Earl Anthony Time
Posted: December 27th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 11 Comments »Pro Bowl selections were announced tonight and the Eagles had 3 starters. Congratulations to Shady McCoy, Jason Babin, and Jason Peters. All 3 guys were deserving. Cullen Jenkins is a 1st-alternate. I’m definitely in support of that.
Did anyone miss out? Not really. Trent Cole did some good things, but missed time. Nnamdi Asomugha is a 2nd-alternate and that sounds right for him. Todd Herremans was outstanding for part of the year. Evan Mathis was very good.
What about Derek Landri? He’s ineligible for the Pro Bowl. That’s for mere mortals. Who gets to go to the Landri Bowl? That’s the question. I hear that the following players made it in:
Luke Kuechly
Brian Rolle
Brian Dawkins
Eric Berry
Anthony Hargrove
Tamba Hali
Jason Peters
Justin Smith
London Fletcher
Lance Moore
Ryan Clark
Anyone who knocks out Mark Sanchez gets a lifetime spot on the team.
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Q & A
What is Asante’s trade value? I think the Eagles can get a 3rd round pick for him. I would hope they can do even better, but teams will know the Eagles need to make the trade so that makes bargaining tougher. Asante is still a gifted cover guy. He’s been more of a team player recently and that helps his value.
Could the Eagles look at Larry Grant? He is a backup LB for SF. He’s started in place of Patrick Willis and played well in the last couple of games. Grant is 6’1, 251. Played at Ohio State. Wasn’t a huge star there. Drafted in the 7th round and worked his way from fringe player to solid backup. He has played well for SF. Shows some cover skills. I need to study him to get a feel for his ability to read plays and shed blocks. Real interesting player. Is he a backup just playing well or is he a breakout player?
What is DeSean’s future? Huge question. I still think the Eagles value him. DeSean likes playing here. Can they work out a deal? That’s the tricky part. It looks like this could be a crowded FA class for WRs. Guys like Stevie Johnson and Marques Colston will be on the market. Reggie Wayne. Vincent Jackson, unless he and the Chargers work out a deal. Dwayne Bowe and Robert Meachem. That’s a lot of guys to choose from and won’t help DeSean’s value. If he lowers his price, a deal can get done. The tricky scenario is using the Franchise tag on DeSean and then trying to deal him. That makes sense if you want to try to get compensation, but it doesn’t always work well. The Eagles did that with Corey Simon and it didn’t pan out because he was difficult to work with. That scared teams off and the Eagles ended up letting him just walk.
Should the Eagles rest Shady? What about the rushing title? Shady is 129 yards behind Maurice Jones-Drew right now. I don’t think Shady will make that up so the rushing title is out of the picture. Would I play him? He had a bum ankle the other day. That injury doesn’t scare me by itself. Now, if he’s gimpy and takes more hits, that could lead to some kind of other injury. I would play him if he’s anywhere close to 100 percent. I would sit him if I thought there was some risk. I want my best players to play, but I also don’t want to be stupid when there is little to be gained.
If the Eagles decide to go for a new DC, who are some options other than Steve Spagnuolo? There are better choices than last year. The Eagles could look to a guy like Jack Del Rio. He’s been a LB coach, DC, and HC. Mel Tucker was the Jags DC and took over as HC when Del Rio was fired. He is an interesting guy. Mike Nolan and Todd Bowles could be let go by Miami. Nolan has recently been a 3-4 guy, but has a 4-3 background. Raheem Morris is likely to be fired by Tampa. He’s been wildly inconsistent as a HC, but was a good assistant coach in the past. It is possible that Gregg Williams contract is up in New Orleans. If so, he could be highly sought after.
Interesting Caplan retweet
Mike Garafolo
Quote from friend in ’08 Star-Ledger story on Spags after Reid kept him from being a DC elsewhere “Those were probably the darkest days.”
More from Spags’ friend in ’08: “Working for the Eagles the last year was very tough for him.” Not saying it won’t happen but keep in mind.
This is a fairly common practice in the NFL. Reid wouldn’t let Childress or Harbaugh take any of his assistants either (since he had the same upbringing from Holmgren). Given that the Giants won immediately after the Eagles lost Spags, can’t blame Reid’s logic.
It amazes me that Fletcher is once again a pro bowl snub
Thanks for answering those questions, Tommy.
I think they let DeSean walk and sign a FA WR, and draft a kid with speed to develop behind Cooper. Cooper will also get a shot at a bigger role with a full offseason, he’s got the body and athleticism of Nelson on GB, but was far less polished coming out of college. Colston would be great, though he has some durability issues that counsel against giving top dollar at age 29, Stevie Johnson would be a great #2 at the right price, Meacham would replace DeSean’s speed.
If Larry Grant is 250 lbs to play ILB, he’ll have to lose some weight, since he was a lot smaller and still not that fast coming out of college:
Grant, Larry Ohio State 6-1 235 4.76
2/16/85 [4.58 1.55 32 ] 325-BP 400-squat 33 1/4 arm 9 3/8 hands
[4.76 1.55 20 4.22 6.77 31 9’5]
Good athlete, but limited straight line speed, so he has to show good instincts.
Was a running back with no experience at linebacker until 2004, only started one year in college, so he had a lot of upside, 4 years in the pros, but ILB isn’t completely transferable to MLB.
Has excellent leaping ability and timing as a kick blocker who had six blocked kicks at CCSF in 2005 and three in two seasons in Columbus.
As far as DCs, I don’t see a slam dunk unless Del Rio or Nolan will commit to the long-term and you’re willing to ditch Washburn.
Jack Del Rio. – only was a DC one season, Car 2002
Huge turnaround, drafting Peppers and Witherspoon helped, Kris Jenkins made a big jump in his 2nd season, picked up a nickel CB in Terry Cousins and made him a starter, turned Reggie Howard into a starting CB. Turned a putrid defense into #5 in points against.
In Jax, had top defenses his first five years which fell apart his last few seasons.
Always had big DTs (Stroud, Henderson, then Stroud, Knighton, but did use a high draft pick on Tyson Alualu, so his philosophy may be changing.
Mel Tucker was the Jags DC and took over as HC when Del Rio was fired. He is an interesting guy. Took over a mediocre Jax defense but needed three years to get it to where Juan is today.
Mike Nolan
Good job with the Giants, poor job in Washington, good season with the Jets, great job with the Ravens. Good job with Denver and Miami as a DC.
Problem is he hasn’t coached a 4-3 for a decade and seems like a lousy fit with Washburn, though Ravens run that interesting hybrid – but under Nolan they were more a vanilla 3-4.
Not sure he’s flexible to incorporate 3-4 concepts with the wide 9, DEs line up a lot like OLBs, but no 320 lb NT or 300 lb 3-4 DEs in our system.
Raheem Morris
He has no NFL DC experience, his Buc defense was up and down, not sure he’s a better bet than Juan with a year under his belt.
If D-Jax is leaving, how ’bout adding Dwayne Bowe?
Size. Speed. Pretty good hands. Physical receiver. Seems like a very good deep-ball receiver.
But I don’t see KC letting him walk away.
He will receive the FT. Like almost every go-to free agent receiver.
Earl Anthony, is this a reference to the professional bowler?
I am amused by Pro Bowl’ers (NFL guys) vs pro bowlers (PBA guys). It confuses people and isn’t all that funny, but I can’t help myself. Earl Anthony needs the pub.
I forgot to add that the title was…..well played
Tommy, apologies if this was asked before, but London Fletcher is in the final year of his 5 year contract. Would he be too expensive/old for the Eagles when he hits free agency?
Stupid thought, but if we can only get a 3rd rounder for Asante isn’t it a greater value to retain him? I know we need to clear up some cap space, but there are talks that the cap might be increasing by 50M per team. Insane thought, but maybe we discuss Nnamdi cutting back to 10M/year after this years performance? Nonsensical ramble, but I just find trading Asante for a 3rd round pick not even comparable in value of retaining a starting calibur CB… especially in a pass happy league.