This off-season has been such a tremendous ride so far, such an emotional series of events that have given the Eagles a shot at greatness in 2009. I'm going to watch and learn a little bit more about the Eagles, all the new faces and all the returning players. My feeling is that the Eagles have the pieces in place to win a Super Bowl this season. That is the expectation. That is the bar. Nothing else is acceptable for a franchise that has been so close so many times in the Andy Reid era. There remains a conditioning program to continue, a passing camp to conduct and a series of Organized Team Activities to finish off the practices before training camp begins late in the summer at Lehigh University. I'm into it. All of it. Let's talk Eagles every day, 24 hours a day. I hope you feel what I'm feeling, that the Eagles are legit, that the off-season reminds you of what happened from 2003 to 2004 and that 2004 was, indeed, special. The players know what they have on this roster. They know that the infusion of new players (the veteran free agents, the rookie class) makes this team deep and talented. The Eagles knew they needed a boost to get over the hump after the tough loss in Arizona, and when you do what the Eagles did in free agency and in the draft, everybody sees the impact. The Eagles are good. The Eagles have a chance to be very good. They need to take it one step at a time and do the right things and get some luck along the way, but there sure is every reason to think the team should contend from the very first moment of the season. Ask a coach where he thinks the team needs to get better, and he correctly answers that every area must improve. Yeah, the Eagles have to be better in the red zone. And of course they have to run the ball more efficiently. Oh, and they sure have to get off to a good start rather than having to wait until December to be in a win-or-go-home scenario. I could go on and on. And I probably will throughout the rest of the off-season. I just can't wait for September to get here, and I figure that if I stay really, really, really busy, the time will fly by and we'll be watching the regular season unfold in front of our eyes in no time. I can't wait.
The Eagles spent a large portion of their assets in the off-season addressing the offense, but there are some notable battles to watch on a defense that ranked third in the league in 2008 and is aiming for more this season. Juqua Parker and Victor Abiamiri are splitting reps with the first-team defense at left end, and it appears they will battle for the starting job when training camp arrives in a virtual dead heat. Omar Gaither continues to push to get his starting job back at the WILL linebacker spot, where Akeem Jordan is currently holding down the fort and playing fast in this camp. The cornerback group is talented and hungry and experienced with starters as Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown lead the way as starters here. So how does the defense improve from last year? It does so by having young players, like Demps, mature into their new roles. It happens by adding a veteran like Ellis Hobbs to an already-deep group of cornerbacks, and by bringing in veterans like Jones and Baker at safety. It has been a tough off-season for Mikell and the rest of the Eagles' defense. Less than 10 days after the loss to the Cardinals, they learned that beloved defensive coordinator Jim Johnson had cancer. A month after that came word that the defense's leader, seven-time Pro Bowl free safety Brian Dawkins, had signed with the Denver Broncos. Not a whole lot has changed when you look out and see Jim Johnson's defense line up. Same frantic pre-snap movement. Same juggling of personnel. Same aggressive approach to pressure the line of scrimmage. There is no No. 20, and while that may qualify as a cataclysmic change in some Eagles' fans eyes (mine included), the departure of B'Dawk is the only real difference in the front-line rotation of players on this defense. That the Eagles must replace him is, of course, an obvious challenge for 2009. He brought so much emotional fury and dedication to the game that we can only hope that players like Quintin Demps, who is the starting free safety at the moment, learned enough in a year's time spent with Dawkins to successfully make the transition when the games begin. Truthfully, between second-year man Quintin Demps, who will get first crack at the starting free safety job, and newcomer Sean Jones, the Eagles shouldn't have too much trouble replacing Dawkins the player. Replacing Dawkins the leader, though, will be a lot more difficult.
Now the rookies have a sense of what is expected. And the coaching staff has a sense, just a notion, of what the rookies might be able to do this season. The Eagles are in a position where they don't necessarily need a rookie to start right now, but sometimes it just happens. I want to savor every minute of what I think is going to be a fantastic season, one to remember. I'm going to enjoy the ride, and I urge you to do the same. The Eagles have given us quite a series of thrills in the weeks that were since January. What's ahead is going to be worth the wait. I hope.
Waymond D. Horton
The Eagles spent a large portion of their assets in the off-season addressing the offense, but there are some notable battles to watch on a defense that ranked third in the league in 2008 and is aiming for more this season. Juqua Parker and Victor Abiamiri are splitting reps with the first-team defense at left end, and it appears they will battle for the starting job when training camp arrives in a virtual dead heat. Omar Gaither continues to push to get his starting job back at the WILL linebacker spot, where Akeem Jordan is currently holding down the fort and playing fast in this camp. The cornerback group is talented and hungry and experienced with starters as Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown lead the way as starters here. So how does the defense improve from last year? It does so by having young players, like Demps, mature into their new roles. It happens by adding a veteran like Ellis Hobbs to an already-deep group of cornerbacks, and by bringing in veterans like Jones and Baker at safety. It has been a tough off-season for Mikell and the rest of the Eagles' defense. Less than 10 days after the loss to the Cardinals, they learned that beloved defensive coordinator Jim Johnson had cancer. A month after that came word that the defense's leader, seven-time Pro Bowl free safety Brian Dawkins, had signed with the Denver Broncos. Not a whole lot has changed when you look out and see Jim Johnson's defense line up. Same frantic pre-snap movement. Same juggling of personnel. Same aggressive approach to pressure the line of scrimmage. There is no No. 20, and while that may qualify as a cataclysmic change in some Eagles' fans eyes (mine included), the departure of B'Dawk is the only real difference in the front-line rotation of players on this defense. That the Eagles must replace him is, of course, an obvious challenge for 2009. He brought so much emotional fury and dedication to the game that we can only hope that players like Quintin Demps, who is the starting free safety at the moment, learned enough in a year's time spent with Dawkins to successfully make the transition when the games begin. Truthfully, between second-year man Quintin Demps, who will get first crack at the starting free safety job, and newcomer Sean Jones, the Eagles shouldn't have too much trouble replacing Dawkins the player. Replacing Dawkins the leader, though, will be a lot more difficult.
Now the rookies have a sense of what is expected. And the coaching staff has a sense, just a notion, of what the rookies might be able to do this season. The Eagles are in a position where they don't necessarily need a rookie to start right now, but sometimes it just happens. I want to savor every minute of what I think is going to be a fantastic season, one to remember. I'm going to enjoy the ride, and I urge you to do the same. The Eagles have given us quite a series of thrills in the weeks that were since January. What's ahead is going to be worth the wait. I hope.
Waymond D. Horton
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