Some Draft Q&A
Posted: March 22nd, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 139 Comments »Earlier I posted a mock draft for the Eagles. That led to a few questions.
The most frequent question was why I projected OL T.J. Clemmings at pick 20 instead of going with Jake Fisher? After all, Fisher is from Oregon and Chip Kelly loves his Ducks.
Simply put, Clemmings is the better player. Beyond that, Clemmings is probably the better fit. The Eagles have a hole at RG. I think Clemmings would make a better OG than Fisher. Clemmings has never played the position, but his style fits. Fisher is more athlete than mauler. I think he’s better at OT. Fisher was a RG early in his career, but I don’t think he ever started there. He does have 2 years experience at RT and one at LT.
Watch these highlight videos to get a feel for each player. One will show you physical dominance. I don’t think it will be hard to pick out which one that is.
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If it was close, I could see Kelly choosing his guy over Clemmings, but I think Fisher’s grade will be lower. And I don’t know that he’d be someone to challenge for the RG spot right away.
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I mentioned this mock wasn’t my ideal scenario. A few people wanted to know what my ideal scenario is.
I don’t have that worked out yet. I’m in the process of trying to figure out which players I covet.
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What about Landon Collins at pick 20?
I don’t know if the Eagles want Collins. He is 228 pounds. That is one big Safety. The Eagles tend to prefer versatile guys. Collins can play back, but is best in the box.
Someone else wanted to know about the Eagles having interchangeable Safeties, but playing Cover 3. Does that make sense? Sure. Cover 3 means the CBs and one S form a deep zone. The other S plays underneath. Seattle does this and wants Earl Thomas as the deep guy. The Eagles would prefer that both of their Safeties be able to drop deep and be equally effective.
The Eagles also like having the versatile Safeties for when they go with the base defense against Nickel looks. Remember the Seattle game? The Eagles stayed base to deal with Marshawn Lynch. That meant that Nate Allen and Malcolm Jenkins were playing the WR in the slot. That strategy works a lot better if you have Safeties that have good man cover skills. Landon Collins would not fit that scenario.
Maybe the Eagles do like him, but based on what they’ve said and shown to this point, I don’t think they’ll have serious interest in him.
Someone asked about Kurtis Drummond. I do think he would be of interest, probably in the 4th round.
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What about Sammie Coates as WR target?
I could see Kelly liking him quite a bit, but Coates is very raw and will need a season to learn. I’m not sure Kelly will want a WR that needs time to contribute.
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Why no Oregon players?
Kelly loves his Ducks, but they have to fit.
Fisher is a possibility, especially if the Eagles trade back.
Mariota is a possibility, especially if the Eagles move up.
If Arik Armstead is on the board at 20, he could be the pick.
LB Tony Washington could be a priority free agent.
S Erick Dargan could be a later round / UDFA target.
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Could the Eagles go for an OLB in the 1st?
Sure. Bud Dupree is a good 3-4 OLB prospect and just might be on the board. Kelly might feel that with money tied up in Connor Barwin and Brandon Graham, and with a 1st round pick in Marcus Smith, that may be too many resources in one spot. Or Kelly could feel that you can never have enough good LBs in the 3-4. I think Kelly might take the right LB, but if grades are close, he might go for another position that is more of a need.
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So, I guess if he *does* pick Fisher over Clemmings, then we really know he truly loves his ex-Ducks, eh?
I think if he takes Fisher it’s due to the fact that he may be Johnson’s replacement when Johnson moves over to LT to take Peter’s spot in the future. I do want to add that I was under the impression before this post that Clemmings could move out to tackle better then Fisher could. I was very wrong with that.
just because someone has a different opinion doesnt mean you are automatically wrong. For every expert that contradicts you, i can point to 5 other experts who agree with you….
It’s not that. After Tommy posted the article I did some watching and reading on him. When I first read it I thought Tommy was just wrong in my opinion. Then after doing a little bit more research I tend to agree with him. I do think that Fisher could be a very good Gaurd. I just think that Clemmings may be more physical at the point of attack. They can both be good in their different ways. I just think Clemmings may stand his ground better then Fisher could against NFL DTs and NTs.
the thing about fisher is he will get moved to OT when peters is gone in the next couple/few years.
I suddenly hope we draft Tj clemmings after this post. Dude puts on Jason peters type highlight reals. Pancake after pancake. I love it
well looking at the video, clemmings def has a stronger punch.
35 inch arms don’t hurt him.
In that first video, who is the young man wearing #8? He looks like someone we should be learning about.
I haven’t watched any of Clemmings’ tape but simply from the video, even though it is highlights, you can see the aggressive playstyle. I’m in the camp that would love a big, aggressive, grisly guy next to Kelce. I think more beef in the middle will help our short yardage and furthermore, it doesn’t look like TJ lacks athleticism so we should lose anything in the way of pull blocks. The more I think about it, I am believing more and more we go OL, WR, DB with our first 3 picks. I also believe we are coming out of this draft with more than 1 WR. Same goes for OL.
Question. Wouldn’t Fisher make sense at guard also due to his athleticism, alot like Mathis?
yup…. but people have their favorites this time of year so one player will get “talked up”, and conveniently leave out the strengths of the other. unbiased talk would be either player would be a great fit for us, conveniently we dont talk about the value in knowing a 300lb slob can handle playing in our tempo and crazy practice style all day every day… “convenient amnesia”
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as if pulling, getting out in space on screens, getting to the next level arent extremely important to chip and the blocking scheme. Fisher is actually stronger, im sure they will coach him up to generate that power in his blocking
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its all opinion anyway… for every player that Tom or an “expert” loves, we can find 10 “experts with the opposite opinion…..it like Dog food, any time someone suggest some awesome diet for a dog, you can find 10 other experts who say its bad for your dog
Tommy answered that and he said he thinks Clemmings is the better fit at OG
I understand Tommy said that. He said Clemmings is more of a mauler. I’m stating this question knowing full well what Tommy said. Basically I’m taking a different angle on it. I’m saying his athleticism matches up to our other interior linemen such as Kelce and Mathis. He reminds me of Mathis. So on the flip side, maybe Kelly would rather have Fisher considering his athleticism.
Clemmings has a really nifty, crafty sense of timing. Fun highlight video to watch.
The screens are the most impressive part. The understanding that he doesn’t need to run out like a beserker to decapitate a guy, that getting out into space quickly and efficently, and then he can wait for the defender to come to him. Backs and receivers will love this as it allows them to set up their blocks as opposed to reacting to them. That’s an incredible level of football IQ from a guy who hasn’t been playing the position or the sport for very long.
Fisher executes his blocks. He does what the coaches ask him to do.
Clemmings wins his blocks. He reestablishes the point of attack.
That is the difference.
Clemmings abusing people would be great to see if he was in Eagles Green.
For those who missed it here is my report on Clemmings:
http://scoutsnotebook.com/2015/02/03/scouting-report-t-j-clemmings/
Well done.
Thanks.
This is great stuff. Keep up the good work dude.
If by some miracle Billy D persuades Chip to take Landon Collins (NOOO) then Landon Collins could be put in a Adrian Wilson role.
Yep, having Collins+Jenkins would be a lot like what Billy D had with the Cardinals in Rolle+Wilson
Taking Clemmings over Fisher would mean
1. Since we have more of a power running stable of RBs, we want to move people.
2. Clemmings is actually more scheme versatile and has a higher ceiling
3. No duck bias for one round
clemmings might be too good, i don’t want to get my hopes up.
See Cooks, Brandin.
I actually would not mind if the Birds picked up Clemmings or Fisher in the 1st round, then chose Ali Marpet of Hobart in the 2nd round. Granted, I don’t know how high teams rate Marpet in this draft. Are there any athletic and promising long term guard prospects in the draft besides Marpet?
http://mockdraftable.com/player/4728/
You might want to check that link. It takes you to a spider chart for an Allosaurus, for some reason.
This guy… seriously doesn’t have big hands or long arms. Lol.
Regarding Tommy’s mock draft, I think it comes as close to perfect in my world as it can be without been fantasy lala land style mock draft
Ha ha. You mean like the ones where Mariota drops to 20?
haha yea or 2nd round rated guys are there in the 5th
Like the nonsense I just shared above?
Round 1 Pick 20: Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon (A)
Round 2 Pick 20: Ty Sambrailo, OT, Colorado State (B)
Round 3 Pick 20: Nelson Agholor, WR, Southern California (A)
Round 4 Pick 14: Kurtis Drummond, FS, Michigan State (B-)
Round 5 Pick 9: Charles Gaines, CB, Louisville (B+)
Round 5 Pick 20: Leterrius Walton, DT, Central Michigan (A)
Round 6 Pick 20: Zach Wagenmann, DE, Montana (C)
Round 7 Pick 20: Zach Zenner, FB/RB, South Dakota State (B+)
Good stuff Tommy, was wondering what you think of Amos in terms of fit here in Philly? You’re a PSU fan so I figured you’d know better than anyone about him
Haven’t really seen any clips of Clemmings until now. Dear lord, he looks like a grown man playing with his children out there. Any reason to worry that his superior strength is his best asset and that it has given him reason not to perfect his technique? In the pro’s he will not be able to just toss people aside like he did in college and I remember us talking about quite a few other prospects in past years who looked dominant in college because they had the physicality and who then failed in the pro’s where they were no longer at a huge advantage being the biggest dude on the field. Reasons to believe he still has upside and that his style of play will translate to the grown ups league? Please put my mind at ease..
And he’s received JV level coaching in Pittsburgh. Think about an entire May through August with Stoudland coaching him.
Yes, look, I want this huge behemoth or one just like him next to Kelce, mauling blocker in front of Murray on the zone read all day. More than anything. But when it comes to the draft, I am in a “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is”-kind of mindset. I just can’t help myself. Chances he will still be there at 20? Guess all the OLB-talent will push him down the board..
I think you’re dealing with a 50/50 proposition with him at 20.
At the people who know better than I do: why is Armstead rated so highly? As if, “he’d be an option IF he would fall to 20” high. I watched not a lot, but some Oregon games (since they are a team to root for as an Eagles and Kelly fan) and he never impressed me, not even a little.
I’m not an expert, so I won’t pretend to being able to fairly evaluate the player. If we’re talking D-Line in round 1 (and especially for us, with depth at the position and huge needs at others), I would expect to see at least some dominance in College. Now, maybe I didn’t see dominance because my eyes aren’t good or because I watched the wrong games, therefore my question again to those who know better: what makes him a top 10-15 pick?
whoverb drafts him isnt doing s for who he is now. He is an “upside pick/potential pick… Not for the fans who are slaves to instant gratification……. kid has a very high upside, but he has been an underachiever. really people wanted him to move to LT, but he refuses…his dad is a big NBA sports agent, he is the youngest of the talented armstead boys, but he grew up as the golden boy being told how great he is, yet everyone keeps waiting for him to arrive…whoever drafts him will hope he realizes his full potential, but i dont trust him with the silver spoon in his mouth, being told how great he will be his entire life…
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id bet chip passes on him, and prioritizes drafting the other Oregon DE Deforest Buckner next year(bet anything he will be an eagle)
Why are we talking Top 10-15 for an underachieving D-Liner? Especially at that position. I get Dion Jordan, who had freakish athleticism and was an edge rusher. Was a very weak draft at the top in 2013, but I get to take a raw kid early when we talk premium position.
But for a 34 DE? Again, I don’t know the kid very well, but I still don’t get it.
if someone gets that kid to realize his full potential he will be a beast…. but its silly for us, when a year later there is a DE from Oregon who chip will like so much that he will reach to secure him, named Deforrest Buckner…. if i knew what number he would wear, I would have a Buckner Eagle jersey made up now, thats what a lock i think he is for us next year.
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armstead is a tough guy to mock… if he realizes his full potential he can be a top 15 Terror, but he can just as easily fall into round 2… I dont know what to make of him, i have had a love/hate relationship with that kid all year. Love him one week, hate him the next
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If he does go Top 15, it may not even be a 3-4 team. I can see someone loving his athleticism in a 4-3 as an interior pass rusher in a one gap system….seems like one of those guys who thinks he is better then he really is. he grew up around his brothers, high level basketball players and all his dads NBA clients who have been telling him how talented he is since he was a kid…. doubt chip will want the underachieving Duck, over the over achieving Duck next year(DE Buckner)
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I dont think he will be an eagle… but I will take any bet a year ahead of time that we draft Buckner next year 🙂
He’s a second round guy. People who are saying he’s going in the first a dumb.He only fits in certain schemes and is going to take multiple years to develop.
clemmings is the better player? thats nice, doubt anyone cares…. chip isnt drafting the better player,. He is drafting who he thinks he can turn into a better player 2-3 years down the road…write off fisher if you want, then again you are completely writing off grasu, why because you didnt get to see him run at the combine?… we shall see about this…. passing on the “better player” for upside is our M.O…. it was kind of the point in prioritizing hiring all these great teachers on our coaching staff… Lane, Marcus smith… where do you see us drafting the best player? we went upside that LACKED polish in both drafts… oh yeah, thats right, we will blame howie..as if he had the balls to take a player Chip didnt place on the big board himeself
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im expecting Grasu and Fisher to become Eagles…. but I like Clemmings, reminds me of a poor mans shawn andrews in the run game…. Fisher is stronger, they will teach him to be a “mauler”, im sure they like Fisher ability to get to the next level now that we are losing mathis and Herremans athleticism.
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as if knowing that fisher can play and practice at this tempo doesnt at all matter… as if one of the most athletic lineman in our offense doesnt matter…. my guess is POTENTIAL will be prioritized over POLISH. but we’ll see
This is all good stuff. My only issue is I think you underestimate CK’s love for Oregon(or Oregon ties) players. Don’t get me wrong, what you wrote makes sense — just not CK sense.
In 2013 he drafted zero Ducks and in 2014 he didnt draft one before round 3. Kelly knows he cant just take Ducks unless they also fit
1 – CK wasn’t in charge of the players and 2 – how many ex-Ducks are on the team?
and how many of them are more than bottom of the roster guys? Right now there i 3 Ducks projected to start in Huff, Alonso and Thurmond
Now CK’s love for Ducks is determined not that they are on the roster, but they are not starters? That’s not making sense….
Kelly likes Ducks as bottom of the roster players, because they can help him teach his culture and he knows they will do things right, but might not have any upside, but if you are forced to start Will Murphy anyway, you lost like 3-4 WRs to injuries and no WR on the street would be better
3 years ago, that makes sense. Today, that doesn’t make sense. There are enough players on the roster to help with that culture. Not to mention that CK just got rid of 3 players who were schooled in that culture for 3 years. Clearly, having players with that culture is a fan/writer fantasy of need….
Cole and Herremans was just too old and expensive, nothing to do with Culture, Foles was traded for been bad, James Casey was too expensive and McCoy was a bad fit (according to Kelly him self)
turnover is going to happen — regardless of culture(that’s overrated). CK said himself — the NFL is a year to year process. That conflicts with the idea of culture and dynasty.
what duck was there to take last year before round 3?
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the fact that all the ducks got stolen out from under him in 2013, IMO is the reason he wanted to REACH for Ducks last year, so using 2013 when Miami stole Dion, Long didnt make it to round 2, and kiko didnt last til round 3 is kind of pointless
But isnt that the point? He didnt reach for Long or Alonso.
He hasnt just signed every duck possible. He didnt reach for a single Duck last year as he wanted Huff in the 3rd and Hart in the 4th (not the 3rd as some have twisted the story too).
lol how does he reach for Long? pick him at #4? LOL
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ok… if you say so… I see things very different. I see losing his ducks in 2013 are what made him attach the draft the way he did last year. but we can disagree
That was what I meant, he clearly felt Lane Johnson was way better than Long. He felt Zach Ertz was better than Alonso.
Had we picked Hart in the 4th over Watkins, wouldnt really be a problem for me and he didnt draft a few Ducks both year, he had amble opportunity to draft.
This off season, he thought it was worth it to pay Ryan Matthews over LMJ
we’ll see
1) fisher T/G trade back and pick up a 4th
2) nelson Agholar WR USC
3) Grasu C/G Oregon
4) Jesse James TE
4) Eric Rowe CB/S
5) Chris Conley WR
5) Drummond S
6) Tony Washington OLB Oregon
Wouldn’t mind that draft at all. Though I think we might get at least a 3rd for trading back.
i agree, i use 4th as a worst case scenario, notice I spent it on Jesse James who could easily be a 3rd rounder anyway…
Your 4th round pick seems a bit old, and may come with serious character concerns.
what round do people see the G-tech WRs coming off the board? struggle with those two
4th round earliest for Smelter, no clue about Waller, but would guess 4th as well, but only due to size/speed
Waller is pretty darn Raw, and he doesnt solve the issue at outside WR opposite of Coop, because he would be more of a jump ball; replcement for Coop in 2015… so I wouldnt be comfortable spending a top 100 pick on him..
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but for a RAW WR, I LOVE that we dont have to teach him to “Play to his size”. I cant stand big players that dont know how to use their size. this kid really competes for jump balls, he boxes out defenders and goes gets it… Immediately we can use him as a backshoulder throw, fade Redzone weapon….
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The Fact that he already PLAYS big, and the jump ball portion of his game is already there, It would be worth working to polish the raw route running, improve his blocking technique a bit
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but if we draft a WR in the top 100, he needs to project to be Maclins replacement, and Waller to me is Coops eventual replacement, so I wouldnt be OK with him before the 4th….
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but he is already good enough at coming down with Jump balls to where we can start him off as a Redzone weapon for us next year, while we develop him to eventually replace Riley
I think you want Smelter over Waller, Waller did zero before Smelter went down, at least Smelter showed some things before hand
prolly rather have Conley around those rounds anyway
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100%. I really want Conley the most of all the mid round WRs
he is the type of kid we should be drafting when we prioritized hiring such quality teachers on our coaching staff… forget who the best players are, take the best talents our player development can mold into the best player 3 years from now… and conley has some serious tools to work with.. also feel comfortable taking a chance on his lack of production knowing the QB play he was getting…
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wish we knew more about the intelligence and character of the mid round players… wonder if e will still draft a bunch of college graduates…
My untrained eye — Fisher looks like an absolute beast. He smashes. I like that type of player, however, there’s is no way I’d know who would project as a guard. The more I watched Clemmings, I’d say he looked a bit more polished. (pure guess) and throw in some smash mouth blocks, especial on the swing passes(or are they single screens?) were sweet.
thats exactly it, The clemmings fans like his polish, the fisher fans like his upside.
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IMO chip has shown to go for “upside”, knowing he has a staff of great “teachers”..
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im a fan of both… who i like doesnt interest me.. Im more concened with Who chip will like, and my gut and head says Fisher, but we’ll see
Clemmings has more upside than Fischer as well and I would call Fischer the more polished
disagree
I’m with you here. Clemmings footwork and patients and timing seemed pretty darn good on those plays. He used his arms very well, kept defenders off of his body.
Fisher vs. Clemmings
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Height : 6’6. .6’5 Advantage Fisher
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Arm Length: 33’3/4……35’1/8 Advantage TJ
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Hand size: 10’3/8……10 3/8 TIE
10 yard: 1.75……… 1.84 Advantage Fisher
40 time: 5.01……….5.14 Advantage Fisher
Bench: 25 reps.. 22 reps.Advantage Fisher
Vertical: 32.5 32.5 TIE
3 cone: 7.25 7.68 Advantage Fisher
sh shuttle 4.33 4.54 Advantage Fisher
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the ONLY thing TJ measures better in is arm length, and Fishers isnt bad
None of that has to do with upside. TJ’s upside comes from him already been this good after only 2 years.
just posting facts. if we are going to have this discussion, might as well have all the INFO.
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somehow I think that if it were the other way around, an TJ out measured Fisher in EVERYTHING, these numbers would have been included in the article
Weight?
I can get on board with that. If I’m on defense and I had to chose which player I don’t want to face — it’s Fisher. He looks pi$$ed off already and the game didn’t even start yet…lol
right now, clemmings is the better run blocker on the initial block, but Fisher is better peeling off and getting to the next level…. but im sure stoutland would turn Fisher into a heckuva well rounded Guard ….
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Id rather a guy in this scheme who can really get outside and block for our screens and get to the next level, over a guy who right now might be better at his initial blocks… but the “Initial block” in this scheme, atleast our bread and butter run play is a “combo” block. Im sure both Fiusher and Clemmings can get the job done when they are double teaming a DL with Lane, and Fisher is better at peeling off the initial block and go hunting for Linebackers..
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then again i have no interest in seeing how a 300lb slob will go on to handle our insane practice tempo, and game day pace… not when there is a similar talent at the same position that became a top player playing in our tempo, and practicing the way we practice… heck Just the fact that Fisher can keep the weight on in our practice style gives me comfort
wonder who will be the player that blows chip away with his football intelligence at the meetings? who will be this years Jordan Mathews who comes in having broken down film of 4 eagles games ready to talk to chip about it? anyone follow with his footsteps and ask for game tape at the senior bowl? will we draft a bunch of graduates again?
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this is ALL chip criteria, and IT ALL seemed to matter, so pretending last year was a “howie draft” cant help but make my BS meter go off
Chip’s first round picks so Far have been Lane Johnson, and Marcus Smith, two players who were considered extremely RAW when we drafted them..
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Lane was raw as it gets for a top 5 pick, yet we took him anyway with the most valuable pick we had since McNabb… so i find it really hard to believe that chip will care about drafting “The Best Player”… he will draft the most talented lump of clay that he can mold into the best player in THIS SCHEME 3 years from now… and with fishers mean streak, freak athleticism being able to get out in space and block down field for screens, make the initial combo block and go hunting for LB’;s at the second level… I have a really hard time believing Chip wonbt view Fisher as the perfect fit 3 years down the road.
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probably can trade back 5 spots, get a pick and still take Fisher…. we can end up using that pick on another 3rd round player or, we can use tat pick to trade up from our pick in round 2…like we did last year, traded back got an extra pick and took marcus, and that extra pick was our ammunition to trade up fromn our pick n round 2 and snatch up The Pope
I think Clemmings is way more raw than Fischer and has higher ceiling than Fischer, but I wouldnt mind Fischer at all.
MS II was Howie’s pick….
.funny. put the cool aid down
Fact
LOL technically… putt he cool aid down
So you haven’t listened to Chippah’s last presser I guess…he basically blamed Howie for last year’s 1st round pick….
would believe santa clause is real if chip said it in a press conference?
i dont believe that there was a single player on the board that wasnt pre approved by chip,…. so when we say a “howie pick”, we are talking abouty a guy chip preapproved and put on the bigboard anyway…. when I hear “howie pick”, I assume i really means chip had someone else higher rated, but howie took a lkower rated guy on chips list because he thought he could still get that guy in another round… For example chip wanted Hart, howie talked him out of it we got Jaylen, and still ended up with Hart…but Jaylen wasnt a real howie guy, he was one of the players chip preapproved.. just so happens chip liked Hart more, and howie stepped inb and showed him we could get jaylen, and still get his GUY!
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same exact thing I think happened with Marcus Smith.. marcus is a raw version of everything chip wants in an OLB.. no shot that howie justy picked him and chip was againbst it,.,.. Chip wanted Jordan, he had him higher then Marcus..howie stepped in, and showed chip that he could still get a guy like Marcus, and still enbd up with Jordan….
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but i think every single player every drafted these past two years were guys chip preapproved. I donbt think there was a single eagle pick who chip didnt put on the bigboard himself… a HOWIE pick, just mneans we drafted a guy who chip had lower on his big board, but inb most cases we ended up with the guy chip wanted anyway…we didnt lose Huff, we didnt lose Jordan, we didnt lose Hart…where did Marcus, Jaylen, reynolds come from? CHIP PREAPPROVED THEM!!! no shot in hell that they were guys howie put on the board that chip was completely against… every player to make our board these past 3 years chip preapproved…no doubt!
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Howie had to school him and show chip how to get another player and still end up with the Pope..I think chip was high on Marcus, because i dont think howie had the balls to take a player that wasnt pre approved by chip before the draft… i just assume that Jordan was higher then Marcus on his list…… Chip Loved Dion and Barr, you can bet he liked Marcus potential/skill set, athleticism, arm length, QB experience, graduate.. so i kind of think chip was slimey for saying it was a howie pick, because while its true that chip wanted Jordan, I am convinced that ANYT “Howie Pick” was going to be one of the guys chip pre approved and added to the draft board anyway… so it was kind of whack to pawn Marcus off on Howie when all howie did was get him another player chip pre-approved, and still got chip the player he wanted Jordan…
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think for yourself
I’m not debating your point — I just get confused because if that was all true — why would Chip need Howie out of the way? I thought all the same things you stated, but then I don’t understand why the power struggle.
i assume it got to a point where chip felt like he had to argue too much to end up with what he wants,.. and that all came to a boiling point when chip called him cap boy and wouldnt acknowledge howies evaluation skills… we are talking about two powerful men with some big ego’s…
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For Marcus to REALLY be a Howie Pick, that would have to mean that chip didnt want Marcus on the draft board, and not only Howie put him on the board, but he over ruled chips opinion, and I dont believe that at all…
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Look at it this way, Chip wanted to draft Jordan Mathews in round 1, which isnt any better of a use of our 1st round asset. Howie ENDED UP GETTING Chip his first round pick ANYWAY, so what real reason did he have to make that public and throw howie under the bus? Chip is slick with his mouth, he says a ton of stuff that is “technically true”, but you know it really isnt true in the context we are talking about
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so while I think its true that Chip wanted to spend our 1st round pick on Jordan instead of Marcus… Marcus smith would have NEVER been on our big board if chip didnt approve him, and all howie did was show chip how he can get another player on his big board, and still end up with Chips first round pick, so how does howie being “marcus pick” matter? if anything HOWIE proved that he was right because we still got Jordan…so I found it kind of weasel-ish of chip to say that
1. I think too much pop psycho-analysis is done of Chip’s statements, and too much is read into them. 2. My guess is that the regime change came about due to missing out on the “top 6” by waiting, and for missing out on the OL due to the unexpected run. I think Chip wants “his” guys no matter what, value be damned. He’s going to grab the guys he wants when he wants, and he doesn’t want Howie telling him to wait again. Because while Howie was right twice, from what we know, we also know that he was wrong twice last year.
you are free to debate them,,, just my opinion, and opinions are perfectly debatable… Facts arent…
Hold on, Santa is not real?! Give me a break. For one minute I thought your sources were real too…
foles and mac are coming back! cary and brad are big game corners. cary will be back too!
Hold on, Foles is gone?! GTFOH. Lol.
#DionJOrdanEra
donkey boy… you ever stop and thing, that things can change really quickily during the offseason? as soon as free agency started you could have guaranteed we wouldnt add Demarco and that we had no interest in him, and you still would have been right, because at the time that was true, but land scapes change by the minute pal…. you are letting your inferiority complex blind you into saying some pretty stupid shit…. i
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Brad plays for Bellichek, Cary is in the legion of boom now, GREAT EXAMPLE LOL…. and if you are going to list my misfires, maybe you should include the free agents and draft picks i accurately predicted thru the years, way more of those examples then the ones you can find to be on my nuts and rip me over a football post when i barely acknowledge you exist LOL muah bitch boy
you’re saying fletch is a good player bc billy b picked him up? GREAT EXAMPLE LOL….
lol yeah yeah, you said similar crap when I guaranteed BG would be an Eagle and that there were 2nd and 3rd offers being made that the media hadnt reported… convenient amnesia, my groupies favorite…
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hi hater.. 🙂
hahahahha. silly…. take a good look at my twitter pics, and then go take a look at some of the picks our young defenders post on twitter throught the year, mainly the ones that got here around 2011, 2012..lol then get back to me… still waiting for someone to figure it out…LOL
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for someone that cares so much about accountability, and his accuracy percentage, kind of strange that i dont use my real name isnt it? lol kind of strange that I use a different womans name Email to set up all my disque accounts wouldnt you think?…LOL kind of strange that im so proud of my accuracy percentage but wont attach my name on it, dont you think? 🙂
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lol one day im going to have enoiugh, and have to shut people up… until then i just smile and giggle… go on being silly 🙂
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dont you think there might be a reason I refuse to use my last name on anything, preferring to go by my first name twice lol?
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hahah i need to stop. yall gonna get me in trouble..
So wait, your “sources” are players? Whew, good to know. Because we all know how tuned in the players are to front office moves. Just ask Shady and Foles.
Mr High Percentage has spoken.
I can’t take 90% of what Kelly said at the press conference to be true.
chip is slick… he says stuff that is “fundamentally true”, but incorrect in the context of the specific situation..
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for example, If Chip put Marcus on the big board, we could say to chip, well technically you put him on the big board so how is it howies pick? and chip would ignore the context of the question and try to makle you look dumb answering the question in its basic form saying something like “Did I not want Jordan Mathews in round 1?, so Marcus is a howie pick”…. when in reality it doesnt address the fact that Howie was just chosing for players chip rated highly on our big board to begin with
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Me neither. However him not taking responsibility for the MS pick while blaming Howie instead speaks volumes.
no idea why people treat Graus as if he is the red headed step child? is it because he didnt run at the combine? Thats a GOOD thing, he is a heckuva athlete for a 300lb center. Thnk God he didnt run at the combine and let everyone see his true athleticism, we dont need to see itm, chip will be fully aware of it.
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id bet anything chip LOVES Hironiss Grasu, absolutely LOVES HIM! from a charcter, football intelligence, athleticism, size/strength at center, Leader… Kid is talented enough to take Kelce’s job in 3 years. Fortunately it wont come down to that because I assume we would use him as Guard and be the emergency back up center….. Only down side with playing him at Guard is 32inch arm length, but thats not HORRIBLE for a Guard.
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Chip kelly LOVES THIS KID, i know it, EVERYONE who knows about this kid KNOWS IT…..we better stop pretending he doesnt exist.,. A quality starting Guard who can be a probowl caliber center backup to Kelce shouldnt be overlooked because he didnt run at the combine… had he run, everyone would be high on him. Hopefully he falls a bit, and we are lucky that chip didnt need to see him at the combine to know how special he can be
it’s hard for me to take your word on much, i’m sure he loved 90% of the ppl he recruited at oregon.
thats perfectly fair, considering I never gave your opinion any bit of respect and credibility… guess its fair… but you WILL read my opinion, you will REMEMBER my opinion…. can you say the same thing to me? lol
He and Bryan Bennet are close friends. Maybe Tommy’s onto something. If Chip takes Fisher, Grasu and Bennet, I am going to petition Lurie/NFL: Eagles need some yellow in their uniforms.
d3fb – do you do a mock draft?
https://twitter.com/EaglesInsider/status/578645859270832130
https://twitter.com/Astonia67/status/577642072624242688
Awesome! What did you win? A new car? A trip to Costa Rica?
They didn’t say. Hopefully it’s a Bo Wulf signed kazoo.
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert views the team’s starting right outside linebacker position as an “open competition” between Jarvis Jones and James Harrison.
not sure if i should be happy for harrison or sad jarvis jones can’t beat out an 80yr old man who came out of retirement.
Athleticism matters in the NFL.
Jones got knocked hard at draft time.
I thought the knocks on him were due to injury (a degenerative condition in his back or something of that sort?), not potential/skill. I remember thinking at the time that Pittsburgh was getting a steal.
Jones is a terrible athlete http://mockdraftable.com/player/4138/position/19/
Wow. That’s close to Casey Matthews bad.
no the knock was he was unathletic
I am wondering if we are making assumptions with the OL, with the player types we are drafting. When we brought in Howard Mudd we switched to prioritising hyper athletic line men, and had an excellent line (except RT) when Chip came in with long term contracts/commitments in place.
Generally people have assumed this will continue to be the philosophy but with Chip now in full power and we are moving on with our OG’s due to age Chip may look to go in another direction. Adding in more ‘physical’ guards would improve our short game and give us better balance against bigger DL’s where we can get overpowered.
Regarding combine measurables – i generally think teams want different players to reach a certain minimum level – after that they should be taken in context – 5% differences can be a sign of better preparation, on the day performance and technical drill advantage rather than any indicator of significant physical difference.
I am no OL draft expert, but considering that Clemmings comes with limited OL experience the awareness and reading of game seems very good in the run game – he has a physical nastyness and agression that we do not currently have outside of Jason Peters and adding that could be a good addition to our line.
in this case we are debating two highly rated players… i could understand if we were comparing a first round talent with a 4th round duck
On the #OregonBias, I think people forget this can go both ways, just because you played for Oregon does not mean Chip loves you as a man or a player. Chip has the unique advantage in looking at Oregon players to know how committed to football they are, their mentality and leadership potential. IF someone does not quite tick all the boxes Chip may roll in another direction where a team with more limited outside information may take him.
Obviously, this topic is debatable because we simply do not know. We can only question. I agree with like 70% what you said. I think, if you’re from Oregon, you automatically get a boost regardless of anything you listed above. How else can one explain Mathews being on the team last year? I never liked him, but when he played last year he did “ok” as a back up. That’s his job as a back, to fill in when needed. IF Chipped liked him enough to be on the team last year AND he was “ok” … why did his opinion on Mathews change? Its fun to debate, but we’ll never know — Unless Chip speaks. Even then, I don’t think I trust him 100% :).
To be fair, Casey made the team with a rash of injuries and luck. Goode and Long got hurt coming out of training camp and 1st game of the season. He was added for depth. Then when Meco got hurt, he started in his place.
I really believe that if Goode and Long didn’t get hurt, he wouldn’t have made the team. That said, he came in and did way better than anyone expected. He was good against the run and acting as the QB of the defense.
Exactly. It’s a much better explanation for Casey Matthews than “BIAS!”
The fact that he was, what, 6th man up at ILB shows that the team was trying to field anybody other than him. Like it or not, he earned his spot on the roster. Well, him and his various voodoo dolls.
he “earned” — that’s funny, I thought you also said he was only here because of injury?
He was the sixth best player available. So, yeah, he earned it.
Guys fell, he stepped in.
Give credit where’s it’s due. Matthews’ roster spot had nothing to do with his Oregon degree. Reid drafted him. Kelly hasn’t even re-signed him.
very true…I forgot about that injury last pre-season…
talking about Hironiss Grasu, top prospect who is KNOWN for Character,athleticism, and work ethic and Leadership…. not like we over hear suiggesting that chip will draft Troy Hill in the 2nd round, a 5th round duck, who was suspended and arrested with a domestic incident… I agree with your general point, heck I made it a million times, but I dont believe it applies in this specific debate
Interesting instance of people looking at the same thing and coming away with different opinions.
I view Clemmings as a Tackle more than guard because he has some elite length at the position. Either position really.
I view Fisher as a Guard because he doesn’t seemingly have the length for tackle in the NFL. His athleticism are on par with our interior linemen. Him, Kelce, and Mathis are very very similar in this regard.
LOL LOL LOL
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Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News offers his thoughts on the Cowboys’ decision to add Greg Hardy:
So the next time I hear Jason Garrett talk about bringing “the right kind of guy” into the Cowboys locker room, I’m going to turn my tape recorder off. Then I’m going to politely excuse myself.
image: http://p.rfihub.com/cm?in=1&pub=10905
After a brief spell of trying to win the right way with high-character players — think Sean Lee, Brandon Carr and Travis Frederick — the Cowboys are now just trying to win. The arrivals of Hardy and Rolando McClain plus the return of Josh Brent are proof of that. That’s a trio I wouldn’t invite over to my house for dinner any time soon.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2015/03/23/nfc-east-roundup-reaction-to-hardy-signing/#lWmbTHi6Gx9T0syj.99
Hey are we hearing anything from the Veterans Scouting Combine?
yeah people running slow. felix jones, micheal bush and micheal sam ran themselves out of the league. apparently eagles looking at everyone though.
owners meetings this week, chip and laurie schedule to speak
I sadly don’t get to watch much tape on these prospects like most of you guys. I’m DEFINITLEY an amatuer, amateur scout, but I sure do like what I just read on Clemmings, “A bit unpolished in pass protection, but an absolute mauler in the run game. Once he gets his paws on you it’s GAME OVER for defenders.” And; “Exciting tools. Could end being best OT in the draft. Reminds scouts of Lane Johnson.” So maybe he shuffles over to the right when Lane slides out left? Me likey. :o)