Are The Eagles Better?
Posted: May 17th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 614 Comments »A football team can have specific goals for the offseason. The Eagles wanted to get better at CB. They wanted to add young talent to the OL. They wanted improved depth at ILB. They wanted to add at least one physical, downhill RB. And so on.
But the overall goal is simple…get better.
Did the Eagles do that? I offered my opinion in this week’s PE.com column.
The most accurate answer is that we have to wait to see this team play. But that doesn’t mean we can’t offer an opinion on the way things stand right now.
I do think the team is better. Read the column for the full breakdown on matters.
We do need some perspective as we discuss this subject. This is Year 3 for Chip Kelly. Normally at this point in a coach’s tenure you like to think he’s working toward building a title contender. That schedule is out of whack for Kelly.
He inherited a 4-12 team, but one that had a lot of talent. Kelly decided to try and win with those players rather than tearing everything down. He managed to go 10-6 in each of his first 2 seasons, but Kelly saw the team wasn’t going in the direction he hoped. This offseason he got full control and started to make drastic changes.
The biggest issue for Kelly is QB. Andy Reid was lucky enough to get the second overall pick in a year when there were lots of talented QB prospects. He chose Donovan McNabb and they had a lot of success. Kelly had the fourth overall pick in a year where OL filled 3 of the top 4 spots. Good OTs are critical, but they aren’t QBs.
Kelly tried to make it work with Michael Vick. Didn’t happen. Kelly tried with Nick Foles. The results were great in 2013, but that was a historic anomaly, as we saw last year. Kelly drafted Matt Barkley, but that hasn’t worked so far. Kelly signed Mark Sanchez. That delivered mixed results.
In March Kelly made a move that history will judge as either bold or desperate, depending on the durability of Sam Bradford. Kelly knew that Foles wasn’t the answer. Rather than sticking with him any longer, Kelly dealt for Bradford. This move is extremely risky, but Kelly felt it was worth trying because of the potential payoff. Kelly knew there was little to no chance he would get Marcus Mariota in the draft. He needed a QB…a talented QB.
I’m sure Kelly and the personnel guys looked all over the league at every possibility. Who could the Eagles sign or trade for? They had to find a player with talent, but one who also had the kind of issues that would make him available. Sam Bradford fit both categories.
If Bradford stays healthy and plays well, the Eagles could shock some people and win 11 or 12 games. If he gets hurt and Sanchez is the starter for most of the year, the Eagles are likely looking at 8-8 or 9-7.
I expect improved defense, terrific STs play and a very good run game. The passing game is a total mystery.
It would be great to find out if Kelly regrets trying to win the past 2 years. Most coaches take over and rip a team to shreds. The 2014 Eagles had 13 of 22 starters from the 2012 team. And Riley Cooper and Cedric Thornton weren’t regular starters in 2012, but were brought to the Eagles by Reid. That would take the total to 15 starters if you counted them.
The Eagles feel more and more like Chip Kelly’s team.
He’s not getting rid of Reid guys for the heck of it. Kelly is looking for players who can thrive in his systems. He gave Foles a chance. It just didn’t work. Kelly appreciated Shady McCoy’s big numbers, but hated the amount of negative runs. Sometimes you have to give a player a chance to see how he’ll do. Guys like Brent Celek and Fletcher Cox have been great fits in the new systems.
I think the Eagles are better. But they are still flawed, probably too flawed to be a legitimate title contender. Bradford is the X-factor. If he gets hurt or is simply so-so, this team will have some issues. If Bradford somehow turns out to be a perfect fit and thrives in the new system…who knows. In a fantasy world, he turns out to be Kurt Warner of 1999 or Drew Brees of 2006.
In a nightmare world, Bradford turns out to be a combination of Joey Harrington, New Coke and Google Plus. I know…the horror, the horror.
Keep your fingers crossed for the preferred outcome.
_
Chip is taking chances, but the kinds of chances he’s taking are consistent: high character guys with injuries. The only way this really makes sense is if he thinks he really can manage the health of his players better than the rest of the league. This is also consistent with the new sports conditioning employees and even with betting his OL will be effective just a bit longer than other coaches might.
If he fails, it won’t be because he failed to implement his vision, it will be because his vision was wrong.
“If he fails, it won’t be because he failed to implement his vision, it will be because his vision was wrong”
Or because he lost more bets than he won. Kelly is a gambler, like Carroll is a gambler. You can lose a few bets here and there (and you can’t win all bets if you’re not the casino), but you can’t lose your bets on QBs forever.
You can’t argue that Saban is one hell of a coach. It didn’t work in the NFL because he never found his QB. Who knows if Carroll would still be coaching in Seattle, let alone being seen as one of the best coaches in the league, if Wilson doesn’t fall in his lap. Chances are, Kelly will be here in 2016, because I don’t see us being 4-12, even with Sanchez. I think 6 wins is the base for Kelly as a HC as long as he has some talent and we have some talent. He could probably go 8-8 with Sanchez.
But all that being said: Chip doesn’t have all the time in the world to find his QB. If Bradford is the answer: great. If not: he better finds it in 2016. Only thing I’m pretty sure about is that Sanchez isn’t the answer. Very good back-up, but a back-up.
Im 99% sure Carroll is not a SB winner if his GM didnt overrule him and picked Wilson (Carroll wanted another QB if I remember correct and thought Wilson wouldnt win the QB job)
Technically, nobody except the owner can overrule Carroll in Seattle, since he has all the power, like Chip. It’s like saying Marynowitz overruled Chip or someone in NE overruled Belichick – can’t happen.
But: Carroll knows what he has in Schneider. And it’s possible Schneider talked Carroll into Wilson.
We both agree it was very important for both of their careers that Wilson turned out as good as he is.
New Coke actually turned out to have been good for Coke because sales for original Coke went through the roof because they missed it so much.
Funny thing – D’Giorno did the same this year with a “new sauce” and “original sauce is back” on their frozen pizza (new wasn’t bad imo but original was better)
what if Bradford is BETAMAX ? ..the best technology but never takes hold in the marketplace
ok…we are the same age…and betamax kicked vhs ass…but…what is the analogy I’m not getting??
well Betamax was way better technology but vhs powered thru to victory .. so I was thinking along that line, hey we got a great coach and all these wonderful stats but we are poof! no rings
..and I was tired. lame analogy, ill fade away but at least wanted to try to explain
thanks and rest up…I get it now….raising a pbr to you re getting some fn rings……I think we could get three in the next ten years w chip and bradford…well see…
Interesting.
And in an even more amazing turn of events, enabled Coke to shift production from sugar based soda to corn syrup… thus increasing revenue by a few billion dollars.
Does this product study and the ousting of Christina point us toward the return of Kelly Green?
Yes, it created a demand for “Coca-Cola Classic”. Coke’s market share improved as a result.
My take:
DL – same, OLB – no depth (unless maybe Alonso or Hicks move outside), ILB – stacked with 4 starters, S – many question, CB – many questions
OL – a year older and same backups, RB – Shady/Polk for Murray/Mathews is a push, WR – possibly upgrade if Cooper sits and probably downgrade if he starts, QB – questions but expect better than 2014 Foles from Bradford, TE – same
DL is a year older and better- they are young and improving, Hart should be ready to contribute.
OLB depends on Smith – if he progresses they will be as deep as last year and more flexible option wise. (Cole was not great last year)
Secondary is different – higher upside but we need some youngsters to step up and improve. At least we have a good starting CB now. (and we have great quality and depth at slot/dime)
OL – we had league leading instability last year – and most of the injuries were impact ones – which are highly random, we can expect better fitness this year.
RB – we are better.
WR – push – Agholor will not be as good as Maclin initially – Matthews/Huff should take steps forward.
QB – we have higher upside, Bradford can be great – but he can be very average we will find out.
We have more raw talent than last year to work with. If that comes together or not we will see. We are at least a lot deeper in almost every position than we have been for a long time.
Cole didnt have great sack numbers but he was above league average last year.
Just take into account they didn’t kill the bank account in FA, which would have been a mistake.
They also were drafting in the latter half of the first round. So… trying to see what the key pieces are going forward.
It is a big shift in mindset going to a linebackers defense from a defensive linemans defense (4-3 to a 3-4).
When Chip traded a 4th round pick for a 3rd rounder next year, that was the tell that he thinks they’re at least a year away from contending.
Think that just means he is a value minded GM. Pats are ‘contending’ every year but as soon as they don’t perceive they have value at a pick they are more than happy to trade for better future value.
4th round draft pick should not be starting this year, so you are hardly giving up something for 2015, and a better pick next year may be in just as good a situation to contribute in 2016 as a someone you don’t love in the 4th.
Also we can contend this year – We have a roster as talented as the Giants or Ravens when they won theirs 2012 and 2013. Stay healthy, hit form and have good match ups can win you a Superbowl, you just have to be in it to win it.
you do have to be in it to win it. But I’d think we’d have a better shot after Bradford gets a year of seasoning in the new system.
A draft pick is a long term investment, not a short term one. It has little bearing on how close the Eagles are to a Super Bowl.
I don’t agree with that statement just because that is not how Chip operates.
IMO, I truly believe in Chip’s’ philosophy of winning the day.
If your winning each day then contending today is a given.
Tomorrow we may be a better contender if we prepare wisely.
I disagree. it was more likely that all the players they had rated as worth that pick had been drafted [most likely one or more OL], so they accepted a good value offer. They were probably happy to add another 3rd round pick next year since they had traded their 2nd in the Bradford trade.
“They were probably happy to add another 3rd round pick next year since they had traded their 2nd in the Bradford trade.”
I think that was the key. He didn’t want to have 2 picks in the first 3 rounds. Of course a 3rd doesn’t equal a 2nd, but it lowers the loss.
If we get a pick back from the Rams, we’re not competing, that’s for sure imo.
Depends on how bad the Lions are… That 3rd could always be pretty close to a 2nd.
They play the NFC and AFC West. Seattle, AZ,
Denver, and KC should be tough games. SD I think is still slightly better, so that could be a loss too.
It’ll be interesting to see how SF or StL plays out. Detroit has a good defense and Foles wilts under pressure. SF is all over the map and now have a new head coach.
I could see the Lions middling this year and ending up in the teens somewhere.
They are a talented team. Bears and Vikings aren’t exactly powerhouses in their Division. Yeah, we’re talking about Detroit, but I wouldn’t put my hopes up. I hope you’re right, but I’m thinking more about a 14-20 range in the 3rd.
That was my thought as well.
tell? just great value. Maybe it says he didn’t think we were a 4th-rd OL prospect away from the SB this year, sure. But that’s about it.
I think that means he wants to win back-to-back superbowls mark…
Could well be.
you are a picayune dude and that’s a part of what makes you a consistently interesting read here at bgn and your other semi-regular gig, Kudos man.
Thank you! (But I’d better look up picayune before I get too excited.)
I think it’s actually a nightmare scenario if Bradford is just so-so, because then what do you do? Do you pay him and hope a guy in his what, 6th year gets better? Do you let him walk and try to draft a QB? Bring in some castoff veteran?
I mean seriously, Chip’s kind of gone all in on Bradford here, because if you let him walk, you’ve got no one left but Sanchez, and if you pay him and he’s only average then you’re tying big money to a QB that isn’t going to get you a title.
Any way you slice it, either Bradford needs to be as good as Chip is thinking he is, or we have to hit a lucky draft pick because we’re not going to be at the top of the order anytime soon with how strong the rest of our roster is.
All in would be signing him long term. If he is so-so it sucks, but Kelly will continue to get a chance to find his QB. How it happens who knows. Lets hope its not Tebow.
You know, I felt the same way last year about Foles – it would be a nightmare if he were mediocre and got injured again. We just wouldn’t know what we really had.
We traded an unknown quantity for another unknown quantity. One has a better pedigree and seemingly higher upside. But Foles has a demonstrated crazy upside. His historic season is still a fact even if it was an anomaly. The real question for Foles is not whether it was an anomaly, but exactly how much of an anomaly was it?
In the end, Foles nightmare season is what allowed us to get Bradford in the first place. I think Kelly made the right call, at least when you’re playing the risk/reward game rather than the hindsight game.
Coaches don’t look at the stats when evaluating a player. At least not counts like touchdowns and interceptions. While Foles was putting up crazy numbers, he didn’t make many exceptional plays, had his fair share of mistakes and frankly looked like a game manager in a system with an unreal level of open receivers, which I think can mainly be attributed to defenses not getting the concepts in the eagles’ offense. That was especially true of the oakland game. Foles didn’t make a truly impressive play in that game, just executed the offense while the raiders were completely unprepared for it.
Ditching Foles and picking up Bradford is swinging for the fences. If he is so-so this year then we move on and look at another option or recovery project. Chip has shown he is not happy to be static or average with his QB search. He wants excellence.
Yeah, most likely turns out that both players are just average and the trade amounts to not much.
In fairness you were in the same boat with Foles, with a much lower ceiling.
True, except Bradford costs us substantially more this season. If Bradford sucks out loud then it would have been a 10 million dollar gamble that didn’t work out, but Chip really believes in him and something tells me he would have done the same thing even if Sam’s cap hit was 20 million this year.
After Foles’ season last year I like an aggressive move at QB, I just wish it hadn’t cost so much, in terms of picks and money. Of course if Bradford is excellent it will be worth it and then some, but if he isn’t… Not good.
Hopefully Bradford kills it and it’s a no brainer to lock him up.
I mean you paid 10 million and a second round pick for a guy who has a realistic chance of being your QB of the future.
It’s not nothing but with the importance of QB in the modern game it’s relatively little for the potential return on investment.
I worry about the offense, and I don’t see it improved. 2013 offense the concepts were new and defenses adjusted in 2014. MCCoy wasn’t quite the same runner and yes OL was injured, but the running game overall was weaker. McCoy danced too much yes, but in 2013 his dancing turned 2 yard losses into 1-2 yard gains. 2014 he seemed to lose dance ability and was constantly hammered in the backfield. Demarco Murray won’t fix that problem. Defenses stacked the run, didn’t worry about the QB running, and dared the offense to beat with the passing game. The Passing game has to be effective for the run game to work, it’s just how defenses are going to play the Eagles (without a legitimate run threat in QB). This season rests on Bradford, I think it’s wishful thinking the OL is just gonna be able to blow open holes left and right like 2013.
If they stack the box, like most D’s did last year, then Bradford will kill
’em. He’s is a much quicker decision maker, more accurate thrower, and was made for this offense. He can pick up a blitz with his eyes closed. He needs help with his receiver team also must recognize blitzes though. Overall, I think you will see a substantial increase in first downs and wow plays. I expect many RB reception surprises, especially when there is a blitz.
No one (except us) is afraid of Bradford right now.
Maybe they should be.
Maybe D-Coordinators in our division.are worried at what Bradford might do now that he is on a much more talented team with a much better scheme and head coach who knows exactly how to utilize Sam’s unique skillset.
A lot of maybes either way.
I envision the Eagles offense being run more efficiently than we have seen in quite awhile.
I feel like Bradford does have the potential to do amazing. He always has though. Staying healthy is going to be the problem.
I don’t agree with this ‘Bradford’s health’ narrative. If you look at ACL injuries over the last 5 years, if you look at players 12 months removed from them there is no increased injury risk compared to normal players of any type. getting an ACL injury is not indicative of any long term health concerns. 10 years ago when recovery and surgery was poorer – getting back to full fitness was a much greater concern, but we are much better at countering secondary injury risk coming off recovery now. In general ACL’s heal stronger and more soundly than pre injury.
When looking at ‘injury’ risk players where you should have concerns are players with repeated soft tissue injuries – especially to the same area. Austin and Thurmond are injury worries much more than Bradford.
Also Bradford has been healthy for 2 full years out of 5 in the NFL. That is better than any starting QB we have had as the Eagles in that time frame.
If you look more closely at the individual you will see that the latest injury in particular has no great bearing on my theory. He has a history of injury. This dates back to his college career. Some people are just more prone to injury than others. He has a proven track record of being one that is more prone to injury. In 5 years as a NFL player he has two complete 16 game seasons. In one of those seasons (2012) I feel like I remember him playing hurt.
Bradford has better tools than any QB we have had before…. but the idea he is such a good decision maker we will have to see. He did not have a great feel for the game with the Rams, and consistently came up small in pressure situations and key downs. Watching his games he struggles to see when people are going to come open – he often needs to see it first.
I am high on Bradford’s upside, but lets not take it to far. He has yet to convert any of that ability to high level QB play. He has highlight throws and moments – but almost no highlight games or performances, and that should be a massive concern. He has a huge amount to prove this year – and none of the excuses.
If you look at the issues the Eagles had on offence both 2013 and 2014 it was starting and sustaining drives on 3rd down and the redzone. The Eagles will continue to produce splash plays but most of what chip has done the last 2 years offensively is to resolve those issues.
Chips hope is that Bradford and Murray/Matthews will be a better a getting to 3rd and short and then converting than Foles/McCoy. We will see if it works.
The reality is however we had a top 10 offence last year – with a messed up line, poor QB play and a RB on a down year. If we get better QB play, a healthy line and more consistent RB play it is hard to see a scenario where we wont see offensive improvement.
Not me.
With Chip and his knowledge of the game, I can’t see the Eagles having problems offensively.
I think were going to see Johnson and Peters with a pulling Kelce grading the road for Murray as he plows for at least 7 or 8 yards on a regular basis.
I think this offense could be prolific as Bradford has the tools to execute Chips scheme better than Foles ever could, he just needs to get out there and prove it.
This will be a defining moment for Sam Bradford and I think he knocks it out of the ballpark.
The offense is schematically sound.
You don’t need a deep threat for it to work.
You don’t need a running QB for it to work.
It’s as schematically sound as any boring ass WCO or Schottenheimer crap offense.
This offense needs better execution.
That’s all.
I don’t disagree with any of your points, with the exception of better execution. The go to comment after any loss is some derivative of ‘we failed to execute’. No, you didn’t fail to execute, the other team was better. They punched you in the mouth and you didn’t have an answer. I’m pointing specifically to the Seattle game. The offense was completely overwhelmed. Would you say that based on the moves this offseason, they have done enough to schematically beat Seattle’s defense?
Well Murray is going N-S, and he’s not afraid of contact. After the Seattle game, the defensive players were saying it looked like McCoy was afraid to get hit (along with a bunch of other trash talking). Sanchez missed a few throws, but our defense is better, ST is still good, and frankly our offense will probably execute better.
What the defenders also said is they knew what plays were coming and Chip never adjusted….and Seattle was not the only D that made similar statements last year. Chip has got to adjust faster and better this season.
1. That’s a historically good defense.
2. We don’t even play them this year.
3. Bradford is a better QB and does a better job getting the ball out quickly to players who can break a tackle and get yards (this is how Pats kept Seahawks on their heels)
4. Murray/Matthews are a better tandem to run at them with. They have too much speed and discipline to outflank them like Shady loves to do. Put your head down and pick up 4 yards, keep the chains moving.
5. The defense is improved. You have to beat the Seahawks 24-21, not 42-35.
We will play them yes year. In the title game. You know.
D3FB – And we had to make difficult choices to have a chance at better execution on offense. Foles and Shady trades were very tough decisions.
it seemed the only tough part of the shady deal was deciding who they wanted in return. and that wasn’t even that tough….
Besides the injuries, Brian Schottenheimer is the reason Sam Bradford was so discounted. That offensive system is mind-bogglingly bad. Last time I checked, three 2-yard passes don’t add up to a first down.
false
Thank god that I wasn’t the only sane person to think that the team Chip inherited shouldn’t have been 4-12 again.
Agreed…Chip inherited a lot of good talent. Injuries and fatigue with the Reid era were the main reasons they were 4-12
You guys and gals can discuss/argue all you want… see you all in the post season.
BOOM!!
The team is better. The offense had problems last year but could still score big points. The defense needed more talent and depth. Chip got both. Alonso and Maxwell are those stars, along with Cox and Barwin. DL, ILB, and even CB could all be very deep. Graham has star potential as a starter, but we really need Smith to be competent as a backup OLB. Safety still terrifies me. Wolff looked horrendous in limited action last year.
Honestly, the offense will take a step back. The run game should be better, but the passing game worries me especially if Sanchez takes over for Bradford after a season ending injury. I love Agholor but he’s a rookie. I don’t think he’s Odell Beckham who can blow people’s minds in year one. Matthews is a nice receiver but he isn’t the explosive kind of receiver that Agholor will become down the road. He simply isn’t that fast but is an impressive move the chains receiver. As far as I’m concerned, there is no third starting receiver. Peters, Mathis, Kelce, and Barbre have all had major injuries in the last 3 years. We’re probably having to take a leap of faith on Tobin and/or Gardner again. Could be ugly.
Chip is too competent of an offensive coach to let the offense regress too much though. That’s why I think the team takes a step forward and gets a playoff win.
Spot on post…
…..
It’s funny because last year(and I continue to say this year) that I never liked Huff with that pick. I thought it was a terrible pick. I got yelled at about how Huff will be a better starter this year than JM and Huff is more natural blah blah. Now, nobody is even liking Huff as starter. What happened? IF Miles stays healthy and he embraces the CK way — I’m perfectly OK with JM, Aggie, Miles with Huff/Cooper coming off the bench as role players…
my one hope with Huff is he plays very well into [how I perceive] Chip’s vision for the offense — similar to the base defense, a core group of runners and catchers who can move to create mismatches or isolate defenders on any given play. He’s not so much a WR as a weapon.
Just like how Chip asks the QB to “read” as a key on a defensive player, oftentimes this read is made on a LB as well as a DL. I’m sure Chip also has plays reading the S or maybe a slot DB showing blitz. This can turn the play on its head for the Eagles, by either exploiting a defender’s aggressiveness or catching the wrong player in coverage (too small/too slow).
Ertz, Matthews, Huff, and the desire to keep Maclin (tried to sign him last year, lost him to #variables this year) followed by the agHodor pick all represent a player archetype who is smart, can move around, and versatile in positioning. We’ve heard players say he’s asking them to learn all the WR positions/routes (like the DBs learning both CB/S “scheme”). Same with the Sproles acquisition. These guys can bunch, block, work inside-out or outside-in, and most are also able to be effective on screens, end-arounds, and out of a bunch.
—————–
To me, Chip is trying to “rig” his chessboard, or get away from the defined but limiting characteristics of each role, and simply play with a team full of Knights and Queens (or in football parlance, swiss-army knives)
Good stuff.
Having watched Oregon a lot, Huff is a great blocker and plays hard. His receiving abilities are NFL average or below.
It’s his YAC ability that is impressive. I think Huff will be more of a chess peice/offensive weapon then just outside or slot receiver.
I think Huff is the second coming of Antonio Brown
With his build and aggressiveness he looks more like Steve Smith or Anquan Boldin once he gets a handle on the ball.
If Gardner plays again we will lose that game 99.9% of the time.
I’m going to make a statement… religion is no good for any sane person.
You could argue, and I would, that the Eagles are better off with Sanchez than with Foles. So either they’re much better off with Bradford healthy or they’re a little better off with Sanchez than Foles playing the first 8 games.
Since it is the off season and we have time, I would be interested to hear that argument.
I thought you’d never ask, ATG. A couple weeks ago I purchased NFL Rewind and I watched every snap of the Eagles offense because I was interested in what we were doing scheme-wise as well as how good each player was. I was not expecting to like anything Sanchez did.
Foles:
Ok short passing
Ok deep passing
Terrible in the pocket at dealing with pressure. Would panic easily and make poor decisions.
Read Option: Keeps ball about 5% of the time and falls over himself after about 3-5 yards.
Sanchez:
V good short passing (gets ball out quickly)
Terrible deep passing
Feels and avoids pressure well
Fumbles the snap a lot (wtf)
Read Option: Keeps ball sometimes but not enough. Shows average mobility.
Both have strengths and weaknesses. I’m arguing that Sanchez’s strengths are more useful to the Eagles offense than those of Foles.
I think Foles was pretty bad on the long pass this year. He ranked among the worst in that category. That being said at least it was something he attempted which kept the D honest. With Sanchez he deep ball was almost virtually non existent. Defenses knew it wasn’t coming so the offense was very limited which did show.
Due to this I think Foles was better for the team. The offense was just way to limited with Sanchez.
Sanchez had a MUCH better OL to play behind than Foles did in 2014. Really tough to assess pocket presence between the two, given that Foles had multiple games behind Molk and Gardner, both of whom were severely overmatched in pass protection. Sanchez played most of the season behind a line that was only missing Herremans at RG from the starters, and Herremans was always the weakest link in the line to begin with.
Foles got worse as the line got worse. Never got the chance to show if he could get better when the line did. He may not have. But we certainly don’t know with any certainty. And we have no idea how Sanchez would have done with Molk and Gardner getting ragdolled or simply blown past in the center of the line constantly.
Not that Foles didn’t have all the other issues you identified. He did. Just can’t see how you can make an apples to apples comparison on that issue.
Very wrong. Sanchez had Garnder a ton and yes, Gardner is the worst G in the NFL. Also, if you watch the first 3 games that we played (and won), Foles was terrible.
Actually Foles best game was the 1st Redskins game.
Foles had Gardner as … a Tackle. Just gonna leave that out there.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/static/img/fantasy/transparent/200×200/GAR153212.png&imgrefurl=http://www.nfl.com/player/andrewgardner/71311/profile&h=200&w=200&tbnid=3VwaMkV23rtdoM:&zoom=1&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&usg=__TVGOB4eKMzCSCIkL5AXltkpQ7Q0=&docid=ta3XKmC8_OH_2M&itg=1
If you get a chance watch Tobin in the Giants shutout game.
I was happy that Chip took over personnel but concerned about criticism of him, like he locked in on Pac 12 and didn’t play the draft board, and the rarity of doing this for a third year NFL coach. He and Ed M. have done a great job imho, taking what fell in his lap and making the tough calls. Trading McCoy and his contract for Kiko Alonso, then signing DeMarco Murray were moves that make tons of sense for value, given how much Alonso can do as Tommy pointed out. That fell on his lap and there was some luck involved but Chip had the guts to pull the trigger while the columnists were in disbelief. The Bradford deal was tougher but no one can really explain what a better option is for the team, considering what it would take to get Phillip Rivers. One should not underestimate the re-signing of Brandon Graham. For some reason, reportedly contractual, he didn’t play much on his first contract and I think he’s going to have a breakout year along with his partners in LB crime. + forking out for a solid no. 1 corner.
Then the draft: I really wasn’t sure what to expect. His main luck was having Eric Rowe fall far enough for a reasonable trade up but they made the move without going too early, a few picks before another DB went, and perhaps luckily getting JaCorey Shepherd after he fell. Agholor went higher than expected, I wanted Phillip Dorsett, but I like that Kelly grabbed what the offense needed knowing what he will do with Agholor, the most league ready WR prospect except for maybe Cooper with a shaky knee, and there will be fewer “if Josh Huff” sentences in the season preview. Evans was a way to possible save money on a slot corner after Iggles fans have watched Dimitri Patterson and Mmbop cash in on second contracts. Hicks was picked over some OL talent, but I assume Kelly decided pre-draft that this was his future defensive QB who could learn from Ryans. So it was a solid draft by what looks like a well run, veteran room despite relative inexperience.
I can’t wait til September. The Eagles are ranked 4th-6th in the NFC but I think they can push for the Lombardi. I didn’t think that last year because of the secondary, even if I thought Foles could be close to 2013. I have for the Kelly and Reid era thought they were a fun team to root for that had reasons why they couldn’t match up to the best teams in the conference. What makes me optimistic is that these aren’t just good value moves, but they enable Kelly to install The Kelly NFL System with a vengeance and let other teams try to deal with it. A hurry up with Murray banging it with the D, then if they manage to somehow stop the clock, here comes Ryan Matthews for a few plays. By the fourth quarter the other D will be keeping the trainers busy. Setting up matchups for Bradford’s accuracy at short to long routes. That front seven with a possibly solid secondary if two or three guys can be ok, again, the potential Achilles’ heel. I’m just glad a division rival didn’t get Chip.
Pac and the Big have surprisingly produced more “Probowlers per Capita” then the SEC….SEC has produced the 3rd most probowlers
An important point I think.
I’m not knocking the Pac 12 but noting the running joke that Chip was staging a Duck reunion. The Pac 12 players selected in the first two drafts were Ertz, Barkley, Joe Kruger, Jordan Poyer, Josh Huff, Taylor Hart, and Ed Reynolds, of which Ertz is retaining 2nd round value after he was picked over SEC corner Johnthan Banks. The story leaked that Kelly wanted Oregon Duck Hart in the 3rd round. As I said, I was happy that Kelly got personnel control and think the 2015 draft went well.
I see it the same way ian.
The eagles will continue to lead the league in opponents losing the game AFTER they play the eagles.
Storylines I’m excited to see unfold this season: 1. Graham’s ability to play full time. The numbers say he is a beastly pass rusher on limited snaps but can he at least somewhat sustain that production (I don’t really care how he looks in coverage if he collects those tasty sacks, pun intended). 2. The number of PBU’s and takeaways from our secondary, midway through the season. It’s safe to assume the CB spots have been upgraded but what about corner? Watkins has more athletic ability than Nate but can he play faster than him as well? 3. Bradford’s grasp of the offense and possible explosion of production. Nicky Flash had incredible numbers in ’13 while still missing big plays. Several big plays were missed this past year. Can Sam recognize them and just heap the points up?
4. If the PAT rules change, what craziness will Chip unveil? Eagles were one of few teams in 2014 who didn’t even attempt a 2pt conversion.
5. related to your #2, but what effect will Undlin have on the secondary? I’ve thought since Chip arrived the DBs would press waaaaaay more, but clearly (to me) sconces and fletch were just beaten too often to handle those responsibilities (with cr@p safety help). Maxwell and Thurmond have both shown success in NFL with this technique/scheme, and Rowe is “built” for it (and experienced, for a rookie).
6. Does Parkey break the league record this year? maybe a 70 yarder, with room to spare?
7. ERTZ. we need him to dominate. I love Celek, but I want this to be the year of Ertz.
#5 was my fav.
I like this post very much. It is nice that someone recognizes we have questions, and not answers for everything. thanx u.
I do miss the player evaluation leading up to the draft…… I guess it’s never to early to start for next year!
Every June: Dude there’s like 12 freakin stud QBs in this draft, super loaded.
Following April: All these QBs are crap, we should wait til next year, there is like 13 freakin stud QBs
Dude, but haven’t you heard, there are like 12 freakin stud qb’s in next years draft? It’s super loaded!
Lets play Nostradamus:
If Mariotta got crap for his offense, then BOYKIN, KIEL, and GOFF are gonna take even more heat because they play Air Raid derivatives.
COOK’S offense is so boring it makes me want to die. Also its the offense that makes all the mediocre talent QBs look good by running 60 times a game. Three times a game you have to make a 15 yard dig route. WOOOOHOOOO.
DAK PRESCOTt is Tim Tebow mark 2.
HACKENBERG has all the talent but looked like straight dog doodoo in 2014.
KEVIN HOGAN isn’t very good.
KESSLER is effective but doesn’t have any one skillset that you can point to. Likely a WCO QB, and probably a good backup ceiling.
Of the OSU QB’s: BRAXTON will probably be a fringe NFL RB ala dennard, I liKE BARRET’s skillset the best but he’s goign to be a redshirt sophomore and should wait at least another year before coming out. And holy crap is CARDALE the most overrated player ever.
Agree on Cardale. I really don’t pay a whole lot of attention to qb’s honestly. I liked Grayson but I didn’t get too involved beyond that. I’m much more interested in WR and dbs honestly. Looking to hone my skills there and then move on to LB’s. Getting better at positions one year at a time.
I have seen people suggest Cook would have went 2nd overall over Mariota and while the Titans are dumb, I just cant even see it. I thought Petty and Hundley was/is better than Cook
Agreed
Almost all garbage since Luck and RG3.
No wonder Chip gambled on Sam
#1 QB by April will be Jeremy Johnson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaYNtV5GtRM
As an Auburn homer I’m on board. He’s got a cannon.
I’ve heard that song and dance about the next great thing from an SEC QB.
Last year it was supposed to be Jacob Coker.
Three years ago it was supposed to be Zack Mettenberger.
He’s attempted 78 career passes.
Mahlzahns offense actually is gimmicky. You can get a pretty good feel for guys in more traditional spreads. Mahlzahns O is whole different ballgame.
He would be absolutely stupid to declare having only been the starter for one year.
Was Bradford really that big of a gamble considering the alternative – a FA-to-be in Foles? Eagles resigned Sanchez too.
Basically comes to whether Kelly wanted to gamble on a FA-to-be in Bradford or instead with Foles this year and ‘let the chips’ fall where they will.
Still think Kelly got hosed in the Bradford trade for what he gave up but to me this offseason wasn’t nearly as radical/bold as some made it out to be nationally. It would have been if Kelly gave up the farm for Mariota but they didn’t.
It’s a gamble to give up a 2nd round pick for what may end up being a one-year rental.
Even if I don’t love the moves themselves, I love the very clear message:
10-6 is not good enough
mediocrity be damned.
So Bradford and Foles are going to be inextricably linked to one another from now on due to the swap, and I was thinking… Bradford has to be the better guy statistically this year, right? I mean he’s got the Chip Kelly system QB bump going for him, and by adding Agholor the Eagles receivers look pretty solid.
Based on their draft, with Gurley and all the OL picks, the Rams wanted to focus on running the ball and helping keep Foles upright since their OL kind of sucked last year. The problem though is their WR core is still kind of junk, so they’re not doing him any favors. The plan will probably be run a shit-ton with Gurley and try to have Foles be more of a game manager.
Toss in the Eagles desire to make big plays using RAC and I think Bradford is pretty much a lock this year to outperform Foles.
Are the Eagles better? That can’t be answered now… How we gel, injuries
Will factor into Answering that..
..
But I don’t think there is any question that by far this is the most talented eagle roster chip has had..we have so many young talented players who are still growing and I proving that I think we could have kept the same roater and still been a more talented team
..
It’s going to be hard to make this roster, and that’s a testament to our improved talent level and depth.we have so many young players that should be better then last year that I would be surprised if we don’t prove to be a better team
…
Very excited about this roastwr
Preach!
Eagles wanted a down hill runner? I think there’s confusion about what happened at the RB position this offseason. Chip(for his own reasons) wanted to move McCoy. That’s fine. At that time, the game plan was Mathews. Mathews is a down hill runner? DM fell into the Eagles lap. The Eagles didn’t target him as their off season game plan. This isn’t like the Eagles had DM in their pocket and they couldn’t wait to get rid of McCoy. Without DM — people(me included) wouldn’t be as excited about this offense.
……….
(this might have been touched on yesterday) Yesterdays article about how McFadden hasn’t played a full season and that’s a concern because he’s at Dallas now. Going into last season, DM hadn’t played a full season either. Just saying….
Both Mathews and Murray are down hill runners.
Kelly said that the 3 RBs they targeted in FA was Gore, Mathews and Murray.
NO — CK said — he didn’t target DM because he thought he was out of his price range. Mathews, imho, is not a downhill runner. Mathews is an oft injuried, Shady light RB. I’ll give you Gore. But CK never targeted DM(according to his own words).
He want DM, but never thought he would be in their price range (that is different from not targeting a guy).
Also Mathews is one of the best one cut runners out the shot gun
oh boy. IF he never thought he could sign him — ergo — he never targeted him…. Let me say that again — he never targeted (who cares of the why, it wasn’t in his plans)
…..
one of the best one cut runners???? and I get accused of drinking the cool aid. Mathews — has been and always will be lower tier 2, top tier 3 RB. Let’s not act like he was going to come here and be 1500 yard rusher.
Murray and Mathews was no. 1 and 2 in ypc from the shotgun going between the tackles.
when? 2013?
2014
so, you’re taking numbers from the 6 games he played in?
thats why Mathews will get maybe 150 touches
Agreed…
Last 2 years combined. Mathews 1st, Murray 2nd. Posted link to tweet above (or below, depending on your disqus settings).
Statistics show that out of the shotgun DM and Mathews were the best one cut runners out of the shotgun. So was Gore.
do you have a link to that? I remember it from months ago, but couldn’t find the site during a B24/7 discussion last week on the same topic
No I don’t. It was a few months ago and I forget where I read it. Either on here or 24/7. I think it was actually something Chip said during an interview and then the article went on to elaborate on it.
Try googling Murray/Mathews shotgun. Might work.
I just googled MurrayMathews shotgun, and the article came up. It’s from 24/7.
https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/576062291373883393
thank you
How many games did Mathews play in last year?
6 games 74 attempts last year, and 16 games 285 attempts the year before (which is the time frame of that tweet). Unsure of how many of those attempts were from shotgun.
It includes 2013, where he played 16 games.
Sometimes you have to read between the lines. Or in this case, read the actual lines.
Kelly said that as the Eagles started free agency, they thought the three best running backs were Murray, Ryan Mathews and Frank Gore. […] “We thought the three best guys were Frank, DeMarco and Ryan. We wanted to target two of them and we ended up with two of them. Did we have a master plan that was exactly going to work out like this? No, but we went into it with the idea that if we lose LeSean we better get two guys.”
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/12/chip-kelly-i-thought-demarco-murray-would-be-out-of-our-price-range/
Parse it how you want, but Murray was on Kelly’s radar from the get-go. He didn’t think he was the most likely to sign, which is why he went after Gore first, but all three were targets (stopping after they got two, ideally). Perhaps that was how Kelly explained things publicly after it all went down, but there were rumors before the signing that the Eagles were targeting Murray, and that Kelly and Murray had “mutual interest”.
Again — perception with reality. CK also said best player in last year draft ended up on the Giants. That doesn’t mean CK targeted him.
……
Let’s look at this logically. What happened after the trade for Bradford? CK came out and said “We were researching him for over a month”. What did CK say after signing DM? “We did not target him because we thought he was out of our price range”.
……
Regardless of CK’s thoughts on DM — he did not target him.
If by “target” you mean “offer a contract to right as free agency started”, then sure. He was not the initial target. But if by “target” you mean that once Shady was traded, he wanted ideally two of Murray, Gore, and Matthews — and I think the availability of those three was a reason he could trade Shady — then yes, he did, as all three were targets. It was not like Murray was completely off the radar and suddenly Kelly was scrambling to find someone. If Gore had signed then Murray was likely not a salary possibility, but once that fell through it may have changed, though much more likely by the Bradford trade. The timing of all that is interesting to me — Gore may have decided to not come, and Maclin to leave, based on all the uncertainty about the team right then (Shady traded, wild rumors about QBs), but once Bradford was acquired, there was a lot more clarity. You wonder if Maclin might have stayed had the trade happened earlier (though that would have also probably precluded Murray’s signing, which was another reason it happened a bit later on, once Maclin had left). I’m guessing there was always interest in Murray from Kelly, but probably no solid offers to until Maclin had bolted and that cap space became available. Kelly never said Murray was not a target; he explicitly said he was in the group of three targets, just that he didn’t think it was likely to work out (maybe more based on Maclin than anything else, or maybe expected Dallas to make a competitive offer). Murray was at the very least part of the contingency plans (Maclin leaves and couldn’t get Gore).
Mathews is a 1 cut explosive runner – he is not a power back, and does not like contact as much as Murray (who is not as violent as a Beastmode). However he is a see a hole explode through it guy, and out of everyone he has by far the most home run potential, he has an extra gear that you rarely see. I think he will have some big gains and games when he comes in later in the game after we have run down their defence with pace and Murray.
Agree, people confuse 1 cut runner with power back.
T. Davis is maybe one of the best ever, but nobody would confuse him with Gore and Beastmode in terms of dragging defenders.
Arian F as well. He’s no bettis, but brilliant vision
…Arian just has a different stride, it’s beautiful to see him just “glide” through a hole.
vision and timing make the difficult look easy. He’s not extra fast or strong, but doesn’t have to be.
One of my favorite players. and with his personality? I bet Chip would have given a pinky toe for him & Barwin back in ’13.
No question, the potential is there. He has 1 season where he played in 16 games. That year, he only started 14 of them. He has great value as a receiver, which is why he probably(my guess) appeals to CK. I’ve always liked him but is oft injured.
Well injuries are a significant concern – but he should not be getting feature back carries – there is a significant difference in getting 10-15 carries a game to 20-25.
of course. The whole discussion was about the “targeting” of DM. Which wasn’t exactly 100% true(unless CK lied – cough – mislead the people). If DM wasn’t here, the fans(rightfully so) would be talking about what a huge question mark there is in Mathews. With DM here — he’s a great 2 guy and quite possibly a great replacement if DM gets hurt. No question he can be effective here.
I think it’s possible to say he did target Murray. Maybe not initially. When we didn’t get Gore I’m sure Kelly put some feelers out for Murray. When he realized he could do it he did it. Hence why he is now on the team.
There is a difference between not targeting at all and not initially targeting.
It’s been reported — DM people contacted CK. Not the other way around. By his own admittance, CK did not target him.
I’m aware of that, but once he realized he could get him he then targeted him.
It was misreported. Both Kelly and Murray said after the signing that Kelly called DM. DM was returning CK’s call.
http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2015/03/demarcos_murrays_father_chip_kelly_called_my_son_f.html
It would be good to remember that injuries occur thoughout the NFL though. Not just in Philly.
Kiko, DM, RM, Bradford, even Thurmond I think, all oft injured so theres a lot of that. Really no point in guessing how those things work out since its a wild guess at this point. Doesnt really matter who said what and who they targeted, they have who they have now so not sure where youre going with that either.
because I’m not sure the above is accurate. Just because something happens, doesn’t mean it’s CK’s plan and it’s all coming together. CK had a plan, adapted and here we are. CK didn’t sit down in January and say ‘Let’s get DM’….
I think you have Mathews running style confused. He finds a hole and goes N/S. He isn’t as physical at the point of contact as DM, but he runs N/S which is downhill running. One cut and go, his running style is nothing like Shadys whatsoever. He also has a mean stiff arm.
I’ll agree to disagree. He’s not Lynch. He’s not Lynch light. He’s not Lynch’s lunch box. He’s finesse and out of the backfield receiver the greatly enhances his play. Lynch is north and south all day long. As is Gore. Mathews is not the running style of Gore and Lynch. CK went after Ryan because he would have been the change up back to Gore. Not Gores replacement.
Nobody in the league is Lynch.
Mathews has the same running style as Murray. Doesn’t really dance, he would much rather hit the hole and go N/S.
The problem is people think a N/S runner has to be someone that runs people over like Lynch. That’s wrong. A N/S runner sees the hole, cuts and goes straight. Sproles does this as well.
Mathews is a downhill runner. You forgot to mention the Gore situation. Kelly’s plan was to get two downhill runners. They did.
We were an average-above average team. After all the dust settled, we’re an average-above average team. We just traded out some guys we know we didn’t like to unknowns.
I don’t see how you think we didn’t improve. Are you going to tell me our CBs aren’t improved. What about ILB? Those are 2 of 3 areas we had problems with on D last year. RB is even improved which none of us thought could or would happen.
Bradford if healthy is an improvement over Foles.
Think rigorously about this. There is no guarantee CB, ILB, or RB is improved this year. True, we have thrown resources at CB and ILB. We swapped out RBs. But lots of CBs would look good playing in a stacked D like Seattle. Our best ILB is injured and they picked up another one who’s also injured and has only one year under his belt. Lots of RBs would look good playing behind a stacked OL with defenses thinking about an all-world WR like Bryant.
They may be better–they might be a _lot_ better–but they may not. Nothing here is a no-brainer like picking up Darrelle Revis or AP in his prime.
Or Nnamdi. He was a no-brainer at the time, too.
Yeah…
After 30 seconds of vigorous thought, one could argue that our front 7 is “stacked” as well.
I have thought rigorously about this.
There is never a guarantee about anything. If you think Maxwell is not an improvement I suggest you go watch some of his tape. If you think he is a byproduct of purely the talent around him in Seattle you are wrong.
Murray was always a very effective RB. It’s just that he stayed healthy last year.
Are rigorous and vigorous the same? ;~)
Good question.
To add what I said previously you clearly arent aware that our OL graded as the better run blocking line last year.
Also go on about Dez but what you forget is that we have more receiving threats then Dallas. So yes defenses are concentrating on Dez but with is they have to concentrate on alot more then that. Against Dallas teams really geared up to stop the run as well.
CBs- Full disclosure that I didn’t watch film on Maxwell, but my cynicism won’t let me get past the fact that we paid top dollar for the 2nd/3rd best corner on a team known for making CBs look good. On the other side from him, we’ve got a bunch of washouts and rookies competing, none of which I’m optimistic about at least in their first year. They also still don’t have consistent safeties behind them to bail them out. That out of the way, your question was did we get better? The only answer to that is a shrug and educated guesses. I think Maxwell can at least replace Williams (Seattle apparently thinks the opposite is true, for what it’s worth), and the other side was a mess and continues to be a mess. That sounds like a lateral move to me.
ILB- without a doubt better. I won’t have that same opinion when Kendricks leaves in FA at the end of next year, though. You mentioned ILB being a weakness last year, but that was due to injuries. An injury to Kendricks puts us back in the same position as last year (Kiko and Ryans are coming back from injuries. They won’t be fully healthy this year, no matter what their trainers tell you.)
RB- Was a strength. Still a Strength. That’s a wash.
WR- Losing Maclin hurts. We’re down to maybes in Matthews, Huff, and Agolohor. They could be gods. They could be complete busts. It’s May, and everything is a guess and projection.
S- Traded out a no for a maybe.
QB- Traded out a no for a maybe. If you have to qualify every statement about Bradford with an “if”, I’m not going to feel too confident about his ability to be better to lead the team. But again, the question is if we got better from last year. If we can expect a few career games, a few middling ones, and a few missed to injury, it sounds like the exact same thing we had in Foles.
OL- Set the doomsday clock to 5 minutes before midnight.
Funny. Last year the complaining was that Chip didn’t improve the defense. This year he drafted and signed almost all defense, now the whiners are complaining that Chip didn’t improve the offense enough. Some people will complain, after every win, “Yeah, but…”.
I’m not sure how you’re getting out of this that I’m whining. I think that we’re at the same talent level as last year, even with a major changeout in players.
CB- I think you need to watch Maxwell’s tape. It was him not Sherman more then not covering the best receiver. Due to this and Sherman’s “lock down” capabilities Maxwell received more attention from QBs then Sherman while defending against the better receiver. Do to Kam constantly playing relatively close to the line most of the team he received less safety help then most CBs. There system actually puts alot of stress on CBs, and he held up extremely well. He is very versatile in that he can go in slot or outside. Very good tackler that really never gets beat deep. Again I think before you can comment on him you need to think more about Seattle’s scheme, how he was used, and actually watch his tape. Obviously he was the 2nd best CB on Seattle but I don’t know how in anyway you can say 3rd. That’s crazy.
You talk about how they make CBs seem good. That’s just wrong, their CBs are Damn good, not just seem good. Browner left to go to NE, and while he was surrounded by good talent again he was good there as well. Due to Revis he received more attention and was also one of the reasons as to why Chung looked great this year and McCourty arguably had his best or close to best year. That game ending INT would not have happened without Browner. Maxwell is a better CB then Browner will ever be.
If you think Thurmond is a washout you couldn’t be any further from the truth. When he is on the field he is a damn good CB. Most fans are not aware of this. Alot of people will tell you it’s very possible he can be the most underrated signing on this team. Go watch tape of him.
S- Jenkins is a good safety, yes the other spot is a mystery but having better CBs helps that ALOT.
ILB- I agree Ryan’s won’t be ready by the start of the year. I don’t get how you can say Alonso won’t be while we have seen player after player return in this time frame and be fine. Maclin for example. If the starters are Alonso and Kendricks then it is definitely an upgrade. Alonso adds another playmaker in the center of the field and is great in coverage for an ILB.
As far as Hicks watch some tape. Guy is great in coverage and really does have some potential. Don’t be the one of many people that ONLY watch the Baylor game (his worst game he had in college) and say he sucks. His body of work is actually impressive.
WR- Losing Maclin doesn’t hurt as much as many say. Look for improvement in Mathews and yes Huff. If Mathews could have the year he had last year only playing 65% of the snaps why couldn’t Agholor (Maclin mixed with Cobb) have an even better year playing outside in which he will see more snaps? After all he is considered the most Pro ready WR coming out. More then Mathews was.
QB- You want to talk about the If statements with Bradford then go ahead. Thing is you would have to say it with Foles as well seeing the he has gotten hurt every year he has played. Therefore the smart thing to do would be to compare talent versus talent. Bradford has far more. Look at his stats the last time he played. Without the ACL tear it could have very well been a Pro Bowl year for him while being surrounded by garbage. Considering bothoth are injury prone I would say Bradford is an upgrade. Do you know what he did in 2013 or are you just jumping on the negative band wagon without knowing the facts?
RB- Murray has had a better year then Shady ever did. He fits the scheme better which generally means since he is a scheme fit he very well may be more productive. Go ahead and say he had the best OL to work with, but the funny thing is our OL actually graded as a better run blocking OL last year. With Mathews as our 2nd and Sproles as the 3rd we are actually deeper with talent. RB is an upgrade.
OL- Yes it worries me, however the chance of what happened last year to that extent can’t be that high for this year. Look for Johnson to take a step forward as well, and he isn’t out starting this season. Tobin and Gardner now have experience which is crucial along the OL and Tobin isn’t hurt going in like he was last year.
Your lack of film study and knowledge on some of these players is the reason as to why you think of the team the way you do.
This team is upgraded.
I respect your opinion and the work you put into watching the tape. I just don’t share your optimism. There are way too many unknowns to say that everything is going to work out.
In that same vein, I’m not saying everything is going to be a disaster, either. Except the OL. We’re one statistically likely injury away from another wasted season.
As I respect yours. Please don’t confuse me as Tommy or D3 on the ability to diagnose tape. I am not at their level.
I guess we will agree to disagree.
The Flyers just hired a college coach
Beat me to it. Made regionals every year he coached and the Frozen Four, seven of eleven years.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=768039&navid=nhl:topheads
hockey Chip?
I dont know if there is any special about him outside of making the playoffs every and the frozen four in 7 out of 11 years
well then I reckon it’s about time we start some rumors.
I heard every player he coaches gets exactly 8hrs43min of sleep every night. And strict pre-game diet of pickled herring and horseradish. Goalies must be at least 6’4, and he hates Norwegians (lazy). #culture
don’t forget he only drafts players he coached, ones that beat him in college or ones who can properly quote Fargo in its entirety #dakotabias
hahaha
Plus he made the whole team climb Mr. Rushmore. Wearing skates.
Ice Chip.
Welcome to the Hextall/Hacstol regime
“Although Howie Roseman oversaw the 2013 draft, Matt Barkley was reportedly a Chip Kelly pick.”
“The Barkley pick was widely laughed at when it was made and nothing has changed since then. Unable to drive the football and lacking athleticism, he’s not long for the NFL and a wasted fourth-rounder by Kelly. The Philadelphia Inquirer projects Tim Tebow as the Eagles’ No. 3 quarterback this year behind Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez.”
From Rotoworld
Most 4th round picks are laughed at and then turn out bad.
does the Chip Kelly pick sound like it came from the Roseman camp? I remember when he was picked that people said he was a CK guy, but why would this be reiterated now?
Poor Matty B, he probably never thought during all those years growing up and in college, that his ceiling would be sitting behind Tim Tebow.
I think this is an example of CK making a gamble that didn’t pay off.
exactly, gotta gamble for QBs so it makes sense as does everything about the guys potential and pedigree, calling it a waste is a half truth.
“The Barkley pick was widely laughed at when it was made”.
Not really. Most people said “reasonable value for a third day pick”.
Sure there are always idiots who cry “bust” the moment each card is turned in, but they’re idiots.
Yeah, I don’t recall anyone laughing. A few raised eyebrows maybe because he didn’t fit the since-debunked notion of “a Chip Kelly QB” (read: mobile).
Someone, I think Daniel Jeremiah said, Howie loved Barkley back in 2012. I’m not so sure Chip was the only one pulling the strings to get Barkley.
I think everyone made the picks together. You rank and build your board as a group not as an individual, and then work to it. GM’s are not really college football talent evaluators, they are scout and coach evaluators deciding who to listen to.
From bits and bobs i have read and heard Howie was not the most constructive guy – he liked to do things in quite an adversarial and faction driven way. It is not a question of good vs bad – on any realistic talent view point Howie has drafted well since 2012-2014 and generally done well in free agency and managing Cap.
I think however Chip likes a more constructive approach stylistically and believes in that to build a long term success and continuity you want much less turn over in staff and internal conflicts.
This is just my speculation, as no one has talked frankly from the team and the NovaCare is nearly as leak proof as Hinkie’s battle bunker.
“… the NovaCare is nearly as leak proof as Hinkie’s battle bunker.”
I love this quote. Last year there was a lot of hype around Wiggins and what the Sixers were doing to try and get him. They ended up drafting Embiid, though it was made to seem they had no interest in him. This year the hype is surrounding Russell (who I like a lot), but I wonder if that is a smoke screen as well. It’s unlike Hinkie to reveal what he’s doing before something big like the draft.
Wiggins went 1st overall, so we have zero clue if they would have taken Wiggins over Embiid (even tho they said Embiid was their no. 1 ranked guy)
I remember the ridiculous rumors about what the Sixers were offering to get Wiggins. I never bought it, because Hinkie giving away what he wanted seemed to be not his style. It was like all the rumors about Mariota, even though the process to get Bradford was over more than a month.
Some national reporter was talking to personal guys on other teams – and they were all like we know nothing about what the Sixers are doing or planning, don’t know who they have or have not worked out, no idea about what they look for in players, no idea how they value different skills.
Anything anyone reports is educated guessing. The Russell stuff’s thing goes – they have 2 big men, need someone to shoot – they will target Russell in the draft. Even though he is not the kind of player they seem to target so far – they seem hyper athletic defender types, with good court vision and passing – thinking they can develop shooting with time and effort.
Russell won’t be picked by the SIXERS in the top 5… Definitely not in the top 4… He is slightly over rated by USA media… If Mudiay went to Ohio St. and Russell went to China, NO ONE would want D’angelo,.. He would have to fall to #5 or #6 for Hinkie to take him.
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Mudiay is #1 PG on Hinkies Board and Hezonja is his #1 SG.. Towns and Porzingis are also highly rated By SAM and patient GMs drafting for upside
Bill Self claims that EMBIID is hands down best NBA prospect he has ever coached… Sorry Wiggins 😉
Yes. I remember reading at that time about Howie going out to USC to watch him play & being very interested in him. I think they probably both wanted him.
I think that is some top-notch revisionist history, 20-20 hindsight. At the time, Barkley was a player who was thought to have been top-10 the year before, but stayed in school and hurt his shoulder. It was unclear how he would recover, but the Eagles were seen as particularly clever for manuvering to the top of day 3 and stealing the guy who slipped through day 2.
The second hit I clicked on was Sporting news:
“…and (Kelly) ended up just needing a fourth-rounder to bring USC’s Matt Barkley into his quarterback competition…”
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2013-04-27/nfl-draft-2013-grades-team-by-team-analysis-report-card-steelers-eagles
Upvote on revisionist history!
You’re right. That was a very strategic pick and could have paid off huge. Barkley was in the Heisman discussion before he got hurt. Now, unfortunately, it seems either his injury has impacted his play or he’s just one of those guys who isn’t going to get a shot/find his niche in the NFL.
I hate Barkley, but I think it’s silly to automatically rule him out just becaus he hasn’t provided any instantgratifaction in his first two seasons, especially since the chip offense was new to him… If it were up to me, all our young QBs should be burried on the bench learning for 3 years before we even see them
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I don’t know if Barkley will ever be good ENOUGH, but I do know that a kid who has been getting coached up and working for the past 3 years in the same offense is going to undoubtably improve… The question is how much will he improve? Improve enough to be our Longterm backup? Improve enough to have a shot at possibly compete for a starting spot in the future?
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I never liked Barkley or believed in him, but I think it’s foolish to have written him off completely without even seeing what he would develop into. Kid has been working at his craft, learning this offense for 3 years, he has had to improve… Curious to see how much. I would say that barkley year 3 in this offense should outclass TEBOW in a new offense, but we’ll see
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Things would get interesting if Batkley shows enough improvement to compete with Sanchez…. But Barkley hasn’t shown me anything that would give me confidence that he could compete with sanchez, a top NFL backüp..
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But I’m more intruiged then ever to watch the 2nd and 3rd strings in the preseason game…. I don’t get where the media is getting this assumption that TEBOW is going to take Barkleys job? Sanchez doesn’t seem to agree with that oppinion…. But if Barkley can’t beat out TEBOW, THATS bad.. That’s real Embarressing
It doesn’t even matter if Barkley is good enough. It doesn’t matter if he beats out Tebow. It was a good pick in the 4th.
I’m not sure I understand the fascination with the riveting narrative of the draft THREE YEARS ago. The draft of 2 weeks ago is far more interesting.
yeah 3 years ago about a 3rd stringer. very exciting
maybe the oline wasn’t as good as he made them look after all.
hope he makes our look better
Murray Brees Aton of arm tackles. Not an easy RB to tackle. Great OL can get a RB to second level, but from there a great back has to be able to beat a LB or Safety…shady made LB miss, Demarco Runs thru LBs..both are elite RB.
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maybe the great dallas run blocking OL can get their RBs past cox and our elite runblocking DL, but If they do get to second level, Randle n McFadden aren’t talented enough to get by Kiko the tackling machine, Kendricks, MUFASA,BARWIN,Malcolm Jenkins… Were as Demarco will win his share of battles against the cowboy linebackers
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Sooooo arrogant to replace your MVP with Randle n McFadden,, why stop there? Sigń trent richardson while you are at it…Murray hid their defense keeping them off the field, kept QB healthy allowing him to just be a game manager, and they replace him with Mcfafden? Soooo,arrogant and foolish.. And my bet is it costs them the season. They have the worst RBs in the division
Me too. If that defense is on the field more, it will get exposed.
The Cowboys have an awesome OL, especially run blocking… But, I would bet that our front 7 does better against the Dallas OL and McFadden/Randle, then the dallas front 7 does against our starting OL, Demarco, Mathews and Sproles.. Which means 35yr old Romo and his back will have to do more Then Beadforx has to do for us to win.
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Murray ran like a beast last year, can’t wait to see a physical runner like him, truck defenders wearing the midnight green. his physical punishing style with our tempo should be POTENT!
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For the first play of the season, I hope we go Unbalanced Line: Lane linnning up next to Jason Paters, and Mathis,with Celek motioning to that side and run a punishing outside zone, with Murray following Peters and Lane down field, stif arming, putting his head down and smashing everyone on his way
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I’m giddy at the thought of having such a physical runner
Don’t forget that one aspect of Dallas’ offense hasn’t changed – Tony Romo, except he is a year older. That said, Romo had a career best season in 2014. Career highs in completion %, TD % (a ridiculous 7.8%), AY/A, Passer Rating, QBR, and ANY/A. He led the NFL in most of those stats.
Did Murray help open things up in the passing game for Romo? Or did Romo just finally get some real solid pass protection?
We shall see.
I’d bet that Demarco and the Eagles will gain more yards rushing this seaso then the Cowboys do with their famous OL… I’d bet dallas doesn’t have the league leading RB next year,.. They excused not paying Murray because of his injuries, and they replaced him with McFadden who us even more Fragile Lol…
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Actually it’s a big change… Dallas had its best season because they decided to switch things up, run Murray into the ground, take the pressure off Romo, who went from having to carry that offense for years to becoming a quasi game manager taking the ball out of his hands..
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The one year they finally had a good year, was the year they made Murry the focal point instead of Tony… Losing Murray should force them to need Romo to do more, which should revert to the same song and dance we saw for years, good stat stuffing QB Who is asked to do too much and typical can’t avoid the game choking mistake..
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Murray helped Romo and the defense so damn much, arrogant spit in the face to think they could replace him with McFadden… The Dallas OL is good enough to get to the second level, but once he is there, he won’t be able to run thru linebackers and Safety’s to get the extra yards the way Murray did for them last year… McFadden ISNT getting passed guys like Kiko, BARWIN, Kendricks….
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Losing demarco means everyone else on the Cowboys needs to step up and do more. And that should expose their true colors. We already know what it looks like when Romo has to throw 40 times a game.. Typically a disaster waiting to happen
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That Dallas runblocking OL, ISNT going to win games by itself when they have to face top rated front 7’s like the Eagles
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Good observation. That particular stat really speaks to the RB making the OL look good, not the other way around.
Thats a killer stat. To put it in context Murray rushed for 2.55yards after contact on average on each run. That was second in the league (on a lot of touches). It is not hard to see Dallas struggling to get that same kind of number out of their RB’s next year, which if it drops to more like 1.5-2yards they are only running at 4-4.5 yards per carry – which will put them in a lot more 3rd and longs.
Makes me feel happier about the Murray pick up and about the Dallas loss.
but….but….OL!
wow
That was strongly rumored right when Willis retired, wasn’t it?
It was, but crazy the amount of guys they have lost
The Niners are a mess. huge Loss for ARik Armstead and the Niners for the rookie to not even get 1 year under Justin’s wing
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Really curious to see the “Tomasula era”.. He is a really close friend of Baldi who is aLways going “full blowhard”about what a great coach he will be when he finally gets a shot… kind of weird that a respected DL coach for promoted to HEADCoach, and veteran defenders choose to retire instead of go to bat for the former defensive coach and at least see what the new coach can do for. Year… I have a feeling Tomasula era ISNT going to go very well,but who knows, maybe Baldi is right.., just find it odd that more defensive players don’t seem excited about the hire..
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With Jusin Snith retired, the new #1 old man, country strong whiteboy 3-4 DE in the NFL is the “Buffalo Beast” Kyle Williams… So under rated. Elite bad ass on the DL
Tannahill signed extension thru 2020
Wow if the numbers are what they are reported that is a bonkers contract.
They have him under team control this year and next, and when they say ‘$96mil extension’ that normally means new money. So that is really a 4 year deal at 24mil each. I would imagine the ‘guaranteed’ 45mil is fake (injury only) like the Kaepernick extension so the Dolphins can get out of it.
I know that the Cap is going up a lot and that in 5 years time $24mil is not what it seems today… but why the urgency to get this done at this point… if he does not play great this year you can do this a fair bit cheaper.
respectable deal (andy dalton like?)
So not as bad as i initially feared. $25mil does guarantee his next 3 years salary so the fins are making a significant short term commitment but money in 2020 should be very reasonable if he is still their QB
Think that should set a decent bar level for a Bradford extension ~$20mil per year, with 2016 year fully guaranteed should be doable
20 million pr. year for Sam Bradford, fuck me, i’d hate to see what you qualify as overpaying if thats “doable”.
you know what Russel wilson has to be thinking…
I don’t know, but if he were our QB, we’d be a Superbowl contender IMO.
Bradford has no real ties to the organisation so will hardly give us a huge discount. He has all the leverage and we will have to pay the market rate – which is ~$20m per year in line with something like Kaepernicks contract.
My concern is that Luck/Wilson may get done first and with the cap rising i could see one of them getting a blockbuster deal that would shift up the market. from a % of cap perspective QB’s are getting historically low level of pay for top performance, and Luck could make an arguement for a $30m + per year contract…
Bradford has no ties to us but I have heard that he was really jacked up about being traded here. He has so much money in the bank that he won’t just sigń with the highest bidder. I bet no amount of money will get him to sign with a team like the Browns.
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If bradford is getting 20mil a year it means he blew up in chips offense.. He is a rich man from his rookie contract, I’d bet Bradord would work with us to stay… He will still be expensive. But at least he won’t make us out bid a team like the Browns
he better be expensive.
he can thank chip by way of lazor
Chip claims time of possession is a completely meaningless stat For him, but I wonder if he really feels that way, and I wonder if we end up seeing significant improvement in time of possesion this year since we switched to a bruising, physical, down hill style runningbacks?
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We should wear down defenses more then ever because of the Changes in running style. Demarco ISNT the Homerun hitter that Shady and DEsean were, but Demarco also doesn’t lose yards that shady lost.. so not only will Demarco probably chew up more time on a scoring drive then shady who would just break something and take it to the house, but Demarco probably won’t have as many 3 and outs as shady because he won’t ever lose 5 yards on first down.. Those two changes should add up to drastic improvements in time of possession, whether chip cares about the stat or not..
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Not only will our RB be on the field more then the past two years, but we will also continue to wear you down with constant crazy tempo. shady did a great job wearing down defenses, but shady never physically punished defenders like Murray does.. So we should see opposing defenses onthe field more then past years, which gives us more time to wear them down with tempo. As much as shady wore defenses down, he avoided contact, Murray will end each run punishing defenders which adds another element to us wearing the defense down..,4th quarter defenses should be more worn down then ever…
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The improved run game, time of possession and our defenses improvements at getting off the field on 3rd Down (I assume) will all help wear down opposing defenses, while also making sure our defenders no longer play the most snaps in the NFL…opposing defenses should be more WORN Down then ever, while our defense should be on the field a lot less then past years, being fresher then past years, especially now that we have depth on defense
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our coach wants to run all day,while we rev up the tempo and put our supreme conditioning to use, while Demarco will be looking to put his head down and punish defenders all day.. Can’t wait to see the “Stampede” also known as 2015 Eagles offense. Defenders will be sucking wind while Murray runs them over..tired, worn down defenders desperate to stop the run so they can get a break from the pressure are perfect targets for a Bradford play actions simce SAM throws beatiful passes down the seam, where ERTZ will be ready to make the defense pay
I don’t think ToP is all that meaningful to Chip. I do think number of plays is very meaningful. If that is lopsided in your favor, then yes ToP will follow. And it may well get better, as the clock tends to keep running more when you have more running plays.
Mostly though, I think he hates three and outs, and negative plays that kill drives (which harms both ToP and number of plays). Longer, sustained drives are better than those, which will help ToP as a side effect, though I’m sure he doesn’t mind the quick scores either. If ToP is more of a concern than number of plays, then he wouldn’t use up-tempo. So yes I think he wants to wear the other team out, but ToP isn’t the exact thing he’s after so long as he gets his plays in.
on paper, we are going to freakin kill folks this year.
on the field I think we will just beat the crap out of them.
can’t wait to see Demarco running like he is possessed in his first game against Dallas… I can’t believe how shiesty they treated him. So slimey to try and run him I to the ground all year so you can devalue him in free agency and justify not paying him… Demarco is going to be straight VIOLENT against dallas…And I love how much media raves about Dallas OL, lol it seems to really piss of Cox, Logan and the boys….
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cox and the front 7 destroyed the Cowboys OL,and run game on thanksgiving. I love how all year Cox has to hear the media rave about the Cowboys OL lol. And I love that Leal Collins running his mouth, predicting “the greatest OL of all time” lol…
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Sucks, I would give anything to open the season in prime time against Dallas so I can see Fletchet Cox give Lael his first “holy crap, welcome to the NFL kid” moment…
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Our front 7 was already awesome, and we added Kiko, instantly one of our most talented players…
botto – And so it will be done! I too think we will see the Blur Offense at a level never seen before.
Dunno, I think NFL refs will try to slow things down more than the college refs do. Maybe because they have less practice, or don’t want to change their routines. It will still be effective I’m sure but it was noticeable how much faster the college refs let Oregon play vs the Eagles (though I think Oregon was actually better at it).
Maybe, but Bradford better be spot on with his decision making this year. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I still have some nagging concerns that this offense can’t hit on all cylinders especially no the NFL, without the QB running threat. It’s not necessary to make the offense go (clearly it “works”), but I want to see the offense be special. Which means more consistency and maybe less covering up for the lack of a QB running threat.
I think he knows about TOP, but I like his approach to how he looks at it. It’s about plays run rather than the actual TOP. If a team is running a play every 15 seconds, it’s going to tax the defense a lot more than if it’s a play every 25 seconds. Over a few drives we may be talking about 10 plays in 2.5 minutes versus 10 plays every 4ish minutes. That 1.5 minutes adds up over the course of the game. When executed properly, teams are not conditioned to handle that.
I love a strong running game. It’ll be nice to see some 2nd and 5s or 3rd and 2s a lot more this season.
Anyone know a good site to stream the Phillies games. Have a 94 year old aunt that’s a fan. Trying to maybe rig something up.
don’t know for sure but I stream all eagles games off firstrowsports and they have all sports
Did you try wiziwig? If the site is still up and running,they will def have the game, but the site gets taken down every once in a while…
I haven’t tried them in a while, but wiziwig got shut down last winter. Again, not sure if they’re back up.
Try this site:
http://cricfree.sx/
Watched a Phils game last week.
Better stream (for me) than 1st row. And Wiziwig’s no more.
Not guaranteed. But better than bupkis.
does this do football too? for later
yes.
I never tried bupkis. Is that a dot com or dot eu?
livetv.sx is a decent site and generally has stable streams that are not full of addware and other crap.
Thanks all, will give them a try.
Did you give your credit card info?
what no never lol. at the bottom of the upcoming broadcast bar there is a show all link – and you can access all the different games from there.
That window popped up….would never do that anyway.
While we are on the topic, anyone know of any of these sites that work with mobile, specifically iPad?
http://www.wiz1.net is the best I’ve found. Make sure you’ve got an adblocker on your browser no matter what site you use to stream, though. Especially with a 94 year old.
kraft claims he believes Tom Brady…umfortunately a Kraft endorsement loses its luster after Kraft wanted to believe aaron Hernandez wasn’t a serial killer…
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What a would give to be a fly on the wall tomorrow when all the owners and Goodell are im the same room at the owners meeting in San diego… Kraft had to hold his press conference the day before the owners meeting? Lol
Supposedly pats and the nfl are having back room discussions to see if they can strike a deal. I hope nfl says no deal. Don’t pull back on the penalties if they do that the nfl will look like they think there is no case.
Wow what a shame. Jessie williams diagnosed with Cancer, needs to have kidney surgery.. Kid never got to even play a game for seahawks… Wish the
Kid the best
I guess one of the “brighter” sides of renal cancer is, because you have 2, the infected one is able to be completely removed so you can be sure you removed all the cancer. As long as it isn’t metastatic of course.
I like our chances having a first round,#1 overall draft pick as our starting QB.
I like the fact that our RB led the league in rushing last season.
I like the fact that the year prior, our previous RB led the league in rushing.
I like the fact that our O line now has a RB that will hit the correct hole 99% of the time.
I like our O-line starters and think they have played well the past two seasons.
If you factor in how good we have been able to run the ball, and the upgrade in talent at the QB position, how can you not think we got better?
I like all the changes we have made on defense and we should have a good, to very good defense as Chip invested heavily on this side of the ball.
Our special teams units were stellar last season and there is no reason to expect anything less from that unit.
I can’t wait to see these guys on the field playing together as a team.Not only do I think we got better, but I think we got A LOT better.
Think no RB can hit the right hole 99% of the time lol. But it should be easier for the OL and blockers since they will have less freelancing from the RB position.
Think we have much higher upside from the offence this year – we could be spectacular if things work and we stay fit. However there is a lot of change and new faces, injuries could happen and Bradford has all kinds of question marks still.
Will be an exciting pre season as we try to put everything together.
The thing that really worries me the most is the cohesion. Alot of new faces at key positions. These are all team oriented guys unlike 2011 so I think TC and pre-season with some early season bumps will be enough to get everyone working as one cohesive machine.
And despite all the sports science talk, I think the real advantage Kelly has over most of the NFL is the nature of his summer camp – more reps/player. Cohesion is definitely an issue, but it might be the one issue that Chip can really minimize relative to other teams.
Very true.
From Roto:
Cardinals TE Ifeanyi Momah has packed on 25 pounds since January.
Momah entered the league as an intriguing 6-foot-7, 230-pound receiver with the Eagles, but wasn’t cutting it at the position. He finally gave in and agreed to switch to tight end last year. Now 255 pounds, Momah has “really impressed” coach Bruce Arians at minicamp. With John Carlson retired, Momah has a chance.
I almost think he’ll make a worse TE than receiver, but great for them if they can get something out of him.
its nice to still be able to hate the cardinals since the used to be a division rival. now they are just a team I hate
Because of Arians
2008…
That too.
Agreed. Physicality and going over the middle were not his strong suits.
Couldn’t separate or block at 230. Don’t see how 25 pounds will help with that.
25 pounds in 4 months? Hmmm. That can’t be all muscle. Not all by itself.
Well as TE he will be matched up with LBs not CBs which I think is just a tad bit easier to separate against at any level.
I doubt he would be a blocking TE, but yes I do think adding 25 pounds could help with blocking.
Don’t really see him being a great success at this but who knows. I think this was the right call by Arians. Guy can’t cut it at WR but has the measurable to try at TE. If you can’t do it try something else.
Nobody thought an undrafted TE could turn into a HOF LT.
Hey Tommy,
Probably the best thing to note with the team Kelly inherited is that it didn’t get any better in year two. It mostly tread water and then the QB got injured again.
So, given critical age, he might be in the rebuilding process. Might be a year or two and given the draft position, you had to take some chances with FA and players available. He had a good long look at Nick Foles and decided to move on.
This is all reasonable, and rebuilds can take a while nor are they necessarily a straight line. Might be a year or two burned in getting the OL straight. Given that he got a banger at RB, I expect a lot of what he is doing will be to protect the OL and QB. Beat teams up and wear them down… keep the defense fresher.
I disagree with the notion that we did not get better last year. Yes our record was the same but we went from a very soft schedule to one of the hardest ones – we beat play off teams last year (Colts/Dallas)
Our special teams was massively better, our front 7 on defence got hugely better. As a team we were limited by both the secondary and offensive line injuries/continuity but i felt offensively we were a more rounded and consistent unit compared to 2013 (even if ultimately worse due to O-line and QB injuries)
I think Chip does not look at this as a rebuild – i think he has a college mentality where you have massive roster turn over and still expect to compete each year. I think this squad is better than last year and has far more upside if things click.
I think we generally got better. I thought Foles took a step back all things considered, and IMO we won in spite of him. I think McCoy was gun shy after the first Skins game, and think he may have been concussed or feeling some effects from that game for the rest of the season. The offense was #5 in the league, so I can’t say they got worse. I thought they had too many stalled drives or 3 and outs, but they ran a lot of plays and made plays too. I thought they were slightly better.
Our defense was a lot better up front, but I think our secondary got exposed a bit this season. Overall, the defense was better.
Our ST were lights out, they were way better. I’d like to see if they can improve more this year.
I disagree Reid got “lucky” in choosing McNabb and building a great program here….the other QBs in that class actually turned out to be horrible and McNabb was by far the best pick not to mention the silly city-wide pressure to draft Williams instead…Reid took his own path smartly and proved he knew what he was doing. It was not luck….Reid did his homework and made the right choices. He ignored the idiots in the media/fan base and built a winner.
We’ll see if Chip can do the same…his choices so far (Barkley & Sanchez) have been less than impressive….I think Bradford can be better, but there is a lot of risk involved and it will require some definite luck on Chip’s part to pan out. I think Chip has what it takes to build a winning program here.
It was luck that Reid had the opportunity — a high pick in a year many QBs were rated up there. If Kelly had the #2 pick this year, how different would things be? Or if Mariota had come out in 2012 with us at #4, would we have traded up? You have to be a little lucky to even get the opportunity to grab a franchise QB. (It’s a little unfair that Indianapolis has timed its two worst seasons so well.) That said, Reid chose really well that draft, given the other highly-rated QBs that were dreck and the clamor to take Ricky Williams from the talking heads (and mayor). He could easily have made a disastrous decision which would have ruined his tenure, but instead it helped set up a really good run. Kelly needs his QB too… so for now, we need to hope on Bradford.
One thing Reid was good at was ignoring everyone else and doing what he wanted.
I know a guy like that
Was it luck that Reid aggressively went after the Eagles job, blew them away in the interview with his preparation & vision, convinced them to hire him and had a plan to jump start his program with a high pick? I’d argue it was very smart, not luck…I doubt Chip 2 years ago did not realize having the #4 pick would help jump start his program here too…plus he knew this was not a 4-12 team in reality which is why he stuck with that talent group instead of changing things right away…was that luck? Not IMO, that was smart on Chip’s part; both he and Reid purposefully picked the Eagles as the job they wanted since the situations were attractive and had potential for quick turnarounds….I believe in the “luck is the residue of design” process and both these coaches have shown a lot of savvy and intelligence. Many coaches would have blown that #2 pick that Reid had, McNabb was not at all the consensus best choice. Many others would have blown that #4 pick as well…going with LJohnson has turned out to be smart. I have high hopes for Bradford and hope he can stay healthy.
No, but any coach would much rather have his choice of a franchise QB over having zero choice.
But again, not many thought of McNabb as a franchise QB in that draft…in fact most locals wanted Reid to draft Williams and thought he was idiot for not doing so, booing McNabb at the draft as well….it was a smart and very gutsy pick by Reid. Chip obviously made the choice to go with Vick/Foles instead of trying to get a franchise QB that first year…with the #4 pick and other ammo, Chip could have gotten involved in landing one of the top QB in that draft, but wisely IMO did not roll the dice.
Are we judging a draft based on some drunk idiots with zero clue about evaluating talent?
Locals remember that Angelo Cataldi as a WIP radio show stunt charted a bus and put 30 of the loudest most obnoxious Eagles fans in it to take to New York for that draft for the express purpose of booing the pick.
He spent a couple of weeks every morning “auditioning” fans to be one of the “Dirty 30” and have the privilege of being one of those fans, by having them call in and demonstrate their loud booing skills.
Since this is only ever mentioned by locals, and the radio show is local, I wonder how many non-locals were even aware of that.
Further, there wasn’t a lot of consensus on what to do with the pick. Some preferred a different QB. Some preferred Ricky Williams. And some wanted to take Ditka up on his offer to trade his entire draft to move up and take the pick.
Reid was smart. I guess it was more the Eagles got a bit lucky that they sucked in a season with a bunch of top QB prospects, and that Reid was smart enough to pick the right one. (If there was only one top QB prospect that year, the Eagles would not have gotten him.) Yes that made the Eagles a more attractive coaching destination, though I doubt Reid had lots of other head coach offers, never having been an coordinator even 😉
I just read that Ditka offered Reid the Saints entire draft to move up (I guess the same one the Redskins took), but he declined to make sure he got his QB. Smart, as even though the Redskins got the #2 overall pick the next year out of it, there weren’t any QBs at the top worth picking. (Though if Reid had taken that haul, maybe gotten Culpepper instead, then taken a flyer on Tom Brady in the 2000 draft… 😉 )
Wouldn’t call it luck. There is a direct correlation as to why a new coach was hired and we had such a high pick.
Barkley was a 4th round pick and Sanchez is here to be a backup. Arguably the best backup QB in the league so I think that decision was very good. How many 4th round QBs make it? Barkley and Sanchez have no comparison whatsoever to Reid drafting McNabb besides position.
I agree with what you said about Reid with McNabb though.
chip made the right decision not getting pressure to take Geno year 1. chip may never get a higher draft pick than Lane Johnson
It was absolutely the right decision. GENO fell to round 2, and EJ Manuel became the first QB drafted. What’s funny is chip was smart enough to pass on those QBs for Lane, and 3yers later chip could probably give up Batkley or a Late pick if he really wanted EJ Manuel, the top QB from 2013 draft…
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3 years later, and I can’t say that EJ Manuel was worth Draftimg 3 rounds earlier then Barkley… I’d rather have Barkley in the 4th, then to have spent a 1st on EJ… Rather have Lane instead of EJ and I would rather have ERTZ in round 2 instead of Geno,,
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Thank god we dodged that absurd, fanboy crap of drafting Hundley in round 1, like IgglesBlitz posters were clamoring for….LOL @ Hundley in round 1…smh
I would have cried.
I would still be crying…
I think the luck was involved in having a #2 pick in a draft that included a player like McNabb. There’s no doubting that he made the right choice, and that given the wasteland of other QBs in that supposedly historic draft, his choice was commendable. But not every new coach walks into the opportunity to have a #2 pick with a player like Donnie up for grabs.
Reid did not randomly “walk into” the opportunity…that was one of the many reasons he CHOSE the job and went after it with such aggression. He knew the Eagles job could be a great situation and having the high pick with multiple QB available could jump start a quick turnaround which it did….again that is not luck, that is smart. Chip did the same thing, one of the many reasons he wanted to Eagles job was having the #4 pick to jump start the turnaround.
But they both still had to make the right selections with those picks….McNabb was NOT the consensus star QB of the draft nor was he the preferred pick within the Eagles fan base and media circles…LJohnson was more clear since OT help was really needed, but Chip still made the right OT choice…Fisher was highly touted as well and has not been that great for KC.
Incorrect. Reid was not a hot commodity, like Chip was. He would have taken any NFL HC job he was offered. He would have shown the same degree of preparation for any job, because that’s how he handles himself. I’m sure he would have preferred the Eagles job, for the reasons you cite, but it’s not like he “chose” anything. Unless you can show me anything that indicates he turned down another NFL HC job to take the Eagles, there was no agency on Reid’s part determining which coaching job he took.
Disagree, Reid could have easily stayed in GB which was a very good job…he did not need to leave, but wanted a good situation where he could be a HC. That was the Eagles and he went after it very hard. Reid would not have taken any old HC job, he’s smarter than that and knew the Eagles job was a great opportunity. The Eagles gave him the interview, he blew them away with his approach/prep/vision/passion and they could not turn him down…story was he was in constant contact with the Eagles and would not stop until they gave him a chance.
No, again, incorrect. He, like any other coaching candidate, would have taken any HC job he was offered (within reason). He was a QB coach, and if he hadn’t taken a HC job when offered, he would have likely had to have waited years for the opportunity, most likely after moving up through the ranks to OC before being given an opportunity.
You’re confusing the fact that the Eagles made an unprecedented choice in selecting a QB coach for head coach with the idea that somehow Reid only wanted that job. Yes, Reid was “smart”, but he did not have the choice you seem to think he had. He was, in fact, extremely lucky that the Eagles were bold enough to take a chance on him. All of the awesome preparation in the world wouldn’t have helped if the owner involved hadn’t been willing to take a risk. And few NFL owners take those sorts of risks.
I’m not taking anything away from Reid. It’s just a fact that he was a long shot for coach, and wasn’t hand-picking his job the way you seem to think. And while GB is a great place to have a job, any QB coach in the league would gladly step up to OC or HC when given the chance. Even in Cleveland.
We’ll just to have to agree to disagree….Reid was fine in GB and could easily have stayed if he did not get the job he wanted. He knew HC was what he wanted as his next step, but is very methodical and knew he would need to succeed quickly in that job or he would not get another one. He would not have gone to Cleveland or another bad situation IMO. It would have been stupid for his career. He could afford to be patient in GB, there was zero pressure for him to leave, but he knew the Eagles situation was a great fit and opportunity. Of course the Eagles took a chance bringing him in, but they were very familiar with GB, Holmgren, Wolf and Reid’s background. Plus Reid knew Rhodes and Gruden who both had experience with the Eagles obviously as coaches…Reid was very tapped into the coaching network.
There is not a single thing you are saying about what Reid would or wouldn’t do that isn’t pure conjecture. During the entire run up to Reid’s hiring, and since, I’ve not read one article that even remotely backs your claims. Your statements should be written as:
“I BELIEVE he knew he would need to succeed quickly in that job or he would not get another one” (a statement that history has proven unequivocally false with regard to failed coaches)
“I BELIEVE he would not have gone to Cleveland or another bad situation” (you do say “IMO”)
Of course his job was safe in GB, but since history has never seen a QB coach get promoted directly to HC, before or since, his normal career path would be to OC, then HC.
There are two incontrovertible facts, however, that kind of kill your suppositions:
1. Being HC in Cleveland for 2-3 years, even as a failed coach, is a better career move than staying as a QB coach in GB. That is a fact. Compare the number of failed coaches who have since been rehired to the number of QB coaches who jump directly to HC (hint: the second number = 1). Even as a failed coach, you’re on the radar of teams. As a QB coach, even in GB, you’re generally not. Again, the numbers to prove this are overwhelming, and far more weighty than any supposition about what Reid would or wouldn’t have done. If Cleveland had offered him the job and Philly hadn’t, he would have taken the job, only because to not do so would have been a really poor career move.
2. No one else offered him the job.
The notion that Reid could have picked and chosen his eventual job flies in the face of these facts, and is based solely on your personal opinions of what he would or wouldn’t have done. The Andy Reid of 1999 was an unproven commodity who didn’t have that luxury. That’s not a knock on him, that’s just the reality of the situation. You’re writing a revisionist history of Reid, perhaps in defense of some slight you’re perceiving against him.
The Eagles were 10-6 the last two years, basically without a defense. True the defensive line was pretty good but it didn’t matter because the secondary was the weak link. If that is fixed the Eagles have to be better based on defense alone.
But lets say this DeMarco Murray fella can run. Lets say he’s getting first downs after two or three cracks at it. And lets say that Bradford gets rid of the ball quickly and accurately. So after a few running first downs the defense goes to 8 in the box and cheating on a ninth. The Eagles go to 11 personel with Zach Ertz, Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews, and Miles Austin as receivers and the play calls for four verticals or there is a double stack or trips to one side. Does Chip Kelly have enough assets and the knowhow to use them? You bet he does! The Eagles have an easy schedule and are going to win 13 games. We won’t even know if the Eagles can beat the good teams until the playoffs because the schedule isn’t tough enough. And by the way, Tom Brady is a cheater.
I hope you are a prophet.
I don’t agree we had no defence – actually we had an average one (or slightly better) if you take into account the numbers per drive. (due to offensive speed our defence face a league leading number of offensive drives)
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestatsdef2014
So league wide we averaged 7th! in yards per drive (29.34), 15th in points per drive (1.85) and 15th in TO’s per drive. Interestingly we were the best in the league in limiting the number of plays per drive to 5.28.
So we a weak secondary we had a pretty decent or league average defence, with our biggest problem being giving up big plays. If we can limit those we should improve to being a very solid unit.
Interestingly we had a pretty average offence if you look at it per drive considering we had the 5th best starting field position and converted that to the 13th best points per drive (1.98) and 14th best yards per drive (31.43)
Can’t say we had no defense. The problem was that there was such a drastic difference between our top 10 run defense, and our poor Pass defense. All the great work our defense would do on first and second round was often pissed away on 3rd down due to the secondary giving up first down completions, or committing a boneheaded penalty extending our opponents drive…
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There is no way our pass defense won’t be significantly improved. We got rid of 3 starting DBs, and replaced them with Legion of Boom corners. A second round rookie, amd bunch of young kids who will battle for open safety spot..
BARWIN, Kiko, Kendricks, ms2.. Who has a stable of LB’s that can cover better then us?
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Also think that B dot Grizzle is a much better pass rusher then COle is at this stage in his career
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Can’t describe how excited I am about this eagle defense, it’s easily going to prove to be the best defense in our division
Can’t forget 2nd in sacks and in the top 10 against the run. I’m interested to know our stats and rankings against TEs. For years they are us up and I feel as though we did good for the most part last year against them.
Yep, FO rated defense overall as 10th in the league, offense as 13th. That defense breaks down to a very good run D and a baddish pass D (18th). Perhaps, understandably, we remember the backbreaking long TDs more than the general competence.
I wonder if ranking 18th despite having a strong D-line shows extreme incompetence by the secondary? If so, our upgrades could be night-and-day if they pan out.
Check out special teams–#1 in the league with 25 hidden points, a large number.
A very interesting stat–the O line is graded 29th in the league (Dallas #1). Not surprising that Shady looked broke and Foles looked terrible. Again, if we get good OL play, imagine the kind of numbers Bradford and Murray could put up.
FO’s grading system is pretty basic and stupid for O line. for passing blocking they use raw no. of sacks give up (high volume of plays hurt eagles here + holding ball a long time). For run blocking they use no -ve run plays, which due to Shady’s running style is artificially inflated.
Not saying our line was a good as PFF made it out to be either but we were not as bad as 29th thats for sure.
Actually the D and ST saved the O’s backside multiple times last year…we definitely had a D, but when your O turns the ball over at historic rates and regularly goes 3 and out, it will expose any D
New Coke….ah man what a disaster that was. You know what was worse than new coke though and doesn’t get half the bad press? Does anyone remember Pepsi Kona, the coffee flavored Pepsi from the 90’s? That dreck tasted like you took a straw and stuck it in some fresh road kill and started sucking.
ew now i want to try it
How about Crystal Pepsi?
The one that really upset me was when they stopped making Josta. That stuff was so good.
Crystal Pepsi was incredible.
It’s not a cola, but one of the all time grossest was “Orbits” (Orbitz?) which was translucent fruit salad spooge with bubble tea floaters.
I think the whole company was founded on the idea -“Everyone will buy this thing ONE time and we’ll be millionaires”.
Wow, that sounds foul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gc6hxTn06w
Oh man I remember that now, but I never drank one of those things.
Pepsi Twist was amazing….Pepsi with a little bit of lemon. I must have drank that everyday as a kid
In terms of raw skill set, talent and tools, wonder how Bradford compares to Eagles QBs of the past 3 decade.
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I don’t know that Bradford will go on to have half the career McNabb Had, but I don’t know that I have ever seen a more talented Eagle QB in my 30 years of bleeding green..
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Yes McNabb, Cunningham and even VICK had a ton of talent. All 3 could run around like chickens with their heads cut off, and all 3 had arm Cannons..
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But I don’t know that I can say any of them have a better skillset that I would want in a QB then Bradford…SAM Is a smart,sharp football mind, can read defenses, has as much arm strength as any EAGLE QB, is probably more accurate then McNabb, Randall and VICK… Bradford is hands down the most talented NFL QB chip ever worked with, but Sam may also have more talent and ability then any eagle QB I ever had the pleasure of rooting for..
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Of course SAM has a very long way to go before he can be a better QB then McNabb. The talent and skill means nothing until you put it to use on the football field… No one would bet on SAM going on to have a better career then McNabb. That’s a long shot and Bradfords body woukd have to cooperate and keep him on the field to even have a chance of catching McNabb..
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But if you understand just how talented Bradford is, it’s easy to understand why Chip rolled the dice on him… An NFL coach could coach for a Decade and not Get his hands on a QB as talented as Bradford, for chip to get his hands on a elite talent of SAM’s caliber in year 3, his first year as a GM, is friggin IMPRESSIVE… It’s a risky proposition, but Chip at least managed to get his hands on a kid who could be the most talented one of the most talented QBs in franchise History, AND the top backüp in the NFL in Sanchez… Impressive moves as a first time GM…. Now if our trainers can keep SAM on the field and chip can get him to realize his full potential, it could go down as an epic move in the history of this franchise… No risk, no reward…. We are taking a big risk,even tho we protected ourselves with Sanchez… If the big risk pans out, there should be a very big reward waiting for us at the end of the rainbow…
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And if the big risk, doesn’t pan out…. We Get on our hands and Knees next March and Beg the “free agent rainmaker” Nick FOLES to sign on to come back to the nest after this season… 😉
the best ability is durability
Yup… Lucky for me, SAM has yet to ever miss a game as an eagle 😉
Yes, DMAC had a cannon, was elusive and could extend plays and make the long throw – I swear though, if I had to watch him throw one more 5 yard pass into the ground in front of a receiver…Let’s hope SB is more accurate.
The most funny/scary thing is that McNabb had the record for most completions in a row.
but he also holds the record for most dead worms
Mass genocide… The “Hitler of worms”…
I hear you man..but SAM accuracy especially accurate short and intermediate should be better then Donovan, but McNabb had big time long ball Accuracy
Bingo.
Bradford — if he’s healthy this year — is a video for how to teach a kid to throw the football.
Every time I see “SB” . . . I think why is “Super Bowl” in that sentence?
Sam Bradford = Jim Plunkett? Similar background with failed teams then Boom. The Eagles are no ’70s Raiders but they are special. Break out the PBR and Funyuns and let’s watch some football!
OD,
Always enjoy when someone knowledgeable invokes an “old-timer” to make a point.
But . . . I can’t join your Plunkett – Bradford comparison.
Plunkett, despite the pounding he took, proved remarkably durable. He missed only two games due to injury in his first 9 season (5 with New England, 2 with SF, 2 with Oak).
[Totally agree that once Plunkett reached Oakland, and had a year off on the bench to heal, he found football nirvana.]
Same with Archie Manning. Despite playing on an even worse team than Plunkett, he missed only 6 games due injury in his first 11 seasons (all with the Saints).
No playoff (let alone championship) QB in the past 55 years has had the kind of start to their career that Bradford’s had — in terms of missed games due to injuries over several seasons.
But there’s always a 1st time for everything.
I’m an 80s baby… Plunkett is above my pay grade 😉
In terms of raw talent I would rank them
Cunningham
Vick
Bradford
McNabb
and yet McNabb had the best career so far.
I get what you are saying, but I combine the mental part of the position as part of the talent, and VICK and Randall were poor to average in terms of football IQ, but alot of that is in part of notoriously poor study habbits, relying soley on athleticism and physical gifts ….so I can’t disagree with you, I’m just judging off a different criteria
I’d rank ’em:
Vick (amazing arm talent and tremendous elusiveness and speed)
Cunningham (amazing power, but slow wind up, tremendous elusiveness and speed)
Bradford = McNabb (Bradford has truly elite arm talent, whereas McNabb was merely very good, but McNabb’s mobility was enough to make up the difference there)
as of when is your ranking? out of college, wouldn’t Vick > Cunningham?
Cunningham was a better passer in college than Vick from what I have read.
I don’t know, I was young then but a full fan when vick was basically Superman at Virginia Tech. So I can’t compare.
Cunningham = Vick . . . because their commitment to professional excellence s-u-c-k-e-d.
McNabb > Bradford strictly for health reasons.
Bradford . . . the sweetest looking delivery, accuracy and arm of any QB coming out of college since the 1983 group.
But has had the same “luck” as Ki-Jana Carter.
Cunningham may have been one of the most amazing raw athletes to ever play the game of football, and therefore, I agree with your list.
Interesting that the NFL wanted the Pariots to suspend Brady, in part so player couldn’t sue the NFL…obviously Kraft didn’t oblige
I cannot see how Brady wins his appeal. The mistakes the NFL has made with other suspensions are due to incorrect process and inconsistent punishments being handed out. There is no similar case to Brady’s to compare and i am sure every NFL lawyer went over this case with a fine tooth comb before they decided on this punishment.
I don’t see how a “deal” with the Pats helps either side. The NFL will look like they are scared they don’t have a case. The Pats will look guilty and trying to cut a deal for a lesser punishment.
I don’t think the Pats will sue. The fact that Kraft went to Peter King to whine makes it less likely to me they will sue.
Deadspin reporting that Kraft and Goodell already “hugged it out” so I imagine they’ve come up with some kind of plan about how they’re going to handle all this.
My feelings of schadenfreude have quickly given way to boredom with this whole thing. Don’t even care what happens, just resolve the thing so we can all move on. God help us if this goes to court.
The most funny part was Kraft treating to sue the NFL, opening him self and the NFL to all sorts of things they do not want to reveal.
In essence the NFL is a cartel, so they can punish and fine teams as they like.
“In essence the NFL is a cartel, so they can punish and fine teams as they like.”
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They can, as long as everyone plays along.
If Al Davis were the owner of a team being punished, I think his threats of a lawsuit wouldn’t be idle.
True, but in the end no owner is interested in having to disclose anything at all to a federal judge.
Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder had threats about lawsuit when they was punish for in essence doing nothing wrong outside of stepping out of line and they did nothing after all.
and now we have this:
“Robert Kraft said he has respect for the commissioner. “I’m gonna accept reluctantly what he’s given to us.” No appeal.”
Your central point — Kraft’s an “NFL guy” — is well taken and right on point.
But if there’s one owner who’ll one day pull the trigger on a lawsuit to change the revenue stream (and only that) . . .
It’ll be Jerry Jones.
and last time Jerry Jones got punished, he end up just taking the punishment.
I’m talking about MONEY.
The Dallas Cowboys are the best-run business operation in the NFL, and maybe the most valuable brand in American sports.
What I wrote — and what I’m saying — is one day, Jones may challenge the rest of the owners on how the money is divided.
That’s all.
I really doubt that.
Jerry Jones makes a ton of money because he is part of the NFL. The NFL would still make a ton money without Jerry Jones
Look at MLB.
The TV money is not shared like the NFL (which explains a lot).
The Dallas Cowboys are the NYYankees of football.
And the Yankees make more money than any other team based on TV rights.
The NFL needs Jones to play ball more than vice-versa.
Because the NFL TV agreements are not unanimous votes — they’re negotiated pursuant to authority in the charter.
Any owner, I think, could bring an anti-trust suit to challenge the allocation of TV rights.
The one with the biggest incentive is Jones.
True, but Jones would also need a few other owners on his side or the rest of the NFL owners could just force Jones out as an owner.
“Force him out” . . .
Don’t know if that’s possible legally (anti-trust / boycott claim) or if the NFL charter even allows it.
Its in the NBA and I would think there is a similar rule in the NFL to protect the “cartel” against rogue owners. I know a sale has to be approved by the rest of the owners.
awesome, that means “we did cheat” to me
Innocent people plead guilty in federal court every day for a variety of reasons.
In 2007, Kraft admitted the Pats violated the rules.
His silence in 2015 says he’s holstered his lawsuit for reasons that have nothing to do with guilt or innocence.
your first para is true, your last one is pure conjecture. You don’t know. The investigation was about one game. Under oath, maybe the ball guy who started in 2007 (right after the rule change) says he’s been doing this since 2007. We will never know.
I do think Kraft was bluffing the whole time, but to me the fact that there is no reduction in the penalty speaks kind of loudly. I can infer from that what I want.
RNE:
My implication in Para. 3 is, “in my opinion, based on prior behavior . . . .”
Yes, a guess based on prior behavior. To be sure.
got it. I just think that “if” the ball handlers were letting air out b/c Brady either directly or indirectly told them to do so, then it’s been going on for years. Not one game, no way.
“There is no similar case to Brady’s to compare . . . ”
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You’ve just dived head-first into the “law of the shop” that’s considered part of every collective bargaining agreement.
“Law of the shop” includes past disciplinary practices (including both the process and the punishments).
Regarding past similar cases, the “law of the shop” standard’s not especially rigid.
For Brady, he’d direct a court (since Goodell’s not going to cut him any slack) to the Panther’s apparent violation of the game-ball rule by heating kicking balls without anything more than a warning — and no investigation, despite the possibility that the Panthers have been heating kicking balls in cold weather for years.
The NFLPA will have quite a bit to work with, based on the language of the CBA, the lack of notice to the Pats that the NFL suspected possible wrongdoing (whereas, for example, the Panthers were warned), the punishments to other players, and the Wells Reports’ own defects.
The issue, if Brady goes to court, will be whether the federal judge will grant a temporary injunction prohibiting his suspension until the case is resolved.
Question regarding Brady appeal and possible Kraft appeal.
If the NFL based their penalty judgement on recurring behavior (called out in the past, and caught in the present), how much inside information becomes available and germane to the case?
i.e., if the NFL can gain access to all communications (e-mail, voice mail, text, phone calls, etc.) how likely are the Patriots to open their operation up to such scrutiny? Can’t the prosecution request said info from ALL management and staff within the organization?
No way Kraft ends up appealing, as it will open up way too much info to a Federal judge (also on what basis can an federal judge overturn a fine/punishment from a “legal” cartel?)
“on what basis can an federal judge overturn a fine/punishment from a ‘legal’ cartel?”
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If the commissioner exceeds his authority under the “Membership Agreement,” NFL charter, by-laws, or rules.
That’s it. Same as with an arbitrator.
If so, I suspect the Kraft has zero points he can win on in an appeal, as the Pats a series offenders and the punishment isnt much different than the Saints or the Pats last punishment
in fact, the Saints lost their coach who didn’t know about it for a year!! You can argue that Belicheat not being suspended is lenience. But I get that the Saints bounty program could injure players, which is more serious.
I think the NFL’s best defense is “we make sh#t up as we go along” so how can we ever violate the shop rule. There is no consistency at all!!! “
I think the NFL’s best defense is “we make sh#t up as we go along” so how can we ever violate the shop rule. There is no consistency at all!!! ”
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That’s beautiful.
You’d not be surprised then that I see arguments like that from time to time to explain any number of screw ups by criminal defendants, prosecutors, clients, and judges.
Just beautiful!
Kraft’s an “NFL” guy. Al Davis was an “Al Davis” guy.
Regarding the punishments on the Saints, I don’t think that would matter in a court dispute.
No “law of the shop” among owners.
ASIDE: When the baseball owners hired Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis as the first commission in 1919, he insisted on “unlimited” power and “lifetime” tenure. And he got it (following the Black Sox scandal).
Goodell does not have “lifetime” tenure.
But — it’s quite possible — among the owners, he has “unlimited” authority.
Why wouldnt the Saints punishment matter in a case about whether Goodell exceeded his power or acted unfairly?
A:
I thought you were limiting yourself to the punishment against the franchise and the coaches — which is different from the players.
If you look at the players, they appealed and Goodell appointed former commissioner Tagliabue to hear their appeals.
And Tagliabue reversed every one of those punishments.
you wrote this:
“If the commissioner exceeds his authority under the “Membership Agreement,” NFL charter, by-laws, or rules”
So, isnt the Saints punishment or the Spygate good starting points for what kind of punishment have been accepted before hand?
Yes — to teams.
Ultimately, besides the late Al Davis, no NFL owner’s gone the whole 9 miles to challenge a commissioner’s authority. They gripe and accept it. Better for the league.
Yep, the NFL earns the owners so much money now that even a 1 million fine and lost draft pick is not enough for a serious challenge.
” . . . money . . .”
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That’s the best argument to explain everything here.
the Pats make up more than $1M on not having to pay Brady.
yes and no.
Cant really compare what they pay in salaries to players to anything else.
Re: authority, it seems that such would be implicit, as the remedy is to get enough votes to oust him. The idea being, of course, that he serves role the Marxists ascribe to government: protect capital from ruinous intra-class competition.
that’s irony!
I do believe the discovery process would be quite different and much more open. One of the reasons that the Pats would not want to go there.
In theory, discovery in a private arbitration — like Brady’s appeal — is “private.”
But would there be leaks? Have there been leaks in the past? Absolutely.
The “cooperation” issue is the achilles heal for Brady.
In terms of discovery, it’ll be very fairly on the appeal to Goodell. And it’ll be zero in federal court (given that the case concerns only whether Goodell exceeded his authority).
But what will be of interest to the NFLPA are prior rules violations. And vice-versa for the NFL regarding the Pats.
Will the parties cooperate? The NFL, I suspect, will provide info about rules violations by other teams. The Pats? I suspect their position will be that the NFL’s already conducted an investigation. And the appeal is limited to whether Goodell acted fairly with Brady.
[Pats already acknowledging they won’t go to court.]
If the NFLPA discovers competitve rules violations by other teams and players that had no consequences, that information will definitely be leaked. And that information will create a substantial basis for vacating Brady’s penalty in front of a federal judge, I think.
It is odd to me they only warned the other team that was heating the balls. But oh well.
RNE:
Totally agree in hindsight.
But in real time, the argument would be that the NFL — in truth — did not consider manipulating the football to gain a competitive advantage a big deal.
but then why punish the Pats so badly and not the other team? b/c of Spygate (recurring cheating)?
[just playing that side, I truly believe the Pats have been doing this for years and that, in a game like the Ravens, it truly does matter. So I am fine with the harsh penalties]
The NFL did say that the harsh punishment was because of recurring cheating.
But the question remains, why did Brady get 4 games when no one on the Panthers even received a telegram?
I was talking about the Pats, not Brady.
This tread has too many replies to each now that we are getting confused
YES . . . too many comments now.
$1 million question!
I was focused on the merits and not the question of scope of authority. Whoops. Assuming you are right, that would seem to not be a fun exercise for the NFL. Better to just reduce his suspension a little.
“And the appeal is limited to whether Goodell acted fairly with Brady.”
I suppose this means whetere Goodell showed any bias in his ruling right? If so, the players (including Brady) has already signed a CBA that allows Goodell to be the judging party even if he has an interest, so from a CBA point it will be hard to overrule that Goodell cant show bias. (Sometimes law / justice system makes zero common sense tho)
Sorry . . .
By “fairly,” I mean whether Goodell acted in accordance with the authority under the CBA and law of the shop.
If they demonstrate Brady being a multiple offender, doesn’t that justify the penalty? Would defense have to find multiple violations by the same player? And what of the possible evidence in Brady’s phone/text/email records, do they need to be clean, or would it even matter (other than Brady’s legacy) if other players had been caught and not punished?
Again, lack of cooperation is achilles heal for Brady. (He should have had the NFLPA run interference on that issue during the investigation.)
I don’t know if that fact alone would sustain a 4-game suspension.
But if I were a federal judge, I’d write an opinion vacating his punishment for what happened with the footballs . . . BUT say that on remand to the commissioner, a 4-game suspension for lack of cooperation would be within his authority.
reading about the UDFA Tomlinson, he sounds pretty decent, big TE that can block really well and could move to tackle maybe in the future.
Attention . . . P_P_K:
You asked about the origin of — as you neatly described it — the quaint phrase, “law of the shop.”
The phrase grew out of the term “union shop” — which first popped up in federal court decisions shortly after the turn of the 20th century.
But it wasn’t until the mid-20th century, when arbitral grievance proceedings under CBAs between unions and employers became common place, the the phrase “law of the shop” became commonly used by the courts.
The first time the phrase “law of the shop” appears in a reported federal case is 1960. And, again, its strictly used to describe the standards surrounding the union-employer grievance process.
it is sad that the NFL’s new medical chief is spending one day a month on NFL matters. Way to fake taking the medical issues seriously.
Where did you read that? Is this bureaucratic matters or something related to policy/paperwork? In that case it seems fine. If it’s dealing with NFL-related injuries I have to agree with you.
read # 5:
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/19/nfl-roger-goodell-dean-blandino-ndamukong-suh-eli-manning-tom-brady-deflategate/
Thanks. Yeah, this is bull-you-know-what. They need to fork out the money to get a full-time specialist to be the chief.
For ACViking
How do the Pats stand in regards to there suspended employees if they decide to file lawsuits?
It just seems kind of funny that the Pats suspended them on order of the NFL, but at the same time a screaming that they didnt do anything wrong. If the Pats keep claiming they didnt do anything wrong, on what basis can they legally suspended the employees?
I am not ACV but I believe the ball guys are part time, seasonal employees only working on game days. They are not out anything yet.
I also thought the NFL said they can’t handle the footballs anymore, but I imagine that will be moot b/c the NFL will surely change letting the team handle the balls right?
So at that point the Pats could give them other duties on game day. But I doubt that happens, I bet they are gone.
I doubt they have any standing to bring a lawsuit against the Pats (being a possibly rule breaking ball boy is not a protected class, they are at-will) but I imagine in exchange for a confi agreement (though likely already one in place) they get a little severance.
The thing is, if the Pats say nobody did anything wrong, they in the eyes of the Pats cant be rule breakers and therefor have done nothing illegal.
I do suspect that they will get some sort of compensation, but it just looks weird that they accept the suspension of the ball boys but not their own.
see my comment above.
but you can fire someone in the US for any reason other than improper (illegal) reasons. Saying “F Tom Brady” in a text would also certainly qualify. They come off as untrustworthy jerks. That’s plenty sufficient.
Thank god, Im not working in the US.
hopefully you are in France, where almost no one can be fired.
Denmark, where we might have the best unions in the world (we do not need laws about minimum wages etc, its all done by unions and no matter how large a company, you end up accepting em).
Hopefully France will follow the path of the northern Europe in terms of labour and social rights and not the path of Germany
Preach. We have many flaws but the protection of the employees is such a great asset
I work in USA, but I work and get paid for an ITalian company… Can’t beat it
One was a part time employee, the other was full time employee who even traveled with the team
of course, how could I forget otherwise how was Brady cheating on the road.
“full time” v. “part time”
___________
Just means one worked more than the other, right?
Both are “at will” and now G-O-N-E.
their phones must be ringing off the hook right?
oh did we not give you a SB ring? here you go.
LOL!!!
every sports reporter should be trying to talk to them
RNE:
Great point.
Question #1: How much money did they receive as severance? Probably zero, right?
Question #2: How much money do they have to defend themselves in a Breach-of-Confidentiality lawsuit, based on the confidentiality agreement they signed — which may very well include a “liquidated damages” clause awarding the Patriots $50,000 for a proven violation?
Probably zero, again, right?
[I’m assuming every NFL employee, even jock-strap washers, sign these agreements. Kelly probably has them sign twice.]
Question #3: How much will a news organization be willing to back their reporter on protecting her source if an article is published reporting merely that “one of the two employees says…”
Doubt any reputable source would pay for that story, but if revenge is a strong enough motivator, they might not have to, if the Pats truly cut them adrift.
the Pats’ treatment of the ball boys (you are suspended) v. Brady (you didn’t do it? we believe you!!) just goes to the power of the elite. You are right, it is totally inconsistent and not fair, like life.
Anyone who can get a written contract for a fixed term absolutely should — no matter what the line of work.
If the employees do not have written contracts (and there’s no way they do), they’d be considered “at will” employees under Massachusetts law. So they work at the pleasure of their employer.
Under federal and MA law, an employee can fight a firing if he’s fired based on prohibited discrimination (race, sex, religion, etc) or in retaliation for reporting a violation of public policy (ex., a produce wholesaler is falsifying place-of-origin information and fired employee tells the FDA).
Otherwise, these two guys have no viable claim.
Regarding the NFL’s role, or what the implications of their firing may be, doesn’t appear to make a difference.
Why would anybody work with no written contract?
I know its a little of base, but in theory the employees has zero proof what wage, work hours etc. they work under, so the employer can screw with them in 107 ways without any consequences?
in most of the US probably workers don’t have contracts.
On the other hand, not paying someone for hours worked can be criminal. So you do have protections for that. There are real consequences.
But how can they ever proof they worked there if they do not have a written contract? Or lets say they agree to 20 dollars per hour, but suddenly only get 10 dollars per hour?
Various evidence would prove employment.
But the rate of pay’s a bigger problem.
Again, if your first paycheck is wrong — get out of Dodge.
Very few employers do that, by the way. But it does happen.
So, how hard is it to get work visas over there?
Easy enough, but remember our tax system is quite different (I pay around 1/3 of my wage in taxes, I pay 25% in VAT, things like food is super expensive and I pay around 180% in taxes on my car)
but what do you pay for college, health care and retirement?
I pay for books in college and thats it (while I also get 800 dollars per month), I pay zero for most health care (some things costs, but I get grants on things not covered) and we have paid retirement by the state, but almost everybody pay some extra to retirement (I pay 12%, where 8% is paid by my employer, thank you union and 4% by my self and if you work in the government you get 17% on top of you pay).
Also rent or buying a house is actually cheaper in Denmark.
right so you get good value for those higher taxes and VAT etc.
yea pretty much.
Things my taxes go to is things like social security, such as unemployment pay of around 2000 dollars per month or if you pay to an unemployment fund, you can get up to 80% of your last wage for 2 years
See, I barely make $2000 a month. Nothing you’re saying sounds like a negative to me.
Things are so dicey in America right now employment and income wise (and it’s only getting worse) that I’m envious of the security your system provides.
CS:
Still wanna go?
Without going too far down the political rabbit hole, I can totally understand why the US is great if you’re already making money. For the rest of us working two jobs and still not making it, taxes don’t scare me in the least. That’s more services I’d have never had access to.
So, Sure. Let’s do this.
CS:
Said with great thoughtfulness.
much wisdom to your comment.
proof of wage is in your first pay-check. but if you get screwed there, quit and find another job.
once you get that first pay-check, at least in terms of your rate of pay, you’re covered.
beyond that, employees have few rights in the US.
But cant an employer just argue that they agreed to a new wage because he couldnt afford him the higher wage?
The rule in the US (under both federal and state law) is, an employer must pay an employee the same wage for at least 1 week.
After that 1 week, the wage can be lowered.
(Wages can be increased any time)
Thats like the shittiest protection of once wage I have heard about.
WELCOME TO AMERICA
And we haven’t even begun talking about actual wage theft on a large scale.
you can fire people at will. But there is a cost to hiring. I just don’t think it makes sense to hire someone saying I’ll pay you $10 an hour and then pay $8. Often there is an offer letter with the wage listed in it.
Now certainly in hard times you can say now I can only pay you $8 going forward, and you can continue working or not. Not in unions of course.
here’s hoping the Sixers do well in the lottery tonight.
How much would another team give for the Top Spot — if ‘6ers draw it?
’cause how can they use another big guy?
Both Towns and Noel can play the 4, so that is 96 minutes between Noel, Towns and Embiid, which is more than enough
My secret dream is to get the Lakers pick to convey and we get a big with the 2nd (unless it’s Russell / Hezonja).
Well there is the minutes for 3 big men, and i think all 3 possible pairs could work together. Give you the option to trade one in 1-2 years time for a superstar when you are ready to contend.
Think it depends hugely on how the Lotto works out. If one of the teams in the 8-10 range jump up to 3 a trade makes a lot of sense for both sides. However most of the teams in the top 6 have traded away future 1st makes player trading hard – and i am not sure there is a player i want from most of their rosters excluding the Twolves.
Personally i think if you get no.1, you take towns, play all 3 next year and see how they look, and then trade one of them for a top pick next year once you have worked it out.
Tonight is the official start to the Summer of Sam…HInkie and Bradford that is,,
so who’s the best fit for Sixers?
Mudiay is HINKies pick… Then Hezonja, then Porzingis,.. But if he picks high enough Towns is probably too talented to pass on, he will have No interest in OKafor or over rated D’angelo Russell…
..
If we pick top 4, it will be spent on Towns, Mudiay, Hezonja or Porzingis… But Mudiay is HINKies grand prize…
But Mudiay is HINKies grand prize
__________
Is he No. 1 – Top spot quality?
If not, where do you think he goes?
If Sixers are Top 5, will he reach them?!?!?!?!
I think he might like Russell more, but that’s just my opinion. If for some reason we hit 5 & 6, I want Hezonja and either Winslow or Porzingis.
I think it’s Hezonja, not either PG.
Every day I become a bigger Hezonja fan.
Certainly can make a case for the #1 wing player in the draft
No chance…russell isn’t in Mudiays league as a PG prospect.. His lack of athleticism will water his game down at the next level,like all the big 1
Love how the USA media overrates the NCAA players. They overvakue a freshman in the Big 10, who played poorly in almost all his big games because he has a polished jump shot..yet they under rate the kid who mAde $1.2mil this year in China, lol $120,000 per game for 10 games.. Russell could never do what Mudiay did in China. Russell would have been burried on a bench playing 2min, just like we did with brandon Jennings in Rome, barely played him..
#onesixeleven
The pick i really want is no.6 from the Lakers – i am a huge Mario fan, and i would probably prefer 5 and 6 to any single pick outcome except no.1
To be clear:
Lakers’ pick is Top-5 protected? What about next year if Sixers don’t get it this season?
Top 3 next two years if I remember correctly
Maybe next year’s a better year to get that pick.
But I have no clue about who the HS Seniors are who’ll be going to the NBA in 12 months.
and you don’t know how bad the Lakers will be.
They will still be top 10 draft pick range bad next year
right but if they are top 3 you don’t get it. So it’s a crap shoot just like now. The problem is if Lakers jump back to 6, that means Sixers likely got jumped twice too. Or once? I am confused, but it’s bad for the Sixers’ own pick.
I’ll just wait and see.
I think the Sixers can stay at 3 and still get the Lakers pick, but Im not sure.
Yes,, the top 3 spots are a lottery.. So you could see for example the Suns and Kings win the first two spots in the lottery while the SIXERS just so happen to win the 3rd spot.. Then it would become:
..
1) Suns
2) &ings
3) SIXERS
4) wolves
5) Knicks
6) Lakers/SIXERS
7) Magic….
..
1/6, 2/6 and 3/6 are all possibke
Next years draft is awesome.. What I like about it is I don’t care bout the top 3 guys,I love a lot of the kids in the 4-12 range next year… A lot of good Big Men next year, but really poor PG draft, HINKie knows this which is why he will try hard to land the best PG prospect of the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 draft class, Emmanue Mudiay, best PG to enter the league since Kyrie … Fortunately the USA media hasn’t figured this out yet and they are creating the bulshit D’angelo Russell smoke screen. Bet HInkie loves all the Russell talk
..
WOULDNT mind having 3 picks in 4-12 range next year, but if we get the lakers pick, you can bet it willl be Hezonja or Porzingis, after we already drafted Mudiay
…
As long as Kobe is still a laker they will be picking in the top 10… They won’t ever get out the lottery until Kobe retires
Emmanue Mudiay, best PG to enter the league since Kyrie
____________
That’s great info!
Any other super-elite types in this draft?
Towns, Mudiay, Russell, Super Mario, Winslow
No Russell or Winslow in the top 5 for HINKie
Porzingis is talented enough To where if he gets picked #1(which won’t happen), I wouldn’t bat an eye… He is THAT talented, but will require Patience. The kid could be incredible 3 years from now
..
Hezonja is more valuable then people think. Long, tall, sweet shooting shooter(best shooter in the draft) polished developed skill set, yet his athleticism is off the charts so he still has a really high ceiling to grow into.. A team can draft him and comfortable count on getting a Gordon Hayward type with Zack Lavine athleticism. HInkie has been scouting him for years…
..
Mudiay is truely special. People knock his shootings but his jumper is FAR from Broke, and if you take a look at the development and evolution of his mechanics the past year and a half, his shot has improved a lot and is recentky starting to show really sound shooting mechanics. And once a kid gets the shooting mechanics down, improvement into a consistent shooter usually isn’t too far around the corner,,, he is a pass first, crisp passing, ball handling, explosive athlete who lives to blow by his man, get in the lane and either collapse the defense and kick it to the snipers on the wings, or draw a help defender and feed our big men for wide open dunks…and if the help defense doesn’t respect him and step up, he will dunk on their head… Funny to see ignorant media rave about D’angelo,who will get layups blocked in his face worse then Evan Turner, when we can have a PG who can casually take one step and do the Harold Miner dunk with ease…
…
Draft Mudiay now, and next year His AAU backcourt mate Maik Newman can be had outside the top 5. A Bradley Beal types uper. Sign with Mississpi state after winning 4 Mississippi state titles in High school, also won two gold medals and a MVP. Stone cold sniper and Winner
…
Everytime Mudiay and Russell shared a court Mudiay Ate him alive. It’s not even close. Ask any of the top prospects which PG they would rather have, they would all tell you Mudiay… Not to mention Russell came up small in most of his big games… If Russell played in China, and Mudiay played in NCAA, no one would care about Russell…blocky for us, HINKie has put inthe work scouting both, so he will know
this is some absolutely great background material.
I think Russell is the highest floor player – i cannot see him not being a top 15 PG in 5 years time. But i cannot see him be a top 3 PG at any point in his career – I think he lacks that elite athleticism that you need to take over NBA games.
Mudiay has a lot of issues, but his raw tools are great and if everything works out he can be super special.
I am a huge Super Mario fan (i want the 6 pick so badly), I think he has the tools to be an elite SG in this league, and his shot is silky which should translate well at the NBA level.
I don’t believe hinkie, a GM drafting for upside would take Russell in the top 4..he doesn’t have one of the 4 highest ceilings… It will take a dumb team like the Knicks who are slaves to instant gratification and think they can skip steps and grow into a contender overnight will overvalue Russell,., a GM like hibkie who trusts his player development coaches won’t make Russell one of the top 4 picks., Russell needs to fall to like #6 to be the best player available for hinkie… Russell isn’t bad, just slightly over rated by the media that doesn’t understand just how talented kids like Musiay, Hezonja and Porzingis are. They don’t understand just how talented Porzingis is. I could see hibkie pass on Porzingis for Mudiay, but I can’t envision him passing on Porzingis upside for Russell…
…
I don’t believe Okafor or Russell will get picked by sixera if we get a top 4’pick .,,think the top 6 picks will look different then the media mock consensus
http://nba.derekbodner.com/2015/04/27/2015-sixers-big-board-5-0/
This guy is maybe the best Sixers draft nerd
Interested to see how Hezonja’s agent handles his client. His agent is the same one that represents Saric.. Some have wondered if Saric and his agent colluded with Hinkie to steer him to philly. The rumors come from his agent basically doing the opposite of what you would do to get your client drafted as high as possible. The handling of Saric pre draft made no sense. Your client is one of the most talented kids in the draft but he is unknown.so you decide to:
1) hold him out of the combine
2) refused to have any individual workouts with ANY teams
3) two days before the draft you announce that you signed a 3yr deal in turkey?
.
Those aren’t the actions of a talented kid trying to get drafted as high as possible. Those are the actions of a kid who got a promise from a team in the lottery that he was happy going to, who was willing to let you stay in turkey for two more years.. Very curious.. He had the talent to go as high as -#4 to the magic instead of Aaron Gordon if he would have worked out for teams… The kid fell all the way to sixera at 10 and we bluffed the magic into trading up a spot for Elfryd Peyton while we still got Dario
..
A year later the same agent represent Hezonja again one of the most talented kids in the draft, and he kept him out of the combine. If I see his agent decline to let him workout for anyone, I’m going to say Holy Crap, hibkie is trying to steal Hezonja..
..
Could be coincidence, but I’m curious to find out if there is any truth to the rumors..
Very interesting theory . . . totally odd, as you said.
So do you like Hezonja to the Sixers?
Yeah..he fits what hinkE wants. Top wing player in the:draft, certain we have interest… Only flaw is he will need to commit to the defensive side of the ball, but he has the length and athleticism to defend, he was just an offensive rockstar since he wasn16, hasn’t hadma coach yet who consistently demanded defensive focus out of him… But it’s,correctable, not a limitation, and he isn’t staying in Europe, he will come over right away… Super athletic Gordon Hayward type scorer with serious range, plays with confidence, won’t be intimidated
Well Barca does have a 4 year option that he will need to buy out, but this is the only year he can get out of the contract so he is either coming this year or waiting 4 year apparently.
Think his defensive deficiencies are overstated – he can defend really well at times, but he just does not put in consistent effort. That is the biggest thing you need to understand with Mario, do you believe he will give effort consistently on defence – if you do then the lack of polished skills the sixers should be able to address, but if not he will always be a liability on defence.
Exactky, he has to take the buyout or he gets stuck there for 3 years and he hates it there,,, been jerking him around with politics for years,…no chance he stays there 3 more years,.he hates them,.. And yes, his defense ismt a concern, the ability is there, he will be fine…. Really translates well to the NBA game, where as a guy like D’angelo Russells game will be watered down a bit at the next level due to his lack of athleticism
I really don’t follow the NBA too closely, but isn’t there an advantage if they play 3 years overseas, then are not restricted by rookie contract caps when they come over?
Yes but both Hezonja and Porzingis happen to be coming over right away…Saric should join us this time next year when Euroleague playoffs end
Porzingis and Hezonja are both going to be good players in this league. Hezonja is an immediate fit on this team, and his attitude might be something they need. Porzingis could rotate with the 2 bigs, and we’d own the paint.
Next year it’s top 3 protected, 2017 it’s No protection..
Nope, it’s top 5 for 2015, top 3 for 2016 and 2017, and unprotected for 2018. Miami’s is the one which is also protected top 10 next year, then unprotected in 2017.
My dream is:
,.
1) Kings take Towns
2) Sixers
3) Suns
4) wolves
5) Knicks
6) Sixers/lakers
….
The Sixers force the Suns to give us the rights to Bojan Bogdonavic so they can trade up 1 spot for Okafor, so we move to 3 and get Mudiay … We could come away with:
The Rights to Bojan Bogdanovic
Emmanuel Mudiay with our 3rd pick
Mario Hezonja with 6th pick from Lalkers
And with the Heat pick Trade back and take Rondae Hollis Jefferson
RD 2
George Lics Alves de Paula
JP Tokoto to replace KJ McDanils
CEDI Osman, leave him in turkey for a year or two
Chris McCoullough, injured talented Bigman from Syracuse
…
My dream
I think they might take Mario pretty high.
I’m going with the safe bet, that the Cavs get the first pick.
most lotteries you have to play to win, this one you have to not play to win, like the sixers did
ACV, do you think Goddell held something back (maybe didn’t quite have all the facts on this tangent, but knew there was something there) and that’s how he convinced Kraft to move along?
Possible. Seems like the Wells Report put all the facts (and some non-facts) out there, though.
I’d be more inclined to believe other owners — the top business guys like Jerry Jones, Richardson, and McNair — told Kraft exactly what Kraft would have told them.
Basically, enough dirty laundry’s been aired. Let’s move on.
I think they probably cut a deal of some sort… Goodell probably offered an olive branch and Kraft decided to cut his losses.
I get the concern about Bradford injury history, but it’s frustrating to see so much of the fans and media already assuming that his knee ISNT strong enough to be a pocket QB, when I see hated arians and recent/old rival Cardinals,not have a care in the world in regards to Carson Palmer coming back from the ACL injury which happened more recently then Sam’s.. Cardinal fans argue that it’s no big deal for a pocket QB to get over an ACL, yet so much of our FANBASE and Media is in total doom n gloom over Braford..
I hate Arians. More than I should.
but not more then me.
I will challenge that claim… Despise that jackass.. He looks like a pig wearing a Kangol and thick black emo hipster glasses…dork. Someone should give that clown a wedgie, wet willy, and stuff him in a locker
Self-awareness is the first step to enlightenment
That is a very popular sentiment on this board, but I can’t help but like him. To me he’s better than 90% of the current HC rotation. A student of the game, and his players love him.
I think the hate stems from the Steelers/Ravensesque way that he blames injuries/dirty plays/refs for why his team lost the game.
Maybe he doesn’t preach that behind closed doors, but it’s enough reason to hate him as a fan of another team.
Oh I get it. He’s been fairly successful, and really that is the only necessary criteria.
John Fox does that too.
Hate that.
who cares if he’s a good coach or his players like him.
he aint the eagles coach so screw him and his kangol
Well said.. Poetic even…elegant, yet understated…bravo..”screw him and his Kangol/emo hipster glasses”
Oh I absolutely think he is a great coach, but I hate his guts….the type you hate, unless he is our coach…
Belicheck might be the greatest coach ever, but do you like him too?
Not a fan. I acknowledge his defensive prowess, but whenever he is talking into a mike I get an uncomfortable vibe, like he’s insincere or needs a laxative.
or he is the devil.
I actually get a kick out of Belicheck.
Arians bugs me -not that I think he’s a bad coach, I just don’t like him.
I didn’t like Buddy Ryan either (though he WAS a terrible head coach).
we are doom and gloom no matta what.
you could put brady back there and we will complain that he is old now.
you put brees back there and we will say he is too short.
you put rogers back there and we would say he can’t win outside of GB or his knee was hurt a bit last year, or something stupid….
you throw VICK back there though and we get excited, and he fumbles away the season or whatever.
Bradford is going to go off in this offense. and he will be here for the long haul. that’s multiple SB years.
(sam Bradford years or Super bowl years)
I think it has more to due with the fact that Bradford hasn’t played a meaningful game since he tore it twice. Tears it mid-season in 2013, comes back and tears it again in the preseason in 2014, that would make him look fragile. Palmer has had a few years in between his tears and looked legit before tearing it last year.
All fair points, im sure it factors into it… but Palmer is no spring chicken. If he gets hurt again, his career is probably over…I would also feel so much more comfortable knowing we have sanchez on the bench, then the crP the Cardinals have backing up Carson…
…
To be honest, Bradfords injury DOESNT concern me this year. I feel great about it, how much more unlucky can he be?
..
My fear is that he light up the NFL this year, we commit, and then the injury bug Bites him again in year 2 or 3… But the man has like 60mil in the bank. While he has poor football luck, he is very lucky financially…our luck he lights it up in the contract year, gets PAID again, and we then deal with 3 more years of injury… That’s my fear…. But I feel great about him this year.mhopefully having a great year proves to be a gift instead of a curse,
If healthy, best QB in green since the Dutchman.
That is my biggest fear as well – plays lights out, signs huge contract, then never plays the same again. I agree that Palmer would be done if he gets hurt again, but I think Bradford would be too. I don’t think that he comes back from tearing his ACL a 3rd time. He said he contemplated retiring for a week after tearing it the 2nd time. I think people will be fearing Bradford gets reinjured for the rest of his career, the fear will only get less and less as the years go on.
we only need one year lights out win the bowl. we all go home and relax, who cares about next year
If Bradford wins us a Superbowl next year, then I won’t care how much they give him! Haha. But then all the Cowgirl, Gnats, and Potato fans will say “come see us when you win more then one SB.”
My nightmare concern… Give me 4 healthy years in a row of Bradford and I’ll gladly suffer a decade of musical chairs with QBs… Give chip healthy SAM for 4years and I would bet on chip and SB winning the SB!!
4yrs in a row with a healthy Bradford would be NICE! We have already been playing musical chairs with our QBs for the better part of a decade, although it feels like an eternity. I just want some damn stability!
I hear you bro… I’m a big believer in needing continuity with teammates and in a scheme..I don’t believe it’s possibke to see the best a QB is capable of in his first year playing in a scheme… I’m not a sanchez fan, but I’d bet he plays better then he did last year now that he will) have some continuity in this scheme..I’d give everything to have SAM to stay healthy enough to really grow in this scheme the next 3-4 years…
..
This is why I’m so excited about counting on so many ypung players who are still growing in this scheme, going into year 2, year 3(4th NFL seasons), because I know that while they are still this young, the players can grow tremendously from one year to the next. Our talented young players will work hard and should look like better plYers then what they were last year. We have so many ypung players that adding up all their individual improvements combined with all the talent upgrades we made, I expect a significantly improved team from last season… Heck if we just stay healthywe would be much better then last year even if we didn’t add anyone to the roster… But we added a lot of talent and depth… And when we combine all the individual improvements, we should see a much improved team from last year….. Hopefully we paid our injury karma dues already
Because players like Bradford and their track record after having the 2nd surgery is almost completely unknown since no other QB has done it. We’ll see how Palmer and Bradford do this year.
“Since 1998, there have been 1,254 NFL players with knee-related injuries that were placed on injured reserve, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Of those, 249 were identified to have ACL injuries. And just nine injured — before Palmer — the same one at least twice.”
http://espn.go.com/blog/arizona-cardinals/post/_/id/10816/carson-palmer-facing-differnet-recovery-rehab-eight-years-after-first-acl
Rate of a retear isn’t trivial either. It is anywhere from 5-7% if involved in strenuous physical activity too on an ACL that has been repaired twice previously. Most people who have this are prohibited from resuming in certain activities (eg skiing) or have some clear physical restrictions.
That is true, but most people don’t have world class trainers, doctors, and technology to assist them in coming back.
I think that has to be taken into account.
I hear ya, but I think Palmer is given a pass because he took quite a few shots prior to the ACL tear, and he had a longer track record on the field % time. I’m not worrying about the nervous fans who are waiting for the next season-ending Bradford injury. but what I really don’t get is the fear that he “may suck”. Where in the hell is that coming from? The guy has been consistently good to very good on a team that was totally less than mediocre. Bradford is more talented than Foles full stop. He could be lights out great working this up-tempo offense, but he isn’t going to suck.
Oh look, a GEAGLE post complaining about other fans and the media…..
ANDERS . . . .
How did you come like Am. football — and be such a great Eagles fan?
In 1998 a legendary kicker named Morten Andersen kicked the Falcons in a Super bowl, that Super Bowl was the first ever televisoned NFL game in Denmark, so in 1999 a small TV station showed 2 matches per week (the 2 early).
The first couple of years, I didnt have a favorite team, but in 2002 I remember watching the Eagles beat the Bucs during the regular season and feel in love with McNabb and Jim Johnson’s defense.
You’re in Denmark? Man, I love that place. Great people, great social system.
yep, I also love it here and wouldnt move at all.
I’ve become a fan of their crime serials recently…The Killing…the one with the lady Prime Minister…the elite special forces… the homicide cops who travel to the crime scenes on a bus driven by a retired soccer hero. I suspect Danish TV puts ours to shame.
yea, Danish serials by our State Television is very popular in other countries.
von Trier’s “The Kingdom” was probably the best thing he’s done (I’m not a fan, though).
Our nation could learn a lot from the Danes.
Great people. Great social system. Great Danes.
That should read:
“Great Danes . . . Batman!”
“Jinkies, I think old man ACV missed the dog reference, old buddy old pal. It must have been the anchovy and banana pizza. ”
“And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you offseason-commenting kids.”
ATG:
No, I did get the dog reference. (Took two readings, though.)
But Baloophi’s poetry reminded me of Robin’s “Great Danes . . . Batman”- type comments.
Another great Dane? How about Niels Bohr, who in the early 20th century won the Nobel prize after rejecting J.J. Thomson’s “plum pudding” model of atomic structure and establishing modern quantum mechanics? PLUS: A handsome individual. Sort of a cross between Tom Hulce and Fred Gwynne…
A fred gwyne reference!
Fantastic
thanks tommy for the big dude bacon strip overworn underwear ad ! does your market research show that shoving gross underwear in dudes faces leads to big sales? expecially with a tag line ..”your first pair is on us” ..that’s f in disgusting. I get the joke and glad to see you make an ad sale so it wont keep me from reading
My friend… it might be time to examine your Google habits.
it really does have me thinking . worried..im like creeping my self out yikes! ..im ready to blame it on the wife actually ..we share 1 laptop!
Blame it on the woman!!..They blame everything else on us guys so at least you can get that one on her lol
Someone has some strange cookies saved on his browser.
Time to check your drawers!
I don’t see that ad. Think the ads pop up based on what you are searching online. Maybe you should stop visiting gross men’s underwear sites! Haha!
HAHAHA you’re exactly correct friend, the ads are based on your recent internet site visits and google searches. He should probably delete that post because when you basically tell everyone that you look into whatever it is he looks into isn’t the best look.
That’s what I figured! I looked on 3 wishes . com once for some lingerie for my girlfriend and the next time I came to this site there was an ad across the top for that website. Thought that too much of a coincidence!
the internet is smarter than the average daveH.. (chuckles)
Big Brother is always watching! (nervous, scared chuckle)
“I’m sorry, daveH. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Hmm, interesting…
(…looks around nervously, then scrolls to my own adds. Winces. Realizes no one can see them except me…)
…I wonder why I keep getting these adds for penis reduction surgery and investing massive wealth in buying small island nations? Google is so weird.
(Exhales, wipes brow)
that IS funny .. wonder if its from my wife ???? AHHHHHHHHH
i dont have those ads.. (fart sound)
Rule change official for the PAT/2PT conversion. Looks like they went with the compromise solution:
– PAT pushed back to the 15-yard line.
– 2PT conversion will be the 2-yard line (so no dice on the “Tim Tebow rule”)
– The defense can score two points by returning a turnover on the play.
That eliminates the play where Kelly tries to get an overload somewhere on the 2 pt conversion, then if the defense doesn’t fall for it, fall back and just kick it.
Well, they could still move back to the 15-yard line in that case, right?
Even the center? 🙂
Just got a visual of the entire line in their stances trying to inconspicuously shuffle backwards 13 yards.
This also begs a procedural question: pre-snap penalty. Do you have the option of electing to kick the PAT after setting up for the 2 pt. and committing a penalty, or are you then locked-in to your 2 pt. try? Or, if you elect to go for the PAT is the penalty then assessed at the 15? If there’s an option to take the PAT at the 15 after a penalty on a 2 pt. try I could see Chip trying crazy formations on a 2 pt try hoping for a matchup advantage and then letting the play clock expire if it isn’t there. Actually, you might as well line up twice more for a 2 pt. try at the 7 and the 12 in case the defense accidentally lines-up all Castillo or something…
Love that it is a live play, think the pick 6 or big fumble recovery and return could be such special plays – especially since naturally they will tend to be in close games at the end of games.
So, would that be a pick-2 then? How long until that becomes an official stat?
I think we’ll need a phrase that is vaguely homophonic a la “pick six.” I’ll get the ball ironically rolling…
For an interception return:
Trouble Double
Err Pair
For a fumble return:
Scoop Deuce
Mambo Combo
*Incidentally, “scoop deuce” sounds like it could be a command for a robot in a futuristic home with a cat.
Maybe, going balls deep in the other end?
Too subtle?
Probably immediately. Everyone is obsessed with stats. There are stats for everything nowadays.
murray should make 2 yards every time.
no pat’s this year
While they’re at it . . .
Narrow the uprights. TOO MANY FGs.
Making FGs harder would — or should — increase the number of times teams go for it on 4th down.
And let teams put a player under the uprights to try to block long FGs. Not allowed now.
It is illegal to gave a guy back? I saw that done in the past. Did they disallow it in the last few years?
They go back for the possibility of a return, but can’t “goaltend,” if you will. (i.e. leap up to swat the ball)
’cause we need more FGs . . . ARGH!
Then I agree with ACViking, they should allow that. How exciting would it be to see a 55-yard field goal going to just clear the upright, and a player runs in and times his jump perfectly to swat it away? It would be like an outfielder stealing a homerun, probably the most exciting play in baseball.
How quickly we forget the intentional walk…
Back in the early ’70s, the KC Chiefs had a 6’10” TE named Morris Stroud who’d stand under the uprights on long FGs.
He never blocked any FGs — but it was always fun to watch.
Rather than narrow every set of uprights across the league to make FG’s and PAT’s harder, wouldn’t it be cheaper for the NFL to simply name Alex Henery All-Time-Kicker?
That poor guy totally lost his confidence.
Where is he now? Last I heard he stunk it up in Detroit.
I understand the want to change things like this but it really worries me. The league may start making these changes and it’s possible that this can get carried away and start changing the game dramatically down the line. Really changing the game we grew up with and love.
OregonDucker quick beer question (assuming you’re in Eugene). Is tricerahops by ninkasi worth trying? I am a fan of total domination and was curios (both are available at the local market).
Not OD, but I am an Oregonian, and yes, Tricerahops is worth trying. Most of what Ninkasi does is great. Also, if you’re a hops fan and it’s around where you are, Deschutes’ recentish citra-hopped ‘Fresh Squeezed’ is pretty great as well.
Thanks! That is actually really funny you brought up fresh squeezed IPA, I was at a bar with it tap last week but I went with Mirror Pond. My brother (also an Oregonian) told me I missed out. He was more wishy washy about Tricerahops and got all beer snobby so I wanted a more unbiased opinion.
The OR beers are finally making their way down the west coast, thankfully.
Yeah, the citra-hopped beers are having a bit of a moment it seems. It makes sense with the excessive trending towards IPAs. Tricerahops is okay, worth trying (though I feel that way about most of Ninkasi’s stuff), but definitely not my favorite.
I visited the Deschutes pub in Portland, and I was pretty unimpressed with most of their beers. That Fresh Squeezed is pretty stellar, though.
Yeah, pretty much as a rule, I enjoy all of Deschutes’ seasonal and specialty beers, while finding their platform staples wholly uninteresting.
Completely different Brewery and I don’t know if you could find it in Oregon, but try Golden Monkey brewed by Victory. It is made in Downingtown PA west of Philly. Great beer, one of my favorites. Like I said I don’t know if you could find it in Oregon, but I am currently based in Florida and it has recently found it’s way down here. Has really started to come along strong down here.
Thanks, I’m actually in LA right now but will keep a look out for that. There are a lot of places that specialize in good craft beer. The Oregon beers are starting to take over down here which is why I asked about them.
Gotcha. I don’t think I’ve ever had an OR beer.
Wait,defense is being awarded two points even for “Botched PAT’s”???? Wtf?
Only if they return it to the far end zone. It will be an exceedingly rare occurrence.
Which is better than 0 zero points.
Exactly . . . what’s that about?
why does this mean we would dress a 3rd qb just for 2 pt conversions?
I don’t get that.
give sproles the ball. we don’t need tebow out there just for this. if he is isn’t it obvious what is happening?
Speaking of unloading 1,000 yard rushers . . .
Buddy Ryan dumped 1,000-yard runner Earnest Jackson early in training camp in 1986.
After a couple practices, Ryan said he’d trade Jackson for a 6-pack and it wouldn’t even have to be cold.
Look how much better Kelly did — he actually got a player in return.
buddy ryan stories just never get old.
that guy was classic.
Good stories, bad coach.
common philly we deserve #onesixeleven. It would be especially sweet since it screws the Lakers and Knicks.
Michael Levin promised me it would happen.
So did Spike Eskin…. and since his dad is always wrong he has to be always right, right? Karmic balance and all that.
Up and Down… Yin and Yang… Nick Foles and Dick Foles…
I’m only concerned with getting the Lakers pick..l Dont really care about ours, we can’t go wrong since we will end up with kids with a serious high ceiling no matter where we pick in the top 5..Towns, Mudiy, Hezonja, Porzingis, can’t go wrong…… Give us the Lakers pick and I will be a happy man…. I’d rather wait Til next year for the Heats pick
So much for that plan.
Well we screwed the Knicks……
fuck the lakers – at least they will take Okafor who i will think they can bust.
NBA probably realized it would be too transparent to give the Lakers #1, so…
Sucks that we didn’t get the lakers pick, but it’s awesome that the Knicks got screwed, and it’s awesome that the wolves and Lakers will drFt the two Bigs into the western conference, less competition for EMBIID/Nerlens in playoffs down the road… Frees HInkie up to draft the best PG prospect since Kyrie, emmanuel Mudiay who will help the development of Grant, nerve s and aEmbiid tremendously with his spectacular drive and dish gamr…
.
I tried to find things I don’t like about Mudiay, and there aren’t mone.. The only thing I don’t like is that senile draft bozo Larry Brown loves him, which makes me uncomfortable lol… But one thing larry knows us point guards, he is notoriously hard on point guards yet he thinks the world of this one,,,
..
After we draft Mudiay, I pray the Knicks take Russell so we can watch Mudiay eat him up for the next 10 years and taunt his supremecy over him lol I wabt russell in our division so Mudiay can terrorize him.. Mudiays top level athleticism and fast pace, defensive potential fits our team perfectly
He can’t shoot. Is that a weakness?
That’s temporary and overstated.. His shot is far from broke and he fixed his mechanics.. Once a kid gets his mechanics straight, consistent shooting usually isn’t to far around the corner,, probably already a better shooter then MCW and he is 4 years younger… The bad shooters you worry bout are the ones who’s shot needs rebuilding… That is not Mudiay. 2 years from now no one will question his shooting,.. It’s really much further along then the “he can’t shoot” Label he is given…
YES!!
..
it’s a New Day with Mudiay! So excited! Philly we just got what will be a top NBA PG 4 years from now!! I’m not talking about a top 15 point guard,I’m talking a top 5 PG! We can draft this stud without hinkie being tempted by Towns Talent And upside. This is awesome… only worry is that HINKie falls in love with Porzingis ceiling, but I assume it’s mudiay, not because he will be a special NBA PG, but because it’s a pick that will help the developmemt of Nerlens, EMBIID and Grant, to play with this crafty, crisp passing, pass first locomotive of a super athlete playing the PG spot, setting the table getting easy shots for our Bigs..
..
Sucks that we can’t get Hezonja with lakers pick, but we will have 3 lottery picks next year which is a good draft and its important to have 3 lotteries, 4 first rounders total counting the thunder pick, because if we improve enough to not get a top 4 pick, we will have four picks to trade up if we love a guy.. But even if we don’t trade up next year, and our pick is like 5, Lakers pick is 7, Heat pick is 12 and Thunder pick is 24… We can still get a nice Haul like:
jaylen Brown
Malik Newman
Cheik Diallo
and then use the thunder pick to get our backüp center/Goon, the “polish Zeus” Kaleb Twrcewski..big, strong, athletic, broad shoulders, perfect goon backüp center to use his size and hard fouls backing up and protecting our young star Towers..
..
And of course, SARIC will also be joining us… By the end of the 2016 draft, HINKie will have accumultaed a scary group of young talent..
..
I’m hoping we can get Thiago Splitter from the Spurs as a backup center since the Spurs need to clear cap space for Marc Gasol or Lamarcus Aldridge. Hoping we get him in a cap dump… Would love to find a way to get the rights to SG Bojan Bogdanovic off the Suns.. Maybe sigń a modest sniper like Kyle Singler…
We are taking Mario at 3.
I don’t see them passing on the chance to take a PG of Mudiays rare caliber, especially when he will help the development of Nerlens. EMBIID, Grant, and next years draft is weak at the point guard position… I would worry more that hinkE finds Porzingis talent to be irresistible, but I will say that Mudiay, Hezonja and Porzingis are the 3 players in play for the SIXERS pick. It will be one of those names’, I say they take the best PG, I certainly wouldn’t be upset if they draft the best wing prospect, Hezonja…
But I will be surprised if it’s not Mudiay…. If Hezonja falls a bit to like #6 or 7, I wonder if HInkie tries to get aggressive and trade for him.. Maybe package WROTEN and two of our 4 first rounders next year… Cross your fingers and hope Hezonjas agent DOESNT allow him to work out for any teams the way his agent did with SARIC last year, that would cause him to fall, Himkie will get creative..,
I don’t think pg’s are valuable enough. We’ll see. Who knows.
That’s EXACTLY why I think Mudiay is so valuable,, every year you can get a good MCW type PG in the 7-12 range, but it’s rare that we see the special PG truly worth a top 4 pick,.. I think Mudiay Id that caliber PG… But I sure won’t cry if they chose the top wing prospect instead.. Mario is Gordon Hayward with Zack Lavine athleticism.. That’s a HECKUVA player..
A SG/SF like Mario is still worth more than a PG like Mudiay.
Bulls Owner is notoriously cheap.. Rift between Rose and Jimmy butler. Rose stayed healthy and Is under contract. Bulls are firing their coach, it would be friggin awesome if HInkie could draft Mudiay and steal Jimmy Butler fromthe Bulls. he is a restriced free agent,, sigń him to an offer sheet that the cheap owner won’t match in a transition year..
..
Jimmy Butler would be the biggest score next to Miudiay. He brings the shooting Mudiay and the twin towers will need on the wings, and he fits our athletic defensive identity and can be a valuable veteran who sets the tone for a talented young group.. Plus if you pay him max money now, the contract becomes a bargain in two year when the cap goes up.. In two years he will be a great player on an attractive deal making him a very valuable trade option right around the time we need to pay money extending all our picks..
..
Sigń Jimmy Butler as an RFA, trade for Thiago Splitter, draft Mudiay..hello playoffs…
Pretty sure they’re going to take Russell.
Not that I don’t like your scenario better though.
So will extra points count for 1 point or 3 points in fantasy football for kickers?