Back end of the defense

Not very knowledgeable about the Pats, is he? First, the Pats have added Capers to the coaching staff. Capers alone should add improvement in an area that has been, in my opinion, a weak point on the team. Second, he fails to mention our draft pick, Wheatley, who many have stated has "shutdown corner" written all over him.

Sure, Asante's departure will hurt, but I don't think it will hurt as much as people think. Too many times this guy was trying to be the hero when he shouldn't have been, trying for the int when he had no back up and had not much of a chance, resulting in big plays for the other team. Only time will tell is he is a great corner, or benefited from the excellent play of our front line.

All in all, the defense should be improved this year. We have added youth and speed at linebacker, still have a great front line, and now we have Capers as a secondary coach. He should add a LOT to this team. The offense is basically the same as last year.

Add that all up, and it spells danger for the rest of the league...again. Haters, get ready for another year of tears!

their backside definitely needs some work

too much junk in the trunk

Mike -

Do you have any DB metrics for Hobbs and Samuel last season? I've heard that by certain breakdowns (TDs allowed, receptions allowed, pass completion in their direction) that they aren't that far apart. I haven't seen the numbers, but I feel Hobbs is underrated and often draws tougher matchups than Asante did. What's your feeling in this regard?

Also - do you think the national pundits are selling Fernando Bryant short? He has started 109 games in his career, and last season, started all 16 games, tallying 69 tackles and 13 passes defended. Seems like a pretty good #2 CB to me.

Quote from the article: "Ellis Hobbs, last year's No. 2, remains but is coming off a miserable 2007 season."

Does anyone else feel this is a bit unfair. I thought Ellis had an average year. Nothing spectular, but certainly not miserable.

Hobbs had a "miserable" 2007? One man's opinion, I suppose.

Here's another opinion (also free): We could do a lot worse for a #2 corner than Ellis Hobbs. His best years are in front of him.

I agree with the statement that Hobbs had a miserable year.

If he was playing injured, then maybe that's his excuse, but teams were routinely picking on him, and he was constantly getting beat.

It really throws the whole defense off when you can always get beat by "just throw it to whoever Hobbs is covering."

hobbs only gave up 3 td's all year...he didn't give up a single one until week 10. he owned reggie wayne in the AFCCG and he also swat away like 3 easy antionio gates touchdowns.

I'm not a Jeremy Green fan. The reason he writes for Scouts Inc is that he couldn't hack actually scouting on an NFL team. I wouldn't take anything he says seriously.

If you go to ESPN insider , KC Joyner said in his chat today that Hobbs basically stinks. He has his own set of metrics that he judges players by.I disagree but then again I am a homer. I agree that Samuels loss will not hurt as much as some people are saying. I believe the Eagles OVERPAID for Mesante Samuels.If I remember correctly a couple of seasons ago most people thought Samuels was average at best before the 06 season. I am looking forward to seeing how the rookies & new additions play out.

One thing that KC mentioned (can't remember if it was this week or last week) was that Hobbs YPA was about 10, while Samuel was in the low 7 range...neither is very good. YPA literally means yards per attempt. Bryant actually was in the 6.5 range last year, so from a coverage standpoint, he's actually slightly better than Asante. He won't pick off nearly as many balls, but Bryant will be far and away the best CB we have this year in terms of coverage and he'll give up less TD's and big plays than Hobbs will.

I think Hobbs was picked on quite a bit last year because teams wouldnt throw at Asante as much, but that's part of the game. If you're a bad CB, you're going to get thrown at.