Adrian Fedkiw
Argue about whether Derek Barnett should start over Vinny Curry for the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday all you want.
It really doesn’t matter.
The Eagles have four starters at defensive end, that’s essentially the way defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz views it. Defensive line play is imperative in Schwartz’s scheme. Rush four and drop back seven, that’s the blueprint, and those defensive ends rotate in-and-out like an NHL team makes line changes. There’s a method to Schwartz’s madness.
“Rotation can help you get to later in the season.”
It’d be nice if the Eagles are actually playing some meaningful football later on this season.
“There’s a lot of different layers to rotation. One of those [layers] is that it can keep guys durable and keep guys available for a long period of time. I think that’s one of the things you saw last year. We had an injury at defensive tackle in the Redskins game the first time. But we stayed pretty healthy at defensive end. And a lot of it had to do with our rotation. The key is trying to get the production, whoever it is out there, if whoever is playing, left defensive end, what’s the production of that?
“My experience has been if you get two guys that can stay fresh, you can have more production than one guy that’s out there the whole time.”
A lack of depth at the position last year led to an uneven distribution of snaps. Starters Brandon Graham (764 snaps, 74.98%) and Connor Barwin (709 snaps, 69.58%) were well over the 50-percent mark. Vinny Curry (436 snaps, 42.79%) was a major disappointment in the first year of his 5-year, $47.25 million extension handed to him last offseason. Marcus Smith (217 snaps, 21.30%), meanwhile, was still busy being a bust as the fourth defensive end. A change from 3-4 outside linebacker to 4-3 defensive end didn’t help him at all.
“Over the course of my career, whether it was Tennessee or Detroit, we’ve always been a rotational group. And I think we’ve always been at our best when we’ve been close to 50/50. Keep guys fresh and keep — I know you guys get tired of it, but keep throwing fastballs out of the bullpen. But that being said, over the course of the season, you also have to reward production.”
Barwin is no longer in Philadelphia and wasn’t necessarily a scheme fit. He’s better suited as a 3-4 outside linebacker. The scheme, however, fits the 14th overall selection Barnett to a tee. Barnett, who had a trio of sacks during the preseason, played the Wide 9 technique at Tennessee and knows all about getting to the quarterback, setting the school’s all-time sack record and surpassing the great Reggie White. Chris Long fits the scheme better than Barwin and according to Schwartz, Curry had an outstanding Training Camp and is the best he’s ever seen him.
“I think Vinny Curry also had an outstanding training camp. He was very good against the run and pass. He was as productive as I’ve seen him. He was not on the ground as much as he’s been. I think he’s a much improved player.”
It’s a quartet of rushers that Schwartz should have a lot more trust in, but don’t forget about the fifth-wheel Steven Means, who earned a well deserved one-year extension earlier this preseason.
“You mentioned four defensive ends. I’ll take that further with five. I think Steven Means is a quality player, whether he’s active or not on a weekly basis, I know this much: He’ll be ready when his opportunity comes. Maybe it will be because of an injury or because somebody’s not producing as much as they should. But I think Steven Means is also a quality guy. I like a five-man group up there.”
Five deep. I like it, too!
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