Decision Time
Posted: August 29th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 134 Comments »The preseason is over. The coaches and personnel staff now have the tough task of choosing the initial 53-man roster.
Tonight’s game vs the Jets gave a few answers, but let’s be honest. There are some situations where things just aren’t clear. While guys like Emmanuel Acho and Chris McCoy showed they belong on the roster, other players didn’t jump out enough to settle anything. Do you go with Greg Salas or Russell Shepard? We know the top 7 OL right now, but do you keep Danny Watkins, Michael Bamiro and/or Matt Tobin? Do you like any of them enough to keep them?
I need some time to figure out my projections.
Random thoughts…
* Russell Shepard might just make the team as a STer. Key question to think about right now…aside from Shepard, who would be your gunners on the punt team? Colt Anderson is one. Brandon Boykin? You can make an argument that Sheppard is the 2nd best gunner on the team and should be kept for that reason.
* Chip Kelly didn’t make it sound like Danny Watkins had much of a chance. Chip mentioned Danny doing good and bad things. He also talked about the need for backups to be versatile. Danny isn’t.
* I thought OLB Adrian Robinson played hard tonight. He played with a sense of desperation, but only after struggling for the Steelers. So many UDFAs that make a team one year struggle to keep that edge and it costs them in the future.
* WR Jeff Maehl had a good game, but I don’t see him making a serious push for the roster. I’m not sure what will happen at WR. It’s possible the Eagles will only keep 4 of their own guys and will then look around for a 5th from some other team.
* Jordan Poyer has stepped up in the last 2 weeks, but I’m not sure I’d want him on the team right now. A year on the practice squad would be perfect for him.
* Great point by Bo Wulf and Adam Caplan in regard to Dennis Dixon. There might be value in keeping him on the practice squad so that he can help in practice when you’re going to face a mobile QB like RG3 or Kaepernick.
So who are you guys sold on? Who do you think has to go?
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Most will disagree with me, but I think there is a chance Brandon Graham might be traded, have to ask the tough questions, and to me he just
Hasn’t progressed in the 3-4, if anything he has regressed.
Shepard is alot like Damaris Johnson, could that hurt his chances? Does Kurt Coleman stick at least initially Asa swing cb/s? Everett Brown got better each preseason game, the guy looked quick and distributive tonight, will they stick to there word and keep the best 53? Even if that means just 1 backup MLB?
“there is a CHANCE Brandon Graham MIGHT be traded”
no hedging here
If the Eagles got any value back in a trade I think they would pull the trigger quick. Scheme/size misfit for the new staff. It will be interesting to see what 4-3 teams might be in need of a DE now that rosters are getting finalized. I believe
I don’t think trading Graham is out of the question. Key is to get good value.
Would a 4th round pick be enough?
nah
Not to me. Graham is a good pass rusher. You don’t give those guys away.
John Middlekauff was on SBNation’s Draft podcast yesterday and he said that the Eagles were deciding between Brandon Graham and JPP with the 13th pick. He said that the team ultimately took Graham over JPP because they had so many questions about JPP’s mentality and just how raw JPP was.
Another draft nugget, one of the hosts asked him if he knew who the Eagles were going to take at 4, if both Jordan and Johnson were there and he answered that he didn’t know and that the people he talked didn’t know either, but he personally would’ve taken Jordan.
And a final nugget from him was that a player that he personally loved was Gavin Escobar.
I loath Escobar being a cowboy
WHY!?! did Reid and company not like Earl Thomas like the rest of the world?
Yeah I don’t know what that means
if Kurt Coleman makes the 53 as a CB this team is in more trouble than i thought..
Now let’s be fair, we know for certain that they won’t keep the best 53 because if they did that Chung would be the only safety on the roster.
graham is going no where
I’ll start with the offbeat keepers. Salas, Shepard and Harbor. Chipper is only keeping 3 backs. Kelly will go extra guy at ILB and Reynolds will make it over Vandy.
I don’t know. The team keeps bringing back Vandy and has invested so much time teaching him to snap. They may just keep him in hopes that he will continue to get better throughout the course of the season, if they feel Kelce should stay healthy.
I don’t know if anyone else noticed this but I don’t remember seeing Nate Allen in the game after the first couple of series while Wolff stayed in. At first I thought he might have gotten injured but there was no mention of it. If that’s the case then I think he might have won the safety competition since Davis didn’t want to risk him getting injured. Of course you could also look at it the opposite way in that Davis wanted to let Wolff get more reps to prepare him for the regular season since he’s a rookie. It just makes more sense to me that they were preserving Allen’s health because he won the job.
I think Allen won the job almost by default after Phillips was cut. Wolff looked out of position again tonight, simple rookie things, doubt he starts week1 but should someone struggle he is the next man up. Allen pretty much steps up this year or he’s history.
Wolff appeared to have a lot more desire to hit people than Allen showed. They can fix the positional problems. Wolff will be a starter before long.
I think the Eagles are going to be poaching roster cuts teams around the league. I bet there are 1-3 players not on this roster that will make this team, mostly due to CB injury but I think we see a LB or S as well.
I also think that the eagles keep Celek, Ertz, Harbor and Casey which changes how many WRs the team needs to keep (I project 5 – Jackson, Avant, Cooper, Johnson & Shepherd). I wasn’t wowed by Salas tonight (pulling for him though). Does he have enough speed/strength to separate from NFL starting CBs? I think we will be seeing more 3-4 TE sets since it’s such a big advantage/mismatch in the run game and just don’t need that many wide receivers.
To your point Tommy about Dixon as a practice squad guy. I would hate to see some developmental guy lost because we need 4 QBs at practice. Would the former QB recruit Shepherd be able to serve in the mobile QB scout when playing RGIII/Kaepernick?
At this point, I would be more comfortable with Barkley on the practice squad rather than Dixon. Doesn’t make much difference to me in terms of skill, but Dixon has more experience, a better arm, and better legs.
I *was* expecting Barkley to be better than he has been.
Barkley on the practice squad? Do you hear yourself? Lol
This may be a depressing way to look at things, but is Danny Watkins the biggest bust on the Eagles since at least 1999? He is a first round pick that in his 3rd year seems unlikely to make the team, let alone be a back up. On top of that, we are talking about a position that has had something like 8 out of the 11 guys drafted in the 1st round have been either pro bowlers or all pro players. It’s almost shocking how bad of a pick that turned out to be.
I know we picked Watkins partly out of desperation/need, but seems that is too simplistic of a conclusion. If we reached for him in the first round, you would have thought he would have at least still been a decent backup, if not average starter. What do you think the scouts saw in his college tape that ultimately did not translate to the NFL?
The outcome of the Watkins pick has obviously been less than ideal. At the same time, the guy most expected the Eagles to take – Gabe Carimi- was traded for a sixth round pick. Despite the fact that Watkins was a bad pick, both in result and logic, the players drafted shortly thereafter have done little to make the Eagles regret their decision too much. It’s not like Brandon Graham over Earl Thomas, Daniel T’eo Neshiem over Navorro Bowman, Freddie Mitchell over Reggie Wayne, or, most depressingly, Jerome Macdougle over Troy Polamalu.
He probably is when you combine the logic behind the pick and production. Top 3 are probably Watkins, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Quinton Caver
Sounds like JJ wasn’t too bad last night..
I’ll write about Danny after the cuts come down and we know for sure. He was an outstanding prospect. Didn’t work out, but deserved to be picked high.
Classic case of being older among college kids makes you look better than you really are.
I also think it’s a case of Reid getting a hard on for players on Southwestern teams or Mormon.
As for why Watkins in particular failed? Again, because he was older, he could be intimidating without having been toughened up by striving peers. In the NFL he just didn’t have the intensity to work with his fellow members in the trenches or to pull more out of his guts when he needed it. Couldn’t handle adversity.
So what is the excuse for younger players that fail more than Watkins?
Agreed on Watkins being drafted in the correct position. Any failings on his career are 100% the fault of Howard Mudd. I’d really still like to see Watkins on this roster for another season and pre-season because I truly believe Stoutland would get him playing good football.
Every time I was watching the line last night, Watkins was sustaining a pass block with ease.
And we can’t gloss over how bad Herremans has been this preseason.
Chips comments yesterday don’t give me much hope for Danny making this team…
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Would Andy Reid trade for him?
So knows what Andy thinks of him..
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I would shop him to the bills before I cut him…They need Guards bad!!
Hi Tommy – It would be interesting to see how Watkins failed or people were so wrong. He was a very highly touted prospect (Rich Gosselin thought he was a shoe-in Pro Bowler) and he would have went even higher except for his age.
By the end of his first year, it was looking like he was going to pan out and just needed extra time to get there but after Mudd came in, now it seems he can’t even play at all.
I wonder if it is something with Baylor linemen (Watkins and Jason Smith, 2nd overall pick, both were flops) sort of like people say to avoid Penn State running backs.
I’d love to weigh in on these decisions, but the game was blacked out in my area. Hoooray for blackouts.
I think Harbor cemented a spot, not by his performance, which was less than ideal,, but by Casey getting dinged early in the game.
It sounds like Watkins will be cut.
I am not sold on either Salas nor Shepard.
Acho looks pretty definite.
I kind of like Tobin, even though he’s not a guy we talk about much.
E. Brown made a couple of nice plays.
As I’ve said previously I think Coleman is here to stay.
Knott will make the cut. Matthews won’t.
I think Square makes it but not as sure as I was before tonight.
I think Square is one of those guys who may make the initial cut, but will be the first one released if someone becomes available.
Yeah… he’s not a guy you worry too much about exposing to waivers.
I don’t Think we are adding any more Dlineman. I think the coaches like what they have and Squares will be a part of this team…
I’m talking about him being the 7th D-lineman and then getting cut for another position and being moved to the practice squad.
Agree on LB’s.
Tobin got throw out of the play by a d-lineman at one point in the 2nd or 3rd quarter last night. I was not impressed.
Chip talked his offseason up tho after the game.
I heard yesterday that the team has been getting a lot of calls about Harbor….don’t know if they will pull the trigger or not, but something to keep an eye on
I think Casey Matthews needs to go. He seems like a nice guy, but he’s just not a very good player. I’d take Acho Man and Knott over him in a heartbeat. I’d keep Shepard over Salas. He’s got upside and he’s only scratching the surface of his potential. I like Matthew Tucker but I think he’s a practice squad guy, if that. It’s weird. Andy kept 4 RB’s last year and didn’t run. Chip will run and probably only keep 3 backs.
Also, Matt Barkley. Man. He is disappointing. Not expecting him to be Tom Brady out there, but his lack of arm strength is just so glaring. Not sure he can ever be more than a backup.
And finally, it was just backups, but it was kind of disheartening to see the team play so poorly against the JETS backups.
I think Shepard makes the team based on his ST play and lack of compelling options at WR5.
I think Coleman makes the team based on his ST play and lack of compelling options in the secondary.
Harbor goes for a 7th rounder. A 6 would be nice but unrealistic for a guy who teams know will soon be on the street.
Graham goes for a conditional 4 to a 4-3 team. He lights it up for his new team but falls one sack shy of triggering the clause that would net us a 3.
Poyer is PS-bound. CB4 gets filled by Seattle’s CB5 or CB6.
I think Henery makes the team based on his ST play.
We only keep 8 OL. The starting 5, Kelly, Barbre, and Vandy.
I don’t think Geathers sticks. Doesn’t anchor well in run game, no real push in pass game, existential threat to Chip’s notion that “big people beat up little people.”
A+ for mixture of info, opinion and humor.
Loved the existential threat Geathers represents. Nice.
I still think that if Harbor goes it should be for a CB that’s on the bubble in Seattle.
i would take Salas on the 53 over Shepard, Shep can go to the PS. Reason being if you put Salas on the PS hes gonna get plucked by another team (does he even have PS eligibility?), whereas i can’t see a team plucking Shepard and adding him to their 53. Shepard was drafted as a guy that needed time to develop and thats where he should do it.
Shep was undrafted, which further highlights how raw he is. I think he’d be safe on the practice squad.
Offense (24):
QB (3): Vick, Foles, Barkley
RB (3): McCoy, Brown, Polk
TE (4): Celek, Casey, Ertz, Harbor
WR (5): Jackson, Cooper, Avant, Johnson, Shepard
OL (9): Peters, Mathis, Kelce, Herremans, Johnson, Barbre, Kelly, Reynolds, Bamiro
Defense (26):
DT/DE (7): Spogoa, Thornton, Cox, Logan, Curry, Geathers, Square
ILB (4): Ryans, Kendricks, Acho, Knott
OLB (5): Barwin, Cole, Graham, McCoy, not on team yet
CB (5): Williams, Fletcher, Boykin, Marsh, not on team yet
S (5): Chung, Allen, Wolff, Anderson, Coleman
Special Teams (3):
LS: Dorenbos
K: Henery
P: Jones
Practice Squad:
QB Dixon
RB Tucker
TE Carrier
WR Salas
WR Maehl
OL Vandervelde
OL Tobin
CB Poyer
– Shepard over Salas mainly due to special teams play
– Harbor as the 4th TE due to (hamstring) injury to Casey and Clay’s versatility lining up as WR
– Reynolds over (Vandervalde) due to lack (possibility) of PS eligibility
– Marsh over (Poyer) due to lack (possibility) of PS eligibility
– Coleman due to special teams play and versatility
Why would the worse player make it just because of PS? On game day you need an active backup center and I much rather have the better player.
Because I am not sure if Vandy was lights out better than Reynolds. After watching the game vs. the Jets last night it more looks like “pick your poison” to me. As Jeff McLane pointed out, the Eagles might already be looking at a backup center from another team…
Vandervelde can play C and G. Versatility wins.
Good point well made. You might be right, sir.
Already given up on Kruger?
No, however I’ve got a feeling that someone claims him from the waivers. It’s still a possibility to stash him on the 53 men roster, though he’s not ready yet.
I agree risky putting on waivers. But assuming he’d pass through I’d want him on PS for sure. Also I’d be completely fine keeping him on the 53
Agreed!
Vandervelde was really pretty solid yesterday. I’d keep him over Reynolds.
I want them to keep Tucker as 4th RB. He might be better than Polk, and I like Polk.
I think Hughes is better than Marsh, who I don’t like at all. Wouldn’t mind seeing them pick up two CBs from other teams.
Would they cut Allen? He’s just not made any plays…
Tucker is not special enough to keep as a 4th RB in my eyes.
Re Allen I would like to refer you to Anders. 😉
i see you have Kelly sticking on the roster on OL. do you think that would just be true for the opening day roster so they can put him on IR and not risk losing him to waivers? or do you see him healing up and contributing as a backup?
same goes for marsh at CB.
Same goes for Marsh, however I wouldn’t sacrifice the returnable IR for a fringe player like him. I have him purely sticking on the roster thanks to the lack of quality at CB.
Only Kelly knows, Chip that is. 😉 Tough to say, I still think there’s a pretty good chance Dennis Kelly will land on IR during the first couple of weeks when roster shuffling around the NFL is still in full force.
I really really despise Curtis Marsh
Nothing against Graham, good guy, but I’m ALL for it. I’d love to see what/who we could get for him from a needy 4-3 team where he’s suited anyway. If we wouldn’t be eating salary cap cheese steak sandwiches, I’d say Cole too. With the apparent kiddie pool depth we have throughout the roster, I’d feel great about whatever moves we could make to upgrade or atleast get some square pegs for square holes on this team……
I’d be open to trading Brandon. However only if the Eagles get at least a (cond.) 3rd round pick or a starter at OLB or Safety in return.
yea, i like him enough that i don’t want to give him up for pocket change. we would need to get something significant in return.
The problem is how many 4-3 teams have a misfit at DE/SAM that would trade for Graham?
Maybe those teams who switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 this off-season, e.g. the Cowgirls!?>
You want to get rid of Graham, but not Allen?
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Graham is going to make a lot of people eat there words this year!!!
We have ZERO good safeties, so keeping Allen is more necessarily and Allen have zero trade value.
If we could package a deal for Graham that could get Byrd or a good OLB prospect, I would do it, but not for scrubs. Maybe the best is to keep him, see him get 8-10 sacks as a backup and then trade him for a high pick or a good player next off season.
EXACTLY what I was hoping we could get for him. And to be honest, I’d be happiest with the OLB/Secondary option. As thin as things are right now, that sure sounds more enticing than draft help next year. Things are just lookin THAT bad to me on D right now unfortunately.
I’m sold on Jake Knott. Seems like an excellent prospect. He may not be good enough to play right away but I think he’s too good to cut and risk getting on the PS. There’s a few players that I would want to keep based on potential, but I realize that doing so may be unrealistic given the limited number of roster spots.
Matthews>>>Knott. I don’t get the hate for Matthews. He is a much better player than Knott. I guess Knott gets a lot of points for not being Clay’s brother.
Liking Knott doesn’t necessarily mean I dislike Matthews. I thought Matthews looked more comfortable playing in the 3-4 than he ever did in the 4-3 and should Ryans go down with an injury, Matthews is likely first man up. At least in my opinion. Coaches might feel different.
Then you must have watched different Eagles games than the majority on here.
if Mathews stays and Ancho goes, I will be furious
Completely agree with you Tommy on Watkins. When I heard Chip’s comments about him in the presser I immediately thought, “Danny’s not making the team.”
Chris McCoy played well in 3 of 4 games, why wouldn’t we keep out ost agile OLB?
I’m not a believer is this last preseason game as “make it or break it”. After all those OTA’s/practices — 3 other pre-season games(it’s not like the starting unit played every snap in the first 3 games). Unless you’re telling me — Chip can make an important decision about the QB before the 3rd preseason game yet Chip can’t handle the “bubble players”?
If Chip didn’t know “things” going into last night – well, shame on him.
Ok – on to the important question. How is Casey? Right now, nothing else matters. Go ask the Giants about a key injury…
I do also believe that 95% of the roster has been set BEFORE the last pre-season game. Only guys with a (sub) stellar performance may have (not) made a case for themselves.
Coming away with no key injuries is literally key, and though the Giants are NFCE rivals, someone could feel bad for them…
Agreed. The play at safety with Allen. We know he’s sub-par but he’s also not in a “win my roster spot game” so I can’t believe he played that game 100 percent. Because that, I can’t judge him. VS Wash I will judge him 😉 …
I know you can’t do this — BUT — I’d ask the question if Ryans went down, would I be “ok” with playing CM? The answer is — no. I’m not ok. What happened after Stewart Bradley went down? Oh, that’s right, no one the squad could play the position and it was a brutal defensive year. (that was the start of the AR slide in my book — his inability to replace SB in the middle after an injury in pre-season).
The question you ask yourself is, “If Ryans went down, who would you most like to see on the field at ILB?” Answer:
Acho
Knott
(someone from another team’s cut list)
Matthews
in that order, at least IMHO. I don’t see Matthews making the squad.
Great point by Wolf and Caplan…another funny…. Um, aren’t they just repeating history? Haven’t other teams already done that with Dixon? I’d imagine those teams didn’t have a mobile QB like Vick, that’s why they needed Dixon on the ps. I don’t think the Eagles need that spot taken by DD.
I don’t think Vick goes against first team D in practice…hence scout team
One look at Kelly’s face after the game at the press conference told me how UNHAPPY he was with the team despite his comments. This cut-down will be much easier than he had hoped. I expect a lot of moves, even into the first two weeks of the season as teams who have hoarded players–rather than cut them–agree to trades for picks, etc.
I heard Caplan suggesting a lot that Curry wouldn’t be on this team. I see his point a little bit, but I would have to imagine that in nickle defenses which we will likely be in 40% of the time, you would want to have the D line as: Cole Curry, Cox, and Graham.
I don’t think Curry is going anywhere, apart from after QBs not wearing an Eagles jersey.
I’m having such a hard time wrapping my mind around what a waste of a 1st round pick Watkins was.
fringe plays that I’m not willing to part with:
1) Squares
2) McCoy
3)Acho
4) Shep
5) Knott
6) Poyer(like his versatility: gunner, Nickle, CB)
7) Kruger
8) Bamiro
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And if the Eagkes are willing to keep Shep AND Salas, I would cut Salas and keep Maehl
Do NOT try and sneak Krugerr on the practice squad!, DON’T DO IT!!!
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I warned about this yesterday…With his brother in Cleveland and Banner constantly losing battles to the Eagles front office, I can already see petty Banner puffing out his chest, happy cause he stole a guy that would be a higher pick a year later from the Eagles.
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Kruger is not lacking Talent, he just left school too early. Bite the bullet, and keep him on the 53….Do not risk him on the practice squad. Don’t Do It! I know Banner will claim him, I just know it!!
Agreed, i keep seeing predictions all over that Kruger goes on the practice squad i don’t think he clears waivers.
It would be a Huge mistake to try and sneak him on the PS…do not throw Banner this softball
Kruger is not good enough to worry about losing.
Yeah cuz you have any idea what Kruger will be or what he won’t be
That’s a very good point and something I might have to include in my final roster prediction. As a result it is also possible that the Eagles will carry 8 Dliner in order to “protect” Kruger from waivers.
They seriously might have to…dude has talent. he could potentially be your starting 5tec in 3 years…there was no point in drafting him, if we weren’t going to be patient with him
No way they keep 8 DL for a 3-4 scheme, especially when you consider Cole, Graham, and Curry can all play 4-3 DE.
He is a 7th round pick that hasnt really done anything in pre season games. Really doubt any team would be interested in him. I fear us losing Travis Long more if we try to PS him, but I cant see how he makes the teams.
There was literally NO point in Anyone spending a draft pick on Kruger, if they weren’t going to show patience with him…I will be very mad to lose him
I am not worried about losing Travis. So Long.
I might overrated him. I just tought for a guy with almost zero TC and coming of an ACL that he showed good promise and I would hate to miss a good potential OLB.
I like the kid
has anyone ever thought of Bulking Poyer up and moving him to Safety? Just curious
ala Byrd? Pretty sure he was a corner at Oregon
Eagles switched from 4-3 to 3-4, Cowboys switched from 3-4 to 4-3, how about Brandon Graham for Demarcus Ware straight up?! 😉
Maybe if they throw in Dez Bryant to sweeten the pot a little
Graham for Byrd 🙂
If Spencer hadnt been tagged, he would have been the perfect FA type of player to bring in together with Barwin.
i honestly don’t even care how good they are, I don’t want any cowboys in this city..I just don’t! Especially ones raised in that disgusting, incest cowboy culture
Lol, so you wouldn’t take Ware?!
ware,Dez and Escobar are probably the only dirty stinkin cowboys I can tolerate…Spencer always rubbed me the wrong way, I always thought he was inconsistent and over rated…If I have to stomach dirty cowboys, they have to be special
“Spencer always rubbed me the wrong way”. Lol, that comes across soooo wrong!!!
I am pretty positive that the Eagles would have pursued Spencer in the off-season, yes!
I heard the Bills need a guard, plus there are a lot of fires in the Buffalo area… 😉
Graham+Watkins for Byrd+some crap CB
I’d take that deal without the crappy CB in a heartbeat!
Screw the bills. they have No leverage! they lost a stud in Levitre and now have a gaping hole at Guard, and everyone knows they won’t keep Byrd Longterm….I give them Watkins, Nate and a 4th and tell them to shut up and be happy they got anything instead of losing Byrd for nothing….
Isn’t Graham for Byrd the same as having picked Thomas instead of Graham in the first place. If Howie could pull off that trade I would be both estatic and amazed.
Consider Byrd is much much better than Thomas and we dont know if Thomas would have torn his ACL and had terrible Castillo as DC instead of a DB guru Caroll as coach would have turned out different
I guess you can look at it that way, but at the end of the year we could have both Graham and Byrd…we also have no clue if philosophically we would be ok with giving a safety 50million dollars…
Who’s the money going to? McCoy is already paid. Our young studs (or hopeful studs) are locked up. Also, pursuing Byrd in the offseason is sure to ensue a bidding war. Trading for him will ensure we have him and can make a team friendly deal long before anyone else has a chance. Face it. Graham is a situational pass rusher in this scheme. You can find those anywhere. You can be hopeful that he will learn to drop into coverage. I can be hopeful that one day I will meet and marry Kate Uptown, but we have to honest with ourselves about the more likely reasonable outcome. Byrd would do so much more for us as a starting “star” safety than Graham does as a backup OLB. In fact, I wouldn’t be mad at all if the Eagles gave up Graham and Curry for Byrd, and I love me some Curry. However, holding onto guys we like who don’t fit the scheme will hurt us in the long run. Not only will we be worse because we aren’t “putting players in the best position to succeed”, but those players will eventually leave in free agency to a team that runs a scheme suitable for their skill set. At least by trading for Byrd, you would be getting star talent to compensate for the talent lost
No way I’d ever do that deal!!!
Why not?
cause I’m not ok with EVER trading away what I don’t know, and I just don’t know what Brandon Graham is right now and pressuring QBs is more valuable then Safety…Graham showed me some things last year while having to make the most of a horrendous situation…Him and Cole literally have been asked to make the toughest transition out of anyone on this team, it would be foolish IMO to think we have any idea at this point, what Graham can be as an OLB. I’m not willing to trade Graham for a guy, that We can probably sign at the end of the year without losing anything. I need this season to know who Brandon Graham is. the kid has been an OLB for 6 months, in which the coaches spent time a lot of that time not playing to his strengths to find out what guys can do…Maybe I would be ok with trading him around the Deadline after I get a few weeks to see some regular season action, but at this moment, for me he is untradeble unless it’s for a proven 3-4 pass rusher..
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I also think Graham becomes more valuable as soon as we turn him into a predator and since that’s what I believe will happen, I have no interest in trading him right now, even fr one of my favorite players in this league(Byrd)…I also don’t buy the Trent cole hype. I think when it’s all said and done, Graham will have played more snaps this year then Trent Cole.
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Trade away Graham for a Safety and go into the season with Barwin,Cole,McCoy and Everette, or maybe some other teams waiver trash? hell NO! that’s a premier position on this defense, and Graham might be the best pass rusher on this entire team….Trading away a player too soon is a recipe for disaster…People would have traded away Curry for a 5th round pick this summer because we didn’t think he fit….I will NEVER be ok with trading away a player until I have a real idea of who that player will be for the next 3 years….and I’m really not ready to say that he can’t become a big part of our defense
No way. I don’t think they woulda spent the type of money that Spence would have commanded….We got the steal of the offseason with the contracts we got Barwin and Casey to sign…I think Spence would have commanded Paul Krug money, and I think it’s going to take a special player to see the eagles spend that kind of money on a mercenary…Our stars will be homegrown, which is how it should be!! Draft your stars, add complimentary players in FA
Once the Eagles learn to draft the right LBs, then I’d be fine with that approach.
I’m pretty comfortable with Gamble’s Imput on LBs, and someone knew something to bring my beloved Kendricks to Philly
Kendricks is a good start, agreed!
BARWIN too….someone knew how to judge LBs since we signed a guy coming off what people claimed was a “bad” year….problem is that people who make those claims don’t watch Film, they have NO CLUE what kind of year Barwin had,..They see 11sacks in 2011, 4 in 2012 and that automatically makes it a bad year…well someone knew enough about LBs to bring a STUD who Philadelphia will grow to Love to our team, So many fans weren’t thrilled with the signing, it’s great to see people finally coming around