Sucker Punch
Posted: March 30th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 119 Comments »Jason Peters did rupture his Achilles tendon.
The good news is that LFF (Lawlor Football Focus) went back and reviewed his play from 2011 and saw that he was mediocre at best and shouldn’t be hard to replace.
Sorry. I tried to lie our way out of this, but I can’t do it. Losing JP is gonna hurt. Not only was he our best OL in 2011, but he was one positive thing that Cris Collinsworth could point out in every NBC/Eagles game. What are we going to do? What is CC gonna do?
The silver lining to this disaster is the timing. Peters can go on the PUP list and stay there until mid-season. If he pulls a miraculous comeback, he could finish out 2012. Unfortunately, we cannot count on that.
The question now is whether to put Todd Herremans at LT or leave him at RT. King Dunlap will take the other spot for now. The Eagles can pursue FA Demetrius Bell to take over LT if they want. There isn’t much else on the market.
The draft is still a month away. The Eagles could draft a LT like Jonathan Martin or a RT like Riley Reiff in the 1st round. The team showed a lot of interest in Mike Adams at the Senior Bowl. He could fit either side.
The team could go for Mitchell Schwartz in the 2nd round as a RT. He’s not an ideal fit, but is a quality player.
There is always the idea of shifting Evan Mathis to RT and then drafting a G or promoting Julian Vandervelde.
There are lots of options. Some are okay. Others involve lots of hoping and crossed fingers.
I sure don’t have a preference right now. I need time to wrap my head around this situation and figure out what makes the most sense.
Terrible news.
Wow just wow. The shock is setting in now.
I was thinking about Collinsworth too! Like a commenter said in the previous post, at least it’s happening now and not week 1. It’s still the offseason so we can talk ourselves into anything. 2012 was going to be JP’s MikeVick2011 year, he would’ve given up the most sacks in the East and been demoted when all of a sudden King Dunlap pulled a Victor Cruz and made us forget JP (who would be traded for a 2013 5th rounder).
Seriously tough break but the best timing possible. Now let’s hope he didn’t injure it doing something stupid…
Bell is the best option. Athletic and a good fit for a zone-blocking line. He’s not Peters, but no one is. If they like a LT at 15, then fine take him, but you can’t force the issue.
Agreed.
Great teams find a way to win despite injuries. The news is horrible, but at least it wasn’t a player in a skill position.
Honestly, outside of Vick, I don’t think anyone being injured would be worse than Peters.
I think McCoy would be in the discussion as well but yeah, no Peters is bad news bears.
Watkins play as RT in NCAA right? Couldn´t we put Herremans as LT and Watkins as RT and draft DeCastro to play as G? Any possiblity we trade Asante for a T?
Watkins needs to stay at RG. He doesn’t have the skills for OT in the NFL from what we saw last year.
So what you’re saying is that the Eagles blew a first round pick not only on an older offensive lineman, but also on an offensive lineman who can only play the least important position on the offensive line and has no versatility to play any other position?
What’s wrong with this picture?
Well, DeCastro will not make it passed the Chiefs, so….
On the plus side, we no longer have to worry about our best and most irreplaceable player getting injured.
Well this is a kick to the nards. I am glad, however, that we extended the Toddfather and re-signed Mathis & The King. This would have been WAY uglier had those re-signings not occurred.
I’m in favor of keeping Todd at RT – he did
This news sucks the life out of me and turns me into a crippled, soulless shell of a human being.
Okay, maybe not that bad, but it fucking blows. We were finally looking at real, tangible OLine continuity and it gets blown up by a freak injury to our (arguably) very best player. I feel bad for Jason Peters, more than anything. But I trust in Mudd, and I trust in the decision to bring Dunlap back.
One thing I do not want is to hit the panic button and make the knee-jerk decision of drafting an OT in round 1(or even round 2). It will probably be another 18 months until Jason Peters is “Jason Peters” again… but his career is not over. We are not suddenly in dire need of a franchise tackle. We simply need someone who can fill in. That can be obtained in free agency, later in the draft, or in-house(Dunlap). The timing of the injury is fortuitous because it gives the organization time to explore all of their options and make the best move possible.
But Riley Reiff is a pure RT, Jonathan Martin is soft, and Adams is a boom-or-bust pick with questionable work ethic. Do any of those options scream “pick #15” to you? They certainly don’t to me. It would be a major waste of resources and a major panic move. And panic moves are always, without fail, a bad business move.
Best option – if Kuechly or Cox are gone at 15, you trade back some and draft Adams.
Adams is a dog. He doesn’t work at all.
Any OT or OG drafted in the first round would be a huge mistake.
Yeah, I agree with you, you soulless shell of a human.
I’m not comfortable putting any rookie in this lineup next year. We saw what a sure-fire first round guard could do last year (I know… strike-shortened off-season), I can’t imagine a left tackle would work well against Demarcus Ware twice a season.
RE: Who Are These Guys?
William Beatty
Chad Clifton
Jermon Bushrod
Max Starks
Tarik Glenn
Marvel Smith
Matt Light
Roman Oben
These are the starting LTs on the Super Bowl Champions for the past 10 years.
Only two of these LTs were Pro Bowlers during the SB season: Clifton, Glenn. (Bushrod and Light reached that status later).
The Eagles can win without Peters. It hurts for sure. But they can win without him.
[REPOSTED from last string]
Great stuff, as always.
Great research as always, Vike.
The thing that really concerns me about this, though, is that Vick needs all the help he can get. Even before this injury to Peters, I wasn’t supremely confident in Michael Vick playing at a high level this season.
At least we have one of the best 2 or 3 running backs in the game, and a blocking scheme that caters to his abilities.
They can win without Peters. They can’t win with Dunlap.
This is great research but I do not think it is a good argument. How many of these teams had a top 3 LT (top 1???) in the NFL go down that led to that particular guy starting?
8 percent of the Eagles payroll this season is going to a player who isn’t going to play. That’s 8 percent that won’t be strengthening any of the other positions.
Beatty just barely made the Giants roster as I understand it. He spent some time in his youth here in York so we occasionally see a blurb in the local paper on him. To be honest I thought he would play a major role in the Gints not making it to the playoffs.
Tommy, how long is the recovery time for achillies injuries? September is still 6 months away, anyway he is back after the first 4 or 6 games?
People say an Achilles is a 9 to 12 month injury before a guy could start again. It is more like 12 to 15 months before the guy gets all the way back.
I don’t know…the way I keep seeing these people crying about Demeco you’d swear you can never EVER recover from an achilles injury.
Oy Vey.
I feel like the fact that Peters weighs 350 lbs and will have to be ready to run in a zone blocking system extends the time he would need compared to someone else.
I’m a “long-term fan” since the late 1950’s (62 y/o now and hoping for many more seasons) so I would rather wait for JP in 2013 than rush him in 2012.
Respect to you, sir. Tip of the hat on some very respectful tenure.
I’m reposting this here because it’s more in theme:
God hates the Eagles. Everyone, help me fill in the list of ridiculous injuries that hosed the Eagles to prove it:
Jerome Brown: died in a car crash
Corey Simon: mystery ailment ended career
J.R. Reed: Ripped nerve jumping a fence
Jerome McDougal: shot during off season
Shawn Andrews: Back surgery, depression, rap star
Stewart Bradley: Knee capped on flight night
Nate Allens: Great start to rookie year, tears patella tendon without contact
Brandon Grahm: Knee last … I don’t even remember what he was doing
And how many $^#&&#&@!!!!!!! sports hernias have we seen? Let’s compare that to other teams.
Who am I missing?
Bernard Williams smoked his way out of the league.
Derrick Burgess got hurt the Monday before the season opener in 2002.
Westy got hurt on a routine play in the season finale in 2003 and that killed our offense.
TO had that horse collar broken leg that was so bad it got the league to outlaw the technique!
Donovan was never the same after that sports hernia in 2005.
And while it wasn’t an injury, we were the first team to get clubbed by free agency when Reggie White went to Green bay because “God” told him to!
Well, you did say that God hates the Eagles.
IIRC, back in 1991, Ben Smith injured himself during a game against the Browns with absolutely no one touching him. He wasn’t the same ever since and we got to watch Izel Jenkins start at CB once again.
Oh yeah, that same year…Randall Cunningham…yeah..
The leg!!!!! In the pocket!!!!!!! Oh, sure coach, he’ll be safer in there behind THAT line!
Because of that play, I still scream BS every time they talk about running QBs risking injury.
I put this comment on Tommy’s “Brains and Brawn” post about Demeco Ryans earlier this month:
As an Eagles fan for 49 seasons, this one to come being my 50th, I am used to having my hopes annually raised and then crushed in some fashion. The Eagles always win the General Manager Bowl brought to you by Moneyball and the Scrooge McDuck Salary Cap trophy. Then the games start and something turns out horribly wrong. WRs get alligator arms, QBs get injured, Scott Young forgets the snap count. Etc. This development is so positive that something awful is bound to happen. Surely some key player will be injured, probably at a position where the Eagles decide to skimp on backups.
Buckhalter
Kearse blew out his knee in Week 2 of ’06
Andrews also missed his rookie season
Thank God we didn’t pull off the Lecharles Bentley signing.
Didn’t Darren Howard have an injury his first year with us, too?
You know, I forgot all about Deuce Staley’s flukey Lys Franc injury! That was the first time I ever heard of one of those: an injury named because it used to happen to Napoleonic cavalry men hit by cannon fire!
Omar Gaither had a similar deal one of the years he was slotted to be a starter… I think
McDougle was shot the night before camp too, wasn’t he?
I’m sure most NFL teams have a list of crappy, unlucky injuries, but ours definitely suuuuucks. We overcame a bunch of them too so they don’t hold spaces in our memories, but Bryce Paup busting Randall’s knee in Week 1, Westbrook, Emmons, McNabb missing the Carolina NFCCG or getting hurt during it, and T.O. returning in time for the Super Bowl. Really all the McNabb injuries we overcame except for in ’05. They all could have been much worse.
[REPOSTED from when you posted this in the last thread]
Awful development. Hard to replace him either through draft or FA because you have to pay a boatload to get that level of quality, but when he comes back, you have to trade or bench the replacement.
From some quick Googling . . . Recovery time is about 6 months.
If true, Peters could be on the field by Week 3.
Or midseason.
Whatever it is, a ruptured achilles is nothing like what Ryan Howard — or Leroy Keyes (3rd pick in the 1969 draft by the Birds, RB from Purdue, taken 1 spot ahead of DT Joe Greene).
One spot ahead of “Mean” Joe Greene and two spots behind OJ Simpson. Talk about tough expectations to live up to.
I don’t remember(I wouldn’t be born for another 20 years after the 1969 season), but weren’t we in the running for OJ before winning 2 meaningless games at the very end of the year? Typical Eagles luck, right there.
K:
You’re spot on. Great stuff.
The Eagles were “dominating” the run for OJ in 1968.
They started the season 0-11.
Then they upset the Lions and
They may have missed out on OJ, but what did drafting OJ do for the Bills? They didn’t win anything either.
True. But, at the very least, it would’ve been a huge PR boost for the franchise. Like I said, I wasn’t even close to being alive during that time frame, but from looking at old stats it appears that their biggest offensive “star” at that time was… Norm Snead. Yeah.
Plus OJ would have upped our “years in prison” stat!
A rupture and a tear are the same thing.
An OL has to have a foot plant that can stand firm in a collison with someone who weighs 250-300 lbs, or to drive someone of that size backwards. There is no way a ruptured achilles will heal enough in 6 months to get him back to that level.
I see we’ve resorted to the feel sorry for ourselves option.
We’re sitting Shiva.
Dear spirit, speak comfort to us!
“This time, McNabb proclaimed himself the most unfairly maligned quarterback in NFL history, saying that no other passer has ever had to deal with the same stuff that he has.
It started with McNabb criticizing Tim Tebow and First Take provocateur Skip Bayless stepping in to say Tebow receives more criticism than he deserves.
“Tim Tebow,” Bayless said, “is the most unfairly, over-criticized quarterback in the history of this league.”
With that, McNabb interjected, “Negative — I am.”
“I am,” McNabb continued. “Nobody has been criticized as much as I have.”
Am I the only one who hears “The Twilight Zone” music every time Donovan McNabb opens his mouth these days?
to be honest, mcnabb was criticized more than tebow. tebow may beat him out one day, but mcnabb took the heat for more years than tebow has even been playing. not to mention, mcnabb’s career didn’t start out with horrible 2-8 passing games…it just ended that way
Yeah, but more than Doug Williams? More than Jim Kelly? More than Dan Marino? More than Fran Tarkenton?
i was too young to pay attention to that kind of stuff back then
I wish someone would put together a video of every McNabb swing pass that landed at the Rb’s feet and run it on Youtube.
And set it to this music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHy7DGLTt8g
call me crazy, but what is Shawn Andrews up to these days?
If I had to guess… free style rap, marathons of “Sanford and Son” on TVLand, and the new “chocolate waterfall” at Golden Corral.
He’s obsessed by SpongeBob SquarePants. Don’t forget that.
He lives in a pineapple under the sea…
Ack. I have a 5-year-old nephew. I’ve seen so much Spongebob that I go into a homicidal trance when it comes on. I bust out the thousand-yard stare.
Stacy Andrews is more feasible. Played in a zone-blocking system with Seattle in 2010. Was the Giants’ #3 tackle for most of last season and was also utilized as a blocking TE.
That bridge is probably burned though.
I’d guess about 380.
If you follow his twitter, like I do, you’ll know that he had been working hard at lowering his weight through a special diet regime and he’s recently tweeted happily about finally being under 300lbs for the first time since he was a high school player.
Getting his Michael Phelps on.
Lots of 2-TE sets coming our way . . .
We already used alot of them last year
More . . . More . . . More!!!!
Fleener in round 2 if he is there?
If anyone needs a respite from the shitstorm of bad luck and sadness we’re going through right now, PFT has started up their annual pre-draft visit and workouts tracker:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/29/2012-draft-visits-and-workout-tracker/
i’m going to go to work and hopefully when i return home, tommy will have come up with a solution that will convince me that the sky is not falling
Tommy, what is the more likely course of action? Shift Todd and implement King?
From Twitter:
Howard Eskin @howardeskin
I hear Eagles bringing in Bills FA left tackle demetrius Bell in this weekend. Top FA left tackle out there. Son of Karl Malone.
Hmm, go figure. Never knew about the Karl Malone connection. Apparently the claim has been contested by Malone and they’ve only spoke on one occasion. That’s a shame.
At least they are acting quickly.
Per PFT:
“[G.M.] Howie [Roseman] and I will sort out the roster situation for the offensive line,” Reid said. “We are glad to have King [Dunlap] back as a part of our offensive line and we will continue to scan the free-agent market, also knowing the draft is less than a month away.”
Left tackles rarely are lingering on the free-agent market, but the Eagles could show interest in former Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill, who was cut after suffering a neck injury during the 2011 season.”
So he will be the Ryan Harris of 2012?
That would be the worst case scenario, yes.
Best case scenario? He’s the Jared Gaither of 2012.
Tommy, I’m on my second pizza just to deal with the stress! Have you any idea how this is messing up my points??? Scouting report on Bell!
Max schnell!
Question. Seeing as though Vick is a left handed QB, doesn’t that give Peters the responsibilities of a right tackle? He does get to play the better competition, but not having to protect Vick’s blind side should give him an advantage right? Just trying to positively spin this as much as I can right now. No one can Replace his athleticism.
But generally with a right handed QB you often run to the right side of the formation. With Vick as QB, the Eagles seem to run more to the left.
It’s one thing to bleed green, but news like this makes me bleed so damn much I’m going to need a transfusion.
RE: Demetrius Bell
Could be a nice short-term move, albeit expensive.
Shows the Eagles and AR remain “all in” for 2012.
But what happens in 2013 when Peters is back? Who goes?
And what do the Eagles get for him?
Two options, I would assume:
1) Sign him to a decent one year deal, or
2) Sign him to a multi-year deal that’s very conducive to a trade after the season, assuming he plays well.
We’re at a fortuitous time in the league year because we’re firmly into the “2nd tier” of free agency, and a lot of these guys are willing to settle for 1-year, mostly-guaranteed contracts. Not to mention, there should be some allure for a player like Bell to go from a perpetual loser like the Bills, to a more marquee franchise. If he plays lights out in his one year as an Eagle, he’d still only be 28 and in line for a monster contract in 2013.
This is my thinking. Bell is visiting the Steelers and has visited the Redskins though, so it’s going to cost some coin. But I’d rather do that and deal with what to do in 2013 with too many OL. Super Bowl winners always lose a bunch of players the next year anyway. (See? See what I did there?)
In all seriousness, even if the deal Bell signs isn’t team friendly per se, it’d be worth it to take some kind of hit, even for the very thought that it allows us to keep pick 15 and maintain flexibility going into this draft.
I doubt the Steelers have much financial wiggle room.
I doubt the Skins do, either, after overpaying receivers and getting dinged by the NFL.
Shock’s past and my head’s cooled down a little. I agree that the silver lining here (small and barely perceptible) is the timing. We know how highly Big Red and the front office value OTs, so I expect them to move aggressively to fix this through free agency before the draft so they can with BPA. If Bell comes in for a visit, I don’t think he leaves.
I think/hope/expect that the team will look at this as a two year recovery period to full performance and plan accordingly.
In Roseman we trust!!!
I wonder what impact losing Peters has on McCoy and how the Eagles perceive his value?
Would the Eagles F.O. assume McCoy’s run-production will go down w/ out Peters?
And because his pass blocking needs improvement (I think that’s right), does the loss of Peters shine more light on McCoy’s pass-pro shortcomings? And McCoy’s not nearly the receiver that Westbrook was (who is?).
It’s almost counter-intuitive . . . but is McCoy less valuable without Peters?
We might pay a LT 6 million in a one year deal, then save 6 million on Shady’s long term deal because of his decreased production…then again, Tomlinson had his best years running behind McNeil
LT had his best years running behind Lo Neal.
The more i think about this situation the more i think OT in round one might be way we go now. This draft is deep in talent at defensive tackle so you can still bring in a guy like a Devon Still if he falls to round 2. JP is 30 right now and will be 31 when he’s ready to return to action. Will he be back at his ALL PRO level? We dont know so If John Martin, Riley Reiff, or Mike Adams is there then get one of them
This is a bad tackle draft. Very bad.
Maybe if you say the bad news in a good way, it won’t sound so bad.
How does JP being on the PUP affect the Eagle’s cap? Are we still screwed with his salary counting against the cap, or does it only count if he is active?
I don’t think loosing JP is as bad as it might be for other teams because Vick is a lefty. Our LT doesn’t protect Vick’s blind side. It definately sucks, but at least there is time for a great OL coach like Mudd to figure who he wants starting and he has time to get the line playing well together.
Great question. Not sure. We need Sam to cover that.
I’m all for a bandaid move here, there is a HUGE dropoff from JP to Dunlap. If we can get some vet who can play at a reasonable level for a year then I’m all about it, even if we have to throw some cash their way.
What about moving Mathis to LT and then drafting DeCastro?
Possible, but not a fan of it. Weakens us at LT and it means we have another rookie on the OL.
If they spend a first round pick on an offensive lineman in this draft, it will cement this front office’s status as the worst drafting front office in football.
Drafting any kind of offensive lineman in the first round would be a terrible mistake.
The only elite prospects in this draft class are David DeCastro and Matt Kalil. Kalil would require a trade-up into the top 5., which would be asinine to expend multiple draft picks for an OT. DeCastro is a pure guard, and would be a reach with a first round pick.
decastro wouldn’t be a reach morton (take the t out)
“NFL.com’s Gil Brandt is higher on Osweiler than the scouts. Much higher. Brandt wrote in a Pro Day recap that he believes Osweiler “vaulted himself into the first round” by demonstrating accuracy in the workout. Per Brandt, “there is a lot of excitement” around the league about Osweiler.”
o_O
Personally, I don’t see it on tape. But its hard to argue with a pedigree like Gil Brandt’s. It’s looking like this is going to be another draft of QBs being over-valued(like Ponder, Kaepernick, et al last year). Any team that spends a 2nd round pick on Osweiler, Cousins or Weeden seems awfully desperate.
Osweiler is overrated.
Tweeted tonight that he got an invitation to NYC for the draft. I bet that is for the 2nd Rd. They now have some guys come in for the 2nd.
T-LAW:
You’re now hereby dubbed the “Grim Reaper.”
All never fear, I have been in contact with Dr. James Andrews and he has agreed to turn Peters into the $6 Million dollar man with my Lottery winnings…… GAME OVER NFC EAST
Fear not, CTU has agreed to fund Dr. James Andrews’ lifelong dream of turning Peters into the $6 Million dollar man …… GAME OVER NFC EAST (and terrorists)
Tommy
Did you note Bobby Wagner’s lights-out pro day results today? Would have been tops in virtually every linebacker metric at the Combine. Given this guy’s intelligence and terrific 3-year production, might he be our SAM LB objective in the 2nd round? I assume that we might have to move up a few positions to get him. Figures that he was the defensive MVP at the Senior Bowl.
He’s a good player but it sure would be nice to have a guy taller than 6’0 at SAM. I might pull the trigger with the second second (depending on what we get with 1, 2) but I wouldn’t move up for him.
I agree, but as a partial offset to the desirability of a 6’2″+ OLB, are Wagner’s very long arms and nearly 40″ vertical.
Wagner could play SAM for us. As you pointed out…good VJ and long arms.
Last year we had 6’1 guys handling the spot okay. You either want a big guy or an athletic guy. Wagner is the athlete. Obviously we’d rather have him be 6’2, but I don’t think that is a deal-breaker.
Its being reported the Eagles are now interested in marcus mcneil. He was a top LT at one point before Injuries, would welcome him if healthy.
Good LT, but serious neck issues.
No way Dunlap can be counted on to stay healthy for16 games. At least this happened b4 the draft
I’m not sure that this will kill our offense. The right side should be really strong with Todd, Watkins, and Kelce.
Mudd can now plan how he wants to attack the loss of JP. McNeil would be a good signing, with Dunlap as the backup plan.
Every team usually has one key injury. If this is ours, we should still be able to compete at a high level.
T-Law, my friend just sent this story about his sister which make ease the pain regarding LT. http://ny.eater.com/archives/2012/03/book_deals_11.php
Cool.