2007 Philadelphia Eagles Preview

2007 Philadelphia Eagles preview from MadduxSports.com. Once this years football season kicks off don't miss Maddux's NFL Picks. as well as our NFL odds page so all visitors can line shop the weekly point spreads.

Trying to Keep the Window Open
By Adam Barone

The Eagles raised some eyebrows in April's draft by not selecting anyone who will have a significant impact in 2007. They used their first pick, number 36 overall, on Houston QB Kevin Kolb. Kolb has a strong arm and a great football I.Q. and should eventually become QB Donovan McNabb's successor. This was obviously a surprise for the Eagles' fan base, who expected their team to select someone to help bring the city a Lombardi trophy while McNabb is still in his prime. Though Kolb should be a worthy candidate to run the Eagles' west coast offense, it appears the Eagles are focusing more on depth and the future than making a push for this year. Picking again at #57, the “Eggles” next chose Notre Dame DE Victor Abiamiri. Abiamiri brings depth to the d-line rotation on a team that is constantly bringing pressure from all angles, but was a bit of a disappointment in college. He was seen as the best player on a mediocre Irish defense, but it would be a stretch to say that he lived up to his potential. Abiamiri's speed and quickness are questionable and he may have trouble learning to do more than just plow over NFL offensive linemen.

Returning on offense around centerpiece Donovan McNabb is rising star RB Brian Westbrook. Westbrook is one of the league's most explosive players, and may be the best pass-catching back in the whole NFL, competing with the likes of someone in California by the name of Tomlinson. Westbrook had an astounding number of touches a season ago, with 240 carries for 1217 yards on the ground and 77 receptions for 699 yards. His sole weakness may be that he only got into the end zone 11 times combined. Backup Correll Buckhalter is basically a poor man's Westbrook. He's not quite as talented and never quite as healthy. With the hope of adding a bit of power to the ground game, Philly picked Penn State RB Tony Hunt. Hunt is not a great receiver, which is an acceptable weakness because Westbrook has that job covered, but will be very useful in short yardage situations.

Losing Donte' Stallworth will weaken the Eagles' passing attack, but the team signed former St. Louis Rams' WR Kevin Curtis to replace him. Curtis will line up across from big play man Reggie Brown, who had a big year in '06 in terms of yardage with 816, but only caught 46 passes. Other receivers include Hank Baskett, Bethel Johnson, return man Jeremy Bloom, Greg Lewis and Jason Avant. McNabb also still has a reliable target in TE L.J. Smith, who made 50 catches a year ago.

Defense, as usual, is still the Eagles bread and butter. DE Jevon Kearse is injury prone, and they could have used help at either of the two safety spots, with FS Brian Dawkins getting up in age with little depth behind him, and SS Sean Considine manning the strong side. Signing former Buffalo Bills' ROLB Takeo Spikes will certainly improve the team's athleticism and tackling ability, but Philadelphia, normally a top 5 D, ranked 15th overall in 2006, and seems to be missing key pieces to the dynamic defense that is usually their anchor.

2007 Philadelphia Eagles Predictions

Philly's ability to outlast the difficulties of the free agent era appears to be wearing down. Most average fans will likely continue to view them as a favorite in the NFC, which they very well could be, but it's more likely that age, so many injury prone players and lack of depth will prevent them from meeting expectations. Any NFL team with Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb, if they're totally healthy, will be competitive, but select sports handicapping experts will suggest that the Eagles will probably be beaten out in their division by Dallas. When making weekly NFL picks, be sure to pay attention to Eagles' injury updates.

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