Disastrous rookie season behind him, Eagles' Bunkley ready to go

He wasn't joking.

"He struggled last year making the transition from college to the NFL," said Trotter, "and I understand that. Sometimes it just doesn't click right away. But I always knew he was going to be a heckuva player.

"The thing about Bunkley is he's so strong. His strength is his biggest asset. I'd watch him lift and say, 'Don't let the coaches push you; push yourself. I know you can lift more than that.'

"Then when we came into minicamp, he was flying to the ball. He's hungry and he wants to go out and do a great job. And that's what happens when you're hungry: You either put up or shut up."

No one is certain exactly what happened. Some people think Bunkley sat back, reviewed the season and was embarrassed by the results. So he resolved to correct them.

Others think he was handicapped by a late arrival to training camp, with Bunkley out 16 days while his contract was settled. That, they say, put him at a disadvantage that took a year to fix.

"Last year was a disaster for him, and he knows it," said general manager Tom Heckert. "He held out and never got back to being a football player.

"But, to his credit, he took that and ran with it and had a great offseason and spent a lot of it with the coaches. Now, he's the guy we drafted."

The Eagles can only hope. They ranked 26th against the run last year. The Colts shredded them for 237 yards and four Joseph Addai touchdowns. New Orleans put another 208 yards on them in the playoffs, including 143 by McAllister.

The time is right for Brodrick Bunkley.

"We'll see what happens when the season starts," said Johnson. "But right now he's 70 percent better than he was at this time last year. He wasn't ready to play last year when he came to camp. Now he is."