To QB Or Not To QB
Posted: August 3rd, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 20 Comments »The Eagles currently have 4 QBs on the roster. They are Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and GJ Kinne. Seems simple enough.
Unless you count Brad Smith. He was a star QB at Missouri and has played some QB in the NFL.
And there is rookie LB Marcus Smith. He was a star QB in high school. Urban Meyer once saw him as the next Tim Tebow, if you can believe that. Rookie TE Trey Burton went to Florida to replace Tebow. He did play some QB for the Gators, but ended up getting moved around.
Oh yeah, rookie wideout Josh Huff was a QB in high school. Some guy named Chip Kelly brought him to Oregon as an offensive weapon. Huff started at RB, then became a WR.
Brandon Boykin split time at QB and CB when he was a prep star. So did Jaylen Watkins.
And we can’t forget Lane Johnson. That big son of a gun was a QB in junior college.
Is this by design? The answer is probably a mixture of yes and no. Chip Kelly touched on this in his press conference today when Les Bowen was asking about Josh Huff and his background. Kelly made the point that a lot of high schools put their best players at QB. Those guys then go on to play a variety of positions in college. Even some college QBs end up switching positions in the pros.
I think Kelly likes adding former QBs to the roster, but I see that as more of a bonus than a requirement. You don’t want to go around loading up on ex-QBs for the sake of it. The reason you like them is for their athletic ability. It doesn’t hurt that they often are pretty smart and have a good understanding of the game. Even at lower levels, the QB has a lot to think about on a given play.
Kelly wants smart, talented athletes. Find enough of those guys and you will have your share of ex-QBs.
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Someone asked Kelly about Matthew Tucker. Kelly said he’s looked good and is firmly entrenched as the #4 RB.
Kelly didn’t offer much beyond that in terms of Tucker pushing Chris Polk. Kelly did say the team liked what they saw from Tucker last summer and he seemed to be genuinely praising him. Sometimes you can tell when a coach is trying to be positive and other times he is being genuine.
If the team feels confident in Tucker, that may have been another factor that made them comfortable in trading Bryce Brown.
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Kelly had good things to say about WR Arrelious Benn, although the practice reports have been mixed. Some praise him, while others are not as impressed. I’m looking forward to seeing Benn in the upcoming preseason game. I liked him a lot coming out of college so I’m curious to see if he’s making a strong push for the roster or if he’s treading water.
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There were some Eagles ties to the Hall of Fame ceremonies last night. Claude Humphrey was a DE for the Eagles from 1978-81. He gave almost a 30-minute speech. PE.com has the video.
Eagles nemesis Michael Strahan was also inducted. In his speech, Strahan talked about former Eagles RT Jon Runyan.
Strahan just called former #Eagles Jon Runyan 6-9, 350 pounds of twisted steel and no sex appeal. Beautiful! #NFL
— Ed Kracz (@kracze) August 3, 2014
Strahan talked about the many battles that he and Runyan had. Strahan admitted that he didn’t win them all. Runyan was on hand for the festivities and laughed at some of the barbs that came his way.
I was really happy for Strahan to mention Runyan. They faced each other from 2000-2007. There were also a couple of playoff games. They hated each other on gamedays, but also probably had a lot of respect for the other guy. Strahan was a great player. Runyan was one of the best RTs of his era.
As much as I hate Strahan, he gave a great speech. He talked about former players and told good stories.
_
Road to canton Ray Guy addition is on tonight for younger fans like me curious about punter getting in the hall of fame.
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Few hours away for our first look at the Giants…any NFL is better than No NFL, so I’ll take it. I’m an admirer of many of the Bills defenders, sucks that they prob won’t play tonight(Dareus and Kiko) Justin Williams is so under rated.
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Curious to watch Jonathon Hankins And Damontre Moore from Giants
Good piece about Guy —
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2146002-ray-guy-inside-the-legacy-of-2014-pro-football-hall-of-fame-inductee
That is a good write-up.
Real nice… Appreciate it
Welcome to the season boys..FLY EAGLES FLY!!
LOL Pugh at LT for midgets? Wasn’t he a Guard for them last year… Can’t imagine him holding up against the edge rushers he will face on that side
Pugh was the only familiar name on that whole line for me. Giants better hope that group gels or they’ll have wasted their free agent bonanza this year.
They are counting on Jon Jerry to return at OG, and IMO he shouldn’t even still be in the NFL. He sucks! Figure old ass Snee retiring is a big deal, you are in bad shape
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Eli fumbling already LOL
Yeah Giants OL looking bad early on. 2 running plays blown up in the backfield, strip sack and holding on the same play.
Their defense looks pretty competent so far. EJ Manuel looks poor.
Mike Williams using his size against amukamara…hope our big WRs are licking their chops. Who is their Nickle CB?
It’s going to be too much fun to WR screen the midgets to death. DRC the sissy on one side, and tiny sweet amakamura on the other side. Punish them all day with the size of our WRs in the screen game… When all else fails, outside zone shady to death directly at DRC’s side
ODB wasn’t playing? (i only got to see from the 3rd quarter on, and only then it was just in passing at a bar…)
Giants leaving their starters in against the Bills backups. That’s the mark of failure.
LOL
I have a feeling we will see another go at early game 2pt. conversion attempts.
Giants leaving starting defense in against 2nd string Bills offense too. They’re really trying to feel good about themselves.
Tommy, what’s your take on Earl Wolff? I’m getting worried about him. Apparently, trainers cleared him to play last year, but he held himself out of games. The same situation looks like is happening now.
I’m worried about Wolff too. There is something going on. Either he is intimidaated by the challenges this year or he is worried about serious injury, or he really is seriously injured???
I think it’s fuckin ridiculous that everytime the kid sits out an offseason practice the reporters start with this doom n gloom crap…
I was at training camp earlier today and was looking forward to getting a look at Jordan Matthews in person after all the praise I’ve been reading. I am very impressed. The thing that struck me was how natural he looked. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he was a veteran. He runs very smooth routes and plucks the ball effortlessly. I was also surprised at his size and physicality.
Another player I noticed was Sproles. He’s so shifty and just glides with the ball in his hands. He’s very fluid and decisive when hitting holes and also had a nice kick return today. I’m excited to see him paired with McCoy in the backfield this year.
I spotted Howard Eskin in front of me chatting up Jon Dorenbos and Donnie Jones for a very long time. Odd.