3 Reasons not to worry about these Philadelphia Eagles linebackers
3. Are the Philadelphia Eagles the only team that’s fazed out the second level?
There was a time, 2012 to be exact when some Eagles fans were upset that the Carolina Panthers ‘stole’ Luke Kuechly from Philly, and the ‘Birds’ had to ‘settle’ for Fletcher Cox. While both moves actually worked out quite nicely for their respective teams (Kuechly earned a Defensive Player of the Year nod and Cox has been a fixture on Philly’s defense for years), one of Carolina’s fan favorites has since retired.
Now that he’s gone, the only real comparison that we can make to someone being cut in that same mold, that same brand of a middle linebacker, is the Seattle Seahawks’ leader on defense, Bobby Wagner.
Sure, Darius Leonard of the Indianapolis Colts comes to mind, and he’s a star in the making. You can also bring up the Dallas Cowboys’ dynamic duo of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith, but it’s worth noting that every one of the names mentioned belongs to guys who have battled injury.
Most of the interest now seems to be on outside linebackers who can wreak havoc and create bad days for opposing quarterbacks. Chicago’s Khalil Mack and Von Miller of the Denver Broncos come to mind. Miller won’t play in 2020 thanks to an injury. Then there’s this. These days, most teams feature three cornerbacks in their base defense, along with a ‘pure’ or ‘natural’ linebacker and a second linebacker that’s essentially a converted and larger safety or some type of hybrid player.
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That’s what the Eagles have done for the most part. Nathan Gerry, who we mentioned as their best linebacker heading into the season, played the safety position in college. With the NFL becoming more and more of a pass-happy league, this really isn’t that much of a surprise. There’s a lot to think about as the Eagles head into their what seems like an annual opening day matchup with Washington, but fans can rest easy knowing that the linebackers shouldn’t be something to lose sleep over as we march through 2020’s campaign.