Eagles Odds And Ends
Posted: June 17th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 23 Comments »Someone asked if the Eagles would really go after RB Reggie Bush, since he’s likely to be cut by the Saints. Yes. I think the Eagles would have definite interest.
You can’t think of Reggie as just a RB. You have to appreciate that he would come here as a playmaker. Reggie would be your #2 RB. He would be the PR. He would line up as a WR at times. He could also be the 3rd down back.
Shady McCoy had only 2 games in 2010 where he carried the ball more than 16 times (he went for 18, 21). I think part of that is due to Andy Reid being nervous about over-exposure with him. Had Shady gone down, we didn’t exactly have murderer’s row behind him. The presence of Reggie Bush might change that. I’m not saying Shady would suddenly have 27 carries a game, but Reid might not be so protective of him with a backup RB that he really believes in.
Shady is very good as a receiver on screen passes, but hasn’t shown much beyond that. He’s not a guy that defenses fear when he’s got the ball in the flat. Reggie is. Teams gameplan for how to play Bush. He’s got 12 career receiving TDs. Shady has 2. Bush is a Red Zone weapon as a receiver. He can catch the ball and make the first defender miss. He’s then got the burst to get in the endzone. Shady has plenty of wiggle, but lacks the same burst. Shady is more of an outlet receiver in the Red Zone.
I don’t think the Eagles would break the bank for Bush. He’d have to come here for a reasonable deal. I have no idea what his expectations are or what kind of a market there might be for him. Reggie has yet to show that he can be an every-down RB so you can’t plan on using him like that. At the same time, he is a playmaker. Not all 32 teams have guys with that ability.
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Someone posed the question about players the Eagles might lose in free agency. Quintin Mikell is as good as gone. Some team will overpay him (good for Q – he deserves it). The Eagles will not get in a bidding war for Stewart Bradley. If some team comes after him aggressively (doesn’t seem likely based on 2010), Stew would walk.
Honestly, the Eagles will keep anyone they really want to. The Eagles have the money / cap space (if needed). Players want to be here. Anyone who leaves is someone the team is willing to let walk.
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One guy we know will leave is David Akers. An interesting thought occurred to me regarding Akers. We can replace his ability to kick FGs. He’s really good, but there are good kickers all over the league.
We’ll really miss David for two reasons. First, he’s one of the best tackling PKs in the league. That doesn’t come up often, but it does from time to time. Second, and most important, Akers is really good on onside kicks. I recently re-watched the comeback win over the Giants. Akers onside kick was great. He deadened the ball and got good height so that Riley Cooper had time to run under it at the right spot. Too often kickers kick a real lively ball and it goes flying out of bounds or they go soft and the ball doesn’t go 10 yards. Akers hit that kick perfectly. Huge part of the miracle comeback win.
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How’s this for odd…Michael Vick is organizing a group get-together for Eagles players to spend time in the classroom. Amazingly, this isn’t a report from The Onion. PhillySpotsDaily has the scoop.
This is interesting. Vick and the skill players do need to make sure they are all on the same page. You’d love this to happen in a mini-camp where there was a combination of classroom and practice sessions, but something is better than nothing. And I do think that talking out the playbook is crucial for our guys. As I’ve written recently, we must execute base plays better. Part of that is people being exactly where they are supposed to, at the right time, and with the correct positioning.
Vick can’t rely on his great arm in the classroom. DeSean can’t rely on his speed in there. All players are equal (potentially) on the chalkboard. Let’s hope the young guys embrace the situation and learn something from the sessions.
I think I would be on board with adding Bush if he were willing to be both a PR and KR. The Eagles have a glaring need for a good KR. I know he doesn’t fit the current “ideal” model for retuning kickoffs, but anything would be an improvement at this point, plus it would get him more touches per game in an offense already crowded with playmakers. Am I way off base, here?
Hate to be a downer because it would be fun to watch Bush in midnight green, but with his injury history… PR and KR would be in constant flux because its pretty dangerous, and Bush is extremely injury prone.
The attitude that Bush would need to have to come here would probably keep him in N.O. with a restructured deal.
I am all for getting Bush if the price is right. I’ll leave it up to Banner and Roseman to decide what that price is.
The combination of Jerome Harrison and Reggie Bush would make a formidable backfield in the absence of Shady if he gets hurt. Funny how it takes 2 veterans to do the job of one kid going into his third year… lol
I’m all for extending Shady’s career and lowering his touches per year slightly.
It would be darn close to a dream backfield to be able to have Shady, Harrison, and Bush. Man, could an already stacked offense really add another dangerous weapon?
I can’t see the Eagles getting Reggie. Some team will be willing to pay more.
I also recently watched the 8 minutes of the Giants game. Thought the same thing. That kick was perfect.
In Andy’s chat the other day, he was asked about Henery, and he said, “The one nice thing about Henery is that he can both kick and punt.”
Is he talking about Henery seriously being the primary punter? Or is he talking about certain situations?
RE: Henery / punting
I think AR’s comments were made merely to deflect from the topic of him and Akers. Henery was drafted to be our PK, from everything I know. Spending a 4th round pick on a punter would be idiocy unless the guy had one of the great all time legs. Henery was a solid punter, but great PK.
I’m not sure why the Eagles are so touchy on the Akers subject. Weird.
For what its worth, Jerome Harrison will be an UFA, as he has 5 years service. I would be happy to offer him a multi-year deal to stay at backup money, but the guy is probably jonesing for a starting position, or at least to be part of a run heavy rotation. He simply won’t get that here. I seriously doubt he’ll be back. If we were to sign him, I would imagine that takes us out of any Reggie Bush sweepstakes as well.
Backup RB is a key position for this team, despite the fact that we don’t run often. We need a good RB for our offense to run efficiently. Should Shady get injured, even for a few games, the prospect of Dion or Eldra is frightening to me.
Great point, mcud.
Harrison would only want to return if the coaches guaranteed him a bigger role and I don’t think that’s very likely. Dude wants touches and I don’t blame him. He’s a talented role player, but was wasted last year.
@ Iowa Eagle…
Injury history for Bush would be a concern. However, that wouldn’t affect him as PR. That’s a pretty safe job.
KOR is the dangerous one. Guys get a free run from a long way away. On punts, there are blockers right in front of them and that delays players enough to give the PR a chance to read the play and avoid huge hits. Things move so quickly on KOs that you can’t read the blocks as much. You catch and go. That leads to big hits and injuries.
Re: Your 2nd Point (who the Eagles might lose in FA)
RB – Jerome Harrison
G – Reggie Wells
G – Max Jean-Gilles
G/C – Nick Cole
LDE – Victor Abiamiri
LB – Stewart Bradley
LB – Omar Gaither
LB – Ernie Sims
LB – Akeem Jordan
CB – Ellis Hobbs (retired)
CB – Dimitri Patterson
S – Quintin Mikell
P – Sav Rocca
K – David Akers is tendered, but I expect the Eagles to withdraw the tender.
QB – Mike Vick is franchised.
I think the only likely returnees are Vick and Rocca. Bradley is a strong possibility. I’d guess there is a slight chance that Mikell, Harrison, MJG, Abiamiri, and/or Jordan return. Gaither, Cole, and Wells don’t even have a snowball’s chance in hell of coming back.
Sucks to lose Harrison. I wish we could find another Correll Buckhalter. Did I just butcher the spelling of his name? He seems ages ago.
I live in VA where we’re getting a UFL team this year. I just look at the team roster because I saw an article about the first game being in August. Guess who our starting wide receivers are…
Reggie Brown and Hank Baskett.
Memo to Marty Schottenheimer: that doesn’t work.
@mcud
RE: Transition tag on Akers
Under the old CBA, you could only use one of either the franchise tag or transition tag, not both. The Eagles used both because there were basically no rules, but I’m sure when forced to make a choice, it would be an easy one.
I would love Bush as a PR and #2 RB. I’m not sure KR will end up being that important this year anyway with the new kick-off rules. I expect a lot of drives starting from the 20. Shady/Reggie would be a tremendous 1-2 punch at RB, as good or better than Staley/Buck or Westy/Buck. And, speaking of Staley/Buck…
I thought about that combo when Tommy mentioned the NFC title game against the Rams, where Martz ran it down our throats in the 2nd half. What I really remember about the game was that we were running the ball effectively until Buck got hurt. I believe if he stays in that game we win it, and I also think we beat the Patriots in the SB. Now that’s a non-memorable moment that was as potentially important as any during that season.
A bunch of stuff
@Thunderlips, agree with the Bush attitude comment.
That kind of dovetails with the Jerome Harrison thing. I’d like to have him back too — and I think it’s more likely than most because a) who exactly is going to offer him a starting job? and b) staying put might be at a premium this year if the CBA is done late and the FA frenzy misses him.
He should ask for more touches, as Bush would, and in Harrison’s case I think he could get them, being that he arrived midseason last year and was probably struggling trying to grasp things.
@Cliff, you spelled Buckhalter right. Liked that guy. Also a cautionary tale to Harrison: Maybe you leave to get a starting job, but don’t actually win it, and then you end up as a backup on a crappier team. Might as well get limited touches and win.
@mcud, there aren’t very many of those guys I’d want back. I’d love to have Mikell, even with our young safeties, but I realize the market will probably price us out. After that, Bradley and Harrison. Patterson would be a good depth CB except we have two of those on $405,000 deals already. (Joselio makes a lot for a third corner, but he also grades out well on those advanced metrics so maybe he’s worth it; if not, a spot could open up)
Abiamiri, it seems harmless to give him another shot. Akeem I’d keep for depth and STs but he can get a better opportunity somewhere else. Rolle and Matthews will do that for us.
@Tommy, good point about KORs being more dangerous, but as a player, I remember guys hating punt return more (we used to say punt returners “had a death wish”) because half the time nobody blocked. If we had a block call on, the guy better fair catch it 🙂
Maybe the touchiness with Akers has to do with his family situation, maybe theres some baggage there. Things were probably a lot tenser around the GB playoff game than any of us realize.
If we were to sign Bush or anyone who is a legit RB, I doubt if AR will then use McCoy more in the offense. If anything, I would think McCoy gets less touches. If you have a weapon in the 2nd RB, you will use him, something like a rotation, and not to sit him, IMO.
If my memory serves, Vick was tagged and SIGNED before CBA ran out.
Ackers was tagged as transition. Then they drafted Henery. It may be an insurance, but then it may also be a definite move to have the next kicker in place.
@Kyle …your memory is incorrect. There was a contract provision that Vick couldn’t be resigned before his contract expired
Bush might take carries from Shady, but he probably takes catches from Avant/Cooper too. I’d love to see them line up in split backs, then motion Bush into the slot. Or go four-wide with Bush inside of Jackson. Or line up five-wide, then motion Bush into the backfield . . . I think I really want them to sign Reggie Bush. He’s not a traditional RB, but he’s a match up nightmare.
@D3Keith…I agree about PR. I think there are more injuries on KOs in general b/c playes get a running start, but for the returner I think KOs are easier because you get to focus 100% on catching the ball then get you eyes up field. On PRs the returner can have guys directly on top of him or a step away while trying to catch the ball. I see more helpless PRs get blown up because they dont call a fair catch when a gunner has a clean run to them. Plus they are in a completely defenseless position compared to a KR who has already started running.
Way off topic here…
What do you think of JaMarcus Russell? I seem to have the feeling that if he gets his head in the game, that he could be productive. Could you see the Eagles working him out to use it as an investment? They could sign him extremely cheap and there would be nothing to lose. They usually do pretty good with those i.e. Vick.
I don’t think Russell is good fit. He’d be a major project when we already have one of those (Kafka) and the coaches are still working with Vick in a way they probably wouldn’t have to work with a regular starting QB.
If we’re signing a QB, we just need a solid guy to play back-up. If Vick missed a game, you wouldn’t feel very confident giving Russell the start.
I’d have absolutely no interest in JaMarcus. I don’t see what his motivation would be at this point, though he does have a $100 million arm. Word is his workouts post release were terrible and he was awfully fat to boot. I guess he’s happy being the biggest draft bust in history.
Assuming we trade Kevin Kolb, the guy I want targeted is Matt Hasselbeck. He’ll obviously go wherever he can get a starting gig, but I’d have to think we’d be the most attractive backup position in the league for Matt (Super Bowl contender, relationship with Andy Reid, playing behind a QB that is a good bet to miss some snaps over the season).
The other vet I would be interested in is Matt Leinart, though I admit that is based on “feeling”, rather than any real substantive basis.
Otherwise, I’m willing to go with Kafka as the primary backup. Should Vick get hurt for a game or two, you’d have guys like Garcia sitting next to the red phone. If we were to go with Kafka, I admit I am intrigued by the thought of adding Terrelle Pryor for a 4th or 5th round offer in the Supplemental Draft, if Andy thinks he can be an eventual starter. We know he’s got the tools, and from who better to hone them than Andy and Vick?