Quick Q & A
Posted: August 23rd, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 76 Comments »You guys had some questions. Let me offer some answers.
Is Alejandro Villanueva practice squad material? No. I’d be shocked if that happened. He made for a great story and it was fun to see him have some success, but he doesn’t project as someone that will ever play in the league and he’s not such a good practice player that you want to keep him around for that.
Think of him as the DL version of Momah. Let him work out this offseason and come back next summer to see if he can take a big step forward. There is a bit of a difference. Momah had somewhat of a WR background. DL is very new to Villanueva. He can train all he wants, but I don’t know that he’ll ever develop DL skills. You really need a game setting for that.
Jake Knott’s future? I wondered if the Eagles might be cutting him with the intention of re-signing him in a week or so. Then I saw this.
Thanks to @Eagles for everything. Sad it's over for now. Whoever decides to get me will be very thankful. #Motivated #Driven
— Jake Knott (@Jknott20) August 23, 2014
That gives off the vibe that he’s gone.
If the Eagles intended to bring him back, you would think they would explain that to him and Jake would just know this cut is a formality. The reason you cut him now is that he is hurt and wouldn’t play this week. He’s got a 4-game suspension in front of him. It is unlikely anyone will pick him up.
The Eagles would re-sign him before the season. Jake would not count against the roster while suspended. That would give the team 4 weeks to figure out if they wanted to keep him or not.
I know the coaches liked him a lot last summer, but Jake is a bottom of the roster guy. They can’t afford to be complicated. Someone that is hurt and has a suspension is probably way too complicated for the team to want to keep around. The sad thing for Knott is that he can’t start serving the suspension until someone signs him.
Should we worry about all the Oregon guys on the roster? No. None of the guys has been forced into the starting lineup. No one is getting overpaid. Several will be cut next weekend. When Kelly puts Josh Kaddu into the lineup over DeMeco Ryans or plays Jeff Maehl over Jordan Matthews, then we’ll have an issue. These guys fit the schemes. They were drafted or signed for the right price. They are being used correctly. Why does it matter if they came from Oregon or Nebraska?
If this was Steve Spurrier forcing Danny Wuerffel on us…that would be a whole other story.
Kruger to the practice squad? I’d like to see it, but don’t hold your breath. The fact they cut Joe this early isn’t a good sign. Makes me think they don’t see him as a fit in the 3-4.
Could any of today’s cuts make the practice squad? Sure. Here is the most likely group for me.
WR B.J. Cunningham
DE Frances Mays
What’s up with Bryan Braman? The Eagles love him as a STer. I think they are curious about him as a LB. He is a gifted athlete that can fly around the field. I don’t know if he’s good enough you want him on the field or if he’s a guy you mix in when you are desperate to give the starters some rest. I think we’ll see a lot of him against the Jets.
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Almost scared me as if Braman got cut haha. Well, I think we can all agree he’ll at least make for a better backup LOLB than Matthews.
I think Braman will take his spot. Better ST player and at the very least equal or just very slightly better LB then Mathews. We now have 3 ex Texans LBs…..lol lets get Cushing!!!!! Cant end on an odd number.
Cushing has roid issues. Not a fan.
Braman is a lock to make the roster… Loved seeing him on Special teams vs. pats and bears… Easy to see why we liked his special teams ability..
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I believe that one of our strengths is our coaching, more specifically as “teachers”… Braman’s a young man, he could bring Nothing on defense and can still be a big part of this team with his special teams play… But he is a fantastic athlete.. Too awesome of an athlete to not develop into someone who can bring something to our defense, whether we grow him into a pass rusher, or another linebacker who is strong in coverage..he is too athletic, too special of a size/speed combo to not grow as a defender. He doesn’t need to succeed as a defender to have a place on this team, but a guy his size who runs a 4.4, wired like a maniac who loves contract would be a real waste to not grow into someone who can add something to the defense..
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Really looking forward to seeing him get a lot of OLB reps vs, the Jets
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Think he is too athletic to not develop as a defender
Jets released kicker Andrew Furney from Washington St. Kid has a serious work ethic and a booming leg.
Sub 80% career kicker who had his best season as a Sophomore? Sounds like the answer!
On a serious note, I don’t care if he has a big leg, he needs to be able to make FGs consistently. Looks like he struggles with that, specifically under 40 yards. He has to be an upgrade over Henery.
Oh man, the Ravens’ top 3 cornerbacks didn’t play tonight and RG3 still only threw for 20 yards and 1 INT so I guess we could rest Carey, Fletch and Carroll week 3?
So Tommy, let me push a little on the Oregon thing. I acknowledged in my comments that this was a minor issue, and certainly not a case of also rans being forced into the core. But what matters, at least potentially, is that guys are getting back of the roster spots, or making it through a round of cuts, or getting TC looks based on where they went to school. If other players think they won’t get a fair shake is it not a concern that they may not want to play here and, as a result, we might lose out on a chance to look at some intriguing prospects?
The nfl is celebrating Chip Kelly hyper efficient and meticulously organized camps. Part of that is due to Chips savvy use of “camp bodies.” By bringing in players who already know the pace and paces of aChip Kelly camp, everyone gets more reps and better development.
Your hypothetical doesn’t reflect reality. Players across the board want to play for Chip Kelly. No player is grumbling about unfair treatment. In fact the opposite is true. Chip doesn’t care where you are from, when you were drafted, or how much you are paid. What ever road got you to his camp, he doesn’t care. All he cares about is that you are there and what you do with the opportunity.
1St paragraph is a great point.
Right. I understand the point about camp bodies. I’m just concerned about unintended consequences down the road. Maybe nobody is grumbling now — though frankly all we know is that nobody has taken to Twitter to complain, we don’t know what they are saying to their agents — but that doesn’t mean the roster decisions that benefit ex-Ducks won’t have an effect on next year’s crop of UDFAs. And maybe, even if there is a negative effect, it will be outweighed by the positives of having camp bodies that know how to practice the Chip way. I’m just raising the question.
I think a lot of the Oregon focus is about mitigating risk. There’s a lot of projection with any player, but especially non starters. They’re young and/or don’t have as much game tape as some other players. There’s just less projection with Oregon players. Maybe chips willing to go for a player with a slightly lower ceiling knowing that he has a significantly higher floor (or something like that). Chip may have an advantage for a few years knowing the college players, and this is more true with Oregon players.
I dont really have that much of a problem with it. I will if Maehl is kept over Momah. I just beleive Maehl offers next to nothing besides special teams, which he isnt great at. We have alot of good ST players already. Momah i think with his god given gifts is just naturally a better player. Also, Barner makes alot of sense. Huff is a KR and is down for undisclosed amount of time. KR is something that needed improvment regardless. Polk has been injured, and Chip loves to run the ball. Intetesting stat however, we have 29% of the Oregon players in the NFL. Im not knocking on that stat, just putting it out there. Another interesting comment that doesnt really matter… Carrol when.he first started in SEA loved to sign his USC guys. He has won a SB. Again, im aware that it doesnt really matter, lol im just throwing it out there.
It’s a matter of trust. I don’t trust Momah to make a clean catch and hold onto the ball, and I doubt that Chip does either. I’m not that high on Maehl but I have no problem keeping him over Momah. Probably, though, I keep neither.
Understand and agree to extent. But before catching the ball you have to get open. This is something i beleive Momah can do better then Maehl. Even if Momah is not compmetely open, in a way with that size he is open. He advanced alot from last year. Makes you think if he did that he can work on his hands. If he gets better with those hands he could be a real danger in redzone, back shoulder throws and jump balls. If you where to put both on PS i bet you Momah would be taken first, and Maehl possibly not at all. Is Maehl even eligible for PS due to the amount of games he was in last year? Forget how that rule goes. Also if either makes team how much do you really expect them to see the feild in non ST snaps? Its not like we would rely on either much at all to come up with some important play. Just look at Maehls numbers from last year. Think about it this way too. Is another teams 4th or 5th corner going to have the skill or size to cover someone the size of Momah?
We have had no shortage of “intriguing prospects”… they are the Momahs, Bamiros, and Krugers that come through and have some raw athleticism, size, and/or speed, and it is rare that anything ever becomes of them.
Lots of UDFAs succeed in the NFL. Obviously it’s not a high percentage and the guys you mentioned aren’t likely to be among the success stories, but I want the Eagles to be an organization that they all want to play for. And I think right know it is. Somebody made the point of practice reps yesterday. That’s a great reason to want to sign on with the Eagles. I just worry that the Duck favoritism may be a counter balance if guys think they aren’t getting a fair shake. But I seem to be the only person with this concern. Maybe I’m just making shit up.
Yes, lots of UDFAs succeed in the NFL, but these do not often coincide with those that seem the most intriguing. Actually it’s probably more often that they’re the least intriguing; the guys who aren’t thought to be tall enough, fast enough, or healthy enough, but who have a level of determination and work ethic so strong that they beat the odds.
You may be right. I think it would take a good deal of research to know for sure. One thing’s certain: no amount of hard work is turning Isaac Remington into an NFL player. But by “intriguing,” I didn’t mean full of athleticism. I was using the word generically to describe anyone the team had highly ranked for whatever reason.
I guess there are any number of ways someone can be intriguing. Guys who were never football stars in college, but excelled in another sport. Or who played a position that did not suit their body type, so they had to learn a new position. Guys who played for Division II or III schools. Guys who had good junior years but disastrous senior years, due to injury or coaching/scheme changes. Specialists who mostly never get drafted. Kurt Warner, who perfected his skills playing in the Arena League and Warren Moon who did the same in Canada.
Couple of points.
1. Chip is a hot coach. The Eagles are an exciting team. Players want to come here.
2. As far as UDFAs…they follow the money and/or go to teams with holes at their specific position. You can bet that last summer Jake Knott got a bigger UDFA signing bonus than did Isaac Remington. Knott was higher on the food chain and was a position of need.
Players will only have a problem with the Oregon thing if they think it truly means a lesser player is favored over them. I don’t really think we’ve seen that yet.
Thanks for the response. It comforts me that I seem to be the only person on this board who is concerned at all about the issue.
If we were to divide the team into 4 groups, the A list being elite talent and top prospects, the B list being solid starters and potentially starting prospects, the C list being key backups and the D list being not-that-hard-to-replace fodder, we’re talking mostly about who is on the D list.
Right. My concern is attracting group D guys who might eventually amount to something. I don’t think I ever suggested that it was anything bigger than that. Or at least I didn’t intend to.
And I think what most of the group D guys need to be are people that you can trust to come in and not screw things up in the event that your group A and B guys are not available. If you have guys like that, you don’t have to scramble wildly for help every time someone gets injured.
I submit that Isaac Remington, Josh Kaddu, and Will Murphy are not guys you can trust to come on and screw things up, but I’m fine with that general philosophy.
I don’t expect those guys to be around come the next cuts, they’re probably there just so they have enough guys at certain positions for the Jets game.
I’m sure that’s true. The original question was what, if any, unintended negative consequences could flow from roster moves like letting Will Murphy get further in camp this the clearly superior Cunningham? No one else seems concerned at all, which tells me I’m likely worrying about nothing.
I don’t think the players look at it that way. If anything, many would rather get the early cut so they have a better shot at getting a look from another team.
We’re guessing of course but I’d think the opposite in most situations. I wish BJ Cunningham would log on and give us his thoughts.
The thing about unintended negative consequences is that it works both ways – you could have bottom of the roster guys with real talent that struggle with the terminology and speed and overall assimilation into Chip’s program. Then the narrative would be something like why didn’t Chip bring in more of his players to aid in the team adaption of the program?
Really feel the benefits far outweigh the risks of having too many former Ducks at the bottom of the roster.
Sure that’s true. There could be unintended negative consequences no matter the course if action.
Does anyone know any other teams that have 2 kickers? I know the Bills have 2. I don’t know how good Dustin Hopkins is but he can’t be as bad as Henery.
I’m not saying it’s true in this case, but the notion that Player X’s replacement “can’t be any worse” is dangerous. As a Yankees fan (I know, forgive me), I’ve heard that a lot over the last two seasons, and it doesn’t usually hold water. Trust me when I say that the replacement can ALWAYS be worse. Strange as it is to say, Henery is one of the 50 or so best NFL kickers in the world right now. I happen to like Hopkins quite a bit, but it’s also very possible that he (or anyone else the Eagles get) might be worse, unimaginable as that might be.
Im sorry but since you are a yankees fan we cannot trust or forgive you.
God i miss the Aker days. We were spoiled for what seemed an eternity with the K position. Even durring Akers last few years here when he started to fall off you didnt feel like you were going to have a heart attack when it was time for a feild goal. Really wonder what is going on with Henry. He was at least solid his first few years here. Its not like he is old. Read somewhere that there are actually 15 teams right now with 2 kickers. At least im pretty sure i read that somewhere. Giants i know have 2. I forget the names, but from what i remember hearing it is a pretty decent competition right now where both K look good. Someone correct me if im wrong, or fill in the names/teams.
Read about the 15 teams a day or 2 ago. There are probably less now after this first round of cuts have came in. The good news. The Eagles are now one of them. Which when i think about it is not good news. “If you have 2 qb’s you have none”. Guess same goes for kickers.
Prater will be suspended for first 4 games for drug violation. Denver will be hunting for a kicker too now.
Akers prior to 2010. The wheels fell off badly with that dude.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201101090phi.htm
Giants and Cards still have two nfl quality kickers in camp. I doubt either will keep two. Jets just cut a promising kicker from Wash state who was brought in as a camp leg. There are a few K out there who are about to shake loose.
Random thought, but if Allen has improved this means we have the best S tandem since Dawk and Mikell. Sorta good news mixed with reflection on how horrible our safeties have been over the years. Lol, think Allen isnt good then remember Coleman. Lol, think Coleman sucked then remember Macho Harris!!!! To this day i wonder WTF the higher ups were thinking by letting Dawk go and letting Macho play in his place. A 5th round rookie noneless.
The contract Denver signed Dawk to was completely and totally out of hand and Dawk only played well for the first year of it. It was a 4 year deal and Dawk played terribly in the 2nd and 3rd years of it due to injury / erosion of skill. He didn’t even make year 4.
The bigger issue was never addressing the need to replace Dawkins from his all-pro level with another all-pro safety.
Wish we had Dawk in our Locker room when we went on a damn Snyder free agent shopping spree
No, the bigger issue was not addressing the need with an even half competent safety. I honestly look at that moment and think that right around there is when things started to go south in the reid era, and head scratching decisions were made. Yes u you had the great and wildly fun 2010 regular season, but that was about it really.
Time to bring up the “What if we had drafted Earl Thomas instead of Brandon Graham” question again…
Shame with Kruger. The guy has the perfect body type / skill set to be a good 3-4 DE. I’m still hoping he winds up on the practice squad.
Don’t disagree at all…… He is basically another Vinny Curry, Guy who was a 4-3DE, but instead of making the more natural move to OLB, we moved him to DE… Way to soon for me to be happy giving up on him…
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I mean, Wade kelilipi or whatever his name is and Damon Square are still on the roster…
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What’s really annoying to me is I was looking forward to seeing Krugs, Villanueva and ‘mays get extended minutes in the 4th game, but whatever….
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I’m saving any further criticism of the roster / cuts until after I see the final 53 and the 10 man practice squad.
Same… Like to see us find an upgrade or two on waivers
what positions?
Any position… Ideally ILB, maybe an extra CB
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But ESPECIALLY KICKER!!
Kruger was a 3-4 DE/OLB at Utah, not a 4-3 DE
In seeing how our roster, and the rosters of teams we’re playing, is coming together; I’m getting ready to drill down on a W-L range. I like us for 11.
The division essentially stinks again this year. I’d hope for a 5-1 baseline in division games. (Loss @ Dallas or @ Wash only, win rest)
The AFC South is looking pretty poor, I’d like 3-1 there. (Loss @ Indy only)
The NFC West is going to be a tough road, but we can rock 2-2 there. (Win vs. Rams, @ San Fran, loss vs. Sea and @ Arizona)
The swinging part of our schedule based on fellow in-conference division winners seems to be (1-1) as well with a loss @ Green Bay and a win vs. Carolina.
In a nutshell the games I most want to win emotional are both NYG games due to a pure hatred of their entire team and fan base plus both games vs. scramble-bums Scam Newton and Kaepernitwit.
Let’s get our 11 wins, win the division, and hope that gets us a bye.
The way I see the NFC is Seattle with home field, Eagles / Green Bay / New Orleans fighting for the bye week while winning division, with Arizona and Chicago winding up as the wild cards.
Don’t think FOles allows us to lose to Luck….
12-4 then?
I dunno..l really haven’t given any thought to win total projections, and individual player stat projections like FOles TD to INT ratio….
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I’d guess I’d say no less than 10 wins, no more than 12… Everyone likes to point tp the big bad schedule, but I think teams need to be worried about facing us… Execting the eagles to use this tough schedule against powerhouses as an opportunity to prove that we have arrived
Like I said earlier, I have a few games in which I’d really like to see us put up statement wins over players / teams I f-ing hate.
Think we beat most of the best teams… But have a few let downs against teams like titans, rams.. Lose @ GB
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Really I’m just concerned with beating colts, Niners, Seahawks and cardinals.. And it’s unacceptable to lose more than 1 division game, love to see us run the table in the division.
I want the Niners game………..BADLY.
Niners, colts, Seahawks… I NEED those wins!!
I’m not stressing about beating Indy or Seattle because I have no hatred towards those teams and would find it especially funny if Seattle goes back to back titles and rubs it in San Fran’s face yet again.
My beef with the Colts is Luck has been ANNOINTED and he can do no wrong… Now I’m not blind to the fact that he is a special, elite YOUNG QB…but people act like he walks on water.. FOles doesn’t get the respect he deserves and Luck gets the most respect no matter how he plays…. Watched luck suck last night..of course no one will say a bad word about him… He was throwing Bad INTs, over throwing WRs…it’s not a hatred I have for the colts and luck, but I use them as a barometer for measuring our young QB, and since FOles started, he has been one of Lucks stiffest competitors in terms of battle for the best young QB, yet no one even acknowledges FOles as competition for Luck…
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I really want to see FOles out duel luck in his house and lead us to a win against the colts in a game the country will be watching…
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The last era of eagles and colts football was dominated by the colts…Marvin and Peyton spanked Mcnabb and Reid every single time….
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I think when you watch Foles, he just doesn’t *look* like a great quarterback, even when he’s having very good results.
Also I feel like people still jaded by Kevin Kolbs promising two games and are waiting for the clock to strike twelve and our rainmaker turning back into a pumpkin…… But after he out duels luck in his house I feel like that’s when he will be nationally accepted as a legit top young QB…
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Another thing that bothers me is that the people who do accept him as one of the top young QBs, never even crossed their minds that Nick might go on to be the best of the young gunners.. It’s like I have to automatically accept that the colts will always have a better QB then my eagles..fuck that.. If I have to swallow that and live with it for the next decade, Lucks going to have to prove it.. Both QBs have a ton to still prove..yet Luck is just ANNOINTED.. It annoys me and makes me want to see FOles OWN him in head to head meetings
Anointed? It’s hard to overlook what he did last year — beating SEA and DEN in the regular season making playoffs with no reggie wayne / no running back of note and coming back from 30points down in the playoffs.
I don’t care what Foles looks like (and he does look like Brad Gable at times), but I just look at what he puts on the scoreboard. He is a producer. Vick could look great, and put up 10 points for the day…
I will say though, that Foles would not be as good in another system. Kelly makes him better.
Can’t look too close at the schedule–who knows what shape a team will be in when we play them. I see GB just lost B J Raji for the season.
Wow..this Dorenbos HBO story is on right now…first time I seen this. Horrible stuff
Really like the way the eagles have operated this offseason. But if we are keeping it real, we botched the kicker situation. If you are adding kickers this late in the process it means you aren’t happy with the kicker situation..
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Most fans wanted this addressed last march… Instead, we thought we could rehabilitate Alex to the point where the second kicker we brought in was just a practice leg, not someone who was a real threat to push Alex and possibly earn a spot as our kicker…now we are a few weeks away from opening the season and we are finally looking for kickers?
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Fortunately, about half the teams have kicker competitions going on, which mean in the next week or two around 15 kickers will hit waivers.. Hopefully we can find a kicker that can solve our problems..but it’s frustrating to have wasted an offseason and now have to scramble to address this..
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Maybe Alex will get it together and be our kicker this season!! maybe he can improve on last year and be ok… Maybe he won’t be a major liability,,
…But one thing is for certain, Alex isn’t a Super Bowl contending kicker.
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Playoff games too often come down to kicking and are decided by 3 points. We aren’t in Super Bowl or bust model but when I look at the talent and the depth, while I don’t view us as real Super Bowl contenders, I wouldn’t put it past us to get hot and ride that hot streak to a playoff run… But what good is getting hot and making a playoff run when you clearly don’t have a championship kicker?… I’m not talking about a place kicker version of Donnie Jones who is elite at his position and is a real weapon for us, but a serious playoff team can’t have a kicker who is a liability…
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I’d hate to we this team get hot at the right time, make a run in the playoffs and see all our hard work wasted because of a kicker who already hurt us last year in the playoffs
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We are solid enough, dangerous enough to the point where, we need to put looking for our kicker of the future on hold, and just go with the best stop gap veteran we can find… You can’t struggle with FG accuracy and be a liability on kickoffs…. If you are going to give us heartattacks in one area, we should be able to depend on you in the other…
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So frustrating to deal with a kicker who allegedly improved and looked good all offseason, and as soon as the live bullets start firing and the lights come on, he starts imploding…
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A kicker who is fighting for a roster spot, missing a 30 yard FG in a game the week after he says he stubbed his foot on the ground while kicking and missed a 46 yarder is so damn scary,
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He missed a 30 yard FG. Which means that had that happened a week or two sooner, he would have missed an extra point, when they were playing with the idea of 30yard extra points,,,
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Everything is coming together nicely to start the season and Alex picks now to start imploding…. How frustrating
Stopped reading after you said we aren’t real SB contenders.
Actually personally I view any team that goes to the playoffs two years in a row as a SUPERBOWL Contender…I meant we aren’t looked at like a consensus Super Bowl contender.,
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I think if you were to poll Eagles fans, the majority would say they want us to win a playoff game….. No fans in Seattle are talking about being happy to win a playoff game
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Me, personally, I think if we win one playoff game we can go on to win 3 more….but I don’t think the majority agrees with me. Fans don’t seem to view this season as SUPERBOWL or bust mode.. Fortunately:
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“We aren’t building for the future. The future is now”-Chip Kelly, like two days ago
We are SB contenders. I’ll admit we aren’t one of the SB favorites.
I think since we can carry 10 on the practice squad, we will carry a kicker there, work him hard every week, watch Henery, and if Alex falters, move quickly.
Could be.. We might not have a choice. That’s the route we will go with if we can’t land a kicker we trust significantly more than Alex… But I’m hoping a team with a quality veteran kicker found a young gem of a kicker so they cut the capable veteran..
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If the second kicker is an unproven young guy like the kid we just added we may be forced to go with your scenario
I know some folks are concerned with the number of Ducks in the team but I look at them as a measuring stick. To me they represent a minimal standard at a position from a culture, expectations, ST’s perspective, etc. You see them sprinkled around the team. They are limited players at the NFL level but he trusts them. As soon as someone comes in and beats them out consistently, shows potential, and fits the culture we will see these guys drop off.
Are the Eagles hiding Braman? I wonder if they are developing a blitz package with him in it. They are showing us NOTHING new right now. Can’t wait until week one.
He was hurt last week. He isn’t a contributing defender yet… But the guy is a special size/speed/explosion combo and he is wired for contact so I wouldn’t be surprised if our coaches develop him into someone that can either rush the passer or drop in coverage and being something to our defense,,.
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Don’t think we will see much of him in September, but hopefully by November he can start getting a handful of snaps per game on defense.
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Big kid, explosive, runs a 4.4, tough SOB who loves to hit,… Find a way to grow that into a weapon on defense