Eagles Trade for a RB
Posted: August 19th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 111 Comments »The Eagles had gone for months without making roster moves until Tuesday. Then the floodgates opened, so to speak. In the afternoon, the team cut ILB Jason Phillips. In the evening, the Eagles traded a conditional 7th round pick in the 2015 draft for RB Kenjon Barner of the Carolina Panthers.
While eating dinner tonight I was doing some roster projections. RB was one of the mystery spots. LeSean McCoy will be the workhorse. Darren Sproles (not Foles as I for some reason keep calling him) will be the primary backup and an offensive weapon.
That’s all we know for a fact.
The team wanted Chris Polk to be the #3 RB. They liked what they saw from him last year, but he’s been hurt this summer and hasn’t played in a game yet. Potential and ability are great, but you can”t make the club in the tub, as the old saying goes. Polk has to be considered somewhat of an unknown at this point.
Matthew Tucker had a chance to challenge for a roster spot. He played pretty well in the opener, but did have a bad fumble. He was hurt and missed last week’s game. Tucker is a player the team likes, but he’s still somewhat of an unknown.
UDFA rookie David Fluellen and Henry Josey have each flashed in the preseason games, but neither has looked so good that you are going to hand them a roster spot right now.
I think there is another angle to consider…Josh Huff. He hurt his shoulder in the Pats game. Huff was expected to compete for a spot as a RS. We don’t know if he’s just out for a couple of weeks or might end up on IR. He doesn’t need surgery, but does need time to recover.
Barner is a RB and RS. Kelly coached him for 4 years at Oregon. Barner lacks ideal size at 5-9, 196, but is a good fit for this running attack. He is a North-South runner. He isn’t explosive, but has deceptive speed. Barner has a smooth running style that makes it look like he’s not going all that hard. Barner has excellent balance and okay strength for his size. He doesn’t go down on first contact. He has good vision and moves his feet pretty well, but lacks the ability to make dynamic cuts.
Barner is a role player at RB. He could also help as a RS. From PE.com.
“He averaged 22.5 yards and scored one touchdown on kickoff returns, while averaging 10.1 yards with one touchdown on punt returns in college.”
This is a good move by the Eagles, as long as you keep it in perspective.
Three known Panthers who should have growing concern about making the 53: WR Tiquan Underwood, RB Kenjon Barner and CB Josh Thomas.
— Steve Reed (@SteveReedAP) August 11, 2014
Barner wasn’t a lock to make the Panthers and isn’t a lock to make the Eagles. He provides depth for the final 2 preseason games and is here to challenge for a spot. Barner is a good fit for the Eagles running game so it should bring out the best in him. That said, he doesn’t project to be much more than a #3 or #4 RB and RS.
The value is good. The fit is good. Now it is up to Barner to show what he can do.
This is also a hint to Polk, Tucker and the other RBs to get healthy and stay healthy. Chip Kelly believes in the running game. He is going to have a set of RBs that he believes in.
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The other big story of the day is that the Eagles are looking at other kickers.
Sounds like next 2 weeks will be crucial for Alex Henery. Eagles checking out teams with 2 kickers. Want to see improvement from distance.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) August 19, 2014
There are 15 teams, besides the Eagles, with 2 kickers in camps. Eagles have invested much in Henery, and do not want change for sake of it
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) August 19, 2014
ST coordinator Dave Fipp: “All options are available. …We’ll look at everybody, and we’ll continue to watch Al."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) August 19, 2014
As many writers noted today…this doesn’t mean the team will definitely make a move. They want an upgrade over Alex Henery if possible. The available kickers aren’t exactly great.
It is good to know they are at least watching this position. For a while they seemed awfully stubborn about Henery being the answer at PK. This might be too little, too late, but at least they are now addressing the issue, if only by actively studying players who might be available.
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I’ve never seen people bitch so much about bubble players. Yes Chip is biased, but it’s not like he’s putting Ducks in starting roles. Half of them end up getting cut. Our depth was immensely better in ’13 under Chip, let’s just trust his roster building ability (IMO his biggest or 2nd-biggest strength as a coach)
Been to the comments section at Birds 24/7 I see…I try not to scroll past the footer of the articles there anymore.
I haven’t actually. I know what you mean though, they love to circle jerk and act like superior, intelligent fans because they just read something. Mildly annoying.
It’s just insane over there. Although it’s a vocal minority, it’s pervasive enough that I can’t really respond and stay within the rules. I understand criticism and skepticism, but FFS, let Chip Kelly do his thing for a little bit before you proclaim to know more than he does about what players and schemes are best for the culture and program he wants to build (his prerogative as the Eagles’ Head Coach as that’s the job he was hired for based largely on his ability to do so in the past on a smaller but relevant scale). And let the young guys progress through a full training camp and NFL season under their belts with Chip before you proclaim them a bust or a waste of a trade/draft pick/roster spot.
Barner comes to us as a potential #3 or #4 back for a draft pick that’s usually reserved for flyers and projects. Maybe Barner puts on a few lbs and maintains his speed this year. He has the right height (5’9″), he’s just a little underweight for his speed (if he was as fast as and shifty as Shady overall, his weight would be less of an issue). I still think he’s an upgrade for for returns if Huff is indeed out or rendered less capable for any length of time due to his injury. Plus, Barner’s already a known quantity as far as buying in to the culture, which has immense value over some unknown guy that may or may not buy in and cause more problems than he’s worth for the #3 or #4 tailback spot.
Yeah it has gotten really trashy over there..,but CSN comment section is even worse… I assume BGN is a Fratboy mess by now, but if haven’t checked that one in a long time
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Funny part is seeing the people who post respectfully here, act like jackasses over there… You have Anon, over there leading the Marcus smith is a bust movement lol… Fastest player to be given the bust label in philly history lol
See, I think you might have that just a little twisted.
I completely agree that things are different here, but I would posit that this place is a more accurate depiction of Eagle fans, although a less accurate depiction of the average commenters. In other words, I think we see less of the vocal minority trying to force their issue and more of a broad cross section.
Edit: …a broad cross section of the obsessive fans that discuss offseason trades of players doubtful to make the roster of either team. So, yeah.
Not familiar with cross broad
Um… neither am I?
What?
I don’t see the over reacting nonsense on this sites comment section that I do everywhere else…after the first preseason game this was probably,y the only place I could interact with fans who weren’t already questioning FOles and talking about maybe starting Sanchez,,, I saw Sanchez over FOles comments on two or three different sites, heard it on the radio, and saw a CSN eagles segment that was throwing around the FOles vs. Sanchez debate…
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So absurd
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No idea what crossing broad is… I heard of it, but I never visited it… Is it an eagles site or all philly sports?
Weren’t you banned from another site Geagle?
He wasn’t, he is, as far as I know.
I would put the label of calming down here on him, too. He was a firebrand on 24/7. Some say he still is, but I don’t think so.
I behave the same way everywhere.. I post about football, someone wants to post a rude response, I’ll curse them the fuck out here just like I would anywhere else… When someone is just talking football and you take shots at them, act like a piece of shit and be treated as such… How is this a difficult concept to grasp? Lol
This is a lie and you know it.
You repeatedly attacked female posters with misogynist BS on 24/7 and that’s why you got banned from there.
Worst part about it is that now you can only post your essays about nothing here.
Now attack me with a bunch of meaningless internet tough guy crap like you always do.
Geag, you know I respect you, but “I behave the same way everywhere.” just isn’t accurate, imho. You are more respectful here. Some people will always dislike you here, too, but you’re calmer. And that’s good, because it’s always interesting to read your arguments, for me, at least. But name calling isn’t the answer and you did that sometimes at 24/7.
You don’t see me curse people out here, when I get. Dumb remark or attack unsolicited under a post I made talking football? Lol
Not as much as I used to see you curse. I see progress there. If I could only say that about Henery. 😀
Ohhh probably because there are certain people here who’s posts I honestly refuse to read…when I see certain names on this site, whether it’s responding to me or just posting out of the blue, I hit the minimize button next to the flag so their posts disappear from my screen without me seeing more then the 1st three words of the posts…that’s why you might see me not responding to people who are attacking me, because I don’t know that they are attacking me…
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That’s why you never see me take part in any of Shah’s absurd debates, you never see me argue with him…I literally haven’t read a Shah post in over a year.. I used to think him and 24/7’s “Token” were the same person….but no one is consistently as atrocious as “token”.. He managed to outdue the Philly.com trash like Charliegarner dude or whatever….
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Doesn’t matter the site… if I write about the eagles and someone feels the need to be rude unsolicited or talk shit and I see it, I will respond…and I’m probably going to be better at talking shit then them 😉
No
You just have to learn which peoples posts you are better off not reading…
I just read the articles and ignore the comments section as best I can.
This isn’t a little – “another duck”? Out of ALL players coming out of college, all over the NFL – fighting for roster spaces, its a Duck. What will Chip do in a couple of years when he know longer has that tie into Oregon where ‘someone Chip coached’? If it’s a camp body, why waste a pick? I’m not bitching just raising an eye brow.
If this is his second biggest ability(roster building), he must be waiting to show it. I want to trust him and I’m giving him a leash — but at the same time, I’m not on the “this is the greatest group of defensive players I’ve ever seen”. Depth don’t help if the starters are “ok”. This is year 2 under Chip. Year 1, he inherited. Year 2 he starts putting his stamp on the team(not impressed with year 2). Year 3 we should a lot more changes on D.
If he’s just a camp body we don’t waste a pick. You act like our roster is filled with all Ducks. Do we even have an Oregon player who sees the field not on special teams?
I think I read somewhere that we have 7 or 8 Ducks and the next team after us has 4 Ducks.
doesn’t take away from my point. A lot of camp bodies
I think Huff was projected to see the field. I wasn’t exactly excited by that pick. Hope Chip proves me wrong on it.
Huff was the 2nd best receiver at Senior Bowl (to Matthews), think he woulda gone in the 3rd anyway.
Chip Kelly can simply not be trusted as long as he values extensive personal knowledge of players over conditional 7th round picks.
Fire Howie. We flipped our 7th round pick in Bryce Brown for better value. How dare he just trade its future away.
for camp body…for 2 weeks…
I was watching Dri Archer pre-season highlights. That’s a RAC monster right there.
Good to hear they’re looking at other kickers. It seemed strange that someone as detail- and results-oriented as Kelly would allow such constant mediocrity at that position.
Before this trade happened…yesterday Chris Polk told the media he would practice next week whether he is healthy or not. Talked about how he isn’t a draft pick, he isn’t McCoy or FOles and how he needs to fight for his job”
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3 hours later Chip traded for one of his former duck RB’s…. Yikes
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As for Barner, I don’t think much of him! had this happened last year I would be much more skeptical! but after a year in the pros Chip knows what it takes to be successful at this level! and he knows Barner really well, so I assume he thinks he can put Barner to use…
Mosher gets the Tweet of the week:
If it looks like a Duck, walks like a Duck, and quacks like a Duck….it’s an Eagle.
I hate having to give up a 7th rounder if he makes the team, and ends up being released in a year or two from now.
Hopefully he’s just going to be used for the next two preseason games and then will be released.
More than likely done to put a fire under Polks ass. Than again he is a duck.
Wait — what? You don’t like giving up a 7th rounder for someone who makes the 53 roster but are ok giving up a 7th for a camp body?
We wouldn’t give up a 7th rounder for a camp body if he doesn’t make the cut.
My point is, Kelly likes to stockpile Ducks and I hate giving up a draft pick for a guy that is probably not good enough to play in a regular season game. Last draft we could have used more picks, so I hate that we give one away for little return.
One thing I’ll never understand. A player fumbles once or throws 1 int in preseason and everyone is like “OMG THAT’S BAD”. Foles last pre-season threw a pick and it was “omg, he can’t be a starter now, he threw 1 pick”. Tucker fumbled and now it’s a “bad fumble”. I think we can take it easy on evaluating players for 1 play already. Tiki use to wake up and fumble the alarm clock, fumble his coffee and then fumble the football. Fumbling/Int’s happen just like taxes. Ridley just fumbled again. Ridley could get cut because I’m sure Beli-cheater is tired of him. Ridley would have nfl teams knocking on his car door before leaving the stadium.
You’re comparing high draft picks to UFAs. Teams will have much more tolerance for fumblers when they invested a high pick on them.
I hear ya. I’ll assume the coaches are evaluating on much more than 1 play that writers bring up…
yeah i think Tommy was reaching on that but it is bad if youre a roster bubble guy.
It was a “bad fumble” because of the circumstances. He tripped over one of our lineman and lost the ball with minimal contact.
but it’s preseason. doesn’t matter if he tripped over a sprinkler head…
It matters when you are a young or fringe player without much tape. If Shady fumbles in that situation it wouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is to the 4th RB who is fighting for a roster spot.
I’m beginning to wonder if Howie has any power in the organization anymore. The past draft and this trade seems all Kelly.
I am wondering the same thing.
not when chip crushed year one. but it’s great for howie he can ride the wave during the good times and during bad time he can just say that the coach was making personnel decisions.
Power only really matters when your GM and HC aren’t completely on the same page… I don’t view Howie as Chips bitch or anything like that… GM needs to get the ingredients the coach can build a winner with…so far coach and GM combo is 1-0. Chip told Howie measurements and what he needs out of players at every position and Howie went and signed free agents and drafted players last year that helped Chip make the playoffs,…. Can’t judge this past offseason yet.
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Last year I was skeptical about Chip bringing in a bunch of Ducks, because he had no NFL experience at that point. If you read any of my pre draft archives josh huff wasn’t a WR I loved. Pre draft, huff didn’t excite me much. If we had drafted him last year I would be pissed off…Chip wanting Huff and us drafting him THIS year really really excites me…he saw what works and doesn’t work in the NFL up close last year, now that this isn’t his first rodeo in the NFL, it’s very exciting for me to see him add Ducks, even if I personally wasn’t high on them before hand. Chip knows what it takes in the NFL now and he knows Josh huff better than 99.9% of the players in the draft.. There is no guess work involved.. He knows who huff is, and he knows that he can be successful with who Huff is…so even if Huff didn’t excite me, I chalk it up to our coach knowing his offense and his former players better than me….. I couldn’t give Chip that trust last year, because he never coached in the NFL….. Now that he has NFL experience, adding former players excites me!!
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I wouldn’t want to see our GM over rule Chip and tell him he doesn’t think Huff can be a good NFL player..how can I think Howie is more qualified to project huff as an NFL player in chips system than Chip?
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But we saw Howies value on draft night, when Chip didn’t want to miss out on Huff and hart! Howie stepped in an promised they would stil
Be on the board in the later rounds…. To me, that’s a DREAM EXAMPLE of how I want to see Eagles GM and coach work togetner. because of Howie, we were able to get Jaylen Watkins and we still got Taylor hart…
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I don’t know if the relationship will change in the future, but so far, I really really like the way Chip and Howie work together..
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The best GMs, Leaders, decision makers in the position of power ARE Smart enough to KNOW what they don’t know, and are smart enough to delegate to someone more qualified.. I see a GM who has no problem trusting that Chip is going to know more about huff and hart than he does. And I see a Coach who trusts his GM, listening to him that Hart doesn’t have to be drafted in the 4th, we can draft Jaylen and still get hartl….. MY only Hope is that our GM/Coach relationship stays this way, because From what I have seen, I’m really enjoying their working chemistry
[…] Eagles Trade for a RB – Iggles BlitzBarner is a RB and RS. Kelly coached him for 4 years at Oregon. Barner lacks ideal size at 5-9, 196, but is a good fit for this running attack. He is a North-South runner. He isn’t explosive, but has deceptive speed. Barner has a smooth running style that makes it look like he’s not going all that hard. Barner has excellent balance and okay strength for his size. He doesn’t go down on first contact. He has good vision and moves his feet pretty well, but lacks the ability to make dynamic cuts. […]
What does everyone think about JimmyK’s suggestion that the Eagles emulate the 2003 Ravens by carrying two kickers – Baltimore had Matt Stover for most FG/PAT kicking and Wade Richey for kickoffs and 50+ yard FGs.
Might not be a terrible plan given Chip’s emphasis on STs if they’re sure they want to stick by Henery for the accuracy on shorter kicks.
Just let Henery go if you have a better option.
Sure, although it’s unlikely you’ll find a ‘better’ option.
Henery’s career FG% (86%) ties him with Robbie Gould and Steven Hauschka as the 6th most accurate kicker (post-merger, at least 50 attempts). The team wanting to keep hold of him makes perfect sense because he’s very very good at the most important aspect of his job.
The only issue with Henery is his leg strength for kickoffs and long field goals (which are pretty insignificant anyway). If you can find somebody with a stronger leg who is also more accurate than Henery, then fair enough, but that guy probably doesn’t exist. So why not sign a guy who can kick it out the back of the end zone for the vet-minimum and let Henery stick to what he’s among the best in the league at?
You’re acting like Henery is Vinatieri or something. Just read the bullet points from Jimmy, with the most important one being:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/red_zone/Meet-Dustin-Hopkins-a-possible-solution-to-the-Eagles–kicker-concerns.html
Henerys good compl. % comes from the fact that they don’t let him kick long FGs. And long, for noodleleg, is round about 50. That’s not long in the NFL. We’re not talking 60+ here. A kicker in the NFL should be able to make the kicks from 54. He doesn’t even try those and therefore has a better %, but that’s not because he’s good.
This is all kind of weird for me..
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If we are looking at kickers, why now? Why didn’t we add a better player than “jaywalking Leg” spears at the beginning of OTAs?
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Where does this rumor come from anyway about us looking at kickers? Is this an assumption of a beat reporter? Did this intel come from an “unnamed source”? Was any of our Coaches or GM quoted as saying we are Looking at other kickers?
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Where did this news originate from?
I thought the same thing, but maybe came from another team’s reporters who found out the Eagles were calling about their kickers? But not sure that makes sense, as all we have to do is watch and see when someone gets cut.
I assume we’ve been looking at kickers the whole time. It is just getting to be more timely as cuts are coming up.
It was Berman who bought it up. And it makes sense to look now. It didn’t make sense to bring in Spear, but maybe they didn’t like any undrafted Kicker and wanted to at least do something.
Now is the time when more quality kickers will be cut. T-Law brought this possibility up a few weeks ago. Kickers don’t need camp like other positions do. They don’t have to learn scheme or anything. You can bring someone in after camp without a problem. Hopefully, they’ll do it.
So this is a Berman opinion? Not a case of Berman asking a coach or someone in the eagles and them telling him we are looking for kickers? Just curious, don’t want to get my hopes up for nothing lol
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This has to piss Chip off!!! Lol poor guy watches henrey have a great offseason! only missing two FGs all offseason, showing some improvement on kickoff, and the games roll around and he SHANKS makeable kicks LOL… This has to drive Chip crazy…
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How many missed FGs in preseason games should over rule a good offseason of kicking in practice? I don’t know the answer to that….if henrey is going to shank kicks in games it would be so much easier for Chip if he were having crappy practices… Lol what do you do about a good practice kicker that doesn’t translate to real game?
Look at the Tweets at the end of this article. It’s not his opinion, it looks like he has some intel. Also, he has an on the record quote from Fipp: “All options are available. …We’ll look at everybody, and we’ll continue to watch Al.” That’s not a statement that says we’ll cut him, but no ringing endorsement either.
Remember, there is something on the line for Fipp. With Chips emphasis on ST, he can’t have another season from his unit like he had last year.
FG% is very volatile from year to year, so using only last years data makes it a very small sample size
It does, indeed. But even though I repeat myself, what makes FG% for Henery not really comparable to other kickers is that neither AR nor CK trusted him on long ones, so he doesn’t even try those. If you’re Janikowski and kick a lot of 55+ FGs, you’re % will go down, because you just don’t make as many 58 Yarders as you should make 42 Yarders. But that doesn’t mean that Henery with 85 % has a better season than Janikowski with 80 %.
So an overall % isn’t the answer either, if the coaching staff doesn’t trust you with long FGs.
I’m not acting like he’s Vinatieri and the section you quoted from Jimmy’s article is an area where he disingenuously presented the stats in a way which supported his argument that Henery is a bad kicker.
He conveniently ignored the kickers who missed the same number of FGs from that distance as Henery (Akers and Janikowski), he also ignored the kickers who missed fewer FGs from that distance than Henery on fewer attempts, meaning they had a similar or worse percentage (Bironas, Lindell, Forbath) and, perhaps most egregiously of all, he ignored that Henery hit 11 of 12 from 40-49 in 2012 which put him among the best in the league from that distance.
Oh, and the snippet he presented isn’t even true. Randy Bullock also missed more from 40-49 yards than Henery.
Jimmy presenting stats in a way it supports his opinion or not, what you can’t ignore is this: Henerys good compl. % comes from the fact that they don’t let him kick long FGs.
If you don’t have a strong leg, you better be really, really, really accurate and Henery just isn’t. Therefore, it’s pretty easy to upgrade the position as a total package (leg strenght, accuracy, kickoffs combined).
If we’re talking Hopkins, for example, it’s not a given, but a real possibility that he will improve his accuracy and be a good kicker in the NFL. Remember, he was injured last year, in his rookie season.
Henery, on the other hand, won’t improve his leg strenght. He will never have a strong leg. With his accuracy problems last year, it just isn’t worth it to keep him.
I’m going to stop arguing with you because your premise is just plain wrong. With the exception of last year, Henery has been very accurate on kicks under 50 yards and, therefore, a kickoff and long-FG specialist seems like a reasonable idea.
“I’m going to stop arguing with you because your premise is just plain wrong.”
Well, I think arguing about his great 86 % career FG% is just plain wrong and misleading.
But we can always agree to disagree.
One last thing though: “With the exception of last year, Henery has been very accurate on kicks under 50 yards”. It’s not like he’s a 10 year vet. He had 2 “accurate” seasons with one being horrible. Why’d you think the horrible one isn’t the real Henery?
?whose roster spot does that kicker take?
Whoever’ the 50th best non-specialist when final cuts happen.
Don’t view it as realistic for Chip Kelly coached team
Why not? We always talk about how important it is for the guys at the bottom of the roster to play ST. Given that ST has three phases (field goals, punts and kickoffs) is it really that much of a stretch to think Chip would value having a specialist for each? I think it’s the kind of outside-the-box thing he might try.
We will find out soon… If Chip would ever do this, I would assume the time would be now, I wouldn’t bet on it tho..
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We are so crazy about having versatile players that can do a bunch of different things, that we are now cross training our Linebackers and looking for backups who can play OLB and ILB!!
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I think Chip LOVES being an NFL coach, but I believe one of the things he really HATES most about the NFL is only being able to keep 53 players and dress 47… I really think It bothers Chip to only be able to dress 47 players…
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I just find it top hard to believe someone so obsessed with versatility, finding backend roster players who can wear a bunch of different hats for us, that I have a hard time envisioning Chip spend two roster spots on place kickers..
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But we will find out soon
I liked the news yesterday. I don’t know why you should be angry about Barner. Be angry at Casey Matthews or my boy Bair, but not a potentially 4th RB who had a great career under Chip and had one unspectacular rookie season on a team that is stupid enough to carry 3 expensive RBs. I’d prefered LMJ all day long, but he’s injured, Hunter is injured, so you can’t get him. Barner isn’t bad, either.
And that the Eagles are FINALLY looking for a replacement for Henery is great. Let Hopkins (Bills kicker) work on his accuracy, but he always has that strong leg. Henery will never have a strong leg and has problems with his accuracy. He can only fix the accuracy, but even if he does he isn’t a kicker you like to have.
I have to say, I really hope Henery misses as much kicks as possible in the next two games. Won’t cost us anything, but increases the chances on a kicker signing. If Henery is our kicker against the Jags – well, I hope he plays well. He’s on the 53 then. But as long as that doesn’t happen, I want another kicker. Just can’t trust him.
I think it’s about dept. If RBs are going to stay hurt + huff is hurt they need someone to play the 4th quarter of pre season games. we were running DJ last game. has to be an oregon kid b/c he knows the scheme.
Lot’s of kids out there for 4th quarter preseason fodder, kids are getting cut all over. I don’t think that’s it since the upcoming game is the “Dress Rehearsal” with the starters taking the majority of the snaps. I think we have plans for him if we spent a draft pick on him.
it’s conditional b/c we had to get a trade. For instance our current 7th isn’t really doing anything our last 7th was PS. As for depth it’s really unclear what there is after shady (i see sproles as 1a and not a straight RB guy).
just sayin, lots of free bodies out there.
We will only give up a 7th if he makes the team and is active for 4 games. If not than the Panthers get nothing, so if he is just a camp body and depth then its not a huge deal.
Rooting for: Polk to get healthy and make the team, I like his running style, and for all 3 backs to stay healthy if we keep Barner. I don’t need a monster back or anything. I just want to make sure we have some power somewhere on that roster if Shady misses a game. I told Barner plays bigger than his size though. I’ll just have to wait and see for myself.
I get your point, but our current 7th is Beau Allen, who’s fucking killing it. Our last 7th was Kruger, who was put on IR. And before that was Bryce Brown, who got turned into a 4th rd pick.
Respect every roster spot and every draft pick… Makes my blood boil to see people devalue later draft picks or the 59th man on the roster..
calorlina makes him sound like extra hot trash.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/08/19/5116705/panthers-trade-barner-to-philly.html#.U_SgAkgg5qN
This can happen when you get beat out by a dude named Fozzy
waka waka
Who’s a bigger piece of worthless trash Barner or maaaarcus daaaarling?
barner not a rookie, not in a new position. hard for me to say what marcus will be. you can’t be a first round guy struggling against late round guys and and UDFAs when you are playing basic 3-4 defense. the whole point of taking him is that our system is similar to Louisville’s so i’m surprised a little that he’s struggling so much, not just mentally but physically against wrs and TEs. this is not LJ type struggles from last year.
of course he gets extra scrutiny bc he was already seen as a reach by a franchise that bent over backward to say bpa last year. and we NEED productivity out of that position.
This move doesn’t bother me, doesn’t excite me either… I’m Meh to it…
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Don’t really care if he makes the roster or not, I’d be lying if I said I have paid any attention to the kid since he got to the NFL, so I can’t really speak on what we are getting by trading for him.,
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I care about one thing, if we are going to keep Barner/shady/Sproles, I NEED us to keep a big Power back in our stable…. If Barner makes the roster, then I need to see them keep 4 backs, Polk vs? Tucker, unless they trade or pick up another Physical back..
Seriously who cares? It’s a conditional seventh round pick! If he makes the roster, that’s great and we lose a 7th which, odds are won’t do anything anyway. Idk why people are so fired up about this. Literally a conditional 7th….
Yeah I doesn’t bother me… Weird tho, that we couldn’t get Barner for like Maehl! Benn or some player we planned on cutting….
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Don’t get what there is to be pissed about…. But I would have assumed we could have gotten him for a player straight up aka a Howie special…
In the last preseason game Chip had Damaris Johnson playing RB, I wonder if hes trying out a new role and didnt have the guy to fit it yet. PR/KR + RB. Maybe Damaris is gone… finally.
or we was down 3 RBs
Damaris is so of f this roster. He hasn’t shown anything in terms of kick off return or receiving. He had the td but I feel that was more play design than skill.
Last week was the first time since maybe Andy Reid left that Damaris even showed a pulse. He was very quiet last years preseason as well and he made the roster, that just goes to show you how bad our depth was last year. And what an amazing job we did drastically improving our depth across the board in one offseason
He had practiced at RB that week because all our RB were Injured. Don’t think he is taking any RB reps in practice this week…
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I really hope that all our running backs are healthy for the 4th preseason game, where starters don’t play… Like to get an extended look at Polk vs. Tucker vs. Barner vs. Fluellen va. Jose
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We are going to lose a talented RB or two at the end of the preseason. Just not enough room for all the RBs on roster and Practice squad.
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Is there a limit to how many players you can IR? All that stuff confuses me, IR, PUP, short term IR.. I don’t know the difference in all those off the top of my head, but I hope we get creative stashing them and try to keep as many of these RB as possible. Talented kids… I would love to see what all these kids look like a year from now…
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The only thing at RB that is concerning to me is that I really really hope they keep a RB with size and power on the 53 man roster, in other words I hope Polk or Tucker make the roster unless we trade for a power back..
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Wouldn’t be surprised if teams like the Niners and Rams race to pick up the RBs the eagles waive
We don’t need a power running back. We have James Casey. He’s not a running back but I imagine he’ll get you that one yard.
I’m really slacking in terms of watching other teams play in the preseason. Instead of watching a ton of preseason games like I always have, I find myself watching the eagles preseason game a bunch of times per week until I get to the next eagles game… Curious to know how the rookie pass rushers are looking out the gate. I saw people talking up Clowney but I haven’t seen him yet. Mack? Barr? Dee Ford? Trent Murphy? Kony Ealy? I heard that KVN is struggling…. Anyone catch any of these kids yet?
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Anyone know what would be the readskins version of igglesblitz?
I was curious about our own rookie 1st pick. He got a ton of extended play. I’m not sure if it was a “more reps the better” type of thing. I can’t believe that Chip was trying to prove a point other than the kid needs work. Then, Chip came out and said he needs to be more productive. I’m guessing just to light a fire under the kid?
One more day — than it’s Pitt. Would love to see the Birds lay a spanking.
Chip was being honest and def lighting a fire under his ass… And it’s going to work… Expect a much better game out of Marcus tomorrow,.,…
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I split rookies into two categories..1) Guys who are NFL ready, and 2) Raw guys drafted because of what they can become..
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When you see both in a player, a kid who is polished and NFL ready but also has an elite ceiling to grow into, those players will always cost a top 10 pick
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For us the decision was drafting Marcus over Dee Ford, which will prove to be the right decision 3 years from now. We could have taken Dee Ford who would be better than Marcus these next two years! but by year 3 Marcus would catch up to Dee and then leave him in the dust.
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Marcus is going to be a quality OLB who will be looked back on as a good pick.. It’s a shame that this kid is going to be treated like shit by our fanbase and media this year, when he was a draft pick made knowing that he would need a year or so to get adjusted to the NFL and really show his worth…. When people start talking about him as a reach. I LOSE all respect for their understanding… He was rarely talked about as a 1st round pick, but I was worried about the cowboys drafting him #15…
The upside is there, the kid wants it bad, he will work at it, and he is getting some really good coaching from McGovern, Billy Davis….he got to spend a week with Kevin Green, and it’s awesome to see him stay after practice this week to work against Tre Thomas… Awesome having such a stud LT, who saw everything pass rusher could ever show in his 12 year career, working with our young OLB… Marcus will be a great pick Longterm…
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Chip Def lit a fire under him, because since Chip made those comments, now Marcus stays after practice to work with Tra Thomas…appreciate Tra, he always did whatever he could to help this franchise…now a guy trying to learn to be an offensive line coach, is staying to work with our defender…. Appreciate it big Tra!!
I like the kid. Just like JM was slammed a bit because of drops, he responded nicely in the last game. I expect the same for Marcus
Agreed.. He was already staying late this week working on his pass rush against Tra Thomas.. Expect him to make noise tomorrow
Clowney, Mack, Trent Murphy, Kony Ealy, Dee Ford are the more polished rushers who are most NFL ready… But IMO Murphy, Ealy and ford don’t have the ceiling that Marcus has
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Barr, Marcus, Demarcus Lawrence are Raw players who can be really good with a lot of hard work and good coaching, but require some patience
Barr doing well. has at least 1 sack. Looks confident, relaxed. Lyeria, on the other hand, has just been waived by the Packers. Clowney apparently blowing minds. Sammy Watkins on a learning curve. Evans okay.
2 things:
1. Kudos on using the term “deceptive speed” with respect to a black dude. It’s usually a synonym for “white” so seeing it in this context is jarring, in a good way.
2. How bad is WR Tiquan Underwood that he played last year in actual games, Carolina lost all of their WRs and is basically a smoking hole in the ground at that position, and he still can’t make the roster?
deceptive speed means slow — no matter what color.
Depends on the size of the player, Longer athletes always looks slower than they are if they have a long stride. Another version of “deceptive speed” going the other way is Damaris Johnson, those little legs churn like crazy, and he can bust a sick move, but he isn’t really fast at all.
It usually refers to a player’s stride in my experience. Longer strides look slow but they are covering a lot more ground than you think. When you are a defender setting up an angle on instinct, you might see “slow” but reality is he’s got a good clip going.
chip kelly… coolest coach ever? or coolest coach ever?!
http://deadspin.com/just-chip-kelly-belly-flopping-into-a-big-pool-of-water-1624412946
Love the way Logan reacts to it. “Ah, there’s Chip again, doing something Chip does.” 😀
LOL!
One quibble with Zach Berman. This Eagles regime has not invested much in Alex Henery. He is an AR holdover who has not won the confidence of Kelly and Fipp. As soon as there is a capable alternative (Murderleg has obviously not cut it), they will not hesitate to kick Henery to the curb.
David Fluellen gone, i guess that makes sense..
Do you sacrifice Henery’s near-automatic presence inside 40 yards for a potential boost in the 40-50 FG range and a slight upgrade in no of touchbacks and better starting position?
I imagine it would be a wash overall with any of the kickers available I have seen listed or might be released.
He hasn’t been near-automatic inside 40 yards since his first year in the league.
Finally found out about the Polk injury I have been asking about forever it seems like… Kid suffered a grade 2 partial tear of his hamstring the second day of eagles camp…won’t play tomorrow, but says he will practice next week whether he is healthy or not…. Someone’s feeling the roster heat.
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Going to be sad when they cut this kid. I like the way he runs, “rumble young man rumble” always pops in my head when he is running the ball… Also like how he turned into a badass on ST
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Hope his eagles career isn’t over, but I don’t feel good about it