Post by scorpion42 on Jul 20, 2009 16:47:21 GMT -7
Demps part of Eagles' battle for safety job
By Jeff McLane
Inquirer Staff Writer
When veteran safety Brian Dawkins left the Eagles for the Denver Broncos, Quintin Demps didn't assume the team would award him the starting position as if it were his birthright.
Demps, after all, was used mostly as a kick returner last season. And when the rookie played more late in the season as part of the team's dime package (six defensive backs), whatever gains he had made to that point were undone with a disastrous performance in the NFC championship game.
And so, when Dawkins and fellow veteran safety Sean Considine left in February via free agency, the team did as Demps expected. They brought in some competition and not just some token to spur on the sophomore.
The Eagles signed Sean Jones, one of only three NFL safeties with more than 14 interceptions over the last three seasons. Demps, however, was hoping for the guy that topped all of his peers with 21 picks.
"I was hoping they would bring in Ed Reed," Demps said of the Baltimore Ravens' all-pro safety. "Nothing against Sean because Sean's great, too. But I wanted to compete against the best of the best."
Demps will have to settle for a position battle that is the best the Eagles have to offer when training camp commences Sunday in Lehigh. There are other competitions to watch - like who will survive from arguably the team's deepest pool of wide receivers or whether the newly acquired Ellis Hobbs can overtake disgruntled cornerback Sheldon Brown.
But the toss-up to succeed Dawkins - and you can throw Camden's Rashad Baker into the mix - is by far the most intriguing position grab generated by coach Andy Reid and his staff.
"We've always tried to bring in players at all the positions to develop competition because competition brings out the best in you," Reid said last month. "Now that would be hard for somebody to say when they were behind Brian Dawkins. . . . But when somebody of that caliber leaves and you have a younger guy in there that hasn't been the guy, it creates maybe a little bit more open competition. I would say at the safety position that's probably where it's taking place at its greatest form."
In the spring Demps ran with the first-team defense at free safety. Quintin Mikell is ensconced at strong safety. On the depth chart on the Eagles' Web site, Jones is listed behind Mikell, and Baker behind Demps. But the defensive center-field positions in the Eagles' scheme are essentially interchangeable.
Demps and Jones are 1-2 for the vacancy, as Reid noted, with Baker trailing only slightly. Demps, at 5-foot-11, 206 pounds, is the quickest of the group. But the 27-year-old Jones, who started every game he played for the Cleveland Browns the previous three years, is the biggest (6-1, 220).
"I don't really want to say it's an advantage," Jones said. "It really doesn't matter what size you are. As long as you play hard and make good plays, it really don't matter."
Jones gets the check mark for experience, but it will be hard to supplant a homegrown player. The Eagles don't generally bury one of their recent draft picks.
Brown was a second-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2002. But the eight-year pro may have lost favor with the team when he asked in April to either have his contract reworked or be traded. the team then traded two fifth-round draft picks to New England for Hobbs.
Reid said the move was made only to bolster his defensive backfield, but when Brown skipped voluntary workouts in June, Hobbs garnered more time with the first unit.
"The only way [Brown] gets hurt is just that we're seeing a lot more of Hobbs," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said. "But I think once we get to training camp, Sheldon will go in as the starter. Hobbs obviously has to prove he's better."
Hobbs, after four seasons of mostly starting with the Patriots, is up for the challenge.
"Some people get more leverage than others off their name or what they've done in the past," Hobbs said. "But I always think I can rise above that."
At a fluid position like wideout, where there necessarily isn't an order to things, the race is to make the team. The annual question is: How many stay aboard?
"Do we keep five, do we keep six?" Heckert said. "It's going to be a heck of a battle. . . . There's going to be some tough decisions."
DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, and first-round pick Jeremy Maclin are in. Jason Avant and Hank Baskett appear to be sure bets. That might leave Reggie Brown the odd man out if the Eagles open the season with five receivers. If six make the team, the former second-round selection could still fall short to rookie Brandon Gibson, a sixth-round pick.
For a veteran team like the Eagles, that's where most of the competition will take place - at the backup spots.
Demps, as a backup last season, worked his way up the depth chart and into the NFC championship. However, an error-prone outing - he got burned by Larry Fitzgerald and took a roughing-the-passer penalty - has left doubts for some who think the UTEP product lost his place as Dawkins' replacement.
But Demps has been down this road before.
"My first year [in college] I took somebody's spot," he said. "Before my junior year, though, the coach called me into his office and told me, 'We started you over a senior, and we'll start this guy over you if you don't get it together.' "
Did he get it together?
"I picked it up," Demps said.
Contact staff writer Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745
or jmclane@phillynews.com.
www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20090720_Demps_part_of_Eagles__battle_for_safety_job.html
By Jeff McLane
Inquirer Staff Writer
When veteran safety Brian Dawkins left the Eagles for the Denver Broncos, Quintin Demps didn't assume the team would award him the starting position as if it were his birthright.
Demps, after all, was used mostly as a kick returner last season. And when the rookie played more late in the season as part of the team's dime package (six defensive backs), whatever gains he had made to that point were undone with a disastrous performance in the NFC championship game.
And so, when Dawkins and fellow veteran safety Sean Considine left in February via free agency, the team did as Demps expected. They brought in some competition and not just some token to spur on the sophomore.
The Eagles signed Sean Jones, one of only three NFL safeties with more than 14 interceptions over the last three seasons. Demps, however, was hoping for the guy that topped all of his peers with 21 picks.
"I was hoping they would bring in Ed Reed," Demps said of the Baltimore Ravens' all-pro safety. "Nothing against Sean because Sean's great, too. But I wanted to compete against the best of the best."
Demps will have to settle for a position battle that is the best the Eagles have to offer when training camp commences Sunday in Lehigh. There are other competitions to watch - like who will survive from arguably the team's deepest pool of wide receivers or whether the newly acquired Ellis Hobbs can overtake disgruntled cornerback Sheldon Brown.
But the toss-up to succeed Dawkins - and you can throw Camden's Rashad Baker into the mix - is by far the most intriguing position grab generated by coach Andy Reid and his staff.
"We've always tried to bring in players at all the positions to develop competition because competition brings out the best in you," Reid said last month. "Now that would be hard for somebody to say when they were behind Brian Dawkins. . . . But when somebody of that caliber leaves and you have a younger guy in there that hasn't been the guy, it creates maybe a little bit more open competition. I would say at the safety position that's probably where it's taking place at its greatest form."
In the spring Demps ran with the first-team defense at free safety. Quintin Mikell is ensconced at strong safety. On the depth chart on the Eagles' Web site, Jones is listed behind Mikell, and Baker behind Demps. But the defensive center-field positions in the Eagles' scheme are essentially interchangeable.
Demps and Jones are 1-2 for the vacancy, as Reid noted, with Baker trailing only slightly. Demps, at 5-foot-11, 206 pounds, is the quickest of the group. But the 27-year-old Jones, who started every game he played for the Cleveland Browns the previous three years, is the biggest (6-1, 220).
"I don't really want to say it's an advantage," Jones said. "It really doesn't matter what size you are. As long as you play hard and make good plays, it really don't matter."
Jones gets the check mark for experience, but it will be hard to supplant a homegrown player. The Eagles don't generally bury one of their recent draft picks.
Brown was a second-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2002. But the eight-year pro may have lost favor with the team when he asked in April to either have his contract reworked or be traded. the team then traded two fifth-round draft picks to New England for Hobbs.
Reid said the move was made only to bolster his defensive backfield, but when Brown skipped voluntary workouts in June, Hobbs garnered more time with the first unit.
"The only way [Brown] gets hurt is just that we're seeing a lot more of Hobbs," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said. "But I think once we get to training camp, Sheldon will go in as the starter. Hobbs obviously has to prove he's better."
Hobbs, after four seasons of mostly starting with the Patriots, is up for the challenge.
"Some people get more leverage than others off their name or what they've done in the past," Hobbs said. "But I always think I can rise above that."
At a fluid position like wideout, where there necessarily isn't an order to things, the race is to make the team. The annual question is: How many stay aboard?
"Do we keep five, do we keep six?" Heckert said. "It's going to be a heck of a battle. . . . There's going to be some tough decisions."
DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, and first-round pick Jeremy Maclin are in. Jason Avant and Hank Baskett appear to be sure bets. That might leave Reggie Brown the odd man out if the Eagles open the season with five receivers. If six make the team, the former second-round selection could still fall short to rookie Brandon Gibson, a sixth-round pick.
For a veteran team like the Eagles, that's where most of the competition will take place - at the backup spots.
Demps, as a backup last season, worked his way up the depth chart and into the NFC championship. However, an error-prone outing - he got burned by Larry Fitzgerald and took a roughing-the-passer penalty - has left doubts for some who think the UTEP product lost his place as Dawkins' replacement.
But Demps has been down this road before.
"My first year [in college] I took somebody's spot," he said. "Before my junior year, though, the coach called me into his office and told me, 'We started you over a senior, and we'll start this guy over you if you don't get it together.' "
Did he get it together?
"I picked it up," Demps said.
Contact staff writer Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745
or jmclane@phillynews.com.
www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20090720_Demps_part_of_Eagles__battle_for_safety_job.html