DE Chris Clemons signs 5 year deal

by JasonB on Mar 2, 2008 12:46 AM EST in News Comment 9 comments

Well it looks like the Eagles have taken the old football cliche "defense wins championships" to heart, signing their second defensive free agent in as many days. Today it was 26 year old DE Chris Clemons, who led the Raiders in sacks last year with 8. His sacks are also tied for the most of any free agent pass rusher this year.

Plus, I really need to say... Clemons seems like a really cool guy that's genuinely excited to be here. I'd urge you to the official site and check out his press conference and his interview with Spadaro.

He's had an interesting road so far in the NFL. He came into the league with the Redskins as a linebacker. He spent his first year on IR(in true Eagles style!) and then had more injury problems in 05(although he did play 14 games) and 06. That looked like it might have been for his NFL career. However he got another shot with the Oakland Raiders, this time as a defensive end, and despite only playing 37 percent of the snaps racked up 8 sacks. Obviously the Eagles see him as a guy they can throw in on passing downs and send him after the QB. At around 240/245lbs he doesn't look like he'd be able to be much more than a pure speed edge rusher.

With Clemons on the left and Cole on the right, that's a lot of speed for opposing tackles to deal with. Hopefully int he next few days I'll be able to get some thoughts from a Raiders' blogger and get some inside fan perspective on Clemons.

As excited as I am by this aggressiveness on defense, and as much as I do agree that defense wins championships... I can't help but shake the notion that the defense was the strength of this team last year. Despite the fact that they forced an NFL low in turnovers and let teams gain a lot of yardage, they still only allowed under 19 points a game. That's top 10 in the NFL. Their offense however, sputtered most of the season and scored around 21 pts a game, pretty much middle of the road.

Like I said, I'm 100% behind the effort to bolster the defense... but let's not forget the other side of the ball either. We have needs there too. I suspect the needs at tackle will be addressed in the draft, but there's still the glaring need of another guy to get the ball into the end zone...

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On the subject of helping offense versus defense

I think the Eagles have a lot more faith in the receivers than the general fanbase does. We have a few young receivers that are maturing, who could be in for a breakout year.

If the Eagles offense plays like it did in the second half of last year, we'll be absolutely fine. I like what Andy is shooting for in that he's just trying to get the defense to create more opportunities to score through turnovers and defensive TDs.

by yomjoseki on Mar 2, 2008 2:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

dont count on it

you never want to count on our offense playing the same as the better half of the year before, because we never do. Reggie brown played extremely well at the end of 2006 we expected him to have a break out season and play at least as well as he did in the end of the season before and he didnt.

it always seems that the eagles have a hard time getting going or at least back up to the level of p[lay the season before. the one thing that seems to be a given is that Westbrook will get better every season. dont get me wrong i still think McNabb can get the job done no matter who he is throwing to, and i really like all our receivers i just think at the very least we can give McNabb a #1 receiver before we once again start hearing that his career is over in philly

by NickPampani on Mar 2, 2008 8:04 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

they do

If you've noticed, ever since talks of the offseason started, the organization was glad to list the positions they felt needed improvement. They were always the same. DE, CB, S, O-Line, TE. They took care of TE by franchising Smith, we've taken a step on the DE side. Samuel helps the CB problem, and if we shift Brown to S, that's solved. The other need is O-Line. There hasn't been mention of WRs. Even when asked directly, they point out that the group we had was very productive and we have Brown and Curtis both tied up with decent money/term contracts. I don't think we NEED a "#1" WR. I think we could BENEFIT from an upgrade over Avant as a third WR though.

Look, the other thing people need to remember is that it's more important to the the right player for the SYSTEM you use, not just go grab a "#1" WR and throw him in the mix. Although our offense is a modified version of the West Coast offense, and we have added some plays that stretch the field, the basis of the offense is YAC. The routes are designed for the WRs to catch shorter passes and run afterwards, that's how the offense breaks the defense down. Also people forget how important the TE is in the WC offense. You absolutely need a TE that has a big impact catching the ball in the middle of the field for the offense to work properly. We didn't have that last year. Honestly, if I had my pick of a WR group that would work the best in a WC offense, I want Greg Jennings, Dante Stallworth, and I'd take Curtis in the slot. Jennings and Stallworth are both excellent after the catch, and Curtis is fast and agile enough to run the shallow crosses and outs from the slot.

Before you get on the wagon and say, "We need a #1 WR, that's how we'll win," remember it's more important to have the right guys for our system.

by foos05 on Mar 2, 2008 10:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

On a #1 Receiver

The above commenter has it right, the Eagles have been pretty transparent all along on what their offseaon priorities would be--playmakers on defense and improving the pass rush. They addressed those immediately in free agency.

The need for a #1 receiver was not at the top of their list. When you look at the Eagles from last year, they had no problem moving the ball up and down the field. In fact, they ranked 6th in the league in YPG. The problem was when the offense got into the red zone, it sputtered. The Eagles need at receiver should be focused on acquiring a player that helps when space is at a premium. There were/are very few players available that meet that description. Stallworth didn't. Berrian didn't. Moss and Fitzgerald do. Walker might if he is healthy. The point is, the Eagles need a big physical receiver that score in the trenches.

Chris Iafolla Heard in the Cheap Seats http://heardinthecheapseats.com/

by Chris Iafolla on Mar 2, 2008 12:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm confused...

Is Clemons a DE or a LB? He's listed as a DE on ESPN, but earlier articles about him have him as an outside LB.

At 245, he may be more suited to be a slashing-type LB and share time with Gocong. Do you guys think that's a more likely scenario, or will he exclusively be a pass-rushing DE for the Eagles?

by rhy on Mar 2, 2008 8:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs