Meet Mr. Demetress Bell
Posted: April 5th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 39 Comments »The Eagles officially signed LT Demetress Bell today. He held his PC and met the media. I didn’t have a chance to see every bit of it, but seemed fairly typical. Bell said that Jason Peters did a big time sales job on him. JP wanted Bell here so the team can make the Super Bowl push. I love the fact that Jason is that fired up about a season in which he’s unlikely to play. Bell and Peters played together for a year in Buffalo so they do have history.
Peters also stressed to Bell that Howard Mudd is a guy he should want to play for. Bell didn’t come out and say it, but I hope Jason made it clear that Mudd will be tough on him. Bell thinks his best football is ahead of him. He mentioned his need for coaching so I like where his head is at. Mudd won’t do you any good if you aren’t willing to listen and work.
Bell talked about the fact that in Buffalo he was taking vertical pass sets. Here in Philly that will change. Mudd will have him going out wide and also firing off the ball. This is really important.
Watch this: Bell vs Patriots
The biggest issue with Bell is his ability to drop back and anchor. He is too high and gets pushed back more than he should. This won’t happen as much in the Mudd system. The player goes forward or moves laterally. The other system has the OT retreating and letting the pass rusher initiate contact. The rusher has momentum and is able to move the blocker back.
Bell has good feet. That’s critical. Coaches can’t teach that. You have good feet or you don’t. Coaches can work on technique, but raw skills are something you just have. Bell needs to play with better pad level. Part of the problem is that as he does the kick slide to move back, he lets his body get too high. In the Mudd system he won’t be doing the kick slide so much and that should help him to stay lower.
Bell has good natural strength. When he bends his knees and keeps his butt down, he can be a good pass blocker. He anchors pretty well in those instances. This is a case where Bell can do something. He needs to do it consistently. Good coaching and hard work can make a tremendous difference in this situation.
Bell is good when coming off the ball on run plays. I’m sure Mudd likes what he sees there. Mudd will let him do some of that on pass plays and that is where a player can start to thrive. He gets to be aggressive. It builds his confidence. I think it also helps with technique. Since the player is being proactive, he controls what happens. When a blocker reacts to the rusher, he can be sloppy and develop bad habits. This was an issue for Bell. In the few videos I’ve posted, you can see Bell jump at times. Not good. There is literally no reason an OT should ever jump in pass pro. Once a 311-pound guy gets off his feet, he has no strength. He becomes a giant blocking dummy that defenders can toss aside with ease.
I like what I’m seeing and hearing from Bell. The hard part will be him learning the new system and then putting it into place on the field. Some guys get it instantly. Others take time. My fingers are crossed that he’ll be a quick learner.
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The Bell signing is a home run if for no other reason than to hear him say “Coach Mudd”.
Check out Bell’s interview with Chris McPherson.
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The Eagles hosted DT Dontari Poe at NovaCare today. Apparently Jim Washburn was walking down a hall with him and saw the media. Jim started to turn, but realized that everyone had seen them.
Jim jokingly said that it was Fletcher Cox.
Color me confused on that. Did Wash just make an odd joke? Was he making fun of all the reports about how much we want to draft Cox? Was he trying to keep the Eagles interest in Dontari Poe a secret? Who knows…
As to Poe, he is a super talented prospect. The Eagles are checking him out as thoroughly as possible to figure out just how much they do OR don’t like him. Poe’s game tape isn’t what it should have been. Still…you don’t pass on a guy with his potential lightly. You make dead sure that you’re comfortable with letting him go elsewhere. It would be lazy scouting to say “He wasn’t great in college so we’ll pass”.
DeMarcus Ware was a very good college player. He’s a great NFL player. JPP was a good college player. It looks like he’s going to be a great NFL player (gotta see multiple years of that to be sure). Poe was a wildly inconsistent college player, but he’s got the potential to be a really good NFL player. Is he coachable? How would he handle playing with NFL guys around him? Would facing NFL competition bring out the best in him? And so on.
I do not think the Eagles will go for Poe. I do think they are being smart by checking him out. It also provides good smokescreen material. If Cox and Kuechly are gone at 15 and Poe is on the board, there may be someone below us that wants to trade up. They need to believe we have interest in him for that to work.
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Matt Alkire posted a 2-round mock draft over at ScoutsNotebook.
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For those of you not on Twitter…what the heck is wrong with you? More to the point, there was some joking going on last night between me, Reuben Frank, and some fans. At one point, a fan claimed to have gotten an autographed picture of Max Jean-Gilles for Christmas. The fan then posted a link. This is so special that I had to share it.
As Roobs pointed out, his name is mis-spelled on the b&w photo. Classic. Greatest gift of the 21st century. We should all bask in its glory.
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I know I missed some questions from the previous post. I’ll address them later tonight. Last night I was busy studying draft prospects and didn’t want to get into any in-depth Eagles discussions. Draft is getting closer.
Imagine how terrible we would all feel if someone told us a year ago that the starting O-Line for 2012 would be Bell – Mathis – Kelce – Watkins – Herremans.
Also, last year in the 7th round the Bills drafted a player with some positional ambiguity who is now playing OT (Michael Jasper). The Eagles’ starting LT in 2016?
That dude is so huge he could be the whole OL himself.
Does Brandon Thompson fit Washburn’s scheme? I know he’s more of a run stopping DT but I couldn’t help notice the push and leverage he got on the field.
I think he could play for us. Not a great pass rusher, but quick and disruptive.
I think Thompson is an underrated pass-rusher. The numbers don’t show up on the stat sheet, but he got a ton of pressures the last two years and both Da’Quan Bowers and Jarvis Jenkins gave all of the credit to Brandon Thompson for being disruptive and funneling traffic into their arms.
Not sure if his frame really fits what Washburn likes, but I’m intrigued by his potential. I don’t like him as much as Kendall Reyes, but if we don’t get Cox in the 1st, I’m hoping for either Reyes or Thompson in the 2nd.
I am glad I wasn’t the only one to get a kick out of Bell saying “Coach Mudd”
I also like how he is including his mother in with his success.
Juan liked it too.
I think King Dulap will start the season at LT. Learning the system may prove to be difficult for Bell. Last year everyone thought Danny Watkins would start day 1.
Bell has experience at LT. Watkins did not have experience at RG. Watkins started training camp late because of contract wasnt signed. Bell will start day one and has already had dinner with Mudd. Bell will be fine starting day one.
Casey Matthews had dinner almost every day with Clay Matthews and Clay Matthews Jr.
I don’t think it helped much
ha ha ye i just threw that in there but Watkins and Bell are completely different situations
On the flip side, no one thought Jason Kelce would start Day 1 either. Its just a player to player thing. I have a feeling Bell is going to be very receptive to Mudd, just from the way he sounded so sold on Peters getting him to come here and asking JP all these questions about Mudd. The fact that they get along so great already gives me really high hopes for him. At this point I think its just a matter of him staying healthy.
I thought he would. Kelce’s athletic measureables were excellent… I was trying to convince the idiots over on Eagles message boards that he was a good draft pick.
watkins was a rookie during a lock out season. now if you said Bell will be banged up by the time training camp is over, i could def see that.
Have you read about his relationship with Karl Malone? I was a big fan of the Malone-Stockton combo back in the 90’s and always rooted for them against Chicago. I did not know that Karl Malone was such a scumbag.
2 of my best friends are die hard Bills fans. I’ve known Bell’s background for quite a while. Karl Malone isn’t quite the upstanding guy some would like you to believe. Good news is that Bell overcame that and is doing well for himself.
I always thought Karl Malone was supposed to be a very wholesome role model-type, but I remember reading about his creepy run-in with Kobe Bryant’s wife 5 or 6 years ago and thinking, “wow, the Mailman is a creep.”
I remember watching a Malone/Stockton segment prior to a Bulls-Jazz game in 3rd grade and being impressed by Malone’s character and faith. I was a hipster back in the day and rooted against Jordan because he was a little cocky and everyone loved him. Looking back on things, I’m happy Malone didn’t get a ring.
Bell tweeted this picture earlier today:
http://yfrog.com/kifyzndj
Looking in the background there seems to be a list of names on the wall. Can we get some super secret CIA magnification on that sucker and perhaps get a glimpse at what might be the Eagles draft board!?!?!?
Doubt that’s a draft board. More likely some kind of depth chart or something like that. Don’t know that they’d let Bell in the war room.
Where’s Bounty Bowl when you need him? He would have zoomed into that picture, fixed the resolution and made some funny observations about that board.
I’m just curious, if any of the top ten players in the draft were to fall to the Eagles the way Maclin did, who would you like from your top ten list to possibly fall to them? Something realistic, not RGIII, Luck or, Kalil. What would be your best case scenario, that is slightly realistic! What do you think the Eagles big board looks like? I would love to be able to observe the draft from inside their war room, and I bet you would too!
At this point, there is an outside chance Cox slides past 10 and a possibility that Blackmon slides if someone likes Floyd or Wright better. I’d grab either one (obviously).
Cox is the pick in many of the mocks. Interesting if Blackmon fell that far. Would like to hear Tommy’s take.
Pretty sure Tommy would be down with Blackmon… Given Cox’s value as a 3-4 DE and 4-3 DT/DE hybrid there’s a high possibility he has worked his way up on a lot of boards.
If the rumor mill is true and the Cowpatties take POE I will be ecstatic.
Tommy: One of the reporters commented on Wash calling Poe-Cox, it sounded more like Wash wasn’t joking and actually had a slip of the tounge or “brain fart”. Maybe I misinterpreted it, I think it was Jeff Mosher.
SI.com’s Tony Pauline reported that Dontari Poe is “the apple of the Dallas Cowboys’ eye.” As I posted in a prior thread re: smokescreens, this seems like a deliberate attempt to pressure Dallas into taking Poe over Cox. Between the Brockers and Poe visits, I’m really beginning to think that the Eagles are trying to throw people off the scent of their interest in Poe.
Also read today that, despite losing Hawthorne, Seattle is considering drafting Mark Barron at #12 and moving Kam Chancellor to OLB. Seems like an odd decision(despite having some college OLB experience, Chancellor was a Pro Bowler in just his 2nd season), but it definitely happen. One less team that would be looking at Kuechwalker, if true.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Kuechly or Cox fall to us, or even if both do. Every teams draft board is different so it doesn’t matter if both are top ten on most boards… all it takes is for each team to have 1 player ranked higher when their turn comes up. Plus, every year there is atleast one headscratcher pick, someone who everyone thinks is a late 1st rounder (or worse) who get’s picked in the top 15. In summary, I gave up on trying to predict the draft long ago… it’s fun to think about but on draft day I just sit back and watch the show… then the reactions, which are even funner
Moving Kam to OLB would be incredibly dumb considering Kam was the best safety in the NFL last year.
“As Roobs pointed out, his name is mis-spelled on the b&w photo. Classic. Greatest gift of the 21st century. We should all bask in its glory.”
Once again, nothing tops my Montae Reagor signed football.
I would pay good money for anything signed by Bill Sampy.
Get in line, Mr.
That is impressive, but I still think Max stays in 1st place.
YAY the eagles got Demetress Bell now what about Yeremiah Bell. Back about 10 days after he was released from the dolphins there were reports of eagles interest but the amount of the interest was unknown. I think Yeremiah could come in either specifically just to push JaJar during the training camp or whatever activity the DBs are working on or Yeremiah could be a nice backup after JaJar or Coleman solidifies the starting spot. But there is no way in the eagle nation the Yeremiah Bell takes the starting job.
Regarding Poe, how does he compare to Fat Albert when he gave a damn?
I think the Eagles will choose Cox over Poe but maybe Wash thinks there’s another Haynesworth in Poe. Just a thought.
Matt over at scoutsnotebook posted a 2-round mock draft and Boykin was nowhere to be seen. Any thoughts why Tommy? Do you think he could fall to us in the third?
Fat Albert dominated in college in the SEC. Poe has underwhelming tape against conference usa opponents.
not sure who all heard the greg williams sound clip but i know most wont agree w me but i think the eagles are missing some of that. i dont want the coach to say anything about going after someones acl but i think the eagles D could use some of that gladiator mentality.
also hearing stuff like that makes me ok with desean overdoing his celebrations. u know that coaches are talking about desean like greg did about kyle williams. and you know guys are out there trying to make desean quit by being aggressive with him. he is such a small dude that i am sure it gets to him. so when he beats you, he must really want to throw it in ur face.
Tommy- I’m curious for your take on that mock. Luke and Fleener would be great. But I would rather get Boykin with the other second and use our third on Wolfe.