Linebackers -- The Gocong Show
One of the last days in Lehigh, Chris Gocong estimated that he hoped to play "at least three quarters" against Baltimore on Monday night, and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson seemed to bloster those hopes, saying the second-year linebacker would get a nice long look.
Gocong, to just about everyone's surprise, lasted barely a quarter before giving way to the other young players on the Eagles sideline. Today at the NovaCare Complex, Johnson and Gocong's linebacking teammates all said basically the same thing: he looked good, did a lot of good things, no worries at all. Which sounds a lot like what we heard about Matt McCoy this time last year.
I think if you could meld Gocong (a biggish, pass-rushing SAM) with McCoy (an undersized, pass-defending WILL), yu'd have a very good linebacker. I feel like Gocong can play the run fine. He's certainly got the physical size to get the job done. But coverage is a concern. He got beat a couple times in Baltimore.
As it is, McCoy is iffy to even make the team this year. Conventional wisdom has the Eagles keeping six linebackers, and they will certainly take the annointed starters _Takeo Spikes, Jeremiah Trotter and Gcong -- plus LB-of-all-trades Omar Gaither and draft pick Bradley. Essentially, that leaves one spot between McCoy, Tank Daniels and Dedrick Roper. Daniels had a nice camp, but McCoy wasn't bad either. The guy who really hurt himself was Roper, who missed a lot of Lehigh with a foot strain.
The wild card might be Akeem Jordan, who got the Eagles only sack on Monday night. He may well have earned himself a closer look against Carolina. In any case, keep an eye on the linebackers in the second half to see who lines up where and for how long.
Gocong, to just about everyone's surprise, lasted barely a quarter before giving way to the other young players on the Eagles sideline. Today at the NovaCare Complex, Johnson and Gocong's linebacking teammates all said basically the same thing: he looked good, did a lot of good things, no worries at all. Which sounds a lot like what we heard about Matt McCoy this time last year.
I think if you could meld Gocong (a biggish, pass-rushing SAM) with McCoy (an undersized, pass-defending WILL), yu'd have a very good linebacker. I feel like Gocong can play the run fine. He's certainly got the physical size to get the job done. But coverage is a concern. He got beat a couple times in Baltimore.
As it is, McCoy is iffy to even make the team this year. Conventional wisdom has the Eagles keeping six linebackers, and they will certainly take the annointed starters _Takeo Spikes, Jeremiah Trotter and Gcong -- plus LB-of-all-trades Omar Gaither and draft pick Bradley. Essentially, that leaves one spot between McCoy, Tank Daniels and Dedrick Roper. Daniels had a nice camp, but McCoy wasn't bad either. The guy who really hurt himself was Roper, who missed a lot of Lehigh with a foot strain.
The wild card might be Akeem Jordan, who got the Eagles only sack on Monday night. He may well have earned himself a closer look against Carolina. In any case, keep an eye on the linebackers in the second half to see who lines up where and for how long.
posted by SMc. at 7:50 PM
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