Bill Davis on Preseason Football
Posted: August 11th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 98 Comments »As I’ve mentioned quite a few times, I love Bill Davis press conferences. He is always interesting and informative, even if he’s not groundbreaking. He met with the media today. There wasn’t much that was newsworthy, but he did have a few interesting thoughts.
Davis talked about preseason football and what goes on. He explained that coaches keep things pretty simple (or vanilla) for a specific reason. They want to evaluate players. If the Eagles call a brilliant blitz, the coaches will know their play design worked and that the players can execute it, but what they won’t know is if the players on the field can pressure the QB on skill alone. This is the time to find out as much as you can about who can play and who can’t. That means a lot of base defense and simple calls.
Davis also explained that mistakes have value. If the coaches see a young player make a mistake, they can then evaluate how the young player handles the situation. Does he repeat the mistake? Does he let it affect his play afterward? Does he have the mental toughness to stay focused? Davis mentioned Jaylen Watkins giving up the long TD and then coming back to make the impressive pick. That showed maturity and toughness on the part of Watkins.
Someone asked Davis about giving the backups a chance to show what they could do against starters. He responded that this would happen on Tuesday and Wednesday in the joint practices with the Patriots more than in the upcoming game. While it would be interesting to see Marcus Smith, Beau Allen and Brandon Bair go against starters from other teams, Davis has to make sure he gets enough reps and the right kind of reps to his projected starters. We won’t get to see the practices so we’ll have to rely on media reports to get a feel for how the young Eagles look when going against top competition.
I didn’t mention Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry in regard to that situation. They are technically backups, but each player has enough game tape out there that the coaches know what they can do.
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Speaking of the defense…here is a great post by the guys at Chip Wagon. They explain some rush concepts in the 3-4 defense and then show examples from last year, as well as Friday night.
One of the focal points of the post is the play of Fletcher Cox. As much as the Eagles could use a dynamic OLB, Cox could become a highly disruptive force. That would ease the pressure on the LBs and set the tone for the defense. Cox didn’t become an impact rusher last year, ala JJ Watt, but Eagles coaches did have Cox down for 21 QB pressures, which led the team. Can he get better than that? The coaches certainly see him as someone on the rise.
Several of you have asked about Cox and whether he is a disappointing player. He looked very good as a rookie when he was allowed to attack up the field on every play. The scheme changed last year and that affected Cox in a major way. We need to see how he plays this season to have any kind of a real feel for whether he can truly be a player the Eagles should build around.
I love his size and athletic ability. I think you keep working with him as long as you can. Cox has tremendous potential. You don’t see it every down, but that’s okay. Sometimes young linemen take a while to get into a groove. One thing that will help Cox is being in the same scheme two years in a row. If his mind and his body ever get on the same page, Cox will be a regularly disruptive force.
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Regarding the 2-gap 3-4, it seems like a big part of the scheme is being able to do more with less in terms of quality of personnel, through creating confusion or hesitation from the opposition – although I guess you need smarter players to do it.
Can someone who understands the Xs and Os a little better give me their impressions?
JakFTW, the article on ChipWagon.com that Tommy referenced goes a long way toward addressing your question. You’ll get a whole lot of superb insight if you read it in its entirety. Here’s an excerpt that addresses your question:
“One of the advantages of the 3-4, when you put four big guys down in a 4-3, the offensive line blocks those four big guys. It’s identified – this is who those four rushers are. We’re going to handle them,” Davis said.“When you do a 3-4, the fourth rusher could come from either outside guy or either inside guy, which really makes protection things and run-blocking schemes have to change and adapt.”
Supposed to be best to counter all the spread attacks the league is trending to. And being able to defend the run with one less player in the box,.. Think back to last years defense. We were high quality at stopping the run, and we did that with little support from the safeties..
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We can play the run, while letting the safeties concentrate on playing the pass…
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It’s really just a first and second down thing.l
If the Eagles decided to break with tradition and put the second team personnel on the field for the first series, would they be ostracized by the other coaches? Would they have to sit by themselves at the annual meeting? It might be a good way to get people to leave our coaches alone at next year’s combine so they can concentrate.
QUESTION FOR TOMMY and ALL the BLITZERS
What reasons are there for not considering Brandon Graham at ILB? …
specifically as ILB depth after Ryans, Kendricks and Goode.
Hi Matt 🙂 He is a pass rusher 1st and foremost, and he struggles in coverage, which would still be exposed on the inside, if not more so. I think he has an amazing work ethic and aptitude, and believe that when given the chance in a more friendly scheme, will have more success in the NFL.
First is the mental aspect, playing ILB is drastically different that DE/OLB. Graham hasn’t played a similar position since high school. For ILB’s in this scheme a typical play goes something like this: presnap read formations, motions, personnel packages, ball is snapped read primary key (typically a OL) react, read secondary key (backfield) correct if needed, if run fill your gap, maintain gap responsibility without overpursuing, if pass either find your man or drop into your zone. All this happens within the first second or so of a play. Having Graham move to ILB would be the equivalent of moving Kendricks to safety, they are drastically different positions.
The second major aspect is Graham’s biggest weakness is his athleticism. He struggles just taking a zone drop out to the flat. At ILB you would need him to be able to run down the seam with a TE, cover WR’s on crossing routes, follow a back out of the backfield and not make a total ass out of himself on a wheel route.
Same reason we don’t put Beau Allen at safety…. BG brings zero ILB qualities to the table…. As in can’t even get a practice rep at ILB
Surely, for Fletcher Cox to be worth his next contract, he needs to be close to Justin Smith or JJ Watt in presence on the field.
yeah I think you’re underrating JJ Watt
Very curious to see him in their new defense
Didn’t look that great considering the stomping they took in first pre-season.
College coaches love the 34 but I thought Texas’ D was fine. Why neuter the best lineman in the league?
Yeah I certainly can’t make an argument for why they would want to change anything that Watt was doing..
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He will be able to use his pass rush on 3rd down, but like Curry and Cox he will have to adjust to converting two gap to pass rush on first and second down, which probably doesn’t happen overnight…
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I def would have left that scheme alone, it’s one thing to ask baby Cox to make the transition, but I don’t agree with screwing around with the schemes the leagues top lineman plays in
Depends on what his next contract is right?
Also Smith is the 2nd best 3-4 DE over the last decade together with Richard Seymour and JJ Watt is this eras Reggie White or Bruce Smith, so screw Cox for not been once a decade talent or just one of the best in the NFL?
I think a 1-gap team is going to put a substantial offer on the table for him when he hits FA. He’s already shown he has the talent and skill to be dominant when attacking; if he gets a top-5 DL type offer, do the Eagles match with their current scheme? I can’t see it, unless they slide towards a 3-4 1 gap scheme like the 49ers did.
Who says he hit FA? Also there is at least 2 years until he hits FA
Yeah he will never hit free agency.. Non issue in my mind…
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Cox will cash in long before he hits free agency.
Will he want to play for the amount of money the Eagles have slotted for DE in a 2-gap scheme? Personally, if I were Cox, I’d hold out on accepting an Eagles offer if it isn’t a top 10 DL offer – I think he’ll get that on the open market, and possibly top 5, from a 1-gap team that needs a difference maker. I don’t think that the Eagles will put that much money into their DL, though. They’ve got to prioritize LBs in this scheme.
Think you are under rating how highly our coaches think of cox… He is the one player we have that can play in base two gap, and be a starter in nickel pass rush….
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That’s an extremely valuable piece to have, when the other DE is only a base two gapper, and can’t rush the passer…Thornton… Tho I think we forget how young Thornton is…doubt we seen his best yet either
Everyone knows he’s good, its more about allocation of resources. There’s going to be a lot of guys who have to get paid in the next 2-3 years, and its going to be hard giving Cox premier PR money that he could make on a 1-gap team when he’s 2-gapping here.
Allocation of resources? I’d be more worried about losing Thornton that us not “allocating resources” to keep our best DL, who is probably the only one that can start in base and nickel pass rush…
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We roll over 20 mil in cap space, and don’t sign free agents..we maintain cap flexibility, the cap is going up, and I don’t remember the last time Howie or banner didn’t have the money to be able to keep a young player we didn’t want to LOSE…I damn sure don’t think the first time we can’t afford to keep a young player will be Fletcher Cox…
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Think it would be much more likely that we lose Thornton, but I don’t expect to lose any young players we don’t want to lose… We have been making decisions for like two years now based on needing to save money to re sign all of young players… Cox, Kendrick and Boykin, I’d bet money will be here for their next contract…
As far as 34 DEs go, Ngata’s contract [4yr/$48M/$27G] sets the bar. Big drop down $-wise after him, think Calais Campell and Bryant type players, like a [4yr/$35M/$12G] contract. For top 5. Very easy for us to do.
For 34 DTs, the top 3 are Suh, Atkins, and McCoy; avg of [6yr/$55M/$20G]. Again, very top players. It’s not like the JJ Watt contract will affect Cox. He won’t get top 43 DE money (like a D-Ware, Robert Quinn contract). Maybe in the ballpark of [5yr/$40M/$15G]. Win-win for both. Of course, assuming he has a good year for us, which I believe he will.
Don’t worry about Thornton: http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2014/03/03/thornton-verner-orakpo/
Since we signed him as UDFA, we’re in great position to keep him.
@ Geagle: could be of interest for you, too.
pretty unreasonable bar, no? we can only hope he plays at that level, I’m sure Howie will gladly pay him
I wrote this, this morning and have just returned from work. I’m not used to my comments causing such a stir. 🙂 I did forget about Calais Campbell. I have no axe with Cox, I just don’t see many 34 teams tying huge resources to 2-gap ends and Chip has already shown a huge talent who he inherited the door.
Vanilla pre-season is totally fine with me. No need to tip our hands too early in the season. I’d much rather make judgements based on if we shut out Jacksonville or not, shut down Kaepernitwit and Scam Newtwon, and don’t choke away home playoff games vs. teams that don’t win road playoff games.
too funny. If I don’t plug the Almanac but reference an article that plugs it, is it still a shameless plug?
If you have to ask, it ceases to be shameless.
Imo, Cox is fine, if he had turned a few of those impressive 21 hurries into a few more sacks, nobody would complain about him.
The real problem is Trent Cole (and Barwin, but he is so good in coverage that its okay). Cole looks to have zero left in the tank as a pass rusher.
While I don’t disagree, and share your concerns, I’d be careful about judging what an 8year vet has left in the tank during a preseason game… See Meco Ryan’s every preseason since he got here..
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But yes, I too am worried about Cole and I have ZERO concerns about Cox
My concern is also based on last season. There was times Cole was easily blocked by a TE last year and he did zero against a rookie 3rd round tackle against the Saints
Very true..l but there were also times he was getting good pressure, acceptable pressure, that wasn’t resulting in sacks… Fortunately it looks like Marcus will be able to contribute as a rookie…
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Wonder if we are forced to keep BG for pass rush insurance on Coles side…
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We all know this is Coles last year, if he weren’t a concern, this probably wouldn’t be his last year starting making 10 mil or whatever he makes…so I think it’s a very fair concern to have…
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If Curry isn’t on the field every single time it’s 3rd and 5 or Longer, we have problems…. Interior pass rush is rare and the most effective against QBs,,, hopefully Cox/Curry provide above average pass rush on 3rd to compensate for not having a monster pass rusher at the traditional spot the rush is supposed to come from, OLB… If Curry isn’t in the game, we are practically going to be forced to blitz this year
Based on comments from Davis, we shouldnt expect Smith to get many sacks as a rookie.
Also saw Caplan on twitter say that Graham might be traded last day of cut day if Travis Long keeps developing.
Yeah, I was actually surprised to hear him say he expects Marcus to be better in coverage and playing the run early…. I would have bet it would be the opposite, with him succeeding as a pass rusher early on, and having to grow as a run defender… I was definitely surprised by those comments…
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Pass rush is definitely still a concern, but I don’t really see how it could be worse than last year… I expect it to be better….now will better equal good enough? Probably NOT… We still will most likely have to bank on having better interior pass rushers than most team, and relying on disguise and blitzing a little too much for our liking, but it should be better than last year… If pass rush regresses from last year, we have a problem
Smith was a very raw pass rusher in college, most of his sacks was on stunts or similar blitzes and not just the beat the man around the edge. Consider coverage is the hardest part for many OLBs, its nice that he is already very good at it.
Agree… But I expect him to be a year away from setting the edge and playing the run… Expected him to be able to pass rush before being ready to handle an NFL run game….surprised at how he was setting the edge and chasing RB down the line when the play went away from him. Pleasant surprise
Going to be hard to keep Curry in philly Longterm. He has to have serious success as a nickel pass rusher and get national praise to be ok with signing Longterm to rush the passer on 3rd down, when he can most likely thrive as a 3down 4-3 DE..l probably helps that he bleeds green, but that won’t just automatically keep him here and get a young talent to concede just being a 3rd down player
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Think Curry has to be able to get national praise as a nickel pass rusher for us to even consider staying in this role Longterm…I view having Curry and cox as pass rushing DTs as a huge advantage. Not many teams will generate more interior pass rush.
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Today we will need it to compensate for lack of traditional edge pressure, but my hope is that before Vinny Curry leaves us, we get to enjoy Cox/curry interior pressure combined with quality edge rush from our OLBs…that probably isn’t going to happen this year
I get that they were basically playing a “vanilla” defense but what about actually using the defensive scheme and blitz packages that they might execute in a real game? Wouldn’t you want to see how the players handle the scheme and blitz packages in live game situations so you could correct what went wrong and praise what did?
No
I was pleased with Bair! but I have no idea why people are coming away more impressed with him, than Kruger who showed a pretty well rounded game in preseason 1. The second youngest player on our roster showing up so soon was more exciting than Bair in my eyes! then again, I’m bias towards Krugs, so whatever
Bair played better players than Kruger
Sorry no
Bair played a mix of 1st and 2nd stringers where Kruger played only 2nd/3rd, how is that not better players?
Watch all bairs snaps, and all Kruger’s snaps, regardless who they were up against and please tell me how any fair analysis could possible be more impressed with what Bair did than Kruger?
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Then again, who the hell cares? Both looked good, I’d rather both pan out than to pin once against the other but agree to disagree
GEAGLE: ” please tell me how any fair analysis could possible be more impressed with what Bair did than Kruger?”
Anders: “Bair played a mix of 1st and 2nd stringers where Kruger played only 2nd/3rd”
Asked and answered.
Lol simple
You know I’ve been madly deeply in love with Kruger since prior to last years draft and had us taking him in the third in my mock. Bair outplayed Kruger.
Really cool to see how jacked up our defense was yesterday about facing the patriots. They feel like we let them bully us last year, and I have a feeling guys will be getting kicked out of practice. Multiple players talked about how both teams agreed on the same rules, but only the eagles were I forcing the rules, while the pats players were going hard at us…. And it’s not just the eagles players, seems league wide Bellicek has a reputation for being a piece of crap that doesn’t enforce these joint practice rules… Malcolm said the same thing happened when he was with the saints, saints players were being forced to tone it done and getting thrown out of practice while Belleicek let his team get after the saints..
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Defenders are really jacked up about laying some payback for last year, and it should make for an interesting week of work… Tough to blame Cary for getting tossed last year when playes from other organizations are complaining and accusing the pats of the same exact things Cary had a problem with…
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Logan mankins running his mouth last night about Cary hope Cox slaps him in the face
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Mosher has a good article up about how jacked up our defenders were yesterday about going to NE
[…] Bill Davis on Preseason Football – Iggles BlitzDavis talked about preseason football and what goes on. He explained that coaches keep things pretty simple (or vanilla) for a specific reason. They want to evaluate players. If the Eagles call a brilliant blitz, the coaches will know their play design worked and that the players can execute it, but what they won’t know is if the players on the field can pressure the QB on skill alone. This is the time to find out as much as you can about who can play and who can’t. That means a lot of base defense and simple calls. […]
Really cool to see how close we are becoming as a team. Look at the sideline when Nate caught that interception and Malcolm Jenkins is jumping around going nuts for Nate…
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Even cooler is to see Beau come off the field, and the first person to go to him coming off the field was Bennie Logan. It’s one thing to see veteran starter Barwin helping a rookie, but it’s really cool to see a young player who just got the starting job like Logan, be so willing to help coach up the NT draft right behind him…
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We exhibit all the signs of a close knit unit, which matters in this sport
Don’t get why any team would run a 4-3 defense in today’s NFL.
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The teams that run a 3-4, still use plenty of 4 man lines on 3rd down yet the teams that run a 4-3, don’t use any 3-4 two Gap… Sure a team like the Bucs can have success with a 4-3 defense, but imagine Lavonte David getting to play a few snaps behind two gappers that let him fly around untouched… Why would a team be so ancient as to only run a 4-3, when they can do both
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Why would anyone want to run a 4-3, When they can have a defense that uses both 3-4 and 4-3 principles?
Seahawks play a 4-3 under and use 2 gap, but they are also the best defensive coach in the NFL right now.
Love the 4-3U…. Makes much more sense to me than staying with traditional 4-3’s in today’s NFL
I also really wanted us to just play 4-3 under with 2 gap principles instead of pure 3-4
Hopefully coaches know better and going straight to the two gap pays off down the line…..
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Looking at personel, I would have bet money we were going to the under defense last year.. Fooled me
Two of next years top 3-4 picks should probably be OL.
Uhh no…expecting to spend a high pick on Oregons a hironiss Grasu to backup Kelce and push Or eventually replace at Todd at guard.. After drafting him, doubt we pick another OL before the 5th
,..I don’t believe that Stoutland has been working with back up trash for two years that all needs to be replaced… Unproven doesn’t equal need to be replaced
Tobin looks like keeper, that means we only need 2 OLs in 2-3 years. That means we aint forced to pick one high.
We need 1 OLB to play opposite Smith, I think we are okay at ILB with Goode and Kendricks. We 100% need a better CB and would love a better safety (assuming Allen or Wolff does not go crazy).
Next years CB and LB class is very good, but the safety class sucks.
Yeah really dissapointed by another crappy safety class.. When the hell is he next top safety coming in a draft?
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I’m not yet sold on Goode taking over for Meco to start with Kendricks… I’m sold on Goode being a quality backup for Mykal, but I need to see more before I’m ready to view him as the heir apparent to Meco..
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Love the big ILB from OL Miss as Meco’s understudy. Big LB who can move like a ILB version of Marcus Smith…
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Seems like a talented CB draft coming up…but I’d bet money we don’t draft Ifo OLOMU when the entire world will be lazy and mock him to us in round 1…simply don’t believe we would spend a top pick on an outside CB who is lucky if he is really 5’10 when we already have Boykin and Jalen who lack ideal size Chip seems to want on the outside…
I really like Shaq Thompson for us, he is a lot like Kiki Alonso, who I think would had been the perfect ILB for us.
Way easier to find 43 players than 34 players. NT and OLBs that can play in space are expensive and hard to find and those are the most important guys in the scheme. Rams, Bengals, Bills also play 43 and do ok.
34 is great against spread but this isn’t college.
The league is trending towards the college game more and more every year… Curious to look at this 5 years from now, and see how NFL defenses are operating,..but you aren’t wrong…
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Just think a defense that uses both, is better than just running a 4-3
I wonder if that’s going to start affecting our roster construction, in that we could see an unexpected regression in overall talent from our defense in the next two years unless we spend significant draft resources on that unit. If you look at the players we drafted on D during the last couple of Reid years, it’s hard to imagine that they would want to sign a contract extension (or that Davis would recommend spending significant cap space to resign them) when they clearly aren’t ideal fits for our scheme.
While there aren’t many guys that fit that description, I also think our overall talent level on D would take a drastic dip if we suddenly had to replace Boykin and Cox. Maybe Watkins and Hart fill those roles, but it’d make me seriously question Davis if we couldn’t find a role for Boykin where he starts on the outside and slides inside on 3WR sets. You could argue that losing two guys on defense wouldn’t be a world-ender, but those two guys are (in my mind at least) our two best shots by far at having someone on our D who is top-5 in the league at their position. Add that to the fact that our other above average guys are already into their second or third contracts (Barwin, Jenkins, Ryans), and I worry that if we don’t cater to our rising stars a little more we could be trying to overhaul the defense right as our O is entering its championship window.
I do not see any problems keeping Cox, Kendricks and Boykin.
We control Cox for the next 3 seasons and Kendricks looked super good as ILB and Boykin will get plenty of playing time.
It’s,not even a slight concern in my mind…. Curry, is my concern
Curry is not really a concern if he never shows he can be big part of the defense. I trust Azzinaro to use Curry correct (its the DL coach, not the DC who chooses the DL rotation, based on the DC’s call)
Think even just a nickel pass rusher can be huge for a defense… I watched Seahawks stack up on veteran edge rushers. They took advantage of the free agent edge,rushers that couldn’t get Longterm deals they wanted, signed them to one year deals and used them to win a Super Bowl…
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The problem is paying someone to be a nickel pass rusher when 4-3 teams are offering him 3 down deals…
Unlikely that we can keep pass rush specialist as talented as curry past his rookie deal, so I hope to get as much out of him as possible on 3rd down these next two years while we find a young edge rusher that can become a top pass rusher. .. Don’t even think we can afford to trade him for a draft pick until a young player emerges as our top pass rusher….
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3rd and 5 or longer, if the offense let’s us substitute, Curry has to be in the game every single time.. By now it’s a proven fact that he is our most effective pass rusher, and it doesn’t really matter if he is up against tackles or guards, he probably getting to the QB either way.. Until elite young pass rushers emerge we,are fortunate that both curry and cox can even line up as 4-3 DEs… So we need two quality pass rusher to emerge from the OLBs and DL, doesn’t really matter which position because curry and Cox can line up anywhere and generate a pass rush
Remember all the hoopla and speculation over the draft? Today, if we had drafted Beau Allen and/or Taylor Hart as high as the 3rd or 4th rounds–would anyone be surprised? A few months ago people would have been howling with anger.
Looks like, the bottom of the draft was very good for us. Could turn out to be a great Eagles draft, 1 right thru 7. The kind of draft that leads to a championship somewhere down the line.
I’m still not sure if we’ve had truly great drafts, or if the cupboard was so bare that anything would have been an upgrade. I think depending on the player/position, it’s probably some of both.
Predraft I was writing about hoping to get Beau Allen as an UDFA… Today, I’d gladly give up a 5th for him…
Ok calm down.
Good article with Domowich and Sproles. Teams like to play man against the Eagles–we killed them in zone last year. But now with Sproles, it will be very hard to play man to man. With Sproles, Kelly wants to force teams back in to the zone schemes that he (and Foles) picked apart. Just stay healthy, Darren.
How does a QB even look at WRs when he knows Either Sproles, Ertz or ShDy will have a monster mismatch? Nice problem to have
They are about to release the first reports from pats/eagles camp.. I’ll edit this post if any decent info is made available
on BGN?
Swear I haven’t clicked on that site in ATleast a year lol.
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Sportscenter is about to report on it
I go for live tweets on practice days. Chipwagon also does stories from there.
Chip wagon reports on our training camp? Def a good site that I don’t visit enough
No they don’t but he writers articles that sometimes appear on BGN. His site is amazing.
No news yet… They said live action starts at 2pm.. So we have some time before it’s time to follow twitter feeds.. Coaches speak around 12:30
Can anyone speak on why we blocked a FG? Good work by our players, or bad execution from the bears? Don’t think I ever played a snap of FG team in my life
We had 3 very tall players
I’m,sure we have had very tall players before yet I haven’t seen to many FG blocks..
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I like that Chip isn’t afraid to play starters like Cary on ST. Feel like too many times under Andy we made decisions based on fear of injury. Like that Chip confident in how our players are trained so that fear of injuries don’t rule our decision making…like keeping FOles and the first team out there longer to get some work in
Never had this many tall DLs under Reid
True that…
Think that kick was kinda low to begin with.
That was pretty much the question.. Thank you. Found it odd that we would block a good FG attempt like that
I just don’t get the advantage of 3-4 over 4-3. The 3-4 relies on smaller, faster guys on the outside so they can cover, but that leaves a three man rush (unless you rush on of those small guys) against five or more (add in the TE and/or RB) on the O-Line. Is it any wonder that for the most part, they can’t get any penetration?
Having a rush of four “typical” big linemen would be a better way to get to (or at least pressure) the QB. And without a huge nose tackle to routinely get double-teamed, we are stuck using some kind of hybrid 3-4 that isn’t effective on passing downs. They are good at stuffing the run (mostly), but have a hard time pushing the O-Line back – and that’s simply because they are too small. Cole and Graham (to name just two) are both wasted in this system and their stats show it.
The 3-4 always rush at least one OLB, so its 4 verus 5-6 anyway unless its a blitz.
Also better for pre snap disguise. Much easier for a OL to know who they need to block playing against a 4 man line, then having to guess which OLB is coming on every play
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Looks like we are going to emphasize pre snap disguise, which is crucial against the top QBs
Thinking the way LBs are trending in the NFL, it’s wise to go 3-4..
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Gone are the days of drafting monster LBers.. Because of the freak TE’s the league is trending towards smaller LBs that can run and cover. If you have to invest in smaller LBs, like say drafting Mykal Kendricks brother out of UCLA, it’s probably better to put those smaller LBs in a scheme that has the front Line occupy blockers and allow the smaller LBs to fly around untouched and use that speed…
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If you have to invest in smaller LBs to counter things teams do with TEs in today’s passing game, it’s probably not ideal to ask those LBs to have to shed offensive lineman..
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They don’t run a 3-4 on passing downs.
shady practicing blindfolded: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2159601-lesean-mccoy-is-so-good-that-he-can-play-football-while-blindfolded
Let me just leave this here…
Absolutely love the titans making Justin Hunter wear a jersey with “JAG” on the back (Just another guy) instead of his last name hunter…think that is an awesome motivational tool for a young talent you invested a high pick on..
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Ideally you don’t need to do that to motivate one of your draft picks, but I love that the titans are hell bent on challenging that kid to become special
Problem is, doesnt it really work against what they are trying to do, they show how special he is, by giving him JAG on his jersey as the only one.
Anyone else hysterically laughing at their desk at Orlando Scandrick being suspended 4 games for popping Ecstacy?
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Cowboys really are Americas team. The gift that keeps on giving….best consistent TRAINWRECK of the last decade.
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Dude is like the best defender they have left and one of their leaders.. Might be the greatest story of the offseason… LOL Jason Garrett just said it’s a great opportunity for some of their nice young corners. He said that with a straight face, like politician worthy face… I almost love the cowboys failures more than I love the eagles success
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Desperate,cowboys! desperate, jets.. Bidding war for Roc Carmicheal?
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