Losing Gaither is a huge blow to this Eagles 'D'.


We all knew that Omar Gaither's foot injury was more serious than what was being let on once the Eagles swung a trade for the Rams' Will Witherspoon. However I'm not sure anyone thought the prognosis would be a Lis Franc sprain and season-ending surgery.

But that's where the Eagles stand now. It's another starting linebacker down for the year, forcing the Eagles to give up a fifth-round pick and a promising young rookie receiver just to patch up a linebacking corps decimated by injury all year long.

First it was Stewart Bradley going down for the season, then Joe Mays began suffering from several different injuries, hampering his progression as a player and even having him inactive for most of the games played this season.

Now with Gaither down for the season, the depth is about as impressive as a kiddie pool. Jeremiah Trotter and Tracy White are both veteran guys who have spent their careers on the opposite end of the spectrum as far as success goes, but both are about equal at this point in their careers. White doesn't have the skill of Trotter, but is younger and much quicker.

Joe Mays is someone Eagles fans are familiar with as a kid with a lot of raw talent that he just can't seem to turn into playing time. He seems lost in the system, and at this point is only a special teams player.

Then Moise Fokou is a surprise seventh-round pick who is really making leaps and strides in this defense, but is still not where he needs to be to make an impact even as a backup.

So it seems that right now Trotter and White are the most likely candidates to step in were one of the starters (Akeem Jordan at WILL, the newly-acquired Will Witherspoon at MIKE, and Chris Gocong at SAM) were to go down or just need a breather.

Another option is using guys like Juqua Parker, Trent Cole, and Darren Howard in a Joker role as stand-up pass rushers, but that would be a worst-case scenario and only in certain situations.

Witherspoon is an upgrade over Gaither as a starter in the middle, but having a starting-caliber backup at two positions would have been invaluable to an Eagles defense that's been suffering for quality depth at linebacker for a few years now.

Either way, Gaither is out for year and coach McDermott will have to find a way to adjust and create opportunites for the guys he has.