Adrian Fedkiw
The Philadelphia Eagles’ starting trio of Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham and Mychal Kendricks have never gone through an entire 16-game season unscathed.
That’s scary, especially with a lack of depth behind those three at linebacker.
Once Hicks, who was a pleasant surprise last year as a third-round rookie, tore his pectoral muscle against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9 and was lost for the season, the Eagles’ run defense took a nose dive. Here’s the difference between Philadelphia’s run defense the first eight games compared to the final eight.
When Hicks was in the lineup, opponents ran the ball 222 times for 903 yards, which totaled 112.9 yards per game and 4.07 yards per carry. The yardage per contest would’ve ranked 19th and yards per tote 16th. Because Chip Kelly’s offense ran the second most plays per game in the NFL, that meant his defense was on the field a lot more, so I tend to look at the yards per carry average over the yardage per 60 minutes of game action.
Opponents toted the rock 256 times for 1,250 yards over the last eight games, which turned out to be an astonishing 156.3 yards per contest and 4.91 yards every time someone ran the ball. The Eagles finished the NFL dead last in rushing yards allowed per game with 134.6, nearly five yards clear of the New Orleans Saints, who finished 31st. The yards per attempt surpassed the league-worst Saints’ mark of 4.9. Philadelphia finished 28th in yards per carry allowed with 4.5.
Hicks was greatly missed during the Eagles’ embarrassing performances against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals, when Doug Martin and rookie David Johnson ran for 235 and 187 yards, respectively. The holes were gaping and the tackling pitiful. You guys remember that one Johnson run when he ran through the entire team, right?
If Hicks misses time again, it’ll be up to Najee Goode in the middle. That’s not good and yes that’s a terrible pun. It’s still not too late to bring in Stephen Tulloch!
Hicks plays with a non-stop motor, takes the proper angles to the ball carrier and knows how to take on blocks and when to disengage in the run game. He’s also a natural in coverage, using his athleticism to effectively change direction and turn-and-run. Hicks also has solid recognition skills in zone coverage.
The Eagles are going to need either Travis Long, Deontae Skinner, Joe Walker or undrafted rookies Quinten Gause and Myke Tavarres to emerge and flash in camp. If one of the outside linebackers goes down during the season, one of these guys needs to show the coaching staff that they can adequately fill in for either a few games or an extended period of time. Let me emphasize the word adequate, they’re not going to be expected to be great or good, just adequate.
Training Camp Preview: Quarterbacks
Training Camp Preview: Running Backs
Training Camp Preview: Wide Receivers