Position Battles: Philadelphia Eagles

Wild on Sports

Position Battles: Philadelphia Eagles

By Wild on Sports Analyst Jared Newcomb

The Philadelphia Eagles will be commencing their training camp in just a couple of weeks. Unlike the past camps with Reid, however, Chip Kelly has moved training camp from Bethlehem to Lincoln Financial Field. It is a move that I like because know instead of a heavy three hour drive it'll be a more manageable two or so hour drive. Much like in OTA's I am sure Chip will make sure that this training camp is a lively one by way of loud music, smoothies, and up tempo drills. That is what we can expect from Chip Kellys side of it but what can we or should be expect in the way of players jockeying for playing and starting positions? Lets look at a couple position battles that should be heating up soon.

Quarterback - This is an obvious one, but just because it is obvious lets not underscore how imperative this battle will be. There are five QB's in the system right now; Vick, Foles, Barkley, Dixon and G.J. Kinne. Kinne will probably get cut and Dixon will be sent to the practice squad. That then leaves us will 3 quarterbacks that have a shot for opening game. You can read my full analysis here and why I think one QB has an edge over the other two.

Safety - The Defensive back unit has been incredibly underwhelming the past couple of years and it hasn't really improved much since Chip has come here. Here are the contenders; Allen, Coleman, Anderson, Chung, Phillips, Sims, Wolf. Yep that's a lot and all of these guys are serviceable but not going to make you jump up and down. I think Allen, Coleman and Phillips will all be strong contenders, the second tier should consist of Anderson, Chung and Wolf. Wolf is a new draftee and has a good chance to outshine the older veterans. We will see, injuries will be a big concern (ie: Allen, Phillips) So they will have to monitor their conditions and if they can avoid the doctor.

Wide Receiver - The Eagles didn't draft a wide-out during the draft meaning they seem to be satisfied with their current crop. We have Desean, who should benefit from a high tempo Kelly offense, then, Maclin, who is in the last year of his rookie contract. He should play well for a big contract then we have Cooper, Avant, Cunningham,Demaris Johnson and Arrelious Benn who will all fight for reserve spots.

Running Back - Obviously McCoy is the main man, one the the premier backs in the league he will go into the season that way. After that is gets a little dicey. We could presume that Bryce Brown would get a back up role after having a stellar couple of games in relief for McCoy. After Brown you have a guy that I really like in Dion Lewis, he is very much like McCoy with his vision and shiftiness, which is understandable why they would want Brown to back McCoy up simply as a change of pace. and finally there is Chris Polk, we keep hearing great things about him, but very rarely do I see any film on him. I will take their word for it, but would suggest to you that he will be put on the scouting team. And mixed into all of this is Fullback, Stanley Havalli.

So there are four positions that I will be watching with excitement as training camp winds up to see who ends up on top. What are your thoughts regarding these battles for positions? Who has an edge? Let me know! Comment below.

I also want to let you know that I had the unique and exciting opportunity to be a guest co-host on the Micheal Bonner Show. We discussed mainly the NBA draft, Hernandez and the Celtics,Nets trade. I encourage you to listen in!


You can read more of Jared's work at  http://instantre.blogspot.com/