It's a concept as old as football itself. No matter how talented players are, their production would not match up with their potential if they aren't placed in the right scheme.
As the Eagles prepare for their first training camp in Doug Pederson's and Jim Schwartz's respective schemes, it is worth looking at how the current members of the roster will fit into the coaches' future gameplans.
Today, we'll start with the defensive line, which is currently manned by a couple guys who have signed some big contract extensions in the past few months. We'll split the squad into two different groups. First, let's start with the guys who will fit well into what Schwartz's schemes have traditionally been.
Good Fits
A lot of these guys are holdovers from the Andy Reid era. Under Reid, the Eagles ran a traditional 4-3 defense that utilized a lot of exotic blitzes and disguised coverages. Unlike Jim Johnson, Schwartz will try to make his defense much simpler in order to combat the modern NFL's array of offensive formations. This belief, paired with his insistence on using the wide-nine setup could lead to a big year for certain defensive linemen.
The first two guys who will benefit from this new scheme are Vinny Curry and Brandon Graham. Both guys have flashed the potential that made them early draft selections, but struggled to be productive in full-time roles in Bill Davis' 3-4 scheme. Graham and Curry were miscast as an outside linebacker and three-technique end, respectively and a return to the traditional defensive end spot could pay-off big time for the pair.
But the biggest benefit will be for the guy with the biggest contract, Fletcher Cox. Cox had five sacks in his rookie year as a defensive tackle and developed into a dominant two-gapping defensive end in Davis' scheme. Schwartz is smart enough to let Cox do what he does best, and that's wreak havoc in opposing backfields. A shift inside will let Cox torture opposing guards with his elite athleticism and potentially set career highs in sacks and tackles for loss.
Apart from those three, there are a few guys who will benefit from Schwartz's scheme. Bennie Logan was always a bit undersized for a traditional nose guard and could do a god job stuffing the run lining up at defensive tackle. Also, rookie Alex McCalister sports some decent size and athleticism and could eventually develop into a decent edge rusher. Heck, even Marcus Smith will benefit from a simplified assignment.
Square Pegs
The biggest name in this group is Connor Barwin. Yes, he's a Pro Bowler and has been the best player not wearing No. 91 on the Eagles defense for the past two seasons, but his lacking of experience lining up in a three-point stance is worrisome. As an outside linebacker he was able to use his lateral quickness in coverage and to perform stunts around the defensive line. Now, as a defensive end, he loses a lot of the element of surprise. Not that he'll have a bad year, but it would be smart for Schwartz to use Barwin as a wildcard to disguise his front-seven. Limiting Barwin to just defensive end limits his skillset. Schwartz has a player who he can get very creative with and needs to recognize that.
Other guys like Taylor Hart and Beau Allen are prototypical fits for a three-man defensive line and don't possess the skills needed to produce in Schwartz's scheme. Big bodies that aren't explosive and can't penetrate into the backfield are of no use to Schwartz's defense. Also, there are a lot of former linebackers like Barwin, but with far inferior skillsets. Bryan Braman is still a standout on special teams, but the rest of the group, Travis Long, Deontae Skinner and so on. will have to really turn some heads in training camp to make the roster.
Tucker Bagley is a columnist for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @tbagley515.
