REMEMBER last year, when it was clear that our biggest Free Agency need was to find a Free Safety? That clear first priority had us fans debating which Safety to take. T.J. Ward, Jairus Byrd, Malcolm Jenkins… It was a well-defined target area.
This year the big offseason need is what?
- Re-signing WR Jeremy Maclin?
- Re-signing DE Brandon Graham to prevent opening up a hole in our roster?
- Getting a new CB to play an old, flawed concept?
- Getting a player to replace a guy we may trade away, as part of package to move up and select a question mark?
I mean really, which of those is the biggest priority this year? Which one is the correct answer? What if I told you it’s none of those things?
Right now the biggest priority is getting a Right Guard to replace Todd Herremans. YES. It is.
While I still think drafting a mauler would be a wise move for this franchise, we could also add a guy like Guard Mike Iupati. No wait, let me restate that, WE SHOULD SIGN MIKE IUPATI HIMSELF.
Regardless of whether the statue named Nick Foles is our starter, or if we trade the farm for a shiny new rookie with all the bells and whistles, the QB will need protecting. Maclin is useless if the QB is on the ground. If LeSean McCoy comes back in 2015 he’ll need better blocking than he got for half of 2014. If McCoy doesn’t return, then a lesser RB may require better blocking than he’ll get from (I’m guessing) Andrew Gardner.
Look, our Defense is a shithole already because we play a bogus coverage concept, that isolates and exposes our DB’s. So whether we sign a Free Agent stud or lose our own, chances are good that our defense will be about the same until DC Bill Davis is fired. So I’m not even going to get my hopes up for that side of the ball.
On the other hand, this is an offensive team, and any way you slice it we need a RG, right now. Chip Kelly said his system is primarily run based. Okay, so what did Iupati do in San Fran? He blocked for RB Frank Gore. Can he adapt to aspects of the Spread Option that Kelly runs? Well they ran a Read Option in SF, which borrowed quite a bit from the Oregon version of Kelly’s system. Sounds like a fairly simple transition to me.
All things considered, the 27 year old, 3 time Pro Bowler (2012, 2013,2014), could be a better fit for this system than Herremans ever was. The O-line is the engine of any offense, and with the race car the Eagles drive, we need to be sure we’re firing on all cylinders.
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