Ricky Sapp, Philadelphia Eagle

[PhillyPhreak54]

Interesting in a "stupid motherfargers" way, man.

These farging morons are so concerned about fitting a square peg in a round hole at that position rather than just signing or drafting a TRUE SAM.

[ice grillin you]

at least let him attempt to do what he does best...which is come off the edge...maybe his explosiveness will be neutralized in the league and he just wont be able to get past nfl tackles...but christ thats his game find out first if he doesnt have it...then move him

why would you limit or make obsolete his best attribute before he even plays a down

[PhillyPhreak54]

at least let him attempt to do what he does best...which is come off the edge...maybe his explosiveness will be neutralized in the league and he just wont be able to get past nfl tackles...but christ thats his game find out first if he doesnt have it...then move him

why would you limit or make obsolete his best attribute before he even plays a down

Why ask why with this staff?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Maybe they WERE trying to get Gocong to the QB all those years but he just sucked at it.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Paul Domowitch: Eagles in a rush to see Sapp in action

By Paul Domowitch
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Sports Columnist

ASK RICKY SAPP how he expects to earn his keep with the Eagles and he has a ready response.

"I'm a pass rusher," said the fifth-round pick from Clemson. "That's what I do. I think I can help them coming in, in that situation."

So do the Eagles, which is why you shouldn't pay too much attention to the fact that Sapp will be spending the next 3 days lining up at strongside linebacker during the team's postdraft minicamp.

This isn't Chris Gocong, The Sequel. Four years ago, the Eagles selected Gocong, a prolific pass-rushing defensive end at Division I-AA Cal Poly, in the third round of the 2006 draft and immediately moved him to the SAM position.

Jim Johnson's initial plan was to turn Gocong into the blitzing linebacker he always wanted but never had. But the plan never really got off the ground. For some unexplained reason, Johnson seldom used Gocong as a blitzer. He had just four sacks in 35 starts with the Eagles before being traded to Cleveland earlier this month.

The 6-4, 252-pound Sapp mainly played a hybrid position at Clemson. He was the Tigers' "bandit" end, which mainly involved lining up as a stand-up end and rushing off the edge. He had 17 1/2 sacks, 16 quarterback pressures and 38 tackles for losses in 36 starts in college.

He has a little more experience at covering receivers than Gocong did when he came out of Cal Poly, but not much.

"I had to cover tight ends on occasion," he said yesterday upon arriving at the NovaCare Complex. "I had to cover running backs. I had to cover [Clemson teammate and first-round pick] C.J. Spiller out of the backfield a couple of times. That was great practice. I think I definitely can do it if that's what they want me to do.

"I'm an athlete. I play good in space. I definitely can drop into coverage and cover running backs, receivers, anybody. At the end of the day, I just want to get on the field. I don't care if it's playing nose tackle or long snapper or linebacker. I'm going to read the playbook all night and get ready for tomorrow."

Much like Gocong 4 years ago, most NFL teams projected Sapp as a 3-4 rush linebacker. But after the league's 14 3-4 teams gave him the cold shoulder through the first four rounds, the Eagles decided to grab him and worry later about where they'll line him up.

"He'll start off as a defensive lineman, and he'll learn some of the linebacker stuff," coach Andy Reid said Saturday after the Eagles used nine of their 13 draft selections on defensive players, including three of the first six on pass rushers.

"We have a 'joker' position, where he can stand up and do a little bit of what Chris Clemons did and [Jason] Babin did. So he'll learn that position and we'll see how he does. We'll see how he handles some of the linebacker role within that position and then we can work from there."

Sapp thought he would get drafted by a 3-4 team. But after he slipped into the fifth round, he didn't really care what defensive scheme he ended up in. He just wanted to get drafted.

"I thought I'd go [to a 3-4 team]," he said. "I was asked before the draft whether I could play in a 3-4 or 4-3. I can play both.

"I've got a chip on my shoulder because I didn't get drafted until the fifth round. I'm going to use that as motivation and show all the other teams that they messed up by not picking me."

The Eagles finished third in the league in sacks last season with 44. But they had just 19 in their last nine games, including just four in their back-to-back, season-ending losses to the Cowboys. They blitzed as much under new defensive coordinator Sean McDermott as they did the year before under Johnson, but with less effectiveness. A league-high 15 of the 27 touchdown passes they allowed last season came against the blitz.

Reid and McDermott are determined to improve the pass rush this season, which is why they traded up 11 spots in the first round to get Brandon Graham, and why they selected end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, who was the University of Washington's career sack leader, in the third round, and why they jumped on Sapp when he still was on the board three picks into the fifth round.

If the Eagles can rush the passer, if they can help prevent Tony Romo from wreaking the kind of havoc he wreaked on them last January, McDermott will find a place on the field for them to do it.

"I think we can move him around and line him up at different spots and see what he can do," McDermott said the other day. He was referring to Graham at the time. But he also could have been talking about Sapp and Te'o-Nesheim.

[ice grillin you]

phew....that makes me feel MUCH better

[mussa]

From what I recall the Cowboys o-line completely owned our Dline last year, and their running game destroyed us. Oh and they did nothing to adjust. Just as much the coaches fault if not more than the players...

[SD]

phew....that makes me feel MUCH better

Same...I don't mind them moving him around to see where he fits, but don't pigeon hole him into the SAM spot and say make it work.

[ice grillin you]

he should definitely be moved around...moved around in the same way lawrence taylor was moved around or a joker would be...but his usage should be strictly in getting to the qb and causing turnovers...he was great in college get the ball out of peoples hands

[Seabiscuit36]

yeah, the Joker really is a great fit for him. 

[SunMo]

agreed

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Signed.  Too bad the Eagles are already ruining him by trying to convert to a linebacker.

[QB Eagles]

You're not a true Eagle until the team forces you to play out of position. DE and LB are interchangable, safety = cornerback, tackles are lined up opposite their natural side, they got an Aussie rules punter, everyone on the team has taken a few snaps at FB, and they keep pretending that Vick is a QB.

[Diomedes]

lol, farging post of the year

[PhillyPhreak54]

Sapp weighed in at 249.