Eagles OTAs: Marcus Smith isn’t doing himself any favors
If anyone reading this has the ear of Marcus Smith, you might want to talk some sense into him.
There was one story that didn’t get a lot of attention as OTAs began. Noticeably absent was one player that truly needed to be in attendance. There’s a good chance, when it’s all said and done, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Marcus Smith may go down in history as another snafu in the brief era that was Chip Kelly‘s coaching reign. The Kelly regime made Smith the 26th-overall selection of the 2014 NFL Draft. Three years later, the Eagles have added another defensive end to the roster via the 2017 NFL Draft. It comes in the form of the 14th-overall selection, Derek Barnett.
That was a serious statement about what the Eagles felt about where they were at the defensive end position. One could also look at what they did prior to this year’s draft. They decided to move on from Connor Barwin even though they desperately needed help at the position and in spite of the fact that Barwin said he’d take a pay cut to stay with the team. Prior to last season, they extended Vinny Curry. This off-season they added Chris Long via free agency. You already know about the continuing emergence of Brandon Graham.
There are a few things that aren’t working in Smith’s favor.
A look at the roster and one more thing on the former coach:
In fairness, every football related decision that Kelly made wasn’t a bad one. It was Kelly that drafted wide receiver Jordan Matthews and tight end Zach Ertz. Drafting right tackle Lane Johnson was a Kelly move. So was taking linebacker Jordan Hicks with the 84th-overall selection of the 2015 draft. All of which factor into the long-term plans of the Eagles going forward.
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Executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman has shown a tendency to grade anything and everybody associated with Kelly a little more harshly however, and it’s for that reason that Smith should be worried.
Numbers don’t lie:
For his career, Smith has a grand total of 23 tackles and four sacks. The Eagles recently declined to exercise his fifth-year option, and that would make him a free agent when the 2017 season concludes. If he wants his NFL career to continue, Smith will need to take every opportunity to prove his professionalism to other teams. Every snap needs to serve as an audition for the 31 other teams in the league.
He’s off to a bad start as he was absent when OTAs began. The same can be said for left tackle Jason Peters, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and punter Donnie Jones, but their situations are entirely different. They were absent for personal reasons, and those absences have been excused. Smith appears to be pouting, and it bears repeating. If 2017 is to serve as a year-long resume that Smith is building to present to the other NFL franchises, he’s gotten off on the wrong foot. Truthfully, with all the talent the Eagles have at defensive end now, it’s difficult to imagine where he’ll find his opportunities.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.