Will Joe Walker Injury Force Eagles to Sign Stephen Tulloch?

By Denny Basens, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

The Philadelphia Eagles have concerns about the depth behind their starting linebackers. 

With very little-experienced depth behind the three starters, many have speculated that this is a position where the team could look to add some veteran help. 

Those sentiments will only grow stronger in the wake of the news that rookie middle linebacker Joe Walker has suffered a torn ACL, and will be out for the season. 

Walker had been very promising in both training camp and the preseason, drawing rave reviews from coaches, teammates, and followers of the team. It looked as though the team would be able to count on him to be starter Jordan Hicks' primary backup, but the team must now look in another direction. Perhaps Stephen Tulloch's direction.

Tulloch, a former Detroit Lion, has been rumored to be coming to Philadelphia for some time now. There was even a report several weeks ago that Tulloch and the team were in "heavy negotiations," although to date nothing more has been reported on that front.

It's possible that the Eagles wanted to let most of the preseason play out before making a move. This would allow defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to properly assess his young linebackers, and get an idea of how comfortable he feels with the depth already on the roster. Any team's preference would be to have a young player rise up from the ranks of the unknown, as Hicks himself did a year ago, before making a commitment to an older player. 

While Walker was initially on his way to filling that bill, his absence now makes a Tulloch a bigger fit for this team than ever before. 

Deontae Skinner, Quentin Gause and Don Cherry are the remaining young linebackers in competition for the final spots. Skinner plays primarily on the outside, and neither Gause nor Cherry has shown much in the preseason games. 

At this point, it makes sense to obtain an experienced presence like Tulloch. He knows Schwartz's scheme, and given the durability concerns of Hicks and Mychal Kendricks, there's a very good chance that the team is going to need a spot starter on more than one occasion as the season goes on. 

Tulloch may not have much gas left in the tank at this point in his career, but if he could come in and give the Eagles a performance similar to what DeMeco Ryans did a year ago, it'd be more than worth it for the club to bring him on board. Ryans had very little left physically last season, but was able to survive on smarts and savvy, just knowing where to be and understanding how to set the other members of the front seven up for success still gave Ryans plenty of value to the team last season. 

Tulloch has a chance to do the same, if the Birds are interested enough to bring him on board.