Henderson An Eagle?
By Lance Epstein
Eagles beat writer Geoff Mosher of Delaware Online tweeted, in a bit of a surprise, the Philadelphia Eagles are in the market for another defensive tackle.
One of the names that ESPN.com mentioned was recently released and former Jacksonville Jaguar defensive tackle John Henderson. Henderson (6-7, 335) is entering his 10th NFL season. During his nine-year career, he has been an every down player and has registered 423 tackles, 29 sacks, eight forced fumbles and two Pro Bowl appearances (2004 and 2006).
While Henderson is the best available player in free agency at the position, he does not exactly fit the youth movement the Eagles have been gearing towards this offseason. Even though he is 31 years old, but he would be a nice addition to the defensive line. Especially since Mike Patterson has not exactly been setting the world on fire with his play and Trevor Laws has done nothing in his NFL career.
Bill Barnwell of FootballOutsiders.com believes Henderson can still bring a lot to any team that signs him. Also, he thinks pairing up Henderson with more talented players and fewer snaps could make him a dangerous force on any team's defensive line. Furthermore, it could spell the end for the second-round bust Laws since he could come cheap and brings more to the table.
"The fact that they [Jacksonville] chose to 'fix' their effective run defense in the draft and not a pass defense that ranked 31st in DVOA is puzzling, but it's not Henderson's fault," Barnwell wrote. "He's slipped some from the Pro Bowler of 2004 and 2006, but he'd get a boost from playing fewer snaps and alongside more talent up front. Philadelphia already has two excellent defensive tackles in Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson , but bringing in Henderson to compete with 2008 second-rounder Trevor Laws for the third defensive tackle spot could net them an impact situational player on the cheap."
If the Eagles could manage to sign Henderson to a veteran's minimum contract, he could be a nice situational player for the team, who could also start incase Bunkley or Patterson goes down to injury.
Another reason the Eagles might consider signing him is so they do not have to face him twice a year. Reports have surfaced that the Giants are very intrigued about the massive Henderson.
Like Andy Reid likes to say, you can never have enough good defensive linemen that can get to the quarterback. It does all start there on defense.
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