2015
Ok I lied. Chip Kelly’s first offseason as a GM was interesting. But let’s stay on the linebackers. Trent Cole was released. Brandon Graham stayed at linebacker. The trade happened: Kiko Alonso for LeSean McCoy. Alonso missed all of 2014, but had a 159 tackle rookie season in 2013. Jordan Hicks was selected in the draft. DeMeco Ryans was re-signed to a one year deal. Mychal Kendricks was extended.
Pretty solid foundation, right?
Well, Graham was the only linebacker to play all 16 games, and he ended with 51 tackles. Kendricks gave 86 in 13 games, Hicks had 50 in eight before going on the IR, Barwin had 54, Ryans had 49 in 14, Alonso had 43 in 11, and Najee Goode and Bryan Braman combined for 18 tackles. 312 of of the team’s 1,054.
New GM, same problem.
2016 – the return of Howard Roseman
It was time for Howie to try and undo Chip’s wrongs.
- Jim Schwartz named defensive coordinator, Ken Flajole named linebackers coach
- Traded away Kiko Alonso (in a packed for the 8th overall pick that was then sent away for the 2nd overall pick)
- Signed Nigel Bradham
- Selected Joe Walker in the 7th round
- Signed Stephen Tulloch
- Claimed Kamu Grugier-Hill
Howie brought in two players that were familiar with new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in Bradham and Tulloch. Bradham had his best year of his career with Schwartz as his DC in Buffalo and Tulloch was very productive for Schwartz in both Detroit and Tennesee.
Linebacker depth
Bradham, Hicks, Kendricks, Tulloch, Goode, Grugier-Hill, Braman
Did the team need an upgrade?
Chip Kelly tried to upgrade the linebacker position, but injuries and inconsistency took a toll on that development. Howie did his best to finally bring some stability to such a volatile group and brought in players that fit the new defensive scheme. Brandon Graham was finally brought back to his natural position at defensive end. Barwin was also moved to defensive end.
2016 results
Bradham gave the team its first 100 tackle season since 2013, grabbing 102 of them. Hicks had 85, but that ends the impact. Kendricks regressed hard and had only 32 in 15 games. With the newcomers on defense, Kendricks also lost his starting spot, as he only started 8 of those 15 after starting all but two of the games he played in the previous four seasons. Goode, Grugier-Hill, Tulloch, and Braman combined for 30 tackles. 249 tackles as a linebacker group. 249 out of 892 as a team. Pretty, pretty bad.
2017
- Selected Nate Gerry in the fifth round
- Signed Dannell Ellerbe (late season to help with depth)
Linebacker depth
Bradham, Kendricks, Hicks, Goode, Grugier-Hill, Walker, Ellerbe, Gerry
Did the team need an upgrade?
Well, if you read the 2016 portion of this, you know the answer. Two moves were made to help this group out. Two.
2017 results
Hindsight is always 20/20 and obviously the non-moves worked out because the Eagles won some championship. But the fact remains, this linebacker corps underwhelmed yet again. Injuries played a huge role (story of 2017 for the whole team) as Goode was the only linebacker to play all 16 games. Kendricks was brought back to relevancy, though. He Played in 15 games and started 13 of them, finishing with 77 tackles. Bradham led the way again with 88. They were the only two linebackers to finish the season with more than 30 tackles. Yes, 30. Hicks had 28 in seven games. Grugier-Hill had 22. 16 game player Najee Goode had 21. Gerry had five. Ellerbe had eight. Walker had 10. 259 tackles. 10 more than 2016! The team had four less total tackles, 888, but the linebackers accounted for a higher percentage. Yay?
2018
- Nigel Bradham extended
- Mychal Kendricks released
- Signed Paul Worrilow
- Signed LaRoy Reynolds
- Signed D.J. Alexander
- Waived Joe Walker
Linebacker depth
Bradham, Hicks, Grugier-Hill, Gerry, Alexander, Reynolds, Bello
Did the team need an upgrade?
I’m starting to sound like a broken record. Maybe the lack of big name moves was because Howie and Jim wanted to see the linebackers develop. Yet it was another year of Hicks not playing 16 games, and only two linebackers doing so: LaRoy Reynolds and Kamu Grugier-Hill.
2018 results
Despite playing in only 12 games, Hicks racked up 91 tackles. If you extrapolate that average over four games, that’s 30 more tackles he could’ve had in those four missed games. 121 tackle projection. I know, I know: could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. Bradham had 97 tackles in 15 games, Grugier-Hill had 45 in 16, Gerry had 23 in 13, Reynolds had six in 16, Alexander had four in 12, and Bello had two in three. 268 tackles, with 188 coming from two players. The production from the depth players was still abysmal.
2019
Here we are, the most recent season. Let’s see how we started the offseason:
- Signed CFL star Alex Singleton
- Resigned Paul Worrilow (later released)
- Hicks left the team for Arizona
- Signed L.J. Fort (later released)
- Signed Zach Brown (later released)
- Brought in undrafted free agent T.J. Edwards
- Traded for Duke Riley
Linebacker depth
Bradham, Gerry, Grugier-Hill, Edwards, Singleton, Brown, Fort, Riley
Did the team need an upgrade?
With the loss of Jordan Hicks, the team needed to replace his production. They attempted to do so by signing promising young linebacker L.J. Fort and longtime productive linebacker Zach Brown. T.J. Edwards was also the most highly touted undrafted free agent.
2019 results
Oof. That pretty much sums it up. Brown had 29 tackles in six games before being released. Fort didn’t play a single defensive snap before being released. Gerry had a career year with 72 tackles, but he missed 14. That doesn’t include the blown coverages he had. Bradham had 61 in 12 games. Grugier-Hill had 22 in 10 games before an injury ended his season. Edwards had 22 in 16 games, but he never played more than 21 defensive snaps in a game. Singleton was stuck on special teams when he was called up. Duke Riley was also a special teams player, but contributed 5 tackles.
That’s good for 211 tackles from linebackers out of 810 as a team.
Percentage of tackles from LB per year
- 2010: 32%
- 2011: 31%
- 2012: 29%
- 2013: 37%
- 2014: 38%
- 2015: 30%
- 2016: 28%
- 2017: 29%
- 2018: 29%
- 2019: 26%
2013 and 2014 were the team’s best years with linebackers with Howie as GM. Although abysmal in 2012, the team was set up for success with the acquisition of DeMeco Ryans. An investment in Mychal Kendricks and the signing of Connor Barwin helped propel the linebackers up, only to be taken down again from 2015-2019.
With names like Joe Schobert, Blake Martinez, and Cory Littleton available in free agency in 2020, barring any franchise tags, the table is set for Howie to make a splash for the position. There are also many talented linebackers in the draft.
If 2020 isn’t the year Howie invests in the linebacker corps, we may never see it happen. The team needs a thumper in the middle of that defense, make it happen Howie.
Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
