Ready or Not?

The reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles will enter training camp reloaded at several important positions, many of which are not yet figured out.

On the latest episode of “Inside The Birds,” Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher discussed the biggest storylines currently surrounding the team.

Rashaad Penny’s role in the Eagles’ backfield is a major question entering training camp

Rashaad Penny

Adam Caplan: “No one has told me this, but I believe Penny is going to be the lead back. I don’t know if that means eight carries or 14 carries, talking about the fourth quarter when you need someone with size…Another reason why I believe he will be on this team: look for him to return kicks in addition to Boston Scott. Penny was a dynamic kickoff returner in college.”

Sean Desai

Caplan: “Fangio disciples all agree that you don’t blitz very much because you don’t sacrifice coverage. Pre and post-snap, that’s the thing we don’t know. Desai for the one year [as DC with Chicago] ran Vic’s [scheme].” 

Geoff Mosher: “I am curious on d-line alignment. Does he slant, stunt against runs, does he move guys around more than Jonathan Gannon? I did see some of that when he was with the Bears, but he knew his personnel a lot better having come up through there. He has to learn what he can do with all of these new players in not a whole lot of time.”

Right Guard

Caplan: “If these replacements are not good, you are going to have slide protection when you readjust your protection to help your guard. It helps that guy, but you leave gaps and the integrity of your offensive line gets impacted. If Tyler Steen’s struggling or Cam Jurgens wins it, slide protection comes in.”

Mosher: “If you have to dedicate two linemen to one blocker and then you’re facing a team like Wink Martindale’s Giants, that’s a feather in his cap to break down your scheme which is already compromised.”

Olamide Zaccheaus

Caplan: “How Zaccheaus does will largely determine on if they go out and add someone else for competition. They probably aren’t thinking about it, but if it doesn’t work, we’ve seen that. The way the Eagles think under (Howie) Roseman is they let these guys battle, but in the back of their mind, they have their free agency board.”

Nic Morrow

Mosher: “It always concerns me with journeyman linebackers who make lots of tackles…those can be misleading numbers. Morrow is a decent player for what he is asked to do, but there is a reason why guys go from team to team and don’t get extended because they are seen as fungible.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com