Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t forget about Paul Worrilow in 2019

After missing the entirety of the 2018 NFL season with a torn ACL, Paul Worrilow could be an invaluable addition to the Philadelphia Eagles roster in 2019.

When Paul Worrilow tore his ACL on the first day of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ 2018 OTAs period, it effectively changed the entire trajectory of the team’s season.

Earlier in the (very same) day, Howie Roseman finally decided to oblige the request of his longtime disgruntled weakside linebacker Mychael Kendricks and release him into free agency for the first time in his then-six-year NFL career.

While some initially panned the move, as it was essentially giving away an athletic linebacker for free, many let it slide large part because of Worrilow’s presence on the roster.

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Less than 24 hours later, the Eagles were down two weakside linebackers and had to get creative in filling out their Week 1 depth chart due to a one-week suspension of Nigel Bradham.

Now granted, these additional snaps helped to showcase Kamu Grugier-Hill‘s unique skill set and play him into a potential starting role in 2019, but it also highlighted just how thin the team’s depth chart had become in the second level of their defense.

Fast forward to April of 2019, and it’s clear the team hasn’t taken any steps in the right direction, and may actually be worse off now then they were this time last year at linebacker.

After flirting with the idea of re-signing the oft-injured Jordan Hicks to a long-term deal, the Eagles instead opted to sign Pittsburgh Steelers special teamer/sub-package linebacker L.J. Fort to a 3-year, $5.5 million contract.

On paper, this deal made sense, as Fort will earn about $6 million less per season as compared to the 4-year, $34 million deal Hicks signed with the Arizona Cardinals, but it also left the team woefully light in the way of linebackers with starting experience.

Which brings us back to Worrillow.

While it seems all but guaranteed that Bradham will shift inside to play middle linebacker next season, as he was often handed the defensive playcalling headset whenever Hicks was unavailable (14 games over their shared tenure), the Eagles need at least two more linebackers to step up and join either their starting lineup, or play a role in the team’s sub-packages.

With experience playing both inside and out in four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, a season with the Detroit Lions, and a very productive run with the Delaware Blue Hens, Worrillow has the scheme flexibility to play either weakside, or strongside linebacker in the nickel, and could even be asked to play inside in a 4-3 base package against the run.

And if he loses his spot to Grugier-Hill, Bradham, or even Fort (not to mention a potential draftee), it’s all good, as Worrillow has experience playing special teams and could be a valuable addition to arguably the team’s strongest unit in 2019.

That’s why the decision to re-sign Worrillow made a ton of sense at the time and looks better and better with each subsequent move down the line; it really has no downside.

Whether filling a role in the starting lineup, either inside or out, playing special teams, or just serving as a reliable swiss army knife reserve coming off the bench, Paul Worrillow should play an important role with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, all for the low, low price of $805,000.