Examining the Nate Gerry Disconnect
There is a clear disconnect between Eagles fans and the coaching staff when it comes to Nate Gerry, the team's No. 1 linebacker.
Like most things in life, the explanation for Gerry's ascent to the top of the Philadelphia LB room lies in between two extremes - he's not the worst player to ever suit up for the Eagles defense but the organization sure could improve on the production from the former Nebraska safety who has transitioned to the LB position in the pros.
Through four games, ProFootballFocus.com has placed Gerry No. 60 of the 79 linebackers who've played enough to be graded.
Outside voices tend to be things that Jim Schwartz dismisses.
“You know me, I'm not a big, like, tell you how a guy is — tell you how a guy's playing, but Nate has been a very solid player for us, and has helped us win a lot of games,“ the defensive coordinator said Tuesday.
So why do so many outside the NovaCare Complex see something different?
"I would just caution this: There's probably a lot of plays that people outside of our building think might be his fault; that he just happens to be the closest guy when someone else made a mistake," said Schwartz, "and I think they end up blaming him a lot of times.
"He's sort of the closest guy just from plays, and I mean that's just sort of the way the ball bounces."
The best example of that was against the Los Angeles Rams when Gerry seemed to get lost in coverage too often against tight end Tyler Higbee and was blamed by most for allowing two touchdowns.
“The first one was a boot, I’m not here to point any fingers or anything, but I know the second one I had a man-to-man and it’s just one of those plays where he was wide high and he just ran down the opposite hash and I lost my eyes for a split second and got out- leveraged,” said Gerry after that game.
That intimated one was Gerry's fault and the other was not.
According to PFF, Gerry's worst trait this season is supposed to be his best as a former safety, pass coverage. Of those 79 LBs, Gerry is No. 70 in that category.
“I think that any time that you have people outside the building that grade players, you can get things like that," said Schwartz. "I tend to try to keep our evaluations in-house and just work on improving in our own building."
Twitter or any social media platform, of course, is the least scientific thing imaginable and only props up the most vocal of the haters. Most of them do not take kindly to Schwartz's explanations but the veteran coach is hardly alone.
Linebackers mentor Ken Flajole is also a big Gerry guy often raving about the South Dakota native's football IQ.
The real issue here is how the organization values LBs.
Schwartz often calls the defensive line the engine of his defense and the team pours significant resources into it. More so, with the way defensive football is changing, the DC really wanted a capable man-coverage cornerback in the offseason which is why the Eagles were in the Byron Jones sweepstakes in free agency before turning to Darius Slay on the trade market.
The LBs, as well as the safeties, lag behind when it comes to splash moves because the organization, probably correctly so, values those positions to a lesser degree.
In other words, the Eagles understand they could target and get an upgrade but would rather spend their resources elsewhere and cobble things together with Gerry and their other top LBs this season, TJ Edwards and Duke Riley.
"We just need to be more efficient overall," said Schwartz, "and more consistent overall and (Gerry) just plays his part in it."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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