Defensive Notes

The sad passing of longtime defensive coordinator Jim Johnson yesterday is obviously a significant blow to the Eagles. Johnson had run the team's defense for the entire Andy Reid era, so his loss is an emotional one for the coaching staff and players.

On the field, Johnson coordinated a group that annually ranked among the league's best, both in NFL terms and fantasy ones. His aggressive schemes produced a defense that ranked outside the top half of the league in fantasy points only twice in the last decade, and outside the top 12 in sacks only once.

As recently as last week we'd ranked the Eagles defense 2nd in scoring systems that give credit for sacks, turnovers and defensive touchdowns. Johnson figured to have at least an advisory role with the team this season, lending assistance to his recently named replacement, Sean McDermott.

Now, we're scaling back our projections for this defense, but only slightly. McDermott has been a defensive assistant with the team since 2001, coaching both linebackers and defensive backs. He intends to keep Johnson's system intact, saying only that he'd "add a wrinkle or two." His defense, McDermott says, will continue to "blitz and blitz again." The mild uncertainty, though, over him running the entire show causes the Eagles to fall behind the Vikings and Ravens in our defensive rankings.

There's a nice tribute to Johnson among extensive coverage of his impact on the Eagles at Philly.com.

--Andy Richardson

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