Philadelphia Eagles: What to Do at Inside Linebacker

Oct 27, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans (59) before the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Keep All Three ILBs; Bringing Ryans on to the Field in Passing Situations

This solution is probably the most confusing solution for the Eagles. Ryans is solid in coverage, making himself very useful to the Eagles on passing situations.

You may be thinking to yourself, however, “But Alonso and Kendricks are both good coverage linebackers themselves?”

And to that I say, “Yes, you are correct”. But you know who isn’t the best coverage linebacker? Brandon Graham.

I know, another head scratcher because Graham plays outside linebacker and the other three play inside linebacker.

Graham is a natural 4-3 defensive end who converted to outside linebacker when the Eagles switched to a 3-4 defense under Chip Kelly. While Graham is a very good pass rusher, he still struggles in coverage, which is to be expected.

Before being traded to the Eagles, there was talk that the Bills wanted to move Kiko Alonso to outside linebacker. Alonso has good size, 6’3″ and 238 lbs, and he is very athletic. While the Eagles plan to keep Alonso as an inside linebacker, on passing downs, the Eagles could bring Graham off the field and Alonso of the field.

I know it’s confusing, so here is a diagram of how the Eagles front seven would align in this situation:

This would give the Eagles four linebackers who are good in coverage on the field at once, making it harder for teams to pass against them and it would keep teams guessing as to who would be blitzing and who will be dropping back into coverage.

While this maybe unconventional and borderline crazy, I wouldn’t put anything past Chip Kelly, making this a possibility for the Eagles moving forward.

Next: Trade One of the Pieces