John Geliebter – USA Today Sports
The Philadelphia Eagles Defense/Special teams are coming in with extremely low expectations in 2013 following a disastrous 2012. In terms of Fantasy scoring, the Eagles finished 31st last season and were pretty much horrible all across the board. They tied for the fewest takeaways with 13 and allowed the third most points in the entire NFL.
So it can only go up from here right? The Eagles will be switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme. If they find the right personnel this could mean a boost in sacks for a team who finished near the bottom of the pack.
The Eagles cleaned house from their failed dream team by letting go of Nnamdi Asomugha, Cullen Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. It remains to be seen how newcomers Connor Barwin, Cary Williams and Patrick Chung will perform but like previously mentioned, I don’t think they can get much worse than last year.
With that being said, I still don’t consider the Eagles worthy of consideration for your Fantasy Football draft. They will need the first few weeks to work out the kinks of a new defense and there are still too many question marks. Can Trent Cole make the adjustment to outside linebacker? Will the secondary be any better in 2013? Can Mychal Kendricks improve enough to lead the defense?
Because of the uncertainty, do not draft the Eagles as your Fantasy defense. They could be considered a late-season waiver pickup if they end up figuring it out quicker than expected. Cary Williams is probably the most important player on the defense; he needs to be the shutdown corner that Asomugha was not. If he can get it together, consider the Eagles as a free-agent pickup. If not, it’ll be best to stay away from them for at least another year until they get the right personnel in place.
Zach Slotter is a contributor for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @zslot6, Like his Facebook page and add him on Google.
