Philadelphia Eagles: Five players to target before the trade deadline

Todd Davis, Linebacker, Denver Broncos

Another area of concern for the Philadelphia Eagles defense is their tackling. Nigel Bradham is the only linebacker left on the team that started more than one game in the 2017 Super Bowl run for the Philadelphia Eagles. And with him missing the last game against the Cowboys due to injury and his status in question for week eight against the Bills, it’s clear the defense needs a guy in the middle that can make plays and tackle ball carriers.

Former special teamer Kamu Grugier-Hill and first-year full-time starter Nathan Gerry led the way for Philly against Dallas on Sunday. What happened? Ezekiel Elliott took the attention away from the struggling secondary by gashing the entire defense for 111 yards and a touchdown, while Dak Prescott and Tavon Austin ran for TDs of their own.

An experienced inside linebacker, be it a MIKE, SAM, or WILL backer in Jim Schwartz’s 4-3 defense, is also a pretty big need for the Eagles at this point. If they are able to sure up the secondary and stop the pass a bit, they need to then turn their attention to stopping the run. A veteran linebacker like current Bronco Todd Davis would be an important acquisition if they want to compete in the playoffs.

Now, I really don’t know that the Broncos would be willing to move Davis at this point. While they are clearly in a “selling” mode, Davis is still just 27-years-old and a starter at a position that the Broncos are not incredibly deep at right now. But for the right price, I’m sure they could get by with what else they have.

Davis led the Broncos in tackles last season and in 2016. Another option for the Eagles would be the 2017 tackle leader for the Broncos, Brandon Marshall, who is a current free agent, healthy, and just 30-years-old. But in this piece, we are focusing on trade targets, and Davis would be a huge get.

Davis currently fills one of two inside linebacker slots in Vic Fangio’s 3-4 scheme. So he would have to adjust to a different scheme in Philly, but he would still be roaming the middle of the field and making plays. His tackling prowess would be welcomed against NFC East running backs Elliott, Saquon Barkley and Adrian Peterson. His ability to drop back in coverage would help the pass defense as well.

The Eagles need to give Bradham a running mate in a two-back nickel scheme, and at least one guy to upgrade the linebacker position in a base 4-3 package. Kamu, Gerry and Duke Riley are not top-tier linebackers. Philly clearly recognized that when they went out and signed former Redskins backer Zach Brown.

But with him out of town, The Eagles need to fill that void next to Bradham if they want the get back to stifling run games behind Fletcher Cox. I will highlight a couple of other options in my “honorable mentions” section at the end of the article, but Davis seems like a good player to target.