More Roster Talk
Posted: August 30th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 59 Comments »The Eagles made some official moves today. I covered them over at Eagles Blog.
Some of you want to know about Ifeanyi Momah and whether he should be a candidate for the practice squad. If we’re going on what we saw this summer, no. If we’re looking at size/speed/potential, yes. As outsiders, we are sorta lost on this situation. The key here is what the coaches think of Momah. Can he get better? Is he driven to do everything he can to get better? Does his size/speed translate to the NFL? Just because you work out well doesn’t mean you’ll play like that.
I won’t be upset if the Eagles completely sever ties with him. He hasn’t had a good spring or summer. I just wonder if more time might allow him to develop. You hate to give up on guys that have rare size/speed.
Casey Matthews is another player some wonder about. He’s played much better this summer than in previous years. I think some people haven’t forgiven Casey for struggling in 2011. He is a more physical player than he was back then. I’d rather have him play in a game than Jake Knott right now. Jake still doesn’t take on blocks well enough. That would be a huge problem in a real game. When you keep Jake clean, he’s able to make plays. You just can’t count on that. Casey is a good STer. And he has decent cover skills.
Some people want to know about Emmanuel Acho’s potential. I do think he can be a starter in the NFL. Acho is a natural LB. He has good instincts. He tackles well. He looked terrific last night, but let’s do keep that in perspective. We need to see him play in a regular season game before Brian Baldinger can truly call for him to go to the HOF.
Isaac Sopoaga is a tough subject. He didn’t play well this summer. But Sopes started from 2008-2011. He started 9 games last year for SF. This is a veteran player who has a solid track record. Do we get worried over some pedestrian preseason showings? At some point, veterans go downhill. That might have happened. Or maybe Sopes will play better in the regular season. He hasn’t been awful this summer. I’d be worried if he was getting driven off the ball and struggling to even be functional. I don’t think that’s been the case. I just see a guy who is so-so, and that’s less than what I expected.
I haven’t seen anyone cut so far that I’m dying for the Eagles to get. Here are some names of possible interest:
CB Marcus Trufant – Veteran player who is on his way out, but might be a reliable player for a few games if needed.
NT/DE Antonio Garay – If the Eagles want Logan to be the starting NT, Garay could be an interesting backup.
CB Crezdon Butler – I didn’t watch him this summer, but he struggled in the preseason finale according to several reports. Butler has size and speed, but it hasn’t translated in the NFL. He’s been in the league since 2010, but never started. I’d probably pass on him.
* * * * *
The Bills put WR Brad Smith and QB Kevin Kolb on IR. That could end both their careers. Smith successfully made the transition from college QB to pro WR. He had a good career.
Kolb was an enormous disappointment. I was very high on him when the Eagles picked him and thought he was a franchise QB. Kolb had some good moments, but playing behind poor OLs doomed him. He didn’t handle pressure well and took some big hits. Concussions drove Troy Aikman and Steve Young from the game, but they had long careers. Kolb never had the glory, just the pounding. Too bad. Everyone who played with him loves the guy. Football is just a brutal game. Kevin has been very well compensated, but I guarantee you he’d give back $10M right now if you could promise him 16 healthy games as a starter. It kills athletes when injuries rob them of the chance to show what they can do. It is better to fail and know you’re not good enough than to be forced out due to injuries and not know what might have been.
_
I think Momah was always intended for the P squad. They guaranteed his bonus money which was about what he’d be paid as a P squad player, with offsets.
they did that to beat out other teams for his services
Frankly, they need to upgrade over both Matthews and Knott, if you want a Steeler type defense, you need ILBs like Farrior and Timmons, neither of these guys have the athleticism to be more than a marginal playmaker – you can see the difference with Acho, who makes things happen when he’s on the field.
Problem with Sopoaga is he’s close to his expiration date, if he’s just going to give you mediocre run play at NT, maybe you’re better off adding a young body to do the same but with some upside. It may comes down to who’s available on the waiver wire tomorrow.
ILB could be upgraded next year. Point is to try and build up a quality group. That gives you depth and good STers. Knott, Matthews and Acho can all do that.
Kendricks is the one playmaker. Adding another top guy beside him would be fine with me. If not, I could live with one of the current group, based on what we’ve seen so far. You must have one playmaker. 2 is great.
I mean, its not like Mathews and Knott are the starters O_o.
And let’s not forget that Timmons was a draft bust at OLB before they moved him inside to a less important position on that D. You never know from where you’ll find your key players.
Tommy,
Have you heard anything bout T.J. Barnes, good or bad? He just got released by the Jags and is a enoumous human being. Well technically he might be to big to qualify as human…I don’t know are giants human??? Anyway was wondering what your draft notes on him were also? Thanks.
If that’s the Barnes from GT I remember, no thank you…
Never impressed me at Ga Tech. Huge, but just a limited player. If you could get him to lose 20 pounds, might be an interesting guy. Too big.
Alright thanks. I started to recall, after I asked the question that he had his size and weight were an issue and adversely affected his on the field play.
The bills also cut Dorin Dickerson, you think chip might like this guy? explosive WR/TE
I wonder. Chip is open to hybrid players. Possibility.
We already have two:
– Harbor WR/TE
– Coleman CB / S
I was high on Kolb too. Very much a shame.
Who’d have thought Kolb and McNabb could both officially retire in the same season
Wow, great point.
theoretically possible, but I think Kolb won’t officially retire this year. He’ll probably hold out hope that he can play in the future, and won’t retire until he’s 100% convinced that he can’t.
He’ll be the Black Knight from Holy Grail.
“Tis only a flesh wound. Come back. I’ll bite you.”
He’s a tough guy. He’ll just bandage up that injury and go.
That’s brutal to look at.
Hey Tommy, do you think the Eagles could have any interest in trading for Andre Branch? He’s supposedly on the block and his weakness in run defense would be lessened as a 3-4 OLB with him just having to set the edge. Branch is very talented but my concern with him is that he’s been having trouble with the LEO position in Bradley’s 4-3 under scheme. Maybe he’d play better in a true 3-4, which we’re hoping to change into.
He might be too stiff for LB. One Jags fan that I respect says Branch has “no hips”. Not good for LB.
The Jags have less talent on D than us. Anything they cut is not worth our attention.
I think if any veteran is ever “on the bubble” get rid of them. No time for that sort of thing. Rookies and younger players should be ahead of the veteran bubble players.
Reposted from last thread:
I have seen a lot of talk about “sneaking” guys onto the practice squad. As I understand it:
a. Players have their choice of squads, and
b. players can be plucked from anyone’s PS to an active roster at any time.
So, how does deception help? If a player wants to be on our PS over the others, he can be. If we want teams to think we are down on a player so they don’t sign him, as soon as we put him on the PS the deception is blown and they can sign him away.
If we really want a guy on our PS and are afraid they will join another, just pay the man a little extra. What am I missing here?
Sneaking as in, PS eligible players are usually younger guys who are subject to waivers if they are cut. They would then therefore have the possibility of being claimed by another team before being eligible for their original team’s(or anyone else’s) PS.
Exactly. Does a team wait and try to sign a guy to their PS or do they put a claim in on him?
By cutting a player early, you may make teams think you’re down on a guy and don’t want him for your PS. Other teams won’t feel the need to claim him, but will wait til Monday and then try to sign him.
Okay, I see. The idea is that by the time others realize we like the guy it is too late to put in a waivers claim on him. But the waivers claim is only for the 53 man roster, so couldn’t they just sign him off our PS anyway?
They can.
But I think if they do they have to add that player to their roster.
Right, just like they do if they put in a waiver claim, right?
I am not trying to be dense or argumentative. I have a visual. A boy at a daycare play room stands in the middle of the room and puts an Eagles action figure on the floor in the middle of the room and says loudly, “That’s boring, I don’t want to play with that,” the paces and looks at the ceiling, whistling. After 5 seconds he grabs the toy and yells, “Ha, yes I do!” over his shoulder as he runs away, smiling. And that is when a boy that never moved a step grabs the action figure, calming adding “Yoink.” for effect, as the boy runs past.
I’ve never been as down on Kolb as many people are. He was never the kind of quarterback who could take over games by himself like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but he had strong potential with the right pieces. I think he would have developed nicely if he got a full season to start with the Eagles. Maybe not as flashy as Vick, but less erratic. He could’ve had a ceiling of someone like Eli Manning or Joe Flacco, not great quarterbacks but ones who get the job done. Perhaps he can stay involved in the game through coaching. I feel bad for anyone (minus Michael Irvin) whose career ends too soon.
Alternatively, it is fascinating to think of what would’ve happened if Kolb never got injured against the Packers in Week 1. Does he succeed and Andy is still the coach here? Does he flop, gets Andy fired, and we end up drafting Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III? Does Chip Kelly ever come to the Eagles, whether Kolb is still the QB or if we have an alternate future with Luck or RG3 as our QB? If not him, who does? Where does Michael Vick go? Does he ever have a 2010-like season with a different team? That would be an awesome TV show or comic book. The Butterfly Effect II: Saving Kevin Kolb.
Kolb = scared.
That is really my bottom line on his play. Kolb could never function without perfect pressure and simply folded over and over again when dealing with less than ideal pressure.
I KILL Vick for being an erratic football player, but Vick doesn’t lose his water when faced with difficult situations. Guys like Kolb and Gabbert simply aren’t good football players outside of practice situations.
Baldinger will give it one game, but asking him to give it two would just be cruel. You can’t do that to him; the man has needs. At least let him begin the Pro Bowl campaign for Acho. He can follow in former Eagles great Jamar Chaney’s footsteps.
Funny.
We’re rid of Baldy for another 11 months, so that is a plus. In a related story, I believe he’s one of the guys entitled to the top level of compensation as part of the concussion law suit.
The guy is a moron. I actually heard him use the word “aggressfulness” during the game the other night. He’s a blowhard with a creepy pinkie finger
The problem with “stinky pinky” is he is too reactionary. He is like a 14yr old girl who sees Justin bibber….he constantly overreacts to one game, and then ends up looking foolish…..Baldi post Foles first game at qb last year was such a joke…he made all these proclamations about how Foles would never be able to play in the league…made all these definitive statements after one game and then ends up looking dumb
General question to anyone who wants to answer. Who do you all think are our bottom 3-4 of the 53 that will inevitably make the team then be cut for other cuts? I’m not sure exactly who it may be but if I’m a bottom of the roster defender I wouldn’t get too excited about surviving on Saturday night. Just going off Tommy’s prediction I’d think probably Poyer(pre-outsider at DB), Matthews, Square.
also any player they might want to put on recallable IR.
Any DB not named Chung, Anderson, Fletcher, Williams, and Boykins.
I imagine the last couple LBs they keep shouldn’t sign up for any cable plan with a large early termination fee just yet, either.
Kolb’s story is a sad one. Just take a moment to consider those less worthy quarterbacks who have benefited from inexplicable circumstance. See: Sanchez, Mark.
So true.
In the case of Sanchez, the Jets enjoyed tremendous success via two AFC title game trips because they understood Sanchez was a limited QB who needed to be on a team that stressed D and running. Kolb should have been treated the same way, not as a passer.
and those two teams might have won two Super Bowls with Kolb instead of Sanchez
I’m all about Marcus Trufant. He plays cornerback and he has a pulse. That’s all I need to know.
Love him, but if Gus Bradley cut him, it’s not a good sign
Hey tommy
How about Ras-i and Brandon Hardin?
I remember just last year how high people were on Dowling. And with Hardin, he was. Just a 4th rd pick just last year as well. N does have good size.?both can make a challenge to Hughes and Anderson respectively?
There are some outstanding considerations that a lot of us are losing sight of as we head into the final 53.
1) What do the coaches think of Hughes and Marsh in relation to keeping, cutting, IRing?
2) A cut veteran from another team becomes a costly mistake (i.e. contract fully guaranteed for the year) if they are on the roster on Tuesday of week 1. A strong possibility is that we don’t bring in anybody new until after we see how it goes week 1.
[…] More Roster Talk – Tommy LawlorSome of you want to know about Ifeanyi Momah and whether he should be a candidate for the practice squad. If we’re going on what we saw this summer, no. If we’re looking at size/speed/potential, yes. As outsiders, we are sorta lost on this situation. The key here is what the coaches think of Momah. Can he get better? Is he driven to do everything he can to get better? Does his size/speed translate to the NFL? Just because you work out well doesn’t mean you’ll play like that. […]
Bills cut rookie Keith Pugh…wouldn’t mind giving him a look, tho I like our ILB depth
I was going for Amaya earlier this offseason. Still a better option than colt. At least as a backup potential n not only ST
Drayton Florence. How about that?
Jarius Byrd might have a lisfranc injury
Nice. Now he’ll “MJD” it and miss the whole season milking the injury as a salary protest. He’ll be nice a fresh for the free agent market.
“Might” lol….he is definitely gonna milk the hell out of this and make the bills hate him….Keep losing Leverage idiots…they could have easily gotten a 2nd rd pick for him during the past draft…keep losing leverage you fools
I’m antsy to find out how this day unfolds….I will be surprised if we don’t see ATleast 1 trade today
The only problem i would have with a DL going through the motions in preseason would be if they let the QB take hits and possibly get injured. I couldn’t watch any preseason games, just heard the radio broadcast, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I remember Sopoaga didn’t let anyone through to Vick/Foles. How did he look in the run game?
College Saturday is upon us. My prospect watch for the day:
..
Clemson vs. Georgia 8pm
Clem:
1)QB Taj Boyd
2)Sammy Watkins peaked my interest when Maclin got hurt
3)Vic Beasly OLB
Georgia:
1)Corey Moore S
2)Damien Swann CB
…
Oregon Vs, Nichols State lol 4pm
1)QB Marriota
2)ifo EKPRE Olomu CB
3)Colt Lyeria TE…fly eagles fly
4)DeAnthony Thomas…
5)Josh Huff WR
6)Taylor Hart 3-4DE
…..
UCLA vs. Nevada 10pm
1)Anthony Barr OLB
….
Washington vs. BSU 10pm
Wash:
1)Austin Sefarian Jenkins TE…absolute Stud
2)Josh Shirley OLB
3)Sean Parker Safety
BSU
1)Demarcus Lawrence OLB
….
Florida vs.TOL 12:30
1) Pair of STUD CBs Loucheiz Purifoy and Marcus Roberson
2)Ron Powell OLB
3)Dominique Easley 3-4DE
..
BYU
1)Kyle Van Noy OLB…Eagles will watch him
…
TEXAS vs. NMSU 8pm
Tex
1)Jackson Jeffcoat OLB
2)Quandre Diggs CB
3)Carrngton byndom CB
…
OSU vs. Buffalo 12pm
1)Bradley Roby stud CH
2)Ryan Shazier OLB
3)CJ Barnett Safety
Buf
1)Khalil Mack OLB
….
bama vs. VT 5:30pm
1)AJ McCarron QB
2)CJ Mosely ILB
3)Haha Clinton Dix Safety
4)Adrian Hubbard OLB
5)Jeoffry Pagan 3-4DE
6)Vinnie Sunseri DB
VT
1)James Gayle OLB
2)Antone Exum CB
3)Kyle Fuller CB
…
LSU vs. TCU 9pm
1)Anthony Johnson DT
2)Craig Loston Safety
3)Odell Beckham WR
TCU
1) Jason Verrett CB