Patrick Causey, on Twitter @PhillySportsJD
The Eagles made a flurry of moves this offseason bringing in players via free agency, trades, and through the draft. However, the best moves the Eagles made — without question — was not trading away budding superstars Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks.
Both names were rumored to be on the trading block in the Eagles quest to land Marcus Mariota. The thought was Chip Kelly would sacrifice multiple draft picks and some of his best players to be reunited with his former prodigy. As Chip Kelly said himself, if they could trade Nick Foles and LeSean McCoy, no one on the roster was safe.
But trading Cox and Kendricks never made sense to me. The Eagles finally — finally — were able to draft some good defensive players after years of dealing with the likes of Nate Allen, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Jerome McDougle, and Brandon Graham (okay, Graham has come on as of late. But over Earl Thomas?).
It made even less sense when you consider that both Cox and Kendricks, products of the once heralded 2012 draft class, are only 24 years old. If they are this good now, imagine how good they will be once they are in their primes.
(Side note: how crazy is it that the four mainstays from the 2012 draft class — widely considered one of the best in franchise history — were almost completely jettisoned this year? Foles is gone. Boykin has fallen out of favor with the Eagles coaching staff because he is vertically challenged. And the Eagles almost traded Cox and Kendricks. Does Kelly really hate Roseman that much that he is willing to get rid of the entire class just out of spite?).
Regardless, the Eagles made the right call keeping their two young defensive stars.
Cox is on the verge of being a dominant defensive lineman. Scratch that. Fletcher Cox is a dominant defensive lineman.
Last year, he was the Eagles best player and was one of the best 3-4 defensive ends in all of football. Per ProFootballFocus.com, Cox ranked 5th in defensive metrics for 3-4 defensive ends, and third against the run.
But as impressive as those numbers were, they do not tell the whole story. Cox mans a position which does not give him the opportunity to generate a ton of stats, which leads to a corresponding drop in the rankings.
Looking over the film, it was clear that Cox is one of the best defensive line in the league. When defenses made the mistake of trying to block him with one lineman, he usually made them pay. Even when he was double teamed, he was able to impact plays, either directly, by blowing up a run or sacking the quarterback, or indirectly, by freeing up another Eagles defender to make a play.
Kendricks has battled some injuries during his career. It has clearly rubbed Kelly the wrong way. When asked about Kendricks' play, Kelly couldn't stop himself from calling attention to his injuries: "I thought when he was healthy he played really well. But we missed him for four games. The health aspect of it was a difficult thing."
It's almost comical that Kelly would be rubbed wrong by someone's injury history given how many oft-injured players Kelly signed this offseason. Sam Bradford, Walter Thurmond, DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Kiko Alonso make Andrew Bynum look like Cal Ripken. And he's going to call out Kendricks for missing four games?
Is Kelly really that turned off by Kendricks height? Is he that tied to his measurement requirements that he cannot make an exception for an obviously talented linebacker?
Let's hope not.
Because we all know what we have in Kendricks. He is extremely athletic, great in coverage, and a great pass rusher. What's more, Ryans, Alonso and Travis Long are all coming off of serious injuries. So while Kendricks missed some time for injuries last year, he represents the healthiest legitimate middle linebacker the Eagles have.
There are a lot of uncertainties around the newly remade Philadelphia Eagles. Can Sam Bradford stay healthy? Are DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews really an upgrade over LeSean McCoy? Can the aging offensive line survive without reinforcements?
But there is no uncertainty about Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks. They are emerging stars on the defensive side of the ball. And the Eagles made the right call by keeping them.
