Free Agent Focus: Jason Babin

nice pull!

In this system he is/was as good as and better than 95% of all DE’s last year in getting after the QB. It makes a ton of sense as long as it’s not too much cents!

I was writing it more as a list of positive things that the coaches will weigh up whilst assessing Jason Babin on the Free Agent market when it happens.

However since you went to great effort to argue my points invalid, I will issue a counter argument in response:

1. Probowler…not impressed! Especially because he’s only produced for one season among a career of mediocrity at best!

Excluding Babin has not been active for all 16 games in a season since leaving Houston in 2006. He was in fact only been active for 24 of 48 games until joining the Titans. That does not scream opportunity to me, you cannot perform and impress without being given the chance. The first time he has had a chance to impress in 4 season and he took it posting a Pro-Bowl year.

2. Potential answer at LDE? First of all, he’s 31, so I don’t know how long you expect him to last. And then:

Abraham, Ellis, Keisel & Freeney are all older, all started at least 2 seasons before, and have appeared in at least 50 more games each. They all still perform at Pro-Bowl level. Seeing as Babin as accrued a lot less mileage due to spending so much time inactive there is no reason why he cannot perform at a good level for another 3/4 years.

Before you write off the other 11 ‘busts’, why don’t you give Washburn a chance with them for cheap and see if he can do to any of them what he did with Babin. I for one think Ricky Sapp is nicely fitted for this scheme, and I while I may want a plug-in player this year, I’m certainly not over Graham as a long-term answer.

3. Washburn’s scheme isn’t hard. It’s about speed an alignment. It doesn’t take long to learn, so familiarity with it isn’t an issue.

Firstly by bringing in Babin wish Washburn, you can pretty much guarantee Babin to play at Pro-Bowl level in 2011. You cannot guarantee this with the current players on the roster. There is always rotation in a Washburn system, so when Graham does come back, he can force himself back into the line-up. The old adage goes “you cannot have enough good pass rushers”. Washburns scheme may not be hard, however not all players perform well in it, and players that do, do not often perform well in other schemes. Look at Kyle Vanden-Bosch, Javon Kearse & Albert Haynesworth.

What people do not appreciate about Washburns scheme is that it has a simple theory, but a complex implementation. It may be all about players firing off the ball into a gap, however he trains all players to focus on hitting one part of the pocket (where the opposition QB favours standing). He also does a lot of swap arounds, for example lining DT’s at DE and vice versa to confuse opponents.

4. Familiarity. Sure, he was here for a year. But we also have a crap-load of DEs on the roster that are also familiar with the city and the team.

As you didn’t understand the nature of the article, this is fair enough. All I was saying was that as the staff know Babin, they are more likely to look at him than another player.

5. Insurance…first of all, Graham’s start was not ‘unimpressive’. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was good. He showed flashes, and he is worth being excited about. You’re right that he won’t be ready for most of or all of this year…but with what we’ve invested in him, it’s too early to take on a (presumably) big contract FA who’s physical abilities are on the inevitable decline.

Seeing as there is no guarantee that Graham will ever pan out as the next Trent Cole, and that he may be the next Victor Abiamiri, I would say bringing on a veteran FA for the right price as insurance is definitely an option. Due to his lack of mileage Babin’s physical abilities will decline later than other players, also the Eagles have proved deft at shipping off older players on the verge of decline (Dawkins, McNabb, Brown, Westbrook).

All that to say: You admit that Babin’s turnaround was a credit to Washburn, and not Babin himself. Then why sign Babin himself if you have Washburn? Let him do with our other guys what he did with Babin

Incorrect, all I have done is propose 5 reasonable reasons why the Eagles staff will take a look at Jason Babin as a FA this off-season. As I have also now stated previously Babin with Washburn will produce results. Washburn with our “pieces” does not guarantee results.

and if he could take a DE who never did anything and turn him into a 12 sack monster I’d like to see what he can do with Tapp.

you can’t argue that Mudd’s turned guys like Saturday and Ryan Lilja who were low round players and guys who were undrafted into solid-great OLman.

Washburn has been the one to get Babin to finally produce, Dave Ball’s finally produced, he kept Haynesworth in check until he left… Everyone who goes through Washburns system produces, then leaves and drops off.. You can see it time and time again, Kearse is a good example of this which hits home.

I completely agree Mudd and Washburn don’t create these guys, but they certainly are the best at what they do and players under them produce very highly and can be consistently replaced by others and the units don’t falter… The players have to put in the work, but guys like Washburn who go through every sack from the previous year and find the average mark of where that happened then teaches his DL to aim for that spot behind the certainly deserve more credit than you’re willing to give.