Nate_allen

Source: Philly Sports Central

Welcome Michael Gattone to Crossing Broad.  We'll be adding some additional writers this week, so stayed tuned for an official announcement and welcoming.    

I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of Chunky Soup .  That’s because I have heard, read or talked about Donovan Mcnabb every day for a week now.  He is, of course, the most polarizing athlete that has ever played in this city.  And love him or hate him, he was the face of the Eagles franchise for over a decade.  The hype for this game seems to be just short of Super Bowl caliber and it has put a near stranglehold on every media outlet available.  But just when we thought we were doomed to become stuck in the Mcnabb vortex until Monday, we learned that there was a flip side to the McNabb trade.  Eagles free safety Nate Allen, taken with the "McNabb Pick", has already started to carve out his own niche in Philly, as he was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.  In only three weeks as a pro he has managed two interceptions along with a sack and a dozen tackles. 

Let’s face it folks, starting Victor “Macho” Harris at Free Safety last year was a joke.  We knew that and so did the rest of the league.  The team had to address the issue and did so through the draft.  Even after trading Sheldon Brown, who was arguably our most dependable and undoubtedly our best tackling corner, the improvement against the pass to this point has been remarkable.  Nate and the rest of the Eagles defense have held opposing signal callers to a 64.5 QB rating (to put that in perspective Bobby Hoying had a career QB rating of 64.3) and a 53.8 completion percentage.  It looks like our second round pick is paying immediate dividends.  If there is one thing that Andy Reid always seems to do a good job with, it's personnel decisions.    

I still wasn’t totally thrilled on draft day though. Most of us didn’t see a ton of South Florida games in 2009-2010, and according to the draft “experts”, Eric Berry ( Tennessee ) and Earl Thomas ( Texas ) were head and shoulders above the rest of the draft class at FS.  So far though, Mr. Allen is exceeding all expectations.

Is he Brian Dawkins?  Of course not, who is?  But he is young, talented and, above all, tough. Example: That 2nd second preseason game when Cedric Benson buried him….. yeah that one.  Some people get hit like that and they never play the same again (yes were looking at you Todd Pinkston).  Others take a play like that and decide they are going to work harder to make sure it never happens again.  It looks like Nate Allen might be that guy.  Philly loves that guy.