if Lito & Sheldon are fine (which I think they are)... where do you go after that?  Will James has been terrible this season, he lost his nickel spot to Joselio... and it'll be a miracle if he's back next year (not that the Eagles would or should want him).  So that will create a hole depth-wise. Then, do you trust Hanson to play the nickel full time next year and beyond?  He's a decent DB I suppose, but I don't trust him in situations against regular 3 WR sets.  Nick Graham is a body.  Nothing more, nothing less.

There's not really much depth outside of Lito & Sheldon... and we've already established that Lito has durability issues.  They need more quality at CB.  I'm not saying go CB in the 1st round, but it should be addressed... and earlier in the draft rather than later.

again i couldnt disagree more...you want every position on the team to have quality starters and depth...in a perfect world that would be great and im all for it but it just doesnt happen and is not realistic...if you wanna bring in a veteran third corner to compete with hanson then fine but if they take a day one corner in the draft it would be a mistake imo

wr
defense front seven
returner
safety

are all much bigger needs than third corner

[rjs246]

They aren't getting a receiver in this draft that will make an impact on offense. There just aren't any players with that sort of talent coming out. Receiver is going to have to come in free agency if anywhere.


Defensive End
Safety
Linebacker (though I'm not as down on this group as I once was)
Return Man

Those are the priority positions. A corner after those are addressed would be fine, but I agree with IGY it shouldn't be a top priority at all.