Eagles Notebook
Posted: November 12th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 131 Comments »The Eagles are 5-5 right now.
They were 5-11 in Andy Reid’s first season. They were 4-12 last year. Getting to 5 wins feels pretty good.
This team is legitimately in the playoff hunt. Dallas is 5-5 as well, but missing Sean Lee for several weeks will hurt an already awful defense.
While the Eagles are back at .500 and in 1st place in the division (save the tie-breakers talk until the final month), this is still a mediocre Eagles team. I don’t think any of us are pretending it isn’t. We are the right kind of mediocre, though.
There is plenty of young talent. This is not a team full of free agents and 29-year old veterans that are pushing the team to 5-5. There isn’t some crazy luck with this team. You’re not seeing blocked FGs being run back for TDs. There aren’t an abnormal amount of takeaways. The Eagles aren’t winning on Hail Mary’s. The Eagles won by 6, 15, 11, 29 and 14 points. Those games were mostly close, but the Eagles put the opponents away.
The schedule has been nuts. The Eagles caught breaks in missing Aaron Rodgers and getting RG3 in his first game, but also faced Peyton and Phillip Rivers when they were red hot. I’d say the schedule has helped more than it hurt, but it isn’t as if the entire season has been a gift from the Football Gods.
I’m excited for the team to be getting ready to play meaningful games in November. Last year was just miserable. 2011 as well. We had a small glimmer of hope in 2011, but last year the talk was all about the draft and finding a new coach. This fall/winter we get to talk about actual games the Eagles will be playing in. Tell me that’s not fun.
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The Eagles are about to sign WR/KOR Brad Smith. He is taking a physical, but is expected to be signed. No word on who will go. The Eagles might cut Curtis Marsh if they think Bradley Fletcher will be fine. Or the Eagles could let go of Damaris Johnson. I guess BJ Cunningham is another possibility.
Smith is a veteran player. He was a QB at Missouri (like the late Jim Johnson), but moved elsewhere in the pros. Smith is an excellent STs player. He has good size and can block. He’s not going to do too much as a receiver, but does have good RAC skills.
You wonder if this move is being done since the Eagles are 5-5 and in the playoff hunt. You don’t want to add veterans to a team that is clearly going nowhere.
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Interesting note from Kelly yesterday in his PC. Najee Goode replaced Kendricks in the game on Sunday. Had DeMeco Ryans gotten hurt, Emmanuel Acho would have played in his place. The coaches like to think of the ILB spots as interchangeable, but clearly there are some differences since they are getting backups ready for specific roles.
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Hate to hear this.
Possible that Earl Wolff goes on short-term IR with designation to return. Howie Roseman said Wolff likely to be out several weeks.
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) November 12, 2013
I’m glad we have Patrick Chung, but hate seeing Wolff hurt. He’s played the best of a rookie Eagles Safety in years.
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Jimmy Bama and I recorded a new H2H podcast.
Here.
We hope to do them on a more regular basis. Jimmy’s schedule has been really tough since he’s been following Justin Bieber around on tour.
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rookie safety woes
I’d rather if they are signing a WR they take someone with actual potential instead of Brad Smith. They could get someone like Tommy Streeter, Corey Fuller or even Marvin McNutt. All of those guys are big and should be able to block. Streeter and Fuller have speed as well. Streeter was actually recruited by Oregon as a WR as well.
Brad Smith did not do any special teams until the pros. I’d say sign one of those guys and ‘coach them up’.
Smith is a good kick returner, that is what we need
this isnt the time to coach up a guy to play STs (KR and PR) its week 11 coming up, we need results. and dude did u say marvin mcnutt?? LOL hes a bum
STOKED for the new podcast – thanks for keeping with that. The BGN podcast is getting better, but there is nobody I would prefer hearing talk about the birds than Tommy and Jimmy – great work!
I agree about just enjoying a little playoff run.
No illusions of being a super model, but being the best looking of an ugly group is something that will be beneficial.
We have a lot of young players who have not been in the playoffs. Getting a little taste I think would be a great stepping stone and goal to shoot for.
Next season will have Dallas blowing it all up to start over, Giants are in a similar camp and the Redskins won’t be able to draft for another 5 years. But lets let the offseason take care of itself.
Right now we are in the middle of a little playoff run on a team that is trending upwards. Good times.
We don’t need to be a supermodel. We just have to be that girl who looks good after she ditches the sweater, takes off her glasses and lets her hair down. Like in the movies.
“No illusions of being a super model, but being the best looking of an ugly group is something that will be beneficial.”
I like this image. We have at least a chance to get lucky tonight (reach the playoffs) and even if it’s just a ONS (Seahawks, 49ers, Panthers, Saints – whoever reaches the Wild Card spots, they will beat us), it’s far better than a night alone.
Dear Jimmy, Thanks for being my #1. Biebz
Other than the obligatory “he sucks” remarks, why would both Goode, a get-to-53-cut from Tampa, and Acho, a mid-season signing, be ahead of Matthews? I guess he was kept mostly for ST, but is he not a better option than those two? Granted, Goode did well on Sunday
They’ve had Casey working primarily at OLB
Did not know that.
Interesting, I know he had worked a little at OLB, but not that he was primarily getting work there. Good to know
Wait…what? New H2H? Is it Christmas already?
Anne Frank and now Jimmy Bama, big Beliebers.
If the Eagles keep playing like they did with Tampa and GB, I think we’ll win the division.
It’s interesting that Mathews isn’t a 2nd ILB backup. He was a key player for chip at Oregon.
Okay, I’ll start the conspiracy – could Brad Smith have been signed with the possibility that he could be an option at QB at camp next year? IIRC, he was pretty adamant coming out of college that he was a QB. I know it’s a stretch but…that was the first thing I thought about when he was cut the other day.
I doubt they’re bringing a camp QB back in at this time of year. I mean, if they want a camp QB why not bring in Kinnie who knows the system already? He’s here for kick return duties.
They know what they have in Kinne (not much, no future). My thinking was to bring in Smith now and use him on special teams at the very least, while seeing if he’s a longer-term fit at WR or QB. Longshot, but plausible…until I just read that he’s 30 years old. Didn’t realize he was that old. Time flies. : (
Well, he could certainly be their emergency QB.
Brad Smith is a good ST player (lead the Bills with 9 last year) and a good KR return man
What conspiracy are you alluding to?
that Foles, in the eyes of Kelly, is merely a temporary QB for this year regardless of how well he plays.
Re: Sacks
The Eagles rank 27th in sacks-per-game.
1. What’s the problem?
2. Does anyone expect the Eagles’ pass-rushing performance to improve this season?
I think Cole and Graham both are a little out of position as 3-4 ends, and neither of them are elite rushers anyhow. Outside of those 2 we don’t really have any edge rushers. Vinny Curry leads the team in sacks and he only plays a small percentage of snaps, that says a lot I think.
Don’t they both play OLB not DE?
I would like to see Graham get more snaps and to get to pin his ears back. I see a lot of the time they have him in they just have him either set the edge or, more rarely, drop back. I’m not sure how much of a boost this would be (his pressure rate is / was a little under 2x Cole).
1. They’re using a system that isn’t tailored to the strengths of the talent that they have – they’re forcing players into a pre-determined system. Note that I’m not making a value judgment on the long-term worth of this approach, just making the point that they could be better (probably in the 15-20 range) if they went, as most predicted, with a 4-3 under this year. On D, they’re clearly taking the long-term approach over the “win now” approach.
2. It might get a little better if Curry can get off the bench more, and given match-ups, etc. where Davis can scheme some pressure, but I don’t think a true improvement comes until they get at least a viable pass-rushing OLB here. 3-4 2-gap pretty much requires that, as the DL isn’t going to consistently get great pressure when they’re 2 gapping without a pretty significant edge threat from the OLBs.
Problem is Barwin was never a sack master and Cole is done.
It wont really improve this year and it all goes back to the lack of elite pass rushing OLB. Just look at Houston, they got JJ Watt, maybe the best defensive player in the NFL, but are only 1 sack in front of us (and they play are more aggressive scheme) because they do not have that elite pass rushing OLB anymore
We DESPERATELY need OUR Tamba Hali across from Barwin.
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Khalil Mack…..come on down!!!
I’d be very pleased if we get Mack. I think his rep is going up though and he’ll be go from 5th to 10th pick.
I’m a little worried that Mack will be gone and Van Noy will have a freakish combine even having added some weight and somebody falls in love with him above us.
Yeah, I agree I’ll be surprised if Mack is still on the board. I don’t know a ton about Van Noy but I agree if he does have a freakish combine he’ll go before us too.
Von Noy is a technician, uses hands extremely well, I always liked him more than Ziggy Ansah, would look really nice across from Barwin. If we pick 11-15 we should be able to land him…
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As for Mack, he def has the talent to go as high as 7, but it will probably depend on how many QBs and OTs go in the top 6, because you know Clowney and Barr are going before Mack. remember this is a very good OT draft and recently that’s the trendy 1st round pick. if you see a desperate run at QB and OT, then Mack could land in our lap(the WR ratings, along with how valued nix, Dix and Mosely end up becoming after the combine should help us figure out if we have a shot at Mack or not)…we should almost definitely have a shot at Van Noy…
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Assuming we draft in the 11-17 range, we will have a shot at landing one of: Mack,Van Noy,Beasly,Mike Evans and Sammy Watkins so I’m comfortable rooting for success right now, knowing we still will be able to upgrade a major position of need with a serious round 1 talent…..
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Today’s updated Mocks have us taking(in round 1):
Taj Boyd
Jason Verrett CB
Louis Nix lol this site said: Bennie Logan isn’t even a 4-3 NT, let alone a 3-4 NT. Dline playing well but Eagles won’t be able to pass up a special 340lb talent that doesn’t come around every year….seriously disrespecting Logan
Well their rush might not have the sack numbers, but they force holding penalties, intentional grounding, bad rushed throws ranging from incompletions to INTs…So to me, it’s not as bad as the ranking suggests, but it clearly needs upgrading.
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From a team stand point, I’m actually really pleased with the pressure we get, the problem is we aren’t getting much from the main position that is supposed to generate the pressure in This scheme, OLB. Cole has played well overall, but he just simply isn’t good enough at getting to QBs anymore, and it won’t change by going to a 4 man line…our Line, and our Blitzing is doing a really really good job of generating pressure…but we are getting very little from the position that we need to generate pressure..
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The way our Line plays, and our blitzes getting home more with every week that passes. When you put a 13 sack guy across from Barwin, it will open things up for everyone and we will see our ranking jump up significantly just by adding, ONE quality OLB, and continuing to develope our puppies
I think teams also run the ball on us a lot — since we are historically bad at run d. But agree we really have no pas rush. However, i was really happy w/ our pass D against GB — lots of batted and deflected balls, etc.
If Wolffe is going to the IR, we don’t need to cut anyone until he is ready to return, right?
i believe this is correct.
http://secondroundstats.com/2013/11/12/wrs2/
alittle stats about some top WRs in the upcoming class
A —
Excellent, top-shelf material.
Thanks for the tip.
yea, I like the more stats based thing. Of course original scouting is still valuable, but the stats add another layer.
Very interesting.
I wish they would have put Marquise Lee’s stats from last year in there too. I’d discount his stats this year as he’s had that knee injury and the QB taking up for Barkley isn’t very good.
He says he hasnt done one on him yet because he isnt sure he is going to declare due to down year
Thanks for the info.
I am hoping he comes out even with the down year as then he could fall to where the Eagles would likely draft. If he has another year like last year’s he’ll go too high unless the Eagles have a terrible season.
Actually, he had another post on there about Beasley that I find really interesting. Seems Beasley is really fast at getting to the QB (more than 1/2 second faster than Mingo was). Maybe his 10 yard time is really quick. This is making me reconsider my thinking he is a lot like Bryan Smith.
I would love to have Be-eazy Beasly and I think he has a very bright future in this league, but the fans of the team that drafts him are going to have to be patient. Like Dion Jordan he won’t be an impact rookie because he really needs to put on weight..
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What type of draft pics do you have to give up to get to #7 from #13?
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What did the dolphins give up to screw us out of Dion?
Looks to be about a mid-4th rd pick.
http://www.draftcountdown.com/features/Value-Chart.php
Don’t you mean a mid 2nd? According to that chart we would have to make up 350points which is worth the 55th pick in the draft….I find it hard to believe that our second round pick would get us to 7 from 13….what did the Dolphins have to give up from move from 12-3?
GEagle (REPEAT):
Dolphins swapped 1st-Rd picks and included their own 2nd-Rd pick, also.
Miami had *two* 2nd-rounders in 2013 — having acquired the Colts’ No. 2 pick for CB Vontae Davis during TC.
Really? It only cost them a 2nd to steal Dion?
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I dunno man, with the way this defense looks, if Barr slides to 6 or 7, I would consider going to grab him. You put VON MILLER across from Barwin with Logan!Curry,Cox,Thornton being a year older, and we can really start to make some noise..
This is going to be a crazy draft because we will probably see the jags,Buc,Vikings,Texans,titans,Rams,Browns who could all pick ahead of us be desperate for QBs..if Tampa and Jax take QBs with the first two picks, and the Vikings reach for one at #3, teams could Panic and set off an early run on QBs
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Then you got teams like the steelers,Giants Falcons picking ahead of us who have QBs but have serious needs at the other two premier positions: OT and Pass rush. These teams would all probably love to have Clowney,Barr and Mack, but they all have a QB who’s window is closing, and all 3 will have to seriously consider OTs Lewan and Mathews..so my hope is that Lewan,Mathews,Clowney and ATleast 3 QBs get picked before Barr which would drop him to 7 and hopefully Mack to 10…ATleast it’s a range we can consider moving up to… Wonder when a really good NT in NIX and Safety Dix come off the board?
That’s sweet music, to me at least. Yeah, draft picks are “gold” — but given the hit-or-miss rate, go for the best you can get. A very good QB can make an offense look great. A great Rush-OLB can make an entire defense better.
Looking at the last 7 years of NFL All Pro Teams — when 3-4 rush-linebackers began to get included as the OLB — there have been 14 possible selections (2 each season).
Of the 14, eight times one of the players was drafted in Rd 1. Although, the other six slots show that you don’t have to spend a 1st-Rd pick on a Rush-OLB to find a star — you do, though, have to have some luck.
That said, the past two season, each of the 4 different All Pro OLBs — all rush OLBs — has been a 1st rounder.
2006: Shawn Merriman (1st)
Adalius Thomas (6th)
2007: De Ware (1st)
Mike Vrabel (3rd)
2008: D-Ware
James Harrison (FA)
2009: D-Ware
Elvis Dumervill (4th)
2010: Cameron Wake (FA)
J-Harrison (FA)
Clay Matthews (1st)
2011: D-Ware (1st)
Terrell Suggs (1st)
2012: Von Miller (1st)
Aldon Smith (1st)
If Barrs’ available at 7 . . . you make the deal, Sonny.
There’s usually an impact player available mid-first. Palamalu was #16 (Right after Jerome McDougal). Ed Reed was 24th. Derrick Johnston #15. Tamba Hali #20. Brandon Merriweather #24. I’m not cherry picking, just looking for some of the good defensive players in the #15-25 range.
I did a quick look at 2003-2008 1st round and it appeared there were more offensive players taken in that range. Could be just an anomaly or I could’ve just looked too quickly. At any rate, as long as we don’t sh#t the draft bed, like we did with AR, there’s gotta be a future defensive star available when our pick comes up at a position we need to upgrade. OLB, S, CB, DT, OT…jeez, there’s so many holes, how are we 5-5?
Yeah I’d do it, and just pretend we drafted a bust in round 2
Yeah. Mid to late 2nd. I was at work and looking in a hurry.
Beasley is a 1st round pick according to this http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2014/DE
They are in general very accurate, but a lot can change between now and the draft
Dolphins swapped 1st-Rd picks and included their own 2nd-Rd pick, also.
Miami had *two* 2nd-rounders in 2013 — having acquired the Colts’ No. 2 pick for CB Vontae Davis during TC.
If we were to sign Byrd, And improve ATleast one more starting spot in FA, I don’t know that I would be against giving up a 1st and a 2nd for Barr or Clowney…maybe a 3rd and our extra 5th gets it done if we don’t have to move up too many spots
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If not, We would still be able to get a quality WR in round 3.
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A star pass rusher would have such a huge effect on this entire defense.
I’ve always suspected that Jimmy was a belieber.
The Eagles cut B.J. Cunningham.
Regarding next year at QB that you talked about in the podcast.
I agree, I think we either go early (first two rounds, a few good potential QBs) or go late.
If we go late, I really hope we bring in Logan Thomas in the 5th. While he hasnt progressed as hope, he has all the tools and every other game he will show those tools. He also is basicly that whole teams offense. He is responsible for 75% of the total offense, not even Cam Newton was that high (or Braxton Miller last year someone I really would love in the 2nd round)
Thru all my Rosey optimism about the defense going into the season, I knew that the starters would be much better than we thought(but I. Have to admit that I didn’t think it was going to click until midnovember), but I was scared to death about the lack of depth..
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1) our backups are being coached up and it was just such a pleasant surprise to see the defense not skip a beat, having to overcome the loss of a starting CB,S,ILB..
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2) We know the defense is starting to play well, but what I’m really enjoying is that they are starting to play Nasty, and show flashes of Scary…Meco has just been punishing RBs consistently wearing them down, Curry ATE that QB which is something we have been lacking,,,I watch the way Cox drives guys into the turf….When Nate Allen is playing with fire and toughness, you KNOW the NASTY arrow is trending upwards!!!!
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Put on the tape and it’s clear we are getting off blocks, using our hands well, playing together, swarming to ball carriers, tackling better than we have seen in god knows how long
To be objective, though, we have had pretty soft opposing offenses lately. I don’t want to set myself up for another disappointment like after game 1. There will still be growing pains.
You know GEagle, I think we need to applaud the assistant coaches more on D. They have turned many players around and instilled a HUNGER that was lacking. I am very encouraged by the DL play, use of hands and leverage, and improving gap policing. The coaching has paid dividends these last few games.
Some team is going to try and pluck, at least one of these assistants in the off-season
Oh absolutely…Azz has been awesome(I assume he is loyal to Chip and we don’t have to worry about him being poached away?)..We all knew minter would be awesome for the ILBs..whoever gave our safeties BALLS should be the HEADCoach of the dolphins next year lol
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/coaches/john-lovett/e84033bb-e51c-4286-8219-3932df43d730
He does look pretty mean him self
Lovett vs. Fipp staring contest…who ya got? Lol
I be honest, I love seeing Allen playing with such aggressiveness in the run game.
Now he just needs to make a few more plays in the passing game.
I would never have thought Allen’s strong side would be his tackling, but that is still the most important attribute for a safety
Everything is breaking just right for the Eagles. The Cowboys defense is severely regressing, their best player (Sean Lee) just got injured, and Tony Romo is still prone to being Tony Romo. The Giants have improved slightly, but are still really bad. For all of the national talking heads banking on another late-season comeback for the Giants: keep in mind that the Eagles crushed the Raiders by 29 points and the Giants only won by 4. The Redskins are so inconsistent now. Against the Chargers, it looked like they were poised to start winning again, but then their defense got exposed by Christian Ponder and the Minnesota Vikings putrid offense. They are extremely beatable. Now, the Eagles are moving in the right direction. Foles looks like a franchise quarterback, having 4 strong performances in 5 games. Shady is back to being a dominant runner. The passing game has opened up. The defense is mastering the “bend-but-don’t-break” strategy. The Eagles have all of the momentum in the NFC East at the moment. Their fate is in their own hands and the division is their’s to be had. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get to be a mediocre regular season team and come out of nowhere in the playoffs like the Giants. That would be so sweet, even though I know it’s too good to be true.
Ain’t nothing wrong with hoping, ’cause the lay of the land is favorable for the division, the Conference is another story, but getting back into the playoffs I think would be a good springboard for this team going forward 🙂
Their fate might be in their own heads. When they start talking about the booing, you know it is. This team needs a home win, if for nothing else but themselves. Washington is a must win!!!
Re: “He’s played the best of a rookie Eagles Safety in years.”
I don’t want to quibble too much with this statement, since technically it has been “years” since Nate Allen was a rookie. But Nate looked pretty damn good as a rookie too. Perhaps it was more expected since Allen was a more heralded draft pick and therefore Wolff’s performance could be considered more notable. It may be interesting to compare their rookie seasons in a future post this offseason if you are looking for some material.
It should also serve as a reminder to us fans that rookie performances guarantee nothing, especially if injuries start popping up.
Actually, when you think about it, the rookie seasons have not been a problem with our safeties. Allen, Harris, and Demps all started during their rookie seasons and did not play awful football. It was the following seasons that they played so poorly in.
…which points more to the coaching than the selection process?
I’ve been saying this all along — we must have had terrible position coaches previously.
Wanted to ask you about this Tommy. I read this blurb on PFF yesterday:
“When I see one of the 2012 season’s premier pass rushers getting only
20 snaps a game (and rushing the QB on just over half of those) it
immediately makes you think he may have issues. Then you see Brandon Graham (+1.2) play and you realize it’s not him that’s the problem.
Of edge rushers with more than 90 attempts he’s currently 16th in
terms of pass rush productivity out of 89 players, and for a guy who
doesn’t sell out against the run to get it, that’s impressive. The way
he bull-rushed LT, David Bakhtiari back into his
quarterback’s lap for two of the only three hurries the rookie allowed
just left you thinking why is this guy on the bench?
Other teams need this type of ability even if the Eagles don’t and if they don’t replace the old war horse, Trent Cole with him next year, expect to see a few trade offers being made.”
My question is what are these guys seeing in BG that apparently no one else is? I mean, I know PFF can be extremely flawed anyway, but they’ve been trumpeting Graham as this monster pass rusher for 2 years running now. I don’t see that. Any possible explanation?
Not to be too obvious about it, but maybe they are seeing a potentially great 4-3 DE and right now he’s a 3-4 OLB with holes in his game.
Sure. But the writer asks the question “why is this guy on the bench?” & makes it seem like the coaches are idiots for not playing him more while completing discounting what you said. Being the all-knowing PFF I would think they would have known that.
He was listed as more productive by a bunch than Cole (or Barwin) in Football Outsiders too. So it isn’t just PFF.
Saving him for the play-offs
BG is a good pass rusher. Within the context of the Eagles’ scheme, that’s all he’s good at. Sounds like these guys think pass rushing is more important than the coaches.
So is it safe to say then that the coaches feel like his pass rush ability is outweighed or negated by the other things he’s doing wrong, whereas these guys aren’t taking that into account?
Yeah, exactly.
gotta be able to drop into coverage and play the run game.
WHen was Brandon Graham EVER a premier pass rusher? His best season is 6 sacks and half of them weren’t that impressive. He doesnt even draw double teams
Tommy has touched this a few times. Graham is not a dynamic pass rusher no matter what the numbers say.
While he abused Doug Free (who was terrible last year) and Andre Smith (not a good pass protector), he did it with basicly his bull rusher. He is not a guy who wins consistently on edge.
That is the biggest problem with PFF, is that they are not scouts and therefor sometimes (often) will come with statements where any scout would flat our disagree with them.
Doesn’t need to be if we’re trading him. The other guy just needs to think he’s dynamic. And really, if we’re trading him, then it’s better that he’s not.
That is true.
Barnwell, I believe, also implies that a trade of Graham to Tampa Bay makes too much sense for both teams.
One of the things that I am psyched about is it seems that Chip is maximizing the potential of his team. He doesn’t have to spend his press conferences giving the “I have to do a better job of putting the players in a position to succeed” speech. He’s already putting them in position.
+1000
If Nick Foles continues to play well then the eagles can potentially make a big move in the upcoming draft to add a TRUE dynamic playmaker to the defense.
What are the chances we can package a payer like graham and our 1st pick plus a mid rd pick like 5th Rd or 6th Rd to sneak up and and have a shot at K Mack or A. Barr ? A rush OLB is what this defense really needs.
On another note Babre looked really good in for Peters . If he continues to flourish any chance Peters becomes trade bait? A team desperate for LT help may folk over a 1st Rd pick for him.
I think Peters trade value is less than a 1st rounder now. At the trade deadline, I 100% think we could have gotten a 1st round.
It depends where we pick and who is on the board. If we are about 16th (taking Baloophi’s example), it would take a lot more to get to Barr, Mack *might* be doable if he slips some and the other team we’d trade with uses a 4-3 (where Graham has some value). We’d probably need to offer more to get to Mack. Barr would take a lot more.
Moving from 16th to 8th would take a 2nd round pick. So the question is, is Graham worth a 2nd round pick? I think yes, but some teams might only think he is worth a 4th.
That is part of the reason I wanted Graham to get some more playing time. I think he can increase his value.
With one year left on his rookie deal? On top of inconsistent production? He’s only got
late 4th/5th value max.
It really depends on how much people will look at 12 instead of 13. He looked good in 12
He’s out of place in 13.
One year on his rookie deal means he’s cheap. That is important as none of the other teams in the league have the cap space we do. For some teams that are really up against it, the Cowboys (ugh) for example, this is really important.
It would also take a short sighted team to value Graham at a second for monetary reasons. You only get one cost controlled season season and even then you are paying $3.5 million. That is compared to what you could get in the second round which would be a player who you could have on a four year contract at that price. So you would be trading one year of production for the price of four years. Very short sighted.
No, you don’t give up a 2nd rounder as he is cheap alone. You give up the 2nd rounder because he was the most productive 4-3 pass rusher in the league on a per snap basis (last year) AND he is cheap. As far as pass rushing production goes, he is still way above league average in a scheme ill-suited to him; he just does not get enough snaps.
You can cut a deal with him right after you trade for him for reasonable money as well (before he gets to crank his value up).
But the premise was second round value to entice a team to swap first round picks. The team would not give up their second round pick.
A) forget the draft chart, as it would take a lot more to move from 16th to the 8th spot.
B) You’ll be lucky to get a 5th rounder for BG.
I wasnt using the chart, just my feel for what around with spots in the first round is worth
but what would it take to go from 32 to 8th?
That would take a ton; probably the following year’s first as well. If we drafted 32nd though I don’t think any one would be upset. 😉
The Falcons could be a potential trade partner for a Graham package. Barbre is a good backup lets leave it at that.
we aren’t the prettiest team but right now who is in the nfc? teams like sf, seattle, panthers are winning w d. but their offense looks eh. the saints look the best but i’d argue we have one of the more balanced offenses and teams in the nfc.
Yea the NFC is really interesting right now, if FOles can improve a little every week, I don’t see many offenses that can flat out outclass our defense..I never cared about the record this year, but it’s so darn great to even be able to have is convo right now considering last season was OVER by Halloween. I see a lot of teams that are better than the eagles, but I don’t see many that are improving the way we have. Take away the Dallas game and this team been improving since after the Denver game. That’s tells me our coaching and our locker room have both improved drastically from last years crap
I agree that our rate of improvement in all phases suggests great things ahead. I also think that the players are learning what degree of practice effort is required to be successful. (This is based on interviews with players after the Raiders game.) They GET IT and now know what happens when they execute crisply.
Paint me cautiously optimistic with a huge grin… 🙂
I am also cautiously optimistic. But like any team that is learning, they may throw in a stinker at any time like the Dallas game. At this point, I hope that happens against Detroit or Chicago and not Washington or Arizona.
Arizona is the game that scares me
Yeah I get the same Impression that guys have turned it up in practice. Encouraging signs all around
With Wolff out, should we have any interest in Reed?
Old, looks slow n still injured, got demoted n doesnt play ST.. Pass
(Wrong spot)
ed
Is that Ed, or JR?
Either would be better than Lou right now.
Sounds like he wouldn’t be an improvement over Chung.
Problem is he bad-mouthed the coaching staff last week with Kubiak gone – not sure you want that type of potential headache around.
Tommy, I wonder, did you post scouting reports on Najee Goode and Roc Carmichael when we picked them up? I just wonder what you thought of them coming out of college?
One thing I do wonder is why Goode is Kendricks backup and not Matthews or Acho, I hope you can touch more on that later.
So we got Brad Smith. Apparently Jeremy Bloom wasn’t available?
Brad Smith is actually a good KR, so not sure what the problem is
http://www.seniorbowl.com/news-highlights-detail.php?news=99
worth watching. Actually a cool site with good info
ok, I’ll be the one to do it. I’m drinking the kool-aid. SUPER BOWL BABY!!!!
What kind of role will Brad Smith play? Is he going to be a Damarias replacement, or take snaps from Avant.
KR/PR/ST
From Spadaro’s article, it sound like KR and ST gunner, but team hope he can be WR depth down the line