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Surprisingly, James Casey A Non-Factor Early For Philadelphia Eagles
Published21 Sep 2013
James Casey has yet to be a factor for the Philadelphia Eagles, despite being one of the team's marquee off-season free-agent signings.
He was supposed to be one of the team's most impact free agent signings.
However, through the Philadelphia Eagles first three games tight end/h-back James Casey has played in a total of eight snaps.
Against the Washington Redskins Casey saw the field for just two snaps, then an increase to six against the San Diego Chargers in week two before finally seeing the field for his smallest amount of playing time of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs with just one snap of action.
Before signing in Philadelphia this March Casey hauled in 34 catches for 330 yards and three touchdowns as a member of the Houston Texans. Yet so far this season the 28-year old has been invisible in head coach Chip Kelly's high octane offense which was supposed to be centered around tight end play.
"It's not something that Casey is not doing. It's a coaching decision that we feel comfortable in 11-personnel at times and 10-personnel at times," Kelly pointed out Friday. "I think we've got some competition. The one guy that has really stepped up throughout anybody on our offensive team has been Brent Celek. I think Brent has done an outstanding job. He’s really practiced at a real high level since camp."
Still, there must be a reason that an offense currently relying on Riley Cooper as the second receiving option is currently ignoring a very competent pass catcher in Casey.
During the preseason a Houston Texans scout was quite adamant that a major drawback in Casey's game is his staunch reluctance to play physical football. Could it be possible that the University of Rice product is falling short of Kelly's expectations in the blocking game thus earning residency on the bench?
Kelly's offense is supposed to be predicated on the tight end, so it isn't surprising to see Celek already posting four catches for 74 yards and rookie Zach Ertz hauling in a matching four catches for 74 yards. However, even those numbers pale in comparison to the production of the tight ends Kelly coached while at the University of Oregon.
There certainly is plenty of opportunity for Casey to have an impact this season, but if he doesn't take advantage of opportunities soon he could very well become even more of a forgotten man as the season rolls along.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
