Which was a head-scratcher, given the stoutness of their front seven. Together, the Eagles' defensive line and linebacking corps were among the elite in football. Connor Barwin tallied 14.5 sacks, the fourth most among all defensive players, leading a group whose confidence stemmed from a fierce and attacking front three.That 31st-ranked pass defense is largely the fault of a dreadful secondary unit that since has been blown apart in a series of moves by Chip Kelly, but a major point of attention resides at the left inside linebacker position in Kiko Alonso.
Largely because of how he came to join the team. Alonso was swapped for LeSean McCoy in a deal that saw the former franchise rushing leader dealt (under tremendous protest) to the Bills for the third-year player.
It didn't hurt that he's one of Chip Kelly's former Oregon Ducks, one of eight on the Eagles' roster.
The No. 1 at his position right now is DeMeco Ryans, a man entering his tenth season and coming off his second career Achilles tear, suffered in the game at Houston that also became the last for quarterback Nick Foles in an Eagles uniform.
Ryans expects to be back this season, something the team apparently endorses, adding another year (and another six-and-a-quarter million dollars) to his contract. In the meantime, he likes what little he's seen of the man behind him on the depth chart.
“What I’ve seen in highlights from him in Buffalo is just interceptions, a bunch of tackles, he’s all over the place,” Ryans said of Alonso, who he met at the NovaCare Complex briefly this spring. “He’s just that old school Mike linebacker running sideline to sideline. He adds a lot of versatility to our inside linebacker group.”
A rookie with Buffalo in 2013, Alonso compiled 159 tackles, two sacks, and four interceptions. His versatility and sideline speed stand out from his game film, in particular his ability to make important plays near the line of scrimmage -- he leaped over on a 2nd-and-Goal in a game against the Browns to keep Willis MacGahee from scoring a touchdown, finishing the game with 22 tackles.
He's coming off an injury of his own, an ACL torn ten months ago that would cost him the entire 2014 season. That injury seems to be behind him, much to his pleasant surprise.
"I honestly didn't think I'd be doing this much," Alonso said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I've just been going on how I feel, and it's feeling really good."
He thought having been coached by Kelly at Oregon would help him ease into his new team. Sure, the terminology is different and that will take some learning, but the scheme and principles are largely similar. But he found the pace of it all was his biggest hurdle in OTAs.
"I knew what to expect, but I definitely thought I'd be more in shape, but I was wrong," he said. "I remember when I was in Buffalo, I was like, 'I can't imagine going against the Eagles and that pace.' Because if you don't practice like that and you go, it's brutal."
He'll be called on to help Ryans ease back into the fold and to pair up with Mychal Kendricks, who last season had some troubles making plays in the middle of the defense. But the question still remains if he can ease back in himself. Having not played since December 2013, he admitted to some "rust" in his form coming into the spring.
If he can get rid of that rust from now until the regular season, there's little stopping him from becoming an important cog in the Eagles' defense. They could use him.
@MrJamesParks
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