Long Gone

In or out? That’s been the question with Chris Long for the past few months. Part of him wanted to keep playing for the Eagles, but he also weighed his options.

We have our answer.

Cheers. Been a hell of a journey. Eleven years and I can honestly say I put my soul into every minute of it. Highs and lows. I’ve seen them both and I appreciate the perspective. Gratitude and love to those who lifted me up. pic.twitter.com/Ap8zi73Ifl

— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) May 19, 2019

pic.twitter.com/tWSWZgo8Vp

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 19, 2019

Rather than focusing on Chris’s career, I want talk about what this move means for the Eagles.

The team is set with the starters. Brandon Graham is an impact pass rusher and Derek Barnett is a player on the rise.

The Eagles brought back Vinny Curry to give them a veteran backup. Curry started for Tampa last year and the Eagles in 2017. He was a backup and situational rusher for the Eagles from 2012-2016.

Curry can be an effective starter. He is a good run defender. He was an effective pass rusher in the past, but had a down season in 2018. Was that him adjusting to a new team, a new scheme and playing hurt…or has he started to decline? The Eagles obviously think he can return to his previous form.

After that, things are wide open.

The team spent a fourth round pick on Josh Sweat. They loved his size and athleticism. Sweat’s potential is through the roof. While that sounds good, Sweat is purely a projection at this point. He compiled 14.5 sacks in 35 college games. He barely played on defense as a rookie and didn’t have any sacks and only one QB hit.

It is easy for those of us on the outside to wonder if Sweat is going to be one of those athletic teases that never pans out. He showed so little last year that it is hard to get excited about him. The Eagles coaching staff has a much better feel for things. They know about his work ethic and mindset. No one knows if Sweat will pan out, but the coaches know what they think of him.

The Eagles drafted Shareef Miller in the fourth round this year. That would tell you they likely project him more as a role player than a future starter. I wrote about him and the other young DEs in a recent post.

Miller played in a scheme at PSU that moved him around. He understands how to line up wide or in-tight. He understands how to rush in space or in traffic. Miller can play LDE or RDE. He even got some snaps at DT (not many). I feel like he should be more ready to contribute right away than Sweat was.

Sweat used athletic ability to succeed at FSU. Miller was more of the standard college player. He got better each year, based on experience and also getting bigger/stronger. He developed over time. His best season was 2018. He is an ascending player.

That said, you can’t count on him being anything more than a role player, and even then you can’t count on him being a good role player. He might be much more than that, but we won’t know until we see him play.

After Sweat and Miller, the Eagles have Daeshon Hall and Joe Ostman. I actually like Hall and think he could be a player to watch. Hall had half a sack in the game vs Houston. He stood out on STs a few times. He will have a full offseason in the scheme and I think he’ll open some eyes.

Ostman feels like Steven Means 2.0. He’ll be great in practice and his teammates will rave about him. At the end of the day, I just don’t know if he’s good enough to play in the NFL. I would love for him to make me eat my words (with Funyons on the side). We’ll see how Ostman does this summer.

Are the Eagles being careless by having Curry as #3 DE and so little behind him?

That’s a fair question. I would say no because you have to take chances when building a roster and the Eagles are taking a reasonable chance. Brandon Graham hasn’t missed a game since 2011. He hasn’t missed a start due to injury in the past three years. Barnett is coming off an injury, but didn’t miss any time due to injury as a rookie and didn’t miss any games in college. Curry was very durable as an Eagle. He last missed a game in 2013.

Beyond that, the team has spent resources to build depth. They drafted Sweat in 2018 and Miller in 2019. They signed Hall as a pro free agent. Ostman was a UDFA a year ago.

We don’t know if these guys can play, but the only way you find out is to put them on the field. Beyond 2019, the Eagles need some youth up front. They need to find out what they have in Sweat and Miller. Graham and Curry can’t play forever.

The other point here is that the Eagles have an outstanding overall D-line. Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson are two of the best interior rushers in the game. That makes it easier for edge rushers to have impact. The QB can be driven to the right or left by pressure up the middle.

Should there be an injury at DE, the Eagles could also consider playing Cox on the outside. They would have Jackson and Tim Jernigan as the DTs. You wouldn’t want Cox out there all the time, but he could eat up some snaps and let the Eagles give teams different looks.

In the past few years, the Eagles have often moved DEs to the inside in some rush situations. With Cox and Jackson there, DEs can stay outside this year. That will also factor into the equation of how much to play the starters.

There really are a lot of moving parts to this equation.

Would I rather have Long back this year? Of course. He’s a proven commodity and a likable person.

But now he’s gone and the team is going to lean on young guys. It is possible that Sweat, Miller, Hall and/or Ostman will disappoint us and hurt the team. That is a risk the Eagles are taking. I am okay with that risk because the Eagles need to develop young talent up front. I think the combination of talent and scheme will lead to someone proving to at least be an effective role player.

If things do go wrong, Howie can always check out the free agent market or look for someone to trade for. I think the key for now is to get a better feel for the young players already in place.

*****

If Howie does want to sign someone for depth/competition purposes, the two guys who make the most sense right now are Derrick Morgan and Andre Branch.

Morgan has been the better pro, but Branch should have more tread on the tire. I lean toward Morgan.

Neither is compelling.

_