Can Celek Fill Smith’s Shoes
The Philadelphia Eagles look like they have moved on past tight end LJ Smith. The question is now can tight end Brent Celek fill his shoes.
Smith has been one of starting quarterback Donovan McNabb’s main targets. However, Smith has missed games in the regular season the last two years. That and Celek’s performance in the postseason allowed the Eagles to let Smith just walk.
Celek in his limited time during the regular season caught 27 passes for 318 yards and one touchdown. It was his performance in the postseason that caught eyes as he caught 19 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns in three postseason games.
Smith has been criticized by critics for not being that good of a blocker. So, if Celek is going to be an upgrade, then he needs to show that he is better at that.
With rookie wide reciever Desean Jackson performing as well as he did last year the Eagles can now take a gamble and see if Celek is just as good.
More importantly for the Eagles is that Celek would cost less as he still has two years left on his rookie contract.
Simply, moving on to Celek was the right move for the Eagles no mater if it works out or not his performance in the postseason is something you cannot just ignore.