Skip to content
Eagles
Link copied to clipboard

Runyan, G-Lew and the opener

Well, I was all set to focus my post on tonight's Steelers-Titans game.

But then the news broke.

As reported first by the guys over at Birds' Eye View, Jon Runyan worked out for the Eagles today.

Quite an interesting development, to say the least. Runyan has never ruled out returning to Philadelphia, although multiple reports in the past month or two indicated that the Eagles weren't showing much interest.

So did they change their minds? Or were they just leading reporters down the wrong path?

Let's take the first part. What would make them change their minds? Well, the same thing that has had them monitoring Runyan's progress all along -- the health of Shawn Andrews. Both the Inquirer and Daily News report that Andrews is not participating at practice today.

And so the plot thickens. Less than 72 hours before the first game of the season, the Eagles' right tackle position looks to be as much of a mystery as ever. For those of you who believed the Eagles when they told us they had faith in Winston Justice, today's news should show you how they really feel.

So the two main questions now are: How does Runyan look? And has Andrews' health taken a turn for the worse? He wasn't on yesterday's injury report, and until now, seemed scheduled to get the start Sunday.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that four teams are interested in Runyan. Brad Biggs of the National Football Post reported on Tuesday that he was working out for the Chiefs. And Florio writes today that Runyan is headed to Buffalo next.

This has been the most chaotic Eagles preseason in recent memory, so it's pretty fitting that news is still trickling in as we approach the league opener in a matter of hours.

By the way, in the accompanying poll, over 1,700 of you have already voted, and you overwhelmingly (97 percent) want Runyan back. We never see poll results so one-sided on philly.com. I just told co-workers that we could ask "Do you like the Eagles?" and probably still not get such a high percentage.

***

Meanwhile, for those of you who were with us last year, you know we do picks against the spread every week. In 2008, we finished the regular season with a record of 132-109-7. As I've said in the past, I'm happy with anything over .500.

You'll get the full slate of picks Friday, but for tonight's game, give me the Steelers to cover the 6.5 points over the Titans. Pittsburgh will be in the mix for another Super Bowl, and I see the Titans taking a step down. Last year, they had a pretty perfect mix, relying on their offensive line, their defense and their run game. Give Kerry Collins credit too. He made plays at times when he needed to. But I don't see everything coming together in 2009. Albert Haynesworth is in Washington, and Collins turns 37 in December. I see the Titans as a gritty, well-coached team that will hover around .500 and possibly be in the mix for a wild-card spot. But nothing more.

The pick: Steelers (-6.5)

***

By the way, ESPN reports that the Vikings have cut Bobby Wade and added Greg Lewis. I pretty much set off several panic attacks when I Tweeted that the Eagles had picked up G-Lew. My bad.

It's an interesting move though. Wade had 107 catches for 1,292 yards and five touchdowns over the past two seasons. Lewis' only season that came even close to that statistically was in 2005.