Gaither spent most of last year in the middle linebacker spot following the departure of Jeremiah Trotter, and the 24-year-old exploded for a team high 102 tackles and 14 hurries, as well as ranking second in knockdowns (14).This year however, the third year out of Tennessee has been moved back to his true position of (weak) outside linebacker in order to make way for Stewart Bradley, and he has struggled to have the same kind of impact.
Gaither has just 54 tackles on the season, barely half of his total last year, but he has 2.5 sacks which is an improvement on the 0 he picked up in 2007.
A drop in stats is inevitable when moving from middle to weakside backer, especially when teams have traditionally loved to try and run right throught the heart of the Eagles defence.
However Gaither appears to have lost the confidence of defensive co-ordinator Jim Johnson, who has benched him for the last three games in favour of Akeem Jordan.
Jordan has done his bit for the team since replacing Gaither, making a total of 20 tackles in the loss against Baltimore and the two huge wins over Arizona and the Giants.
Why Gaither has struggled at outside backer is unclear, but it seems that he is having trouble readjusting to his new role within the team, after establishing himself last year on the inside of the linebacking core.
Whatever the reason, Gaither needs to get himself back in the groove quickly if he wants to become a permanent fixture in the line-up.A move back to middle linebacker looks extremely doubtful with the numbers that Bradley is posting, as he is just one tackle behind the league leader, with 90 tackles from 13 games.
Therefore, the man from Charlotte is going to have to get used to it and fight harder than ever to win back his place, as this guy is too talented to be warming the bench!
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