The Eagles have released 30-year old running back Brian Westbrook.  Westbrook played in 8 games for the Eagles last season and he carried the ball 61 times for 274 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 25 passes for 181 yards (7.2 avg) with 1 TD grab last season.  The company line is that the Eagles released Westbrook before free agency began to give him a better shot of finding another team but the real reason that got rid of him is because he makes a lot of money and he’s injury prone.  Westbrook played in 107 games for the Eagles in his career and he carried the ball 1,308 times for 5,995 yards (4.6 ypc) with 37 TD runs.  He also caught 426 passes for 3,790 yards (8.9 avg) with 29 TD grabs.  Westbrook finishes his career with the Eagles #2 all-time in rushing yards, #3 in rushing TDs, #3 in receptions and #10 in receiving TDs.  The Eagles will give Lesean McCoy more carries in his second year and they will likely look to add at least one running back in free agency, through the draft or a trade to help McCoy with the workload.

The Philadelphia Eagles drafted with offense in mind early in the draft using both of their first day picks to boost that side of the football.  WR Jeremy Maclin (1st round, #19 overall) out of Missouri was solid for the Eagles as a rookie.  He played in 15 games for the Eagles last season and he caught 55 passes for 762 yards (13.9 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also returned 7 kickoffs for 124 yards (17.7 avg) and 6 punts for 30 yards (5.0 avg).  Maclin will be a huge impact player in the near future for the Eagles because of his speed.  Running back Lesean McCoy (2nd round, #53 overall) out of Pittsburgh will have a huge role in the Eagles’ offense going forward as the team likely won’t bring back Brian Westbrook next season.  McCoy played in 16 games for the Eagles last season and he carried the ball 155 times for 637 yards (4.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 40 passes for 308 yards (7.7 avg) last year.  The M&M boys were both great picks for the Eagles last April.  Tight end  Cornelius Ingram (5th round, #153 overall) out of Florida and OT Fenuki Topou (5th round, #159 overall) out of Oregon both missed their rookie seasons as they spent it on the Injured Reserve List.  CB/KR Victor “Macho” Harris (5th round, #157 overall) out of Virginia Tech was a nice little find for the Eagles.  He played in 15 games for the Eagles in which he made 41 tackles, 3 tackle for a loss and he defensed 2 passes.  Harris also returned 19 kickoffs for 394 yards (20.7 avg) last season.  LB Moise Fokou (7th round, #230 overall) out of Maryland was also a gem for the Eagles last season.  He played in all 16 games for the Eagles last season and he made 39 tackles and defensed 1 pass.  WR Brandon Gibson (6th round, #194 overall) out of Washington State did not play a down for the Eagles last season but he was valuable to them because they traded him to the Rams for linebacker Will Witherspoon.  Witherspoon played in 11 games for the Eagles in which he made 58 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, defensed 5 passes, had 1 sack, forced 1 fumble and he intercepted a pass that he returned 9 yards for a TD.  Gibson went on to play 9 games for the Rams in which he caught 34 passes for 348 yards (10.2 avg) with a TD grab.  Guard Paul Fanaika (7th round, #213 overall) out of Arizona State didn’t make the Eagles but he did finish the season with the Redskins but he didn’t play in any games for them.

GRADE FOR 2009:  A-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A