Tight ends -- Where's Higgins?

Brent (Magnum) Celek burst into the collective consciousness of the Eagles nation on Monday night with his brilliant catch and run against Baltimore. A fellow fifth round pick from Cincinnati, defensive end Trent Cole, said he wasn't surprised at all. "That's just Brent," he said. "He's always been a strong runner."

It sure seems like Celek is going to make the team, though with L.J. Smith's health in such doubt, I can't see them cutting Matt Schobel either. So that means the Eagles will probably carry three tight ends, Lee Vickers will either be cut or more likely go back to the practice squad and Kyle Hunt is pretty much toast.

Smith was working out here at NovaCare on Wednesday, so he can't be too bad off. I don't imagine we'll see much out of him during the preseason, if anything at all, but it's probably better than 50/50 that he's on the field in Green Bay. But it's way less than even money that he's back for next year.

In a strange way, though, this injury stuff may be improving L.J.'s chances of returning to Philadelphia. If he struggles with it the whole season, the market value that he and his agent are looking for may wander down to the number the Eagles are willing to pay him. Otherwise, Celek is looking like your tight end of the future.