Trent Cole will dominate on the right side of the Eagles defensive line in '09, and four quality players platoon the left end.

The Eagles are fairly deep right now at Defensive End, and have a nice mix of young talent and veteran leadership.  Trent Cole and Juqua Parker (Thomas) are currently listed as the starters, but by the end of the 2008 season it seemed like Darren Howard and Chris Clemons were both playing more than Juqua.  In addition to those four players, the Eagles have unproven but promising youth in Victor Abiamiri and Bryan Smith.

I like where the Eagles stand at DE a lot, but if Peppers weren’t tagged I would be screaming for the Eagles to sign him.  Cole is an unstoppable force on the right end, but adding another Pro Bowl Defensive End across the line from Cole would bring our defense to levels we have not seen.  When it comes to DE’s, I expect the Eagles to be very quiet in Free Agency.  Hopefully it isn’t that way across the board.

Click here to see all the notable Defensive Ends available in NFL Free Agency

Brodrick Bunkley: Beast.

The Eagles have put a lot of time and money into their young Defensive Tackle rotation over the past four seasons, including three 1st day draft picks.  It finally started to pay off last season, and the DT rotation of Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, Trevor Laws, Darren Howard and Dan Klecko played a major role in the Eagles pushing their historically bad Eagles run defense all the way up to 4th overall in the NFL.

There are some quality DTs available in NFL Free Agency this year, and the class is headed up by the head-stepping-on Albert Haynesworth.  Behind the big name and impending big contract, there are some intriguing prospects that could help add depth and competition to the Eagles DT rotation in ’09.

Click here to check out the full list of NFL Free Agent Defensive Tackles

The Eagles have announced that Darren Howard “successfully” underwent abdominal surgery at Hahnemann University Hospital on 1/28/09.  Although the exact injury was not disclosed, we assume that it was a sports hernia, as the same doctor performed similar surgeries on McNabb and LJ Smith.

Howard had a strong ‘08 campaign, posting his first 10 sack season since 2004 when he was a member of the New Orleans Saints.  However, this injury may have played a roll in Howard’s invisible playoff performance:

• Wildcard Game vs. MIN - 0 tackles, 0 sacks
• NFC Divisional Game vs. NYG - 1 tackle, 0 sacks
• NFC Championship Game vs. ARI - 1 tackle, 0 sacks

Judging by the recovery time of other Eagles who have undergone surgery to repair a sports hernia, we expect Howard to be back and ready to contribute in ‘09.