March, 2012:

- It’s further confirmation that God hates me, and all Eagles fans everywhere.

- Todd Herremans is one of the more underrated players in the NFL.  Last year, he had to fill in LT for Peters against the Redskins and he completely shut down Brian Orakpo, although it’s 100% unrealistic to expect that same level of play over a 16-game schedule.  I have full confidence that he can move over from RT to LT, face the best pass rushers in game, and play well.  But “playing well” is a lot different than being truly elite, which is what Jason Peters is.  Peters was probably the best LT in the NFL last year, and the transition from Peters to Herremans is most definitely a significant downgrade.  But it doesn’t end there.  The Eagles signed King Dunlap this morning, and while he’s a really nice reserve swing tackle, the downgrade from Herremans to Dunlap is also very significant.  The Eagles could certainly go in another direction at RT, whether that be through the draft or the remaining junk in free agency, but either way, this injury weakens two positions, not one.

- Danny Watkins played OT in college, and Evan Mathis worked out a bit at RT in camp last year, but those aren’t viable options.  If you slide Herremans over from RT to LT, kick one of your guards out to RT, and fill in that hole at guard from the outside, now you’re weakening three positions, and just pissing away any and all continuity.

- There’s some debate as to which side of the line is more important to protect with Michael Vick, a lefty, as the QB.  For me, it’s a no-brainer.  It’s the left side.  Here’s a sampling of the pass rushers the Eagles’ LT will face this year:

• DeMarcus Ware twice: 66 sacks and 15 FF the last 4 seasons.
• Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora twice: JPP was, in my opinion, the best defensive player in the NFCE last year. Umenyiora is a strip sack master, with 12 of them the last 2 years.
• Brian Orakpo twice: 28.5 sacks in his first 3 seasons as a pro.
• John Abraham: 22.5 sacks the last 2 seasons.
• Terrell Suggs: 25 sacks, 9 FF last 2 seasons.
• Carlos Dunlap: 14 sacks in his first 2 seasons as a pro.
• Will Smith: Beginning to slow down. 12 sacks the last two seasons.
• James Harrison -2008 Defensive Player of the Year. 9 sacks, 2 FF in a down year in 2011.
• Kyle Vanden Bosch: Jim Washburn’s all time favorite defensive lineman. 8 sacks, 4 FF last year.
• Adrian Clayborn: 7.5 sacks and 3 FF as a rookie
• Sam Acho: 7 sacks, 4 FF as a rookie.

(more…)

To be determined how long he’ll be out, but this is devastating news to the Eagles.  Expect Todd Herremans to move over to LT and King Dunlap to fill in at RT until he can return, whenever that may be.

Last offseason, CBS’ Pete Prisco put out his most overrated/underrated list, and to my surprise, he thought Asante Samuel was the Eagles’ most overrated player.  I figured his argument (a valid one) would be that he either can’t, or has no interest in tackling.  Nope.

Overrated: CB Asante Samuel. I say it every year here: Good player, not great. Big-time gambler. He makes plays, but he also gives up a bunch.

I tried to think of one occasion in which Samuel had been burnt that season, and came up completely empty.  I couldn’t think of a single instance.  In fact, I even put it to the test at the great Eagles blog Bleeding Green Nation.  A commenter did come up with one.  In the playoff game against Green Bay, at the end of the first half, James Jones had Samuel beaten deep, but dropped the pass.  That was it.

And yet, I don’t think Prisco is alone in his perception that Samuel is prone to getting toasted.  But that perception is dead wrong.

According to Football Outsiders, Samuel was only thrown at 36 times the entire 2010 season.  He had a “success rate” of 78%, which was by far and away the best in the NFL.  For quick reference, FO defines “success rate” as “the percentage of passes that don’t manage to get at least 45 percent of needed yards on first down, 60 percent of needed yards on second down, or 100 percent of needed yards on third down.”  That was the best in the NFL.  Second best?  A name you might know… Darrelle Revis, at 70%.

As far as yards per pass attempt, Samuel gave up a paltry 3.2 yards per pass, which again, was the best in the NFL.  Second best? Another name you probably recognize… Antoine Winfield, with 4.2 yards per attempt.  To put 3.2 yards per attempt in perspective.  Aaron Rodgers averaged a ridiculous 9.25 yards per attempt this past year.  That was the best in the league.  The bottom 4 QB’s in the NFL were Curtis Painter (6.34), Sam Bradford (6.06), Colt McCoy (5.90), and Blaine Gabbert (5.36).

But the most amazing part of Samuel’s 2010 season was that despite only being thrown at 36 times, he somehow intercepted 7 passes.  That’s incredible.

Football Outsiders has yet to put out their 2011 CB charting stats, but they did give a sneak peek through Week 13 of the 2011 season.  Despite a new defensive scheme that didn’t quite cater to Samuel’s skill set, the numbers were more of the same.  He was 5th in “success rate” at 67%, and his yards per pass attempt were again extremely low at 4.5 yards per attempt (3rd in the NFL).  Those stats don’t include Samuel’s final two games of the season against the Jets and Dolphins, games in which the opposing QB’s and WR’s had miserable Sunday afternoons.

With a logjam of talented CB’s the Eagles are pretty openly trying to trade Asante Samuel.  If you’re in need of a corner, you’d be taking on a player that’s 31 years old who is going to make almost $10 million in 2012.  That seems to be the focus of pretty much every article you’re going to read about Asante Samuel.  I was even guilty of that back in October.

Just don’t forget that the guy is still really freaking good.

Follow Blogging the bEast on Twitter.