The 75th Man

All 32 NFL teams must be down to a 75 man roster by 4 pm today, and 53 by the weekend. The Eagles currently have 77 listed, but Reagors locker has been empty since Sunday.

Right now, there isn't a whole lot to report. So, with that in mind I scoured the Redzone (a personal favorite for NFL news) for some ish' to discuss. This is what I got.

Enjoy,

Should the Eagles have considered taking Favre? That's a gimme question. No way, should we have taken Favre. Everyone (including myself) in the Philadelphia area has harped on Donovan at time or another. But the fact remains that he has withstood everything that we have thrown at him, and done nothing but churn out winning seasons and pro bowl numbers (when healthy). He's going to be our quarterback, and he deserves it. Eagle fans have to admit it. We love Donovan McNabb! Donovan is perfect for us. He takes our criticism and then asks for seconds. We don't know how well Favre would handle this city. There are too many x-factors that would accompany bringing in Favre. McNabb has done all that. He is tried and true.

Is Tony Hunt Ready to be the Eagles starting fullback? It would appear that I'm not alone on this one. Hunt's ability to carry the ball is almost irrelevant in the Eagles offense, historically speaking. Only 49 running attempts have been made under Andy Reid's regime. The big key to being the fullback is blocking, and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg indicated that he has room for improvement. If the Birds want to convert him to a fullback they are going to need more time to do so.


Glecko??? Who's this Glecko? Oh, you mean 3-time Super Bowl champion Dan Klecko. Jim Johnson has indicated that he will make the 53 man roster as the 4th defensive tackle behind Mike Patterson, Broderick Bunkley, and Trevor Laws. He was originally brought in to play fullback and special teams.



Defensive end, who will be the odd-man-out? The Eagles have a tough decision ahead of them at the defensive end position. The battles for the last spot looks to be between Darren Howard and Jerome McDougle. I thought that we should have cut ties with the oft injured McDougle in 2006, but he has shown improvement this year. Howard has the ability to play both end positions, but hasn't been the pass rushing force that was expected. Eagletarian gives a great assessment of the roster situation related to the defense.

Bounty Bowl tee's off on the "blathermonkeys." He's spot on!

Unrelated: These are just some stories that caught my eye, and are from PFT.
Is there a Culpepper conspiracy??? It's really an interesting question. Why hasn't he been able to latch on with another team? What he is looking to do doesn't sound unreasonable. I would consider him a better quaterback than Byron Leftwich. There are plenty of teams that could use a veteran quaterback on their roster too.

Shawne Merriman, team player, or just insane? So, apparently Merriman does not want to take "No," for an answer. He intends to do everything possible to play in this 2008 season. The San Diego Chargers aren't counting him out this season, but 3 experts are. That's why Merriman is in Miami seeking a 4th opinion on his knee. So far the consensus has been that he needs to have reconstructive surgery on it, and that will cancel his playing this season. I have read that he wants to play, because he has taken some heat from Charger's General Manager A.J. Smith for agreeing to a weekly spot on a sports show that will require him to travel. I don't question the fact Merriman loves playing football. So shouldn't Shawne want to do anything that will allow him to prolong his career? Shawne has been told by 3 different experts that this is a career ending injury, and can be avoided with reconstructive surgery. I would not be surprised if he is feeling pressure from Smith and Turner to play, because they want to win now. I acknowledge that Smith is a great G.M., but he's a controlling d-bag. Needless to say I'm a Marty advocate. Norv Turner doesn't really command much respect in my book either. Turner inheritted a super talented team, and is getting all of the credit for it's success.

Nolan suffers from foot in mouth disease. Now, Niner's coach Mike Nolan has to do a little damage control with his quaterback Alex Smith. Alex smith hasn't lived up to the billing of being the #1 draft pick in 2005, and is likely going to lose his starting job this season. I'm still pulling for Smith to succeed, although many appear to written him off.

Go Birds!!