The news goes from bad to worse for the Eagles. Already perceived by many to have a weak wide receiver corps and down one starter to a hamstring injury (WR Reggie Brown), news was delivered that WR Kevin Curtis needs to undergo a sports hernia procedure and will be out at least a month. I would target that to be more than what the experts are saying at this point.

The Eagles are not new to this type of injury and recovery. A couple years ago it was QB Donovan McNabb who tried to play through it before eventually having to hang 'em up and have corrective surgery. Last year it was TE LJ Smith who had the surgery in the spring, and had a poor season to show for it. A few years prior - it was CB Sheldon Brown who came back too quickly and dealt with lingering issues for the rest of the season. What we don't yet know is the severity of the hernia, and the severity of the corrective procedure. We also do not know how quickly Curtis heals.

This type of injury will pretty much shut Curtis down until it heals. Too much exertion will cause tearing and may create another hernia. Expect Curtis to have to tone down his conditioning (standard conditioning workouts tend to put alot of strain on the area affected by the surgery). If Curtis does come back by the end of September, expect his performance to be spotty initially until he gets back in game shape. Around mid-season, he *might* be back to what you would expect from him. In other words, I would cut his projections you had for him this year at least in half.

Replacing Curtis will be the tandem of WR Hank Baskett and the never-say-die WR Greg Lewis. Baskett possesses average speed, but is a nice tall target. Lewis is faster, but not as overall gifted as Curtis. While the value for these two increase from Curtis' absence - I would look elsewhere for consistent production. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, WR Reggie Brown is battling hamstring issues. Browns value will increase, but keep an eye on his hamstring injury. He likely will be held out of any more games this pre-season, and will be ready to go by opening day. Still, hamstrings have a strange way of becoming lingering issues...

Keeping on the offensive side of the ball, RB Tony Hunt is being tried out as a Fullback to try to keep his value (special teams, mainly) up enough to warrant a roster spot. Make no mistake, the backs that you want to consider for backing up RB Brian Westbrook are Lorenzo Booker and Correll Buckhalter. Booker, being more of a clone of Westy - makes sense to be considered as a Westy replacement if the star goes down. Bucky is more of a complimentary back to Westy, and will see plenty of time on his own merits.

Defensively, the battle continues to be - who will work opposite DE Trent Cole? Who will fill out the DL depth. The fact that the Eagles will likely have to keep an extra receiver on the roster to accommodate Curtis' recovery and Brown's suspect hammy - it certainly looks like DE and DL depth will be targeted for one fewer roster spot. Recent signee Clemons and oft-injured vet McDougle are on the bubble for this battle.

Good luck in your upcoming drafts!