How young are the Eagles?

by JimmyK on Apr 13, 2009 12:29 PM EDT

The short answer... Very, very young. This is a team that is set up to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender for a looooong time.

A little analysis...

The Projected Offensive Starters

QB - Donovan McNabb - 32

RB - Brian Westbrook - 29

FB - Leonard Weaver - 26

WR - Desean Jackson - 22

WR - Kevin Curtis - 30

TE - Brent Celek - 24

LT - Shawn Andrews (possibly) - 26

LG - Todd Herremans (possibly) - 26

C - Jamaal Jackson - 28

RG - Nick Cole (possibly) - 24

RT - Stacy Andrews - 27

Average age of offensive starters - 26.72 years old

Projected Defensive Starters

DE - Jaqua Parker (possibly) - 30

DT - Mike Patterson - 25

DT - Brodrick Bunkley - 25

DE - Trent Cole - 26

OLB - Chris Gocong - 25

MLB - Stewart Bradley - 25

OLB - Akeem Jordan - 23

CB - Asante Samuel - 28

FS - Quintin Demps - 23

SS - Quintin Mikell - 28

CB - Sheldon Brown - 30

Average age of defensive starters - 26.18 years old

Other Projected Offensive Contributors

QB - Kevin Kolb (hopefully not needed) - 24

WR - Jason Avant - 25

WR - Hank Baskett - 26

WR - Reggie Brown - 28

RB - Lorenzo Booker - 24

G - Max Jean-Gilles - 25

Other Projected Defensive Contibutors

DE - Victor Abiamiri - 23

DE - Chris Clemons - 27

DE - Bryan Smith - 25

DE/DT - Darren Howard - 32

DT - Trevor Laws - 23

LB - Omar Gaither - 25

LB - Joe Mays - 23

CB - Joselio Hanson - 27

CB - Jack Ikegwuonu - 23

S - Sean Jones - 27

After making this list, the obvious thing that jumps out here is the incredible combination of depth and youth we have on defense... and this is a unit (minus the legendary #20 of course) that was ranked 3rd in the NFL last year!!!

The other obvious thing is the lack of depth on offense. It's no surprise that the birds will be focusing on offensive help in this year's draft, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them add as many as 7 offensive players, with a focus on (in this order of need)... RB, TE, OT, WR, C, G.

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Comments

Bye Dawk..

I was looking at your bashing on the cowgirls blog… it was amazing great work! haha

DeSEAN JACKSON THE ONE

by TheILLadeph on Apr 13, 2009 12:50 PM EDT reply actions

Haha, thanks

Actually, I was being nice at first, but they started bashing the Eagles, so it got ugly.

by JimmyK on Apr 13, 2009 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I love the youth

We have here in Philly, especially on the defensive side.

Im really excited to see how Bradley, DJax, and Abiamiri progress through the next few years, possible super stars.

Gonna miss Dawk a WHOLE lot next year..

by xEdge_Camx on Apr 13, 2009 12:51 PM EDT reply actions

Question

This coming from a lazy poster. Anyone know the average age of the rest of the NFL teams? Or at least the NFC East? I am curious how we compare.

Now my useless and pointless whine-fest. Seeing this roster on defense, I sure wish Dawk was still there. Not even as the player but as the leader and teacher. It would be nice for those young bucks to have him around as an example setter for one more season. Not trying to bring up the “FO is retaded” argument by any means. Just saying in an ideal world, he is there for one more season. Then again, if it was an ideal world, we’d have 7-8 SB rings to brag about by now.

Finally, seeing this roster makes me surmise that Howard does not make it this year. I know he was a very pleasant surprise last year but he does not fit in for the long haul at this point. It also means more playing time for Laws and Abriamiri if he is gone. Then there is his salary. I am guessing they take the hit this year and let him go barring some injury that we do not know about.

by Dawk on Apr 13, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions

Dallas O...

Romo – 28
Barber – 25
Anderson – 26
Williams – 27
Crayton – 30
Witten – 26
Adams – 33
Holland – 28
Gurode – 31
Davis – 30
Colombo – 30

Avg – 28.54

by JimmyK on Apr 13, 2009 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Dallas D...

Spears – 26
Ratliff – 27
Hatcher? – 26
Ellis – 33
Brooking – 33
James – 28
Ware – 26
Newman – 30
Jenkins – 24
Hamlin – 28
Davis – 30

Avg – 28.27

by JimmyK on Apr 13, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Howard

led our team in sacks last year with 10. He also has good versatility being able to play DE and DT for us which makes him useful for any possible down and distance situation. I think we have much more benefit in keeping him around because the more depth we have on the line, the better our goal line D will be too. I’m not positive what rank we were last season, but weren’t we first in 2007? And we had a large number of D lineman to work with that year and put on the line.

"Now Sav Rocca played for the Magpies in Australia. I don't know if it's a bird or a pie or what it is." Ike Reese

by The Badassador on Apr 13, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Understood

Even beyond the numbers, he made some awesome plays that don’t show in the stats. In my opinion, he was the possibly the most valuable player on the D line last year. No offense to Trent Cole. I am just going out on a limb with this idea. If you had asked me the same thing prior to seeing this information I would have said that he makes the team, without question. An injury could make a difference but I would guess either Parker or Howard goes, despite their obvious value. They also want to get Bryan Smith on the field and I would be surprised if another D lineman is not drafted who pushes for a spot. All of this makes it hard to keep everyone and someone talented will be let go. I think age and salary work against Howard in that scenario. Then again, I thought the same thing last year when he had no reason to make the team prior to preseason.

by Dawk on Apr 13, 2009 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah I hear you on that

hopefully whoever ends up losing out on their spot for the D-line whether it be Howard, Parker, or whoever, they could be traded rather than released. We would get some value for them and can also guarantee they don’t end up in the division that way too

"Now Sav Rocca played for the Magpies in Australia. I don't know if it's a bird or a pie or what it is." Ike Reese

by The Badassador on Apr 13, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Giants O...

Manning – 28
Jacobs – 26
Hedgecock – 27
Smith – 23
Hixon – 24
Boss – 25
Diehl – 28
Snee – 27
O’Hara – 31
Seubert – 30
McKenzie – 29

Avg – 27.09

by JimmyK on Apr 13, 2009 2:45 PM EDT reply actions

OK, I'm done...

You get the idea.

by JimmyK on Apr 13, 2009 2:46 PM EDT reply actions

Haha, thanks!

Appreciate the time and effort. I was hoping someone had already done the work for you somewhere.

I am surprised to see how young the other teams are as well. Happy to see Newman and Crayton are already 30. Surprised to see that Jacobs is so young. And the way Barber plays, he won’t make it to 28 without losing a ton of his ability.

by Dawk on Apr 13, 2009 3:00 PM EDT reply actions