Booker Learning His Way, Too

He may not be a rookie, but, Lorenzo Booker knows that he too has a lot to learn between now and training camp. That is why the second-year running back has maintained a steady diet of X's and O's since the end of the post-draft mini-camp.

While most rookies spent the last couple weeks back home, Booker remained in Philadelphia, spending much of his time at the NovaCare Complex.

"Come (training) camp I want to be ready," said Booker, who was acquired from Miami in a draft day deal. "You can't play if you're thinking all the time. I should be here learning the offense so that when (training) camp comes its full speed, I'm out there making plays, and then when the regular season comes I might as well have been here last year because I will know it so well.

Known for his mix of speed and elusiveness as well as his pass-catching ability, the 5-foot-10, 191-pound Booker feels that he's a perfect fit for this offense.

Coaches believe Booker, a third-round pick of the Dolphins in the 2007, can step in immediately and complement Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook. Like Westbrook, Booker figures to line up all over the formation and be a threat in both the run game and the pass game.

"The offense and the team is exciting itself, but being able to work with a guy like Brian is priceless. That was one of the things that excited me, just being able to see his style of play and the success that he's had in this offense," Booker said. "You can't help but be excited because that's what you do. You know that you're not coming into a situation hoping they use you right, hoping they understand what your strengths are."

Booker said catching the football is definitely a strength he brings to the Eagles. He said he loves catching it out of the backfield as much as he loves running with it. He had success at both last year in Miami, amassing 125 yards on 28 carries and 237 yards on 28 receptions.

"I'm immune to the way I get the ball, I don't care," Booker said. "I'm dying to go on a straight nine route and jump over a defensive back. That gets my blood boiling just like running threw the middle and picking up five or 10 yards and breaking a few tackles. Just give me a chance to help the team and I'll do what I have to do."

As for pass-blocking? Booker says he can do that too.

"I can pull up tape of me blocking Junior Seau and I blocked fine," he said. "Hell, I'm tough too. I don't care how big I am and I don't care how big the other guy is. Blocking is all a state of mind."

It's worth noting here that Booker bench-pressed 225 pounds 25 times at the NFL combine.

As for the mental aspect of the game, certainly the learning curve isn't as large for Booker as it is for the 10 players that make up Philadelphia's draft class. Booker has a year of experience under his belt -- albeit seven games – and that makes a huge difference. He knows he can perform at the NFL level.

"I can pull up film of me playing against the best of people. Asante (Samuel), I played against him twice last year, and Ray Lewis and guys like that, so as far as having to prove that to myself, I don't have to," said Booker. "Now it's just about proving to myself I can play as well as I know I can, and I'm in the perfect situation to do that now."

Bottom line is this: Booker may be more than the third-down specialist many immediately penciled him in to be.

"I think that the more I prove to them that I can get the job done I think the more action I'll end up seeing," he said. "I'm a fast learner."

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Moats Ready To Compete

Running back Ryan Moats remembers the sequence of events quite vividly.

He had a run up the middle for five yards and thought to himself, "Okay, this is a good start."

Moats was called upon to help in pass protection and did just fine. Run routes. The same result.

But on his second carry of the game, the Eagles' preseason opener in Baltimore last August, everything changed for Moats. In the gamebook, it simply says "R. Moats right tackle to PHI 20 for -3 yards (P. Burgess)."

In reality, Moats fractured his ankle fibula when he was dragged down by Ravens rookie linebacker Prescott Burgess. He was placed on Injured Reserve and his season was over. After what he called his best training camp, Moats was forced to start from scratch.

"It's hard, man, you know. It's heartbreaking to do something like that when you're doing so well," said Moats after a recent workout at the NovaCare Complex. "I felt comfortable in the offense. I knew everything and on the field at the time I was doing really well."

The Eagles' third-round pick in 2005 got some playing time late in his rookie year and finished with 278 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came on electrifying runs of 40 yards or more.

In 2006, it appeared as if Moats would be the perfect complement to Brian Westbrook. Moats could spell Westbrook, but the Eagles would still have a big-play threat that could score on any given play.

It didn't happen.

Moats never reached the end zone. In fact, he barely got the ball. In only eight games, Moats had 24 touches - 22 carries and a pair of kickoff returns. He doesn't know why he fell out of favor, but he admits that the pressure to change everything about his game from the way he carried the ball to his running style had an adverse effect on his play. Now, Moats is comfortable mixing what he's learned in the pros with the improvisational style that earned him WAC player of the year honors when he rushed for 1,774 yards and 18 touchdowns in his final year at Louisiana Tech.

"I think my style from college was very loose and it was all about instinct, just feeling it," said Moats. "When I got here I stopped feeling it because so much stuff was coming at me at one time, and I didn't know what to do. I was a young guy, but now I trust myself as a runner. If I make a mistake, I make a mistake. When you get here you feel like nobody makes mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Even all the starters make mistakes. Once I realized that you can make a mistake and you'll be alright you can just keep going."

The Eagles piled on the pressure by using their third-round pick in 2007 on Penn State bulldozer Tony Hunt. However, Hunt didn't get on the field much as Correll Buckhalter was a more-than-capable backup to Westbrook.

The NFL Draft is less than two weeks away. The Eagles have a deep and talented corps of running backs, but Buckhalter and Moats are entering their contract year. Hunt has to make strides in his second season. Confident and in fantastic shape, tipping the scales at 210 pounds, Moats has realized that he can't control what decisions are made or how others perform. He can only go out there and compete. And he's ready to do just that.

"I don't know what's going to happen," said Moats. "All I can do is control what I put out. I'm just going to play football. I'm not worrying about who, or if I'm here or wherever. I'm just going to play and let my play do the talking. They drafted Tony Hunt (last year). What can I do about that? I went to training camp and I came to play. It's competition, and you can't be afraid of competition."

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