Training Camp Preview

It's time to start looking forward to another season of Eagles football, and there's no shortage of storylines already. Brian Westbrook and Lito Sheppard are in town, but they're not happy. The one no-show is a big surprise, literally; Shawn Andrews is missing, and no one seems to know why. Out of respect for what he's dealing with, I'm not going to get into it or speculate what's going on. I just hope he can figure out what's wrong and come to camp when he's ready.

Quarterback (3)

Donovan McNabb
Kevin Kolb
A.J. Feeley

They keep saying McNabb's little shoulder injury in offseason workouts is nothing to worry about, and I trust them on that. He's had the tendonitis before, and it wasn't a problem then. Obviously his health is always something to be concerned about, since he's the man on offense and has had some trouble in the past, but I don't think we'll be hearing about shoulder soreness again. He should be fully healed from his ACL injury from the 2006 season, and the mobility he regained from rehab will be a huge plus to the O. After McNabb, the Eagles will be conducting a battle for the #2 job. A.J. Feeley has the experience, but his poor showing last year lets us know that experience isn't everything. Kolb should feel comfortable enough in the system at this point to be able to handle the team if McNabb goes down. He's the more talented player, and it'll be disappointing if Feeley gets the nod again.

Running Back (5)

Brian Westbrook
Correll Buckhalter
Lorenzo Booker
Tony Hunt
Ryan Moats

The big question here is whether or not Brian Westbrook is happy and motivated. I know he's unhappy with his contract, but he's also a professional that knows the Eagles are working with whoever his agent is to figure out an agreement. This isn't a T.O. situation. Andy Reid and the front office know how much Westbrook means to the team, and I'm confident they'll arrive at a solution. It's a good thing that Westbrook showed up, because the depth behind him couldn't handle a full load. Buckhalter is a nice backup, but at this point, saying there are serious doubts about whether he can shoulder the load as a starter would be an understatement. Tony Hunt needs to improve his blocking to become a factor, and it remains to be seen what Booker can bring to the team. He's supposed to be a small, quick player, but something's up when a high draft pick gets traded after his rookie year.

Fullback (3)

Jason Davis
Luke Lawton
Jed Collins

After the failed Dan Klecko experiment, these three are the last guys standing to try and earn this job. Personally, I didn't think Thomas Tapeh did a bad job, and I would've made an effort to bring him back. He clearly wasn't that skilled, but he could block. His lack of ability with the football was covered up by the fact that the Eagles don't use the position much in their offense. I don't think any of these guys will provide any upgrade there, or at the position in general. They have about a dozen games of NFL experience between them, and those all came from a guy who played for the team that utilizes the FB less than we do.

Wide Receiver (11)

Kevin Curtis
Reggie Brown
DeSean Jackson
Jason Avant
Hank Baskett
Greg Lewis
Michael Gasperson
Bam Childress
Frantz Hardy
Jamal Jones
Shaheer McBride

The Eagles always tend to take a lot of receivers into camp, even though it's very unlikely that any of those last five guys have a shot at the roster. Honestly, the top three are probably the only guys that are guaranteed a roster spot. I think the team might've been a bit disappointed with the progress Avant and Baskett showed last year. They're both entering their third year, and this is the team that receivers traditionally develop into the players they'll be for the remainder of their careers. Neither of them will be starters, but they have to prove they have a place on an NFL roster. If I had my way, it would be Curtis, Brown, Jackson, Avant and Baskett on the roster, but Greg Lewis is the kind of guy that'll never go away. He's definitely reliable as a 5th receiver, but I'd rather a spot like that go to a player with a special talent than a guy who's just alright.

Tight End (4.5)

L.J. Smith
Brent Celek
Kris Wilson
Matt Schobel
Jon Dorenbos

This is the one position on offense that has to wildly improve over 2007. If everyone from last year does the exact same thing as last season except the Tight Ends giving the team an ounce of production, you'll be seeing this team in the playoffs. Smith being healthy will be a big part of that. As much as people love complaining about him for some reason, McNabb trusts him, and he helps open up the offense. It's not a coincidence that the offense struggled in the red zone for the first time in McNabb's career when L.J. was in and out of the lineup and there wasn't a reliable target who lines up with his hand down. Celek showed some promise last season, and the Eagles hope he can continue to mature and become another athletic target. Wilson will upgrade the depth, and Schobel is going to have to work hard to regain a spot on this team.

Offensive Line (15)

Shawn Andrews
Jon Runyan
Tra Thomas
Jamaal Jackson
Todd Herremans
Max Jean-Gilles
Winston Justice
Nick Cole
Mike McGlynn
Mike Gibson
Scott Young
Stefan Rodgers
King Dunlap
Franklin Dunbar
Cameron Stephenson

I should probably split all of these guys into their actual positions, but one quality the Eagles like in their linemen is the ability to play multiple positions. If you look down that list, about half of those guys can play a combination of any spot on the line, and for some of the young guys, that'll help them make an NFL squad. I'd say that four of the positions on the line are set, barring injury. The two tackles will always be there, and Jackson and Andrews secure C and RG. The one battle will be the LG spot, between Todd Herremans, MJG and perhaps a surprise candidate with a good camp. Herremans struggled on and off the field last year, and the organization's patience could be running thin with him. He took penalties and had some discipline problems, and he's going to have to work hard to get himself and the line overall back to where they were a couple years ago. MJG has some definite positives that make him a good candidate for a future starter in the NFL. He's nasty and has a pretty good motor, which is the toughest thing to teach to linemen, especially guys as big as he is. If he's doing a good job learning the offense and is holding up in pass protection, he could win that job. Winston Justice will be back, and hopefully during camp, he can work on his technique and become a better player. Cole's ability to play across the line will help him earn a backup job, but McGlynn and Gibson share that quality.

Defensive End (6)

Trent Cole
Juqua "Thomas" Parker
Chris Clemons
Victor Abiamiri
Bryan Smith
Jerome McDougle

It's almost automatic to pencil in Trent Cole for 10 sacks, and things would be a lot easier for him if he had a threat lining up on the opposite side of the line. Jevon Kearse became a serious bust, and Juqua was not up to par as a regular player. Unfortunately, no proven every-down ends were on the market, so the Eagles settled for Clemons. Perhaps settled for isn't the right thing to say, because he did lead all free agent D-End's in sacks. However, it's still widely accepted that he doesn't have the ability to be an every down player. It'll be up to Jim Johnson to find the right mix of personnel, formations and schemes to get more productivity out of that end position. Jerome McDougle will either get injured or cut, so his unfortunate reign of bust will be over in a matter of weeks. Smith is interesting. I think they'd like to get him into the rotation, but there may be too many people on the roster to hold onto a 5th DE. They may have to turn his hamstring inconvenience into a season ending problem.

Defensive Tackle (7)

Brodrick Bunkley
Mike Patterson
Trevor Laws
Darren Howard
Dan Klecko
Kimo von Olehoffen
Montae Reagor

Andy Reid loves to have depth in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and that's exactly what he has there. Bunkley and Patterson are as good as any DT pair in the league. Patterson had a rough sophomore season, but Bunkley emerging as a great player helped him out a lot. Backing them up include four veterans, although it's unlikely that all seven of these guys make the team. I list Darren Howard at DT because he's proven he's not effective on the outside anymore, and he did a great job lining up at tackle in goal line situations last year. The leverage he was able to get was a big reason why the Eagles were so successful in those situations. Klecko was signed to be a FB, but that experiment failed before he even really got a shot. He'll transition back to his regular position, where he could have a tough time earning a spot for a couple of reasons. First, the Eagles have more depth at the position, and he may have also slimmed down just a little bit to play FB. Trevor Laws is interesting. They invested a second round pick in him, so the Eagles expect him to contribute in a big way. However, there's depth at tackle, rookies don't always get the most snaps here, and the foot injury could be a wild card this camp.

Linebacker (9)

Omar Gaither
Chris Gocong
Stewart Bradley
Rocky Boiman
Akeem Jordan
Pago Togafau
Joe Mays
Andy Studebaker
Justin Roland

These nine players average just over two years of NFL experience each, and seven of them come from one guy. The starters have a combined eight between them, and they're the youngest LB corp in the NFL. This is kind of like the situation a few years ago when Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard were getting their first starts. These players are going to have to prove themselves and learn quickly for the defense to be successful. Although Omar Gaither has about a season and a half of starts under his belt, only a handful are at WILL, where he'll be starting. Chris Gocong is entering his second year in the lineup, but this will also only be his second season playing Linebacker. Stewart Bradley showed enough promise in two games last year to cause the Eagles to cut Takeo Spikes and pencil him in. That's a pretty small sample size to expect great success from him, but the Eagles have made gambles like this pay off before. After Boiman, who provides decent depth as a special teamer and 4th LB, the experience and depth really drops off. At least one of those guys is going to have to make the squad, and I'm hoping they don't see much action.

Cornerback (8)

Asante Samuel
Lito Sheppard
Sheldon Brown
Joselio Hanson
Nick Graham
Therrian Fontenot
Kyle Arrington
Jack Ikegwuonu

I'm glad Lito Sheppard showed up. Although I wouldn't mind if he got traded at some point next offseason, we need him this year. With the three top corners the Eagles have, they have tremendous depth, and they could help form one of the best secondaries in the league. If you take one of those guys out, suddenly, I don't like the depth. Hanson wasn't bad last year, but I feel a lot better about him if he's in a dimeback role. With three very good players, Jim Johnson is free to mix up schemes and use players creatively and feel good that the opponent's receivers will be blanketed. The team feels good with Graham and his decent potential as a 5th guy, so I think he'll win that spot. There's a great chance that Ikegwuonu lands on IR for this season.

Safety (6)

Brian Dawkins
Quintin Mikell
J.R. Reed
Quintin Demps
Sean Considine
Marcus Paschal

Brian Dawkins is still a very good player, and the only question with him is whether or not he stays healthy. If he does, the Eagles can be confident that one safety spot is secure. If he isn't, then it's another huge question mark on the defense. I don't know who will start at SS, and honestly, I'm not sure if it'll matter. Each name is more mediocre than the last. All five of the non-Dawkins options will be able to contribute on special teams, but unfortunately, one of them has to start, and we can't carry all of them. Mikell did a good job in the starting role last year, and he's always played a minor part in some defensive packages. J.R. Reed and Quintin Demps each have the ability to return kicks, and I think that could get them a leg up on Considine, who doesn't have those abilities.

Kickers (1) and Punters (2)

David Akers

Sav Rocca
Richmond McGee

For the first time in a while, Akers doesn't have competition. Competition is probably an overstatement since the players they brought in were never any good, but he still got a break in the end of most preseason games. He has to get better this year. Unfortunately, I think his age is catching up to him a bit, and his kicking ability is declining. He's starting to miss more, and he's not as reliable from long distance as he used to be. His kickoffs aren't going as deep, and that's hurting us a little in the field position game. It might be time to start looking for a replacement, but those aren't easy to come by.

Rocca has a powerful leg, but consistency was his worst enemy last year. It would be a lot better if he could hit 45 yards over and over again, instead of going 60 on one punt and 30 on the next. Coverage teams appreciate that because it helps them get an idea of where the ball will be when they're running down the field. Improving hangtime should also be a goal for Rocca. Now that he has one year in the books, he's got some experience in the NFL, and he can start refining parts of his game now that he understands the basic ideas. I don't know much about McGee, but I don't see him making the team. His punt averages at Texas weren't very good, but he did pretty well on kickoffs. I don't see this team carrying an extra leg just for kickoffs, but I'd imagine the Eagles want to see how he handles those duties.

The Eagles have plenty of depth in the return game this year, and I don't anticipate seeing Reno Mahe in an Eagles uniform ever again. By my count, they have about eight players capable of returning kicks and punts, and hopefully one or two of them can provide the spark that's been missing from the return game for the past few years.

There it is. 2008 Eagles training camp in several large paragraphs.