Regression Candidates

Posted: June 1st, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 102 Comments »

Players go up and down from year to year. That’s part of football. That’s part of human nature. We’d love for Eagles players to all get better, but that’s just not reality. So let’s talk about some guys who could take a step back in 2014.

Riley Cooper – Any time a player has a breakout season you have to wonder if he can repeat it. The case for Cooper is that he didn’t do anything amazing in 2013. He was a good fit for the role and he finally got regular playing time. That led to the production. The case against Cooper works on a couple of levels. First, complacency. Cooper just got a big contract. Will he let up at all? He’s not talented enough to succeed without maximum effort and focus. The other factor is that DeSean Jackson is gone. His presence helped Cooper. Jeremy Maclin is a gifted WR, but he doesn’t scare defenses the same way Jackson did. There could be some situations where Maclin gets single-covered and Cooper gets doubled. Cooper isn’t likely to fare well in those situations. Not many WRs do, but some top guys are still good enough to win even when doubled.

Cedric Thornton – Another player coming off a breakout season, although Thornton showed good potential in 2012 as well. The big worry with Thornton is about his desire for a big deal. Thornton is a terrific run defender. Heck, Chip Kelly referred to him as the team’s best defensive player after multiple games. The problem is that Thornton is a marginal pass rusher. He needs to show progress there. You just don’t want that to hurt his run defense. If Thornton starts trying to get into the backfield, that would mean taking chances and not being as sound with his gap control, which is the whole point of using the 2-gap technique.

Todd Herremans – The move to RG did not go so well early in 2013. Herremans got more comfortable over time and made some technique adjustments that led to improved play down the stretch. The biggest issue now is age. All players hit a wall at some point in their career. Herremans is in terrific shape and hasn’t had major injury issues so he could last longer than some other players, but it is fair to wonder about his future.

DeMeco Ryans – See above for the age issue.

Nick Foles – This is the most complicated subject of them all. It is virtually impossible to imagine Foles numbers will be as good as in 2013. He finished with a rating of 119.2. He threw 27 TDs and only 2 INTs. Those are freaky stats. If Foles throws 38 TDs and 10 INTs, I wouldn’t consider that a step back. He would still be playing at a very high level, even if his numbers technically were a step back.

For me to think of Foles as really regressing, he would have to look significantly different. There isn’t a specific stat line, but imagine if he threw 30 TDs and 16 INTs. That would show minimal positive increase, but a large negative increase. Clearly something like that would be a step back. This isn’t all just about TDs and INTs. Completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating are all important stats for judging Foles level of play. It really will be interesting to see how he plays.

Beyond just Foles stats, the offense could be less productive. That’s a really complicated subject because there are so many factors that go into the success of an offense. We’ll have to judge that as the season goes along.

Brent Celek – Another player where age could start to be a factor. The Eagles used Celek in a specific way last year so I tend to think he’ll be good again this season. He is a blocker and complementary receiver. He is in excellent shape and has the skills to handle that role well.

Cary Williams – Williams is an overachiever type so any decline in his physical abilities will hurt him more than someone who is very naturally gifted.

Trent Cole – You will never question the effort of Trent Cole, but his effectiveness as a pass rusher is fair game. From early 2012 to mid-2013, there was a stretch of 21 games where Cole had just 1 sack. That’s really hard to believe. He then racked up 8 sacks in the final 8 games of 2013. Cole is going to get pressure even when he doesn’t get sacks, but the ROLB needs to be a playmaker and not just a guy who gets close.

Cole could be better in 2014 now that he’s used to playing LB. He also could be improved from Kelly’s training program. Or age plus wear and tear could finally take their toll on him.

* * * * *

Any other players you think are candidates?

_


102 Comments on “Regression Candidates”

  1. 1 Raul Estrada said at 2:04 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Nick Foles level of play will truly tell if Bill Lazor actually helped him or hurt him this upcoming season. There were rumors that they didn’t get along, but nothing stuck on the newsfront.

  2. 2 SteveH said at 2:10 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Evan Mathis. We all hear the talk about how he’s a true pro etc. but anytime someone is unhappy about his contract I worry about it impacting their play. That being said, he seems like a smart dude who ‘gets it’ so to speak, so I don’t think it’s likely he will regress because of that.

  3. 3 Anders said at 6:27 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Also age part with Mathis. Yes he should still have 2 great years left in him, but you never know when a 30+ guy regresses too much.

    I also fear Peters regression.

  4. 4 A_T_G said at 2:24 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Shady. Mostly because there is nowhere to go but down. Also, if the stable of running backs show more potential he might get less work than last year.

  5. 5 TommyLawlor said at 2:49 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Shady’s numbers may go down, but he is still a Top 5 RB (or better). I don’t count him because of that.

  6. 6 A_T_G said at 3:54 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    True. I’m not very good at this. Where is Shah when you need him?

  7. 7 Jerry Pomroy said at 4:00 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Lol!

  8. 8 Nicodemus_09 said at 8:37 PM on June 2nd, 2014:

    He’s busy at the moment. He is the key note speaker at the national convention for “Fans against White Bread signal callers” at the moment…..

  9. 9 suthrneagle said at 3:46 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    If Shady does get less work than last year that should help him stay fresh and be more difficult to defend as the season progresses and the rest of the league wears down.

  10. 10 Westy said at 2:32 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    He’s already uber motivated because of the 1st round pick, but, Trent keeps his sack per game avg thru the 1st 8 games

  11. 11 troy412 said at 2:33 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Fletcher cox i worry about regress.Think people hype him up and honestly what has he done.I think Curry and Krueger may out play him so why keep him on field cause he first round pick.Be seriuos and think i understand scheme changes but how much progress has Cox really made

  12. 12 Sean Stott said at 3:19 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Cox didn’t do a heck of a lot in 2013. There’s not a ton of room for regression.

  13. 13 Anders said at 3:22 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Cox lead the Eagles in pressure last year and still had 3½ sacks as 3-4 DE.

  14. 14 Jerry Pomroy said at 2:40 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I think one of the big keys to continued success for Foles will be getting the ball out quicker. He relied heavily on the pump fake to make plays last year and I would imagine that DCs are going to have their defenders playing more disciplined towards that. So getting the ball out quicker to the intermediate routes will be key to helping the pump fake continue being a successful tool for him. I’ll add that the amount of deep balls & screens add to his time of holding onto the ball, but I can see more blitzes heading his way this year. This is where having a big target like Matthews in the middle that can reel the ball in within traffic and an improved/more seasoned Ertz (and to a lesser extent quick screens to Sproles) will go a long way to helping Foles beat those blitzes.

  15. 15 Andy124 said at 2:44 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    DeSean Jaccson. 🙂

  16. 16 Andy124 said at 2:45 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Statistically, Brandon Boykin. 6 pick years for nickel corners can’t be too common. But like Nick, this is a situation where the stats could dip without the actual level of play regressing.

  17. 17 Jerry Pomroy said at 2:49 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Good one. I didn’t even think of BB. Yeah, I can see those INT #s dip, but not because of bad play. More so because there is more talent back there.

  18. 18 Andy124 said at 2:52 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Would Nate Allen count if Wolff took the job from him? Not playing has to be considered a regression from starting 17 games.

  19. 19 Jerry Pomroy said at 3:07 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I think that’s more survival of the fittest than regression.

  20. 20 FairOaks said at 4:55 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    There can always be statistical regression (especially for INTs, since QBs may simply stop throwing their way). The question is more do you think Boykin will regress as a player, i.e. start giving up more receptions, not covering as well, etc. Seems unlikely for him, but if he’s unhappy with his usage (wants to play outside), then maybe there’s a chance. Or maybe he actually gets playing time on the outside, and it turns out he’s not as good at that — that would be less effective use of his skills, if that turns out to be the case.

  21. 21 deg0ey said at 3:19 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Thing is, all Boykin had going for him last year was the picks – QB yards per attempt and WR yards per catch when targeting Boykin were among the highest in the league against slot CBs. He was a good gunner and got some timely interceptions which definitely helped, but it’s reasonable to question whether he’ll become a bit of a liability if the INTs dry up.

  22. 22 Jerry Pomroy said at 3:35 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Let’s talk about comeback player of the year. Anyone else see Maclin as a logical choice to be a leading candidate here?

  23. 23 Andy124 said at 5:53 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Absolutely. Always start with guys who missed all of last year or guys who threw an inordinate number of interceptions the year before.

    So we’ve got Maclin and Manning. Who else missed all of last year? I’m going to go ahead and rule out Sanchez.

  24. 24 ACViking said at 6:51 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    If Eli Manning has a pretty good year, it’s in the bag.

    Professional sports seem to have gotten away from “CPOTY” being a player returning from injury to a player who does lots better.

    Must be a by-product of the ESPN-highlight syndrome that helped make tackling worse in the NFL, half-court play worse in the NBA, and eliminated the redline in the NHL.

  25. 25 Anders said at 7:05 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I still cant believe Rivers won it over Peters

  26. 26 Media Mike said at 5:23 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    I Maclin as a logical choice to be an “unnamed source” in spreading garbage.

  27. 27 GEAGLE said at 9:46 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Sure… Why not? Talented guy, in an explosive offense that’s going to put up some quality stats.. Will he actually win the award? Probably not, but there is a good chance he gets strong consideration..
    ..
    Stat wise(fantasy football), the Eagles we be a tough team to figure out. Chip has a stacked/deep arsenal of weapons and I suspect he has every intention of using them. I don’t think this will be one of those teams where the “starters” are always in the game and the backups don’t get to play unless injuries occur.. Take for example huff who is NOT one our our primary weapons going into the season.. Not only does Huff have WRs ahead of him like Coop,Mac! and Jordan, but in THIS offense, we will see other skill player cutting into Huffs snaps as well.

    WRs in this offense, will at times lose snaps to Ertz and Sproles. Those player are only RB and TE in name. There will be plenty of times where we see both players, split out Wide like an outside WR, and lining up as our slot..

    In many offenses a guy like Huff wouldn’t be seeing many snaps at all.. But even with Coop,Mac, Jordan,Ertz and,Sproles cutting into his slot WR snaps, I still expect him to be used in this offense…where as he would be burried in other offense..
    ..
    Think the goal for Chip was to stack his arsenal with a versatile and diverse bag of tricks. Every week we will study the defense we face, identify where they are weakest, and then look in our bag of tricks for the best way to create a mismatch and exploit that weakness.. I think there will be stretches of games, where guys we perceive as a main weapon get placed on the back burner. To have such a deep arsenal of weapons, it requires, self less team guys who care more about winning. Than their snaps and stats…
    ..
    Even if huff is on the bench, their will be times when we call his number because we feel he is the best way to exploit the weak link in the defense we are facing.. So while I EXPECT this offense to be more explosive than it was last year, putting up better numbers than last year…we should still see individual stats suffer, because balls will be spread much more thin than last year.

    I LOVE and ADORE Jason Avant. One of my Fav eagles of all time, but it was obvious age caught up to him last year, yet we were forced to play him ALOT because we lacked depth… That’s no longer the case. Imagine if we kept Avant for this year..his snaps would have probably declined drastically…. So while our guys may not be as awesome fantasy players as they were last year… The reason I expect the stats to go down is because we will be so improved, so much deeper, which is a good thing…. This won’t be a team where backups are only injury insurance…plan on seeing Chip use all his weapons throughout the season….. Think it’s going to be very interested after the year to go look At the breakdown of who lined up where? How many snaps guys got?

    Who did KC add in terms of WRs and Safeties? Would love to see KC take Damaris off our hands in a player for player trade. I’d rather take a look at one of KCs players who wouldn’t make that roster, instead of keeping Damaris who we know has no chance to make the roster..
    ..

  28. 28 Ferris Wren said at 3:36 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    For the sake of argument: Chip Kelly.

  29. 29 suthrneagle said at 4:35 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    For the sake of argument: Chip Kelly.

    The opposite. Even though all have the `tape` on him now, he`s also got a year`s growth as an NFL coach. My bet is on him getting better.

  30. 30 Ferris Wren said at 11:48 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Hope so. He exceeded expectations last season. Will be difficult to do again. Fingers crossed.

  31. 31 suthrneagle said at 4:17 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    “That’s a really complicated subject because there are so many factors that go into the success of an offense.“… With Foles there are areas for improvement, as he said. The game needs to slow down for him(is that react faster?), make quicker reads of the D,make smarter decisions on taking sacks/thowing the ball away, not fixating on only specific targets, improve his footwork,…the `little` things. The td/int numbers may not equal last year, but Foles will be a much better QB in year two of Kelly`s offense.

    As far as everybody else, I don`t think regression will occur. What`s gonna happen is that others- rookies, bench players, newly aqquired players- will step up, push the starters to be better, and possibly take their place.

  32. 32 Sean Stott said at 4:41 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I hope so but why are you using that mark instead of ‘ ?

  33. 33 suthrneagle said at 5:01 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    as in `little`? sorta quote un quote, cause that`s was Foles said he needed to do, improve on his fundamentals, and the little things.

  34. 34 Andy124 said at 5:49 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Sean is asking why you are using a ` instead of a ‘

  35. 35 suthrneagle said at 6:27 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    ahh haa,ok, a mistake, it`s dark in here

  36. 36 Midnight_Greenville said at 4:52 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Donnie Jones, if only because he had such a good year last year. (Although you could argue with the additions on ST (Maragos, Braman, Watkins) his numbers could improve).
    Alex Henery, since he’s trending that way (assuming he makes the team).
    Jason Peters due to age, wear and tear (but could actually improve now that he’s 2 years removed from the achilles tear).
    But, I actually see most players improving due to a 2nd year in the system and Chip’s game planning improving after a year of experience.

  37. 37 Anders said at 6:14 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    “Alex Henery, since he’s trending that way (assuming he makes the team)”

    Really doubt that, Henery cant really regress more or he because terrible instead of just bad

  38. 38 Ark87 said at 7:19 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    jokes aside, i do think he’s sitting at the floor of his potential. this is probably as bad as he could have turned out when we spent that 4th round pick on him. I really don’t get the leg strength part, you would think he would have mastered the touch back kick by now. I could live with the under 40 inconsistency if he could get us more touchbacks.

  39. 39 Reasonableeaglefan said at 7:44 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    If he’s any worse than last year, he’s probably selling insurance.

  40. 40 Greg Richards said at 5:10 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Jon Dorenbos. At some point, age will get to him. And you have to worry about if all the magic stuff is a distraction.

  41. 41 TommyLawlor said at 6:29 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    He was sloppy in 2012, but got better in 2013. Was that due to the coaching change or just an anomaly?

  42. 42 GEAGLE said at 7:45 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Serious question…. When will we have to start worrying about replacing a long snapper?
    ..
    Is Dorenbos still going to be snapping in his 50s?

  43. 43 ACViking said at 6:54 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Not sure magic’s his biggest distraction.

    Question: Why should age impact a long-snapper, apart from the running down-field part of the game?

  44. 44 Jerry Pomroy said at 8:38 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    No his wife is the distraction. That was the true magic act.

  45. 45 Rambler said at 5:14 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I am really worried about my regression for cheering as an Eagles fan… I am a year older, I cannot scream as loud as before, can’t drink as many beers, my high fives don’t go quite as high, my smack talk isn’t as current with the times, years of fantasy football mediocrity has left me in somewhat of a stupor, and I do not salivate over the cheerleaders as much as I used to. Probably nothing that Chip’s smoothie regimen could not cure, but I currently do not have access.

  46. 46 Benjamin Brophy said at 5:41 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    LeSean McCoy. Its hard to top the past two years, no Djax, extra curricular activities sometimes worry me.

  47. 47 Anders said at 5:58 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    2012 wasnt that good, 2011 was the great year

  48. 48 ICDogg said at 6:17 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Surprised no one has brought up the marriage factor with Nick Foles

  49. 49 anon said at 6:31 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Does that mean he’ll play harder b/c now he’s got bills?

  50. 50 SuPaFrO said at 6:57 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    He’ll play better b/c he won’t have blueballs!

  51. 51 A_T_G said at 9:30 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    You must be new to this marriage thing…

  52. 52 Andy124 said at 11:33 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    So, you’ve met my wife.

  53. 53 D3FB said at 7:56 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Barkley got married before last season…

  54. 54 anon said at 6:32 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I need more otas / training camp to happen like asap.

  55. 55 ACViking said at 6:48 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Not sure why, since no one’s allowed to watch generally.

    So if no one sees any organized team activities, have they actually happened?

  56. 56 Crus57 said at 7:00 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Only if they don’t happen in a forest.

  57. 57 Andy124 said at 9:15 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    In fairness, each OTA (or near enough) has one session open to the media, which tends to trigger a burst of ‘more interesting than usual’ articles.

  58. 58 GEAGLE said at 8:18 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Still get more intel when OTAs come around,.,. We may not get to see practices but as fans we are treated to a bunch of interviews and press conferences during OTAs…
    ..
    Take today for example… We don’t get to see what’s going on in terms of practice…but we still get Eagles live at noon, we will still get some interviews, and I’m sure Spadaro will have one of our players in studio……
    ..
    Even if we could watch OTAs, doubt as fans we would get much out of it. We aren’t really running our plays…for the most part they just do drills, with the highlight being 7-7

    Every day is an opportunity to make an impression… But I don’t think the competition has started yet,,, basically I view OTAs as the preperation for the roster competition which takes place during camp. The sharper you are in OTAs, the more equipped you will be to compete in camp…
    ..
    Also with 90man rosters, I’m sure Chip is careful about what he shows and what he doesn’t show during OTAs..

    When are we going to Foxborogh for Patriots camp? First two weeks of training camp? Love how last year FOles picked up little tricks from Brady, like patting the ball as a pump fake.. Wonder what Nicky BIGTIME picks up from watching Brady this year

  59. 59 Cafone said at 7:11 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Double team Riley Cooper? Really? If a defense has an extra man to double Riley Cooper wouldn’t they use him in just about any other conceivable way, like an extra run defender or blitzing or warming up the bus?

  60. 60 GEAGLE said at 7:56 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Yeah, I don’t get that comment either… Cooper won’t be double teamed any time soon… If he goes deep, and everyone on the opposite side goes short, you could see,a,safety roll to Cooper, but typically that’s what they so to whoever is going deep.
    ..
    And I can promise that teams won’t be using bracket coverage on Riley

    Now if regression is based off just stats, than a bunch of players could be regressing this year, because that’s what happens when depth increases!!!but just because Coop won’t see as many balls as last year, I wouldn’t automatically call it a regression…
    ..,

  61. 61 Charlie Kelly said at 8:07 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    yes.. and therefore his numbers would dip..

  62. 62 Cafone said at 7:15 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Earl Wolff could be a candidate. If he doesn’t win the job from the unpopular Nate Allen, many fans will be disappointed.

  63. 63 D3FB said at 7:55 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    I think that would fall more under the category of fan expectation as opposed to actual on field performance.

  64. 64 GEAGLE said at 7:43 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Think the front office is higher on him than fans are

  65. 65 anon said at 1:52 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    5th round guy, the fact that he’s smelling a starting spot is a win

  66. 66 shah8 said at 7:43 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Oh, God, no, Tommy…reading other stuff now but really fast on Foles.

    I don’t give a flying bleep about the numbers. I don’t care whether they progress or regress. **Numbers don’t mean very much** in football. Eli Manning has more rings than Peyton Manning, not so much because Eli Manning is better than Peyton at doing the routine tasks of QB’ing the offense, but because Eli Manning is faster, stronger, and has a better arm. In other words, in a tough situation, Eli Manning can potentially come through for you in a way that Peyton Manning cannot, and this difference always shows up in the playoffs. People can talk about the equivalence between Alex Smith and Jay Cutler, but there isn’t any equivalence to be made when it comes to big games. Jay Cutler can save your ass. Alex Smith cannot. And this is a qualitative assessment, not a quantitative assessment. Stats doesn’t have anything to do with it. The high interception rates? One can be prepared to live with that, as opposed to someone who can’t get your team through bad times like Playoffs!Alex Smith not being able to simply burn clock when all the injuries happened against Indy.

    Forget all the aspects of Foles’ physical abilities, push that aside. What you *want* out of Foles is not more *stats*, but better *play*. Foles played no where near the level that his statistics implied. He can have a 20/15 TD/INT ratio and be a dramatically better QB, because he’ll be taking the proper load, and making many more tough throws (with correct placement) as a matter of routine, which means that the offense is far more robust and able to score when it needs to. It might look *terrible* that his INTs have gone up so much, and that his TDs have gone down so much, but what would matter so much more would be that we’d be able to be competitive in the postseason (aside from meeting teams that have no business being there in the WC round) and win at least one or two games.

  67. 67 Anders said at 7:49 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    If your ability to “scout” wasnt already bad enough already, do you really want us to take you serious with your rant about how Eli is better than Payton?

  68. 68 Andy124 said at 7:51 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    C’mon man. I was totally that entire post until you responded. That caused me to read it. Now I’m dumber. Thanks.

  69. 69 A Roy said at 10:05 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Eli played ‘lights out’ for the entire season the last time they won the SB. That year, he was better than Payton. He just cannot do it week in week out, year in year out.

  70. 70 Sean said at 7:10 PM on June 2nd, 2014:

    That year, Peyton didn’t play at all, so every QB who threw a pass was better than he was.

  71. 71 A Roy said at 10:12 PM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Sorry for wording it poorly. I meant that Eli had a better season than the standard, excellent season Peyton puts in year after year.

  72. 72 D3FB said at 7:54 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Alex Smith is both taller and faster than Cutler. Smith has a better overall winning percentage.

    Playoffs!?:
    Cutler: 1 win 1 loss
    Smith: 1win 2 loss
    Not any major disparity there.

  73. 73 Charlie Kelly said at 8:06 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    wait alex smith only has one playoff win? didnt he make it to the NFCCG a few years ago?/

  74. 74 D3FB said at 8:15 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    They were the 1 or 2 seed so they only had to win one game to go to the conference championship.

  75. 75 Charlie Kelly said at 8:16 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    tru tru

  76. 76 Charlie Kelly said at 8:05 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    numbers dont mean much in football? well if he only gets 7 TDs and 20 interceptions those numebr will matter.. lol

  77. 77 Sean said at 9:29 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    It’s impressive how much nonsensical babble you were able to fit into two paragraphs.

  78. 78 A Roy said at 10:03 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Well, they were long paragraphs. And some made sense.

  79. 79 Sean said at 10:14 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    That’s true. Jay Cutler has been unbelievably clutch in his career.

  80. 80 anon said at 1:51 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    a comparison to Kap would have been more apropos

  81. 81 Sean said at 1:58 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Why do we have to make any comparisons at all? Kaepernick, Wilson, Luck and any of the other QBs against whom Foles apparently needs to be measured are all good in different ways. We can debate who’s best until we’re blue in the face, but bringing up something one can do that another can’t is not some kind of proof that he reigns supreme and the other sucks. Yes, Kaep has a huge arm and blazing speed. The same cannot be said for Foles, but he excels in certain areas in which Kaep struggles. Regardless, THEY’RE BOTH GOOD at playing QB.

  82. 82 GEAGLE said at 7:51 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Cary, Meco and Todd will be better than last year

  83. 83 Charlie Kelly said at 8:15 PM on June 1st, 2014:

    Jason Kelce could regress a bit

    jason peters is another year older

    celek could lose snaps to ertz

    can boykin keep up the pace he was playing at?

  84. 84 GEAGLE said at 8:09 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Think peters has to get back to playing his best ball before we ever start to see him regress.

    Every teams players are better in Their second year removed from injury, except ours apparently… We expect that our guys play their best ball during the first year back from injury..and if they don’t play their best ball, we assume they have entered the nose dive portion of their career.. SMH

    Peters and Herremans will be better than they were last year!

  85. 85 eagleyankfan said at 8:19 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    I’m not sure Kelce will regress. Full year back from injury. He’ll be ready to roll….Kendricks though … hopefully he doesn’t….He’s the one to keep an eye on his play….

  86. 86 GEAGLE said at 8:26 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Think Mykal will be one of the players who’s play explodes the most…thinking Mykal shows more improvement then even the boy king….

    Going to be fascinating to chart the improvement of our second and third year players…

    We need to keep an eye out for How much they improved and the rate in which they improve,. Young guys need to grow in big leaps….

    We NEED to see our young players look improved in September from what they were in January… But once they show growth and improvement in September, we should see another giant step forward in terms of their development by the first few weeks in December……
    ..
    By the end of this season, we will have a nice amount of Data to analyze….want to analyze their play for the first few weeks in September 2013,’then take a look at their play in the first few weeks of December 2013, then September 2014, and December 2014…. Hopefully we see steady growth and improvement, instead of seeing us hit walls, stunting growth…

  87. 87 Ben said at 12:22 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    What players regress you ask?
    I say the players on the teams that are not coached by
    Chip Kelly.
    With all his “fountain of youth” strength and conditioning gurus, our players seem to have better endurance and improved recovery.

    Maybe it’s his techniques or maybe it’s something in those smoothies.
    Maybe a combination of all these things are why I think we leap forward leaving other teams in the dust, unless they get smart and start to emulate what Chip is doing.

    I hear Miami is the first in line.

  88. 88 The Linc – Which Eagles Will Regress? | Sports Feedr said at 7:00 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    […] Regression Candidates – Tommy Lawlor, Iggles BlitzThis is the most complicated subject of them all. It is virtually impossible to imagine Foles numbers will be as good as in 2013. He finished with a rating of 119.2. He threw 27 TDs and only 2 INTs. Those are freaky stats. If Foles throws 38 TDs and 10 INTs, I wouldn’t consider that a step back. He would still be playing at a very high level, even if his numbers technically were a step back. For me to think of Foles as really regressing, he would have to look significantly different. There isn’t a specific stat line, but imagine if he threw 30 TDs and 16 INTs. That would show minimal positive increase, but a large negative increase. Clearly something like that would be a step back. This isn’t all just about TDs and INTs. Completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating are all important stats for judging Foles level of play. It really will be interesting to see how he plays. […]

  89. 89 GEAGLE said at 7:37 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Define regression….
    ….
    I think many of our players will have a regression in terms of stats… But while their stats diminish, I expect them to improve as players…
    ..
    I’m not really sure why well coached, Commited, driven players in a very healthy situation would regress.. I could understand if last year was the 4th year in the system, and we have to worry about the scheme and coaching getting stale…but I don’t believe it’s possible to see the best it gets in year one of a new scheme, so if we haven’t seem the best yet, I’m not sure how I could expect regression… For players to regress Im assuming they would have to be affectd by:
    1) Age: someone waking up feeling much older than the day before…we have some older players who in theory could be candidates for this…but I think it’s an absolute joke what fans and writers these days are constituting as older players…it’s like as soon as a player is close to 28yrs old, the doom n gloom sets in….I’d bet that our coaches and trainers have a much better pulse on our older players than fans and writers…and if someone was a REAL candidate to hit the AGE WALL this year, he would be gone like Jason Avant..
    ..
    2) playing thru nagging injuries.

    I guess your opinion on projecting Herremans depends on your opinion of what caused the down year, it’s nice and lazy to point to his age for why his play dipped, but there are too many REAL FACTORS to take into account with Herremans! that I don’t believe age had anything to do with it…

    If guys like Todd and Meco were in danger of hitting the age wall, we would have been more aggressive, making sure we got younger at those position.

    We know nothing about out sports science methods…but we know we have some very thorough coaches and trainers… If a player is in real danger to regress because of age, I’m sure we would have made sure we added contingency plans,,. Thus, Cole really is OLDER and has wear and tear, so we made sure we went and got some insurance…

    Cary hasn’t even played his best ball for us yet, so I don’t know why anyone would assume he is about to decline.. Then again, Cary hasn’t been given a chance in this city since we signed him.. He has alWays “sucked” and always need to be “replaced next year”… Yet when it’s all said and done he will have put in 3-4 years of service at outside CB for us.

    Cooper isn’t regressing. Cooper isn’t done improving. His numbers may take a dpi, but that doesn’t mean he is regressing… Doubt our coaches just snapped their fingers and he went from career #4 to solid #2, and 8 months later the clock struck twelve and the carriage turns back into a pumpkin? I don’t buy it…..Why the hell would anyone assume he is done developing and is about to start his decline? Oh that’s right, because Desean is gone. Smh… Tired, lazy, crap of an argument

  90. 90 eagleyankfan said at 7:44 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Let’s double team Cooper — said no DC ever.

  91. 91 GEAGLE said at 7:46 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    LOL…what? You aren’t expecting tight bracket coverage on the great Coop?

  92. 92 eagleyankfan said at 7:59 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    LOL. I like Coop a lot. He’s one of my fav. Love the toughness. As of today nobody demands coverage like DJ. I don’t expect any WR to be going 7 for 120 and 2. I do expect all of them(including the rook) to have fine, not great, stats but at the end of the game tallying up their numbers combined, they’ll be monster numbers. This is a machine team. Mean Machine! Mean Machine!

  93. 93 GEAGLE said at 8:06 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Totally agree,…. The ON!Y pass catcher who may regress is Celek… But considering how fast he was running on that screen last year, I’d assume we have a year or two left before age starts to take it’s toll on Brent.”
    ….
    I don’t think players will have the stats they had last year because our arsenal is so deep, that stats will be spread more think across the board…

    But Coop is still going to be Beasting smaller DBs. He will continue to catch screens, stiff arm and turn it up field…and he will continue to out jump DBs, and come down with jump balls… He is also our QBs most trusted target so we will continue to see Coop make some big catches in the redzone…

    When defenses know we are passing, they will be scrambling to match up with Sproles, shady and Ertz…Coop will continue getting 1 on 1 against smaller DBs, and I see no reason why he should stop getting the best of them

  94. 94 eagleyankfan said at 8:16 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Agreed. Last year you had WR’s DJ and Coop and… and…nobody really…then throw in the TE’s. Now you have Mac(hopefully, fully back), Cooper, Rook and Rook + Sproles. Now throw in the TE’s. I’m not saying DJ isn’t good. I’m also not saying this team is better without him. I’m simply saying this offense will be as good, if not better than last years wr group. If DJ was still here and we drafted one of the rook’s, I’d be saying the same thing…
    That brings up the question — how many WR’s the Eagles keeping? Mac/Coop/Rook 1/Rook 2 and Ben?
    (Yes, they are named Rook 1 and Rook 2 until further notice :))

  95. 95 GEAGLE said at 8:33 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Hahaha thinking part or how many WRs we keep will depend on how many TEs we keep.. If we only keep the big 3 at TE, I would guess we keep 6 WRs.,.
    ,,,
    We really improved our depth across the board, that it will be interesting to see how many players we keep at each position:
    1) Return of the Mac by Mark Morrison lol
    2) Coop There it is…
    3) Rook 1
    4) Rook 2

    I’ll assume we keep 6, and it’s going to be 3 players battling for two spots: Rejus, Brad smith(who I think Chip likes) and Air Maehl… IMO, Rejus can be the most dangerous of the 3, but he also comes with the most risk and questions…

  96. 96 Tumtum said at 7:47 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    I would expect regression out of Riley in the terms of huge games. Hopefully he will be able to consistently contribute something more than he was last year though. That would leave his stats roughly the same. Could also be better for the offense.

    I just hope he doesn’t regress in the big play area and go ghost half the time like last year….

  97. 97 DRG said at 8:23 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    Your an idiot. Why guess at so stupid a subject. Footballs is to be enjoyed not guess what might go wrong, the Eagles have as much chance to win the suber bowel as to fall apart.
    Ps will someone take the time to look at Deseans stats he did nothing the last half of the year.

  98. 98 eagleyankfan said at 8:29 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    ” the Eagles have as much chance to win the suber bowel as to fall apart. ” Not sure who you’re calling an idiot … but …

  99. 99 bill said at 8:37 AM on June 2nd, 2014:

    You didn’t even need to go that far. The first word tipped me off.

  100. 100 Nicodemus_09 said at 8:27 PM on June 2nd, 2014:

    IF Damaris Johnson IS still on the roster (ugh) AND we find him still returning some punts (ugh’ER), he likely will also regress. From fielding kicks at the 6 to back at the 3……lol

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