Blind Faith
Posted: March 27th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 86 Comments »This morning I wrote about having faith in Chip Kelly. Most of you got my meaning, but a few people think I’m telling you to blindly accept anything he does without question. Uh…no. That’s not the case.
First, dissent is a good thing, even when a situation is logical. If your opinion can’t stand up to scrutiny, then the opinion isn’t very good. I enjoy reading different thoughts on a subject. Plus, you never know when someone with a crazy opinion is going to be right. I’m sure there was some poor fan who hated the Nnamdi Asomugha signing and took a beating for sharing his opinion. Who knew that guy would be right?
The point of Iggles Blitz is to discuss the Eagles…whether good, bad or indifferent. You let us know when you like a move, hate a move or think a move is just blah. We all obsess on the Eagles. That means over-analyzing every possible angle. That’s going to lead to some arguments, and those will range from incredibly stupid to pretty darn insightful.
The last thing I want is everyone agreeing with each other or blindly accepting every move by the Eagles. That would make the world an awfully boring place.
I might say I’ve got faith in Kelly, but I’ve also talked about how odd the move is and that it doesn’t make sense to those of us on the outside. I’m not just giving him a free pass to do anything. I’ll question Kelly when he does something that doesn’t make sense to me. I wasn’t keen on the Bill Davis hiring, but I’ve come around on that. I wasn’t thrilled with bringing Mike Vick back last year. I still don’t like the 3-4 defense. And so on.
Kelly was incredibly successful at Oregon and he’s off to a great start in the NFL. Because of that, even when I disagree with him, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’m guessing that he has good reasons for the things he does that I don’t like or understand. If Kelly’s moves start to become more hit and miss, he will lose the benefit of the doubt.
I don’t blame any of you for being upset with Kelly. I guess my only point in regard to him is that when a smart, pretty logical coach does something that doesn’t seem smart or logical…there’s usually a reason for that. Time could prove that to be right or possibly wrong. When we do find out the whole story, I’ll make a more definitive judgment of Kelly.
Always feel free to speak your minds here. All opinions are welcome…except those against Funyuns. There is no dissent allowed on that subject.
* * * * *
Some of you think I’m being anti-DeSean. That’s a fair criticism. I am giving Kelly the benefit of the doubt and not DeSean. I could look pretty dumb for doing that in month or so.
This isn’t personal. I’m just reading the situation. DeSean is the Eagles best WR. He’s in the prime of his career. For the team to sour on him so quickly makes me feel like something has gone down. As many of you have noted, teams will put up with all kinds of things from their players. For the Eagles to act like this…it just feels like this is more than Chip not being 100 percent happy with his star receiver.
Usually when a situation is personal, opinions are much more mixed. You’ll hear sources coming out saying all kinds of different things. If this was just Kelly vs DeSean, I think we’d hear a lot more leaks from the NovaCare questioning what the heck Kelly was thinking. There is a real unified front with this situation. I don’t think that is good for DeSean.
That might be wrong, but all I can do is analyze the situation and give you my thoughts.
I’ll admit any mistakes I make in regard to this situation. I’m not perfect and I don’t hide from my mistakes (like ripping the Eagles for drafting Nick Foles…smart huh?).
Let’s hope the Eagles have some good news for us to discuss here pretty soon.
_
The second part of this post is exactly what has frustrated me recently here. I do believe Chip has carefully thought the DeSean situation through, but we have to make a lot of assumptions about DeSean in order to effectively justify the story. Some of those assumptions go as far as saying he is disrupting the team and potentially even doing illegal things. Those kinds of assumptions are just flat out unfair to be making. Not to mention the fact that with media these days, if there was something major happening behind the scenes, you would think we would have heard about it, especially if it is known to the team.
To me, until there is evidence of destructive wrong-doings by DeSean, the worst I think you can justify assuming about him are things like he wants more money, he has interests outside of football, he is focused on himself rather than the team, etc. Those types of things are obviously negative qualities, but I don’t think they justify the Eagles shipping him off, and on top of that shipping him off for nothing. I’d rather find out afterwards that the Eagles made the right move to get rid of him than to assume that he is doing things that are illegal. Even bringing up the Cris Carter story in relation to DJax really bugged me when I read that.
Regarding referencing Chris Carter… the message was that it may be a wake up call. It doesn’t mean DJax is a coke addict. He may play with his balls too much in team meetings, who knows. The point is that his focus may not be on football enough, and maybe he needs to rethink his focus on what is important if he wants to be a team player.
“Regarding Referencing Chris Carter” apparently tore up Sundance this year…
It really delivered with the audience experiencing spontaneous nosebleeds.
I 100% have thought the same, but Kelly’s recent comment about Jackson tells something else. He said Jackson was at every meeting and at every training
With your reference to playing with your balls too much in team meetings, I’m waiting for an ACViking post on Charles Haley. He was a character.
@ Iskar36
Just to further clarify my clarification from the last post (that clause makes my head spin, sorry), I wasn’t assuming illegal activities on the part of DeSean – I was asking IF there were a behavioral issue with him, WHAT would it have to be for a hypothetical GM/Head Coach to be so seemingly willing to deal him.
I think I confused everyone (and myself) by ending the post with a poorly phrased sentence:
“Again, this is assuming there’s some sort of sketchy behavior or act that we don’t know about.”
That’s not actually what I’m assuming or what I think anyone should assume – I just meant for the purposes of the hypothetical scenario… as in: “In a world where some sort of sketchy behavior or act took place that we don’t know about…”
Ironically, my intent was to reiterate that this was a fictional exercise and not a statement of my belief or what I believe the “obvious” assumption should be.
I think the reports on Desean’s trouble with Bicknell and Avant having to mediate are vague enough that you could interpret it as Desean refused to speak to Bicknell, possibly even for long stretches. That would be enough to ship a guy out for me, unless the coach was someone I didn’t have the utmost faith in.
100% Agree. Nothing we’ve seen justify the trade or even come close to it, period, and all those assumptions are very much on the “guilty until proven innocent” side for Desean.
I got fooled by blind trusting this organization when they released Dawkins – Won’t happen twice. I’ll assume it’s a terrible move until I’m provided information to think otherwise.
As long as Shady and Sanchez aren’t on the same bus with females then I will be fine until we start losing. It’ll ALWAYS be Sanchez’s fault.
Defense didn’t do their usual bend but don’t break? Blame Sanchez’s hair.
Shady regressing? Sanchaz told him to keep himself pretty for the ladies.
DeSean reverting back to pre-contract form? Yup, Sanchez’s fault.
The water boy tripped? Yup must have been Sanchez.
edit: here’s your example of despising certain FA signings.
I enjoyed the form of this post – the “symptoms presented as questions” structure so common to pain-reliever TV spots.
Try Sanchez!
All kidding aside, Sanchez could be a victim of being stuck in a poor offensive scheme with poor playcalling and I would go as far to say that he was not mentored properly. His running game was average at best and his receiving core wasn’t much better. As a third string option(which I hope he becomes), you could a whole lot worse than Dirty Sanchez.
However, I am also going to blame every loss on him so as long as he is an Eagle. LOL.
Tommy, I have been reading your writings for 11 years now… I am just waiting for the day you get something right. However, I may have a better chance of winning the Mega Millions without buying a ticket.
CoughMalcomJenkinscough
Maybe you need the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy-head, fever, so you can rest medicine for sarcasm.
Try Sanchez!
I’m more of a fan of Michael Knight. In fact my ringtone is the theme. If I get drunk enough, I may give it a try.
I suggest you to leave and to not waste 11 more years if you are waiting for Tommy to predict you moves, go check on Houdini or Nostradamus. This blog is made to analyse, discuss, assess not for I was right you were wrong trashtalk.
Relax, I am pretty sure Flyin’s comment was made with a smile on his face.
Apologies, should have taken a deep breath before posting this but I’m pretty stressed right now with all those rumors going on. No hard feelings Flyin I hope
No worries and no apologies necessary. I was being sarcastic. I have read Tommy’s stuff for all these years because I think he is the best Eagles writer out there. I am greatly appreciative of all the time he spends to give us great content regarding the Eagles on a daily basis.
Thanks to him, I have learned more about the Eagles and football than I ever imagined possible starting 11 years ago.
I respect you for sticking up for Tommy and this community.
Under’st’hood: Kitt did an auto edit on my post.
He needs to get that Turbo Boost looked at.
Shelby says she’s on it.
He predicted Fletcher Cox and last year Lane Johnson and Ertz
As well as James Casey
yep and Bradley Fletcher
And Brandon Boykin. In fact, when the front office basically followed his 2012 draft plan (which has since become the backbone of the team), I realized TL definitely knew what he was talking about.
Tommy did hate the Foles pick tho
That’s true. Pretty much everyone was baffled by it.
Thing is, coaches and organizations do develop unnecessary antagonisms all the time. Dysfunctional organization and poor coaches allow it to blow up. What with Chip Kelly only being here a bit more than a year, that’s not really long enough for things to really go south, yet. The second year, all honeymoon periods are burned, and nobody’s forgiving of one another.
Thus, it’s hard to read the situation in terms of whether someone is *right*. In the absence of clear fault, I’m always going to blame the coach. That’s where blame is supposed to lie, and numbers upon number upon number of bad coaches always blame their tools to divert attention from their own asshatery, like Schiano and Shanahan. The warnings always pops up. The Haynesworth issues, then McNabb… The way Schiano tried to dangle Freeman’s career during his first year under the guise of being “tougher” than Raheem Morris. So Desean? I don’t really care about believing in any innuendo. That’s really typical of what dysfunctional coaches and organizations do to cover their own tracks. Players buy into the dysfunction all the time, all the way up until the egg is totally cracked and it’s every man for himself, like what happened to Jeff Ireland and the OL coach. It’s on Kelly, dude, and it ain’t ever NOT going to be on Kelly until I understand, clearly, what the issue is.
I don’t know man. I’ve seen Chip Kelly speak and act. All indications to me are he’s operating on a different level from the coaches you named. He doesn’t create problems out of situations that arise. If you blow off how he wants things done, he’s going to bench you, but it’s nothing personal. He doesn’t hold grudges. He doesn’t do anything that can’t have a case made for it that it’s beneficial. He doesn’t let his emotions control him, and he doesn’t punish people who injured his ego.
Eagles signed Mark Sanchez for $2 mill that could end up being $4 mill.
That’s pretty decent sum for back up QB.
I don’t see Barkley beating out Sanchez for that job.
Either way good gamble.
DeSean Talk
I think DeSean being unable to shake one-on-one coverage against above average CBs is alarming and unacceptable. Everyone remembers Keenan Lewis handling DeSean in the play off game.
Chip Kelly prefers lateral quickness and agility over just long speed. Long speed is important too, but not as much as being able to make quick cuts.
Him being ” unable to shake one-on-one coverage against above average CBs” still put him in the top10 in the NFL in terms of yards last season. He was a Pro Bowl, explosive WR in 2013, playoff loss or not.
If we base our evaluation on this playoff game, we might need to trade or cut the whole team then!
Sadly, with the recent news about Mathis, you might be onto something….
was he — placed on the pro-bowl after people bailed or was he voted in?
Was Nick Foles voted in or placed after people bailed?
And what about John Tyler?
I’m not sure what you mean. Was the original post about Foles?
I think we can all agree that Foles not being voted in originally was a mistake. Maybe for Desean, but definitely for Foles.
Desean struggled against the better teams this year.
Against teams that were over 500. Desean had 28 catches for 400some yards and measly 4 TDs.
Plain and simple DeSean can’t shake the better corners in the league.
If you want to hide behind his stats go for it. But besides celek and avant who were mainly used as blockers. Everyone on the offense had career years buddy.
If that were the case then Brad Smith wouldn’t have replaced Damaris in return duties and Damaris would have been on the field. Cuts are nothing if you get caught from behind when you make them.
you mean in the play off game where Jackson was double covered all night?
No one gets double covered in the NFL except megatron. You heard Maclin. If you can’t beat your man with a safety help over the top you don’t deserve top WR money. Plain and simple.
Man, over in twitterlandia, the Sanchez talk involved a lot of Foles talk. A lot of New Yorkers don’t have a very high opinion of Foles and think Sanchez can take ‘im…even understanding how bad Sanchez is.
It’s amazing how intelligent people can share their wisdom so easily through social media these days. I’m in favor of getting rid of the the cost of the front office and all the execs to lower ticket prices. Let fans run the team, the more jerseys you own, the more power you have.
There are a lot of stupid people in New York. Not surprising for a city of 20 million.
Rooting for the Giants and Yankees if proof enough for me.
I also found evidence on the Internet explaining pyramids and stone patterns. It seems beings who possessed the technology to navigate interstellar travel needed to build giant roadsigns out of rock to find their way around Earth.
Ha ! Great read as always Tommy. I am with you when it comes to “Chip knowing best”. He does seem to make sense most of the time and his decisions are right more often than not. I just can’t get one game out of my mind where he was pooch kicking the entire game….UGH !!!
I also think he is a great evaluator, knowing how to maximize a players talent at any given position. He has earned my trust.
As far as DeSean, I think you are getting a little carried away with the possibility of him being traded or cut. We have spent more money for lesser players so to me it doesn’t make sense to cut him loose unless we are getting over on the deal. He’s just too good at what he does and can be moved all around to expose a mismatch and we gain a huge advantage just having him line up. Keep up the great work Tommy and have a PBR on me.
One idea that I haven’t seen about why chip might like to trade desean: Chip would much rather have two $5M receivers than one $10M receiver, what with his gimmicky spread offence and all. And when that $10M receiver is small, never going to be a good blocker and doesn’t have quite the ‘lunchpail’ mentality, well maybe from Chips point of view the money could be better spent elsewhere.
Can the Evan Mathis situation gives us clues about Desean?
I’ve struggled to find a reasoning for putting Desean on the trading block that made sense. One possibility is the one that Tommy seems to believe is most likely. Desean has real off the field issues that were significant enough for the front office to shop him around. Another possibility is that the Eagles have a new strategy for dealing with players who want new contracts when the team feels they are being paid adequately. Two players that we know of have done this.
Evan Mathis reportedly asked for a new contract shortly after the season. The team refused since they felt he was being paid fair market value. With the old strategy, that would have been the end of it, and Mathis would have possibly been disgruntled going into the season, maybe even holding out. Instead the team offered to allow agent Drew Rosenhaus to shop Mathis to other teams for a possible trade. There are two possible results to this. Either Rosenhaus finds someone willing to pay more for an aging but talented guard and the Eagles receive compensation for Mathis, or the agent comes back empty-handed and is forced to tell his client that he is indeed getting about market value. Mathis then is forced to show up for next season relatively content with his contract.
Desean Jackson answered a question at the end of the season stating that he’d like his contract to be reworked. The team refused since they felt he was being paid fair market value( maybe even above it). The front office had to be more careful with this situation considering Desean is a high profile player and at least a little bit of a diva. They leak hints to a couple reporters that Desean may be on the trading block and wait for calls to come in. If a team offers a fair compensation for Desean they would have pulled the trigger. Since no one was willing to either offer a 3rd round pick or pay Desean his currently salary, they don’t trade him. Desean may be a little miffed about the whole situation, but it’s March and the season starts in September. What will Desean remember in training camp though? He’ll remember that no one was willing to pay him over $10 million a year and give up a 3rd round pick for him. He can’t possibly ask for more money after that. He should be happy to receive his $10 million even if it isn’t guaranteed year to year.
This strategy seems risky, but isn’t it risky to hope that a player who feels he is underpaid will continue to perform? We saw how Desean reacted when he felt underpaid Plus, the team trusts their values they put on players and most other teams likely won’t value our guys much more than we do. Additionally, the “market-price” is skewed in the team’s favor because a new team would have to give up a draft pick and pay the player. The team is betting on themselves being right, and even when they’re wrong they still get compensation for their player.
I’m not 100% sold on this, but this is all I could think of that really made sense. And if there is any front office that would have reason behind everything they do, it is one headed by Chip Kelly/Howie Roseman.
Really excellent analysis there. Your theory does ring true to me.
If you were another Eagles player unhappy with your contract what would you be thinking now?
I believe that this is a new strategy by the team, and I think I like it. It is respectful to the players. They can’t complain that they are being held ransom by a contract they outperformed. I made a similar comment yesterday:
A_T_G•21 hours ago
There seems to be support for handling of Evan Mathis’ request to
rework his contract – allow him to seek outside views of his worth to
create a conversation instead of a game of chicken.
Is it possible the Eagles handling of DJax is the same thing, only
triggered by the team? If the Eagles are planning to talk with Jackson
about reworking his deal during the upcoming season, perhaps they put
out these feelers to gather information guaging other teams’ views of
Jackson’s worth. I know it was eye-opening for me to see how other
teams were less interested than I expected. Perhaps it will be for him
and his agent as well.
Also, if this is the Eagles new approach to requests to rework deals,
I can certainly see value in it. How long will other teams play along,
I wonder? Other front offices can’t be excited about putting together
an offer for a player only to have that offer serve as a piece of
evidence in the Eagles negotiations.
I like where you went with this, and hope that’s the strategy with DeSean. What you didn’t mention were the reports that the Eagles were willing to cut DeSean if they couldn’t find a trade partner. This would be inconsistent with your theory.
I’m a believer that the Eagles have control of their leaks pretty good, and that the report that they were willing to cut him may have been a ploy to get other teams to offer a low-round pick for DeSean. If so, then it’s more about just getting rid of him than getting market value.
I’m still concerned that DeSean is on the outs. I want to cling to the hope that he’ll be a Pro Bowler for us again, but not convinced he’s staying just yet.
Ouch, just saw the DeSean news.
unless there is some issue we don’t know [always possible, but not a sure thing], the reason for shopping Jackson that makes the most sense to me is that they will need cap room next year, there is a great crop of WRs in this draft so it is in the teams best interest to move Jackson now and draft 1 or 2 WRs in this draft so they can sign Foles and the other members of the class of 2012, as well as Machlin; if they keep Jackson, they would have to ask him to restructure his contract next year or cut him outright
You brought up Nnamdi Asomugha – which is fair but you could have brought up STARTING Vick last season as an error by Chip. I didn’t care he brought him back but starting him wasn’t the best of ideas. However, The Chipper did eventually see the light and went with Foles. He didn’t keep sticking Vick(doesn’t sound right lol) in the line up hoping he’d get better. He made a change which I don’t think other coaches would have done.
You can’t judge a coach or rookie after 1 year. Until year 3, I trust Chip. Unless he goes 2-14 in ’14.
Starting Vick coming out of camp was definitely the best idea. As good as Foles was in the preseason, Vick was better. He won a QB competition fair and square. The change he made was predicated on Foles being better when got to start. And this is all coming from someone who wanted Foles to start no matter what.
I 100% disagree. Go back and look at the numbers. Vick might have been slightly better. Every so slightly. So, if an aging/always hurt/turnover king is slightly better than a rookie, with a team with 0 direction — naming Vick was a mistake. If I had to guess — Chip wanted a veteran, someone who might be stable in his first year. Chip realized his mistake and fixed it. IF it was the “BEST” idea, Vick would have started at least 5 games. The fact that Chip went to Foles, without question, and never left, showed it was a mistake.
Chip went to Foles when Vick got injured.
One of the tenets of Chip’s coaching method is that the players set the depth chart with their performance, work ethic, etc. By very openly stating that he was holding a quarterback competition between Vick, Foles, and Barkley, he was using the moment to inculcate on the team his philosophy. Foles was decent, but Vick was nearly flawless in the first two games of the preseason – even the most ardent of Foles advocates admitted it. The Carolina game was the moment it became clear that Vick was outperforming Foles (yes, I know in the box score, it says they both threw a pick, but Foles’ was an ugly pass into the end zone; Vick’s was a harmless desperation heave before halftime). The point is that the entire world, and the entire team, saw that Vick was running the offense better. Ignoring the quarterback competition and going with Foles anyway would have been a quick way for Kelly to lose the locker room.
Now you can debate whether Vick should have been brought back in the first place, but I’d question the wisdom of going into 2013 with a very unproven commodity in Foles and a mid-round draft pick rookie in Barkley (who clearly wasn’t ready) without getting somebody who could start if needed – and Vick seemed to be the best candidate for that.
Completly unrealistic trade back with Houston for a second round pick aside, got this draft on first-pick.com, think id be pretty happy with it.
Round 2 pick 4(OAK): Odell Beckham Wr LSU (A-)
Round 2 pick 22: Timmy Jernigan DT Florida State (A)
Round 3 pick 1(HOU): Chris Borland ILB Wisconsin (A-)
Round 3 pick 3(OAK): Bashaud Breeland CB Clemson (A-)
Round 3 pick 22: Anthony Johnson DT LSU (B)
Round 4 pick 1(HOU): Marcus Smith DE Louiville (A-)
Round 4 pick 22: Adrian Hubbard OLB Alabama (B+)
Round 5 pick 1(HOU): Charles Sims RB West Virginia (A)
Round 5 pick 22: Nat Berhe SS San Diego State (A-)
Round 6 pick 1(HOU): Brandon Coleman WR Rutgers (A-)
Round 22 pick 4: Avery Williamson ILB Kentucky (B+)
Took Beckham thinking Djax was gone but would love him either way, explosive, great hands catcher even over the shoulder, good on kickoffs with sproles handling punts. Probably wont be there in May but was available here. Some guys fell to the pick like Jernigan and Smith, and as for Sims, He was just the highest rated player on the board.
I love that it is still a foregone conclusion that DeSean is in big trouble and will be gone – the media that has talked directly with their sources may believe that, but us readers – that have read EVERYTHING written on this – have not seen enough to be so sure. There is still a huge chance that the media whipped this up (not from scratch – but from “he is available” to “he is in so much trouble he has to go”, the team does not care enough to argue against it, and this was all a big todo about nothing – no? After watching chip talk about it yesterday I feel more and more sure that he just doesn’t like the media and feels no obligation to play their game. I think this is gonna blow over.
Don’t read too much into Maclin’s lukewarm comments about DeSean.
First of all they never seemed to be really tight and secondly but more importantly Jeremy is not stupid here. He thinks with DeSean gone that will mean more balls and money thrown at him.
I think the positve comments from players from different positions other than WR (like Trent Cole, Herremans and Barwin backing DeSean up) outweigh the comments by another WR who just wants to get PAID after this season.
Also, in terms of the Eagles player only giving lukewarm comments about DeSean, I think they don’t really have an option. If they have heard any of the rumors, it is very clear the Eagles are looking to trade him. For another Eagles player to comment, they have to tread lightly between being supportive of a teammate and supporting the team and coach.
Yeah, this. Maclin is fully aware he has no influence on the situation, so there’s no reason for him to come out in glowing support for the guy his bosses might just be about to jettison.
I agree completely with everything in this post.
You must have faith in Tommy.
Yep, blind faith…as a result of my in-home LASIK.
At least you got some consolation sunglasses.
LOL!
me too. It’s the person I don’t trust. Anybody who drinks PBR is a questionable character….
I know this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I’ve come around to the idea that the Eagles are intentionally handling the media this way and that they are not as motivated to move DeSean as some think. It would explain why DeSean was so happy about his conversation with Chip and it squares with things Chip has said about giving information to the media. I think being publicly noncommittal and privately open and honest is Chip’s m.o. Sure he could squash these rumors, but then the Philly media would just find something else to spin up into a major controversy. I think Chip believes in starving the fire, even if it makes the problem worse in the short term.
Tommy, what about dissent on PBR and Megan Fox, are those allowed on here?
I am pretty sure the PBR comments are just to be ironic. I read somewhere that PBR is bought exclusively by people stocking doomsday bunkers, because there is no chance of it being consumed before a life or death emergency.
And Megan Fox? There is plenty of indisputable visual evidence. To dissent with those opinions would be tantamount to calling the QB who just had one of the best statistical seasons in the history of mankind not very good.
We shouldn’t overrate our own players just because they are Eagles.
DeSean Jackson has great straight line speed, doesn’t cut well. Does open up space underneath. He has decent hands, but not outstanding. He does not adjust to the ball in the air. He gets eaten up by strong DBs. He gets big numbers because he destroys lousy DBs, one on one. Against top competition, he plays small. He really needs to be the number two wideout, and Maclin needs to emerge as the go-to guy. That would be fine with me.
Given we have Maclin back ,and Sproles–between them 100 catches. DeSean will eventually be pissed off that he’s been de-emphasized. He’ll be trouble. Eagles will want him to renegotiate–down. Maybe Kelly is looking ahead.
Now that Mark is official…I like the competition and the one year deal. It’s a “meh” move but a needed one.
Something I think fans need to keep in mind is that the team decision makers are the ones who actually have real skin in the game in these decisions. If the team trades DeSean and it backfires, fans will be angry, but Howie Roseman and Chip Kelly will be in danger of losing their jobs. All the evidence suggests that neither is a stupid or reckless man. If they decided to shop DeSean around, it’s likely they thought carefully about it beforehand and had a good reason for doing so.
On the 3-4 I’m completely sold based on the performance they got out of the talent they had.
DeSean is a good example where stats don’t tell the story.
Go look at Football Outsiders, last year was the first year he was in the top 20, much less the top 10 in DVOA%. Chip made DeSean – his first five years he was basically a good #2 WR, the deep threat to pair with a big possession receiver.
I first saw this in 2008, when he was putting up big yards, the Redskins adjusted by dropping their safeties, and AR had to go to a ball control passing game where DeSean’s numbers dropped but the team made it to the NFCCG. The next four years, more of the same, running the offense through DeSean and the deep passing game made for an inconsistent offense that came up short in the playoffs before it fell apart. Reason was that you can take out a WR like DeSean with a good CB. If you have to move him to the slot to protect him from press coverage you’ve taken away his best asset.
I think the character problems are the icing on the cake, he’s a pain in the ass, but the real issue is Chip wants to remake the team to fit his vision, and DeSean doesn’t fit, especially when his $12M cap hit precludes adding or extending TWO starters who do fit.
I look at his Oregon teams to see his template, his WRs are 6’0 or taller (Huff was 5’11 but 205 lbs), fast scat backs (Banner, James, Thomas), athletic smaller TEs (Dickson, Lyerla, Paulsen was slower but a good receiver). DeSean doesn’t fit any of these roles. I think there’s a reason for this teamplate, most plays he wants the ball out quickly, so speed has limited value but size and hands are important, as is run blocking. Chip sets up big plays with mismatches, not raw speed. Scat backs on wheel routes, fast TEs up the seam, big WRs who exploit a safety who cheats up by getting a step on a CB and high pointing a deep throw.
So his willingness to trade DeSean is not rooted in pique, DeSean’s behavior doesn’t help his cause, but Chip has a vision, and that requires reallocating resources to get the players he wants.
I was watching the Cardinals game from last season last night, and I noticed multiple plays where you could just tell Chip would prefer the deep threat who can jump over the DB because Desean wasn’t outrunning him. He had Patrick Peterson on him mostly, granted, but Peterson looked like the WR in that matchup.
There has to be some reason that the Eagles want to get rid of DeSean and why nobody else seems to want him — at least not for decent compensation. And I think there is more to it than money. It’s like making a list of pro’s and con’s when you are trying to make an important decision. As fans, we value what #10 brings to the field and we argue that his presence alone opens up so much for everyone else. Maybe Kelly doesn’t place as high a value on that aspect of DeSean’s game as we tend to.
I do think the notion that we need Jackson for this offense to thrive is a bit overstated. With the exception of Tom Brady’s one season with Randy Moss, when have Brady, Rodgers, or Manning had WRs with elite speed? Yet their offenses always put up big numbers. They key is good quarterbacking and consistent production from the skill positions. DeSean is a boom or bust sort of player. He might go for 120 one week then 35 yards the next. Maybe that’s not what Chip Kelly wants. And if there is attitude issues to go along with it…
I’m just playing devil’s advocate here. I like DeSean and would hate to lose him. I’m just stating that maybe the Eagles don’t see it that way. I do think Howie must have told Chip something along the lines of “this guy is a commodity, we can’t just give him away so try to make it work until we find the right offer”. That would explain Kelly calling DeSean to sorta smooth things over.
https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/449586891277742080
And we finally have the reason:
https://twitter.com/EliotShorrParks/status/449580370225528832
Yikes
Funyuns are inferior to real onion rings