FanHouse Omar Gaither

The Philadelphia Eagles have been battling depth issues at linebacker all season. Starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley was lost in training camp, and things got so bad that former Eagle Jeremiah Trotter was brought back.

Trotter was awful against the Oakland Raiders Sunday, and head coach Andy Reid apparently has seen enough. Tuesday, as the NFL's usually quiet trade deadline approached, Reid pulled off a deal to add a solid veteran to the mix.

Think IDP leagues are the way to go? Then Ballhawkin' is for you. Here, we pick out a few Individual Defensive Players that could have huge weeks and are possibly sitting in your free-agent pool.

Justin Durant had a great IDP game against the Cardinals, putting up nine total tackles and forcing a fumble for 13 points in my league. The rest of our picks for Week 2 were just average, and Tamba Hali was actually far worse than that, with a pass defensed being his only contribution to an IDP statline.

Ready to check out some little-owned IDPs that could help you to big Week 3s?

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

A rather mundane offseason in Philadelphia took a dramatic turn on the night of Aug. 13. That was when news broke that the team had signed free-agent quarterback Michael Vick. All of a sudden, the Eagles were the center of the football world -- this attention will continue throughout the season, as the media will keep a very close eye on how Vick fits in. Meanwhile, coach Andy Reid has a veteran starter in Donovan McNabb to keep happy, and he's pretty good, by the way.

The Eagles will be without starting linebacker Stewart Bradley for the season. He tore his ACL during the first week of training camp, leaving a big hole in the middle of their defense (particularly after safety Brian Dawkins wasn't re-signed).

Compounding matters: longtime defensive coordinator Jim Johnson lost his battle to cancer and his replacement, 35-year-old Sean McDermott, is in his first year on the job. The Eagles have signed a couple warm bodies -- Matt Wilhelm and Jason Babin -- and second-year linebacker Joe Mays will also get a shot at replacing Bradley. (There was some speculation that Omar Gaither might get the nod but it looks like he'll remain the fourth linebacker, at least for now.)

The Philadelphia Eagles just started training camp, and they already have to deal with a major injury.

A report from Howard Eskin of WIP radio says middle linebacker Stewart Bradley suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. The injury -- which happened during a full-contact scrimmage -- is expected to sideline Bradley for the entire 2009 season.

Wow. Preventing the Bears from going 97 yards with under two minutes to play to put an exclamation point on an exciting Eagles win should be an easy task for this impressive Eagles defense, right? Not exactly.

The Birds' defense picked an awfully bad time to let an opponent reach the end zone. Brian Griese led the Bears on a quick jaunt down the field to take the game right out of Philly's hands. He connected with Muhsin Muhammad for the game winner with 9 seconds left. Game over.

For most of the game, the Bears kept Donovan McNabb and the Eagles out of the endzone. The frustration was visible. But then, in the fourth quarter, the Eagles found the end zone! It was about time. That should have been the game-winner.

This is a slightly modified segment of one that was run on NFL FanHouse last year, in which a specific team blogger scours the internet and interviews a blogger of the opposing team.

I began this season by interviewing Sean Portnoy of Eagles Eye, a Most Valuable Network column that covers the Philadelphia Eagles.

Dan Benton: "Another year, another group of receivers for the Philadelphia Eagles. Who will be Donovan McNabb's go-to guy this weekend?"

Sean Portnoy: "Reggie Brown had a fine season in his second year, serving as the #2 guy when Donte Stallworth was in the lineup and the top receiver when Stallworth was injured. Brown doesn't have the size and/or speed to make you think he's a legit #1 wideout, but the way the Eagles like to spread the ball around, he doesn't need to catch 100 passes. It'll be interesting to see if Kevin Curtis can handle the transition from mostly being a slot guy to someone playing out wide and having to get separation from press coverage. McNabb's usual safety valve, L.J. Smith, is recovering from sports hernia surgery and a separate groin injury, so he may be limited on Sunday. The sleeper guy who could wind up being the second coming of Chad Lewis is Brent Celek, the team's fifth-round pick out of Cincinnati. The rookie tight end played really well in the preseason, and Andy Reid sometimes likes to play promising first-year guys right away in order to see if they can handle the "baptism by fire." Don't be surprised if Celek catches a couple of passes in the middle of the field on third down."