With a little more than three months into the decade, this crazy time in our life has given us the opportunity to truly reflect on the past. The NFL released its All-Decade Team on April 6th. This gave me a thought. After previously looking at the top players of the past decade for the Eagles, I decided to look at the most disappointing players in midnight green of the past decade. Whether it be because of injury, poor performance, or just lack of playing in general, this list is my All-Decade Poor Performance team. Some cases were tougher than others, and there will be a few honorable mentions, but here it is, the most disappointing players of the 2010s for the Philadelphia Eagles.
OFFENSE
QB Sam Bradford
One of Chip Kelly's first big move as the Coach and General Manager of the Eagles was to trade Nick Foles, a second-round and fourth-round pick for Sam Bradford. The former No. 1 overall pick was great at making money in the NFL, but never lived up to that draft status. In 14 games as the Eagles’ starter, "Sleeves" went 7-7 with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He also threw for 3,725 yards. He really wasn’t awful, but the Eagles weren’t going to get over the hump with him.
Honorable Mention: Kevin Kolb (3-4 as a starter).
RB DeMarco Murray
This was probably the easiest selection of the whole team. Chip Kelly decided star and beloved running back LeSean McCoy wasn't the right fit for his offense so traded him for Kiko Alonso, who we'll see later in this team. He then signed Murray to a five-year, $42 Million deal. Murray was coming off winning Offensive Player of the Year with the Cowboys in 2014, rushing for over 1,800 yards with 13 touchdowns, however, it is curious as to why Kelly thought Shady wouldn't fit but a downhill power-back like Murray would. He lasted just one season before being kicked to the curb. In 15 games with the Eagles, Murray rushed for 702 yards and was traded before the next season to Tennessee. Huge disappointment.
WR Dorial Green-Beckham
Green-Beckham is big, fast but he couldn’t play a lick. A five-star recruit out of high school, followed by a dismissal from the University of Missouri football team, Beckham fell to the second round in the 2015 NFL Draft. Most people thought the Eagles fleeced the Titans when they traded backup offensive lineman Dennis Kelly for DGB in 2016, but Kelly got another contract and Green-Beckham has been out of the league since the Eagles cut him the following offseason. There’s a reason the Titans were ready to give up on a second-round pick a year after drafting him. DGB caught 36 passes for 392 yards and two touchdowns with the Eagles in 2016.
WR Josh Huff
Huff was another player who never lived up to expectations in the Chip Kelly Era. The 2014 third-round pick definitely seemed to have some promise. After an eight-catch rookie season, he had 27 catches in 2015. But in 2016, he lasted just seven games with the Eagles before he was arrested going across the Walt Whitman Bridge with a gun and marijuana. He was released a few days later. Huff spent three games with the Buccaneers after that in 2016 but hasn’t played in an NFL game since.
WR Steve Smith
No, not the future Hall of Famer Steve Smith...the other Steve Smith. A member of the 2011 "dream team", he was never the same after microfracture surgery. Just two years earlier, Smith caught 107 passes for 1,220 yards and seven touchdowns. But with the Eagles, he played in nine games with 11 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. His season ended on IR. He played one more season with the Rams, but then his career was over.
Honorable Mention: Nelson Agholor, we all know why.
TE James Casey
James Casey signed a 3 year, $15 Million deal with the Eagles in 2013 and last not even two years with the Eagles. He was supposed to be a solid backup to Brent Celek, but the addition of Zach Ertz ruined that plan. He only caught six passes in those two years after catching 34 the year before joining the Eagles team with the Houston Texans.
DISCLAIMER: Offensive Line was difficult to pick because of our consistency at the position over the past 10 years, besides Danny Watkins of course.
LT Demetress Bell
In 2012, the Eagles signed Bell to a contract that could be worth up to $34.5 Million over five years. The first year of this contract was worth $3.25 Million, and while he played in nine games including five starts, he suffered a few injuries and the Eagles would have been obligated to pay him more than eight million dollars if he was included on the roster in 2013. As such on February 6, 2013, Bell was released from his contract, and never played another NFL game.
LG Chance Warmack
In the Super Bowl season, after the Eagles benched Isaac Seumalo, they didn’t go to Stefen Wisniewski first. They tried Chance Warmack. He started three games that year. The former No. 10 overall pick was being reunited with his college coach Jeff Stoutland in Philly and if anyone could get something out of Warmack, it was Stoutland, right? Well, that didn’t work. However, Warmack did recently sign a deal with the Seattle Seahawks for his last chance at success in the NFL.
C Mike McGlynn
This was a tough position to figure out because Jason Kelce has owned that spot since 2011. But in 2010, McGlynn was the starter. A fourth-round pick from 2008, McGlynn lost the job to Kelce, a sixth-round pick, in 2011. McGlynn actually played five more seasons in the NFL after 2010.
RG Danny Watkins
Other than Demarco Murray, this was one of the most obvious players for this team. The Eagles drafted the 26-year-old fireman with the 23rd pick back in 2011 and it was a disaster. He was the oldest draft selection in the first round since 1971. He lasted just two years in Philly and is one of the biggest busts in franchise history.
RT Winston Justice
This was another tough one. Lane Johnson has been the right tackle since 2013 and the couple years before that, the spot was occupied by Todd Herremans. So we have to go back all the way to the early part of the decade. Justice wasn’t as bad as we all remember him, but definitely did not live up to the second round hype or play as well as Herremans or Johnson.
DEFENSE:
DE Marcus Smith
Another mistake in the Chip Kelly Era. Many people though taking Smith with the 26th overall pick in the First round was a reach. It completely was. He didn't start a single game for the Eagles and had four sacks in only three seasons with the team. One of the biggest draft busts in Eagles history.
DT Haloti Ngata
By the time Ngata got to Philly in 2018, he was no longer the former All-Pro version of himself. It would have been unfair to expect that. In 2018, he played 13 games for the Eagles with nine starts, taking a bigger role than was probably fair. He retired after the season. He had a great career, but he just wasn’t anywhere near the guy he once was.
DT Cullen Jenkins
Another member of the so-called "dream team" Jenkins was brought in on a 5 year, $25 Million contract to be the leader and veteran on the defensive side of the ball. He only made it through two years of the contract.
DE Jason Babin
Following his Pro Bowl season with the Titans, Babin signed with the Eagles a second time but this time it was a five-year deal with the Eagles worth approximately $28 Million. This deal included guarantees in the $5–6 Million range. Although he had a successful first year, he only lasted one season and was cut in 2012.
Honorable Mention: Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (played only 6 games for the Eagles)
LB Kiko Alonso
The Eagles traded away the best running back in franchise history (LeSean McCoy) to get the young and talented linebacker from the Bills. Another questionable move by Chip Kelly. Well, Alonso played just one injury-plagued season with the Eagles in 2015. He played 11 games and started one as a part of a rotation and never found his rookie form from 2013. To make matters worse, he played at a pretty high level the next three years with the Dolphins.
LB Casey Matthews
Guess which Eagles linebacker played the second-most games in the decade? Yup, it was Matthews, a fourth-round pick out of Oregon in 2011. Matthews’ NFL lineage didn’t do him any favors when he got to Philly. There were probably some unfair expectations for Matthews and he fell well short of them. His only four NFL seasons came with the Eagles.
LB Ernie Sims
With the Lions, Sims was a tackling machine. He had over 100 tackles in each of his first three seasons in Detroit. After four years with the Lions, Sims was traded to the Eagles in 2010. He had 68 tackles in his one season with the Eagles but moved on after the year. He played two more NFL seasons, one with the Colts and two with the Cowboys.
DB Bradley Fletcher
Fletcher signed with the Eagles in 2013 he allowed the most yards in the NFL (1,072) and the second-most touchdowns allowed (9). After two years, the Eagles decided not to re-sign Fletcher and he left in free agency. If you ask any Eagles fan who the most frustrating defensive player in the last decade was, Bradley Fletcher could be the most common answer.
DB Byron Maxwell
The obvious one at this position is Byron Maxwell, who signed a six-year, $63 Million deal to join the Eagles in 2015. He was regarded as one of the worst starting cornerbacks in the league that season and the Eagles dumped him and Alonso in a trade to move up from 13th overall to 8th overall in the 2016 draft. However, that trade allowed us to ultimately trade up to select Carson Wentz with the 2nd overall pick, so at least he did a little something for us.
DB Jaiquawn Jarrett
The Eagles took Jarrett out of Temple in the second round of the 2011 draft. Jarrett had a hard-hitting style and many people thought there was some Brian Dawkins in him. There was not. Jarrett played just one full season with the Eagles and was released the following September. Another complete bust for the Eagles. He found a moderate level of success with the Jets after that, but his career never went to plan.
DB Nnamdi Asomugha
Asomugha is the poster child for disappointment in the decade. Coming off the lockout, the Eagles inked who they thought was the best cover corner in the NFL to a five-year deal worth $60 Million. It didn’t go well. Asomugha was coming off three straight Pro Bowl seasons, but he wasn’t very good with the Eagles. He lasted two years here and is the lasting image of the Dream Team.
Honorable Mention: Patrick Chung and Nate Allen
