Philly Gets A Brand New Spoon

After a two-month search for someone (anyone, really) to replace the injured Stewart Bradley in the middle, the Philadelphia Eagles finally found a real middle linebacker, or “MIKE,” when they stole Will Witherspoon from the St. Louis Rams yesterday.  That’s right. I said “stole.” How else can it be described when the Eagles trade a backup WR, who was a 7th-round pick, for a linebacker who had 110 tackles as recently as 2007? This trade is the perfect example of why the Eagles are perennial contenders and the Rams are working on 16 or 17 straight losses.

“Spoon” spent the first four years of his career as the weakside linebacker in Carolina before coming to St. Louis as a free agent in 2006. The Rams converted Spoon into their MIKE and he flourished posting 213 total tackles in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he had two injured rotator cuffs which limited him to only 12 starts. He ended the season on the bench and only posted 57 solos and 15 assists.

This season, he’s registered 29 solos and 4 assists in six games. His output so far put him on a pace for only 77 solos and 11 assists. Part of the reason for his poor statistics is the 4-3 scheme put in by new head coach Steve Spagnuolo and the rapid development of rookie James Laurinaitis.

The Spagnuolo defensive philosophy puts the emphasis on the defensive line to make plays at the point of attack rather than occupy space so that the linebackers can make all of the tackles. Therefore, the primary tackler among linebackers in the scheme is the MIKE. Laurinaitis has been as good as advertised and he’s been making all the plays that he’s supposed to.

I don’t expect him to suddenly start posting 10 solos per game in Philadelphia. The defensive 4-3 scheme that the Eagles operate is simply not built to funnel the action towards the linebackers and allow them to accumulate huge tackle numbers. In 2008, Bradley played every snap and posted 86 solos and 22 assists. These are respectable numbers and certainly sufficient to make Bradley a high-end LB2 in all formats.

Injuries and changes in defensive philosophy aside, I suspect that Witherspoon’s best days are behind him. I’m not suggesting that he’s close to breaking down. I simply believe that he’s not capable of being an elite player anymore. I would place money on Bradley in a straight-up competition with Spoon for a starting job. However, Spoon’s still only 29 and has posted 100+ total tackles on three different occasions in his career – including twice as the MIKE in St. Louis.   He’s light years better than Joe Mays, Omar Gaither, and Jeremiah Trotter and has already been named the starter at the MIKE for the Eagles.  He should be able to post 5 solos and 1 assist per game going forward and be a solid mid-range LB2 for the rest of the season.

Tags: Jeremiah Trotter, joe mays, omar gaither, philadelphia eagles, st louis rams, stewart bradley, Will Witherspoon