NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell was a guest of Dave Spadaro on PhiladelphiaEagles.com last night to discuss the Eagles trade for LB DeMeco Ryans. He watches the film, so Dave asked him for his general impressions on the trade.
It was a major need position and they got a still fairly young player and a good player for basically a fourth round pick. So the value is fine, I have no problem with that. They would have had to draft a linebacker or try to sign the remains in free agency. So now they got a quality starter for essentially a fourth round pick. That's a good deal in my opinion.
How will Ryans fit in with what Juan Castillo wants to do with the wide-9?
I think it will work well because we saw in the last four games last year that the wide 9, which will obviously still be used and is more important as a pass rush concept, that was modified a bit in the last four games. Because Ryans is not a big, physical middle linebacker. He's an instinctive guy, he's a savvy guy, he moves well... so he's not what you'd normally think of for a wide 9. But I think we saw last that its been modified. So I think he'll be very, very effective. He's a quality, starting middle linebacker. You have a proven quantity. You don't have to draft someone and hope.
Can he get back to his pro bowl form now that he's two years removed from the Achillies injury?
I think he's a little different player than he was pre-achilles, he's not quite as quick and fast as he was... But he's a smart, savvy veteran, he's very good at key and diagnose. We know the Eagles defense will be a little different, it won't be the wide-9 all the time. You don't necessarily need a 250 lb thumper inside. I think he'll be very effective with the hybrid scheme we saw a lot of at the end of last year where they played the wide-9 but they also did some other things. He's a solid veteran, a proven quantity. It's a very good move because otherwise you have had to get the scrap heap of free agency or draft someone who is a total crapshoot.
Clearly Cosell is a fan of the move. What you say Eagles fans? Give us your grade for the DeMeco Ryans trade.