Draft Context
Posted: May 17th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 171 Comments »The Eagles are a better team than they were 2 weeks ago. They added some talented players in the draft and signed a couple of interesting UDFAs right after that. But as many like to point out, all 32 teams got better. So let’s compare the Eagles class to those of the other NFC East teams. Doing it against all 32 teams would be complicated. Maybe on slow days in the summer we’ll look around the NFC. For now, the NFC East.
EAGLES
1 – LB Marcus Smith
2 – WR Jordan Matthews
3 – WR Josh Huff
4 – CB JaylenWatkins
5 – DE Taylor Hart
5 – SS Ed Reynolds
7 – NT Beau Allen
1 – OL Zack Martin – Notre Dame
2 – DE Demarcus Lawrence – Boise State
4 – LB Anthony Hitchens – Iowa
5 – WR Devin Street – Pitt
7 – DE Ben Gardner – Stanford
7 – LB Will Smith – Texas Tech
7 – SS Ahmad Dixon – Baylor
7 – DT Ken Bishop – Northern Illinois
7 – CB Terrance Mitchell – Oregon
1 – WR Odell Beckham – LSU
2 – OC Weston Richburg – Colorado State
3 – DT Jay Bromley – Syracuse
4 – RB Andre Williams – Boston College
5 – SS Nat Behre – San Diego State
5 – LB Devon Kennard – USC
6 – CB Bennett Jackson – Notre Dame
1 – no pick due to RG3 trade
2 – LB Trent Murphy – Stanford
3 – OT Morgan Moses – Virginia
3 – OG Spencer Long – Nebraska
4 – CB Bashaud Breeland – Clemson
5 – WR Ryan Grant – Tulane
6 – RB Lache Seastrunk – Baylor
7 – TE Ted Bolser – Indiana
7 – PK Zach Hocker – Arkansas
None of the teams had a sexy draft that landed tons of Top 100 guys or a bunch of big college stars.
If I’m rating the drafts on how I liked the players in a general sense:
1- Eagles
2 – Skins
3 – Giants
4 – Cowboys
Rating them on immediate impact
1 – Skins
2 – Giants
3 – Eagles
4 – Cowboys
Rating them on long term potential
1 – Giants
2 -Eagles
3 – Skins
4 – Cowboys
As you can see, I’m not a big fan of the Cowboys draft. I loved Martin. Terrific player. Safe pick who can help right away and offer some impact. He helps protect Tony Romo, who is the team’s most important asset. Martin can be a big help if he’s just a solid blocker. I got nervous that Jerry Jones had gained his sanity.
Then Jones went and traded a 3rd round pick to move up for Lawrence. Good news. Bad Jerry is still alive and kicking. Lawrence is a good fit for their scheme, but I think they erred in moving up for him. Lawrence isn’t a player you build around. They had a ton of holes on defense. I didn’t think they could afford that move. Jerry Jones is fixing one of the worst defenses in NFL history with an edge rusher from Boise State, an Iowa LB and a bunch of 7th round picks. Color me skeptical. Oh yeah…and Lawrence has some off-field issues. I did love the pick of Mitchell in the 7th. He’s a player to watch.
The Giants will sink or swim on the play of Eli Manning. So they went and got him a WR in Beckham and a good blocker in Richburg. That’s smart. They also added a RB. The Giants have been hit with RB injuries in recent years, which just put a ton of pressure on Eli. He didn’t respond well. That offense needs a legit running game. I didn’t like the Kennard pick. He looked like a 3-4 player to me. The Giants will use him at SAM. We’ll see how that goes.
Washington didn’t have a 1st round pick, but did some good things overall. I really didn’t like them taking Murphy in the 2nd round. I think he is meant to play in the 4-3. He would have been ideal for Dallas. I know Murphy played OLB for Stanford, but I don’t think he’ll handle that role well in the NFL. Moses and Long could be the RT and RG of the present and future. I loved Breeland in the 4th. That’s who I wanted the Eagles to take. Grant adds depth at WR. Seastrunk would have fit the Shanahan offense. We’ll see how he does in Jay Gruden’s attack. That will be more WCO based. Seastrunk can run, but must work on becoming a more complete RB. Good potential if he works hard and develops.
The Eagles won the NFC East in 2013 and I don’t think the other teams have closed the gap much, if at all.
Injuries and player development will be key factors. You never know when a guy will get healthy or emerge from nowhere to become a key player. Based on what I know right now, I’d pick the Eagles to win the division.
How do you guys feel?
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We’ve got the best coach, and the best QB. EAGLES to win
The other teams might have gotten some pretty talented players but some bad coaching could be pretty tough on them. We don’t have any idea how things will play out with the new staff in Washington, cowboys shuffled everything around again after the end of their season up here in Philly and then the Giants current regime might be completely dismantled after this season…
Doesn’t matter about the other coaches. Kelly is a straight up beast. Our offense is going to be disgusting this year.
Yup. Cowboys now have 10 or 12 coaches all calling plays, in relays. (I exaggerate. A little.) Romo often audibled anyway, but his back and age are against him now. People laugh at him, but once he can no longer play, then what? Are those dozen coaches going to be under center? I almost feel sorry for them, except I have despised Dallas for too long. As you wrote, New York is fading, and Washington basically a total unknown. It’s easy to say DJax will flourish with RGIII throwing to him, but 2 competing egos may cause problems and can anyone predict what the new coaches will do? Finally, New York! Center of the Universe! Greatest City in the World! Can’t even field a decent football team, not even with two of them available!
Amen to it being hard to feel sorry for Dallas.
I find New York to be neither the center of the universe nor the greatest city in the world.
Yo’ Tommy great stuff as always.
The only team that worries me is WASH and that is because of DJax. He is a complete wild card but it seems like he has fallen off the radar due to the draft.
I still like our chances at winning the division, but I am scared of DJax and RG3 blowing up against us. Remember how fired up Desean got at the Monday Night Massacre…he will be motivated to do the same against us. And I never want to see the skins even approach that kind of beat down against us.
Boykin will cover Djax. If Boykin can do anything similar to how Djax was covered in the saints game, we will be fine.
The Redskins are going to need to keep Robert Griffin upright for their deep passing game to be a serious concern. And even if they can I think our offense can outscore theirs. As long as Dan Snyder owns that team I think we’ve nothing to fear from them.
I think the Eagles know how to bottle him up pretty good. He’ll definitely still be able to burn us on some deep plays like we’re used to seeing with the Vick/Nick connection.
However, I don’t know if Jay Gruden and crew are going to be able to mix things up well enough like Chip was doing in 2013 with the screen game, underneath routes, bootlegs etc… we saw what happens when teams know what to expect out of DJ every play.
I’m wondering if the offense is going to look like NYG this past season against us when they kept taking those long shots down the field while Eli was getting knocked around.
I am still not ok with getting rid of D-Jax, but the Skins don’t bother me a bit. RG3 is a poor excuse for a passer and their o-line, in spite of draft picks, is brutal.
In thinking about this draft– I feel the key is that we obtained versatile players who are smart, and might adapt to changes fast–even in the heat of battle. I can see the Eagles adjusting well on game day, and even making changes from series to series with smart, attentive players. (Andy Reid was never able to do that.) Maybe that’s a big reason too, why DeSean is gone.
Also I trust all of our WRs to come back for the ball, hold a block, and get in between a DB to break up a INT. The WR corp is more physical and more team first players. No one will be worried about their stats, wanting the ball, or have a problem with being coached up.
I like the Eagles draft because they got talented guys with a bunch of potential. I’m disappointed, though, because I wanted at least one guy who could step on the field right away and play. Especially on D. The Hoff pick is ok, but how many toys does Chip need to make his O hum?
I’m concerned that Chip might not appreciate how brief is the championship window in the NFL. The NFC East is weak right now, this is the season for us to dominate and get in a position to make a run in the playoffs. He might have drafted guys like he recruited high school players, thinking he’ll have them for 3-4 years and will have a chance to develop them. Sure, that makes sense, but I was hoping for at least one guy who will make a big difference this year.
I actually think he can set us up for a championship today and for the long run. Huff and Matthews give us versatility and security. I will take Ertz, Celek, Huff, Matthews, Maclin, Cooper and sproles catching over Ertz, Celek, Avant, Cooper and Jackson. The size and blocking ability of our guys now will allow players time to make plays and use more of the field. Also in the redzone Matthews, Ertz, Celek, Cooper, Maclin, and Huff increase the confidence of getting 7 then the last years squad.
The Defense will be better now that they are more comfortable in the calls. Davis wont be so vanilla now that the defense grasp the basic concepts , which should also allow for more blitzs from Kendricks, the frontline, Jenkins, Ryans, to go along with the rush from smith, Barwin, Curry, and cole.
With Jenkins being the QB in the backfield, the players should be lined up better and no one has to worry about making up for bad safety play from CHung or the injury stricken S spot. A healthy wolff should improve this defense as well.
Last year the Defense watched steelers games to see how to play the 3-4. I look for a bend dont break D.
Your points are well made and I hope you are spot on. Imagine, though, we had moved up enough to get Ha Ha. Depending on what it cost us, there’s a chance we could have still gotten 2 of our top 3 picks, or at least one of them. Personally, I look at the list of WRs and TEs and consider Huff an unnecessary addition considering what i think of as other priorities.
To get Ha Ha or Cooks would mean no Smith, no Huff, no Watkins, no Hart.
I don’t agree all those guys were in such great demand we would have lost them all.
Moving up would have costed a third round pick and netted us something like:
Haha/Cooks
Lattimer
Desir/Urban/Shembo
Reynolds
Allen
I personally prefer the group we ended up getting.
I agree completely. I would have loved to get Cooks and mock the Giants fans because we, again, got a better talent at the same position in the same round; but not at the expense of the other talent we were able to add.
Even still, we wouldn’t have had the picks. All of a sudden you have Ha Ha in the first, Lower caliber receiver than matthews in the second, A fourth, fifth and seventh. Even if we could have gotten Hart or Reynolds still later in the 5th, we would have missed out on at least a few guys. Think of it like this, would you rather have Ha Ha or Marcus Smith plus two thirds.
Think of the many different looks we could give a Defense. We could do four WR sets with Huff, Mac, Matthews, and Cooper. We do a set with our big guys Ertz, Matthews, Celek, Cooper. We can use Huff and Sproles in the backfield in a DeAnthony Thomas role. They can put Maclin in the slot at times with Huff and leave the big man out wide. And this is not even including regular looks we already do and the running game. Matthews was a beast with Screens as was Huff. Huff can play outside or inside. His height is alarming to some but he has 20+ pounds on Jackson will willingly block and is smooth on routes and catches pretty well too.
You can never have too many weapons and my motto is if you have a strength, build on it. Seattles D doesnt face our D they face our O. Seattles offense was alright but nothing too scary. If we can gas em with our speed and tired them out with the number of pieces we can rotate, we may be able to do some damage… if the players can pick up the offense and the defense can hang we might be able to atleast be better and more efficient than last year.
You’re crazy if you think the Eagle’s window is closing already, they’re just now opening it.
I’m not saying it’s closing but I am saying it can close fast. I just hope Chip understands that a college athlete in his 3rd or 4th year of playing ball is still climbing to his peak. That same time period of playing in the NFL with, perhaps, an injury or two, and an athlete is on the downhill slope.
It does sound crazy to imagine I have concerns Chip hasn’t though about! Still, Chip has some once-in-a-career guys on his team right now, I’m thinking Peters and Shady, but their expiration date is not so far down the road.
I think this window you`re talking about opened because Coach Kelly…it`s only gonna open wider and wider…not going to close in the foreseeable future
You said the window is brief but the Eagles window is only truly opening this season, and they wont be a serious contender for another one.
Window is open forever.
Does anybody really think young Gruden will be an effective head coach? He did not exactly light up the offensive record books while in Cincinnati with a very talented offense on paper. Has any blogs been wrote about this?
i think he is solid. andy daulton just isnt that good that.
I think he will be a good X’s and O’s head coach. He should be fairly average overall. I think the one thing that is going to kill him is if they get off to a slow start next year, and RG3 starts crying to Snyder and Djax throws a hissy fit, it’s going to turn into a circus in a hurry.
I know one fear Redskins fans have is that he seems to have no clue how to use a weapon like Jordan Reed. Most fear he is just gonna bomb away to Jackson.
I think it really took a lot of work for Chip to mix up the looks with Desean this past season. Gruden might have some talented players and a decent play book but will his team be able to execute it with precision?
I don’t know anything about him but we could be seeing the same question come up every year with that team.
That would sure be fun to watch. Hope it happens against us, because I don’t like to watch Washington much.
I was skeptical of Jay’s future the minute I saw his coaching staff. I know Jay had connections with Bruce Allen in the past, but it almost seemed like Bruce Allen did more of the hiring and didn’t let Jay bring in “his people.” I know Sean McVay was a “rising star” coach, but wonder how much of that was Allen vs. Gruden. Could be wrong on that, but overall got the sense that they’re not giving Jay everything he needs to be successful. I mean, we’re talking about Dan Snyder’s franchise here. It seems like a contrast to Chip Kelly and the Eagles where the organization made the deliberate decision to build around Chip Kelly’s vision for a successful ball club.
I do think he is a decent coach, but the Skins have brought in decent coaches, even great ones, before and they haven’t been able to overcome the dysfunction of the organization. I just don’t see how this situation is any different from the past.
Gruden is missing some key ingredients in going to the Skins.
1) Being the head coach isn’t the same thing as being the OC. Can he lead a team?
2) Mr. Green isn’t coming to Washington anytime soon.
3) Gruden didn’t bring Mr. Zimmer, and that Cincy D, to Washington with him. He has Jim Haslett……………………ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
4) RG3 essentially sucks. He’s a clueless scramble bum who essentially has no idea how to do anything other than read one and run if his first option is covered.
Seastrunk and Shanny would have been like Portis all over again.
They question Alfred Morris because he doesn’t catch the ball well, which is what Gruden wants out of his backs, and then they go and draft a RB who had like 3 total catches in his college career? Yeah, I’m not losing sleep over Washington, especially when they continue to trot a glorified safety out there to “play QBs”
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Let me know when RGknee makes it to his third progression just once lol
None of these humps had good enough drafts that we should be concerned….
I don’t think we can compare last year’s teams and adjust for the draft without considering the other offseason moves. I’d like to think we won those too, though.
Like that, wrote JJ “gained his sanity“
not regained…hahaha
I think for this season its more likely that the 2nd and 3rd year guys will provide more impact than the rookies, as they usually aren’t ready to provide bigtime impact until later on (with a few exceptions). Since our 2 drafts prior to this one were somewhere between good and great, I think we’ve got a solid shot at keeping our gap over the rest of the East.
Looking at the rest of the East’s 2012-2013 draft;
Cowboys had a rough 2012 draft. Morris Claiborne looks like a bust, and there’s no one else of note in the whole class. The only name I think I’ve ever even heard called is James Hanna. Not good. The 2013 draft looks better by comparison, with Travis Frederick, Terrance Williams and Gavin Escobar all looking like they will be contributors. Maybe not star players but at least starter/quality backup type guys.
The Washington team had an interesting 2013 draft, hard to say what they’ve got there so far with guys like David Amerson, Jordan Reed, Bacarri Rambo. Reed and Amerson look like they could be quality guys. 2012 is obviously mostly predicated on what happens with RG3’s career, though Alfred Morris has turned into a late round Mike Shanahan special. Not much else to be thrilled about from 2012 though. More than any other team I think the Skins future is uncertain. They could be awful, mediocre, or awesome, and it all depends on what RG3 does.
for the G-men, the early returns on the 2013 class aren’t great, though Justin Pugh looks like he can play, so not a total waste. The 2012 class seems to have fared better, but still not a top notch class. David Wilson can’t seem to stay out of the doghouse despite loads of talent, Reuben Randle looks like a good #2 WR, and Jayron Hosley looks like he will stick on the roster.
So I don’t think I’m being homerific when I say that the Eagles have had the far superior drafts in 2012-2013, and those guys should now be stepping up and achieving their full potential. Just the top half of the 2012 class might be as good as the Giants 2012-2013 drafts combined, with Cox, Kendricks, Foles and Boykin all landing somewhere between the quality starter and pro bowl caliber level. 2013 is less exciting but still seems like Lane Johnson, Ertz, Logan, and potentially Wolff could be long term guys who stick.
Unless the Giants quick fix job with FA turns out far better than our ‘dream team’ roster did, or RG3 blossoms into an elite QB, I think we’re comfortably in the lead and figure to stay that way for a bit based on recent drafts.
I agree with your post with the exception of our rookies.
Chip Kelly does not think or do anything the way traditional coaches have in the past.
He’s an innovator and will use all the tools he has in his toolbox.
He does not seem like the type of Coach that leaves a stone unturned or like a coach that won’t gamble.
From what we’ve learned about Chip so far is that he’s willing to take chances that other coaches wouldn’t dream of doing and for the most part it pays off. What we may think is a gamble but to him it’s almost a sure thing. Damn !!! I love Chip.
I was begging Jerry Jones to take Manziel for my own amusement but, despite the responsible first round pick, it really was a poor showing for the Cowboys. They got bodies on defense, but not much of a talent upgrade.
Not assuming he’ll have a huge role on the team, but I do like Devin Street in the 5th for Dallas :/
They let the men who “take black” have internet access now? Wow. lol Not much else to do on that damn wall. MOST days anyway. Just keep that head of yours on a swive MR Snow……… 🙂
On Eagles rewind, the author made the point that, short term, the Eagles are not a better team on paper: http://eaglesrewind.com/2014/05/16/draft-talk/
Paraphrasing, his point is that the loss of DeSean Jackson with the addition of Sproles and two rookies do not make the Eagles better on offense, and on defense they added Jenkins as the only expected starter.
I don’t entirely agree with him, though he does make the concession that the draft could make the team better in the long term, but I do think he raises a good point. I’ve seen commentators say over and over again that the Eagles are a better football team, yet they lost one of their star players and added a bunch of guys who aren’t even expected to start this season.
I agree that the Eagles have made themselves better in the long term, and I also think that second year familiarity with the schemes could improve the team. But right now the Eagles are going to be fielding pretty much the same group of players as last year and this I think that this oft-repeated refrain about the Eagles being a better football team after free agency and the draft is a bit of wishful thinking.
Well we really don’t know exactly how fast Kelly can get a rookie(s) ready on offense…we have Ertz to go by but we had a veteran in Celek and Ertz was behind the curve since he missed OTAs.
The Eagles added Marcus Smith and have a deeper secondary on paper. They also have more options on offense potentially if Matthews and Huff and Maclin can contribute and I think there is a good possibility. Matthews is experienced, smart, hard worker, film studier. Huff knows a good part of the system.
It was also Kelly’s first offseason where he wasn’t dealing with getting everything in place and he was a college coach.
You’ve got Maclin, Ertz in his second season, Matthews, Huff.
You also have the fact Matthews and Huff could develop faster than if they kept Desean. Granted they could have kept Desean and not signed Maclin or Cooper but Desean is a little older and yes that is more of a long term decision.
And why can’t they be better with Maclin, Sproles, Matthews, Huff and without Desean?
They also have an offensive line with 3 guys over 30 years old. Almost magically, the entire offensive line stayed healthy last season. Can we expect this run of luck to continue? Have the smoothies that have erased offensive line injuries from the Eagles’ future? They did nothing to improve depth or acquire long term replacements for the older lineman. Let’s all cross our fingers and knock wood, but the offensive line could be a disaster waiting to happen.
What does that have to do with my response to your post about the receivers and Desean Jackson?
the back-up O-line are already on the team.
Herremans is the only one I worry too much about injuries with and he’s the most easily replaceable.
That’s my biggest concern with this team. Barbre seems capable, but other than him it’s a whole lot of question marks behind the starters.
in 11 games, Jackson had under 90 yards. That does not sound so bad, right? Out of those 11 games, 9 games were under 65 yards. In 6 of those games he had under 60 yards (34yds, 21, 36, 59,29,28). He had five games over 100 yrds (104 Was, 193 SD,132 NY, 150 Oak, 195 MIN) While Jackson’s number are great together… there were some games where he was non existent. Against Detroit, Denver KC, Dal, Chi and Arizona (playoff teams) his numbers were 59, 34, 62,49(Dallas individually 21,28),29, and 36 yards…. Against playoff teams he was almost non-existent and the team as a whole had to pull out the win. Now he could have played decoy but we can prob get that same production out of our rookies(the low yards against the harder teams not all of his production).
thank you …saved me the time of researching to post this info.
What the naysayers will counter is that by being on the field , he helped the others achieve their yardage. Some thruth in that, but from what I`ve been reading, he was shut down with single-man coverage, which is what led to his release.
Those stats are definitely encouraging in the not getting worked up over facing MeSean twice a year department! But just so I personally can sleep a bit better at night, I’m sending Tonya Harding an anonymous” care package” that includes a freshly minted DC press pass, a “Nancy Kerrigan fan club president” plaque & a tire iron. Whatever happens, happens. Is that wrong?? lol
lol …we both know what will happen, if harding cant go maybe we can send Duanta Robinson to get him.
LMAO! Great back up plan bro. I like it. Maybe, just for good measure is all, we should spread “certain knowledge” around in the greater Detroit area (I.E. the entire country), that MeSean was HIGHLY dissapointed in Ndamukong Suh’s moms performance in their umm…… “romantic interludes”.. OMG. lol Perhaps i’ve gone too far? LMAO Apologies!
You think you throw a bunch of kids and new faces, teach them a few new X’s and O’s and that’s your defense? Our puppies have big paws, and they will be a year older, a year more grown, a year more experienced in the new schemes, with the new techniques it required..they will be more gelled as a unit, they will know what to do better, having to think less, which will allow them to play faster…
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When you are one of the youngest teams in the league, you could do nothing and it will improve…but we didn’t do nothing, say what you want about Malcolm Jenkins playmaking or lack there of, he will QB the back end, we will cut down on breakdowns that lead to less big plays, and who makes the most big plays is basically what determines today’s NFL games…
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You can look at only adding one new member to the defense, but you haven’t seen the best the other ten players have to offer yet, and this year they will take a giant step or two forward…
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You might have not “improved” the starting personal drastically, but you gave this team a giant depth make over…better competition every day at practice…you, know the parts of football that you can’t account for when just looking at roster moves,
,,,
Our young QB is a year older, which is 1000 times more important than subtracting Desean…and a guaranfrigginTee this defense will be much better then the one that kept teams under 24 points for the last two months of the season….continue taking care of the rock, and taking the rock away on defense, and you will see a much better team than we had last year, and then let’s talk about the “loss of MEsean”
Why not take a flier on Shane skov ..a Stanford guy…for depth at ILB. Am I missing something?..any character concerns?
on the 49ers
He couldn’t stay healthy and ran a 5.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzlrh5FBPhg
I wouldn’t be so quick to write off NY. or WA. or even Dalass for that matter. Eli has won SB’s, RGIII has been scary good when he’s healthy, and even with Jerry Jones repeatedly doing everything possible to sabotage his own team they still can beat us on any given Sunday as the saying goes.
Having said that, I think landing Chip Kelly has been the best thing to happen to our Eagles in over a decade. Yes, even more than going to the SB. I really believe that Chip is going to get us a SB Win in 1-3 years max as he seems a couple steps ahead of the league.
When he finally gets all the players he wants, we will be unstoppable.
I think Chip will have this offense scoring to the tune of 40 points a game once this offense gets fully up to speed.
Eli won Superbowls because of a helmet catch by Tyree and bad play by Rodney Harrison coupled with poor coverage by Asante Samuel on the deciding TD. He won another because of a bad drop by Wes Welker and a lucky rainbow pass aided by Patrick Chung’s lack of football IQ and slow recovery rate.
He is an interception factory who needs to benefit from the luck of players catching poorly thrown passes rather than the precision needed to be a consistent winner in the NFL.
F Eli and F all Giants fans.
The Eagles by all accounts drafted smart, high character guys, who have already played the positions they are being drafted to play, and who are seniors, and their development curve therefore should be shorter than some of the raw prospects who perhaps have more upside.
I think 3 or 4 of these guys will be ready to play a substantial rotation role by the time the season begins.
I think the first 4 picks will be ready to play substantial roles by the end of the season / playoff drive.
The Eagles lost in the playoffs to the New Orleans Saints last season.
Let’s compare offseasons. The Saints signed Jarius Byrd, the top safety available, and drafted Brandin Cooks. The Eagles cut their top receiver, signed two guys the Saints didn’t want anymore in Jenkins and Sproles, and drafted a bunch of guys that aren’t expected to start.
Which team did more to make themselves more competitive this coming season?
We gained a Pass rusher. The defense gained familiarity with the defense in year 2, which provides comfort, so now they can add more complex concepts for blitzs. They also gained heath and a better brain in the backfield(Earl Wolff) which will allow us to line guys up better. We got a Nose Tackle who can help on run downs. We gained a pass rusher up front if we can add Kruger. Also Knott can hopefully spell Ryans.
The Saints drafted a wide receiver ahead of us and paid big money for a safety therefore they had a better offseason?
We’ll see how this plays out but Byrd isn’t working for free (after this season anyway)
No, he won’t be. The Saints have a small window and the Eagles are building for the future. I realize this.
But looking at the 2014 season, the Saints acquired an acknowledged and a potential star to improve their team, and the Eagles are building for the future.
There’s no doubt the Saints made better moves to improve their team for this coming season. I’m just trying to measure the depth of homerism in these comments in the face of objective reality.
I think there’s plenty of doubt. The Saints acquisitions look better on paper mainly because you’re assuming Byrd is a star or at least worth the 9mil he’s gonna be making. I’ll personally be a little surprised if they don’t regret that signing in 2 years. Not that Byrd will be a liability, but he won’t approach making that contract worth it.
Again, window. Saints are in win now mode because Brees is getting old. How that signing looks in 2 years isn’t the point.
That sounds like a bad way to do business. It’s very likely Brees will play at least 2 more seasons.
Yeah, that’s easy to say when your team has a young quarterback. Obviously the teams with Brady, Brees and P. Manning felt a little differently this offseason.
What? Why are you bringing up the eagles? I’m talking about the Saints, who have a QB who is 35. Barring a major injury, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he’s still playing at 40. If so, Brees is going to have to play through the cap ramifications of cutting Byrd after two years. The Saints don’t need to act like this season is their last like the Broncos, whose QB IS 40.
Eagles sign Jarius Byrd and draft Brandin Cooks: Holy crap Chip and Howie are geniuses! We basically got the two names at the top of my wish list!! Superbowl!!!
Saints sign Jarius Byrd and draft Brandin Cooks: I don’t really think that’s going to work out for them. The Eagles did much better getting lesser known, versatile role players that could really grow into the system.
Why are you trying so hard to believe I’m a homer for not agreeing with you on how to value Cooks or Byrd? Is that the only way I could disagree with you?
Objective would be NOT talking about some players who were cut a month ago and who no longer matter to the Eagles.
If references to DeSean Jackson really bother you, here’s some advice: skip next season and come back in 2016. Because whether anyone here likes it or not, it will be topic of conversation next season both locally and nationally.
Look on the bright side: maybe he will play well enough to knock the Giants or the Cowboys out of the playoffs.
there is that; need to look on the bright side of life
I’ts a Daniel Snyder run operation. That alone should quell most folks anxieties IMO. They WILL find the ways and means to implode. Hasn’t that become a sort of NFL rule? 🙂
Fear not. Having MeSean will only make our beloved Washington Racial Slurs look even MORE inept when they inevitably self destruct~!!
So what you’re saying is both teams made sensible moves given their respective situations and objectives? Most people would agree with that, I think. But because the teams are in different situations, comparing their moves isn’t that fruitful.
So. Let me see If I understand correctly. You are ‘Trolling’ in order to ‘objectively’ measure the ‘depth of homerism’ in these comments.
Basically you’re wording things like an asshat to get a response you want and then calling people homers over it? Do I have that right? That is “Literally” the most “Objective” thing I have ever read.
This is my take as well. Don’t forget though that objective reality is that the eagles should have traded up for Cooks in a draft loaded with WR talent and should have overpaid for an overrated “star” safety who doesn’t fit their defense. Anybody who doesn’t acknowledge objective reality is just a homer.
You might want to list the other 10 players that had a major role on the saints who they had to let go because they couldn’t afford it…you know, guys like will smith who the patriots thought enough to sign as a starter… Saints had to lose some players they would have liked to keep…we lost players we chose to lose…saints might want to figure out who will player center for them..it’s kind of important
We are talking about last season and next season. I don’t think the Saints will miss Will Smith’s zero sacks from the 2013 season he didn’t play because he was injured.
So, yeah, the Saints cut a 33 year old defensive lineman coming off an ACL injury to save around 12 million against the cap. I wouldn’t call that a bad move.
The Eagles cut a receiver who got smothered in the playoffs until the Saints lost their best CB.
You’re not considering fit though. Jenkins is a great fit for the Bill Davis defense, I believe he was a pro bowler in a similar scheme. Sproles is a great fit in the offense and there were no players as good as he is who would’ve been available in the fifth which is what we traded for him. We cut our best wide receiver who based on the players we drafted wasn’t the best fit for what Chip wants to do with the offense. Not to mention we also resigned a future hall of fame left tackle and future pro bowl center. We drafted guys who aren’t expected to start because luckily we don’t need them to, the team is solid across the board which while not perfect is where we need to be.
If you asked Eagles fans to name the team’s top players before Chip Kelly arrived, most would have said LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jason Peters and Trent Cole. Jackson is now gone, Cole has been mostly neutered by age and a system change, Peters is 32, and McCoy is entering his sixth season at a position that is notorious for short career spans.
Fortunately Nick Foles, an Andy Reid draft pick, has turned out to be somewhat of a revelation.
But who, after two offseasons since Chip Kelly got here, are the future all-pros and pro bowlers that the Eagles have acquired? Maybe Lane Johnson, a fourth pick in the draft? Maybe? I’m not coming up with any other potential candidates.
In the NFL, you traditionally need star players to win the Super Bowl. Maybe Chip Kelly is the kind of coach that doesn’t need star players and can lead the Eagles to a championship with a team full of system guys, just like he was able to lead his Oregon Ducks to championships against the SEC recruiting powerhouses… oh, wait, he wasn’t able to do that.
There is no difference between the Oregon Ducks (who were not able to get much 5 star talent) and the Philadelphia Eagles(a professional football composed of really talented players who are on the same level of success as the rest of the NFL), so Chip Kelly might as well return to college? The Eagles got all the star talent it could afford in 2011…No superbowl. It is time to build a team for the future, while contending now. Saints and Broncos are trying to buy championships because they have a small window. We are not in that boat. I know Eagles brass have not always put the team in a good place and have not always hired people who made you trust that they want to win it all. But I guarantee they are trying to get it right this time and trying to get it right for the next couple of years.
Lastly we dont need to go buy a championship. A team is not built in one year, but it can be destroyed in one.
It took 5 seasons for the Eagles to acquire those players. Kelly’s been here for like 16 months. He has had two draft classes and one hasn’t even played a down of football yet. Johnson should be an elite tackle, Ertz has the potential to be a stud. Smith can easily be just as productive as Cole in his prime was, and Matthews should be a very good receiver for us.
Kelly lost by three points to a team that was better across the board and had the number one pick. Plus he beat alot of more talented teams in his own conference. USC has an annual top 10 class. Washington, Stanford and UCLA were probably all getting at least as good if not better players. Yet year in and year our there Oregon was in January playing in a BCS game with a top 10 national ranking. Not to mention the talent level disparity between Bama, Auburn, LSU, and Florida to other schools is far greater than anything that exist in the NFL.
Give it a rest w/no more Jackson, whew!!—as noted before(thank you Malom Jones)“ there were some games where he was non existent. Against Detroit, Denver KC, Dal, Chi and Arizona (playoff teams) his numbers were 59, 34, 62,49(Dallas individually 21,28),29, and 36 yards“….McCoy had by far his most productive season in Kelly`s system, along with Peters, who was his healthiest due to Kelly`s program. No way Foles would have excelled like he the second 1/2 of last season w/MM`s pass,pass,and(let`s fool`m)pass again plan of non-attack. Reid was what the Eagles needed when he arrived, and the following decade, but ran out ideas, and really had to go.
Kelly did so much w/so little at Oregon. Took Reid`s 4-12 to 10-6 -dare i say overnite?-Now he`s got good pros, some elite and is building his own mean green machine.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the show like most of the rest of us.
Yeah, I’ve seen that hindsight logic posted plenty of times.
And I’m sure that if it had been Shady that had been cut, there would be plenty of people pointing out the five games where he averaged under 4 yards a carry.
I’m not complaining about the Jackson release. But it did happen. And it makes sense to acknowledge it when looking at the team’s current roster.
I’m a fan of Chip Kelly, but I don’t think that should mean I volunteer as part of his online PR department. Every negative does not need to be spun into a positive. Frankly I think that if Jason Peters went down with a knee injury, some of you would immediately start talking about how it finally gives Michael Bamiro an opportunity to shine.
I`m not looking to his PR guy,online or otherwise. Am looking objectively at the situation. Started -for us the veiwing public-when he answered the reporter`s ? and said he felt he deserved a raise.,folowwed by blowing off his exit chat,…for the team it was the combination of his lower production in the second 1/2 of the season and the explosion of the Eagles offense without him contributing(nothing at all like Shady `s supposed lack of production, which surely would have coincided with the Eagles offense stalling).
Now we don`t know if these other players you mention would/could-definately should;that`s why they are there- step up and deliver as Foles did. Let`s hope we won`t need to find out, except as in relax time for the starters due to the various blowouts we`re going to see this coming season.
it’s not like this team was the Jaguars when Chip got here..people give Chip too much credit.
Do you think AR would have had the same 2013 result? Or was he to stagnant being here so long.
It was definitely time for Reid to go. Too stagnant would be one way to put it.
And it might be a good time to point out that his early success was in a large part due to the players on the roster before he got to Philly too. Go back and look at Reid’s first drafts; They were abysmal. It wasn’t until his fourth (I think) draft that he did well. That was the jackpot Sheppard, Lewis, S. Brown, Westbrook draft. Apart from McNabb, most of the stars of Reid’s early years were drafted by his predecessors.
You could say the same applied to Andy in KC.
Time will tell if Chip has better luck with the draft.
Very similar situations: Andy Reid, the offensive guru who wins thanks to defenses put together by his predecessors.
I’d say we’d be back at 8-8.The chances of going above that would have probably been based on Henery’s performance (oh lord).
I don’t. Sometimes you just have to shake things up. It was better for Andy and it was better for the Eagles.
Even worse then, is why they played like it:
which is why people give Kelly all the credit.
4-12. “You are what your record says you are.”
Peters, even at 32, was still a first team all-pro player and has shown no signs of age.
McCoy was the best RB in the NFL last year and should continue to play at that level.
Lane Johnson was flat out killing people by the end of the season last year.
Ertz came on strong at the end of the season and should be a solid #1 TE target for years to come.
Logan played big minutes all season and is a very solid defended. I’m not sold on him as a 3 down NT, but we could do worse.
Earl Wolff looks to be a good starter at safety.
I don’t know if there are any true superstars in that draft class from last year, but we’ll see what shakes out.
Zach Ertz really blew me away. Despite “coming on late” in the season, being picked 14 spots behind Tyler Eifert & being behind the already entrenched Celek, once they started using more 2 TE sets Ertz sure made me really glad we took him. Even after his slow (ish) start, look at how he stacked up to 1st rd pick Eifert: Eifert had 39rec’s, 445yds, 2td’s & an 11.4 yd per avg catch. Ertz meanwhile, had 36 rec’s, 469 yds, 4 td’s & a 13 yd. per catch avg. So, 3 less catches than Tyler but double the td’s more yds AND a higher p/catch avg. We have already see this kid can make some SICK catches (that one hander in the back of the end zone vs.? I don’t remember dammit!) made my jaw hit the floor. As long as Ertz continues to work on his blocking, we’ve got a STAR in the making. If you couldn’t tell, I REALLY like this kid alot. I know all you brainiac stat guys already knew this stuff and these #’s, but I just can’t help gushing over this kid. I am SO PUMPED to see what he can do with a FULL off season this year unimpeded by collegiate/NFL nonsense rules. Not to mention, getting to work exclusively with Foles now! DeSean who??
Eagles will have the best offense, ST and defense in the division..
Hey GEAGLE, for MONTHS now i’ve been groveling for ANYONE to help me get hooked up with some games from last season so that I could watch, re-watch and watch some more of my favorite match ups. Well, for the most part, my pleas fell on deaf ears. I know this has nothing to do with the price of fish, but I thought i’d tell you anyway just because i’m pretty thrilled. So, the reason i’m telling YOU, is because COMPLETELY inadvertently, it’s you that made that dream possible. I was scrolling down thru an igglesblitz comment section like I do every day, and I saw another reader ask you how you have copies of these games. You mentioned “Torrents & burning DVD”s. Now, i’m about as tech savvy as my Cat. Maybe less. But when I told my best bud, he knew exactly what to do.So i’m super psyched to say, that he has already burned me the Cowboys game (the good one lol), the Bears blow out, which I missed when it was on, so THAT is a real treat, the snow bowl & the Nick Foles show, throwing 7td’s on Oak. Hadn’t seen that one either due to stupid local program & the dates of the games on the discs. Anyway, just wanted to THANK YOU for the great info, even though it wasn’t intended for me! 🙂
I’m happy for you, mate. Enjoy the games!
I remember the feeling of when I discovered torrents. It was like an enlightening lol. Glad I could help. I’m so not tech Savy, so if I could do it, so can anyone. Just make sure you have decent virus protection…i don’t even bother DVRing games anymore..as soon as the game is over, torrents up an hour later, download, burn it, add it to the library.. Sometimes you can find torrents of old games, but I wish I could download every game from those crazy buddy Ryan defenses but they aren’t easy to find…ATleast I know I will have an entire collection of the Chip Kelly era
From what my buddy said, you are RIGHT on the money about the Virus protection. He told me he literally had to WADE through the filth to get to the gold that is now my games. I’m real lucky to have him. Because, while I absolutely feel equal to the task of learning it, I just don’t have the equipment .Just a decent lap-top, a likewise PC & a smart phone. No burner whatsoever.This cat has nearly 8 grand!, in all MANNER of equipment. I mean, he GAVE me my lap top & PC because they were ‘outdated’ & ‘useless’ to him. Meanwhile, they are FAR & AWAY the nicest equipment that I’ve ever had the pleasure to squint, scratch my head like a primate in the space shuttle & hunt & peck on lol. “One man’s trash…” Even the labels he put on the discs are so sweet, they are essentially shrunken down ‘fat-head’ logos. Looks great! And for the love of all things holy, NO COMMERCIALS! 🙂 OK,I’ve bored you WAY too much with all this. Just a VERY happy camper & I wanted to give thanks where they were do to the man who introduced ‘Torrents into my lexicon & thereby, the start to my GLORIOUS Eagles library!! THANX SO MUCH BRO :))
I agree with most of the points made by the commenters here when they discuss this year’s picks. They use words like smart, potential, upside, versatility, and fit. But much like Marcus Smith is a poor man’s Anthony Barr, those adjectives seem a little like a poor man’s substitute for words like “future pro bowl player”.
Is Cooks a future pro bowl player? Is Barr? Who knows? Im happy with the moves made and cant wait for the journey this season is going to bring.
It’s impossible to say because he wasn’t drafted by the Eagles.
But I think we all know what the answer to that question would be in the comment section of IgglesBlitz.com if the Eagles traded up to get him.
Seriously though, it’s an interesting question, especially for fantasy players. On paper the Brees/Cooks combination looks lethal. But with the way the Saints spread the ball around, their receivers (other than Graham) generally put up numbers smaller their talent would predict.
Not to take anything away from Cooks, he is definitely a talent but I wasn’t necessarily upset that we missed out on him. I was actually hoping that the Saints moved up for a CB, enabling GB to draft Cooks and we got Haha at 22
Either Howie or Chip (or both) said there were six guys they had targeted at their pick that were already taken. I haven’t seen much information or speculation on who those players were, but I’m not totally convinced Dix was even on that list.
Maybe, maybe not. That is what I was personally hoping for in the few picks before us. I’m glad we could trade down after GB’s pick was in though.
Jimmy and Sheil have both said that the six players were Barr, Mosley, ODB, Cooks, Haha, and Fuller. Jimmy says that those guys are the “widely accepted” guesses as to the six players. That list seems to probably be the best probable guess. The only other guys who may have possibly been part of the six would probably be Ebron, Martin, or Evans.
Brandin Cooks, Anthony Barr, Kyle Fuller, C.J. Mosley, Odell Beckham, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/Should-the-Eagles-have-traded-up-for-one-of-the-Sexy-Six.html#x308RbB3l3JHPVlh.99
Brandin Cooks, Anthony Barr, Kyle Fuller, C.J. Mosley, Odell Beckham, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/Should-the-Eagles-have-traded-up-for-one-of-the-Sexy-Six.html#x308RbB3l3JHPVlh.99
What if..the sixth guy was Ju’wuan James? If he was there then..wow that would be a reaction to watch if I weren’t an Eagles fan.
I’m fairly confident he wouldn’t have been a scheme fit. But the city would have burned.
The commenters here and elsewhere wanted 10 different wide receivers. Which one should the Eagles have traded up for??
With Brees, I think a player like Cooks would be able to get to a few pro bowls. Jimmy Graham and an explosive tough vertical threat is a match-up nightmare.
I’d prefer a future Super Bowl player to a Pro Bowl player. And much of the time, it’s a Team player who becomes a Super Bowl player.
Skins had no number one so Mr Chips gift wraps a pro bowl receiver and fedexd him to FedEx at no charge. We get a 4th for Bryce Brown and nothing for Jackson. Regardless of a promising draft it still makes no football sense.
Jackson was due $10m, brown was on his rookie deal. There’s the sense. Now can we please stop talking about Djax
No, why would we stop talking about a player that led the team in receiving, was released outright, and signed with a division rival? That would make absolutely no sense. The current regime will be judged by how that decision works out.
I find it amusing that those who are tired of hearing about Jackson now are probably going to be the first people who want to talk about him next season if he sucks for the Skins and the Eagles receiving corps is kicking ass.
DeSean signed for less money than he was on here. no team was going to give a pick and pay more money that he would have got in as a free agent.
DeSean was cut because he was not $10mil a year worth of production against press man coverage. If you compare DeSeans production to Coopers from Tampa-end of season it is exactly the same.
It was purely business, the eagles felt that 10mil on cooper+maclin would produce more than DeSean @10mil.
Please can we let this go. DeSean is now DeGone
You can stop if you like. You can accept Chips arrogance if you want. Being an Eagle fan doesn’t require me to like what happened or accept the clumsily way it was executed. It took two to comsomate that contract. If Mr Chips decided not to honor it he didn’t have to smear Jackson thus devaluing him as he kicked out the door.
It makes contract sense. The field of teams that could potentially trade for Jackson was extremely limited because of his salary. Once he became a free agent, pretty much any team could sign him because they could get creative with the structure of his new deal.
Nerve wracking ad nausea… Jackson changed agents,who wouldn`t have gotten a dime until jackson signed new contract…a holdout was in the embryo stage, with the gestation reaching full bloom coming to a team you love dearly..hence it was a (business) football move all the way.
Move on,the Eagles did.
See Cafone and George and suthrneagle then MOVE ON!
You jack and cafone drink all the koolaide you can swallow. As for me it was an organizational screwup and ill call them out .of you can’t handle an opposing point of view…too bad.
As for being a game of contracts…last time i checked players play the game and honoring a contract is a two way proposition.
from what we all remember was him not honoring his contract by taking plays off, not giving 100% effort,moping on the field and the sideline, etc…
the koolaid has you wearing fantasy glasses, cause he was an extremely unprofessional employee and dishonored the eagle fans whenever his primadona personality showed its face.
83 touch dowms 1300 yards and 9 touchdown sounds professional to me. Look if you don’t like the guy just say it. He was a major reason the Birds finished ten and six. Attitude selfishness blah blah blah. He was a pro bowl player released in his prime for NO COMPENSATION. Sorry that’s unacceptiable.
I can walk and chew gum at the same time .I also can be an Eagle fan and not slurp the front office propaganda . Unless you have personal access to the locker room you really can’t know what the climate or interrelationships with teammates and coaches. Chip said he had no problems with Jackson…was he lying ?
Chip said he had no problems with Jackson…
of course not , the eagles released him
see no problem
Some people apparently still don’t realize that you trade for contracts, not players. And Jackson’s contract made him virtually impossible to trade.
Since the subject of inherited rosters and Andy Reid have come up, an interesting subject might be who inherited a better roster, Andy Reid or Chip Kelly?
Certainly Andy Reid inherited a better defense with guys like Dawkins, Hugh Douglas, William Thomas, Jeremiah Trotter, Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor and Al Harris on the roster.
And Kelly certainly inherited a better offense with LeSean McCoy, Jackson/Maclin, Celek, Jason Peters and a mostly stacked offensive line, and the apparent QB of the future in Nick Foles.
Reid inherited a great left tackle, signed a great right tackle, and used his first pick on a QB. Kelly inherited a great left tackle, inherited a QB, and used his first pick on a right tackle. The big difference here is that Kelly can’t expect his inherited tackle to play another 10 years.
I was a little behind on the Eagles Blog stories, but I just watched the Josie video. Between him and the ranger, final cutdowns might be sadder than usual. There are some great long shots to pull for this year.
Completely off topic but fun:
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/05/15/the-pff-101-no-7-evan-mathis/
PFF paints a very flattering picture of Evan Mathis, and includes a nifty GIF of Kelce and Mathis combining to destroy poor Corey Luiget. Kind of reminds me of Trevor Laws getting pushed around. The horror, the horror…
impressive numbers.
thx
Leaving the other teams out of the debate just for the moment, I honestly wouldn’t be nervous if J-Sizzle pulled off the draft of a lifetime. As long as he wheels out his 34 year old QB with double the number of back surgeries as play off wins, I’m good…. : )
1.) Damn, how I miss Blogging the Beast. 😀 Thanks Tommy, for posts like that.
2.) It sounds redundant, but the key for our success will be Chip Kelly and his offense. I get that our D should improve because of the additions and 2nd year in the scheme, plus development of young players. But the Defensive Coordinators now have one full year of Chip Kelly tape (and much more tape on Foles). Remember how the Skins looked at Oregon tape to figure out what they should expect? Not gonna happen this year.
Now, we all assume Chip will change things, open his playbook and things like that. Personally, I think that’s a reasonable projection. But we don’t know that yet. Chip has a reputation as offensive guru – he was in College, for sure. Maybe his little magic won’t work. Maybe some of the things we will change won’t work on this level (ever).
I don’t want to be a downer and I personally think Chip will get his offense going, even improving. But let’s not pretend it’s a fact. And don’t forget the fact that there’s a lot of tape for Foles now. There’s a reason for the sophomore bump. Foles knows that (he said so in an interview with Birds 24/7). Let’s hope it won’t stop him. 🙂
Its like the worst thing ever…felt like bloggin the beast was one of our most valuable resources..we lose blogging the beast, and now i find kempski unbearable at philly.com… So not only did i lose a great site, but i feel like we lost one of our better eagles reporters…those “hack” jokes, arent as funny as they once were when he was awesome at bloggingthebeast..everytime you guys make those hack jokes now, i dont know if i should laugh or cry
I still like Jimmy and I’m happy that he made a jump the career ladder. I only regret that there isn’t as much NFC East coverage as there were on BTB.
Don’t kill the messenger for the Desean story. If you don’t dislike him because of that, I think we have to agree to disagree here. I like him, you don’t. That’s fine.
liked him with Tommy w/the H2H podcasts
defended him when he came out with the Jackson scoop…then pointed out a fallacy in his arguement for ridding the eagles of jackson`s production was a mistake as he compared said production with the #1 reciever of the nfl, who plays for Cleveland, which had a terrible season…his confusion led him to punch his poor cat in the face, at least that`s what his eloquent response was.
so sad
Yea, I miss the BTB. Was great way to have a quick overview of the division.
Exactly. And when the season begins, the only thing I care more about than the NFCE are the Eagles, obv. Was great to have an overall look about the development of those teams.
No, it’s more than the Desean story for me
Huff revealed that chip has turned up the notch on his methods since leaving Oregon. For a football maniac like chip im sure he loves not having things like “school work” take away from his training regimen. I have a feeling he loved pro life where he can have a team filled with 53 players who live football and only football 24hours a day…. Huff revealed “At Oregon, every thursday was hydration test day”..here they test your hydration levels every single day”…the detail to excellence is extreme here…every coach “works 20hour days”..but we have a coach who probably spends those 20 hours working more efficiently than most, sparing no minor detail to help give us an edge. If this isnt the man to deliver a SB to philly, we may as well hang up our fandom..this dude, is a cutting edge, detailed, freak…and i doubt any philadelphia Eagles player was ever in better hands…. THank you lurie
“and him and Mathews test each other…”
Lol. Seems like Matthews found a football “nerd” he can hang out with. 😀
No, the Eagles draft was not sexy, but it was smart. A couple of smart drafts in a row = elite team. I think Josh Huff is going to surprise many with his output, as will Taylor Hart. Jordan Matthews is a winner and the kind of guy that you want on your team. He will be a leader by year 2. The only pick I’m not crazy about is Marcus Smith at #1. But I’d have been thrilled with him at #2.
Judging by the talk of the Cards and Skins wanting him, I think Smith went exactly where he should have. Getting him at 26 wasn’t a steal, but it wasn’t bad value either. When you factor in getting Watkins and Hart too, though, I think the eagles got great value for 22.
You made it! http://boards.philadelphiaeagles.com/topic/693207-tommy-lawlor-dave-spadaro/
Colt Lyerla will be the steal of the year playing with Aaron Rogers on a team with no tight ends…he got a camp tryout, watch him get time and have a quality year for Greenbay.. Potential fantasy sleeper
Gilmore was a nice addition as well
Things I’m looking for from Chip’s offense this year…..
1. Offense should have an even FASTER pace because…
A. Nick should improve his release time in year 2.
B. There will be fewer vertical stretch plays and more crossing patterns, bubble screens and comeback plays which should allow for a faster lineup.
C. Players will be in 2nd year of the system with not as much *thinking* on play calls.
D. Better quality receiver depth.
Chip thought he couldn’t get his head straight. That tells you something. Now, McCarthy is a quality HC, he is in Wisconsin, not New York or LA, that should all help (on the other hand: he went wild at Oregon…). He could be a steal, sure, but he has to keep his head straight.
Don’t underestimate the allure of fine cheese. Lyerla wouldn’t be the first to succumb to the siren song of milk curds.
i heard they get lots of snow in gb
“The Eagles won the NFC East in 2013 and I don’t think the other teams have closed the gap much, if at all.”
That “gap” is a lot closer than you think.
Washington has a new coach and some potent offensive weapons. Bob should be better being another year removed from his injury. DJ will another dynamic to the offense. A lot of renewed optimism for them with Gruden.
Eli had a horrific year. A good portion of his INTs were WR induced from bad hands and bad routes. They got line help and a WR that most wanted here.
Dallas had no gap to close. We won the division by beating them by 2 points in the final game of the season without their starting QB. They lost three games by one point each. We beat them and GB without their starting QB and got some ref help in Arizona.
A lot went right for us last year. Health of the online, No Aaron Rodgers, Snowbowl with Megatron, Ref help at AZ, Chicago collapsing, Romo out of the last game. I think we will be better in year 2 of CK. We added the right pieces in the draft. I still think it will be a dog fight all year especially with the NFCW on the sched.
“Dallas had no gap to close. We won the division by beating them by 2 points in the final game of the season without their starting QB. They lost three games by one point each. We beat them and GB without their starting QB and got some ref help in Arizona.”
Right. But: they had the 32nd ranked D. They lost Ware and Hatcher (their best D-Liner last year). Don’t forget that when you talk about the Cowboys. We cried about our D last year, turns out we were still far better than the Cowboys D and we added some much needed pieces this year: a starting Safety and depth all over the place where there was NO depth (I’m looking at you, Carmichael, Chung and Marsh).
I’m with you on the Giants. They could be significantly better this year. Depends on Eli now, he got the help he needed.
Not so sure about the Redkins. They signed Jackson, basically as their first round pick since they didn’t have one. But they lost Shanahan and, more importantly, his deadly zone running scheme. Maybe they “lost” (some part) of Alfred Morris, which would be a horrible blow for them. And like the Cowboys, their D was horrible last year. They didn’t change their D-Coord (still incredible to me) and they didn’t draft D heavy. Sure, they got Hatcher, but still. Even if RGIII is healthy and good, the D has to worry you as Redskins fan.
Personally I think Alfred Morris might be the most overrated skill position player in the division. He’s just a guy.
A guy that ran for 1600 and 1200 in the last two years. I hope that was Shanny and his scheme, but you’ll never know. Foles was a 3rd round pick. It happens.
Cowboys had one of the worst Ds in league history and we BARELY beat them (it was a great game to watch though).
Redskins running in place i think. Think morris will do less but they have desean, andre roberts and a healthy RGIII. It’ll be interesting to see what they are like without fletcher. Ithink its between us and the gmen.
Morris finished with 1275 yards on a 3-win team with a hobbled RG3 and terrible OL (minus T. Williams). I think he’ll have an even better year with Desean stretching the defense.
FYI – Jay Gruden has confirmed that they will continue the zone running scheme
Thanks. Makes sense, too. But: Shanny knows that system far better than Gruden. If Kelly retires some day and the new coach says: yeah, I will continue the No-Huddle Hurry Up Spread Attack, it makes sense, too, but it doesn’t mean he can do it as good as Kelly can do it.
Bleeding Green nation regrades the 2000 draft. Their grade at the time: B. Their grade now: D+. Makes one wonder what the grades for this year’s draft will look like in 4 years. http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/5/18/5728916/regrading-philadelphia-eagles-2010-nfl-draft-class
One current player out of 11 picks after round 2. I remember thinking Charles Scott was going to be our change-of-pace back. What are the chances that any of these guys are on the team in 4 year? Josh Huff, Jaylen Watkins, Taylor Hart, Ed Reynolds, Beau Allen.
If I had to pick one, I’d say Taylor Hart. You always need backup defensive lineman. And if Kelly hasn’t cut Matthews yet he obviously has a soft spot for Oregon players.
That just goes to show that most of the success of a draft class is coaching and injuries and not talent or getting this or that one guy. If Graham doesn’t have microfracture surgery and Nate Allen isn’t expected to play behind the wide 9 in a dysfunctional lockerroom, that class looks a lot better.
Matthews is a good special teams player.