Making Calls

Posted: May 5th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 109 Comments »

The draft is a few days away. All the scouting has been done, but Howie Roseman remains busy. He’s making calls to the other 31 teams.

Howie is trying to accomplish a few things. First, he’s trying to feel out potential trade partners. The draft moves quickly so you can’t expect to blindly call teams at that point to discuss deals. You need to talk in advance to get a feel for what the price will be and who is realistically willing to move.

The calls involve a lot of lying, but some truth as well. Howie will share some info, while also trying to find out what he can. Pretty much every one on Earth knows the Eagles would like a WR. The Eagles might prefer moving up to get Anthony Barr, but you don’t tell other teams that. You focus on receiver, since teams already know you have interest there.

Once you get off the phone with that team, someone else calls them. They talk about things, including the Eagles interest in moving up. You don’t want some other team that may covet Barr to know he’s your real target. That’s why you had to sell the idea of the WR when talking. You can control who you talk to, but you can’t control what that team says to others.

Some teams are better at this than others. Howie has done a solid job in the last couple of years. Tom Heckert was a master at getting info and knowing what the other teams would do. The most famous example came in 2006. The Eagles wanted Brodrick Bunkley. Andy Reid was willing to deal up. Heckert knew that there was a great chance he’d make it to 14. Reid’s contingency plan was to take Winston Justice at 14 if Bunkley was gone. The Eagles got Bunkley at 14 and then drafted Justice at pick 36. Good thing Reid wasn’t running things all by himself.

Coaches can’t be experts on all the teams. GMs have to be. And a big part of that is talking to the other 31 teams and gathering information. In order to get info, you have to share some as well. And you can’t blatantly lie or teams won’t take you seriously in the future. You must be very careful about sharing. Not enough hurts your relationship. Too much hurts your team. That’s a very delicate balance.

This is one reason that teams flood the media with rumors at this point. There gets to be so much noise out there that no one knows anything for sure.

Peter King has the latest rumor on the Eagles and Brandon Lee Gowton of BGN has the details.

No. 22, Philadelphia.

Keep hearing they want in on the prime receiver action, and the receiver they want could be LSU’s Odell Beckham, who can play outside, inside in the slot and as a returner. But the Eagles would have to trade up, and GM Howie Roseman is doing his due diligence, talking to at least two teams in the mid-round neighborhood when Beckham would likely go. But the cost could be too rich for the Eagles’ blood. They may have to settle for Marqise Lee, who would be some consolation prize.

I don’t doubt that Howie has called teams in the 10-20 range and talked to them about trades. I don’t doubt that he’s mentioned interest in a WR. But Beckham might not be the real target. It could be OLB Anthony Barr, ILB C.J. Mosley or one of the CBs. Beckham might in fact be the target, but don’t take that idea to the bank.

My preference is still to move back, but if the Eagles can land a player they really love for a reasonable price, go for it. This team has a good lineup and roster. They can afford to be aggressive if they see a difference-maker that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg.

* * * * *

How good an owner is Jeffrey Lurie? I think he is one of the best in the league. Others do as well. Patrick Daugherty ranked the owners from 1 to 32. He had Lurie 2nd overall.

2. Jeffrey Lurie, Eagles

You know the Philly-fan stereotype. These are battery whippin’, Santa Claus booin’ hooligans. Win, or else. The truth is far less sinister, of course. Yes, Philly fans have had their share of regrettable incidents, but name a major American city without regrettable fan incidents, and you’re naming a major American city that doesn’t exist. Philly phanatics are not the boogeymen years of confirmation bias have made them out to be. All that being said, Phillyis a tough place to play. One of America’s oldest and most populous cities, it has won just two world titles since Ronald Reagan was first elected president, neither of which came from the Eagles. These are proud people hungering for trophies. It is in this climate that Lurie has displayed remarkable patience, sticking with Andy Reid through thick and thin, and sticking with his most recent coaching search until he got the man he wanted. That man,Chip Kelly, could easily prove to be the league’s next Belichick. Lurie may not have a Super Bowl to show for his patience and home-run hires, but playing under the microscope of the fishbowl NFC East, he does have seven division titles in the past 13 seasons. Even in a knee-jerk environment like the NFL, good things come to those who wait. Sooner or later, Lurie will get his title, and it will be deserved.

I love the last line.

Jerry Jones was 21st on the list. Daniel Snyder? Dead last. Ouch.

* * * * *

Jimmy Bama and I did a show yesterday on the Eagles and the draft. Here is the first segment. Most of the focus here was on offense. There were some technical difficulties with the other part, but Jimmy is trying to get it fixed. I’ll post that link when it’s ready.

109 Comments on “Making Calls”

1 GEAGLE said at 8:41 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Not only will we be making calls about moving up or down, but now is also the time to discuss deals for players…I’d assume we go into the draft with a deal in place to trade Bryce…we may not go thru with the deal, but you have to have an agreement in your back pocket in case Chip sees Tre Mason at the top of his board and finds him to irresistible to pass on…
…
Then there is B dot grizzle, BG. I’m sure we would love to work out a deal for him in case we manage to land Barr, Jerremiah or Maaaaarcus darling, problem is, I think BG is untradeable..as in, not worth a 7th round pick.. Smh. He isn’t that bad of a player, and I’m sure we would be ok keeping him as stop gap depth in case we can’t draft a quality OLB, but I’m starting to think it will be impossible to get a 7th for him..
..,
Why would a team trade a 7th round pick, who if pans out, they can get cheap labor out of for the next 4 years, for a one year rental that they have to pay round 1 salary? BGs salary is more than all 4years of salary combined for that 7th round pick….I guess a team who is in Super Bowl bust mode like Denver or Seattle good find a game ready depth pass rusher useful, but I wouldn’t hold my breathe..
…
If I’m right and he can’t be traded because he isn’t even worth a 7th, going yp be interesting to see what we do with him. Id be pretty pissed if we cut him. If we can’t get value, bite the bullet, keep him on your roster, see how much he can improve in year two of this new scheme and let him walk in free agency, so he helps out our compensatory pick formula, especially since we won’t be signing many free agents this year because we are busy signing our own…be pretty pissed if we cut him, and get nothing for putting up with 4years of this glorified Mamula
2 anon said at 10:15 AM on May 5th, 2014:
any concern about tre mason’s chronic wrist injury?
3 GEAGLE said at 10:24 AM on May 5th, 2014:
A wrist injury? NO…:) he may struggle to masturbate but I can overlook that….personally, I prefer not drafting any RBs,,but I acknowledge that he is the perfect back for what we do, and with the way RB are undervalued! he may present an opportunity to get a serious talent later than we probably should…
..
Never heard of a chronic wrist issue..never heard of wrist problems cutting a career short…I could be wrong, I just really never heard such a thing….
..
I’m not ready to give up on Bryce. talented kid, would love to see what he can do building off last year. But if we draft a RB and don’t recoup a pick by trading Bryce or Polk. I will be pissed…not the best allocation of resources IMO…
…
Hopefully we find better use for our picks and see how much more Bryce and Polk can grow! and next year we can make Changes to the backfield if we arent content with the year two progress.. Only 6 picks, tough to swallow spending one on a position we are so strong at
4 anon said at 11:38 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Agree with all of this. Story on Roto was he’s gotta get surgery (again) to fuse the bone and so would miss pre-season. Julio had the foot injury they fused the bone, then this year re-injured and out for the season. Not sure if wrist strength affects ball carrying though.
I want Bryce to be what he should be — we’ll see what he’s been doing in the offseason. Polk i like less but he’s probaby the harder worker. His arms are huge and put in some good blocks last year.
5 Ark87 said at 11:55 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Masturbation injuries are SERIOUS Geagle, don’t joke. http://instagram.com/p/nELdHHvBCJ
6 GEAGLE said at 12:09 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Well played…
7 GvilleEagleFan said at 8:41 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Tommy, on the subject of trades, what about the following hypothetical with regards to trading for Dion? Assume by 22 that somehow Barr, Evans, Ebron, ODB, Lee and Cooks are off the board, but Zach Martin is still available. At that point, instead of trying to move back and getting Latimer or Attachou, why not see if 22, our second, and Graham could get back Dion Jordan, Miami’s 2, and maybe a conditional pick next year based on BG’s snaps? That way we have the stud pass rusher we want and we’re a little higher in the 2nd in case we need to move up to get the WR Chip really wants.
Would you do the above deal? Also, would you still do it if it took an additional pick (4th or 5th) this year? What if Barr is still on the board?
Ugh, the draft just needs to get here already
8 GEAGLE said at 9:11 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Miami won’t want BG included In the trade…the BG talk is just lazy philly media trying to play connect the Dots, if we can get Dion in a trade, BG won’t be part of the deal….teams won’t be lined up to pay first round salary to a backup who is a one yer rental…if Miami trades Dion it will be because he isn’t a great fit for what they are trying to build…they will want “building blocks in return”…I know our media acts like BG Is the assumed player we would trade but I’d bet Miami is more interesting in a player that can be part of their future like:
Bryce Brown
Tobin
Kelly
Bamiro
9 GEAGLE said at 8:42 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Barr, Attaucho,Marcus smith, A-Rob, C-Lat..
..
Assuming the Eagles fist pick(not neccessarily 22) will be spent on one of those prospects
10 Anders said at 9:15 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Reposting this from the other post:
Wow just saw on Twitter that Bill Parcells wanted to take Reggie White in the USFL draft in 1985 when they had the 3rd overall pick, 1 in front of the Eagles. Dear god everybody should be happy Reggie White and LT didnt play on the same team.
11 GEAGLE said at 9:28 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Jaws is lucky lol
12 barneygoogle said at 10:03 AM on May 5th, 2014:
The Eagles are moving up to draft offensive tackle Duke Morrison of USC, Hear he may go to Hollywood instead, and change name to John Wayne. (Well this is from an old draft guide.)
The truth is the Eagles have done their job–nobody knows what they are up to!.
13 Ark87 said at 10:11 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Good to hear the props to Lurie. He’s a super-classy guy and it goes from the top-down in his franchise. I don’t know if he’ll ever get his trophy, but to me it doesn’t matter, he made this franchise respectable again. I’m not into (Pro) basketball for the most part, so the whole Donald Sterling thing has been something of a revelation (and not just the racism, that guy was just awful at **everything**). Makes me really appreciate Lurie.
14 Michael Winter Cho said at 10:37 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Yep, the NFL is lucky indeed if Daniel Snyder is the worst owner. Although the Bidwells have been pretty lame.
15 Ark87 said at 4:26 PM on May 5th, 2014:
One of my favorite draft-related images ever. God I feel for any Jags fans. http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/002/273/752/jags1_crop_north.png?w=630&h=420&q=75
16 SteveH said at 8:08 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I like how they couldn’t even spring for a tablecloth or something, ANYTHING to spruce up the room they’d spend the next 3 days in.
17 Ark87 said at 10:38 PM on May 5th, 2014:
At least each dude got *2* folding tables. Gus must curse Chip every day…
18 Mike Roman said at 10:48 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Lurie, IMO, stuck with Reid too long and the fact that we almost always have $15 million of cap space kind of annoys me. But I don’t doubt for a second that he’s passionate about winning. And I know he does what he truly thinks is best. He lets his football guys handle that side of things while he focuses on the Eagles public image with work in the community, making the stadium eco friendly, etc. Class act guy. I don’t think he always gets the props that he deserves.
19 CrackSammich said at 11:25 AM on May 5th, 2014:
$15+ in cap space doesn’t mean what it does. With the rollover, this means he’s a *good* owner.
20 Insomniac said at 12:41 PM on May 5th, 2014:
$15? I can do that if I were the GM too!
21 Ark87 said at 11:29 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Yeah, but that just goes with who he is. Reid did so much for Lurie, did the loyal thing an gave him the benefit of the doubt a few years to long rather than risk cutting him a few years too early (call it erring on the side of classy). Anywho, you saw Reid with the Chiefs last year, he’s still got it. Wasn’t like he was hanging onto a total bum just because they’re buddies.
As for the cap thing, I don’t think that’s him pounding the table to pinch pennies. They use that for mid-season emergency additions then carry the rest over for the next season. We’ll be needing it, we’re actually scheduled to be a little tight up against the cap next season (we will be making some cuts or restructuring a lot of contracts, well maybe not so bad sans DJacc now).
22 Cafone said at 2:30 PM on May 5th, 2014:
“erring on the side of classy” – I like that.
23 Scott J said at 12:09 PM on May 5th, 2014:
You prefer we blow our cash by overpaying medicare talent like Washington and Dallas does?
24 Mike Roman said at 12:20 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I’d prefer that somebody blows me.
No seriously, I value the importance of having some wiggle room but I’d like to see us live on the edge a little. Take it down to $10 mil here or there if you see a player that can help you. I’m sure it’s not like this in reality but I always picture Lurie / Roseman / Banner start to sweat when the cap gets to around $17 million.
I just noticed that auto-correct changed mediocre to medicare. LOL. But often times the players those teams sign are nearing medicare age so maybe it’s fitting.
25 Scott J said at 12:26 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Banner left a couple of years ago. Interesting that you mentioned his name.
26 Mike Roman said at 1:32 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I mentioned his name because I was talking about any combination of the three over the last decade.
27 Mike Roman said at 12:21 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I knew my cap comment would piss people off. Of course no body says anything about all of the nice things I said about Lurie.
28 GEAGLE said at 1:28 PM on May 5th, 2014:
In fairness. Maintaining cap Flexibility can be a weapon. If you always spend to the limit it’s hard to pounce when an unexpected opportunity arises,,..maintain financial flexibility allows you to pounce on a weapon like Sproles when he is made available…a team that “lives on the edge” also ends up losing quality players in free agency, or being forced to cut players it would like to keep. We cut Desean and money had a lot to do with it..but we chose to do that. Desean is gone because we don’t want him here. If we wanted him here you can bet we would have made it work. We also make sure we can afford to keep quality young players in their prime where teams like the Bills lose one of the best safeties in the game in his prime. Could you imagine if we drafted and developed Dawkins and lost him in free agency at the age of 27? Philly would have been burnt to the ground lol
…
Seems like we are on the right path, to building the right way, no short cuts, just a sound foundation that will allow us to grow Into a top team, and sustain that level to years to come…..if you have a chance to be good for the next 5 years, no reason to go all in and strap yourself financially now…..now if we are good for the next 3-4 years but can’t get over the top, then it will come a point where the window is closing and we have to go all In and try to win before the window slams shut(which is where teams like the pats and Broncos are at right now)
29 Mike Roman said at 1:37 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I definitely appreciate the way the organization manages the cap. I mean, I threw out the $15 mil number, I didn’t really research that. But it does seem that we always have quite a bit leftover. It just makes me wonder sometimes if there is a line that they absolutely won’t cross, even if a player that could really help them out was available.
30 Anders said at 3:19 PM on May 5th, 2014:
The Eagles already have the 5th most money tied up in players for 2015. So its not like we aint using the money.
31 FairOaks said at 12:53 AM on May 6th, 2014:
Actually the Eagles used just about every bit of cap under Banner. A certain amount went to LTBE bonuses which were not earned, thus became cap space the next year (and therefore manufactured rollover before the recent CBA made that the rule), but the bulk of the cap room available at the start of the year was typically used for either in-season needs or extensions to current players. Using the current year’s space for the bonuses (often roster bonuses instead of signing bonuses, so the cap hit was immediate) would leave more cap space in future years as opposed to most teams at the time, who used signing bonuses to maximize the talent on the current year’s roster at the expense of future years. The Eagles were therefore always around the top teams in available space heading into a season, but in the end it really did get used. The Eagles were among the top teams in money actually spent as well (which is different than cap dollars), and almost never forced players to renegotiate contracts just to get under the cap, a regular occurrence for some other teams (*cough* Redskins *cough*).
As a fan it was frustrating watching other teams squeeze in more talent for the upcoming year while the Eagles kept the space (since fans don’t care much about future years at that point) but it did keep things pretty stable, and they never needed to cut good players due to cap reasons (which happened a lot to other teams). It worked in 2004, when they had enough space to go grab Owens and Kearse, and other times they signed the wrong guys in free agency (Stacy Andrews). I think one year, there were going to be a ton of teams in cap hell, but since the Eagles were one of only 2-3 teams in good shape the NFL found a way to increase the cap (it seemed), letting more teams out of it. Since Banner almost seemed to be playing for that year, you could argue the strategy failed in that sense. But the Eagles were never cheap — they just used the cap money at different times of year, and for different purposes.
32 mtn_green said at 3:05 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Lurie is a great owner. I’m sure Lurie has no problem spending whole cap every year. It’s gm job to manage it to advantage.
33 GEAGLE said at 10:26 AM on May 5th, 2014:
EAGLES just signed Alejandro Villanueva to a rookie FA contract. He will play DE after serving the Army these past 4 years.. But he played WR at west point . He is 6’9, sounds like he fits our big bully mold
34 76mustang said at 12:10 PM on May 5th, 2014:
West Point grad, former team captain – this guy will work circles around the other players in his position group, not to mention the attention to details and life perspective he’ll bring – Love that Chip values these type of players, will make those around him sharper for sure.
35 GEAGLE said at 12:26 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Kid has been called a “hidden gem”
..
Love that we leave no stone unturned.,and we are finding talent even in the LONGSHOT “regional combines”
36 Anders said at 1:40 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I wonder if we try him out as a TE. Consider he played OL and WR in college, you should be able to play TE, I mean a 6’9 TE in the end zone?
37 GEAGLE said at 1:52 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I thought the same thing…don’t get why we wouldn’t try him at TE before settling on converting him to DL…he can probably play TE now. How long is it going to he before a 277lb DL is even ready to stand a chance at DL? Confusing to me…
38 Anders said at 3:18 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Well he last played WR in college, hardly played any DL, so I really think he is a TE prospect.
39 Mike Roman said at 10:31 AM on May 5th, 2014:
OnTheClock – Fanspeak Results:
22 ILB C.J. MOSLEY ALABAMA
54 WR CODY LATIMER INDIANA
86 S DEONE BUCANNON WASHINGTON STATE
122 DE CHRIS SMITH ARKANSAS
162 CB AARON COLVIN OKLAHOMA
237 TE COLT LYERLA OREGON
I wanted to add a 2nd WR in the mid rounds but I couldn’t resist temptation with some of the defensive players on the board. I passed on Cooks, Lee, and Fuller to draft Mosley. I have a man crush on him.
40 SteveH said at 10:34 AM on May 5th, 2014:
If we got Mosley and Latimer I’d be ecstatic.
41 Mike Roman said at 10:43 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Me too. Attaochu is my other man crush but I guess we can’t have everything.
42 SteveH said at 10:41 AM on May 5th, 2014:
At first I was going to say that Jerruh was ranked far too highly, but after reading his argument 21 seems reasonable.
That’s just too ironic that we played the board perfectly and got both our top guys (Bunkley and Justice), which ended up being a terrible thing for us. We would have been better off if they had both retired the day before the draft.
Just out of curiosity, what did the Eagles see in Justice? If we were ready to take him at 14, and he somehow lasted until 36, obviously the other teams around the league weren’t nearly as high on him as we were.
43 ezgreene said at 10:45 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Really good stuff here on OLBs:
Marcus smith comes off better than I expected:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/rating-the-nfl-draft-prospects-linebackers-b99261940z1-257880521.html?ipad=y
44 NinjaP said at 10:46 AM on May 5th, 2014:
I think the eagles depth is pretty atrocious, can’t waste picks moving up.
45 GEAGLE said at 10:49 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Tom, you know anything about the army ranger we just signed? Crazy impressive versatility
46 Maggie said at 7:35 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Personally think his systems analyst degree is more impressive and useful.
47 bubqr said at 10:52 AM on May 5th, 2014:
I am nearly sure that Howie is setting up the smokescreen. Would not shock me if as you say they in fact target Mosley, Barr, or Clinton-Dix/Pryor, or Fuller, and are just hoping to get teams to jump them to pick a WR, having other players they covet drop. The narrative:
– Roseman says at least once he likes the WR class
– Info leaks not only that he wants to trade up, but to trade up for a WR (would he tell the other team “Hi I m Howie I really want BECKHAM JUNIOR, can I trade up?”)
Looks just too perfect. I’m not buying it.
48 oreofestar said at 10:55 AM on May 5th, 2014:
It is simple Barr and ODB will go in the same range it seems you know that 13-18 range so why let teams know you want Barr sell Beckham to the Steelers say you can’t trade pick Cowboys cuz you hate em and you are afraid Ravens take Beckham but you are really jumping Cowboys for Barr I am not a big fan of trading up but I’d do Barr and Pitt’s 5th for 22 and 86 if they LOVE BARR!
49 GEAGLE said at 10:59 AM on May 5th, 2014:
Every philly media member is running around “reporting” that we are exploring trade up options for ODB lol
Fools creating smoke screens for Howie…it’s laughable that these dudes think they would ever hear about this if it were our true intention…ODB name is a name that’s plausible that we are using to explore the market
50 oreofestar said at 11:00 AM on May 5th, 2014:
indeed
51 oreofestar said at 11:01 AM on May 5th, 2014:
ah…just remembered you still wanna do that mock or not I am understand if you don’t I am beginning to get sick of the draft stuff and just want it to happen
52 GEAGLE said at 11:02 AM on May 5th, 2014:
I’d cross ODB off our wish list completely after reading this lol…..
…
Then again, I’m convinced we value A-Rob and C-Lat more than cooks,ODB and Lee anyway
53 Shawn Williams said at 4:12 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Your comment makes the most sense. I mean really why tell all the NFL teams that ODB the player you want and that you are willing to move up to get him. #smokescreen
54 GEAGLE said at 5:01 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Not even jerry jones is that dumb…ODB is a credible name that people can’t just assume we are lying…he is just a credible name we are using to gauge the market…then again, I don’t believe we would trade up, so I find this entire rumor to be bogus
55 James Adair said at 9:04 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Or not
56 Weapon Y said at 2:32 PM on May 5th, 2014:
It might actually be the truth. Hear me out. If Howie lied every time, other GMs would know this is a smokescreen. He has to tell the truth some of the time to keep teams from accurately guessing his true intention.
57 Tom W said at 12:10 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Updated my eagles centric draft board. everyone will disagree on grades but that is fine. tried to keep it to chip scheme and measurables players. tried to include everyone we interviewed, met with, or worked out. didn’t include everyone at every pro day obv.
58 mksp said at 12:50 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Nice work
59 Tom W said at 9:26 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Dunno if he is tall or strong enough or physically gifted for chip …… Plus I think chip has a big school bias
60 Baloophi said at 12:16 PM on May 5th, 2014:
*** L.A. DRAFT PARTY! ***
Thursday, 4:30pm
Public House 1739
1745 North Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Attention Los Angeles area friends: laeagle and I will be gathering together Thursday at Public House 1739 to watch the draft, drink some beer, and heckle other teams’ selections. This hallowed tradition can trace its roots all the way back to last year when we did the exact same thing.
All are welcome, and there’s even a rumor that Anders is making the journey from Denmark to join us. Did I just start that rumor right now? Yes, but you can never be certain of rumors this time of year…
Public House is a surprisingly cavernous tavern but you’ll be able to find us easily because I’ve acquired a secret weapon: an Eagles helmet phone. We have no idea how it will come into play during the draft, but we’re both confident it will somehow prove essential.
61 SteveH said at 8:05 PM on May 5th, 2014:
So… can you use that phone to field calls for your live-draft webcast? I think it would just be brilliant to field Eagles calls on your Eagles Phone.
62 Baloophi said at 8:34 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I haven’t hooked it up yet but I’m assuming it can do anything and everything in the telecommunications realm, up to and including teleportation.
Also, I wonder if I can tap into the Eagles’ War Room if I simply put a bright green sticker on the back…
63 Matt said at 12:32 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Top Players I want (I realize many will be gone by eagles picks but anything could happen on draft day)
ROUND 1, Pick 22:
1. HaHa Clinton-Dix S Alabama
2. Calvin Pryor S Louisville
3. Kyle Fuller CB Virginia Tech
4. Darqueze Dennard CB Michigan St.
5. Justin Gilbert CB Oklahoma St.
6. Odell Beckham Jr. WR LSU
7. Anthony Barr OLB UCLA
8. Brandin Cooks WR Oregon St.
9. Bradley Roby CB Ohio St.
10. Marquise Lee WR USC
ROUND 2
1. Kyle Van Noy OLB BYU
2. Jimmie Ward S Northern Illinois
3. Cody Latimer WR Indiana
4. Kelvin Benjamin WR FSU
5. Stanley Jean-Baptiste CB Nebraska
6. Jordan Matthews WR Vanderbilt
7. Stephon Tuitt DE Notre Dame
8. Jeremiah Attaochu OLB Georgia Tech
9. Deone Bucannon S Washington St.
10. Bashaud Breeland CB Clemson
64 Maggie said at 7:32 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I sincerely hope you are being sarcastic or something.
65 Matt said at 11:19 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Sarcastic about who/what? You have to be more specific. Thats the order of players Id want at those picks, if available
66 Baloophi said at 12:34 PM on May 5th, 2014:
$$$ ANNUAL IGGLES BLITZ CHALLENGE $$$
NEED 35 PARTICIPANTS
Friends,
With the NFL draft right around the corner it’s time to remind everyone of all the hard work Tommy and Sam do to bring us this special space. It takes a lot of time and effort to continually create new content, maintain the website, and respond to questions / comments /death threats after a mock draft. With that in mind, I’d like to ask everyone here to take a minute of your own time and consider making a donation in any amount to Iggles Blitz.
Each year I’ve asked for an increasing number of donations and this year the goal is 35 – up ten from last year. If we can hit 35 before the draft, I will make a three-digit contribution to IgglesBlitz. In the past I’ve named a per donation dollar amount but being “between jobs” at the moment I’m afraid I can’t commit to a specific amount for fear of Mrs. Baloophi kicking me to the couch – and she has much better legs than Alex Henery. That sounds weird.
Your annual contributions go a long way toward acquiring and maintaining a tape library, licensing and legal fees, Megan Fox blow-up dolls, and bribes to Swoop for inside information.
On the right hand side of the page under the “Blog Roll” is a “DONATE” button. Please consider giving any amount you feel comfortable with to a resource I know you all enjoy as much as I do. No need to post how much you have given, and if you’re not able to at this time, please consider “voting up” this post so it’s front and center for others.
I know many of you graciously donated to the site just a couple months ago to help get Tommy to the Senior Bowl and that he was enormously grateful. Now let’s help keep the site going for the 2014 season!
NOTE: Tommy and Sam have not solicited this challenge in any way, shape or form and will undoubtedly shy away from it. Besides, they should be busy preparing for the inevitable fallout when the Eagles trade all their picks to move up and draft Johnny Manziel.
67 Rambler said at 12:49 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Thanks for everyone involved in keeping this website up and running. It truly is an awesome resource for well-informed Eagles info. Really appreciate the community interaction as well, as everyone here has great insight and thoughtful opinions. Keep up the great work everyone, and thanks for all the effort. Despite my disagreement with the mistreatment of blow-up dolls, I gladly made a 4 digit donation (2 of those digits occur after the decimal point). Cheers!
68 Anders said at 1:48 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Donated with pleasure
69 phillychuck said at 10:08 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Donated with pleasure as well.
70 Insomniac said at 12:38 PM on May 5th, 2014:
What’s a reasonable price though? This draft is top heavy and has quality players that could either start or thrive as role-players. To go from our 22 to say 15-19 might take a 4th or 3rd since everyone wants more picks in the top 150. That’s one player that might or might not pan out but it’s the same for the guy you’re trading up with.
Even though the media wants to rate our roster as “decent”, it’s really not. Behind some starters, we have the foundation of the Jaguars. Using picks from this year to trade up is not reasonable right now.
71 GEAGLE said at 1:04 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Yup..,there is NO reasonable price…$100 is nothing to Donald trump, but it’s a fortune to a homeless man…Niners are Donald trumps of this draft..we may not be a homeless man, but our roster isn’t wealthy like that of the bengals either…
…
I just don’t see us moving up in this draft..actually i could see us screwing up the market and undercutting the rest of the teams so we can aquire more pics..what I mean is: say a team like the Niners wants to trade up, they will call around and look for the best offer. Teams don’t use the value chart, but they all pretty much have a consensus on what picks are worth..so normally it would cost a 3rd for a team to move from 30 to 18-25. We have the 22nd pick, if the team with the 21st pick wants to trade back, than I’m sure the Niners would chose to move up to 21 instead of 22 if the cost is the same…because we only have 6 picks, when we typically have 10, I could see Howie screwing up the market and accept a pick in a later round than everyone else…so if normally it cost a 3rd to move up into 18-25 range, I wonder if Howie screws the other GMs and accepts a 4th instead to ensure that the team that wants to trade up does business with us instead of the cardinals,packers, dolphins and jets. Although that would probably really piss GMs off…but this is such a deep draft, it may be worth accepting a pick a round later than it’s worth to assure that teams do business with us instead of the other teams in our range..
…
I’d rather get a 3rd round pick trading back to 30, but if I’m not getting that 3rd because the cardinals want it and they pick two spots higher! I’d rather get a 4th round pick and move down to 30, than be stuck at 22 because I insisted on a 3rd round pick..
…
Very deep draft, less picks than we have had in years…wondering if Howie screws the market up and undercuts other GMs accepting less compensation than we should to ensure we get to move back and pick more than 6 times…
72 GEAGLE said at 2:09 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Curious to hear peoples thoughts on this strategy…kind of like a poison pill for the draft..
73 barneygoogle said at 5:10 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Good thinking, but I wonder. This is a young roster. Why have ten picks, then have to cut half of them or more? We’d be drafting them for other teams. But I would like at least one extra mid rounder. Use it on an injured guy with great upside. If he pans out, it’s like an extra #1 or 2 pick.
74 GEAGLE said at 5:42 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Good thing about coaches like Chip and Pete Carrol is competition determines everything. If an Undrafted player kicks and expensive players ass, Chip will keep the undrafted player..sounds simple and logical but we will still see spineless coaches like Phylbin, play a bum like wheeler over Dion because they gave Wheeler a big money deal, and he just kicked his feet up, took the money and mailed it in.,,
…
Even if we don’t have roster spots, the more talent we bring in, the harder it will be to make our team. Guys should have to claw and scratch every day, study all night to be sharp and execute their assignments correctly because they are in a dogfight for a roster spot. “Iron sharpens iron”..the harder it is to make our team, the better we will be….. Of course we still need to prioritize quality over quantity…
…
We have a quality starting roster in place, but our depth is really lacking. We aren’t yet at the point where we don’t have many roster spots to fill. Just see the absurd amount of snaps Demeco played last year. We need to improve depth across the board…the only two spots we could afford to ignore is TE and RB…and I can still see us add more to those spots..
Hopefully we hit on our picks this year and next year so we can reach the point where we don’t have roster spots..sounds like a good problem to have 🙂
75 Tom W said at 12:55 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Rap sheet …. Best news I hear all offseason. Fat Andy and the chiefs in on a qb at 23!!!!!!! After long term talks w smith not going well, making the eagles at 22 the perfect pivot point for a trade up for a qb needy team in top 10 of draft to land the third or fourth qb off the board!!!!
76 GEAGLE said at 1:08 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Been saying it for months that Andy Would draft a QB…so will the cardinals….it’s the new blueprint. When a team gets a new coach, that coach gets a veteran QB first to implement the offersemand and get the team headed in the right direction. And the next year it drafts it’s young QB….I’d actually be completely shocked if KC and the cardinals don’t draft a QB in the first two rounds….thought then go drafting a QB was a no BRAINER…so it’s nice that the browns may have to jump KC, but it won’t matter if Bruce Arrians gets his fat fingers on a falling QB before he gets to 22…cardinals are problematic, both with a falling QB and a falling Barr
77 GEAGLE said at 1:14 PM on May 5th, 2014:
We need to try to figure out which, and how many prospects we can confidently say will be drafted in the top 20
78 eagleyankfan said at 2:04 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I can, with pin point accuracy, say how many prospects will be drafted in the top 20. 🙂
79 GEAGLE said at 2:07 PM on May 5th, 2014:
THIS JUST IN: Roger Goodell is considering moving round 1 on Thursday to 10:30pm instead of the scheduled time of 8pm…apparently there is an extra $12 for him to pocket if he moves the draft back two and a half hours….stay tuned for more on this story
80 eagleyankfan said at 2:47 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Prior and Barr?
81 GEAGLE said at 2:57 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Don’t think Barr is a lock…prior I don’t even think about because I don’t think we would draft him even if he was on the board at 22, but there is a good chance he goes in the bears to jets range,,,
..
Mosley most likely goes top 20, but I’m not completly sold on it…
…
This draft is so deep that it’s pretty hard to figure out, we have had the media consensus pounded in our brains for months that we start to believe the draft will fall a certain way, when reality could be much different,,,and it’s so deep with talent that it’s hard to figure how guys come off the board. There are so many guy who would easily go 15 or just as easily go 25 like Zack Martin. Dennard, Cooks….ODB is talked about anywhere from #8 to #22.. Tough to figure this year out,,,just not much of a difference between a guy who goes #12 and a guy who goes #28..
82 eagleyankfan said at 3:44 PM on May 5th, 2014:
that’s exactly the problem. I know there’s a lot of BPA talk … but the Eagles have to rank this group(say 15-30) weighing in some need. How else do you separate them?
83 GEAGLE said at 4:52 PM on May 5th, 2014:
BPA is crap..it doesn’t even exist til later in the draft. The big board isn’t a ranking of prospects where you look at your board and just take whoever is at the top of your board…it’s a grading system, so when it’s your turn to pick, prospects are grouped in tiers and you are choosing between similarly graded prospects..the notion that we would draft a RB because he is at the top of our board with an 8.4’grade, instead of an OLB with an 8.2 grade is insanity…positions always come into play…..BPA only really happens later in the draft…when you are in round 5 and you can’t believe a RB you had a round 3 grade on is still available, you draft that player regardless of his position…
…
BPA is just the cute way GMs figured out how to say NO COMMENT and justify picking players that the public may not agree with….positions will always play a Role in who you select…
,,
Now say we really need an OLB,WR but there isn’t a player at that position in the tier of players at the top of your board, you aren’t going to take an OLB from another tier just because you have a major need….you will either try and trade back, or you will chose a player From the top tier that doesn’t play a position that matches your major need…
84 Ian Patrick said at 3:25 PM on May 5th, 2014:
i cannot give a reason as to why this makes sense to me, but i am hoping we grab Gilbert. I know he is not a WR or pass rusher, but he would shore up our pass D, help in the return game, and he has some of the most silky smooth hands in this class. i like him the most of the CB. i like Latimer the most of the WR but his school scares me. WIth that in mind, i would like Lee but you cannot expect him to last until round 2. i think Gilbert and Matthews makes the most sense to me in rounds 1 and 2.
85 GEAGLE said at 6:04 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Think both Gilbert and Fuller are going top 18….all the mocks have fuller at 22, as if the Titans didn’t just lose their star CB to free agency and Fuller isn’t the perfect Fisher type CB…Jeff loves the physical cortland Finnegan types….Gilbert is going to the lions, followed by fuller to Titans,,,
86 Rick said at 3:27 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Hey Tommy (and everyone else), just for fun, who would you take if the Eagles held the number one pick in this year’s draft. No trading down!
87 GEAGLE said at 3:37 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Clowney,,,PERIOD! Lol
88 barneygoogle said at 5:06 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Either Leonard Renfro or John Harris.
89 GEAGLE said at 5:59 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Finkle or Einhorn
90 ChaosOnion said at 6:47 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Trade down to pick Sammy Watkins and make the offense even better.
91 Maggie said at 7:29 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Repeat. “NO TRADING DOWN!”
92 Guest said at 8:25 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I’m pretty sure that was sarcasm since Sammy Watkins should be gone in the first five picks.
93 ChaosOnion said at 2:52 PM on May 6th, 2014:
Trade down to pick Maggie and make the message board even louder.
94 barneygoogle said at 4:00 PM on May 5th, 2014:
WE sign Villaneueva. Is he a 6’9″, 277LB DE– or is he the world’s biggest linebacker? Rushing the passer has to be easier than rushing the Taliban.
Never saw this one coming.
95 Anders said at 5:12 PM on May 5th, 2014:
He worked out as a TE at the regional combine, so I think he plays that for us consider he last played we before that ot. He started as a de in college but ended as we do te makes the most sense
96 GEAGLE said at 5:59 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Don’t understand why every media member reported it as Eagles signing a DE…where did they get that he is playing DE for us? Did the eagles confirm that, or did a media member assume that, and the rest of the parrots just took it and ran with it?
97 A_T_G said at 6:03 PM on May 5th, 2014:
From PE dot com:
“The transition for Villanueva goes beyond his way of life. On the field, the 6-foot-9, 277-pounder is also being asked to switch sides of the ball. Villanueva brought his gloves to the workout with the Eagles but quickly realized after being put through bag drills that his future with the team would not be on offense – rather, it would be on the defensive line.”
98 GEAGLE said at 6:05 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Thank you.., that settles that lol
99 Anders said at 6:07 AM on May 6th, 2014:
Thanks, makes sense now because he the video I saw, he worked at at TE at the regional combine
100 barneygoogle said at 6:58 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I agree with you TE, too slow for WR–but the Eagles now have him as a DE.
101 GEAGLE said at 5:27 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Last year we were one of only two teams who got 16 games out of all three of their first picks(Lane,Logan,Ertz)…Howie said he is excited about how those 3 players looked when they arrived for the start of our offseason program because it’s evident those 3 players worked hard on their bodies instead of getting complacent after rookie success…dying to know the target playing weight for Logan this year. Kruger says he expecting to play at 290lbs. Someone we never talk about who I can’t wait to see in the preseason is Travis long…I really liked him as a prospect.
..
We take Cox for granted but he is still just a baby. At 22yrs old his body isn’t done growing. Wonder what his offseason target goals are. We really take Kelce for granted and act like he is a wise old Vet because he is already practically an all pro center but he still probably has a lot of improving to do. Excited about Kelce,JP and Herremans getting to enjoy our offseasons sports science program Instead of having to rehab injuries like last summer…what about Ertz? We forget that kid didn’t even have an offseason last year because of silly NCAA graduation rules. Getting an entire offseason of Eagles training should do wonders for him.. Kendrick gets to build off last year instead of having to transition from 43 SAM to 34ILB again..expect that kid to have less thinking to do this year which should allow him to unleash all that athleticism causing less mistakes and more of those plays where he looks like an all pro shot out of a cannon…Amazing how well Lane started to play in the second half of the year considering how raw he was. Kid should really take off and expect this to be the beginning of a Dominant career..
…
Last year was such an exciting year, yet we probably didn’t even come close to seeing the best so many of our players have to offer. Amazing to see what our coaches could do with our players after a few months of training. Just drooling at the thought of seeing so many of out players return as drastically improved players….our guys are no longer scrambling to learn everything and keep up, We get to build on the quality foundation we built last year and this team is just going to take off…we get caught up with offseason additions, but when a team is this young, they will grow exponentially for the first couple of summers…
…
Think we barely scratched the surface last year. We haven’t seen anything yet. Just watch what a dominant monster Stoutland and veterans like JP and Mathis turn Lane into. Just wait til Coach Azz,turns Cox into violent force…Ertz takes that drastic year two leap that the great TEs have had…
…
We lucky if we saw 70% of the level our guys eventually play at…”Good Times!! Scratchin and surving…Good Times!”
102 suthrneagle said at 7:24 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Very good analysis…but together w/you BPA speech,it`s a little confusing…do they go for a BPA positionally, or per tier, as you deailed before?
103 GEAGLE said at 7:36 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Tier….picking at 22 you should probably be picking in the 2nd or 3rd tier of players…let’s say 2nd tier..but you see 1 player from the first tier is still on the board (Aaron Donald),’you take him even if he isn’t the best fit or biggest need…now since it’s not a ranking off all the prospect, if a good player really doesn’t fit what you do, then he won’t even be on your teams board..so if Donald isn’t on your board, we wouldn’t pick him just because he fell to us…but if you had him on your board, grouped in with the first tier, then you would draft him…we only put 150 or so prospects on our big board, so if a player is on your board as a draft able player for you, you take him…
…
104 suthrneagle said at 8:15 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Cool, Thnx
105 GEAGLE said at 6:14 PM on May 5th, 2014:
We talk about how we could possible trade guys like Bryce or BG during the draft…anyone have any ideas of quality players other teams might trade away during the draft? Only names I really heard mentioned are Cousins,Nassib and,Glennon..
106 A_T_G said at 8:07 PM on May 5th, 2014:
“We played touch…” on the base in Afghanistan, “but tackle in the last quarter if things got pretty intense and it was a tie game, that’s when we’d bring guys down to the ground.”
That should help him relate to the veterans. We played touch for a couple of years, then switched to tackle last year.
107 D3FB said at 8:18 PM on May 5th, 2014:
Thank god for him though that he played his college ball first. Otherwise the NCAA would read that and decide he had already exhausted his eligibility playing in a “competitive league” elsewhere.
108 planetx1971 said at 8:40 PM on May 5th, 2014:
6 picks is going to make it feel like Santa pulled a hammy this year but I sure am gettin excited all the same!
109 Baloophi said at 9:00 PM on May 5th, 2014:
I would imagine Santa pulls a hammy every year… hauling that much weight around PLUS everything in the bag, climbing on roofs… Have to think he stuffs his own stocking with Icy Hot…