Updates on Misc Players
Posted: June 2nd, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 69 Comments »Let’s talk about some misc players.
Casey Matthews – I’ve been wondering if 2014 could be a bounce-back year for Matthews. Last season he was moved to LOLB, a spot that he wasn’t suited for. Matthews played here and there, but failed to show much. The Eagles have better depth at OLB this summer so Matthews could move back to his more natural spot at ILB. Could he become a solid backup? Doesn’t seem likely as of now. Matthews isn’t getting mentioned in the practice reviews at all. You have Ryans/Kendricks, Phillips/Goode and Knott/Acho at ILB right now. You wonder how much longer Matthews will be an Eagle if he can’t even make the 3rd string unit.
Chris Maragos – The Eagles added Malcolm Jenkins to start at FS. They have Nate Allen and Earl Wolff fighting for the SS spot. The loser will be the #3 Safety. Where does Maragos fit in? He is in Philly to be a better version of Colt Anderson. If you watched the Eagles in recent years, Anderson stood out on STs. Defense was another story. He showed no cover skills and was highly inconsistent as a tackler. The Eagles must feel that Maragos can be a similar STs player to Anderson, but will offer more help on defense. That isn’t to say Maragos is here to push for a starting spot on defense. The Eagles just need him to be functional in case injuries force him onto the field.
Trey Burton – Burton is a player who has created some buzz. Part of it is just fans being excited by a UDFA from a big school who made some big plays in college. Burton has also gotten noticed by the media. He should. Burton is a good athlete who should shine in a setting like the OTAs. Training Camp will be the bigger challenge. Burton is an undersized TE. He’ll have to show he can be an effective blocker when there is live hitting. He’ll need to stand out on STs during the preseason games. For now, enjoy the positive notes on Burton, but keep them in proper context.
Roc Carmichael – The young CB failed to distinguish himself in 2013. He wasn’t awful, but didn’t show enough that the Eagles could feel he was a player to be counted on for the future. Carmichael will get a chance to play this summer. He could win a job, but will need to play really well for that to happen (or injuries could open a door). I haven’t given up on Carmichael, but I don’t anticipate him making a strong push. For his sake, I hope I’m wrong.
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Lots of beat writers posted practice notes on Monday evening. I’ll be doing a roundup of them on Tuesday and sharing my thoughts on what they saw and covered.
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It is one of those perspective moments where you realize how far the eagles have come on building the defense, eagled have finally made it to the moment where Casey Matthews doesn’t even make the top six ILB. He started as a rookie, eagles couldn’t find three LB that were better than him that year.
Thank Howie for Demeco and Kendricks and Goode and Acho and all those other people. Maybe Special teams ace like Jason Phillips can get the last spot.
Think they did an amazing job… Last years lack of depth was very scary.. We underwent a depth makeover across the board. Think it will be significantly harder to make this roster than it was last year. Stiffer competition all around should make our plays sharper
damn forgot casey was on the team
That wasn’t hard to do.
I love when everytime Momah catches a pass the fans get really excited and think he’s going to make the team.
Well if Momah did ever work out even as 4th WR for us, having a 6’8 WR who runs a 4.45 is no joke.
“I’ve been wondering if 2014 could be a bounce-back year for Matthews.”
Wouldn’t you have to have actually accomplished something in the past to bounce back to in order to have a bounce-back year?
Well, Tommy didn’t say it would be a high bounce…
More of a splat…
What about Trash Can? Heard he got turned into a stationary pass catcher today. Good on him for being versatile, which is what Chip loves.
It sounds like he has some competition this year, There were apparently Periscope-looking things according to Kempski’s notes today acting as a taller version of Trash Can
Typical Philly media, only caring about size and not skill.
Yeah, really. Pssh, women.
They were the new pseudo-receivers.
Are you saying the Eagles brought back Thrash and Pinkston?
Big cans beat up little cans.
I think the fact that he backed up LOLB last season could work to Matthews’s benefit. Let’s say hypothetically that Ryans, Kendricks, Phillips and Goode are the top 4 ILBs at the end of camp and that Barwin, Cole, Smith and Graham are the top 4 OLBs. We ‘know’ they’re not gonna carry a 5th guy at both of those positions, so they either have to pick one or have Matthews backup both. The 5th guy is going to be injury depth, ST and/or inactive anyway, so carrying one guy with experience at both seems like a relatively sensible plan.
You can just keep your sound reasoning as to why Casey Mathews could make this team to yourself, thank you very much.
Casey has no chance to make this team
“You wonder how much longer Matthews will be an Eagle if he can’t even make the 3rd string unit.”
I do wonder, indeed. And I do hope that it won’t be long. What a waste of a roster spot.
Think he is done..,
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Dude,wasn’t even rotating in Nickle. I don’t see how Casey Mathews can survive this years cuts
I can’t imagine Nolan Carroll, and his special teams skills, gets signed for this team if they wanted to keep Carmichael.
Not sure, because marsh is the first scrub CB to go!!!
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I got the impression the coaches liked lead foot Carmicheal..
Take a shot at Will Hill or not worth the dealing with his issues?
Wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole.
Isnt he suspended for the whole year anyway?
I believe it’s 6 games.
Reporters wrote about how concerned everyone was when Maclin stayed down, clutching his knee. It looks to me, though, like they were actually making fun of him. Should we be concerned?
Feel like I can’t find anyone to speak on Maragos with any type of certainty…
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I do not believe that Chip makes changes just for the sake of Change. Colt Anderson was a high character, quality ST player/Captain, who’s market was non existent. We could have easily kept him if we wanted to… Coaches felt maragos was an upgrade on some level…
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What will maragos bring?
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1) Is he the same caliber ST player as Colt, but a higher level safety than Colt?
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2) is he a similarly Incompetant safety like Colt, but an upgrade in ST play?
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3) can maragos be a #4 safety or is he destined for nothing more than Colts #5 safety who is basically only a safety in name?
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I’m sure maragos is an upgrade to Colt, but in what aspect of the game?
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Re-read above. Very good STer, better defensive player.
“He is a key member of every special team, including serving as the up back (or the punt protector) on a punt team that threatened to break an NFL record for fewest return yards allowed.
“He kind of runs the whole show there,” said special-teams coach Brian Schneider of Maragos, who finished the season with 10 special-teams tackles to go with three more as Earl Thomas’ backup at free safety.
Maragos also is regarded as one of the team’s fastest players, which he proved often this year on kickoffs. Players race to the 25-yard line, and then if it’s a touchback, to the end zone. Schneider tracks who finishes first at each spot, and gives a point to that player. That player is recognized at the Monday special-teams meeting. Maragos was the season points leader.”
From the Seattle Times, quoted on Birds 24/7 here:
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2014/03/12/eagles-add-safety-maragos/
That’s all I know about him, though.
Much much appreciated…
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Sounds like a level about Colt in terms of ST play
When you use phrases like “we must feel” I take it as you offering hypothesis on something you aren’t sure about? Did I interpret that wrong?..Appologies If I misundestood..
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Wasn’t taking a shot at you, or anyone else for that matter. can I really be mad at anyone for not studying the past few years Preseasons to see the Seahawks 3rd string safety? Lol figured it was one of those situations like the Backup OL where we don’t have enough intel, so nothing to do but wait and see the kid really hasn’t played since leaving Wisconsin
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You would think that Colt is the type of guy Chip Loves, but considering there was no market for him, we could have easily kept him if wanted…but obviously we felt maragos was an upgrade.. But in what way?
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You said he is a quality ST player, so we must have felt he is an improvement at safety…but wouldn’t another possibility be that he isn’t much more than Colt in terms of safety. And we brought him here because he is a level above Colt as a special teams player? Just curious..
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I have no idea how he had played safety since Wisconsin…is he the frontrunner to win the #4 safety spot ahead of Reynolds and Keelan?
Clearly — Colt has gang ties.
Lol Dorenbos admitted on twitter that he throws up Amish mafia gang signs after made FGs..
Maragos reminds me of Mikell, same size and athleticism, but faster.
5’10 202 [4.48 15 3.98
6.65 36 10’0]
He is a key member of every special team, including serving as the up
back (or the punt protector) on a punt team that threatened to break an
NFL record for fewest return yards allowed.
“He kind of runs the whole show there,’’ said special-teams coach Brian Schneider.
Seattle simply won’t pay for backup safeties given their starters.
Damn’t, Tommy. I love your articles but every time I read CM’s name I think my eyes are going to start bleeding. From now until final cuts can we just pretend that he’s not even here?
Obscure guys who could break out and win a spot:
Josey – prototype Chip scatback, question is his knee, that was a severe injury, but he came back last year in a big way, if he improves further, well, he ran a 4.42 this spring, any faster and he’d be in his own league.
Momah – yeah, he’s sort of a joke, but the guy is an exceptional athlete, just was too rusty last year, but you don’t find 6’7 239 lb WRs who run a legitimate 4.45 and can still post a 6.75 cone drill very often.
Benn – kinda funny to call him an “obscure” breakout guy, but after 2 ACL tears he’s an afterthought for most people, but if he’s 100%, he’s a 6’1 219 lb experienced WR with 4.44 speed. And he’s still only 26.
Annen – he hasn’t shown that 4.42 speed on the field, but even if he’s functionally a 4.62 guy, at 6’5 250 that’s more than good enough at TE. Could be a ST terror, and was a blocking TE, if he shows receiving skills he’ll be hard to cut.
Barmino – the guy is huge and he’s not a stiff, make or break year for him.
David Molk – top college center, made for zone blocking system, not as long as Chip likes ’em (6’1 with 32″ arms but small hands) but all the intangibles and strong (43 reps). Remington winner in 2011.
Kruger – up to 290 lbs, question is whether he retained his athleticism (7.17 cone, 34″ VT at 269 lbs). Will push Hart.
Mays/Villanueva – Mays is a freak, 6’9 291 with a 34″ vertical, Villanueva is another oversized DE. Both are long shots, but certainly worth a look, they’d add a dimension to pass coverage – just stand there and wave their arms!
Bryan Braman – didn’t play much in Houston, but really raw coming out of college (a few detours), but an exceptional athelte with good length.
Travis Long – 8 sacks as a senior at OLB, with the ACL almost 2 years behind him, a real shot at making the team.
Marsh – I think with Carmichael what you see is what you get, too much of a tweener for any spot (not tall enough outside, not nifty enough for the slot, not big enough for safety). Marsh has prototype size and speed and they kept him around, maybe Davis sees something?
I think Annen is the injured in last pre season game and goes to IR guy this year.
So far it seems Tucker has the leg up for 4th RB spot, but im rooting for Josey.
Momah is said to look much better than last year, most likely ends on PS (or somebody claims him). I really doubt he makes the roster of guys like Smith and Benn
I doubt any of Mays/ville makes the team, we already have 5 good DEs and I doubt we keep more.
I think Long makes the team as 5th OLB (so inactive on game day) and Braman according to Barwin has untapped potential (Braman should be a freak athlete).
I cant see us keep more than 5 CBs so Marsh has to beat out Watkins for 5th spot and I cant see that happening
Yeah Annen is a good call for Phantom injury category.
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Momah is allegedly looking better. Yesterday everyone was pumped up over him making a great catch in traffic against Boykin lol. I know Boykin is awesome, but 6’7 Momah making a catch over tiny Boykin, just doesn’t look right on my head lol. Kid def ain’t making roster.. I would call it a major win for him if he makes practice squad.
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I absolutely agree that long makes the team, but I also think Braman is a lock.. So I am having a difficult time figuring out the numbers game with the OLBs.. If you have us keeping long as our 5th, which 4 do you have in front of him? I’m assuming both he and Braman make it. But this OLB situation is confusing to me
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We are keeping 7 DL and more OLBs than last year… So we are going to have to skimp ILB and DBs.
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QUESTION: how many players can you IR?
OLB gets a little less complicated if some 4-3 team suffers an injury to a DE and finally breaks down and trades us a pick, any pick, for Graham.
It sure does…. Would you rather get an extra 6th or 7th for him? Or trade BG and a 5th for a 4th round pick(basically using him to move up)
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I’d move up & look to trade him to a bottom dweller if possible.
you can IR as many players as you want, they just still count against the cap.
My 5 OLBs will be Barwin, Cole, Smith, Braman and Long. I really think Graham will be traded.
I see 7 DL, 5 OLB, 4 ILB, 5 CBs and 5 safeties for 26 on defense.
Oh ok,,, yeah we see things similar. getting Value for BG is,the best case scenario unless we can get Long to IR…problem is that kid missed plenty of time due to injury, not sure we can get away with putting him on the shelf for a year.. BG will HAVE to be traded..
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If we have to end up dumping BG. Would people prefer getting an extra 6th or 7th for him? Or would be rather use him to move up..for example. Trade BG and our 5th round pick for a 4th round pick?
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I listed the 7 DL we keep.
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Thinking we only keep 5 CBs, because our two back ups Jaylen and Nolan can play inside and outside…so Marsh and Carmicheal are gone…
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Safety is another tough one. If Maragos is a better safety than Colt Abderson, maybe he can with the #4 safety spot, and place Ed Reynolds on IR?… can’t even think of Reynolds on practice squad because he will get poached with the Quickness.,.jaylen Watkins ability to be a deep reserve Emergency safety, may allow us to only keep 4,,. But we probably see Keelan, Ed Reynolds and Maragos fighting for 4th spot, maybe a 5th…
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Even ILB has a decent little battle. MK/Meco starting with Phillips,Knott,Goode fighting for two spots…we liked Knott enough for Chip to keep him, but Chip liked Phillips enough to sign him.. Feel like Goode is a lock because he is MK backup while Knott and Phillips battle over Meco backup. Wonder how much suspension hurts knott
Think Kruger is a lock… Actually I think the defensive line is the most set position, We will keep 7, dress 6. Guys stay hungry competing to not be the DL that is inactive. We rotate 6 DL in each game, going to need 1 deep reserve. Think the 7 are locks to make the roster, but their roles in the hierarchy are still up for grabs:
1) Cox
2) Logan
3) Thornton
4) Curry
5) Allen
6) Kruger
7) Hart..
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Think when the dust clears from the battles, Cox/Curry will be the 1st team interior Nickle pass rushers.. 4 man line:
Barwin. Curry, Cox, Cole 1st team…
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Prediction: Logan and Kruger win the backup Nickle….so on 3rd down, we will end up rotating: Cox, Curry, Kruger, Logan
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I ABSOLUTElY think the Eagles will find a way to keep Travis Long
To be completely honest, I don’t like Barwin as the LDE in nickel situations. I prefer him as one of the LBs, along with Smith & Kendricks. I like Cole to slide over to the LDE & BG to man RDE. Everyone forgets that Cole started out on the left side opposite Douglas as a 3rd down rusher. So he’s got experience there, he’s a disciplined rusher & still has enough burst to blast past RTs.
If you have both BG, Cole and Barwin, Kendricks and Smith on the field, you aint in nickle anymore, unless you only have one DT on the field
Yes, I understand there are only 2 LBs. My meaning was to have a combo of two of those 3 at LB.
With any of those 3, you’ve got the ability to cover and also blitz. My preference would be Barwin & Smith as they’re also more experienced edge rushers that could come free off the edge or handle the blocking RB.
My preference is a 3-3 look with Curry, Cox, Cole (and Logan and Kruger rotating) and then Barwin, Kendricks and Smith as the LBs
Yeah, I was mainly responding to his 4 man line. But my point being that we don’t need to rush Barwin from 3pt in 4 man line. He’s better on his feet and Cole has the experience rushing off the left side & it gets Graham on the field at the same time as Cox & Curry. Might as well use those 4-3 guys to their strengths in a 4 man line.
what do you think about moving graham in at LDE in the nickle and switching barwin to mlb along with kendricks. gives meco a breather and gives two good coverage linebackers and lets brandon graham do what he does best
You’re better with Cole over on the left (as he’s played there before and been successful), with Graham on right in his natural position.
or even marcus smith
I think we bring in folks like Mays and Villaneuva specifically because they are big enough to be their own sort of drill for our O to practice against through August. If Foles can see (and throw) around these guys all summer, he can work around JJ Watt’s paws in the Fall.
Same with a supersized WR like Momah against our corners.
Yes, but I can’t help myself thinking of an RZ unit of (L to R) Cooper (6’4″), Matthews (6’3″), Ertz (6’5″) & (surprise!) Momah (6’7″).
Think we have done an amazing job of building the depth across the board and it’s going to be drastically harder to make this roster than last years. Just think at how many positions last year we were an injury away from disaster. I’m blown away by how much depth we added in one offseason. Depth doesn’t just provide injury insurance..increasing depth, increases the level of competition our starters have to beat to get snaps..
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A microcosm at how much our depth has improved is OLB. OLB, LT and QB are valued above all else, yet we only carried 3 OLBs last year(two were first time OLBs).’We had to pretend Casey Mathews was the 4th. Depth has improved to where we now have 6 OLBs that I don’t want to lose, and I don’t know how we will keep all 6… One of my sleepers is Travis long. not only so I like his game. But I got the impression that the eagles really I like him and will figure out how to keep him. Ideally, we convince him to chill on IR for. Year counting on Cole and BG to move on after the year. …
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One thing I can not stomach is losing BG for nothing like Desean. Ideally a contender who’s window to win a Lombardi is quickly closing sufferers bad injury luck in the preseason and we can move BG in August for decent compensation, we are going to he a playoff team this year, so rather then lose him for nothing, I prefer using his as rush this year, and see him leave in fee agency, helping to net us a compensatory pick…but to keep BG, we would have to keep 5 OLBs, when we only kept 3 last year..
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1) Barwin… LOCK, one of our best players
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2) Marcus.. LOCK
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3) Braman… LOCK
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4) Cole…. Doubt he would be a surprise cut this year.
Coaches love him.. Close to lock
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That’s already 1 more OLB we have to carry than last year…..
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But we still have BG and Travis Long…..??????
I do NOT want to lose Travis, and I suspect the eagles find a way to keep him,,.
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How many more OLBs can we realistically keep than last year?
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The 4th OLB we keep will take Casey Mathews roster spot. But if we keep 5 or 6 they will have to take DB’s spot because we can’t lose any DL.
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I think DL is the most set position on the roster. We play 6 in games, so we will keep 7 and guys will compete over who gets to dress and who isn’t active. We kept 7 last year, but then we traded away Soap and finished the year with 6.. But I believe our 7 DL are set in stone… So if we are keeping more OLBs we will have to either skimp ILBs or DBs…. Curious what this will mean for how many safeties and how many CBs make this roster.. It gets even more interesting when you consider that Jaylen Watkins and Malcolm Jenkins can be emergency backups at all the positions in the secondary…
Good point about OLB. Would be great if Reynolds “suffers an injury” and sadly, sadly has to go on IR. Probably isn’t ready anyway, but could take Allens spot next year.
With Watkins + maybe Maragos, we could keep 4 Safeties on the 53. That would open up a roster spot for OLB. Ideally, we trade Graham for a 6th rounder or so (the comp. pick the year after could maybe be better than that, but I’ll take that 6th rounder + a roster spot this year over that chance). With the safety move explained above, we’d be allowed to have one more OLB –> 4. We kept 9 LBs last year (I think…), so it comes down to Long vs. MLB #5 (Phillips, Acho, Knott). We shouldn’t be too greedy, but maybe IR for Long? Maybe he makes it nonetheless.
I would really really be happy if we could IR Long and Reynolds..
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Last year our depth was a joke. If we lost Barwin to injury last year it would have been a disaster, Same with Demeco..lol our Safeties were so poor that we as fans were sweating losing our 5th round rookie…
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Came a long way in one offseason in terms of depth. Instead of Casey Mathews being behind Barwin we now have Marcus Smith and Bryan Braman….
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Meco is probably the only depth we didn’t address but Jason Phillips may be a better backup than we think…we can also incorporate subpackages that require one less LB and give Meco a breather by scheme..
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Thinking no chance Curtis Marsh makes roster… But going to be interesting to see how many CBs and Safeties we decide to keep.
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Wonder if jaylens ability to play emergency safety and Malcolm Jenkins ability to play emergency CB have a major impact on how many CBs and Safties we decide to keep
Man…I have been thinking about this for a while. There will be some tough decisions to make. Not just who, but where do you want to keep an extra roster spot. I can see a lot of fans in turmoil come final cuts. Particularly at WR & then you’ve got basically the entire defense where the decisions become very very hard.
Yup.. Soon comes the bad part about having a deep roster,,, losing players you don’t want to lose. Defensively, the secondary is going to have to get skimped. It can’t be the DL, we need all 7. We can’t be losing Young Guys like Braman and Long because f
Of a one year rental like BG and Cole…
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Don’t see any way Casey Mathews and Curtis Marsh make this roster. Which is a positive… But I’m assuming we will have to skimp the secondary so we can keep more edge rusher. Figure marsh is replaced by Nolan Carrol, Watkins replaces Carmicheal..
1) Cary Bad cop Williams
2) Bradley Fletch
3) The boy King
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4 and 5) Nolan Carrol and Jaylen Watkins which is GREAT depth because they can both play slot and outside
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Safety is tricky…
kicker Jeff Reed is trying to make a comeback. Hasn’t kicked since 2010, but is only 35yrs old. Has 82% career success Rate. Kicked for Steelers so is used to Pennsylvania elements.. He contacted Wisenhunt and is talking to Titans.
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Word is murderleg is comically bad and isn’t a realistic threat to Alex.. Alex can’t just cruise this offseason.. If he is going to remain our kicker I need it to be because he was pushed, and he answered the bell… I don’t know if Jeff Reed is the vet to push him but it’s better than what we have now
Heck, I can push him better.
Push him down the steps 🙂
Nah, then I’d be looking at a lawsuit. I’ve got a leg. Played semi-pro soccer as a yute.
Best case scenario is that none of these players make the final 53, except maybe Margos. Nothing against any, but Kelly appears to be attacking depth in year 2.
[…] Updates on Misc Players – Tommy Lawlor, Iggles BlitzCasey Matthews – I’ve been wondering if 2014 could be a bounce-back year for Matthews. Last season he was moved to LOLB, a spot that he wasn’t suited for. Matthews played here and there, but failed to show much. The Eagles have better depth at OLB this summer so Matthews could move back to his more natural spot at ILB. Could he become a solid backup? Doesn’t seem likely as of now. Matthews isn’t getting mentioned in the practice reviews at all. You have Ryans/Kendricks, Phillips/Goode and Knott/Acho at ILB right now. You wonder how much longer Matthews will be an Eagle if he can’t even make the 3rd string unit. […]
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