Ranking Philadelphia Eagles 3 most important training camp battles

It’s hard to make a point about how the Philadelphia Eagles have devalued the linebacker position without making the next statement to drive the point home, so bear with us. Here we go again. As a franchise, Philly hasn’t taken a linebacker in the first round of any draft since they selected Jerry Robinson out of UCLA back in 1979, and whether this is true or not, it sometimes feels like they haven’t truly cared about being great at the defense’s second level since Buddy Ryan was pacing the sidelines.

Aaah! Buddy Ryan! What a saint that man was! Sorry. That was a moment. Where were we? Oh yes, linebackers…

Andy Reid, outside of having Jeremiah Trotter out there didn’t seem to care. Chip Kelly got lucky with Jordan Hicks, and maybe he saw the position as important because he did trade for Kiko Alonso once. Unfortunately, Alonso couldn’t play, and Chip traded LeSean McCoy to get him.

Doug Pederson had Jim Schwartz as a defensive coordinator, and you all know how he was less than proactive when stacking the position or having real talent there.

Fast forward to the present, and Philly has some guys at the position, eight of them at the time of this story being published to be exact. We all know that Alex Singleton will make the roster. We know Eric Wilson was brought here to be a difference-maker. Here are two questions that will need to be answered in camp.

Will Philadelphia keep five guys or six, and if they keep six, who are the other four guys? This will be one of the most intriguing discussions all Summer. they have to get this right.