Dear Diary:

On the eve of the 2012 Draft, my fellow Eagles fans are obsessed with linebackers and safeties and defensive line guys... but few seem to share my concern over the Tight End position...

It bothers me that the last few seasons have been devoted to the Great Florida Hope---i.e., Cornelius Ingram--- coming back to health and creating the safety net we need at TE...

Meanwhile Brandon Pettigrew has been tearing it up in Detroit. I'm not saying we should have drafted Pettigrew ahead of Jeremy Maclin a few short years ago...I like Maclin. And I like Celek.

But due to the sad ending of Ingram's dream, a cruel knee-injury fate which could not be fixed, we must move on...

And the very real scenario of a Brent Celek knocked out by a serious injury for a number of games leaves us with a "go to" solution of Clay Harbor and ?.... I'm guessing by now the Eagles organization has studied the current trend of having two talented Tight Ends in the offensive rotation at all times. Heck, Gronkowski and Hernandez at New England are just the tip of the iceberg.  The NFL is quietly transforming the traditional position of fullback on offense into a hybrid tight end/tailback thing...  

Here's what we have to deal with in current TE personnel:


Brent Celek, starting TE... coming off a nice year with an upsurge in receiving...good blocker, too...6-4, 255, 6th year out of Cincinnati...

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As the entire NFL community congregates in Indianapolis for the second time in three weeks, draft prospects around the country are preparing for the biggest job interview of their lives: the Nation...

Silence. Space. A dark corner in the locker room all to himself. In the early afternoon at the NovaCare Complex, Danny Watkins could stretch out and breathe deeply, stretch out, move at the pace he wanted to move ...

Fullback Leonard Weaver, who hasn't played since injuring his left leg early in the 2010 season, told the Philadelphia Daily News this week that he might never return to the NFL. 2012-02-22T21:02:00Z NFL.com

With Ronnie Brown heading out the door, the Eagles could very well be in the market for an extra back this offseason. LeSean McCoy is obviously the top guy, but they'll likely look for someone other than just Dion Lewis to spell him. Last season, Brown was supposed to be the bigger back compliment to Shady. Obviously that didn't work out, but it doesn't necessarily mean the team won't be looking for a guy with a little more size as the 3rd back.

ESPN's Steve Muench pointed out an under the radar candidate to fill that role, Baylor RB Terrance Ganaway.

Ganaway is the first big back on the list, measuring 5-11 and 241 pounds. He's a former Houston transfer coming off a breakout senior season, and Ganaway's blend of size, burst and lateral mobility jumps out at times on film. He's capable of running over defenders or making them miss when he gets into space, but his ability to contribute on third down is a concern.

Still, the Philadelphia Eagles could find a spot for a back like Ganaway. With Ronnie Brown set to become a free agent the Eagles could plug Ganaway in as their more powerful back behind LeSean McCoy, and also use him to spell McCoy when needed.

Ganaway would already have some friends should he end up here. Not only was he a teammate of Danny Watkins, but he's also Jeremiah Trotter's nephew.

Last season at Baylor he rushed for 1.547 yards and 21 TDs.

Evan Mathis: O-Line Insight

"A guest contribution by Evan Mathis, Guard, Philadelphia Eagles"

Evan Mathis wrote a post for PFF about what it's like to be an offensive lineman. Go check it out.

The NFL world last convened in Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl. Now that same group will go to Indianapolis for the Scouting Combine. Some people will make this out to be a waste of time. After a...

With the NFL scouting combine kicking off, let's take a look at some of the story lines involving NFC East teams in Indianapolis this week. We'll do them in draft-pick order: Washington Redskins Biggest need: Well, it's quarterback, as everyone within 500 miles of the beltway knows. But the Redskins will also be talking to wide receivers, defensive backs and offensive linemen at this year's combine. They have a number of needs, and a number of different things they can do with the No.

The NFL Scouting Combine gets underway this week.  The first group of players arrive today, but only for behind the scenes stuff.  On field workouts don’t start until Saturday.  This is the time of year when Mike Mamula is written about by a lot of people.  ”Beware Mike Mamula” is a common theme. It shouldn’t [...]

Fox Sports' Pete Schrager previewed the 2012 NFL combine with his major storylines to watch in Indy this week. Among them was the stock of Vontaze Burfict, a name that should be fairly familiar to us at this point. At least in Schrager's eyes, Burfict has fallen fast.

In the few games I watched Arizona State play the past few years, I always came away thinking the linebacker, No. 7, was the best player on either side of the ball. Vontaze Burfict was always good for a punishing hit, a high-impact tackle, and at least one "Whoa, did you see that?!" play. He was also always "good" for one back-breaking penalty.

Then I watched Arizona State's bowl game versus Boise State. Burfict was invisible. He had one tackle. The more research and film work I've done on the linebacker, the more I've cooled on him. His instincts aren't great. He's not as physically imposing as I recall him being, and he's consistently out of position. When it's him - one on one with a running back or quarterback - there may be no one better in this draft. When he has to fight to make a play, he too often fails to succeed. Oh, and from what I'm told by numerous sources, he's a bit of a head case.

There are probably few players with as much to gain or lose this week than Burfict. Physically, he's got almost everything you look for and he should test out well in the drills, but his real moment will be in the individual interviews. Is he able to show a level of maturity? Will he be able to make sophisticated reads and answer questions about defense?

His recent game tape and his reputation are going to hurt this April. There's not much he can do about the game tape at this point, but he can go a long way toward fixing that reputation with a good performance this week.

Courtesy of CSN’s Reuben Frank, below is a comprehensive list of the Eagles’ 2012 salary cap figures. The 2012 salary cap will be reportedly set at approximately $122 million. visit site to read more]

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I don’t often say this, but Garry Cobb penned a pretty interesting piece earlier this week.

Garry Cobb posits that retaining Jackson goes beyond … [visit site to read more]

Looking at the Eagles roster as it stands now, cornerback sticks out as a position in flux.

There are eight players signed. Three of those — Nnamdi Asomugha, Joselio Hanson, and Asante Samuel — have crossed the 30-year-old mark, so their football clocks are ticking. Samuel, as discussed yesterday, likely won’t be around in a few months anyway. There’s also a quartet of unproven youngsters who Eagles fans have varying degrees of hope for — Brandon Hughes, Curtis Marsh, Trevard Lindley, and DJ Johnson.

Then there’s DRC. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is the soon-to-be 26-year-old cornerback whom the Eagles received as part of the Kevin Kolb trade. A former first round pick and one-time Pro Bowl selection, Rodgers-Cromartie was supposed to pair with Asomugha and Samuel to make a fearsome trio of starting corners. Things didn’t work out as planned, partially because the young newcomer struggled in his new role as nickel corner.

I posted Rodgers-Cromartie’s 2011 outside/slot split before, but it’s worth another look:

Once again, Rodgers-Cromartie was one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL when playing in the slot, and one of the best when playing his natural position outside. That was part of the problem in 2011, but with Samuel headed out the door, DRC has the potential to be one of the best players on the Eagles defense. That’s only potential, of course, and his inconsistent play was one of the major reasons the Cardinals were willing to part with him a year ago.

More important, however, are two factors: his age and contract status. Rodgers-Cromartie is the only proven cornerback on the Eagles roster who still has at least half a decade of NFL playing time ahead of him. If he can maintain a high level of play as a starter, he could be not only an answer for 2012, but also a long term solution to pick up the slack when Asomugha begins to fade.

The problem is, Rodgers-Cromartie isn’t signed past this upcoming season. If the Eagles let him play out his contract and he does well, they will have to franchise tag him or compete with other teams on the open market. The alternative, of course, is that they could extend him this offseason — and perhaps pick up a discount in the aftermath of DRC’s sub par 2011.

There’s a long list on Howie Roseman’s desk of Eagles players deserving new contracts and Rodgers-Cromartie isn’t at the top. Still, for the sake of the vital cornerback position, extending him this offseason should be a priority.

Photo from Getty.

Mike & Mike in the Morning are doing their "two-a-days ," in which they review two NFL teams per day during the offseason, and Wednesday morning's first team was the Philadelphia Eagles -- 2011's most disappointing team. Mike and Mike ran through the usual stuff -- they need a linebacker in the draft, etc. Rattled off the usual names -- Kuechly, Burfict, etc. But then they arrived at what, for me, is the crux of the thing. They started talking about quarterback Michael Vick.

In a piece for ESPN Insider, Scouts Inc's Gary Horton detailed the top 3 offseason needs for every team. Unlike a lot of these type of lists so far this year, Horton didn't make the mistake of thinking the Eagles only hole at LB was in the middle.

1. Middle linebacker: After the experiment with Casey Matthews at middle linebacker went badly, the Eagles looked to 2010 seventh-round pick Jamar Chaney. He had a team-high 92 tackles but was often exposed in the middle of Jim Washburn's wide-nine defensive line style. They need a middle linebacker who can hold up at the point of attack.

2. Outside linebacker: Both starting outside linebackers (Akeem Jordan and Brian Rolle) are serviceable special-teams players at best. The Eagles need to find some players who can stack and shed blockers in the run game while not being a liability in the pass game. They haven't drafted an outside linebacker in the first two rounds since 2005.

The third need he mentioned was offensive line, both guard and tackle mostly for depth. It's actually one I agree with. At this point, King Dunlap is the only viable backup the Eagles have at virtually any position along the line. I'm assuming the likes of Jamaal Jackson and Winston Justice will gone, so the depth will really need to be restocked for the next few seasons.

Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins is the one that got away for the Packers. After the new deal he signed in Philadelphia Tuesday, Jenkins is the one that will stay away. The 31-year-old’s restructured contract lasts for three more years. He was set to make $7.5 million in 2012 including a $5 million roster bonus, but…

We had our chat Tuesday. It was fantastic. Groundbreaking. Epic. I'm working on my acceptance speech for Sunday night in the category of "Best Performance by an ESPN.com NFL Division Blogger in a Weekly Chat." But since the Academy refuses to play the highlights of the chats during the awards show, I figure I ought to offer a few of them here. Phil (San Diego): "Is the Laron Landry era officially coming to an end in DC? If so, isn't he a restricted FA, how high do you think the skins will tender him?

Jenkins likes Eagles enough to take pay cut
Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins was happy to take a pay cut if it meant staying in Philadelphia. In fact, he would like to retire an Eagle.

The importance of keeping Jenkins
In the free agent frenzy of 2011, Cullen Jenkins was signed to fit Jim Washburn’s attacking scheme and provide pressure up the middle, but in his introduction to Philadelphia it was immediately clear that he brought much more to the table.

Jenkins Back: Scratch DT from Draft List?
Even though Jenkins is 31 and might not be a long-term starter, his return, along with the return from injury of Antonio Dixon, might mean the Eagles don't target a defensive tackle with the 15th overall selection in the April entry draft. If they re-sign pending free agent Derek Landri, that will become even less likely.

Keeping DeSean Jackson Isn’t About The WR, It’s About The QB | GCOBB.COM
The reason I believe the Birds can and will hang onto Jackson is because of his important to quarterback Michael Vick. The Eagles future is tied to Vick especially in the 2012 season. If Vick flourishes the Eagles have the chance to do something special in 2012. If he struggles, the season could and will likely be a disaster.

Iggles Blitz " Blog Archive " Great Expectations
In the last 48 regular season games, the Eagles have gotten less than 5 good games of MLB play. Think about that for a second.