A Tale Of Two Failed Defensive Ends Made Good
by JasonB on Dec 1, 2011 1:04 PM EST
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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The leaders for the Eagles and Seahawks in sacks this season are Jason Babin (10) and Chris Clemons (8) respectively. This is a fact that would have been laughable to fans of these teams three years ago. The Eagles signed Chris Clemons as a free agent before the 2008 season. Over two years here never started a single game and racked up just seven total sacks. The Eagles traded Clemons and a fourth pick to the Seahawks for DE Darryl Tapp. Since then, Clemons has collected 18 sacks between this year and last.
As for Babin, he was traded to the Seahawks prior to the 2007 season. He appeared in just four games and had no sacks. He was traded away to the Chiefs midway through the 2008 season. Eventually he made his way to Tennessee and then Philadelphia where he's been hooked up with Jim Washburn and he's racked up 23 sacks between this year and last. Although Babin does have the distinction of having done nothing with both the Eagles and Seahawks, considering his first stint in Philly.
It's interesting for sure and the fact that each guy is now playing well does soften the blow of seeing them... play well.
For Babin's part he's still angry about the time he spent in Seattle and plans to let them know about it.
"My wife and kids were obviously with me both years in Seattle," Babin said. "It's not easy to play in a new place, not being wanted, and kind of being treated badly. You have your position coach not talking to you, and the head coach (Holmgren) telling you, ‘I didn't want you.'
"I'm going to let them know I didn't forget. I'll have that chip on my shoulder. If you're a professional, an alpha male, that's how you feel."
Now, let's be sure no one tells Babin that none of the people he's upset with are actually still in Seattle. We want an angry Babin. You won't like Jason Babin when he's angry.
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We drafted DE EJ WIlson, who was cut before the start of the season
He was signed in 2011 by the Bucs but injured his patellar tendon during the 2nd preseason game and is now on IR.
by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Dec 1, 2011 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
"Eventually he made his way to Tennessee and then Philadelphia"
It really can’t be forgotten that he was in Philadelphia before he went to Tennessee. We had Babin and we had Clemons but the horrible coaching that is Rory Segrest couldn’t seem to find any potential in either of them and let them get away.
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The Chris Clemons trade was a MASSIVE mistake, my god. If you looked at the stats, Chris Clemons got pressure a higher % of the time than Trent Cole when he played here but he never really saw playing time over Darren Howard, Juqua Parker and Victor Abiamiri of all people. So then we ship him to Seattle and he has put up 19 sacks since we ditched him for Darryl Tapp.
Now don’t get me wrong, Darryl Tapp is a nice role player but he certainly wasn’t the player we expected him to be and Chris Clemons has become the edge rusher we all expected him to become when he first signed here. And then in addition to that, we surrendered a 4th round pick as well? Sheesh, we got trade raped.
Darryl Tapp: 45 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 8 TFL
Chris Clemons: 79 tackles, 19 sacks and 6 TFL
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"Stats are for fantasy and losers. Winning is an attitude."
Kind of misleading
Clemons was only playing in pass rushing situations. So it should stand to reason that he would create pressure at a higher rate than others who were playing three downs.
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Exactly.
I thought Darryl Tapp was going to really blossom in Philly. We really liked him here.
Head of catering.
Before Washburn, what kind of gap assignment did your DEs have?
Clemons’ size made for a reasonable concern in considering him as a complete or starting DE. You guys haven’t had too much trouble finding effective pass rushing linemen so it made some sense to keep him a situational pass rusher. When you have the run defense out of Trent Cole, that’s unusual for a DE.
Last year Seattle had a 4-3 front, but had at least two guys two-gapping, and occasionally three. So Clemons on the end was assigned one gap.
And not just any one gap, but the B gap. So the WLB still had to seal the edge on stretches. Clemons is a good rusher, but his best move is his cut to the inside. So his run gap assignment doesn’t slow his pass rush, meaning PA & draws haven’t hurt his aggressiveness.
It’s just been a good fit, and he’s in his peak years. It depends on what you would’ve wanted out of Clemons. He still would probably not make a good, complete traditional 4-3 end. But I dunno what you were trying to do before, or even what you’ve been doing with Washburn.
Head of catering.
I think they used a lot of "Wide 9" (sort of a double-LEO), at least earlier in the season
by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Dec 1, 2011 3:18 PM EST up reply actions
And this doesn't really answer your question at all
because you were asking, specifically, about the pre-Washburn era.
by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Dec 1, 2011 3:20 PM EST up reply actions
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