Monday Night Update
Posted: May 12th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 183 Comments »The Eagles hoped to take an offensive lineman in the draft. They had targeted some mid-round guys, but Howie Roseman talked about the fact that there was a run on OL in the 3rd round. The guys I think the Eagles were most interested in were OG/OC Marcus Martin and OG Spencer Long.
I don’t know how many more OL the team had targeted, but they didn’t take anyone.
The Eagles did load up with UDFAs. (bios from PE.com)
Josh Andrews, G – Oregon State
6-2, 311
Andrews started 32 career games for the Beavers, including 30 straight, as a reliable member of the Oregon State offensive line. After locking up the left guard position during spring practice as a sophomore in 2011, Andrews went on to start the next 25 consecutive games during his junior and senior campaigns. A three-year starter on the offensive line at Colony HS (CA), he earned first-team All-Mt. Baldy League accolades three times as a tackle.
Donald Hawkins, G – Texas
6-4, 301
A 2013 AP second-team all-league honoree, G Donald Hawkins started in 24 of his 25 career games as a two-year contributor on the offensive line at Texas. Prior to his time in Austin, TX, he was a NJCAA first-team All-American at Northwest Community College. As a senior captain at Rosa Fort HS (MS), Hawkins was a two-time all-district honoree that helped his team become co-district champions.
Kevin Graf, T – USC
6-6, 309
Graf earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors following his senior season of 2013. He was a three-year starter at USC, where his father lettered three years as an offensive guard and played on their 1972 National Championship squad. His brother, Derek, lettered at center for USC in 2002.
Karim Barton, G – Morgan State
6-2, 313
Barton earned first-team All-MEAC honors following his senior campaign at Morgan State. He started at right tackle during his three seasons at Morgan State after transferring from College of the Canyons Junior College in 2010. Barton moved to the United States from Jamaica at the age of 13 after his mother passed away. He attended Verdugo Hills High School in Los Angeles, CA.
This is a solid group of UDFAs, but I certainly wouldn’t count on any of them making the team. I’ll study them more carefully and write up some notes on how these guys fit in. I think Andrews and Hawkins have the best chance based on what I’ve seen from them.
In order to help matters…
Veteran T/G Daryn Colledge to visit the #Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday, source confirmed.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) May 12, 2014
Colledge, 6-4, 308, has started 124 of the 128 games he’s played in during his career. He is an OG that spent the last 3 years starting for the Cardinals. Colledge would provide a veteran presence to the competition for backup spots. The Eagles have some interesting backups, but they are very young, aside from Allen Barbre, who is the backup LT.
I’ll do a full post on the backup OL in the next couple of weeks. Some quick thoughts…
The Eagles have good starters. Barbre was an excellent backup last year. The team says they like Julian Vandervelde. Matt Tobin played OT and OG last summer. He impressed in both roles.
The 2 big mystery men, literally and figuratively, are Dennis Kelly and Michael Bamiro. The coaching staff didn’t get much of a chance to work with Kelly last year. We don’t know what they think of him, but he has started at RT for multiple games in 2012. Bamiro was a major project last summer. He has practiced at RG and RT. I don’t know if that is a case of cross-training him or trying to find a spot where he looks like a viable player.
The backup OL could turn out to be a really solid unit or a major mess. This is an area where player development is crucial.
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Evan Silva of Rotoworld seems pretty high on the Jordan Matthews pick.
Jordan Matthews landed in great situation with #Eagles. Will play slot as rookie, perfect for him. Could be No. 1 pass-game option by '15.
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) May 13, 2014
That means nothing, but is an interesting opinion.
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Quick note about the previous thread…some of you didn’t get the reference.
Many of you did get the reference and there were some terrific jokes in the comments section. Kudos for those.
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Just watched some more tape of Smith and that spin move is gonna be freaking deadly in the next level with coaching. How long has Smith played OLB again? It’s only been a couple of years right? If so I am really excited about this pick!
especially given the OLs in the division — we should dominate.
Really? Because 3 of the best play in the NFCE- phi, was, dal
So when he DOES dominate them it will be all the more sweet! MUAHAHAHAH
I wouldn’t consider Dallas (although they’ve shockingly taken steps to get better) and Washington as having some of the best OLs in the league.
Dallas has three young OL who all have pro bowl level talent.
All 3 teams added good players to the OL.
Giants now have Beatty-Schwartz-Richburg(think he wins it)-Snee-Pugh. That is a lot of youth, but has potential, just a few years to late for Eli Manning.
Dallas can have a great young left side for a decade plus if Jones can manage the cap (LOL).
Trent Williams is one of the best LTs in the game and the Skins just added two nice players in the 3rd round in Moses and Long
I’m curious to see how Moses plays out. Kind of a one year wonder at LT, was not a solid player at RT and he obviously isn’t taking over for Trent on the left.
Yeah I agree, although I’ll reserve some judgement on Martin until he actually plays in the NFL. I more meant the other two guys on that line are so bad they weigh the rest of them down.
Specifically meant LT, sorry
Yeah definitely then I would not argue about that.
Only played defense for I think 2 or 3 yrs. And, only started to put it together last yr. People who think that talent like his would have been available in the third round are crazy. I admittedly knew nothing about him when the pick was made. I literally thought Goddell had mispronounced Marqise Lee when he said his name. But, since then I made a point to watch highlights of his versus the 3 or so OLB/DE drafted in the second round and his skill set jumps off the screen as being much much better. His first step is really explosive, his hand use is violent, his athleticism is noticeable, his closing speed is top notch, he covers well in the pass game and his play recognition is stellar. Given the choice of marqise lee in the 1st and Attaochu in the 2nd vs Smith and Matthews. I’ll take our picks every day and twice on Sunday. Smith is the type of high ceiling, still improving commodity with all the requisite athleticism to succeed that actually has the potential to be a force but got taken later due to being a late bloomer that is precisely what you want to take at the end of the first round. People get so caught up in Mayock and Kipers rankings that they fail to see the Forrest through the trees. He wasn’t a reach. He would have been gone by 34 for sure, he fits a need and has all the skills we covet. Don’t over think it. Chances are he’ll be better than anyone taken between 26 and 34.
Plus you had in Watkins and Hart which we got be trading back and he far out weighs drafting marqise lee at 22 like we all probably would have been happy with, because it wouldn’t have “seemed” like a reach.
The guy is smart too. He doesn’t get fooled easily and he picked up the nuances of a zone defense pretty well for someone who only played D for a few years.
I think we got a steal.
We absolutely got a steal….this kid is going to make a lot of “experts” look like “amateurs”
Totally agree. Great stuff Jernst, we got ourselves a player. A dude who started playing defense a few years ago and was already 2nd in sacks, lining up all over the place, dropping into coverage…I feel so lucky that he is an eagle.
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3 most valued positions in football:
1)’QB, we have the young Rainmaker…what a SCORE he is!
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2) Lane Johnson…all pro potential, new to the position, improving drastically each month
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3) Marcus smith! the defensive version of Lane. QB Brain developing into an athletic Edge Force!!
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Love how Howie and Chip are Bulding this team
“I literally thought Goddell had mispronounced Marqise Lee when he said his name.”
hahaha you weren’t the only one. I was devastated too because I had money on Lee at that point.
“Given the choice of marqise lee in the 1st and Attaochu in the 2nd vs Smith and Matthews.”
I think this is a great point actually. Gave me a better perspective
He talked about some of the other moves he has that wants to use more:
“The Chop”
“Chop and spin”
“Speed to power”
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Head over to PE.com and check out the video where Marcus is in studio with Greg Cossell….great stuff
wow, great stuff. Where can I find more breakdown of Eagles tape like this?
Achieves PE.com is your best bet(video section)..u already saw the one with Marcus and Cossel? I assume they will be doing ones with the rest of the new draft pics as the weak goes on
Yeh I saw it. He looks like the kind of amoeboid we need on this D. That’s right amoeboid.
Is it dumb to think Matthews has HOF potential?
Only if you’re talking about the hockey HOF.
or Bruce Matthews
I’m really interested in his development. If you just look at his CV, he checks all the boxes you can hope for.
– all-time SEC leader in yards and receptions (production on a consistent basis: check)
– 6’3, 212 with 4.46 40 time (measurables: check)
– degree in 3 1/2 years (really smart: check)
– one of the best interviews ever for Howie, orders a game tape from the McDonalds employee if he orders there (great work ethic/attitude to the game: check)
Now it can all go wrong and he just can’t beat man coverage on this level, for whatever reason. But it doesn’t feel that way.
What happened to addressing ILB during the draft? I would think that at least bring in jones and skov as UDFA,especially since skov is a Stanford guy and chip path seems to be fond of those guys.
Skov wanted to stay bay area; chose SF over OAK
Jones was passed over by everyone. Wonder what really happened there…
Too slow…the ILB we needed to add needed to be fast, subpackage player
I shudder at the thought that Team management would take Casey Matthews over Jones.
This ILB class was really poor. Alot of the guys were conversion projects, two down backers, or nickel/will backers. Normally there are at least a solid half dozen LB’s that go between picks 40-100. KVN, who is a conversion project went at 40. Then you had Kirksey, Brown, and Borland go from 71-77, and that’s it. Kirksey is probably only a sub package player, Brown and Borland both ran in the 4.8’s. Brown only played downhill and Borland is a midget. The only guys that really may have been fits were Tripp who is coming from the FCS and Avery Williamson who was probably right on the bubble of being a 2 down vs 3 down LB.
Chip said we liked Mosley but after him there was a major drop off
Wis Kirksey was there in the 3rd then we could turn down the trade down and take him and get Huff(cuz I htink he would have taken him regardless) and hope Hart falls to 162 so we basically lose Watkins and Reynolds for Kirksey which will give he exuse to take Mitchell is 7th so
1.Marcus Smith
2.Jordan Matthews
3.Christian Kirksey
3.Josh Huff
5.Taylor Hart
7..Terrance Mitchell
I like the candor from the front office. It seems like some years all we hear is how every guy we got was a gem that we couldn’t believe was still available. I like hearing that not everything went according to plan and they took steps towards a plan B. It makes the excitement about Smith and others seem more believable.
Also, Kelly’s acknowledgement that everyone says they had a great draft right after the draft but in reality, you don’t really know. Refreshing!
Not come back to DJax unnecessarily, but everyone is blasting the front office about NOT being forthcoming about his release. There are some things you just can’t say, especially if they aren’t nice. I certainly don’t know what happened either, but this isn’t the Andy Reid era of shutting everyone out of the thinking. again some things just can’t be discussed. I applaud the front office.
http://dailysnark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/InfamousBrownsJersey-375×500.jpg
Thanks for the perspective.
I’m glad someone updated it!
Maybe after such phenomenal drafts in 12 and 13 this one just seems a bit underwhelming. We were spoiled for two years. Its like getting two tests back and you got 93 and then you got the third back and it was an 87. Still good but just not up to par in your eyes.
as you know better than I do, it takes couple years to find out how you did with the draft. so many variables …..
And as you know, I really know nothing at all. LOL
So far 12 is 100% carried by Foles and Boykin, if Kendricks and Cox reaches potential, it will have been a great draft, but I think people overrate them right now. Yes finding a potential franchise QB in the 3rd can carry any draft, but doing that is more luck than skill.
We’ll put Anders. I’m actually higher on Kendricks than Cox right now. I’m seriously hoping that they both take a step in the right direction this year.
Cox and Kendricks will arrive as big time players this year
I’m somewhat confident that Kendricks will shine, but I have strong doubts about Cox, and those doubts have less to do with him and more to do with scheme. They’re going to have to be more willing to go with hybrid schemes this year, or Cox isn’t going to live up to his promise for the Eagles. If they stay with a 2-gap base, Cox will largely be wasted.
Why? No one two gaps in pass rushing situations.. When it’s 3rd and 8, you always see us in a 4man line with Cox either pinning his ears back and playing kill the QB(-Cliff Henny) or he is twisting and stunting, looping around Trent Cole who is crashing inside, and Cox coming from the edge…
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Two gapping is really just for playing the run…who cares if Cox is stopping the RB, or freeing up Kendrick, or meco to stop the running back?
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Billy Davis and Azzinaro aren’t dumb they always unleash cox on 3rd down to kill the QB…he may have not had a crazy amount of sacks last year(DTs aren’t sack masters)..but he would probably have had a 10 sack year, if QBs didn’t rush to force the ball out when Cox was about to hit them, often forcing QBs to rush and throw INTs that Boykin captalized on….go back and look at all our interceptions. A good percentage came because Cox was inches from sacking the QB, so QBs forced a bad pass that we picked off….I’d rather Cox get No sacks and keep forcing QBs to throw INTs lol…..
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If you take away the forced throws that led to INTs that Cox Caused and you add them to his sack total, bet you are left with extremely impressive sack numbers for a DT
When Boykin was on NFL network a few weeks ago and they were showing film of his INTs, on a many of his INTs he praised Cox for forcing QB to rush the bad throw
1. I hope Cox proves me wrong. I love him as a player. But…
2. 2-gapping neutralizes his greatest strengths. So even if they are “only” 2-gapping on most first and second downs, let’s put that at a conservative 40% of his snaps. That means his greatest strengths are being underutilized for 2 out of every 5 snaps. That’s going to cut down on his effectiveness and production.
3. 2-gapping is a grind. It’s going to sap his explosiveness when he’s engaging and shedding, compared to the effort of firing through a gap repeatedly. So even on those other snaps where he’s 1-gapping, he’s going to be less effective. This is part of the reason why everyone wanted it to be a 4-3 under last summer – it’s a hybrid front that lets them use Cox to his fullest. A pure 3-4 2 gap system is not optimal for him. He can still be a good player, but the system is not designed for DEs to be playmakers. They’re by and large role players – by design. So unless Davis is going to gravitate towards a Belichekian hybrid design, Cox is not going to reach his full potential as a playmaker. He may still be a very good player, but he’s not going to live up to the ceiling we all foresaw in his rookie year.
Another OL named Andrews…
was just going to say that- lets hope he has 1/2 the ability.
Third times the charm?
Not sure why people do not like Shawn. Guy was the best guard in the game when he was healthy. Not Shawn’s problem he had back problem and a depression.
No, and it isn’t Casey Mathews fault that he isn’t fast enough or strong enough, either. In both cases, though, it is disappointing from a fan perspective that the player wasn’t able to do more to get us to the promise land.
I don’t like Shawn, because had we drafted Wilfork, he would still be Beasting for us…..but when Shawn played, he was fantastic….I’m just turned off by OL who blow their money buying Penguins smh lol
There is no such thing as blowing your money on a penguin. They are just too cool. If you have the chance to get one, you must.
Lol grown ass man playing with penguins
Penguins? How do I not remember this?
Lol big goofball bought penguins,mdont remember if he bought 1 or two
Graf is a Tobin clone, RT who’ll have to move to OG due to 32″ arms.
Hawkins is a JAG, nothing special.
Andrews is another center prospect at 6’2.
Barton is short and slow.
Eagles really have to make OL a priority next offseason.
I’m sure they will. I still want to see what we have in Kelly. We heard nothing about him last year after the injury.
Watched some tape on Andrews last night. Kid has no shot. Has zero understanding of his shoulders or hips in pass pro. Not very impressive against the run. Had to turn the tape off.
Josh Andrews is not the first Eagle to receive All-Mt. Baldy League accolades. I recall in 2012, the big man with the L-shaped pinky could hardly contain himself while talking about Bryce “Bo Jackson” Brown.
Spadaro just posted a picture he took of The War Room during the Eagles Draft, complete with The Big Board in the background. I think I actually see you there back in the far right corner, Tommy. Care to comment?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Dr._Strangelove_-_The_War_Room.png/220px-Dr._Strangelove_-_The_War_Room.png
Mein Fuhrer!
Taylor Hart isn’t athletic enough for the NFL? I just saw him break up a screen pass, chase BRANDON COOKS 15 yards down field, and take on multiple double teams without being overwhelmed. Good 5th rounder? Probably. 3rd? Probably not.
Excellent pick….philly will love hart
I missed Strangelove Day?!?!?!
I had a whole five minute set lined up about Cox and his precious bodily fluids!
Eagles got the best young pass rusher in the division…he will be head and shoulders above Demarcus Lawrence! Trent Murphy and Damontre Moore..
…can’t wait to see him in pre season. love this kid..
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Everyone say it with me lol 1,2,3…Maaaaaaaaaarcus Daaaaaaarling!!!
I’m happy that we can use him immediately and because he hasn’t played defense his whole life, he will hopefully have much room to grow. Have you seen his spin move?!!? Really cool stuff.
Oh yeah…that kid has more moves than you would think from someone so raw. Coach Charlie strong did a great job with him.. So excited to have him…adding him made my entire offseason. I’m just SOOO happy
Saint cut Chase Thomas…wonder if this spells the end of h NFL career or will he latch on somewhere else as a camp body?
I wasn’t able to keep up with the comments on the boards this weekend so I apologize if this has already been discussed. My brother is losing his shit over acquiring Oregon players. My argument is that it isn’t the same as AR taking guys from BYU. These were highly productive players from a very good college program. However, you still have to wonder if the Eagles passed on better talent to take players that Chip was comfortable with. There are pluses and minuses either way. I’d love to hear Tommy’s take, or anyone else’s for that matter.
P.S. F–k the media. I love the Smith pick and I truly believe he would have been taken in the next 10 picks had the Eagles not selected him.
The way that the FO is approaching it is that they can see Oregon players executing more or less the exact same scheme/concepts they’ll have to execute for this team. You add on the fact that Huff isn’t that different from a Martavius Bryant besides 5 or so inches and that somebody like Martavius Bryant was a reliable underachiever in college, and it makes sense. Taylor Hart is just the prototypical 3-4 end, which the eagles had a massive need for as depth. It’s not exactly surprising such a player would come out of Oregon.
Smith would have been taken in the next 5picks, so yeah F the media!!
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As for your brother…if Chip drafted all these Oregon guys last year, I would be a little concerned. But Chip has had a year to see the NFL up close. He has found out what works, what doesn’t work, and what he needs to be success. Read any of my thousand pre draft posts and you won’t ever see me pounding the table for Josh Huff…but Chip got a year of NFL experience under his belt. He knows what he needs, and he knows Huff better than any prospect..so while Huff wasn’t someone I was clamoring for, I find it really exciting to see Chip want him so bad. I don’t think Chip is dumb, I don’t think Chip did huff any favors huff is here because Chip knows how to use him to hurt teams….ideally I would have taken huff with the first pick in round 4, but I never would have dreamed Jalen Watkins falling Out of round 3, so tell your brother to pretend we drafted Jalen in the 3rd, and got huff in the 4th, and all is right in the world 🙂
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Now, for me hart was a no BRAINER. A thousand times I posted eagles will end up with a Brent urban, Josh Mauro or Taylor hart to back up Cedric’s. Hart will produce for us right away. To get a kid both our HEADCoach and DL coach think so highly of is very exciting to me…not a lot of two gaping done in college, and we got our selves an experienced 4 technique(the two gaping version of 5tevhnique)..kid plays hard and he will contribute to our rotation day 1…
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What I really liked about our process was that when it was time to evaluate an Oregon kid, Chip took himself out the process. He didn’t want to cloud the judgement of gamble,scouts,Howie and position coaches…so he let them weigh in on them first…he specifically said he told Bicknell to tell him what he though of Huff before ever weighing in on him….Chip seems smart enough to have put in the right checks and balances instead of operating Iike a dictator…..for what we do on offense and defense, Huff and hart are great picks who will contribute to the rotation day one…
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I’m thrilled with this draft…think I like it more than last years
Yeah the people who though Smith was a late second round pick are the same people that thought Barr was going to be available at 22. They need to realize that’s not how the board ended up. Barr went at 9, you need to adjust for that, it pushes all the pass rushers up the board.
I couldn’t even log onto blitz during round 1 because I was a nervous wreck worrying that Dallas would take Marcus…I just don’t understand how the media can continue to brainwash fans about it being a reach when:
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1) prior to the draft, quietly some media members were starting to include Marcus on their round 1 mocks. Does the media think they just made that up? Of course not. They started mocking him in round 1 because they started to hear from front office people that he was climbing into round 1
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2) we had offers to trade back even further and get more value but turned it down because we were worried if we tradd back too much, we would miss out on Marcus…I just don’t understand how anyone can say it was a reach when we had to turn down compensation because we would miss out on him if we traded too far back
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To the people who hate the Marcus pick! would you rather see the Eagles trade up, use multiple picks to draft Lawrence who can’t hold Marcus jock strap as a prospect? Would you be happier trade back and settle on Trent Murphy at 40? What does it say about Marcus that we draft him instead of Trent Murphy who had all the 6’6 long arm frame Chip covets?
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It’s just sad. I feel embarrassed as a city, that this kid is coming here and everyone shitting on him as a first round pick, especially since 90% never seen him play a single down. I’m embarrassed that we aren’t celebrating adding the best young edge rusher in our division…everyone wanted to cut Coles contract at the end of the season, that couldn’t happen unless we had an apprentice on thebe nch who could be a 3 down player by the beginning of next season..l
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Sad that so many of my fellow brothers in green don’t understand what an exciting addition this is
I’d add this bit of my optimism to the mix. Smith has it in him to be a quality pass rusher, but he’s also well rounded. When Barwin moves on, Smith could be like him, except he would also be a serious pass rushing threat. We could still get that elite, 12-18 sack per season, pass rush specialist (if you don’t believe Smith isn’t going to be that guy) to go across from him between now and then. We are set to have a serious net gain in pass rushing in the coming years.
That’s a very good point my friend…picture this:
Miami can’t franchise Dion Jordan forever..by the time he hits free agency, Barwin will slow down a bit..what if we slide Barwin Into Meco’s role which a few of us have discussed before, and you have Marcus and Dion on the outside as Interchangable OLBs…on any gven play either can drop into coverage and go after the QB…
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I won’t be surprised if one or two of Kelly’s former ducks migrate to philly when they become free agents..
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Picture a right side of your Oline In 4years:
Lane…Kyle Long…Jason Kelce…Hironiss Grasu(we can draft next year)
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LB crop of: Marcus…Kendricks….Barwin…Dion?
With a speedy ILB to fill in for Barwin in coverage?
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I’m greedy in my dreams lol
Would be pretty damn sweet.
Lol that’s some greedy ish….
I’m positive the 49ers would have take him over Buchanan.
No way he woulda got passed San Fran and Seattle. No friggin way, they have good talent evaluators, Seahawks hoard pass rushers and Niners need psycho insurance for Aldon smith…no shot in hell he was getting passed those twos teams…. He really wasn’t even a reach, which shows just how stupid people our media is…I feel bad for fans who aren’t like us, they take their Que from the media…it’s pathetic that a paid media member who talked about the drafts for months don’t know this kids game and can’t accurately asses what a solid pick this is for eagles fans…so you got like 75% of this zombie fanbase who genuinely believes that the eagles drafted a 3rd or 4thrd prospect at 26 lol…don’t know if I should laugh or cry…
According to Howie, Kelly gave input, but it isnt like Hart or Huff are bad players.
Hart is the perfect modern day 2 gapping DE and we took him in the 5th round, so it isnt like we reached for him.
Huff was the original TAZR for Kelly before he got DAT and Lyerla. Huff is like a dynamic Avant with slightly worse hands, can return kicks and is tough enough to line up as a RB, monster blocker and had a 20+ yards reception in every game in 2013 so he got enough explosive speed.
2013″……………..vs…………………….2014
2013 rd1) LT Lane Johnson. Filled one of the 3 most important positions in football with a high Character kid with a huge ceiling. smart having learned the game thru the eyes of a QB
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2014 rd2) ROLB. Another of the 3 most valued positions filled with a great athlete,high character kid with huge upside, smart having learned the game thru the eyes of a QB. We got our eventual 10plus sack terror
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Rd 2) Zack Ertz. TE, BIG,fast and super athletic pass catcher. Versatile enough to move around and line up all over the place. Matchup nightmare for safeties and LBs. Smart, high character
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Rd2) Jordan Mathews WR, big, fast and super athletic pass catcher. Versatile enough to move around and line up all over the place. Match up nightmare for Nickle CBs who he will have 5 inches in height on…
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Rd 3) NT Bennie Logan. High Character, long arms, big frame that will be able to bulk up. Credible anchore against the run, much more of a pass rusher than a typical NT. Stoutland was familiar having coached against him
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Rd 7) NT Beau Allen. True 330lb Warthog. This diode does nothing but two gap, take on double teams. he kept Boreland clean to have a lot of success, and this kid should allow Kendrick to fly around untouched. GREAT backup to Logan. Azz tried to recruit him
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Rd 5) Safety Earl Wolf. I think the world of this kid. Almost 215lbs, 4.4something, flies around and jumps thru the stadium. Always hearing about his insane work ethic, passion, desire to work to he great. I really believe in this safety
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Rd 5) Reynolds. Safety, good size, been groomed his entire life now playing in pro style Stanford. I never imagined Ed falling to the 5th. Always figured he would go 3rd(too rich for my blood)..like Kruger, no doubt this kid would have been drafted much higher had he returned to school. Played thru some injury this year and didn’t have the insane year he had in 2012
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Rd 7) Joe Kruger..Big,Long, Young plenty of 4 technique potemtial. Nice athleticms for the position, another kid who undoubtably would have went much higher had he went back to school. Recently stated he will be up to 295lb. Think he will prove to be a quality pick
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rd5) Taylor hart. I expected him to be an eagles. Just the perfect fit, plenty of two gap 4tec experience. big,Long,athletic, quality against the run, agile enough to kick inside as a 4-3DT on 3rd down. Little projecting involved..how can you not be excited about someone your HEADCoach and DL coach think so highly of?
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Huff: little projection involved drafting him to play in our offense. Tough, explosive kid..lacks the height I expected, but makes up for it with muscle and explosion. Warrior on ST, runs like a RB on screens. Tough kid who will make Avant proud how he takes over his role. Versatile enough to play all over.
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Jalen Watkins might be the steal of the entire draft. Extremely intelligent. QB of the defense potential. Great athlete. Adds depth all over your secondary…3 years from now, I expect us to have a very difficult debate: who was the better 4th rd pick, Boykin or Watkins? Truly believe Watkins is a Boykin type quality addition.
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We,built depth, and it looks like we really enforced our ST and defense..
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Really excited by the first two Chip Kelly drafts. If we can continue the trend in 2015, we will have a top NFL roster. next years draft priorities: younger at OL, ILB, more DB talent, even if I think people will be pleasantly surprised by our secondary this year
any reason you listed 2014 rd 2 instead of rd 1?
Mistake sorry
no big deal. was just curious to see if part of your point was that Smith was “almost” a 2nd rd pick so let’s count him that way 😉
I really like how Kelly and Roseman are building this team
Same it’s friggin impressive…
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Another thing to talk about is RB. I’m sure we were hoping Tre Mason fell to us, he didn’t but he still pulled the trigger on that awesome Bryce trade.. To turn Bryce into a 4th, possibly 3rd round pic is awesome..we got some potential out of the UDFA RBs we add but we need to keep in mind, that next years draft, is one of those rare drafts that could provide multiple first round RBs…there are some serious RB prospects scheduled to come out next year, so even if we missed out on Mason, I’m sure we will get a 3rd back in next years draft to help shady and Polk…and lengthen Shadys career…Sproles I only consider a RB in screens, swing passes, wheel routes, pass protection…doubt we give him many handoffs…
I really loved the Josey pick up in UDFA.
McCoy, Sproles (he wont get many carries), Polk and Josey will be the 4 RBs next season imo.
Huff can also line up in the back field and so can Burton if he makes the team (Im rooting for him and Annen to make the team over Casey.)
Burton is a slightly less athletic version of Lyerla or Hernandez and Annen is a good blocker (so he do not need to learn that like Celek or Ertz had to do) and runs a fucking 4.41 at 247 pounds.
Agree with every word you just wrote….Chip also sounds like he likes Tucker. Made it a point to tell the media that Tucker showed up to OTAs In the best shape of all the RBs…
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But in case none of our options become suitable replacements for Bryce, worst case scenario we still have next years draft to fall back on whilch will be a special draft for RBs…it’s becoming rare to see RBs drafted in round 1. if a few RBs could possibly go in round 1 of 2015 draft, you can probably find a pretty nice RB talent in round 2-4…
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Bt like you said, we have some promising young running back talent, hopefully we won’t have to adress it in next years draft because our future horses are already on our roster
Doesn’t sound like there were any OL available that would have been an improvement over what we had, including the backups. If that’s the case, then I’m glad we didn’t draft any.
Another way to feel good about this draft is to remember that we (sort of) got Sproles out of it, too. If the idea is to get at least 3 starters out of very draft, then that’s one down, two to go.
Figure Jordan will start in the slot day one…Marcus will be a full time starter/3 down OLB next year when Cole is gone..
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Huff may not start but he will see plenty of snaps this year
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Huff won’t start,over,Thornton but will be a key member to the rotation..
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Beau won’t start over Bennie, but he will see snaps in the rotation
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Sooner or later Jalen will become a starter..kid has Boykin type talent, and I’m sure they will find a subpackage role for him this year…have a feeling we incorporate a nice dime package this year
Don’t know about Beau Allen. Watching him, as strong as he is, he gets neutralized because he doesn’t play low enough. He’s a project, but right now I wouldn’t expect him to make the team, even over Square, unless there is some improvement to his technique.
I don’t know how neutralized he was when Borland had a fantastic year. A guy like Boreland doesn’t flourish without having NT who is doing his job well…whether Baeu is at that level yet or not, I wouldn’t bet against a guy Azzinaro has been trying to get for years.. Finally Azz got this kid, and I’d say odds are he turns him into an effective warthog…but we’ll see
Beau did his job and nothing more. Also Baeu has like 60 pounds on Square. Square is more of a DE than NT.
Wish he performed at the combine, because he talks like he is more Mobil than the typical warthog NT…he thought of I himself as a great backup to Bennie Logan who stands apart from NTs because he is more Mobil and can get after QBs……think he is a BIGTIME improvement to Square…Azz has wanted to get his hands on Baeu for a while, so his flaws from the past don’t matter…confident Azzinaro will tighten his game up
That’s all well and good if someone doesn’t get underneath you and has better leverage than you do.
Hopefully coaching will fix that — it’s more mechanics than anything else.
Yep, it’s coaching and conditioning.
Any news on Lyerla, Biseko Lokombo, or Avery Patterson?
Avery Patterson is a Raven
Thank you
Seems like no one wants Lyerla, not with a 100 ft pole.
Sounds like Lokombo will end up in the CFL for a while.
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Undrafted+Boseko+Lokombo+still+options/9828761/story.html
The latest media crap used to bash Marcus is “I expect a first round pick to start day one” ….statement makes my blood boil
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And thanks to the media for yesterday wasting an entire day of sports coverage talking about Micheal Sam kissing his boyfriend when he was drafted and ESPN showing it…awesome sports coverage…makes it really hard tonot appreciate the heck out of you TY Law…..
wow. that is aggravating.
a top 5 pick, yea, i expect to start day 1. like Lane Johnson.
but a guy near the bottom of the round? he would only start if you had a glaring hole at the position. we still have Trent Cole.
rather than handing our 1st rd pick the job, he has to compete with one of the better pass rushers in team history. if he wins the job, by all means, start him. if he doesn’t win the job this year, thats just fine. he’ll get more playing time as the season goes on and should be ready to take over the job next year.
since when it is a bad thing that your first round pick gets to sit back and learn the defense in his first year? lol
Not havering to start rookies is a good thing. It means he have a decent roster with out glaring holes(as you said)…it’s just such a crap statement to make. So many OLB are strictly Nickle pass rushers as rookie while they add weigh to play the run…had we drafted Dion Jordan 4th overall, Chip wouldn’t have started him, so would he be a horrible pick? It’s,got to a point that I want to talk eagles so bad, hear about the eagles..but there really is no where to go other than blitz and a few other websites to get some intelligent and realistic intel on the eagles…it’s sad, that there is no TV show to see good eagles coverage, and there damn sure isn’t any local radio show to listen to quality and accurate eagles talk…
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Last year you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing how we would spend the 4th pick on Dee Miler….lol
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I don’t even know what the hell I would go to have some intelligent and accurate eagles talk other than Blitz and a few other sites,.SO much appreciation for the work you do Tom and to the posters in the comment section who know there stuff. Thank you, because the mainstream media I coverage of this team is pathetic at best
Yes, it would have been a horrible pick to select Jordan at #4 last year. He is awful.
Dumb
Trent Cole and BG were both better 3-4 OLBs last year. I don’t get the infatuation with Dion Jordan, who was simply terrible last year at Miami.
Read this:
http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/03/dissecting-dion-jordans-2013-season.html
and the part 2. Jordan did more than people think
hah. beat me to it!
http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/03/dissecting-dion-jordans-2013-season.html
http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/03/dissecting-dion-jordans-2013-season-part-2-outside-linebacker.html
That doesn’t change the fact that both TC and BG were better 3-4 OLBs last year, and we didn’t have to waste a 1st rounder to retain them.
Yes they was better 3-4 OLBs last because Jordan didnt play 3-4 OLB.
I’m not taking his bait lol
It’s not bait, it’s straight up facts. TC and BG were better in coverage, had more TFL, had more tackles, had more forced fumbles, had more sacks. It’s not complicated. They’re both simply better than DJ.
Ok….no one who drafted Dion gave a shit what he would do his rookie year. Every one knew he wasn’t NFL ready and was still. Such a tremendous talent that was worth drafting that high….so talking to me about what he did or didn’t do next year is pointless, and if you are even bothering to judge what he did as a rookie, you are already mistaken
So he just gets a pass? Even though he was pushed around and looked weak? How can you even argue a point when you’re starting out saying “rookie year doesn’t matter”?
Lol…your right…lm wrong, he sucks… Let’s just leave it at that
Me: I have facts to back up my assertion.
GEAGLE: I’m right and if you don’t see it, you’re wrong, you must be trolling.
I’m wrong,,,he sucks
You know that Miami is a 4-3 and is stacked at DE? They got DJ knowing he’d be a project but loving his physical attributes, but no way was he starting last year even if he wasn’t injured, etc. — he wasn’t built for DE (need to beef up, etc.).
If he’d come here, where he knew the system, he would play OLB, which is what he’d played in college, it’d be way different. But you do make a good point. This is why CK et al. don’t take 43 guys and try to convert them, this is why they take so many Ducks and other people that played in 34s or similar offensive schemes — takes the scheme fit projection out of the equation so you don’t have a DJ problem like Miami does.
dude. just move on. not worth your time.
See my below responses
LOL
BG as in Brandon Graham?
yea man, i hear ya. its not just the media, though. i think an equal share of the blame lies with the fans. if you look over at the comments on philly.com or half (ok, most if not all) of the EMB, eagles fans like to yell and scream at everything that happens. so, i think the media outlets respond accordingly.
its why i’m so thankful for a place like this, and the reason why i try to always donate money to the ‘blitz. Tommy and the rest of us do a pretty good job of policing the comments around here.
Yeah but because the media didn’t make fans familiar with Marcus smith these past months of draft coverage..they hear Marcus smiths name called and think the eagles just added a no name bum…
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Any media that has a clue would have made his fans familiar with the talent that is Marcus smith leading up to the draft. Plenty of fans on this site admit to not following college, but when Marcus was announced they all had some idea about him, because TY law does a damn good job and makes sure his readers are informed…anyone with a brain new that he was probably on every eagles top 5 wish list of edge rushers, yet Les bowans readers, or Geoff Moshers readers have no clue who this kid is, so of occupy raw they will think it’s a bad pick….but I hear u
Something that really pisses me off is that everybody is speaking about Smith being a reach and no one is criticizing the top 10 pick of Barr, looking at those “draft genius” he was supposed to fall at 22. I hope Marcus won’t be affected by it.
On one side who cares — chances of hitting on first round picks are like 50/50 anyway. Puts a little pressure on Smith to perform even better b/c he was a first, but maybe that chip will keep him hungry — even if his pockets are full.
Plus given our coaching and his mental demeanor I think that gives him a high probability of success (at least not being a bust) — even over guys that are physically more gifted but don’t love the game (who know who i mean).
I’m not sure it’s even 50-50.
Hits on 1st Rd CBs are about 54% . . . only position over 50%.
QBs – 43%
WRs – 44%
DEs – 45%
OLBs – 46%
Jersey numbers have been released:
90 Marcus Smith II
94 Beau WARTHOG Allen
97 Taylor Hart
81 Jordan Mathews
11 Josh Huff
30 Ed Reynolds
37 Jalen Watkims
27 Malcolm Jenkins
23 Nolan Carrol
56 Braman
43 Sproles
42 Maragos
…
Youngest eagles(21yrs old):
Kruger
Jalen Watkins
Jordan Mathews
Re: This and that and a Pet Peeve on Jersey Numbers
I’d have rather see Marcus Smith get 56 and Braman 90.
After the ’79 draft, the Eagles assigned 1st-Rd pick Jerry Robinson w/ No. 56. That worked out well.
On the flip side, after the ’97 draft, 1st Rd pick Jon Harris became No. 90 in your program.
As for No. 81 going to JMatt, I’d have given him No. 83 (went to RFA Annen). Eagles great WR/PK Bobby Walston wore it well . . . including in 1960 during the Birds’ last title season.
_______________
No. 35 . . . .
The Eagles gave it to RFA safety Daytawion Lowe.
That number should be RETIRED!!!
HOF Eagles receiver Pete Pihos wore No. 35 — and spent his entire career in green.
The only other HOFers who spent their entire career in Philadelphia are RB Steve Van Buren and Concrete Charlie Bednarik.
The Eagles have retired their numbers: 15 and 60.
I remained stunned that Lurie hasn’t stepped up to retire HOF Pihos’s No. 35.
81 is not a bad WR number for the Eagles. TO had a great year here and Avant had a very good career here.
A —
I don’t disagree. Just a personal-preference deal.
Seems like someone’s saying that if you (a) mix Avant’s character, with (b) Owens’s talent, you get (c) Jordan Matthews.
____________
That aside . . . there was a time when the NFL was not so rigid about numbering positions.
The Giants of the early ’70s had a fine OLB named Brad Van Pelt from Michigan State.
He wore No. 11. Very cool.
I have seen people say Matthews has some TO too him. I do not see it (Matthews is the only pick I didnt like).
I do say, Matthews character is as good as it can become and maybe Kelly can get the best out of him. I just think the people who compare him to TO forget how good TO was in his prime.
TO was a physical force on the field. Even in his early year, Owens must have had at least 10 pounds on J-Matt. Maybe a bit more.
By way of comparison . . . It’ll be an interesting couple years to see how Matthews, Latimer, and Robinson look on the field. Over the next 2-3 years, that is.
The first two at least are on stable teams with good/great offensive schemes and good/HOF QBs.
Robinson’s in a ditch at the moment.
TO was playing at around 225, so yes he had at least 10 pounds on Matthews.
TO is same size as Cooper but difference is TO ran a 4.36 forty to Cooper’s 4.54. Coopers game except for the speed is TO like, but the only WR who really reminds me of TO is Josh Gordon, same size and speed and just crazy talent. It is just sad that he seems to have some kind of addiction problem.
T-Law:
What do you think happened to OT Antonio “Tiny” Richardson from UTN?
Stoutland worked him out.
(Had to get tiny and stout in the same zip code.)
Draft Twitter was saying he apparently has a degenerative knee and shoulder issue.
QUESTION . . . for the community:
Who are 2 or 3 rookie free agents you wanted the Eagles to sign after the draft but missed out on?
No way to know whom the Birds wanted. But fire away.
Skove
Because a LB who runs a 5.2 is someone we desperately need.
Hmm? I thought he wasn’t at combine nor a pro day. Where’d you find his 40 time?
He had an individual workout a couple weeks back. Tommy posted the video. His knee is cooked. It’s a shame because before the knee he was insanely good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzlrh5FBPhg
That sucks. A coworker from Stanford was raving about him, and I was just watching him in some games and he looked very good.
OMG did he ever? That dude had first round ALL over him!
Going into 2011 I liked him more than Keuchly or Teo. His sophomore tape just made you sit up and go wow.
You could say: It made ones pants tight?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Tit-Www68
I would have taken a chance on Skov too.. Look at Burfict on film n look what he produced at his combine etc.. Now look at him with the Bengals.. Skov is the same type of player.. Just meant to play the game
Burfict tested like crap because of character problems. Both had great Sophomore tape. Burfict fell off a cliff because he was out of shape and a knucklehead. Skov never fully rebounded due to medical issues. Skov is a great player but his body physically can’t do it anymore. There’s a big difference. Skov couldn’t get healthy to participate in the pro day or combine, and his personal workout was simply showing what little he could do.
Really wanted Kenny Ladler and I wanted to kick the tires on Jeffcoat because you can never have too many pass rushers.
I wanted James Gayle. He has great size and good athleticism. I have no idea why I fell (most likely some character stuff or an injury).
I wanted Lyerla but only because of his super fit (but I also knew, no way we pick him up), but Im very happy we got Burton, Annen and Josey (3 guys I wanted).
Very interested to see what Annen can do.
I think both Burton and Annen makes the team over James Casey and Iggy.
Jeffcoat.
James Hurst. T/G, UNC. I thought he would go between rounds 2-4. Good combination of power and athleticism. Would have been good guard prospect for us. His broken leg at bowl game must be messed up.
Kenny Ladler, S, Vandy. Solid safety, good combination of coverage skills and ability to play the run. Ran a 4.7 at combine. Ran in the 4.5s at his pro day. Good quality safety.
James Morris, ILB, Iowa. Only 6’1. Has 31″ arms. Did run right around a 4.7 so pretty decent speed. I think he’s a better player than his teammates Hitchens and Kirksey but a bit undersized. Classic Big 10 LB with great instincts and leadership. Can play sideline to sideline. Solid in short zones.
D3FB:
Outstanding.
Will you and Jimmy do a podcast on the whole DeSean saga? I’d love to hear you guys go into it deeper, now that the draft is over.
They kinda talked about Desean in their last podcast. However they were supposed to record one Sunday night. Alas, it has yet to be uploaded.
Maybe I missed the one where they talked about DeSean. Do you have the link to it?
See if this works:
http://helmet2helmetshow.libsyn.com/rss
Thanks
Is it a fair assessment to say that Josh Huff:
http://mockdraftable.com/player_embed/4485/selected/graph/
is a poor man’s Brandin Cooks:
http://mockdraftable.com/player_embed/4334/selected/graph/
I still think Smith was the target, but it is interesting that we got jumped, Cooks came off the board, and then we traded down and didn’t take a WR.
it’s like the Saints snookered us again…
And…
looks like the bat signal
I think Huff is a “poor man’s” Paul Warfield. Very poor man’s.
Josh Huff was so happy that theEagles picked him in the 3rd round that he didn’t waste any time to sign a 4 contract, as the first of our Rookie class!
OG Charlie Leno was even happier the Bears drafted him in Rd 7 — ’cause he signed sooner than Huff.
No, how dare he!!!
The new CBA basically has a slotting system. A few guys last year even represented themselves because the deals are basically pre written based on draft slot, and keeping the percentage that the agent would take was far larger than the low five figure amount an agent has an outside shot of finagling. I would expect the great majority of rookies to sign their deals in the next few days. There isn’t much haggling to be done. The only real negotiations will probably be over whether or not to include offset language for first round picks.
It’ probably total bs, but it can’t harm to ask, at least:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000350045/article/andre-johnson-on-texans-is-this-still-the-place-for-me
You guys think we should be a player in this one if he’d demand a trade? Don’t really think we will be (since the draft is just over and we have 4 WR and are developing into a contender), but should we?
Do we want another WR who publicly complains when he faces a situation which he sees as adversity?
Normally I’d agree but Johnson’s been a trooper his whole career with the Texans. I imagine he wants to try and latch on with a winner before his career is over. IDK how he would fit with the Eagles but he is an elite talent so I’m sure we’d find a way to make it work.
Come on. He will be 33 when the season begins, is one of the best WR of his generation, reached the playoffs two times in his career and his new headcoach gives him, as of today, Ryan Fitzpatrick as QB? That’s not adversity, that’s just unfair.
That doesn’t mean we should trade for him. But if he forces it, the Patriots, the Panthers or some other Receiver needy teams will and it would be nothing but rude to criticise him for that.
Was Huff the first player to sign? I’ll be a happy camper if we can get everyone under contract before July rolls around.
yep
How amazing for a guy that gives ” HIS ” opinions about the Eagles 24 / 7, to say that about Evan Silva’s comment, about Jordan Matthews ….. quote from Mr. Lawlor … ” That means nothing, but is an interesting opinion. ” Wow ” …… could / should, we all say the same thing, about Mr. Lawlor’s opinions ? Unprofessional comment. I may detect some professional jealousy ?
I would like to say that I was pretty hard on the Eagles during and after free agency ….. and was very critical of Mr. Lawlor’s support of them. To his credit, he did not block me from his website from commenting. I commend him for that, and respect his ability to have some give and take, and not block people who are die hard Eagles fans, who are extremely passionate. I however, can not say the same thing for the d____bag at Bleeding Green Nation. Mr. BLG, is a coward, who blocks people from his website, who do not buy into his ( unrelenting ) a__ kissing, of Howie Roseman, and the Eagles. I am a HUGE Eagles fan, and have been since Randal Cunningham, first went in for Jaworski on 3rd downs. My issue is, even though I love the birds, it sickens me to read articles, that appear to ( literally ) be written by the Eagles PR staff, and then regurgitated on BG Nation. This clown goes out of his way to kiss Howies a__ every chance he gets! We all know why ….. but, it sickens me anyway. To abandon his self respect and pride, so that Howie will give him ( crumbs ) inside access to Eagles information, is his prerogative, but it is so obvious, it’s sad.