Back to Bradford
Posted: March 17th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 377 Comments »Enough Tebow talk. Let’s get back to Sam Bradford.
Trying to assess just what kind of a player Bradford is…well that’s a difficult task. On the one hand, he was the #1 overall pick in 2010. You don’t go that high by accident. At the same time, Bradford has never been anything special in the NFL. He hasn’t been anything close to a Top 10 QB.
So what is he?
Just because you go #1 overall doesn’t mean you are an elite, franchise player. Let’s rate the last 10 QBs to go #1 overall. Forget NFL performance. We’re basing this on how they looked coming out of college. Here they are by year.
2012 – Andrew Luck
2011 – Cam Newton
2010 – Sam Bradford
2009 – Matt Stafford
2007 – JaMarcus Russell
2005 – Alex Smith
2004 – Eli Manning
2003 – Carson Palmer
2002 – David Carr
2001 – Michael Vick
Now let’s rank them.
1 – Andrew Luck
2 – Cam Newton
3 – Michael Vick
4 – Carson Palmer
5 – Eli Manning
6 – JaMarcus Russell
7 – Sam Bradford
8 – Matt Stafford
9 – Alex Smith
10- David Carr
I’ve broken the players down into groupings.
Bradford was a great player at OU, but he wasn’t on the same level as the guys ahead of him. Luck is as close to a perfect QB prospect as you’re going to get. Newton put Auburn on his back and carried them to a national title. He dominated the SEC in a way I’ve never seen. Vick was the freakiest freak I’ve ever seen in college. These guys could carry a team on their own.
Bradford led a dynamic offense, but he needed the right pieces around him. He had a strong OL. He had a terrific run game. He had a trio of outstanding college WRs. He had a great TE. Bradford also had a system that took advantage of his skills and the players around him. In the right situation, he was a great player.
With the Rams, Bradford never had the right pieces around him. That limited how good he could be. Steve Young began his career in Tampa. Not many people remember that. Technically he began in the USFL, but his first NFL team was the Bucs. The bad Bucs. Young went 3-16 as a starter. He threw 11 TDs and 21 INTs. He completed 53 percent of his passes. Not good. Bill Walsh acquired him and Young became an elite player for SF.
I do not think Bradford is magically going to become an elite player. I would love for that to happen, but it is extremely unlikely. A more realistic goal, although still not with great odds, would be for Bradford to become a good NFL starter (performance + durability).
I do think Bradford’s best chance for NFL success is playing for the Eagles. He’ll have Chip Kelly’s scheme to help him. He’ll have a good OL. The Eagles will run the ball early and often. While one WR spot remains a mystery, Bradford will have Matthews, Huff, Cooper, Celek, Ertz and Sproles to throw the ball to. For a bit of perspective, Rams WRs last year had 9 TD catches…one more than Matthews in his rookie year. Bradford wasn’t the QB, but that should give you an idea of the talent around him.
Why Bradford over Foles? Bradford at his best is better than Foles at his best. Forget about the 2013 stats, we’re talking about actual performance. Foles doesn’t have the same kind of arm or accuracy. He doesn’t throw as well from the pocket or on the move. We do know Foles can thrive in this offense with the right guys around him. Kelly obviously thinks Bradford can do even better, but that is a projection. That’s the risk.
We talk a lot about durability in regard to Bradford and that’s a legitimate concern. But Foles has gotten hurt and missed at least one start in each of his 3 years. One of my concerns with committing to Foles long term was going to be his durability. Bradford has missed more time, but neither guy stays on the field enough. No matter who you went with, it was going to be critical to have a reliable backup.
Some of you are still stuck on what you think of this move…what I think of this move. I’m more interested in trying to understand the thinking. Chip Kelly spent a lot of time checking Bradford out and then made the decision to deal for him. We all have questions and/or doubts in regard to Bradford, but Kelly making this choice has to mean something…right? We’re talking about an offensive guru. This is the guy Jon Gruden went to go see to learn offense. This is the guy Urban Meyer went to go see to learn offense.
You and I can look at Bradford’s stats. We might have watched a game or two. But Chip freakin’ Kelly studied him at length and said “Let’s get him”. That doesn’t mean the move will work, but it should lessen your doubt/anger and make you wonder how Kelly came to this decision.
We can’t talk to Chip, but we are lucky enough to have a great piece from Fran Duffy. Here is a quick sample of some of what he found.
How does Sam Bradford fit in Philly? See what I found when I watched the film http://t.co/MpScfZF1PE pic.twitter.com/Wm2SjMyRJv
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) March 17, 2015
That is an amazing throw.
Fran’s piece breaks down QB play and shows the key traits that Bradford displayed as QB for the Rams. He also shows some plays the Eagles run and how Bradford ran similar or the same plays successfully with the Rams.
You should come away from that piece thinking Bradford is a more talented QB than you realized, that he fits what the Eagles do and that we’re lucky to have Fran put things like this together for us.
Bradford isn’t going to come here and turn into Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers or whoever, but he can become a good starting QB. He can thrive in this offense. He can be an upgrade at the most important position on the team. There is risk with this move, but there is also more potential than some want to realize.
_
Really don’t understand how some of these beat writers get hired yet Tommy Lawlor runs a blog. Great piece as always.
Blogging is the new media…much better (in terms of ability to convey interesting information) to be a good blogger than a beat writer these days.
In terms of content, agreed. In terms of money though…
and free game tickets and chance to interview players.
Honestly, beat writers are not paid very well. Newspapers are really struggling financially.
That’s why it’s up to us to hit that “donate” button every few months and drop T-Law some coin.
There are some advantages. No one controlling content or demanding you write about a topic to drive up hits…
Here’s my take on the situation. The beat writers are pressured to make quick-twitch judgments on every single move because the sports-reporting landscape in philly is over-saturated. So they don’t have the time/inclination to do any real research. Instead, they cobble together various opinions mixed with some facts from Twitter and other people’s hot-takes and they produce an article of their own as soon as humanly possible to maximize the eyes on their articles. Meanwhile, Tommy does this as a side job and doesn’t have that same external pressure and can take a more patient and reasoned approach. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t shocked by what happens. It’s just that he has the time to let some of the emotions simmer down before putting pen to paper and hitting “print”.
Even just a column would suffice. Hell I never even see Les Bowen write anything. Mike Sielski does nothing
That’s a good take dougie
Well being a beat reporter from North Carolina would certainly have some logistic challenges.
A large part of the problem is the 24×7 news cycle nowadays. It requires the “creation” of stories regardless of whether there really are stories. You see the same thing on CNN, but keeping this to sports, this means that beat writers need to “create” stories to fill in any void. Exhibit A for this week is Tim Tebow. He’s not even signed, it’s March 18, there’s no indications we’re going to sign him, but sports talk and others have created a story about how we might use him if he did sign. Is this really news? No, it’s not. Since Tommy doesn’t do this for a living, he’s slightly removed from the 24×7 news cycle.
Tommy, I’m confused by the rankings. You’re not saying Russell is a better QB than Stafford, right? Are you talking potential coming out of college?
He’s talking about how they played in college, regardless of NFL potential
Thanks. Makes sense.
tommy’s rationale makes sense ..I feel the trade will never makes sense .. iits the exact opposite of the shady deal. pointless to upgrade for the outlier of ‘higher upside’ .. defies risk, logic and cap space all rolled into 1
It’s based on college performance
uh, that rams reciever got creamed on that play .. cooper never gets to that spot, huff drops that pass, Matthews gets concussed. .. not a fan of that video. and I certainly wouldn’t pay ann extra 10 million for the guy.
..
if chip is sofa king smart and anyone can run this O.. isn’t FOles 10 million times a better fit ??? then we’d have 16 mill still to get more players
+1 for sofa king. great song
thnks/I upvoted myself
if dumping Shady for cap space was such a great move then not taking advantage of Nick Foles cap space iS A COMPLETE WASTE
I think you’re missing the point. Not sure if anyone can help you. Haters are going to hate…
hahaha made you say “hater” I win
It about CK getting HIS guys.. and who are we to say who HIS guys should be.. if he doesnt like FOLES hes should get him outta here.. if he doesnt like shadys style of running, why wait.. get something for him.. your real upset.. CK has a long leash.. i know its tough to swallow but no way Lurie kicks him to the curb without letting him do his thing… better settle in and down or your gonna be crying on the curb for a while..
crying on the curb indeed. at least I wont be lonely
Seems to me you’d fit in better commenting with the dopes on Philly.com
philly.com on dopes the with commenting better in fit you’d me to Seems.
..on your chin
They got a young LB with pro-bowl potential, then spent almost as much getting a new RB. It wasn’t about cap space, it was about getting players Chip wants. Foles was clearly not a player he wanted.
And without Bradford trade there’s no way we end up with Murray. Kiko, Murray, Mathews, Bradford > Foles and McCoy
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Murray is an Eagle no matter if Bradford is here or not.
Cowboys were around 6, maybe 6.5m, he got ~ 8 from us. He clearly didn’t want to go 2-14 with the Raiders, which speaks for his attitude. But the Cowboys weren’t our competition in the end. It was Raiders with boatload of cash, but no meaningful Football after week 6, or Eagles with very good, but not great cash and the chance to play meaningful football.
Murray can claim Bradford played a role all he wants, the import things were $$$ and chance to win games.
Murray + Kiko vs. McCoy, that’s essentially the trade the Eagles made. And that’s perfectly fine with me.
Bradford had zero to do with Murray coming here. zilch,zip, nada. nice after thought, having a buddy in a strange new city. But that’s about it
They didn’t dump shady for cap space. They dumped him because he was overpaid for what he could deliver in this offense. I would have gladly taken Kiko + Frank Gore over Shady. But the fact they signed 2 more RB’s that were better fits tells you it wasn’t about cap space.
sure kiko, gore, save money and an extra draft pick that many thought he should have gotten
duCK DONT CARE because if he is gone after this year he still gets his 5yr contract paid and he goes back to college.
dont get dave upset… no dave,, DONT MAKE DAVE HULK OUT… uh oh..HES GONNA HULK OUT!!!!!!
you are lucky you are a duck, Donald.
i have emotionally hulked out i think.
well said.
admitting it is the first step.. it happens to the best of us.
isn’t “denial” the first step ?
im still a long way from admitting
..
your photo shows a beak and not a bill ..
yea im a bald eagle with Donald trump hair…im all beak… what can ya do.. just like being a FAN.. gotta be RIDE or DIE ..
Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.
Denial is the first stage of grief.
Maybe the Eagles aren’t enough of a challenge for Chip Kelly and he will go to the Redskins.
The short of it is, CK doesn’t think Foles can be they guy he needs. The guy Chip needs are not readily available, not will the Eagles get a top 5 pick to draft the guy he needs. He targeted someone. Might not be the perfect pick, but Chip got him. The question I have, is Chip “Settling”? Does he have a choice but to “settle”? Chip paid a high price, I hope it’s worth it…
Chip essentially paid a 2nd round pick and right now 10 mill in cap space, that is not a high price
I beg to differ. With Bradford – coming off two ACLs – counting the most against the cap than any other Eagles player, it is a high price in terms of not being able to afford addressing more needs in Free Agency.
Which player did the Eagles miss on after they traded for Bradford?
Free Agency is still young, But we don’t have any money left…
Who else is out there that they can’t afford because of cap limitations?
I guess they could have paid Maclin more than KC did, but they didn’t think he was worth it. Who else did they miss out on because of money?
Wisniewski
Gipson
Nate Allen
Has Wisniewski signed yet? They still have enough cap room to sign him if they wanted to.
Gipson is a restricted free agent that they would need to pay and give up a second round pick for. They was never going to happen no matter how much cap room the Eagles had.
Nate Allen – well played, that is hilarious.
And that being said the Eagles have just re-worked LB Braman’s contract… lol!
he hasn’t, we must not be interested. i think we reserve $5m for rookies.
That’s right. And i think we have about $5-8M left depending on the source
You had me until the Nate Allen … no need for him, even if to restock the Gatorade in the cups…
Funny thing is Nate Allen IS so far out of our price range right now. Funny and sad, all at once
I agree that Chip probably doesn’t see a 2nd as a high price. But a 2nd is a valuable asset in franchise building, and if Bradford tears his ACL for the 3rd time in camp, it’s a completely wasted asset. The cap space is also something that has value in franchise building.
It’s a gamble. But it’s a calculated gamble I’m sure, and I’m willing to wait and see what Chip can do with complete control of the program.
If Bradford tears his ACL, we get a 2016 3rd from the Rams.
Only if he never plays for the Eagles.
*Conditions:
Bradford doesn’t start 50% of games in 2015 Eagles get Rams 2016 4th round pick
If Bradford doesn’t play at all the Eagles get the Rams 2016 3rd round pick.
If Bradford plays more the 50% of Snaps the Eagles get no additional picks.
Well, on the other hand, if Bradford tears his ACL in camp, we’ll get a 3rd back. Since we will suck with Sanchez as our starter, it will still be around one round we lost, but we didn’t lose THAT much.
Now, if Bradford plays 9 games and tears his ACL then, well, that’s f*cked up, because we will see no pick return but we’ll lose some games because of Sanchez limitations.
Or if Bradford continues to display the happy feet he developed, ala Foles, behind a leaky line, but stays healthy all year, it’s a completely lost asset.
That’s part of the risk. Chip is a gambler. But as long as he makes calculated bets, I’m ok with that.
You can lose even with Ace Ace in hold’em poker (pre flop), but it will ALWAYS be a good move to call an All-in move from an opponent. Now, Bradford is no Ace Ace, don’t get me wrong. But if the odds are good, the bet is good. Doesn’t matter the outcome, really.
Bradford might have a little happy feet, but he didnt throw off his back foot or float 10 yards back of the spot.
Actually, he looked a lot like Foles did last year before he got injured. And he was actually playing behind a better pass blocking line than Tobin/Molk/Gardner in the middle. And he wasn’t being asked to drop back 40-50 times a game and throw 4 verticals routes 10-20 times a game.
Most young QBs don’t recover their trust in the line after they take beatings like that. I mentioned that in season last year about Foles, and why Kelly might have ruined him for good. Same thing about Bradford, even though he started with higher pocket presence, he may never get back to where he was as a rookie. It’s an instinctual thing, like burning your hand on the stove – you have a subconscious reaction after that that is difficult to “think” your way out of.
That sort of depends on the schedule. If the last three games are cupcakes or teams that have clinched their playoff spot and rest their starters, Sanchez can win those games.
the list of Eagles 2nd Rounders reads like a franchise hall of fame
So let’s just skip the draft every year, because Andy Reid was a horrible talent evaluator.
10 mil that could have stabilized safety and wr and guard(or any combination of the 2)
maybe they didn’t like any of the safeties / guards?
they better find someone they like soon, because only playing with 1 guard is going to hurt the run game…
there’s a duck in the draft.
Is there question that Duck won’t be drafted? 🙂
Fisher will be drafted after Mariota maybe? Still, Mariota is a long shot; but you never know with Chip.
is this a diversion tactic now? these are not the droids we’re looking for. Why would Jets want to put their dream team together and have a rookie system QB at 6.
I suspect the trigger will be pulled on draft day. Lots of diversion and misdirection. Ed has been busy.
tell Ed to leave Kendricks the F alone
Will do. Don’t get your hopes up though.
then get a good safety etc. If he trades him for a 2nd it’s not going to go over well.
Hear anything about MM trade with titans or do you think at this point Chip only wants to do it at a less expensive level if he drops a little.
Titans are in play but playing hardball. My guess a lower level will be a reality but lots of bluffing and BS. This draft is going to be a nail biter. Get the bourbon and PBR ready.
it’s so far away
We offered more money to the only safety worth paying, but he decided to stay. There was zero good WRs in FA worth paying what they got (no way Maclin is worth top 5 money) and I do not think guard is a problem at all
God, I hope they don’t trade Kendricks.
I am afraid they might just do that…
Opposed to Foles or Mathis (or even small McCoy rumors), there has been talk about Kendricks outside of beat writers speculating.
I saw a bunch of comments on this a day ago but wasn’t paying attention. I get why maybe he would be part of the MM trade up, if any, but what is the thinking behind why he would get traded even outside of that scenario. And why only for a 2nd? A 2nd that hits is worth more than a 2nd, no?
My thinking here. But don’t forget, it’s contract time. Still wouldn’t like the move.
Now, if Kendricks nets us a good player (Safety, maybe Guard) and maybe a 3rd or 4th, I think more fans could get behind that.
He doesn’t get that contract extension until next year, when Celek/Ryans will come off the books. The money is there, if we want to keep him. The only other players that are going to cost are Ertz and Cox, which won’t see their contract extensions until 2016.
and maybe Bradford
Because he’s a pre-Chip Kelly draft pick that doesn’t seem to fit the size profile that Chip Kelly likes in a player and because they seem to be holding on to Ryans and you don’t need three inside linebackers.
I’m not sure which way I’d bet if I had to, but you asked what the thinking was.
Throwing away talent because someone is 1-2 inches off your “preferred” size is idiotic and is something that can/could kill a franchise. I get the size thing but you can’t have hard and fast lines in the sand.
I doubt he would throw away Kendricks, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Kelly trade Kendricks if he thought he could get a better player in return.
Let’s say Kendricks is a borderline pro-bowl player now… Wouldn’t the Eagles be a better team if they traded him for a borderline pro-bowl safety?
Or, if Chip Likes another ILB in the draft better than Kendricks and can trade Kendricks for the pick to get that player… Wouldn’t the Eagles be better off with a linebacker of comparable talent that would be on a rookie deal for another four years.
At a certain point, I just have to throw my hands up at the smart move and admit I have a stronger connection to the player we have than the one we don’t. I understand the value of team building and resource management, and for a team that I have no emotional investment in like the Sixers, that’s awesome and amazing and next-level brilliant. But I like Kendricks, and I like him more because he’s on my team, and trading him for someone clearly better like Keuchly or an uninjured, unretired Bowman/Willis would still suck.
I agree, but we are talking about what Chip Kelly might do not what we would do in his shoes. Kelly has demonstrated that under his regime a player’s likelihood of remaining with the team is in inverse proportion to the number of fans wearing that player’s jersey.
and that’s why CK is in SUCKs
What about HIS guys.. the ones he brings in or actually raves? There is a very limited take on how long he keeps HIS players.. well except for Celek, who by all accounts “should” be gone but CK loves him.. another is Ryans.. he hasnt even restructured yet.. so theres a decent track record for CK guys.. if he wants you he keeps you around.. despite what anyone says… just buy a jersey of a player that CK loves and you will be set..
Pats won with Patrick Chung!!! … its coaching. no one has all their favorite players ..
fat Andy always skimped on LBs ..id rather have my LBs flying all over the place making tackles than giving tackling to safety who is smaller AND 5 yards behind the LB.
IMO, no. DeMeco isn’t going to be ready to play at the beginning of the year, if he even returns to his prior form. He’s also old and needs to be replaced in a year or two anyway.
Kendricks and Alonso, give you a top tier ILB duo that is young and has major Pro Bowl potential for what, next 7-8 years? Don’t get me wrong, I want another good safety, but not at the expense of a young, very talented player.
You are assuming the Eagles will have enough money to sign Kendricks. Room under the salary cap to sign young players can no longer be taken for granted under Chip Kelly as GM.
And that’s another issue all in of itself. If we can’t/wont lock up young talent because of poor cap management…that’s a massive problem that truly calls into question the move to give Chip personnel control.
we’ll have space next year, meco gone, celek likely gone, i think the only 2011 player that gets paid is kendricks, if here, cox they can take the 5th year options, sammie b won’t have a 13m cap hit.
I agree the money should be there or they can make the room if they need too. Was addressing Cafone’s point that the money won’t be there.
If things work out well, Sammie B might have a much higher cap hit. And you might want to be careful exercising a below market option on a guy who’s clearly outperforming it. It’s all business, but bad feelings can interfere with #culture.
ok but along this thinking, the ILB in the draft has a chance of becoming borderline pro bowl that is significantly (moderately?) less than Kendricks.
One doesn’t just churn borderline pro bowlers in order to keep saving money. I do see the point about trading for a borderline safety.
we’ve churned 4 in two seasons.
No, it would be better to acquire a borderline PB safety to play WITH Kendricks on the defense…this robbing Peter to pay Paul routine never moves us forward since we fill one hole by opening up another…I realize we have limited resources due to the cap etc., but Kendricks is PROVEN talent just like McCoy, Maclin and Jackson were….we got only Alonso in return for those three…if Chip is going to get rid of Kendricks, he better get a very good return.
alonso is better than kendricks.
Could be, but we will not know for sure until Alonso is healthy enough to actually play (best ability is availability) whereas we already know Kendricks can excel in this scheme and is a dynamite LB…so even if Alonso proves to be better than Kendricks, you’d still have to replace Kendricks and Alonso may not play as well with lesser talent next to him…the best scenario is to have Alonso & Kendricks play together. In other words, if Chip is going to move Kendricks, he better get a very good return and be ready to explain what the heck he is doing…
A “healthy” Alonso ….
really? then we would have some great ILB play.
Exactly. This move was about potential. Kelly obviously felt Foles was limited, or at least more limited than Bradford. No one is in a better position to judge.
“Bradford at his best is better than Foles at his best. Forget about the 2013 stats, we’re talking about actual performance. Foles doesn’t have the same kind of arm or accuracy. He doesn’t throw as well from the pocket or on the move.”
This is the key point for me. Bradford is quite clearly more talented in pretty much every area so, even though he struggled in St Louis, he should be expected to perform better than Foles when playing in a similarly QB-friendly system. If Sam’s ACL injuries were as freak/sheer bad luck/not indicative of any chronic weakness as he claims, then the trade really was a complete no-brainer.
in 2014 Eagles: Ran 474 + Pass 621 = total O 1095 plays
round it to an even 1100 play for next season:
.
if we say think that Bradford is equal to Nick Foles but has a higher upside:
– if we are going to run more next season, say 600 times out of 1100 Offensive plays (wud be approx. 25% more runs with our 2 new large RBs)
– 54.5% of the time we run and therefore it doesnt matter wtf is the qb
-45.5% of the time is a pass (and thhats why we have a a QB change .. 500 pass plays
-so each pass play costs $20,000
..
but also makes me think that its a coin toss who you have right? so Braford & Foles are 50/50 but with BRadfords ‘better upside’ ..ill put that at 25% higher upside .. reasonable? so that’s on 125 throws that will be “better”.
..
so we paid up 10mil on 125 throws .. that’s $80,000 for each hypothetical ‘better’ throw.
It’s all worth it if we win the super bowl baby!!!!
that’s the spirit! this is the year!! finally..its been a long wait. a lifetime.
AND THIS IS THE YEAR !!! I CANT WAiT..Don’t buy yyour 2015/16 jersey yet because your guy might be gone by stadium time.
go new eagles !!
Alright man! You got it! Can’t be too salty with anything Chip does. This is his world, we’re just living it!
I don’t think there’s any reason to believe we’ll run more next season. The changes were made to improve the outcome of running plays, not necessarily to increase the quantity. It’s also silly to try and quantify the number of pass plays that will be better and attach a value per pass, so I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.
The other thing you seem to be missing is that it’s not just about this season. Foles and Bradford both have one year remaining before FA and I think it’s reasonable to expect them to be earning similar money from 2016 onward. So, essentially, the Eagles are paying more money (in a year when they have a bunch of cap space they don’t really need to use elsewhere) for the inside track to extend Bradford on a team-friendly contract.
*IF* both play to their ceiling, Bradford will be making more than Foles, because he’s simply got a much higher ceiling. But that will be a good problem to have, generally speaking. If both play in line with their most recent season of play, I don’t expect either of them to make big bucks on their next contract. The gamble both teams took is on all the scenarios in between, and their probabilities/relative values.
Yeah, that’s a better way to say what I was getting at. Sam will only be overpaid (relative to Foles) for one season (when we can afford to overpay him) because both will have their contracts restructured to reflect their actual play with effect from 2016.
ok.. I hadn’t seen your deftness with that issue. respect.
..I thought I heard on radio that CK was going to run more.
aint no thing.
chips world im just mis-hearing it.
All that crying by people that the Eagles never spend and now they do and you’re still crying!
u got buge halls on your chin fella
As I said below – please leave this site and go back to Philly.com. It’s more to your low level of intelligence.
cmon now.. you know you normally would have said it by now
im on that site. im on all of em. u mad a me bro?
Wow you really are an internet tough guy banging those keys so hard! Troll on loser – the rest of us will just ignore you in the future and like the little child you are, you’ll get cranky and stomp out of the room. Don’t stay up too late junior, you’ll be late for middle school tomorrow
whats with the buge halls ? there buge halls on your chin??
dam you wasted some good material I wrote for you. you mad at me bro?
u got buge halls on your chin fella I cant understand you
yay we wet 10-6 two more times. chips my guy
Here’s the video of both plays — from 2013 and 2014 — on which Bradford injured his left ACL.
Take a look.
Is this a guy with (a) bad luck, or (b) bad genes?
______________
– 2013 injury:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000266211/Tempers-flare-as-Bradford-leaves-game-with-injury
– 2014 injury:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000382460/article/sam-bradford-out-for-season-with-torn-acl
Ugh.
Can you just tell me? I’d prefer to skip the injury porn. Its already gruesome enough to have to watch 15 replays of a season ending injury over and over again each year.
The first ACL was a shove from behind as he ran out of bounds, his foot caught in the turf and his knee twisted. The kind of thing that looked fairly innocuous and could’ve been caused by an existing weakness in the ligament or could’ve been enough to damage even a perfectly healthy player – hard to tell either way.
The second one was nasty. Bradford took a shotgun snap and made a pass, as he was completing his follow through (and had his entire weight on his left leg) the DE got tripped by the OT and fell onto his knee. I’d go so far as to say he was fortunate to get away with ‘only’ a torn ACL – he could quite easily have been Theismann’d in that one.
Thank you very much.
didn’t look as bad on tape, probably lucky for him he had the brace on. Interesting that they are moving him to a whole new ACL regime. I wonder Maclin’s recovery was especially successful and so Chip was more aggressive about getting players w/ that kind of injury.
Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t actually seen either incident (was just going off of what Sam said in his PC).
It’s hard to tell with the first one, but I’d say the second looks like the kind of unfortunate hit to a planted leg that would bust anybody’s knee.
Not sure everybody gets this about Tebow – but what he brings to the table is the ability to run an unconventional offense. I could see Chip bringing back the single wing to accommodate Tebow’s skill set.
Stop it.
Tebow is a #culture fit and a possible scout team Kaep/Wilson/RG3 impersonator. Probably not enough to get him on the team, but the tryout cost the team nothing but time in the offseason.
Then why not bring him in last year? If I remember correctly he wasn’t in any other camps.
I think he was in the Pats camp last year.
Because since then “some guy” taught him how to throw a football after he didn’t know how after 20+ years
He spent 3days a week working with the QB guru that works w/ Brees and Brady working on mechanics, etc. Threw 10,000 passes at least.
No offense at all intended towards you Mr. Lawlor, but I’ll start caring about Bradford after the draft if he’s still an Eagle. I don’t want to clutter my mind with in-depth information about the Titans or Jets QB.
Tommy, you mention the very good OL that will help Bradford settle in, but I’m not sure I agree…I think they are good, but not more than that especially if Mathis is shipped out of town. Peters is getting old, has an injury history and looked gassed at the end of last season, his play really dropped off. Kelce also has an injury history. Herremans is gone and our depth certainly did not shine last season…I really like Peters, Kelce and Johnson, but Mathis needs to stay and we need better depth. I hope Chip focuses more on the OL and does provide that strong barrier for Bradford and good blocking for the run game…it is vital.
My pure guess is that the post-season power struggle Chip won had less to do with MSII or Gamble, and more to do with the fact that Howie blew the chance at drafting some linemen Chip wanted last year. I think that absent a MM trade, you’ll see Chip draft heavily on the OL this year.
I’d love to understand your reasoning behind the assertion the power struggle was about OL draft choices…Roseman cut his teeth during the Reid era and it was clear that Reid understood and valued the OL and DL as foundational to the team’s success…Roseman has stated similar thoughts on numerous occasions when he was GM and those drafts showed it…guys like Cox, Kelce, Curry etc. were drafted, Peters was traded for and Mathis signed etc. I would be hard pressed to believe that Roseman would fight Chip on the value of drafting good OL…however I hope you’re right that Chip will focus heavily on the OL as we need it IMO especially again if Chip sends Mathis packing after letting Herremans go…
Not so much a difference in opinion in targeting them, but in draft strategy; Howie played the value game and famously told Chip to wait on certain guys and he was right. He also admitted that a run on OL occurred that caused them to miss out on OL prospects that they had targeted slightly later. I think Chip disdains that sort of thinking and would have taken those guys earlier or moved up to grab one, etc. Again, it’s pure conjecture from what little we know about how last year’s draft played out.
Thanks for the explanation…I prefer Roseman’s value approach and think in most situations it pays off in the end…if Chip is more impulsive and reactive, that scares me because errors are more likely to happen with that approach. The beauty of the Eagles system overall was they always had cap space and could draft BPA most of the time…therefore Roseman’s take was probably, Ok we missed those OL there to get X and Y, but we’ll have chances to address the OL later or in next year’s FA. draft and UDFA pools because he knows they’ll have the cap and picks to do so…now with Chip having spent most of the cap space and starter positions remaining to be filled, the draft becomes more of a needs one which IMO is dangerous
im pleased with chip. he showed the ability to not be narrow minded, and put a plan in place with plenty of flexibility which is important…. the plan was to sign Maxwell, Maclin, Franklin, McCourty… well what happens when they dont sign with you? better have some flexibility to your plan, and we rebounded adjusted and came out with a nice haul improving tha talent level of our roster…. that doesnt scream impulsive, reactionary guy to me,…..
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3 of our top 4 targets didnt sign with us, and we still end up with a free agent haul like this? I would call that a success as his first free agency as a GM.. now if they all get hurt in training camp, im sure i will change my tune lol, but for now, I applaud a job well done. we are more talented then we were at the end of the season and we are about to see chip have an offense filled draf which he should be good at drafting…
I like what he has done for the defense and agree he has shown good flexibility with his plan. Now, if he moves Kendricks, I’m going to change my tune on that, but right now if we get a good safety opposite Jenkins and have some of the young guys develop, we’ll probably be fine there. Offensively, I really do not know right now – we’re banking on Bradford, need to replace Herremans and improve the WR position. Then we can see more clearly where we are. I like what he did with RB although again it is a lot of cap $$ allocated.
i will be pissed if he moves kendricks too,.. but if he does, i guarantee Meco isnt the day 1 replacement which means he will have to draft an ILB somewhere in the top 5 rounds and be comfortable with him or someone like acho starting in September, because I dont think there is a coach in the NFL that will take a 31yr old LB who tore his Achilles in November and be comfortable going into the season with him as your september starter…. so for them to trade Kendricks I assume it would have to be for some serious value because we would be forced to draft another LB…..and that gives me hope that Kendrick stays…
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whatI find odd is if you needed a trade chip, you wouldnt trade kendricks, you would trade Vinny Curry, a kid with some nice trade value, especially since his edge rusher in a 4-3 position is one of the highest valued positions and it will be hard for us to keep Curry long term… much easier for us to justify paying kendricks… so I really find it off that this kendrick rumor would be true, when it would make so much more sense to trade Curry and he would have as much value as mykal i a trade…so hopefully its bogus because Kiko and Mykal would be one of the strengths of our entire team and we would just be a safety away from a feirce defense
Very good points…I could see Curry having value and concur that Ryans is not a viable replacement for Kendricks coming off his 2nd achilles injury and knowing it took a younger Ryans a full season + to regain his production the first time…and you’re right if we did move Kendricks maybe we get serious value back which could include another LB or help another position.
Importance of O-Line in my mind w/ Right handed QB……..LT>C>RT>LG>RG………….That being said I feel a Pro-Bowl LT/C sandwiching a young LG will mitigate some of the concerns of losing Mathis. Guards are great and all but we got $25 mill tied up in our OL w/o Herremans….. if i’m gonna get younger anywhere its gonna be guard.
I agree that is a lot of cap tied up and understand why Chip may view that as an area for cutting payroll, but then Chip IMO cannot legitimately talk out of the other side of his mouth about how critical the OL is and how much he values it over other positions…OL should be where we invest heavily and in a run-first offensive scheme using a QB with an extensive injury history, the OL is even more vital than usual…Chip cannot have his cake and eat it too…he needs an elite OL for his offense to run best and, guess what, you have to either develop elite OL or pay them to come from other teams…Kelce and Johnson we’ve developed, but Mathis, Peters and whoever replaces Herremans we had to get from elsewhere because we did NOT develop viable options…which circles back to Chip drafting quality OL and making sure their development is one of his top priorities. OL is NOT a plug and play scenario IMO…if he sends Mathis packing, there will be consequences and probably not good ones.
right, but who would you rather see some return on a 32yo Mathis or 33yo JPeters? Sorry but JP ain’t goin nowhere.
I’d rather it be another position to be honest…cut/trade Riley Cooper and focus on WR in the draft would be fine with me…or maybe re-structure Bradford’s $13M cap hit might be good…or not have 3 high paid RB on the roster…we could find a good RB easier than a OG like Mathis IMO…
cheaper to keep coop then get rid of him…makes no sense unfortunately
Good point
think everyone is counting down til we can cut him next year!!! Cut player walking all year….
considering we will probably be starting two guard who arent even on the roster yet, i dont get how anyone can speak on the quality of our OL. and if we have no idea what our OL will look like Im not sure why we should go with the default negativity and assume that the OL is worse… i assume that moves chip makes are to upgrade and make us better… I dont think he is sitting around board and getting rid of guys like Mathis just to make a move….if we had to fill a need via the draft, Guard position would be really high on my list because its one of the easier positions to find a quality day one starter…Kyle Long barely played in college, went to the pro bowl as a rookie guard in 2013, zack Martin was the national rookie darling last year.. and there happens to be two highly graded Duck OLineman who chip recruited, are stylistic fits for our scheme with their athleticism, bring positional versatility, and have become top prospects playing at our unique tempo….OL is one of the most important things to this coach, I would assume at the very least our starting OL will be high quality, even if we dont see the entire puzzle yet….will we have so much depth that we will have a quality OL if 3 guys get hurt? that I dont know… but I assume the starting 5 will be quality……. and no matter what happens, our OL play will be better hten we got last year when we used 10 different lineups in 16 games..
You could be right, but finding an OG that will be better than Mathis in 2015 will not be easy. Mathis is known as one of the best OG in the league and has been a good fit for Chip’s scheme. Sure, we could draft a OG this year, but is a rookie going to be better than Mathis? I doubt it. I agree Chip is focused on improving the team and not just making moves for the fun of it, but he is already taking some big gambles at key positions and I’m not sure I’d want to add more OL issues to the list…I’m not being arbitrarily negative; this is a legit concern that focuses on the core of Chip’s offense. The OL is the engine and everyone is impacted if the engine does not work.
i dont disagree…except that Mathis wasnt as good last year, tho I assume thats injury related… and while you assume Mathis will be elite next year, how many more years can we go into a season assuming that? he could be getting more banged up then we know with nagging injuries that our trainers are expecting him to decline soon… playing OL at our Tempo is a young mans game… Rather replace Mathis a year too early, then a year too late…. and If Im Chip kelly, and I know that some time in the near future Im going to have to replace my Guards, Id be pretty motivated to do it this year having first hand knoweldge in some top prospects at that position who i assume he views as a perfect fit…. Fisher is going to have a high grade on him. Id rather take him now, knowing i can count on him to handle our tempo, practice methods and still keep the weight on, while bringing the athleticism we need you to have in this scheme, rather then project how a slightly high rated guard that I dont know, will be able to handle our unique tempo/practice methods
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chip is also pretty fortunate knowing that if we stay at #20, probably a 98% chance Jake Fisher is still available at pick 20… so if he is as high on him as I assume chip would be, i dont hate getting younger on the OL now, even if Mathis has another good year, maybe 2 in him.. we paid JP, we paid Kelce..Lane extension isnt too far away… not a bad idea to get our guards or rookie deals for the next 4-5 years
Mathis will be here — he’s impossible to move, old, injured last year, huge salary. We wouldn’t drop him for a 7th.
The Fran Duffy article is great.
Fun to see a guy sling it around like Bradford can. A lot is riding on those knees, I have to believe Chip thinks his program can mitigate that risk.
The back-to-back GIFs of Nick overthrowing a wide open go route and Bradford dropping it in perfectly is fun, if not a bit manipulative.
Couple of things stood out: 1. Bradford has a significantly better arm and accuracy. 2. The interior of the Rams line did a really nice job of creating a pocket on all those GIFs; most pressure came fairly late and from the edge. Contrasted with some of the pockets in the Foles GIFs, it was pretty striking.
Good point and that’s my other concern with our OL…if I’m a DC attacking the Eagles, I’d play man coverage, crowd the box/middle of the field and pressure the interior components of the Eagles OL…if Mathis leaves along with Herremans, their replacements are likely to be less effective and Kelce is undersized at C…plus the middle is Bradford’s (any QB really) weak spot and the quickest path to the QB…we better bolster the interior or Bradford will need to be as quick as Wilson back there…
“sling it around” . . . nice image.
Here’s a bad image for “sling it around”…
That’s why they call you “Doctor Baloophi” . . .
Doctor of Thinkology.
How do you know that was Nick overthrowing the pass and not the WR running too damn slow?
I don’t think this is how it works.
Everything is timing. The pass gets thrown before the receiver has finished his routes. That timing can get disrupted for a number of reasons: pressure on the QB, a bad pass by the QB, the receiver not being able to get by press coverage, the receiver not going all out on the play. Too easy to just call it an overthrow.
I mean, that ball wasn’t just overthrown, it was leading the WR out of bounds, i.e. very poorly placed as well.
I’m also 100% certain you can find a similar poorly thrown ball by Sam Bradford, which is why I said the comparison was a bit manipulative.
But those two plays *did* look a lot alike, and one of the balls was *placed* very well, while the other one…not so much.
No doubt Nick Foles had plenty of bad passes this year and legit overthrows.
There isn’t a human being alive who could’ve caught up to many of Foles’ passes in 2014. He was very not good.
We were certainly spoiled by Jackson’s ability to catch up to damn near everything for long enough.
We get it, you don’t like Foles. Can you lay off it a bit? It’s not like he himself did anything unsavory. He did what he could for us and he’s gone now.
Ehhhhhhhhh. I’m allowed to be excited about upgrading QB, be it via Sam Bradford or Marcus Mariota. We’re just fans here.
Its not like I’m spamming the board with anti-Foles propaganda all day.
Yeh you are allowed to be excited and I have seen numerous posts where you take shots at Foles. It’s not really a big deal but it just kinda bothered me I guess. No biggie.
Tommy, what do you think about the durability issue in general this off-season
M&M 2 healthy seasons of 9 among them. Kiko coming off of a big injury, Thurmond as well. And of course, Bradford coming off of 2. The Eagles have taken risks on injury concerns before but almost always at a discount and never depending on them for a big contributions and never in these quantities.
Chip Kelly himself says the most important ability is durability. What happened? Is it faith in sports science? While 2013 gives reason for optimism, 2014 brought that back down to earth a bit. I’ve come to peace with all of this. Fit, schematically, on paper, on madden with injuries off, I believe 100% this will be a great team, however even if the outcome is everything we hope it is, the process still neglected some major concerns and paid resources for the best possible scenarios, not the average of likely outcomes.
“While 2013 gives reason for optimism, 2014 brought that back down to earth a bit.”
I thought the same thing, too. But Birds 24/7 had an article one or two weeks ago about sport science and health. In 2014, we had the big injuries we all remember because they basically screwed with our season, but the thing is, you will always have those.
What sport science is trying to do is to minimize the nagging, soft-tissue injuries. And we were successfull with that last year, even though it didn’t felt that way. In 2013, we were ranked best concerning the injuries, in 2014 we were still 5th. And that’s an anomaly.
Here’s the link, if you’re interested: http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2015/03/06/eagles-wake-call-sports-science-working/
Thing is, though: sport science won’t help against a torn ACL. Especially a torn ACL during a game. It could help Murray, though, who never had the huge, season ending injuries (as far as I remember), but often those two, three week injuries.
Yeah I agree and think each case individually an argument could be made for optimism. It’s just hard to look at it as a whole and not expect 1 or more of the pieces to let us down this season.
I like that alot of the injury guys we took on got injured really early in the season or offseason so alot of time will have passed by the time we need to count on them… 22 months will have passed when the season opens since Bradford got hurt… Kiko got hurt right away…Murray hasnt had leg issues in some time…… No one like Meco who tore his achilies in november and you know he wont be right to start yet in september, since it took him two years to get over the same injuryt 5 years ago….. Bradford. Kiko,. like Maclin got hurt really early in the season so extra time will have passed by the time we need to have to count on them
One of the things I’m wondering is if we feel, given some sort of statistical/medical study (part of sports science) we feel that medical history in terms of injuries has no real bearing on likeliness to be injured in the future. Is it in fact all random, is the concept of being injury prone a myth, without the presence of some other sort of persistent health issue. Just statistical anomalies for unlucky players. Are iron-men who never miss time just lucky or play well through injury (or lucky to only get the injuries you can play well through)? Chip isn’t stupid, and I’ve never gotten the impression that he’s naive, wondering if there is data behind it all.
something crazy like 61 acl injuries happened in the past year or year and a half(forget what the exact timeline was)…im there is some data out there in his favor, but mostly I would assume its an individual case by case basis…. there are plenty of draft prospects who we will deem arent medically draftable, that other teams will be comfortable drafting… sometime the team that draft him will end up being right, other times the team that passed on him will end up being right, but im sure its all a case by case basis….. well respected surgeons and specialist with tons of sport experience are consulted and we take all the data and make the best projection we can based on how comfortable we are with him medically… but im sure there are tons of really talented players out there who we wouldnt feel comfortable adding because of medical risk….. seahawks took a chance on Jesse Williams, a medical risk, two years later they waive him having gotten nothing out of the 4th or 5th round pick they invested in him… Niners took a shot on injured RB Lattimore, who could never recover and is out of the league…. yet last year we took a shot on Maclin after two ACL surgeries and he rewarded us with a big time season, earning himself a big commitment from KC….its all an individual case by case basis…we took a flier on Kenny Phillips whos injury never allowed him to make our roster
I’m guessing Chip has thought long and hard about this.
Bradford was hurt in Preseason last year. Where are those 22 months coming from?
LOL my bad, I have the Joel Embiid recovery timeline in my head…
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still my point stands, for a player under the age of 29, anything over 10 months is a prudent approach…13months for Sam, 12 months for Kiko, should be more then enough time, and Sam said they are taking it much slower then the first time….
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where as i think asking Demeco to be ready to start at the age of 31, 10 months removed from his surgery is insanity. i dont think there is a coach in the NFL that would pencil meco in as a day 1 starter in spetember
Didn’t see this posted here. We re-negotiated Bryan Braman’s contract. We gave him a 1-year extension. His salary this year drops from $1.2M to $745K and we save $455K in cap room. In return, he gets a bump in guaranteed money from $100K to $450K. Hopefully, that is just the start and we hear of re-worked deals with Ryans and Celek soon. Bradford too.
Ryans just HAS to take a significant pay cut. Celek would be good, too, but not as necessary as Ryans.
Bradford I don’t think will happen, at least not anytime soon. There’s an article on 24/7 today quoting an cap expert saying Bradford has no reason to sign a new contract.
Well, I don’t agree with that completely, because Bradford knows another torn ACL will be the end of his career and he won’t see the 13m this year. But, from a market standpoint, Bradford is on a low point and generally, you don’t want to sell low. If Bradford thinks he can stay healthy, he would be smart to bet on himself like Maclin did. If he stays healthy, chances are he will put up good numbers in this offense. Good numbers with a #1 overall pedigree means $$$.
Don’t forget: he made A LOT of money so far, since he was a #1 overall in the old CBA. Makes betting on himself a lot easier, you have to think. He has enough money for his lifetime anyway, now let’s see how many generations of Bradfords he can provide for if he stays healthy.
like I said, we would have to make it worth his while. if he is making 13mil for this year, you would have to offer atleast 20mil Guaranteed and hope that he takes that security since if he gets hurt again it could be his last deal
But if he’s hurt, you’ll have the guar. money in the books. That’s why it’s so complicated.
then you dont give him an extension and pay 13mil for a trail run….tough decision needs to be made, one way or another
If he went down with a season ending injury the team would have to come up with an injury settlement.
There must be something in the CBA because you never see guys get outright released for on-field injuries.
I think -but don’t know- that there’s more to it than him losing his year’s pay with another blown knee.
To me, personally, I only care about the cap. When I say “Ryans must take a pay cut”, it’s never the case of wanting Ryans not to earn that money or caring about Luries money, it’s about the cap and what the Eagles can or cannot do to improve their team.
So if there’s a injury settlement that doesn’t influence the cap, while Bradford would be out of our books in 2016, I don’t care about that. I let Lurie and Bradford take care of that.
Don’t know about a pay cut for Celek. He’s useful. Cooper. A smart Smolenski or Manny or Roseman should be able to find some kind of loophole in order to pay less to Riley. Even today.
http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/iconka/st-patricks-day/256/shamrock-icon.png
Not a great piece… “Get on board with Bradford, cause Chip traded for him.” Not so fast for me. I’m not writing Bradford off, but I’ll wait to see what he does on the field. For now, I remain skeptical. I never wanted Bradford, and I don’t like what we gave up to get him. And I don’t see how he fits.
Don’t understand some of the other offseason moves either. Wishing and rooting for success, but not surrendering my objectivity and common sense just because Chip is at the controls.
Who’s the new guy?
Bradford, Sam. Formerly injured 1st round draft pick, previously with OU and then St. Louis Rams.
nah i meant you…. we are way past the Chip has full control discussion lol.
I knew who you meant… obviously you didn’t get that.
Agreed on “chip having full control discussion…” That’s why it wasn’t the focus of my comments, which were actually directed at Tommy’s piece, lol (think ‘context’).
I’d ask who you are, but I don’t care.
Just because you don’t agree, doesn’t make it “not a great piece”. Your comment would have been great, except for the first four words, which were completely unnecessary.
C WUT I DID THAR.
I think you better go back and read Tommy’s piece there Ben…
Look at Fran Duffy’s piece that Tommy linked to in the post. If you can’t see how Bradford fits after that, I don’t know what to tell you.
Yeah, Joe, I don’t usually look to team websites for the most objective of information… Not saying that Fran may not be on to something here, but as I said above, I’m skeptical
It’s fine to be skeptical, but if you read the piece & look at the video clips you shouldn’t have any questions about how he fits. It’s not a propaganda piece.
Well thank you for approving my skeptism… I was getting a bit concerned.
I love how commentors on these blogs – such as yourself, Joe – like to pick out a word or phrase from another person’s statement, and attempt to pick apart that phraseology (usually out of context) in such a way as to attempt to invalidate that person’s point of view.
Remove the words “don’t see how he fits” from my post Joe and see if you can comprehend what I’m saying. Whether you can or cannot, it really doesn’t matter to me.
I wasn’t trying to “pick apart” anything. You said you didn’t see how he fit, I suggested you look at the piece for evidence of how he would. That’s it. For whatever reason you read far more into that than was intended.
Look at the piece or don’t. You seem much more interested in pontificating on the practices of blog commenters though, so do as you will.
Don’t know why I’m wasting my time with this, but again, reread the posts – you totally missed my point, and fixated on my passing reference to Bradford’s “fit” in Chip’s future offense.
You win – Duffy nailed it, Bradford fits great, and Chip’s a genius.
Tommy seems skeptical too. Your opinion doesn’t seem much different since you haven’t written him off and will wait to see what he does. I think Tommy is trying to show insight into why Chip likes Bradford.
So what do you think of San Francisco and New Orleans moves? With experienced ‘NFL guys” at the helm?
The Redskins resigned Colt McCoy. So they have the same three QB’s as last year. Sound like a team that’s going to be taking Mariota if he falls to 5?
Doubt there’s much guaranteed money in McCoy’s contract. They probably could get a late pick for Cousins. Cleveland had interest in him last offseason.
Would you take Cousins or Barkley?
I’d go for Barkley. We know Kirk stinks, we only think that Matt stinks -there’s a chance for him, at least.
Cousins has had games where he’s played well and games where he’s stunk. Barkley has only stunk. I’d take Cousins.
i’d take McCoy over barkley or cousins
His name insists upon itself.
Barkley’s a lost cause. Doesn’t have the arm. Cousins, if only by default.
nah RG3 is Snyder’s guy
Aka Snyder is invested too heavily in Subway stock to let RG3 fail?
Like me, some of you may be confused about our current draft picks after trades. Jimmy gives us a summary.
https://twitter.com/JimmyKempski/status/577799527677210624
thats good, thanks. I thought we lost that 4th, forgot about Bryce Brown deal. We lost that 2nd next season if Bradford plays over 8 games I think.
We lost the 2nd next year no matter what, but if Bradford plays under 50 percent of the snaps, we’ll get a 4th from the Rams. If he doesn’t play at all, we’ll get a 3rd,
oh thanks, I thought we saved that 2nd with that.
So, what you are saying is that when the Rams collapse after Foles’ injury and get a top 5 pick and Mariota leads the Eagles to a Lombardi, we effectively moved down like six spots?
I said it before re: Tebow as personal protector, I say it again: you’re an outside the box thinker. Maybe now would be a good time to send your CV to Novacare. Because to hire people with no clear football backround would be, you know, outside the box.
I am holding out until I am too old to have any growth potential, because then I would truly be an outside the box hire.
Is there any reason why I can’t stand on the sidelines holding up graphics of Rocky or the Fanatic? Green is my favourite colour, too.
yes you got it.
BREAKING NEWS:
This is going to be a LONG Summer!
Are you intimating that a deal is in the works to acquire Kyle Long?
Or maybe offer a show me deal to Jake Long?
Or just that you are excited about Travis Long?
Adam Caplan confirmed that the browns offered their #19 first round pick, guess we know why we needed that 2nd round pick to make the deal.
the seahawks traded for Jimmy Graham, and they are starting to be rumored to have Interest in DGB…. if Thats not enough sounds like they will go back to the “scumbag well” and try to sign the Kraken if he leaves Dallas without a contract…The top teams take advantage of the super talented problem childs. they deal with the initial bad publicity and then it goes away and they are left with a top talent at a steal of a price…. some playoff team will get the Kraken at such a cheap prove it deal contract, he will sit out his 6 games and come back playing like a beast possessed to get his value back up for his next contract…Calvin Johnson sized DGB could fall to the end of rd 1, even round 2….and you know one of the playoff teams will scoop him up and get a steal of a talent who fell because of character like Dez Bryant…….but those type of guys probably arent even on our free agent or draft boards….smh… the brandon Marshall for 5th round pick steals…….
The Seahawks would have to trade back in the first to get him, don’t they. No way he’ll be there at the end of the second!?
Trading up wouldn’t be very Seahawks like, wouldn’t it? They prefer to trade back to get extra picks.
even just taking him at the end of round 1 is a steal if you consider there are usually only about 20-25 kids with first round grades and you end up having to give a first round contract to a second round grade anyway..might as well take a flier on an astronomical potential, atleast you get the 5th year option which can make a difference with a raw prospect and a problem child…more time to develop him and make him prove his character before you have to commit to him…..if Andy Reid drafts him in round 1 I will be furious after all the years he denied us of WRs lol
and I sure as hell dont want to have to block greg hardy twice a year next year.. hopefully if he signs with Dallas we play them once early while he is suspended…
Looks like the Bucs may take them. Think teams are trying to feel out how much bad press they’ll get for signing him.
With Hardy and Winston, they’d be an easy team to cheer for.
Wouldn’t want to be a woman living in tampa. But if they make the playoffs doubt we’ll hear anything.
wondering why winston would chose to not attend the draft… wonder if he is worried about something coming out the week of the draft, for example the documentary…cant shake the feeling that he is trying to get ahead of some bad news
didn’t know he wasn’t attending. But what’s the point, terrible for the NFL, but for him he can stay with his family and enjoy the moment + not going to get a bunch of media questions about the Fla. incident.
maybe he’s afraid of the crowd chanting No means No or She said No. And there just isn’t enough upside to make up for that downside.
Yeah i think they decided graham instead of dgb.
“top teams take advantage of the super talented problem childs.”
Lots of shitty teams do this too.
Nah. They take advantage of the problem children.
https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/577913875896516608
So, Pouncey, who may not be the smartest guy around, says Wallace is a coward. Not that I wondered before, but I definetely not wondering now why Chip wasn’t interested in him.
sounds like bullying to me!
I feel so old I can barely read tweets when there are multiple @@@ it’s like who the hell is talking to who here and get off my lawn.
Pouncey was implicated in the whole Icognito thing, not just bullying a teammate but an assistant trainer??!! Regardless of what other people might be, we KNOW what Pouncey is. Being such a lady and all, I’ll refrain from using the obvious descriptive words.
EDIT: Maybe assistant trainers are supposed to acquire the “right” steroids, etc.?
Not saying Pouncey is a guy I’m rooting for. But you don’t quit on your teammates, either. Has nothing to do with bullying, imo.
I guess I don’t see Bradford (even if he is healthy) being anything more than a marginal upgrade at best from either Foles or Sanchez. Comparisons to him in college are essentially irrelevant at this point too given the time span and injury issues.
Bradford just strikes me as a being one of those nebulous second-tier/third-tier QBs (finishes somewhere at 10-20 in most categories). He wasn’t worth the additional draft picks nor the opportunity cost (paying him and preventing the Eagles from either making other trades/moves in FA).
did you read the Eagles Insider article and look at the gifs? have you reviewed any of the footage before saying that Bradford (if healthy) is only a marginal upgrade from Foles or Sanchez skillwise?
thats a HUGE N.O.. why even ask..
I’m not claiming to be a film guru but it is easy to see the difference in ball speed, release time and accuracy from Sanchez/Foles to Bradford.
legit talent of a top 10 pick…. where as Sanchez lacks the talent of a QB who should be drafted top 10
…
i think its pretty simple, stay healthy and we will like what chip does with him, get hurt and it will go down as a poor trade…. see no reason why a kid with his success in a tempo shotgun spread wont be placed in a position to really succeed with his talents by chip…i assume he will make the game easier for Sam than its been since college….. if you told me we had to lose Foles, Sam has the talent I would want to replace Nick….
…
rather have Sam then MM…obviously that will change if Sam cant stay healthy
Personally i don’t think it’s a bad gamble for a starting QB.
He was ROY in 2011, and the degree to which a hapless franchise St. Louis had become, in what seemed like record time, should not be underestimated. If Kelly can run the ball with consistent impact, Bradford can most definitely exploit the open passing lanes. Last year Romo was the best QB in the division. That cannot stand.
What’s a bit amusing. All last season many folks kept insisting that Romo could not last the season because of 2 back surgeries, yet there he was. In the playoffs. Now some of the same people are sure that Bradford cannot least the season because of 2 knee surgeries. ;~D. Maybe we should just put the crystal balls away as there is nothing to see in them.
Tommy – so it basically took everyone in philly 1 week to get past the various hot-take reactions and actually look at Bradford’s actual skills and figure out that they’re superior to Foles’ skills. If healthy, there is not a professional scout/personnel person that would say Foles’ skills are better than Bradford’s in general. And in particular, Bradford’s skills required for Chip’s offense are far superior to Foles’ in this offense.
Agree. Lots of people hate the price / injuries, but he’s clearly a more talented passer, more athletic QB.
absolutely, all you have to do is look at one (just one) of Sam Bradford’s designed rollouts and it’s obvious that he’s a more fluid QB outside the pocket than Foles.
I think that’s why MS is still here, very mobile in the pocket, even though he’s just a backup QB.
yup, if MS gets into the game, I’m pretty sure the Run/Pass split goes to 60/40 to minimize the amount of throws MS needs to make. To do that, you need to have multiple RBs. Shady would never have been happy sharing carries. I’m convinced that’s one of the reasons he’s not here any longer (which plays into the “culture” fit).
You have no idea though just how athletic he will be at this point after the 2 knee surgeries.
I understand the rationale of why the Eagles traded for Bradford & moved on from Foles.
Just hated the trade in terms of what the Eagles gave up and got in return.
Regarding the price: if Bradford gets hurt in the 2015 season, then we get a conditional pick back in 2016 depending on the severity of the injury. So, worst case, Bradford fails for medical/injury reasons and we basically have given up a 2015 fourth rounder for a 2015 fifth rounder; and a 2016 2nd rounder for a 2016 3rd or 4th rounder. We’ve basically downgraded a couple of picks by a couple of rounds. It’s NOT that big of a price given the potential upside. A lot of people are upset about the 2nd rounder, but we get a conditional pick back if Bradford gets hurt. If Bradford doesn’t get hurt, he’s going to absolutely THRIVE in Chip’s system and no one will care about the 2nd rounder. Let me ask Philly fans this….In the 2012 draft, if we had to give up a 2013 3rd rounder to go up in the 3rd round and picked Russell Wilson instead of Nick Foles, would you right now be crying over that 3rd rounder that was thrown in?
I’m onboard with that thinking. If Bradford plays well and becomes a franchise QB -who cares about the 2nd round pick?
The downside is that if he sucks, the Eagles “lose the trade”. There’s always a downside to any gamble.
In a sense, they would lose the trade. But you have to weigh that risk against keeping Foles around for another year and then losing him as a FA. If you’re Chip and you don’t believe in him as your franchise QB, you wouldn’t sign him to an extension before or during the 2015 season. So after the 2015 season, Foles would have zero trade value to the Eagles.
#2 pick is scared on this team ..more greats than 1st pick
We’ve given up a 2016 2nd for a 2016 3rd or 4th, a 2015 4th for a 2015 5th, AND we’ve given up Nick Foles who, at worst, could be a solid back-up QB behind whoever is the next anointed one. And Foles had trade value to us if we cared to send him to a team in QB hell like the Browns. Worth at least a second, maybe a first.
IMO, a solid back-up QB is a worthwhile price to pay (in addition to the picks) for someone that has the skills to be your franchise QB as long as they stay healthy. The only way IMO this comes back to haunt the Eagles is if Foles goes on to have multiple pro bowl type seasons in STL and Bradford gets injured without playing a meaningful snap.
Nobody was giving a 1st or 2nd for Foles. His value is akin to Mark Sanchez.
Probably right, but apparently Foles plus a third (next year’s second is reduced to present value as a third) beat pick #19 this year. If you believe all the reports.
Nobody was giving a 1st or 2nd for Foles. His value is akin to Mark Sanchez.
I really want to believe that but its far from a sure thing. On its face maybe, but nobody factors in a new learning curve for Bradford (including new players in a bunch of spots still learning or just starting) and how familiar Foles already was in the system. Foles could also improve in another year and he won quite often, stats or not. Cant say that for Bradford. All this will be for naught if they trade for MM anyway. Can you imagine, poor Bradford if hes dealt. Gotta think he wants to play for Chip.
I don’t think there was ever a question that Bradford had more physical abilities than Foles.
The questions though are does he *still* have those skills after two ACLs? There is a chance that he’s not the same player anymore. If he can’t (or is afraid to) plant as hard on the knee, that could be an issue, etc. Also, he hasn’t really played in a season and a half. That alone can take a toll on player’s skills.
We are all looking at tape from years ago; it’s possible that he may have developed bad habits in more recent years from getting hit. Foles had a lot of throws while fading backwards last year but you won’t see nearly as many of those if you look at 2013 tape. That is one of the main concerns with Foles — given a better OL than he had all of 2014, does he revert to better form, or do those become permanent learned habits (which does happen to QBs). It’s not impossible that has also happened with Bradford playing on bad St. Louis teams.
And lastly, despite struggling, Foles seemed to have some of the intangibles — he always seemed to give the team a chance, and he did get results. He is 14-4 his last two years, and a career record of 15-9 even with his 1-5 rookie record being thrown in with an awful team. Bradford is 18-30-1 for his career. Foles has 5 game winning drives in 24 starts, and 4 4th-quarter comebacks… he seems to have the knack at the end of games to get the win. Even of his losses was the game-winning pass being dropped by Cooper in the end zone against SF, and that was with a disaster of an offensive line — we still should have one. Bradford, in 49 career starts has the same 5 game winning drives, and six 4th quarter comebacks. We still have no idea if Bradford can do the same given a better offensive scheme for him.
ya this, what I wanted to say but was too lazy to write out or research all that. Interesting 4th qtr stats.
I agree with the notion that it’s a risk because you can’t know for certain how he’ll perform post injury. But many people are saying that Bradford before the injury was worse than foles simply because of stats and having no info on Bradford.
His results were sure worse. Sometimes you can have a lot of skill but can’t make it count on the field.
Now, obviously Kelly has thought about all my points above and still made the trade, so he thinks it was worth the risk, and I can’t completely blame him. If it turns out then great — we may have a chance at the Super Bowl which we may not with Foles, and if Bradford’s awful, we have a lost season but higher picks next year to fix it I guess.
What are the Eagles going to do at RG?
jake Fisher
2nd round probably?
i wouldnt be shocked if he went at #20… obviously I would prefer if we got him in round 2… but the bears took Kyle Long right around #20, and no can say that was a bad pick even tho everyone Mocked him in round 2…. truth is if he can start as a rookie at RG, play at a solid level and eventually move to RT when Lane moves to the left side, it will be a quality pick….. problem is we could find a highly rated stud fall to #20 that may be too tempting to pass on, and i dont think Fisher will last all the way to our pick in round 2… i guess we would either have to trade up from round 2 pick for fisher, or possibly settle on the G/C Grasu from Oregon……. Love to see Fishers athleticism lined up next to Lane……i would give the bears the 20th pick if they would give up Kyle Long, so i cant hate the idea of taking Fisher at #20, not with how great of a run game we have a chance of building
Wondering how far Grasu will fall due to medical concerns. I wouldn’t be surprised if we grab both him and Fisher and like you, I wouldn’t be surprised if we take Fisher at 20. His tape is solid, but his workouts have been exceptional.
Print out all of GEAGLE’s POsts.
Pile them in between Kelce and Johnson.
Pass with impunity behind an impenetrable wall.
What is the plan for strong safety going to be?
Thats the problem….. might end up being a royal rumble at camp for that spot:
Ed Reynolds
Wolff
Jaylen Watkins
Couplin
maybe Nolan Carrol
a rookie like Virginia ANthony Harris
…..
doesnt look like there will be a sexy solution to this decade long problem,… holding out hope that we trade for Tashun Gipson, Illoka or some other quality young safety…
…
your guess is better then mine… im demoralized by the thought of another year of safety weakness
I’m still hoping we sign Dwight Lowery.
That would tickle my fancy.
If we just get solid disciplined play, it will be an improvement over last season. What makes me nervous about all of these guys is that they couldn’t beat out a mistake prone Nate Allen. I’m also not sold that any rookie is capable of stepping in and making any kind of positive impact. Here’s hoping!
Well… Wolff had an injury, we didn’t have Couplin at all until the end of the year, and I don’t think we tried Caroll there at all, and Watkins was late-season experiment — highly unlikely a rookie changing positions could pull that off. It will be different after a training camp if those players are targeting safety. But all of them still represent a hope that one can step up to a degree none of them have before. Definitely a position to watch. We could end up getting a veteran safety, worst case maybe after final cuts or something. Or maybe someone like Dashon Goldson shakes loose.
Maybe the Panthers will trade Kurt Coleman back to the Eagles. They just signed him for 2 years! Surely an indication that there are simply not enough safeties to go around, no matter what they are called. Strong, free or whatever Chip calls them.
That throw represents most of what has amazed me about Bradford. I sat down and watched a couple of games and kept a notebook of my thoughts of Bradfords play.
I come away with the same sentiments as Fran and Tommy. Im not completely sold, but I can see the upside of Bradford.
I watched Bradfords Seatlle VS Rams game in 2010. he made a similar throw for a touchdown in that game.
Great anticipation, great arm, great ball, great placement.
The negatives I saw:
He throws high when pressured, pressure from Cornerbacks are his weakness especially, seen him get lit up on throws where he probably should have thrown the ball away earlier.
Also his deep ball is sometimes behind the receiver. Saw this on a pass to Tavon Austin and to Marcus Clayton. The ball sailed but the receiver had to come back. both were catches, but idk.
Also, he sometimes is early in his anticipation, that accounted for a majority of his errant throws I saw so far, but im working from like 7 games I watched since the trade.
Other than that, there were so many drops, penalties, and poor offensive line plays, not too mention the offense ran the ball a lot.
I think that this offense is setup to surprise people with how productive and consistent it can be.
Im just not sure how explosive it can be.
See no reason on earth we should try to get excited about Sam Glassturd.
I was on the fence about him, but with that clever play on his name I think he should just sit in the corner and not get any cupcakes.
You should consider emailing Chip Kelly, it’s possible your view of Bradford hasn’t been broached. We don’t want to overlook anything.
I would love a similar draft tothis
20: R1P20
OT LA’EL COLLINS
LSU
52: R2P20
CB KEVIN JOHNSON
WAKE FOREST
84: R3P20
CB BYRON JONES
CONNECTICUT
110: R4P14
WR SAMMIE COATES
AUBURN
137: R5P9
WR CHRIS CONLEY
GEORGIA
148: R5P20
OT SEAN HICKEY
SYRACUSE
180: R6P20
TE WES SAXTON
SOUTH ALABAMA
212: R7P20
OLB OBUM GWACHAM
OREGON STATE
Think that’s overly optimistic regarding where Kevin Johnson and Sammie Coates will go.
Thats why its a simulation, in this draft I used mockingthedraft.com as big board, so how people have them ranked has an impact as well.
Questionable hands or not, I seriously doubt Coates lasts til the fifth round.
oh boy Kempski has the Eagles trading anyone the Titans want for # 2:
http://www.phillyvoice.com/heres-how-eagles-are-going-get-marcus-mariota/
Not sure why people are acting like Mariota could slip past 6… I thought we already knew the Eagles probably already have a trade in place with the Jets..
http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/700-level/someone-100-percent-sure-new-york-jets-trade-marcus-mariota-philadelphia-eagles-nfl-draft
http://m.jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/513351/vito-stellino/2015-03-04/report-has-jets-willing-trade-marcus-mariota-eagles-if#gsc.tab=0
Those proposed trades might have involved Foles, which would make them impossible now. It’s not a given that a team could fit Bradford into their salary cap even if they were willing to trade the Mariota pick for him straight-up. There are teams that need QBs badly but if their scouts happen to think that Mariota is not a good fit or will need a couple years on the bench to become good in their scheme, they *could* pass. It’s very unlikely but odd things can happen on draft day. You’d think that a QB needy team would jump up at some point if he falls out of the top 10 though.
Free agent CB Bradley Fletcher visited the Patriots on Tuesday.
So, if he becomes the latest Eagles castoff to go to New England and play solid, how pissed will Eagles fans be? Me, I’ll be more amused and simply increase the chant for Billy Davis’ head. As much as I was angry at Fletcher last season, I was angrier at Billy for insisting on putting him in a no win situation.
Let’s not foget the DB coches who have been fired since the season end. Davis’ title is Coordinator after all. Not position coach. Agree on putting players in a bad position but not entirely sure who to blame. A RB coach chooses which RB will go into the game and when, so who knows about the other positions?
yeah i think the DB coaches taught them bad technique. I think they tried to stay the course instead of trying to teach new technique in the middle of the season, but obviously that was a failure.
I’ll give him another season then. I love Billy’s willingness to openly discuss and take blame for his mistakes. Hate that he’s pigeonholed Boykin in at slot. Really hate that he appears slow to adjust to obvious weaknesses. The second Dallas game was simply a travesty watching his playcalling.
This is getting to be old history, but BD’s playbook was dropped in a commode when Ryans went down. Ryans absence had a direct impact on safety positioning and the degree to which CB’s could be supported. Not offering this as an excuse, because if we had 2 competent safeties and better cover corners, there’d have been fewer X plays in my opinion.
yes. That’s why D hasn’t been released and why we got another sideline to sideline linebacker.
The Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero reports the Dolphins told him their
rumored pursuit of Eagles LG Evan Mathis was “never a thing.”
– Mathis is old by NFL standards.
– He is one of the best but he is highly paid at a position that is often filled by players on rookie contracts.
– He asked for a raise last season and even though he didn’t hold out, he wasn’t happy last season.
Can we really be surprised that the Eagles would love to get anything at all back for him at this point?
i agree, he’s not going anywhere, i thought trade rumors are a little ridic,
True on all counts.
We all love Mathis, but he’s not at a premium position and GMs will look at his birth certificate and price tag then politely pass.
getting a 5th is probably a major win but probably a stretch…..try and get a player for him in this “new NFL”
Sad but true. Especially sad when you consider he’s an all-pro talent.
If we don’t get a player for him and nothing better than a 5th I rather keep him.
yeah but i have a feeling they want to chop his salary, so we may be forced to get the best we can for him….which is better then if they are jut going to cut him
Only to the extent that his replacement isn’t likely to be as good. It’s great to get value on an aging player, but my 4 year old car is worth more to me than the meager amount I could get for it. There’s a glaring hole at RG, and the new QB ought to be given every chance to stay upright. I hope EM is on the roster next season.
Someone said this yesterday and it took me until today to remember it and I’m to lazy to go back and look for it – but Bradford is coming off of an ACL, OK, 2 ACL injuries but he has had 22 months to rehab seeing as how he sat out all of last year. I assume the level of interest for him/about him is genuine and based on medical evaluation he is strong, getting stronger and has had several positive medical evaluations. So, if CK can’t trade up (if he still wants to) then we go into the 2015 with a *healthy SB at the helm.
Not 22 months. Geagle was thinking of the Sixers.
OK my bad, thanks.
He should be ready by camp.
lol my bad… I had Joel Embiids foot on my brain lol. #footfetish
..
might be the most talented athlete in philly sports today
Praying he’s not the next Jeff Ruland.
So are the Sixers.
i was more concerned with Nerlens ACL and he is fine… Navicular fracture just doesnt scare me much
My head hurts so “I am going to retire” from commenting after a relatively successful rookie outing…
I have a really hard time blaming anyone for deciding that the health risks are too great to continue playing football. Still, was completely shocked when Borland, who only played one season, called it a career. Not sure how many concussions he’s already sustained, but dayam.
I’m not blaming but if Eagles start retiring I’m gonna be pissed.
i dunno.. chip seems to prioritize getting players who live for this game
Can’t stop now, your in the running for “rookie of the year”.
Interesting article below. Phillip Rivers is in last year of contract and intends to play it out and not be extended. Says he’s watching LA situation and implies he doesn’t want to play there. Speculates that Chargers could be players for Mariota and the GM doesn’t rule out the possiblity of trading Rivers.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/17/philip-rivers-extension-la-chargers-acee/2/?#article-copy
They should trade him to the Giants.
story about the saints possibly wanting Mariota too
Mariota is going 2 once this all done and dusted, and will nearly certainly be a Titan, unless they get an offer that blows them away.
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
2m2 minutes ago
For now, forget about Seattle and Tampa being involved. Dallas is undisputed favorite to land free-agent DE Greg Hardy.
He might be good for them a game or two until he hits another woman and gets suspended for the year.
If he doesn’t though that just got a beast
yeah sucks especially if were rolling with sammie
Fine with me if that means no AP to Dallas.
yup… but then we have to worry about him landing with Pigface Arians…hopefully they work it out and he stays in Minnesota. but they are building a nice little roster. If they traded AP and Cordarrell they would be stocked with picks to really re tool,
Will be very interesting to see how Dallas fits him in their cap. They seem to be right at the limit, and there aren’t many guys they could cut to get any significant room (looks like Whitten, Dez Bryant, or Barry Church). Now they could always restructure someone else’s contract (turn salary into signing bonus) but they have already done that with Romo I think… could do it again but that puts more pain into future years.
Dez getting the tag definitely hurt them a bit cap wise. It would be different if their cap room started out good but it didn’t. I really hope Dez has a monster year besides when he plays us of course. That way his contract demands will be even bigger then this off seasons. I’m sure the reason they can possibly get Hardy is due to how much his stock dropped due to his bull.
He’s getting underpaid under the tag, i guess the difference is how they can space out his cap hit vs. taking the whole 15-16M this year.
I agree. It can make a pretty big difference. If it were a contract they could have possibly scheduled a big hit of the guaranteed money for next year, or a year when they aren’t so strapped for cash. Alot like what we did with Murray. However if he does have an even bigger year, then his contract demands will be bigger then they were this year. It will be a very interesting situation and possibly a big problem for Dallas. It’s way too early to say but depending on how this year plays out I wouldn’t call it a guarantee that he is with them at this time next year.
he is spending the night in Dallas… thats a bad sign for us. dudes a beast and will be motivated.. this blows if there was video of what he did, it would be worse then Ray Rice, he wouldnt be in the league and we wouldnt have to worry about blocking him twice…hope JP caves his chest in…. the transcript of the victims account are horrifying, justing a disgusting individual who boderlines on Evil…. If he signs with Dallas I hope we run him over so bad
He should be in jail. What a vile piece of shit.
Although the Eagles didn’t sign Tebow after working him out this week,
they still might, according to Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 in
Washington. According to Russini, the decision will hinge on whether the
Eagles can find a taker for Matt Barkley in a trade. If they can, they would likely sign Tebow to become the third quarterback on their depth chart, behind Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez.
*Courtesy PFT
I just became Barkley’s biggest fan…please do not let this happen!
None of us really know what Bradford or Tebow look like on the field now. It’s over a year since they played. Tebow has been tutored by that guru in California and everybody says Sam is a hard worker who doesn’t take anything for granted. Much of the older film might not really apply any more.
If they don’t want Barkley at all, why not just release him? And if you do trade him… there are about 50 on-the-street QBs I’d rather have before Tebow. Including GJ Kinne, Denis Dixon, etc. Yeesh. Maybe his motion looks better but I cannot see the decision making getting markedly better.
Well I think it’s stupid to just release if you can trade. Trading you get something in return, albeit not much. I could see Chip like Tebow for more then just a pure QB role.
Well sure. But if you are looking to trade him for whatever you can get, and you can’t find takers, that generally means you don’t want him on the team. So come day one of the season, would you prefer to just keep him then?
It’s possible that Tebow is better then Barkley. Factoring in his running ability and leadership. Barkley sorta seems like a stuck up brat. Or maybe they do keep him and don’t sign Tebow. The fact that you may get a little something in return and Tebow is maybe what makes this happen. The article stated if they found a trade partner, it didn’t say anything about release. I just think the thinking here is Tebow and compensation is better then Barkley, but Barkley is better then Tebow and no compensation.
Doubles as the team chaplain.
Ahhhhhhh…..true. Chip is really thinking about everything.
That is concerning.
the only reason I could see chip wanting Tebow is because we lost both our emergency QBs James Casey and Brad Smith… both contributed on Special Teams and allowed us to not have to dress Barkley and waste 3 roster spots on QBs,… Maybe Chip plans on doing something totally out the box and make his 3rd QB/emergency QB a key ST contributer?
…
Tebow is big enough to fill james Casey or Casey Mathews roles on ST, while he cant be any worse of a QB then emergency QB brad smith..
…
maybe chip goes completely out the box, combines our #3 QB spot, with our Key ST contributor/emergency QB spot to maximize roster spots… basically using Tebow to consolidate Brad Smith and Matt Barkley into one roster spot????
I like this theory.
“Holy Murder-Arm”???/…. turn tebow into Bible thumping ST version of “the waterboy” who happens to be our emergency QB? maybe Wildcat QB on goal line to pound it in? demarco/Tebow zone read on the goal line?
I could honestly see him used as the holder for FGs and XPs, and in the backfield for punt formation. He would actually be a potential weapon in those formations. Think you’re right about maximizing active roster spots.
why?
we will hundley for that spot
Yuck on both of them.
Because we are going to the draft with at least 1 blatant starting hole at Guard I assume Fisher at 20 would be the odds on Favorite… But I hope we arent so desperate that the pick will be Fisher no matter who falls to #20. Hard to justify drafting an outside CB to start grooming on our bench at #20 when we have starting needs on the OL, probably the most important part of our team.
…
wonder what players have to fall to #20 to get us to not go the fisher route? then again with his athleticism the could view him as the perfect guard to pair with Lane so maybe they take Fisher no matter what… but I hope we would atleast consider passing on him if someone really unexpected falls like Bud dupree…. Coach Rick Minter was his Defensive Coordinator before joining the Eagles as an ILB coach if im not mistaken… Powerful, explosive kid, who is a beast against the run and can drop in coverage… also helps fill the “dreadlock quota” which is a requirment for every top defense…. I would think Davante Parker who for me is the best WR prospect, tho DGB is the most intruiging….i dont think they would go Arik over Fisher…
…
sucks that Fisher had such an amazing combine knowing that chip didnt need to see him tear it up to know how athletic he was…
I was reading that last year before they found out there was going to be a suspension for Johnson there was a plan to let Barbre and Herremans fight it out over RG with the expectation that Babre would win. If that is the case then cutting Herremans makes a lot more sense this offseason.
OL is a long term need and we need at least 2 new guards in place for 2016, but if they think they can work with Babre this year then you don’t need to find a solution to start this year. Would allow options like Cedric Ogbuehi, and late round project.
Now Fisher may be the pick (and i would be happy for him to be) but they will not need to stray from BPA at 20 and can take a WR or pass rusher.
hate Tebow, but signing him could be genius
…
Greg Jennings have any speed left? need some type of speed on the outside with coop starting. Obviously Huff will play a big role, and rumor has it the eagles are much higher on him then the media and fans..but we lost Brad smith and Maclin, and have too many holes to draft 2 WRs high…. wondering if Greg Jennings had any speed left, possibly get him cheap in like a week since he hasnt really had any interest.
..
the burner from Oakland D Moore, is fast, but he has the “dumb and lazy” label attached, but who knows how good or bad he really is coming from that dysfunctional offensive mess. atleast they had a few years of decent defense in Oakland, but there offense has been a complete mess for years..lol doubt that changes when they just replaced McFadden with Trent Richardson lol, not sure which is worse…. but Moore hasnt had any interest either, his price should be cheap.
…
Crab Tree hasnt had a single visit either but how do you line him up across Coop and have two outside WRs that are slow and cant get any seperation?
…
chip basically admitted we are drafting a WR, but we need two so I would hope they add some type of Veteran, especially when we will cut Coop to the curb next year
All he does is win
Jennings is a solid vet but he doesn’t have much speed yet. Moore is the only speed guy left.
By my calculations, in order to fit him under the cap in Dallas, Hardy will have to work for peanuts. Not hyperbolic, small salary peanuts, but actual roasted legumes. Here is to hoping Romo has an undiscovered allergy to peanuts and repeated hives during training camp lead to his unanticipated retirement.
doubt they were talking about trading for AP if they had to pay him peanuts… he comes with a 12m salary…Hardy wont cost half of 12mil
I believe they get 1/2 off, since he should be suspended for awhile
Dallas has enough cap room. First year salary will probably be low.
Charles Clay signed an offer sheet with Buffalo – 5 years, $38M, over $20M guaranteed, frontloaded to make it difficult for Miami to match.
Clay is nice but that’s way too much money for him. Miami should let him go.
Rex Ryan isn’t trying to draft anyone.
Transition tag. They won’t lose a draft pick
Wonder what a offer sheet for Gypson would look like…
im not that concerned with the Bradford injuries… we rule out tons of players as targets every year due to medicals.. if Bradford is here it means Doctors expect him to make a full recovery,.. and if he does make a full recovery, whats to really worry about? id be way more concerned about surgically repaired ACL’s from guys like Kiko and Maclin who need to fly around at full speed, jump, cut, accelerate… a guy like RG3 needs to be able to run around on that ACL to have a chance at being a successful QB..
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call me crazy but im not that concerned about Bradfords knee being strong enough to take 3 step drops, step up in the pocket, role out…if i have to worry about the ACL of a pocket QB, basically you are telling me his knee isnt strong enough to walk on… if he isnt a major risk to be running all over the place making sudden cuts, accelerating, jumping over defenders, then the only real way his ACL will be at significant risk is if he takes a direct shot to the knee that injures him… well there isnt an ACL in the world that is strong enough to take the wrong type of direct hit to the knee and not snap… every QB is as much as risk to take a bad shot to the knee that causes his acl to snap…. its not like if Bradford never got injured his acl would be strong enough to eat direct shots to the Knee… his knee is no more at risk then any pocket QB sitting back there with 11 animals trying to kill you on every play…
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you can either jackup your acl by running, making sharp cuts, jumping and landing wrong, or you can jack up your ACL by taking a direct hit… the former isnt a part of Sams game so how concerned can I really be about it? Im sure his ACL will bve strong enough to roll out the pocket, take 3 steps and throw… im sure it will be strong enough to avoid a pass rush by stepping up in the pocket or side stepping a defender, im sure it will be strong enough to take 3 step drops. If it wasnt, then you are basically saying his ACL is barely strong enough to walk on, and I dont buy that at all..
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if he isnt stylistically the type to put the ACL at risk by running around, making cuts, accelerating, then the real concern is sitting in the pocket and taking a bad shot directly to the knee… well he isnt more at risk then any other pocket QB in this regard……
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way more concerned with the knee of a ILB who has to fly around, exploding into his acceleration, making sudden cuts, flying around and jumping over people…. Call me crazy, but I will assume Bradfords knee is strong enough to step up in the pocket…. no doom n gloom over here
Looks like Conner Barwin is restructuring. Mo money and salary cap relief.
https://twitter.com/ConnorBarwin98/status/578289029545885696
You should build a team around a QB. Ask New England how that worked out for them. The Eagles are doing the opposite. Every day I have to read these silly articles trying to justify why the Bradford debacle was a good idea. We are gonna suffer for this. I’m telling you now. He gets injured and we are stuck with SANCHEZ?! Chip MUST have something up his sleeve, he has too. The risk outweighs the reward by googleplex squared. It just doesn’t compute. It’s not like we are waiting to substitute Foles for Vick. It’s SANCHEZ for BRADFORD. What a travesty.