As you know, just before the trade deadline the Rams traded LB Will Witherspoon to the Eagles for a fifth round draft pick in 2010 and rookie WR Brandon Gibson.
Witherspoon had played well after joining the Rams prior to the 2006 season, leading the team in tackles in 2006 with 113, and recording 100+ tackles and 7 sacks in 2007. However, his play in 2008 trailed off, with Witherspoon making only 72 tackles and recording just one sack, and one interception. It was thought that this drop off in production was due to niggling groin and shoulder injuries suffered during the year, but it seems that Witherspoon's play was just in decline. During the first 6 weeks of the 2009 year, Witherspoon had recorded just 33 tackles and no "impact plays" (impact plays being sacks, intcerceptions, forced fumbles etc).
The Rams realised that Spoon was set to earn $5 million over the two years after the 2009 year, and it seemed obvious that the team intended to cut him to save that money after the season was over. Instead, the linebacker desperate Philadelphia Eagles jumped in with a trade offer, and Witherspoon was shipped to Philly.
At first, the trade looked terrible for the Rams. A rookie WR and a fifth round pick for a player perceived to be one of the best on the Rams D did not seem like a good return. What was even worse was that Witherspoon, in his first game for the Eagles against the Washington Redskins, racked up 6 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and an interception which he returned nine yards for a TD. Fans were desperate for Gibson to show something to justify the trade, but in his first appearance for the Rams against Detroit, he failed to make a reception in limited duty.
However, after Witherspoon's "wonder" game against Washington, he failed to make the same impact during the rest of the season. In his remaining ten regular season games for the Eagles he made 53 tackles and no impact plays. Even during the playoff game against the Cowboys he made 5 tackles and one assist, with no impact plays. Outside of that game against Washington, Witherspoon's 2009 season was averaging just 5-6 tackles a game and no impact plays. Not the kind of production you would want from a guy on his contract.
Gibson, on the other hand, came on strong after the Detroit game and the bye week. His first game for the Rams where he saw significant playing time was against the Saints, he put up 7 receptions for 93 yards. In fact, for the last 8 games of the season, no rookie had more receptions than Gibson. He made 34 catches, the same as ***** WR Michael Crabtree, and the next best rookie was Philadelphia's Jeremy Maclin with 30. Gibson also started 4 games once Keenan Burton went down with an injury.
In a move that the Rams would have made should Witherspoon have been in St. Louis, the Eagles released Witherspoon to avoid paying his contract over the next two years....
-03-09-2010, 04:42 AM
Tweet
Comment