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Just can't help being an ass.......Eckel.

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  • Just can't help being an ass.......Eckel.

    I thought ths was actualy a pretty decent article for Eckel, and he makessome valid observations, IMO. But the throw in on Reid at the end is just cheap:

    Walker's only move should be to DE
    Sunday, March 25, 2007
    BY MARK ECKEL
    NFL
    Now that the Eagles have another undersized defensive tackle in the fold in the form of Montae Reagor, word is the team will move veteran Darwin Walker.

    According to a couple of personnel people around the league, the team is shopping Walker -- Buffalo, Green Bay and Minnesota apparently all have been contacted -- in hopes of adding a draft pick or moving up in a later round of the draft.

    Here's a better idea -- instead of moving Walker to another team, move him to defensive end.

    Walker, who at times has been one of the team's best linemen and at other times has disappeared, has shown that he can play outside and play it well. And although he often has said he prefers to play inside, he may not have a choice in the matter.

    Looking at what the Eagles now have in terms of defensive tackles and defensive ends, it makes sense for the 6-foot-3, 294-pound Walker, who is the team's best all-around run defender (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) , to move to an outside spot on a regular basis, or at least on more than a part-time basis.

    No. 1 picks Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley have to be the team's starters inside next season. The team cannot let Bunkley, the 14th overall pick in last year's draft, sit again.

    Reagor, at 285 pounds and with decent pass rushing moves, is the ideal No. 3 tackle to come in on passing downs.

    Also in reserve is Sam Rayburn, who has yet to duplicate his fine 2004 season, and second-year man LaJuan Ramsey, who made some plays early in the season, had a rough game against Dallas and never was heard from the rest of the season.

    The team figures to add another lineman somewhere in the draft, as well.

    While the Eagles tell you they are fine at defensive end, remember that they said the same thing about wide receiver before they signed Kevin Curtis. They are kid ding themselves and anyone who listens.

    The ends are Jevon Kearse, who has been a major disappointment since signing a $66 million deal, with $20 million guaranteed, before the 2004 season and is coming off a terrible knee injury, and Darren Howard, another poor free agent decision with a long injury history.

    If Kearse isn't healthy, or has lost his best attribute -- his speed -- he's useless. Howard did very little of anything last year after the fifth game of the season and will be a year older at 31.

    Trent Cole and recently re- signed Juqua Thomas were the team's two best ends last year, but both are on the small side and much more adapt at being speed rushers than every-down players.

    Cole is worthy of a starting role, but you can't leave him out there for 50-60 snaps per game, or you get what you got last year -- a worn-out player by the middle of the season.

    Consider that he had five sacks the first three games of the season and none in the last six games or in the two playoff games.

    The only other end on the ros ter is Jerome McDougle, and you have to ask yourself what he still is doing on the team. Or was he ever really on the team?

    Walker going to defensive end on early downs makes sense, more than the signing of another undersized tackle does.

    Here's one scouting report on Reagor, the 6-3, 285-pound defensive tackle who will turn 30 in June.

    "He has good first-step quick ness and plays fast. He can get to the quarterback. He has decent strength for his size and plays with leverage, but lacks real good instincts and gets fooled on misdirection plays. He's not an every- down player, but he can help you in a rotation."

    The Eagles will go into next month's draft with a total of six picks (their fourth-rounder goes to New Orleans in the Donte' Stallworth trade). That is the least amount of picks the team has ever had before the draft.

    In 2001, the team finished with six overall picks (that was the Freddie Mitchell/Quinton Caver draft), but traded two picks that day (a third and a sixth) to Miami for a second-round pick in 2002.

    Look for some action on this draft day, as well. In Andy Reid's eight previous drafts, the Eagles have made a total of 19 draft-day trades, including six last year alone.

    Andy Reid, who generally is awful in press conferences after games or the day after games, was as good as you could expect Friday in his return to work.

    Obviously there were questions Reid couldn't answer and some he wouldn't have answered, even if he could.

    All in all he handled it pretty well and showed more of his human side than the public generally gets to see.

    It's a shame it took something like this for that to happen.



    Contact Times staff columnist Mark Eckel at [email protected]
    http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

  • #2
    I'm not in favor of them trading anybody on the D line with our record of preseason injuries at those spots. I'm not a huge Walker fan, but he's decent. What good is a draft choice who is never going to see the field this season?
    "Hey Giants, who's your Daddy?"

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    • #3
      I'm pretty much in agreement with you, E60, and with Exkel as well, in this regard. I know a lot of people dislike Walker, but atleast he has shown that he can be effective, and has periods of good performance. Heck, a draft pick could end up being another Mc-DOOOO-GAL. If we let him go, i hope it's for a known quantity.
      http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

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      • #4
        I agree with you Fresh, I don't have a big problem with Walker at DE as an experiment and a stready body in case of camp injury,, and the last part was nothing more than a backhanded compliment/shot at Reid-- IMO---and wasn't needed in that article at all.

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        • #5
          whatever the merits of the writer, i do like the walker-to-end idea.
          Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd kill you and everyone you cared about!

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          • #6
            Most of the stuff about the DLine and the team was very good. Last couple of sentences were like a big left turn (wtf?).
            "Philly fans are great....It's the only place where you pull up on the bus and you've got the grandfather, the grandmother, the kids and the grandkids - everybody flicking you off. At other stadiums, they give you the thumbs-down. Here, they give you the middle finger.”
            — Michael Strahan

            "No one likes us, no one likes us, no one likes us, we don’t care, we’re from Philly, F—-ing Philly, No one likes us, we don’t care!”
            - Jason Kelce with the best championship speech ever

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            • #7
              As MD said, "backhanded".
              http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

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              • #8
                I'd love to see Walker to DE. Maybe Buffalo will cut him and we can get him back.

                Eckels had to show us that he really hates how Reid owns him. The inability to bite his tongue shows you who his daddy is. Go big red!!!
                Pedro

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                • #9
                  This is the part of the Spikes deal that bothers me. Alone on an island as usual....but I hate to lose Darwin. I think he is a very good DT as long as you can keep him fresh, and he is a nice and versatile piece for a rotation on the DL. Ah well, I hope Spikes is worth it, and Reagor wil perform.
                  http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

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                  • #10
                    Don't understand this island mode of yours, I don't think many here wanted to lose Darwin, I know I liked him and thought while he played a bit inconsistent he was a good guy to have on the club. I know that a couple of guys seemed to be happy to lose him, but they are the exception from what I can see.

                    Some old sayings are actually true------ "You have to give up something to get something" ------- and Buffalo needed DL help.

                    Both teams got better, IMO.

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                    • #11
                      You are not alone on that island, Fresh...

                      Eckel articles are so tough to plow through IMO...so many inaccurate statements and yes the personal shot at Reid is so symbolic of Eckel...STOP making it personal, be a professional! My goodness...

                      The endless whining about size at DT echoes the big RB or tall CB myths some of our media and fanbase hold onto tightly...

                      Kearse has been a "major dissapointment"? I could not disagree more...anyone who thought he was going to have 15 sacks a year were the ones kidding themselves, but of course it is NOT their fault for going way overboard...nope it is the player's fault since we demanded he be better than he ever had been before...we are paying him the money, right?
                      Eliminate distractions, create energy, fear nothing, and attack everything.

                      -Andy Reid

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by MDFAN
                        Don't understand this island mode of yours, I don't think many here wanted to lose Darwin, I know I liked him and thought while he played a bit inconsistent he was a good guy to have on the club. I know that a couple of guys seemed to be happy to lose him, but they are the exception from what I can see.

                        Some old sayings are actually true------ "You have to give up something to get something" ------- and Buffalo needed DL help.

                        Both teams got better, IMO.
                        Plus the Eagles signed Reagor, who, IMO, offsets the loss of Walker. They're very similar players, they play the exact same style, penetrating DTs who can get pushed around a little bit.

                        I'll miss Darwin, he was a big part of this team for a long time, but Spikes brings some much needed attitude and big play ability to the LB position.

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                        • #13
                          Guess I'm not on that island by myself after all, MD. Perhaps I am affected by all the Walker bashing I read on Philaphans. Not here so much.

                          This is OUR sland.
                          http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

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                          • #14
                            I am on the ship sailing by that island you guys are on. Walker may be a nice guy but he should have just covered himself in maple syrup most of the year because he pancaked so often it wasn't funny. Was he used too much? Probably. Some of the fault lies with JJ but Walker did not hold well at the point of attack. New Orleans abused him. He played well in spurts but that's it. I wished him the best but giving him up for Spikes is a no brainer for me.
                            I miss Philly!

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                            • #15
                              Wonder why he didn't post the same scouting report source on Walker. I am sure we could say the same things about Darwin.

                              Walker was a nice role player WHEN he showed up. His loss does not hurt the D-line more than Spikes adds to the LB core. End of story.

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