Three young corners. All in or near their prime. All three possess great skills. All three play on the same team. Only two can start. Yet the other will get playing time. What a situation for the Eagles to be in. But what a disaster it can be also.
First you have the high priced Asante Samuel who agreed to a mega deal dwarfing what Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard make. He wants to win. He knows how good the Eagles can be or else he would nt have come to Philadelphia. Samuel is a playmaker. He can get the INT's the Eagles were lacking last year. He will bring another dimension to the Defense.
Next you have the hard playing but under rated Sheldon Brown. He is a heavy hitter and rarely gets burned. He has good size and skills. People remember his hit on Saints Running Back Reggie Bush and just say "WOW".
Then you have Lito Sheppard. The one who's spot seems to be up in the air. He also is a playmaker when healthy. Ask the Dallas Cowboys. He has 8 career INT's against the Cowboys.
What to do, what to do, what to do.
We could do a few things. Like I mentioned in my last blog, we trade Lito. But that would be detrimental to the team right now. With today's passing game, you need three good quality corners. And right now we have that.
We could rotate all three. That would be the sensible thing. I know all three will want to play every down they can. But that isn't possible. But it would be smart to rotate them to keep them fresh, much like we do the defensive line.
We could move Sheldon Brown to Strong Safety. This frees up both Lito and Asante to play every down. It also gives us a 3rd CB on the field even though he is playing Safety. Brown, as I said earlier, is a big hitter. He can blitz from the safety position, much like he could from the outside or nickel.
We could let Lito play the nickel to keep him fresh. As mentioned previously, he's been injury prone over the past few years. Nothing serious, but nagging injuries that keep him from playing 100%. We need a 100% healthy Lito. Moving him and reducing his playing time may do the trick. It could have a positive effect on his game.
As you can see the Eagles have a problem. Is it a good one? Yes. Much like the LB situation, we have young talented players ready to make this Eagles defense great. And I can't wait to see just how great it can be.
