<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>2007 season recap Consistently inconsistent: The Eagles came into last season with Super Bowl aspirations, having won six of the last seven NFC East titles. Instead, they started 0-2 and had to close the season with three straight wins just to finish at 8-8. They feasted on non-playoff teams, going 6-1 against the schedule's lesser foes, but they struggled to compete with the upper echelon clubs, losing seven of nine games vs. playoff teams. In the end, the Eagles missed the postseason for just the third time in coach Andy Reid's nine seasons. Training camp Location: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. Dates: July 21-Aug. 13 Official Site: www.philadelphiaeagles.com For more: Training camp dates 2008 preseason schedule Date Opponent Time Aug. 8 at Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m. ET Aug. 14 Carolina 8 p.m. ET Aug. 22 at New England 7:30 p.m. ET Aug. 28 New York Jets 6:30 p.m. ET Key comings and goings Veteran additions Rocky Boiman, LB Lorenzo Booker, RB Chris Clemons, DE Dan Klecko, FB Luke Lawton, FB Asante Samuel, CB Kris Wilson, TE Veteran departures William James, CB Jevon Kearse, DE Takeo Spikes, LB Thomas Tapeh, RB " Free agency tracker | Transactions 2008 NFL Draft class Rd No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. School 2 47 Trevor Laws DT 6-1 304 Notre Dame 2 49 DeSean Jackson WR 6-0 178 California 3 80 Bryan Smith OLB 6-2 228 McNeese State 4 109 Mike McGlynn OT 6-5 318 Pittsburgh 4 117 Quintin Demps FS 6-0 206 Texas-El Paso 4 131 Jack Ikegwuonu CB 5-11 194 Wisconsin 6 184 Mike Gibson OT 6-4 305 California 6 200 Joe Mays ILB 5-11 245 North Dakota State 6 203 Andy Studebaker OLB 6-3 251 Wheaton 7 230 King Dunlap OT 6-9 310 Auburn Key camp questions Can the Eagles develop another offensive weapon? Philadelphia has struggled to find playmakers in recent seasons. RB Brian Westbrook has become one of the best dual threats in the game, but aside from him and McNabb, the team lacks consistent offensive performers. Veteran wideouts Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis have shown flashes they can be elite receivers, however they have yet to play at that level on a weekly basis. L.J. Smith was developing into an elite tight end before injuries derailed him last season. Rookie reciever/returner DeSean Jackson is fast and talented, but lacks size and has to learn the offense. The Eagles will be looking for one of those players or a reserve like WR Hank Baskett or RB Lorenzo Booker to really impress during camp. Will Lito Sheppard accept his role as the nickleback? Though Sheppard has struggled with injuries throughout his six-year career, he has also been one of the league's best cover corners; he is a two-time Pro Bowler and has 17 career interceptions. He missed five games last season, but still recorded 51 tackles and had two picks. With the offseason addition of Pro Bowl corner Asante Samuel, Sheppard is now being put into a reserve role. He skipped some voluntary offseason practices and it remains to be seen if he will be content playing as a backup behind Samuel and Sheldon Brown. If he does take to the spot in training camp and thrive as a nickleback, the Eagles may have the best trio of corners in the league. Will the Eagles improve on special teams? The kicking game is often overlooked, but it quietly has a major impact on teams' success. Last year, the Eagles had one of the league's weaker special teams units. They did not rank in the top 13 in any special teams category (14th in kickoff coverage, 29th in net punting, 24th in kickoff returns, 24th in punt returns and 27th in field goal accuracy). Jackson's potential as a dangerous return man should instantly improve the Eagles' special teams, but they need to find some coverage guys and make sure K David Akers is still capable. After hitting at least 80 percent of his field goal attempts for five straight seasons, Akers has failed to reach that percentage in the last three. Key position battle S Sean Considine vs. S Quintin Mikell: Considine was the starter last season before going down in Week 9 with a shoulder injury. Mikell began the season as a backup, but wound up starting 11 games in place of both Brian Dawkins, who was hurt early in the season, and then Considine. He played well enough in relief that he is now slated as the starter entering training camp. Considine has designs on regaining his starting job, however, so the competition could be tight at the strong safety position. With Dawkins, Samuel, Brown and Sheppard considered amongst the best at their position, if the winner of this battle can shine then the Eagles' secondary should be dominant. Rookie spotlight DT Trevor Laws: Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson likes to rotate his defensive linemen during the game to keep them fresh and Laws figures to be a major part of the rotation. He has the athleticism and quickness to excel in the Eagles' pressure schemes and will be counted on along with free-agent addition DE Chris Clemons and veteran DT Montae Reagor to provide a boost off the bench. Player on the spot WR Reggie Brown: For the second straight season, Brown enters training camp as the team's No. 1 receiver. He struggled to live up to the expectations last season, finishing with 61 catches for 780 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers are adequate for a second or third wide receiver, but in the Eagles' pass-happy system, the top wideout has to come up with better production. The Eagles chose not to acquire any receivers in the offseason aside from the rookie Jackson, once again leaving Brown as the team's primary receiving option. Fantasy focus QB Donovan McNabb: A combination of injuries and inconsistent production has caused McNabb's draft value to fall. He's still a No. 1 fantasy quarterback, but McNabb is an obvious risk-reward selection. Owners who do take a chance on him should be sure to also add a solid reserve quarterback as insurance.</div> http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story?id=0...mp;confirm=true
I'm really excited to see what DeSean Jackson can do..especially as a punt returner. I'm also praying for the Panthers to suck next season so that 1st rounder will be high.
I think we're gonna surprise a lot of people next season, just like the Giants did last year McNabb is finally healthy, Westbrook just emerged last year as one of the best running backs in the league. Our offensive line should get back on track and ready to go for next year. Wide receivers aren't great, but they're decent. I'm expecting good production from Kevin Curtis again, and hopefully Reggie Brown and Desean Jackson will step up. Our special teams has really improved. I think we signed a couple of special team experts in the offseason, and of course drafting Jackson will really help our dismal returning game Defense should be just nasty, very young as well. Our DT rotation looks good, Patterson - Bunkley - Laws, good young talent right there. A lot of depth at DE, Trent Cole is a monster, Abrimi should step up next year. Linebacker core looks very young and promising, and of course the secondary is just absolutely amazing. Probably the best in the league, I will add
Yeah, this will be an exciting season for sure. Especially with the NFC East getting tougher and tougher, the competition is going to be more fierce than before.
Can't be that good, Eagles lost my boy Tapeh, go Gophs!!! I expect the Eagles to finish 2nd or 3rd, depending on how the Giants play this year without Strahan, we'll see.
Westbrook didn't just emerge last year as a great back IMO. IMO, he's been at that level for awhile. Its just that the media finally caught up. Wish you guys didn't have him.
Westbrook was always a very skilled RB when he finally got his shot after Duce Staley(whatever happened to him?) departed..but that's the thing when it comes to the media/casual fans and Philly teams..they're only really realizing our talent recently.
You guys do have a nice collection of young talent. Particularly, Cole and Westbrook stand out to me. Cole really flew under the radar last year (in terms of media publicity). Andrews is a stud OG too. Back to Cole; he had 12.5 sacks and 4 FF last year. Umenyiora had 13 sacks and 5 FF, 6 (sacks) of which came in one game (which, you are well aware of). Cole was more consistant on a game to game basis last year and his production was nearly identical to Umenyiora's without having the opposite edge rusher to take pressure off of him.
Yeah I've heard debates about Cole and Umenyiora. Cole's a monster though, made the Pro Bowl last season, and I'm expecting many more appearances by him in the future. Not taking anything away from Umenyiora, but his numbers weren't really that impressive if you take into account that 6 of his sacks last season (I believe it was 6) came in one game against us, when Reid stupididly threw Winston Justice into the fire and gave him no help at all for the entire game. And also if you take into account he's playing alongside Michael Strahan, it really makes his job a lot easier than Cole's. We'll see how good he is next season though...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brian @ Jul 21 2008, 02:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah I've heard debates about Cole and Umenyiora. Cole's a monster though, made the Pro Bowl last season, and I'm expecting many more appearances by him in the future. Not taking anything away from Umenyiora, but his numbers weren't really that impressive if you take into account that 6 of his sacks last season (I believe it was 6) came in one game against us, when Reid stupididly threw Winston Justice into the fire and gave him no help at all for the entire game. And also if you take into account he's playing alongside Michael Strahan, it really makes his job a lot easier than Cole's. We'll see how good he is next season though...</div> That was my point.... that it took a once in a lifetime type of performance from Umenyiora to match Cole's production (more or less) for the year. Cole was more consistant.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Vintage @ Jul 21 2008, 12:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You guys do have a nice collection of young talent. Particularly, Cole and Westbrook stand out to me. Cole really flew under the radar last year (in terms of media publicity). Andrews is a stud OG too. Back to Cole; he had 12.5 sacks and 4 FF last year. Umenyiora had 13 sacks and 5 FF, 6 (sacks) of which came in one game (which, you are well aware of). Cole was more consistant on a game to game basis last year and his production was nearly identical to Umenyiora's without having the opposite edge rusher to take pressure off of him.</div> I think you got it the wrong way. Umenyiora's the one that takes pressure off of every other member of our D-line. Statistically, he's nowhere near as consistent as you'd expect a Pro-Bowler to be. But the statistics really don't show how much of an impact he has on the field. For a player that's constantly double-teamed (sometimes tripled), Osi's still the biggest threat in the minds of opposing QB's. You can see it in the way they maneuver around the pocket. They're willing to take their chances against Strahan, Tuck, and our DL's (who are all very talented) rather than a double-teamed Umenyiora.
