Philadelphia Eagles: Ranking Top 5 Thinnest Positions

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

3) Outside Linebacker

The Philadelphia Eagles finished last season with 49 sacks and that was impart to the improved play of the outside linebackers. Connor Barwin finished the year with 14.5 sacks and landed in the pro bowl. Brandon Graham had 5.5 sacks in limited playing time, and former Eagle and now Indianapolis Colt Trent Cole finished with 6.5 sacks. All very good numbers but the guys behind these three failed to make any kind of impact.

Now with Trent Cole gone, the lack of depth is really gonna show. Marcus Smith, the 2014 first round pick, needs to show up because he is now going to be forced into the role Graham played last season coming off the bench as a rotational OLB. Smith as rookie recorded zero tackles and had zero impact when he was on the field. The team is trusting Graham to take over the starting spot and produce, but Smith is a complete enigma.

Even with Smith and his lack of production, the guys competing with Smith are a even bigger mystery. Bryan Braman is a core special teams player and nothing else, Travis Long showed promise and potential before tearing his ACL for the second time last season and is now a question mark, and the team is now even using inside linebackers like Emmanuel Acho and Brad Jones as rotation outside linebackers. I’m not exactly sure where the team is gonna get production from, but they need to find a player or two who can contribute off the bench.

Next: 2) Safety