The Vision Comes to Life
Posted: June 8th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 287 Comments »I know this will be painful, but think back to the final game of 2012. The Eagles played on the road and lost to the Giants, 42-7. Here is the starting lineup for that game.
QB Michael Vick
RB LeSean McCoy
WR Jeremy Maclin
WR Riley Cooper
WR Jason Avant
TE Brent Celek
LT King Dunlap
LG Evan Mathis
OC Dallas Reynolds
RG Jake Scott
RT Dennis Kelly
DE Trent Cole
DT Derek Landri
DT Cullen Jenkins
DE Brandon Graham
LB Mychal Kendricks
IB DeMeco Ryans
LB Jamar Chaney
SS Colt Anderson
FS Kurt Coleman
CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
CB Nnamdi Asomugha
Yikes.
I assume at least a few of you haven’t gone running off shouting in horror after thinking back to that day. I do apologize to all the victims.
Obviously injuries played a huge part in that lineup. DeSean Jackson, Jason Peters, Todd Herremans, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox and Nate Allen were all missing from the lineup.
Think about how much has changed since December 2012. Chip Kelly had a vision for the kind of team he wanted on the field. He started that transformation in March 2013 and has been working on it ever since. After 3 drafts, 3 free agent classes and a lot of miscellaneous pro personnel moves, Kelly has gotten this group to look like what he wants. I wrote about Kelly’s transformation of the roster in this week’s PE.com column.
There is still more work to be done. Sam Bradford might be the answer at QB, but is far from a sure thing. Even if Walter Thurmond starts at FS and plays well, he and Malcolm Jenkins will be 28 by the end of the year. The Eagles need some young players to step forward there and prove to be viable depth. Earl Wolff, Jaylen Watkins, Jerome Couplin and Ed Reynolds offer potential. There are young OL to develop. And so on.
Culture plays a part of this. That 2012 team was borderline despicable by the end of the season. Jeremy Maclin wouldn’t block anyone. DRC had to be brought to Andy Reid’s office and shamed into tackling someone. Nnamdi ate lunch alone in his car.
Kelly has loaded his roster with grinders. Often we hear a word like that and think of overachievers like Trent Cole or Brent Celek. Stars can also be grinders. No one worked harder than Jerry Rice. Tom Brady is one of the great QBs ever and he pushes himself relentlessly. Walter Payton did amazing workouts in the offseason. He’s the first guy I ever heard about running a hill over and over.
No one is going to think of Nelson Agholor as an overachiever type. He was a star in high school and college. He was a 1st round pick. Yet, he talks like a 6th rounder who has a huge chip on his shoulder. DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy have immense talent. But they lack that special something it takes to push beyond talent. Neither player is lazy or anything close to that, but they aren’t driven to improve. They know how talented they are and are willing to settle for that. They will improve a bit here and there, but they lack the drive to take their game to the next level.
Kelly wants players who continually strive to get better. No one is perfect, but you chase perfection anyway. That leads you to places other players won’t get to.
Achieving success is hard. Sustaining success is incredibly difficult. Continually improving? That’s a whole other level. Al Davis had the phrase “Commitment to Excellence”. Kelly takes that to a whole other level. His players sleep, eat and drink football. Literally. He is looking for any edge he can find and he needs players that have the obsessive, competitive spirit to embrace that. Think of this as Total Football.
Kelly will never have a roster that is exactly what he wants (25 Oregon players, 25 New Hampshire players, and 3 guys from Oklahoma), but this roster is the way he wants it and gives him a chance to take the next step. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll win 11 games this year, but the team will play more like what he wants. They’ll be one step closer to making his vision come to life in the NFL.
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Daniel Jeremiah had an interesting culture discussion on his podcast.
Jeremiah asked Gordon how much a role culture played in some of the Eagles’ roster moves over the past two offseasons.
“When I see that from the outside, I get the sense that this coach wants to build his culture and maybe their influences are too strong,” Gordon said. “The longer you allow someone from an old culture to contaminate the new culture that you’re trying to build, the longer it takes to turn things around. You have to make sure you’re getting those energy vampires off the bus. Maybe these guys were contaminating the culture that he was trying to create. Maybe they weren’t all in. I’m not sure, but maybe that’s why.”
Interesting stuff.
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If you enjoyed the Fletcher Cox highlights from yesterday, you can see more stuff like that. Larry Mitros posts them at Inside the Eagles.
Or follow him on Twitter.
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I was going to link to Jeremiah’s podcast as well, Is really interesting discussion and really framed some of the moves we have been making this year about character and culture. Was a great listen (as always).
Another interesting thing i took from the Podcast with Jim Schwartz (great Coordinator – poor headcoach), is the importance of interior linemen over even superstar pass rushers as it is an interesting continuation of the question of the valuation of Fletcher Cox.
Do you listen to his podcast often? Would you recommend I start making time to listen to it?
If I may be so bold as to answer your question, I listen to the “Moving The Sticks” Podcast.
First, I very much like the host, Daniel Jeremiah. Lots of good insights into players and how teams draft players.
Second, the podcast is almost exclusively devoted to evaluating college players who will likely be drafted by NFL teams. I would think that most people who enjoy Tommy’s site would enjoy the podcast.
Personally, the podcast provides me with too much information about too many players. If you’re Eagles focused, as I am, the podcast will be too broad. If you love learning about all the potential players who may play in the NFL, the podcast will be right up your alley.
Good info, thanks. I’m endlessly curious about everything, so a lot of information that may be deemed useless is something that I would probably like. I have a decent car ride to/from work, so this is a good way to make the ride easier.
Nice thing about the podcast is that it is very interested in the process of evaluation as well as the results (players). Jeremiah is a great analyst and gets a lot of NFL guys (non media) on the podcast, which gives some really interesting angles you do not normally get.
Criticisms i would make is he could do with a long term co-host to work with as it can get a bit monology at times, and they do cover the entire league so sometimes struggles to get in detail, as an ex Eagles scout we do tend to get more than our 1/32th of the coverage tho on the plus side!
“Nice thing about the podcast is that it is very interested in the process of evaluation as well as the results (players).” ~ Fufina
Yes, the above is, by far, my favorite part of the podcast.
The evaluations of the individual players are only really interesting to me AFTER the draft. But that’s just me. I think that many who read Tommy’s site will take to all the player data like a fish takes to water.
I like the Bleeding Green Nation podcast as well as Eagles Weekly, titled “Official Philadelphia Eagles Audio Podcasts” on iTunes. Both have intelligent discussion and are focused primarily on the Eagles.
Appalachian State alums tend to know what they are talking about when it comes to the Eagles.
I love they have the behind-the-scenes footage of the Giants game. I said it then and I’ll say it now – I love people like Mark Sanchez in a group. He works hard and he wants to be the best (though physically limited), but he also keeps it light.
There’s many books/articles/studies on leadership. But even as the backup he showed some leadership on the sideline. Early in the game, he was affirming the pass Foles made to Ertz – “You put that ball where he could only get it, good ball bro…”
When the game was basically out of hand he’s on the sideline eating chicken fingers (which I thought was hilarious). Two things, being a leader by pumping up his teammates and my favorite – keeping it funny and light.
Culture isn’t just about one leader, it’s about a lot of them coming together. I understand why CK has made the moves he’s made, whether it works out remains to be seen. But if he fails, it won’t be because there was a meltdown in the locker room (read:TO) or the players giving up (read:2012).
Outside of football, culture is what can be the difference in someone staying at a job or leaving. The difference between giving 100% or 50%. The difference between going the extra mile or just doing the minimal. I like the feel of this team. I like the lunch pail attitudes, and it’s all due to the #culture that CK is establishing.
One of the interesting things i muse on is how the big pro sports worldwide (football, soccer ect) have been the slowest adopters of the super professional approach other smaller sports have been using for over a decade now.
I think that is often due to the fact it is incredibly hard to seed that culture in a team when turn over year to year, and talent in many cases trumps effort, you only need 3-5 guys not to fully buy in to undermine the process (why should i train/eat/prepare 365 when those guys are not).
Will be really interesting to see if this process of trying to build a super high character roster succeeds long term, and if in the future once Chip feels likes he has the room he wants if he can experiment bringing in 1-2 guys who are less 100% committed to football.
I agree. I think if you have the culture in place, you can take a flyer on those guys. They’ll either conform or be cut/ousted. A lot of times, a strong culture (whether good or bad) gets people to conform.
There’s still some holdovers, but it seems like everyone is on the same page for the most part. I don’t think we have anymore divas on our team, the last of them were jettisoned this offseason (McCoy, Williams).
I like where his head is at in building a culture/team. Remains to be seen whether it can work in the NFL. There’s a lot of coaches and players hoping for him to fail, but if he’s successful that could be a paradigm shift in how coaches/players interact in the future – and this could be in other sports too.
I think the Spurs are a good example of this culture, and the Sixers are working to build the same type of atmosphere.
Yea, also when you’re dealing with a thing like professional sports where there’s so few people in the world talented enough to do what these guys do, when someone has the talent to clearly stand above the already talented pool of players in the pros, it’s a lot easier for them to get away with stuff. At most people’s job, even if they’re quite talented theres probably tons of people out there who could do their job just as well. But, there’s only a handful, if that, of WRs that can run as fast and do the things that someone like DeSean Jackson can. People will put up with you if you’re that rare of a talent.
There’s a great story about Joe Montana in the 1989 Super Bowl against the Bengals. The 49ers were down 3 points with just 3:20 left on the clock and starter out on their own 8 yard line. The players all said that the huddle was really tense and guys were on edge with the pressure mounting when Montana started calling the play and then stopped and gazed off into the stands. Finally, he hit tackle Harris Barton in the arm and said, “hey, is that freakin’ John Candy over there?” And, sure enough there was John Candy sitting in the stands eating a hotdog. The players all said, it really broke the tension and loosened them up. They went on to drive 92 yards and score the winning TD.
Sometimes being super calm and carefree really changes the emotional dynamic for the best. Sometimes it seems really forced and awkward and you get McNabb running around all spaghetti armed banging on the glass at fans and flailing about like a moron before the Cowboys game and the rest of the teammates just stare at you in disbelief and utter shame. It’s a fine line.
His players sleep, eat and drink football. Literally.
Literally? So that’s what’s in those smoothies!
It is amazing how we have a word ‘figuratively’ which is literally the correct word to use in these cases, but we seem to use it less and less and use its definite sibling instead wrongly.
I could care less.
You mean you could not care less, right? 🙂
Irregardless, you know what I’m saying.
Ha! I literally and figuratively know exactly what you’re saying. 😉
upvote for “irregardless”
That just begs the question, could you really care less?
“Google’s definition for literally includes this: “Used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling.” But it doesn’t end with Google. Merriam-Wesbter and Cambridge dictionaries have also added the informal, non-literal definition.”
Theyve literally changed the definition, only in America
I lol at Desan Jackson advertising his “first annual” celebrity golf game..LOL Donkey Boy fails to realize there is no such a thing as the “First annual”, lol it’s “Innaugural!!!!”…
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Then again, how can I expect Deseqn to know something like this when he still hasn’t mastered the correct use of the word “Myself”…
Maybe if he plans on having multiple annual golf tournaments…
So, what should I say now if I know something sounds like figurative language but I mean the actual words? Do we have a word for that anymore?
Hyperbole is the best thing ever!
Can’t we skip the pig skin smoothy and go right to pork rinds?
pigskin has surprising nutrients
One of the things I have heard coaches (usually retired) say over and over again is that if they had to do it all again, they would have torn their team apart and rebuilt it from the start instead of trying to change it gradually. Most coaches inherit some incredible talent and they’re likely to try to build their team around that talent. However, sometimes — perhaps most times — it’s best use your “honeymoon” period to cull the team of malcontents — even talented malcontents — and build a team in your own image.
Kelly may or may not succeed. We just can’t know at this point. But if he fails, at least he’s going to fail his way and not fail because he only took half-measures.
Napoleon once said: “If you start to take Vienna, take Vienna.” http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_you_start_to_take_vienna-take/195324.html
Once you’ve committed to an action — and Kelly has committed — see it through. You may succeed or you may fail. But if you waffle, failure is all but guaranteed.
Or if you’re going to kill the king, you better kill the king.
REGICIDE!!!!!!!
The caliber of the guys on the team make it easy to passionately cheer for them. It’s always cool when good guys finish first.
It’s interesting that right now the Eagles and the Cowboys are taking almost diametrically opposite approaches to character. Chip Kelly is all about character. The Cowboys are all about talent — character be damned. In reality, there are too many variables to be taken into account for us to know for sure how much character does and does not matter — but human beings are bad at statistics and we won’t see it that way. The Eagles and the Cowboys wins and losses will be seen as proof positive as to which approach is best.
If the Eagles were the bad boys of football, I would still root for them and probably use cognitive dissonance to rationalize away inconvenient truths about the character of the team. But it would make me feel uncomfortable.
If I had my druthers, I’d much rather root for “the good guys.” I’m very, very glad that I happen to root for the Eagles — who are taking the high road.
Speaking of “bad boys” . . .
When Buddy Ryan coached the Eagles, the rest of the NFL and non-Eagles fans reviled them.
But those Buddy Ryan teams were beloved by Eagles fans (most of them, it seems, anyway).
I think you’re right that cognitive dissonance lets fans rationalize how — no matter who’s coaching their teams or wearing their teams’ colors — those guys are the best. And the rest of the NFL can screw off.
When your team is hated by others, you switch to a sort of paranoid “Us against the world” philosophy. Being bad is taken as a point of pride.
I never had any trouble (that I can recall) with the players on the Buddy Ryan teams, but I often thought that Buddy Ryan was boorish…
…and, of course, I rooted for both Buddy and the Birds like crazy!
FK:
Yes, yes, and yes!!!
The Buddy years were great years to be a fan of the team (save playoff time).
Buddy himself? No coach or manager of the local teams ever left behind a litany of funny quotes like Buddy.
But — like you — I thought Buddy’s interpersonal skills were devilishly bad.
Have you ever seen the NFL Network Films about Buddy? Super fascinating. I was young at the time (he left the team when I was like 15), so never understood how much of a malcontent he was to work with. I always remember him punching Kevin Gilbride on the sidelines when they were with the Oilers.
Same here!!!
Chip Kelly will exceed Buddy in both hilarious quotes and playoff success!
But not strength of schedule.
I remember my wife and I literally jumping up and down on the bed (we were watching the game in the bedroom to avoid guests) as Washington was running out the clock to win the game, Buddy’s defense stripped the ball from the Redskins running back, ran it back to the two and Randall Cunningham hit the tight end for the go ahead touchdown.
It was a magical time.
Yeah, I’m not a huge Buddy fan today. At the time -I was just a kid -I thought he was funny.
Looking back, he was not a good head coach and wasted the best talent the Eagles have ever had. No excuse for second-tier results with Reggie White and Randall Cunningham.
Before Jerome Brown died, he had White (All-Pro), Brown (All-Pro), and Clyde Simmons (All-Pro) on the defensive line. He had Seth Joyner, Byron Evans, Andre Waters, and Wes Hopkins. To me, that was the best defense I’ve ever seen. No excuse to not get a superbowl from that team.
He mishandled Cunningham and never coached him or got an offensive coach to coach him properly. With his arm and agility, imagine if CK got a chance to work with him instead of Rich Kotite.
Part of what I like about being a football fan is that it’s a sphere where anything goes — dissonance, paranoia, superstition, fantasy, hatred and, of course, good vs. evil. Because, at the end of the day, it’s just a game. Chip and this Eagles team advance the drama: we are the good guys and we fight the good fight.
yeah not sure why Buddy is somewhat still held in high regard in comparison to Reid, because in my opinion Reid was an outright better coach
Why Buddy’s held in high regard v. Reid?
It’s exactly what separates the two.
Buddy was a lot of bluster with killer defenses who couldn’t — or wouldn’t — see past that.
Reid was all business, organized, and saw the big picture.
Its not even close…Buddy is revered because he said what was on his mind and did not give a crap what anyone thought…Philadelphians eat that up with multiple utensils especially the media who is a big part of why Buddy is remembered fondly…Reid had a great personality and humor too, but kept it under wraps most of the time and gave the media nothing which is why the media bashed him so much…Kelly is sort of in the middle, he shows some personality with the media, but pretty much gives them nothing…the media have not decided on Kelly yet, many like him, but others dislike him and are ready to pounce if he fails this year…this is Kelly’s honeymoon year, if he wins and beats expectations, the honeymoon will be extended….if he falls short again, the knives will come out….
Well stated. I know when we got T.O. he immediately became “one of us.” After his freakout and landing with the Cowboys (figures, right?) it was easy to revile him again.
This is a good article. It helps to step back and look at it like this. Chip has made (and seems determined to make more) a lot of moves that I really didn’t/wouldn’t like on a case by case basis, but in the grand scheme it’s clear Chip knows what he’s doing. So I can always fall back on that benefit of the doubt.
T-Law:
Respectfully, comparing anyone to Al Davis, and the extraordinary success he had during the first half of his tenure running the Raiders, is probably a mistake.
Over 11 seasons, from ’67-’77, the Raiders went to 9 AFC-AFL title games and two SBs (1-1). Oakland would have reached a 10th conference championship game but for a miraculous 4th down play by the Steelers in the 1972 divisional round.
Expanding a bit, from ’67-’85, a 19-year stretch, the Raiders — with 3 different QBs — reached the playoffs 15 times: playing in 4 SBs, winning 3, and playing in 11 conference title games.
In the 22 year-old free agency era, only one team’s come close to that kind of sustained success. (And you know who I mean.)
We’ll certainly know more about a Kelly-Davis comparison in 3-4 years.
On the Catch-phrase. It’s sad but true, in every sport. If you aren’t looking to exploit every unwritten rule, break the less regulated regulations, you’re going to lose to the guy that is.
Interesting quote from Davis:
Reporter: Did last year’s troubles defending against the pass cause you to look at the defensive scheme at all?
Davis: All of it. We looked at everything. It’s so hard to answer that question as a blanket for the season. Could I have given (cornerback Bradley Fletcher) more help? I could have. Or the technique he was using out there could have been better. We could have given him more help. There was a lot of things we had to look at. It is a combination of technique and how many times you split the safeties and give those (cornerbacks) help and how many times you don’t. You have to learn and evolve.
Translation: Yes, we’re looking at changing things, and I’m not willing to scapegoat Fletcher for it even if his technique was bad.
Brandon Spikes cut. Suspected to be involved in hit and run accident.
Cowboys?
Only if we find out he killed somebody too.
it was fairly minor, family of 3 went to hospital with minor injuries. Code for he was drunk. Now instead of a DUI and suspension, he loses job will still get DUI and now add a leaving the scene to the mix
Jerrah has his private plane in the air heading to pick him as the cowgirls claim him off waivers.
I think it’ll wind up just being leaving the scene. There would be no physical evident to prove he was DUI. As morally reprehensible as DUI is, I think he avoids that part of the charges and will only be on the ringer for leaving the scene.
Cowboys picked up RB Lache Seastrunk today… Lol what’s wrong? Not too confident in the great Darren McFaddem? LOL
Seastruck is another prototypical douche
ISNT he like the worst pass catching RB ever?
he’d have to catch a pass to be the worst
so, yes 🙂
Jerry Jones announced today that he was cutting his entire scouting staff and replacing them with a police scanner.
I mean he hit a deer apparently and left the scene. You get fired for that? I’d grab him if we weren’t already stacked
Wtf? Didn’t 3’PEOPLE get Hospitalized because of his hit n run? Where are you hearing about a Deer?
Maybe i heard the wrong thing. I thought he’d hit a deer or something. Ignore my comment.
You could be right, cuz I only heard one report in passing, didn’t care enough to really check… But I thought 3 people were hospitalized because of his hit n run, maybe a Deer was involved
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The call to onstar mentions hitting a deer is where that comes from. They dont know who called onstar or who was driving though, obviously that was a lie in hindsight. Alcohol induced panic to make up a story.
and then sober hindsight to realize….f*ck i’m getting signed by the Jaguars after this.
Gotcha.. Thanks..
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After WHATS happening to Jon Jones, the UFC LightHeavyweight champion for hit n run, fleeing the scene of an accident, pro players have to be Morons to take off… Although, who knows what spikes had in his car or on his system… Taking off may have been the lessor of two Evils depending on what he had on him at the time of the accident
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I don’t get how these idiots are still getting arrested every offseason. And you have to be really stupid when you play for the team that has to cut any player that comes in contact with the police after harboring a serial killer
right, just pay someone to drive you around. They even offer that to the players
I think what happened was the he hit those 3 folks, but told Onstar that he “hit a deer.” Because Onstar isn’t the cops, he isn’t even guilty of filing a false police report. I think the only charges he can be hit with would be for leaving the scene of an accident. You can’t even prove DUI this far after the crash.
Agree on most points, but have an issue with the characterization of McCoy. Despite his personality difficulties, all indications were that he was extremely dedicated to continuous improvement. I have a number of issues with him, “commitment to excellence” wasn’t one of them.
Agreed. My only problems with McCoy involved his off the field issues with women.
He clearly didn’t listen to the coaches. Kelly said in multiple press conferences that thought McCoy could have gone straight upfield. Once Kelly even rescinded his criticism after looking at game tape.
It seems like Kelly will publicly call out a player like that if he’s not taking to coaching.
I’m not saying “listening to coaching” equals “commitment to excellence”, but it might be an ingredient.
I don’t want to bash LeSean. It’s clear that he was an excellent player and an excellent teammate. But from reading between the lines, it’s also clear that he wasn’t on board with Kelly’s program.
Is that a bad thing? On most team’s it would be ignored. Hell, on most team, major felonies are ignored. But Kelly wants everybody to buy into his program.
One example of McCoy’s resistance was the first practice McCoy had under the new Kelly regime. McCoy had on black socks. He was told to put on white socks. Instead, he put white tape over his black socks. I think that epitomizes how McCoy conformed on the surface but continued to do things his way behind the scenes. And Kelly knew that so as soon As Kelly could, he found a way to replace him.
very much this. I’m glad I read down first before copying your post.
how quickly folks have dismissed the franchise rushing leader.
I mean, Shady has said some real dumb things since leaving, but we heard much fewer rumbles about his dedication than Desean while both were in green. so why do folks mention them in the same breath?
http://www.fatmanwriting.com/2014/08/phialdelphia-eagles-rb-lesean-mccoy.html
Bradford getting great reviews today from OTA’s.
MSduece is practicing, Earl Wolff is still off to the side with trainers..
when your young players have an elite work ethic, and the burning desire to work to achieve Greatness, you should be able to expect som serious improvents over the course of their first 3 or 4 Offseasons… if you have the right type of young players, they should show up looking like drastically better players then who they were the previous year.
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like Archbishop Agholor and Pope Mathews say “If you work and strive for perfection, you will usually end up somewhere around Greatness”..
Amen.
just to clear this up: Spikes car was abandoned on the highway with front end damage. He said he hit a deer. “Coincidentally” another vehicle got hit from behind around the same place on the highway.
that’s where the “deer” story is from.
Does he even start for them? I’m guessing not, with how quickly they cut him.
he was teammates with Tebow, so obviously we will grab him to add to our ILB army.
Exactly…big difference between what Spikes and Cooper did IMO…Kelly, like any coach or manager should, evaluates things on a case by case basis and strives to do the right thing for the organization and the player in each situation….for Cris Carter, as an example, Buddy cutting him was the right thing because he had been warned previously and just could not control his behavior…he got to MN, got his act together and became a great player…he was not and would not be that player without getting cut and facing the reality of being kicked to the curb…Cooper had no previous issues/incidents, took accountability right away and Kelly (or really Lurie) let him work through it. We know from history that Lurie has big heart as we saw with Vick and other players he has helped out…Spikes had a history of erratic behavior and needed some tougher love
“His players sleep, eat and drink football. Literally.”
Do the smoothies contain actual footballs?
protein.
deflated ones….
We have a tiny offensive line problem…. Stoutland talked about how some of his players like Gardner can easily switch between playing on the left side and the right side, where as some other players are drastically better at one side then playing on the other, and according to Stoutland, BARBRE is a player who is much better on the left side, and struggles to play on the right side.
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this is a problem because Mathis and BARBRE both are at their best at Left Guard. Stoutland didn’t mention Tobin, but I thought he was significantly better playing left Guard last year and his play really dipped when he was moved to RG…
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if Mathis comes back, and both Tobin and BARBRE ARENT as good on the Right side then they are on the Left side, what are we going to do about RG?
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if Tobin and BARBRE both,prove that they can’t switch sides and play at a high level, we could end up seeing Andrew Garner start at RG…
Why all the caps…BARBRE?
He meant BABAR
is that one b or 2?
No idea, my autocorrect does it in all caps every time I type his name..I Can’t go back and fix it after every time I have to types is name
lol, I guess your auto-correct assumes his name is actually an acronym
My autocorrect has lost its damn mind,.. You will often see “accents” appearing on top of some words I type.. Like the accent thingy they write on Spanish words lol, which is crazy because I don’t know how to type one of those things even if I wanted to…
My autocorrect is my worst enema.
Geagle get autocorrected too?
Or it could mean Mathis isn’t going to be here. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility.
Whatmdoes mathis have to do with this? With or without Mathis we could still be in a position where the two names we mostly count on to step up, BARBRE and Tobin, are much better on the left side then at RG..
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I get that Mathis ISNT a lock, but personally I have a hard time envisioning him not being on this years team.. Chip has no tolerance for BS, if cutting Mathis was an option, think he would have been cut a while ago. I don’t see a scenario where Chip holds on to Mathis for this long, only to end up cutting him in July or August..,At this point, waiving him is no longer an option.. So for Mathis to not be here, someone will have to offer him a new deal with more money while also giving us a 6th or 7th rd pick, think that is a major LONGSHOT
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At this point I will be surprised if Mathis ISNT on our roster this year.. But regardless of what happens with him, we still might see someone starting at RG THATS not Tobin or BARBRE whch is a scenario that hasn’t been considered yet..
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We have made a lot of assumptions about the OL, but we may end up seeing something unexpected like a starting OL of:
Lane,,Garner, Kelce, Mathis, Peters, with both Tobin and Barbie on the bench
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Maybe Graf or Dennis Kelly step up and take the starting RG position..
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Most of the assumptions have been that Tobin and Barbie are the next two men to step up if backüp OLineman Need to be promoted, but maybe we should hold off on ruling out Garmer, Graf or Kelly espcialy if we are Looking for a replacement on the Right side..
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I didn’t go back and put in the work to really watch all of Tobins snaps, but the impression I got from last season was he looked much better playing LG, then he did when he got moved to RG towards the end….Im hoping this isn’t true and Tobin give us a solid option on the Right side. maybe his ankle bothered hm more at the end when he was playing RG then it did when he as on the left side last year? maybe he just needed More time to get comfortable making the switch? Maybe he had just built chemistry with Jason Peters and didn’t have as good of chemistry next to Lane…
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All I know is I felt a lot better about our OL before Stoutland revealed that Barbie is much better on the left side, then the Right side.He was supposed to start at RT while lane,was suspended so I assumed he was one of the lineman who are comfortable on either side…,
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The assumption was always that Tobin and Barbie would fill the two Guard spots if Mathis wasmt available, but that may not be the case. We may prefer other players like Garner on the right side…. I think the coaches were a little higher on our OL backups then fans and media who don’t get to see them every day realize, and by that I mean maybe Tobin and Barbie have some more competition on the bench then we gave credit for.. I saw some good out of Andrew Gardner, but I don’t have the slightest clue what to expect from Graf and Dennis Kelly. heck im not even sure which is the Guard and which is the Tackle..
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fingers crossed two of the young UNDRAFTED OL take MOLK and Vanderveldes roster spots…
I was just remarking on the wide-view of the situation. Tobin or Barbre may play better on the left side, but that doesn’t preclude them moving to the right side in the future. I didn’t take Stoutland’s comments as saying they “can’t” play the right side, just that they are better on the left. Practice and work on technique could make either a viable RG.
Manhart. Coccia. Bunche.??? there’s another UFA who is supposed to look promising, but who’s name escapes me right now.
If Barbre struggles to play on the right side, why were we subjected to having him as Plan A for starting at RT after Lane was suspended?
I wondered the same thing
Side thought: Does anyone else think that MAYBE Thurmond is getting a shot at Safety due to his familiarity with Maxwell/SEA Defensive concepts? Forget if Thurmond actually has the skills to play safety, but maybe instead Undlin/Chip think that chemistry could make up for the short time Thurmond will be able to learn the position and that Maxwell/Thurmond could expedite the evolution of our secondary strategy….. basically I am saying I am not sure how much better Thurmond will be physically better than Nate Allen, but hopefully he knows when he can leave an assignment in this type of scheme.
He’s better in coverage than Nate Allen, and he probably will take better angles. That in itself makes him better. Whether that translates to the new position remains to be seen. I like the thought, and it makes sense. But don’t discount that tape/coaching is what is spurring this move as well. Maybe they really do think he’ll be better at S, or they think Carroll is going to win the spot and they want Thurmond on the field.
on Birds 24/7 or somewhere Davis was hitting hard that Thurmond naturally takes the best angles.
I don’t think it’s a matter of a benefit playing with Maxwell. I think it’s a matter of our 2nd safety position is way up in the air, Wolff could still be hurt etc., this guy has the measurables etc. give him a shot.
Having played with Maxwell is likely factor # 27 on the list.
yeah but familiarity with a successful scheme can also put Thurmond ahead of Wolff, which is what I think the case is because are we not trying to emulate a bump and run coverage scheme like Seattle? I do agree that Wolff does over pursue plays quite a bit, mainly because I think Wolff relies on his athleticism to make up for not diagnosing the play a split second longer.
were Maxwell and Thurmond ever on the field at the same time in SEA?
Possibly. Not sure, but at least this game they were both on the field during the game.
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2013122915/2013/REG17/rams@seahawks#menu=gameinfo%7CcontentId%3A0ap2000000306332&tab=analyze&analyze=boxscore
It seems from my Googling, that Maxwell was still a backup on the roster during the season. So it’s possible that neither were on the field at the same time – but they also could have been if Thurmond played the slot.
I don’t disagree, im very excited to see what Thurmond can do at Safety, but I can’t say today that he is better at Safety then What Nate Allen would give us. I can’t assume something I haven’t seen…. But what I do THNK we can count on Walter Thurmond playing the Safety position more aggressive then Nate has Played it in years… nate did a solid job last year, but for the most part he plays the position scared, he plays the position safe….. Even tho Thurmond is new to the position, he is going to get after it. Thurmond will trust his ability and his training and he is gpmg to go out and Attack, trying to make plays on the ball, instead of playing to not make a mistake… Thurmond is more of a playmaker then Nate has ever been, and that’s not going to change because he is playing a different position. He is still going to play the game the way he knows how, Attack,get after it, try to make plays, instead of playing on his heals, playing it safe every time for fear of getting burned
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it Makes a lot of Sense to try Thurmond at Safety instead of Nolan. prior to last year at Dime, most of Nolans experiemce has been at outside corner, where as Thurmond has spent years already playing slot CB, which is an easier transition to safety then taking an outside CB and sticking him in the middle of the field… I look forward to seeing Thurmonds Freak Long arms and play making flying around the center of the Field. i think Walter Thurmond has more big play ability then Nolan Caroll. Nolan I see as more of a sheldon Brwn type of guy who will stick to you closely, get physical with you, win with superior positioning, while Thurmond is more of the type to try and bait you, jump the route and try to make a big play…so I prefer leaving Nolan at outside CB, and I’m very interested in seen what Thurmond can do at safety…He is a smart veteran who will have Byron on one side and Malcolm on the other side to lean on, he may be able to handle this…
I like the move. I was reading some Seahawks blogs from a couple years ago and they were pretty high on Thurmond. He’s got playmaker potential, his biggest problem has been health.
He has talent, real long arms…injuries, injuries, Injuries, is the Only problem.. If he never got hurt. I could see him going the poor man “Jarius BYRD” route… That type of playmaking Centerfielder type, but who we can Also ask to match up with a slot Or the TE…
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Hopefully it’s his turn for some good injury Karma. if he stays healthy, I could see him being an eagle past this season because even if we eventually get a better safety, he can easily go back in the slot and be our nickel or Dime, while backing up every spot in the secondary.. hopefully injuries are done holding him back..
Maybe…. But if your options are Nolan Carrol of Thurmond, Thurmond would be who I would give better odds of handling the position change. thurmond has more experience playng slot CB… Nolan has really mostly just been an outside corner, we had to teach him how to play in the slot last year… Thurmond had more experience playing inside, makes more sense to me to move Thurmond at safety and leave Nolan at CB who is making a ton of positive noise at Novacare this offseason…
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1) This secondary is more then halfway to a High Quality secondary. 3 of the 5 positions are manned by players that we can count on playing at a very high level… Out of all the top NFL CB’s, doubt any where tested more then Byron Maxwell, when we even saw Elite QB/WR tandems like Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson too afraid to throw at Sherman. Most top corners, you could avoid throwing at easier then you can avoid Byron Maxwell when everyon is scared to death of the corner on the other side.. There is ton of game film showing that more times then not, Byron performed at a high level against some very dangerous WRs…I doubt it will take Byron Maxwell long to become the most beloved Eagle CB since Sheldon Brown..
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2) Malcolm Jenkins is as good of a safety as we can ask for in this scheme.. He is just HUGE for us, on and off the field. he is so well rounded he gives us a lot of options..
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3) Boykin, at least for this upcoming season, we can count on having the best Nickel CB in the game, and in today’s NFL, nickel has to be treated like a starting position.. Big difference in importance between the Nickel and the Dime slot CB’s. Not Only are teams putting quality WRs with size in the slot like Jordan Mathews, Colston, Jarvis Landry, but most teams #1’WR will see some snaps in the slot, trying to exploit a matchup against the Nickel. having Boykin in the slot is HUGE for us this year, when teams will try to move players like Dez and Odell Beckham into the slot a few times each game.
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That gives us for sure, 3 DBs talented enough to make up a top ranked secondary.. Leaving us 2 DBs away, a safety and an outside corner. Hopefully Rowe grows into one of those spots, which would mean us being 1 quality DB away from a secondary that can match our top rated front 7..
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We may find out by the end of this year that we still need to find a suitable safety partner to pair with Jenkins, and we may lose Boykin to Free agency(which I do not at all believe that’s a forgone conclusion
“Tebow’s throws are fine. Can’t tell any difference from the other QBs. #Eagles”
Elliot Shore Parks
Need GEagle to weigh in on ESP’s powers of observation.
haha, just wanted to make sure I wasnt the only one making fun of his observations. Saying Tebow looked better today and Barkley looking much better/stronger.
This is the same guy that swore the Eagles were picking Landon Collins regardless of his fit with the defense.
that’s about the scariest sentence of the year so far
Tebow isn’t Catholic. He most likely believes that all papists are going to hell.
Lol…some slightly more credible media members have said that Its clear that no one on this roster can throw a ball like SAM Bradford.. Tho, allegedly sanchez looks was better then last year which WOULDNT surprise me, having another year in this offense, some game experience under his belt, and getting some of his arm strength back
Kenny Philips says he’s healthy, trying out in NOLA, would be interested to see if we take a look if he makes it out.
Why not bring Marlin Jackson back in as well.
Heck. Why not Tito?
Still waiting to see what Rejus Benn can do lol
Belichick fired BSpikes without awaiting any explanation for the “Deer Incident.”
About 2 years ago, Kelly threw Cooper a life-preserver after his “Incident.”
Was it about a shortage of WRs for Kelly?
Or Kelly’s faith in the redemptive powers of 4 days away from the team?
I’d like to believe that Kelly would now — no matter what the roster situation — cut any jack-ass who did what Cooper did in 2013.
agree, would hope he would. I think he gets a pass, first season and he was just evaluating the team. It was also a tricky situation for everyone to tip toe around
plus he’s racists so…
From what I’ve read it was more about Spikes being on a zero-tolerance policy when the Pats signed him to this contract, all stemming from Spikes and Belichek bumping heads a couple of years ago.
interesting. makes sense.
After they harbored a serial killer who was murdering people on his spare time away from the Practice Facility. I assume the Patriots will be No Tolerence for ANY player, not just Spike
Without really taking a side on either of the players’ incidents, I think there’s a huge question of degree between a DUI induced hit and run and the use of racial slurs.
What’s the proof on the DUI?
The driver fled the scene — making a DUI charge at this point wholly speculative and impossible.
Ha, spoken like a true lawyer.
Dunno. It might hinge on effect in locker room and things like that. Cooper’s was disgusting but not a felony; the latter is what gets you suspended these days. The patriots must feel this things a bit more after Hernandez too.
What “felony” did Spikes commit?
There seems to be quite a bit of guess-work going on about what Spikes did, but no proof from the cops.
Anyway . . . I agree with you about the locker-room and the Pats being acutely sensitive to knuckle-headed and potentially criminal conduct.
All I’m saying is — starting now, in 2015 — if anyone on the Eagles did something as offensive as Cooper did in 2013, whether white or black and whether directed at a male or female, my hope is Kelly dumps the guy. ASAP.
Only a complete piece of crap would say what Cooper did.
Don’t care how well he blocks (or runs or tackles).
But that’s me. Lurie and Kelly may feel differently.
It’s PR — wonder if NFLPA / Players have any redress for improper termination.
And people still want to disparage players for trying to get more *guaranteed* money when you can get dropped with NO DP.
There’s no “wrongful termination” in the NFL. McCoy could have sued the Eagles in Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act if he were cut, but other than that the NFL is “right to work”.
I completely agree with your sentiment about players trying to get guarantees too.
No “wrongful termination” . . . except what the CBA and law of the shop prohibit.
Right. And since “conduct detrimental to the team” is (probably) written into every contract, there’s no getting around playing at the whim of ownership.
if a felony is a law that is punishable by more than one year in prison, then the answer is Mass. Gen. Laws chapter 90 section 24(2)(a), which prohibits hit and runs and can carry a prison term of up to two years.
Is he convicted? no. Was his car in this accident? Highly likely. Is there a reason the driver left the scene? Most likely, and prob not just because they were late for a movie.
RNE:
Agree with everything you said.
Just we’ll never know, I think, that BSpikes was the guy who committed the HnR and fled the scene.
Not without an enormous expenditure of state resources to prove the only DNA in that car belongs to Spikes and that some electronic device belonging to Spikes places him outside his home at that time — in the vicinity of the crash.
I think we will know.
Let’s not pretend like Bill doesn’t look the other way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonzo_Dennard
I guess the interesting thing is he was let go LIKE THAT. Must be a reason – maybe he was going to be cut anyway and this just sped things up. Maybe NE is tired of the spotlight for murderers and ball killers…
Spikes is notoriously a bit of a knucklehead to begin with. Add this in, and the fact that he’s someone you have to scheme around to make work, and it just wasn’t worth the headache.
Belichick checks in!
The coach totally looks the other way. Old-school Al Davis-Bill Parcells type.
You know Parcells was looking any direction except where LT was going.
I think Belichick literally translates to “I don’t know anything about that”.
Please save this because you’ll have a chance to use it again.
Fantastic line.
I believe leaving the scene of an accident can be a felony. The Patriots (nor the NFL when it comes to suspensions) aren’t acting under a burden of proof; if they think it’s likely he is lying they may be enough.
when will God be nice enough to let Tebow know its over?
or at least call him to something else right?
i mean geez, he’s listening, so say something already
so you’re not buying what Elliot Shore-Parks is selling?
I aint buying what tebow is selling either
I don’t buy the theory THATS being thrown around, of us signing TEBOW to be a “lightning rod” and take all the attention off of Bradford and the rest of the team.
I don’t think chip gives a crap enough about what we think to sign someone to be a “lightning rod”, and if Bradford NEEDED a “lightning rod” asia would assume chip would view him as weak.,
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I don’t believe TEBOW is “competing” for this roster, ANY MORE then GJ Kinney ever “competed” to make the team as a QB.. TEBOW is here because:
1) It’s no secret we need a 4th arm with Kinney no longer playing QB
2) Favor to TEBOW and His Agent
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The problem is when you sign TEBOW, media and people lose their mind and blow it up, making it something it’s not…if you aren’t one of his weirdo brainwashed fans that actually Thiink he is awesome and look at the signing of TEBOW fo what it is, it’s a solid signing.
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the #4 Training Camp QB is just a summer position. If we have to add an arm for a few months, TEBOW has appeal:
1) you know he is Going to buy into your program, and add a positive work ethic to our group, which NEVER hurts
2) You get The first extended look to see how much he has grown from the alleged past year of workouts
3) It doesn’t hurt that he has the potential to be a major weapon if Tney end up making two point conversions a bigger Part of the game.,
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You need a smart guy who can run the offense, because really the #4 QB is here to get balls to guys and help backups make the team, more then he is competing to make a roster spot.. GJ Kinney would probably be the #4 QB again if he didn’t ask to try and make the team at other positions. Chip would have kept Kinney, yet he isn’t even realistically competing with Barkley…so if we keep in mind that he is really just here to be an arm for 3rd and 4th stringers to play with, he isn’t a bad signing at all.
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Just the fact that we are getting an extended look on a QB who wasn’t on our roster, is probably better then just bringing Kinney back for the 3rd year when you know he isn’t going to ever be your #3 QB
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If we can avoid the medias crap and the insane fans that think he is good, and look at the signing for what it really is, which is just a replacement for Kinney, it’s not a bad signing at all.. And I hope next year we can bring in another long shot QB to fill that spot.. Keep taking a flier every year and sooner or later you may find a kid that can be a good #2 for you., or q #3 worth developing…. That’s better then bringing back Kinney every year knowing he is no threat to even push Barkley
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At least TEBOW has a big enough name to where Barkley has to acknowledge him as competiton. Put some pressure on Barkley, where as if you bring Kinney back, Barkley ISNT going to take him serious as a threat.. At least Tebows Name and the fact he can run zone reads may be enough to make Barkley uncomfortable, put some imaginary pressure on Barkley and make him fight tnru it
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Hopefully next year TEBOW will be replaced with someone like EJ Manuel to get an extended look. And then the following summer we replace Manuel with RG3, and keep taking fliers on talemts TIL chip finds one he can rehabilitate…
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No Johnny Manziel tho!! He is going to get cut next year, or the year after, but he should NEVER set foot in Novacare. I can stomach the RG3, Kurt Cousin, Ej Manuel, Geno Smith, Logan Thimas tyoes…but I Draw the line at “Johnny Clipboard”..
that might be actually more then any one in the media has written about ol teblow.
No. Not on QB play, not on libelous gang ties stories. F him.
reminds me of that “Say Something” song.
Tebow’s not a bad guy. I wouldn’t put money on it, but I hope he makes the team.
no he’s not a bad guy at all.
just not a great qb.
Cox skipped today’s OTAs. Trade him! Culture Cancer!
Cox . . . the “Energy Vampire”.
Sheesh, maybe he buying sconces or something.
Really really curious to see how our DB situatuon shakes out. And not just the starters. We should see young talent, clawing and scratching over the deep reserve spots in the secondary. Figure the DBs who are 100% locks to make the roster:
1) Malcolm the Captain…
2) Maragos is a lock for the #5 Safety spot, but really just a special team player
3) Jaylen Watkins, too soon to give up on (versatile)
4) Byron Maxwell our Crowned Jewel Of the secondary
5) Earl Boykin
6) Nolan Carrol, versatile, good contract
7) Eric Rowe
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Those are 7 of Probably 10 DBs, maybe 11 because we have talent
Walter Thurmond is a virtual lock, I jiust left him off the roster in case of a camp injury, since injuries are the only thing that have been holding his career back. if Thurmond gets thru camp/Preseason Healthy, he will be a lock to make this team even possibly starting..
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So the Grim Reality of the safety battle, is there are 2 roster spots available, and a handful of young players competing for them. Since Maragos is really a Special Team Captain, Maybe they decide to keep an 11th DB, but still 2, maybe 3 roster spots available. versatility, Special team ability, every little bit helps because it’s going to be a tough competition, and I don’t think any of these guys can feel safe right now. Who’s going to win the last 2 or 3 spots?
1) Earl Wolff, probably the most talented, hasn’t been able to stay on the field and still isn’t practcing with his team mates. I really eally hope Earl Wolff doesn’t think he is a lock to make this roster even tho if it’s a sole question of talent, he would make the team. doesn’t bring versatility like some of the others.
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2) Ed Reynolds. I haven’t ruled him out yet, but he is going to have to make plays in the preseason..
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3) Jerome Couplin.. Size, and length, No idea what level to expect out of him
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4) EJ Biggers, some positional versatility
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5) Russell Shepard….THIS SCARES ME! I do NOT want to lose Shep, and I fear someone will poach him if we try to get him on the Practice Squad,.. Unless we,can stub his toe and place him on IR, Im going to have to root for tbis raw talent to be a fast learner, make enough plays to make this years team which is a LONGSHOT… I will be so pissed if a team like the skins or Giants steal him
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6) Chris Prosinski, a Special Team ACE, but I’m not sure he brings enough safety ability to chose over some of these young kids..probably the best ST player on this list
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7) Randall Evans.. We shouldn’t have a problem getting him on the Practice Squad if we want him.,,
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Am I missing anyone?
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7 players fighting for 2,’maybe 3 roster spots?
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1 I Hope Earl Wolff can get hs ass on the field soon, and when he does get on the field, he better stay on it. Because iit would be a shame to give up on his upside so soon.
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2) Russell Shepard I am rooting for to surprise people, transition quickily to this pro level and make enough plays so we don’t have to risk trying to sneak him onto the practice squad
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And I don’t think its a lock that we keep an 11th. I think someone has to really make it hard for chip to cut them and win that 11th spot. I assume it comes down to Reynolds vs. Couplin vs. Biggers…. But because of Prosinskis stellar special team play. If he can show something at Safety, he could sneak his way onto the roster of coach who is a Special team fanatic..
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jenkins and Byron Maxwell are like the ONLY DBs who can take it easy in the preseason and just focus on not getting hurt… All the other DBs are going to have toplay some quality ball in the preseason.
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preseason games should be more crucial then ever because we have such a more talented pool of players to cut down to 53 players… preseason games should be a lot of fun, the second half should be more entertaining/important then ever this year…and that speaks to our depth..
You may wanna re-do Boykins’ go-by.
Earl Boykins was a 5’5″ NBA player — who played for 12 teams in 14 seasons.
BB is bigger and better than Earl.
stick him in the slot
LOL bwahahaha
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“playing for jim Washburn was my low point…” -Brandon Graham..
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What Fraudulent Hallow stats that washburn defense put up,.. I don’t remember to many times we had so many sacks, but really just empty stats. I live for defensive football, yet that was such a screwed up situation we couldn’t evened enjoy top sack numbers.
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Lol I need to make a file. Start collecting all our players quotes trashing the washburn wide 9 era… When Casey Mathew thinks you are an idiot, you should prob re think your scheme..
The day Reid hired Washburn — before hiring a D.C. after tossing McD
— is the first day his tenure in Philadelphia began to end.
Completely agree. I thought when he hired Juan Castillo that was basically a works-or-Reid-gets-fired move, but that move was probably necessary because any DC worth his salt wants to implement his own scheme, and not be lorded over by and dictated to by the DL coach, no matter how good he was — so hiring Washburn basically led to hiring a substandard (or at least completely inexperienced) DC. Oh, it would have been nice if Sean McDermott was more experienced when he was thrust into the job here. He’s done OK in Carolina with better talent.
I guess you could say the talent rot in the coaching ranks was really to blame for Reid’s demise — he had a great crew earlier in his tenure. It was noteworthy he barely took anyone with him to Kansas City.
move to KC . . . nice point
He should have hired Jauron as DC first. McDermott is an unmitigated imbecile with little or no concept on how to scheme or call a D and needed to be fired. McDermott is lucky that he has Ron Rivera there to implement a system. McDermott and the all time worst red zone D aside, I totally agree that hiring Washburn first was foolish. Especially because nobody wanted to work with Washburn and we wound up stuck with Juan Castillo when the music stopped.
Dick Jauron would have made that D very functional and hired good staffers.
I’d love to see Graham asked about that terrible cheap shot / chop block Tyson Clabo put on his knee the year prior. Graham’s career was severely impeded due to the tear he ultimately sustained on that knee which was weakened by that cheap shot from Clabo. I’ll absolutely cheer if I live long enough to see an obituary for Clabo.
Oregon Ducker . . .
How are you? Love your stuff here, always.
Energy vampires?
‘Energy vampires’ suggests a great image all by itself.
However,
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-koch-brothers-toxic-empire-20140924
Interesting article, I’m going to read this in a bit when I’m all caught up on my work.
What would people think about going the Sixers route and just shutting Earl Wolff down for the year, give him all the extra time to get over the injury he could possibly get, IR him for the season, let him come back next year 100% at OTAs ready to work with the team, completely healthy ready to prove he deserves an extension?
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I don’t know how much more patience chip will have. He is basically going to have missed the entire voluntary OTA’s off to the side with a trainer instead of competing with the team.. Who knows if he is going to be ready for the mandatory mini camp? And when he does get back, will he be fully confident in the knee to let loose?
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I fear that whenever Wolff comes back, he will get one chance to prove he can stay on the field and out perform enough guys to win a spot. His potemtial won’t matter at all…if he is only going to get one shot to make it, it may be a good idea to IR him, let him have all the time he could ask for to get healthy and see if he can make the team next year and prove he should get an extension, it may be better then him missing half this offseason. Rush to get to camp and not feel completely over it enough to cut it loose and fight for his eagle career?… If he throws his name in this camp battle, he is going to have to out perform giys to make the roster,because I don’t think chip has much patience left to let him slide off potential, or because he is still getting over an injury
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I really hope this kid dpesmt waste his potential, and what I really don’t want to see is to cut him, and eventually he flourishes with some other team. He isn’t Jaqwainn Jarrett, he has real talent, but he is running out of chances I worry
Is he hurt again?
The dude just had knee surgery a few months ago.
It seems he’s had a knee issue since his rookie season. Wish he gets healthy. Clock is ticking and patience is wearing thin.
Right. that’s because he was injured his rookie season, Sports Science Gods then misdiagnosed that injury, leaked it to the press that they strongly felt he was just being a pussy, and then he finally gets the problem operated on, and still people like yourself and John G rag on the kid.
I wouldn’t say I was ragging on him. You can include Chip Kelly as people like myself too.
His knee problems were et misdiagnosed, and we just found out what was really wrong with him this past year…
I’d hate to think the coaches would be mad at him for recovering from an injury. On the other hand, I don’t know if they don’t respect his injury and expect him to be back already.
I think from the outside looking in, he’s on thin ice. But, inside the Novacare walls it might not be as bad. But considering Thurmond’s move to S and the push to get McCourty – I think this might be Wolff’s last year if he doesn’t show some major improvement.
I’d like to Thank ESPNS for “snubbing” Jordan Mathews.. Lol as if That kid needed any more motivatin to grow into a defensive Terrorist under chip… Last time he was snubbed, he went to Vanderbilt and became a One man Gang setting SEC records!!!
Thanks ESPN!!!
How was the Pope snubbed by ESPN?
Some recent top young player list that he was left off
Never heard that DRC tidbit. Anyone know the deets?
He is a very generous guy. Used to give away TDs to receivers all the time.
I remember when he first got to Denver he really talked up the coaching he was getting. Said things like he was being taught how to do certain things the right way for the first time in his career. Of course didn’t know it was Undlin he was talking about at the time, nor did I much care.
Interesting. Oh you can look back for the ball to make a play?
Now that is interesting… If Undlin could coax production out of DRC then I trust him with anyone.
He said the same shit when he first got here.
I like this news. It’s cool because Undlin is considered a good coach, so he’s in a good environment with good teachers. I hope he can turn it into a coaching career.
Good line by Q.
Ow, Tommy. That fucking hurt. You made me read “Kurt Coleman.”
Reading Derek Landri lifted my spirits. Tommy wrote very positively about him. Tommy may have tried to adopt him when other players went different ways.
Coleman had 3 INTs last season and more tackles than the combined total of all the guys competing for our #2 safety spot.
just sayin’
These guys are better athletes. Just sayin’
Kurt Coleman spider chart:
http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/672/
Eric Rowe destroys him in both areas S & CB:
http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4957/position/22
Jaylen Watkins basically beats him at his own game and then some:
http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4647/position/23/
Earl Wolff too:
http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4310/
They didn’t have one for Walter Thurmond, but I guarantee you he’s a better cover guy and more athletic than Coleman.
It’s tough to get stats when you’re injured, but suggesting Coleman is better than what we have is silly. That’s like suggesting we should go get Babin because he has more sacks than Fletcher Cox.
Coleman is the perfect example of being more than a list of your measurables. If you put him in Earl Wolff’s body, he’d be perennial All-Pro. Instead, he’s just the Little Safety that Could.
Yup. He was good for special teams, but really couldn’t give you much in the secondary.
The guy has heart.
Are you trying to imply something?
I assume you made the intern actually type that out.
https://twitter.com/roobcsn/status/608087490147295232
Thanks for sharing this here, as I no longer bother following roob on twitter… because I’m just not into his musical taste.
Yeah, His musical taste isn’t as good as he thinks it is. But I hate the same bands he does so I do find it funny when he rants about them. And I totally agree with Barwin that his music tweets are far superior to his football ones so I can see why you would unfollow if you don’t like that sort of music.
Connor is awesome. One of those rare talents who is a great athlete and a well-rounded person.
I get they are doing their diligence with swapping out guard and giving everyone reps — but after a year already with these players, I expected the OL to already be set sans Mathis. Its not exactly encouraging if they don’t know already. (maybe they do and like I said, they are doing their diligence)
Disagree…we have young players who should be improving each offseason. Who is to say that a young player improvement hasn’t closed the gap between him and top reserve Allan Barbre?… I LOVE that we didn’t just award players starting positions and we are giving a fair look to all our options to find out which is our best combo…. Plus Barbre and Tobin both are better on the left side, we should be rotating Graf, Kelly and Garner on the right side and see is one can Develope into a better option…. It’s Only OTAs, come training camp, we probably will see the starters working together more to really start building chemistry…
I hear ya. But someone has to be the lead at this point. I agree they all mature and grow but one of them should have stepped up. Maybe that’s the problem, none of them have. Still lots of time to get better. Someone should separate themselves from the pack.
…..
Saying there’s a bunch of guys for 1 position and saying there’s completion there is a good thing. And also a bad thing. :).
THATS IMPOSSIBLE RIGHT NOW! Chip always talks about how DL and OL are impossible to evaluate this time of year, since players aren’t even allowed to hit each other (they don’t have pads on)
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How can an offensive guard step up and win a spot without putting pads on yet? The DL and OL have to cooperate so they can both get their technique in this time of year
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People need to understand the OL isn’t even competing right now. That’s why chip doesnt care about the depth chart right now. All it is, is guys getting as many reps as possible, so they can breakdown the film in meeting room and correct playërs technique
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There is NO OL competitipn until the pads come on, it’s literally impossible for a OL to step up right now..
CK isn’t evaluating every single player. What your saying would be 100% true if none of those players played last year under Chip. IF Chip doesn’t have some sense of how these players are, there’s something wrong with CK….
If he was evaluation every single player for every aspect of the game, the whole starting front 5 OL would be mixing and matching. The fact that the 2 tackles and center remain the same means — CK already knows about those players so no evaluation is needed. That should somewhat hold true with the 3 rotating out of the guard. CK better have some idea — otherwise, he’s not doing his job….
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for example — Carol got the nod because he had an outstanding off season and CK recognized that. He was rewarded. That’s the kind of ‘stepping up’ I’m referring to. I don’t mean that someone should be named starter, just that someone should have a leg up on the other two….
I’m hoping with less reps for Murray and Mathews, they both are able to go the whole season with no injuries. This has the makings of a smash-mouth running game.
Hate Ryan Mathews, but I have to admit that in some areas he is even more talented then Murray.. Injuries were the only thing that stopped him from being a franchise back…. He is a SERIOUS Talemt to bring off the bench…. I was a big fan of Polk, but Ryan is on another level entirely…
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IF Murray wasn’t here, and we could keep Ryan Mathews healthy, he is legit talentef enough for chip to go into a season with Ryan as his -#1 back… Of course injuries makes that a very risky idea… But if our OL is clicking the way it should, Ryan and Murray are both backs chip could lead the league in rushing with…..
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talent wise Ryan is BIGTIME..I just always hated him as someone soft, who would always get injured and fumble when games get gritty… But like many new Eagles, if their bad injury Karma is now a thing of the past, he could be a serious weapon under chip Kelly
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In years past, even tho I love Polk, shady was much much better then any of his backups.. So it made sense that we rode shady and didn’t play the backups…but I doubt that will be the case,now, I think Murray and Mathews will close to even split on the carries, trying to keep both healthy and extend their careers a bit..
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Theoretically, we can even line up with both in the backfields.in the past chip claimed we didn’t do this because neither shady or Sproles were big enough to be a lead blocker for the other, but both Murray and Mathews have size and are capable of lead blocking, we could see a package with both of them in the backfield, and defenses having NO CLUE which is blocking, and which is really going to get the ball…
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Sproles will only get 5-8 carries per game, but I assume he will be a bigger part of the passing game, but the attention he commands from defenses makes him extremely valuable even as just a decoy
I can’t wait to see some 2-back sets. We can do it with this group.
I agree with the soft comment. I know I’m in the minority on that opinion. I’ve been doing fantasy leagues for years and I stay away from him for a reason. That video above is why I stay away from him. When the chips are down — can you trust him. I’ll trust DM.
Hopefully Chips coaching and sports science along with two back time share is able to keep Murray and Mathews on the field and fix someone of their ball security issues..
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Mathews is so talented, that if healthy, he would have eventually stolen fRank Gores #1 RB spot had he signed with us..
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hoping Ryan can prove me wrong and make me a believer
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I think he’ll be alright. He’s not carrying the load, and this is a guy that ran for over 1200 yards (and made the Pro Bowl) in 2013. 12th (I think) overall pick in the draft when he came out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlFPAY9WnBQ
Certainly will be fun if they are both 100% healthy
Hopefully there is none of this:
Add Sproles to that list, too. The Eagles backfield is going to be killer.
I did the whole Madden season simulation with the CURRENT roster and carries ended up how I estimated them….. 250ish for DeMarco & 150ish for Mathews…..still think Sproles and Huff are going to serve similar roles this year….TAZR.
Ooohhh good news for us out-of-towners.
I like that it’s late in the preseason, by then Bradford should be healthy and ready to take full advantage of the week of joint practices with the Ravens..
My one buddy is a Ravens fan, so I might hook up with him for the game. Just another excuse to hang out and chill.
Two coaches I like in Philly in one picture. Hakstol remains to be seen, but I really like what I hear. Someday, somehow, the Phillies might get another good manager both in the clubhouse and at the c-level.
I feel very confident with Kelly, Brown, Hakstol as our coaches. Sandberg…not so much.
I hate the Phillies right now and they are almost the laughing stock of the league. Did you see this tweet earlier?
The Phillies have been a poorly run organization since 1883, their few runs of success are the results of statistical probability.
Too bad they didn’t move west to KC instead of the Athletics (still the Philadelphia team with the most championship titles).
Funny you say this. This is still a sore spot with my father besides the Warriors leaving.
lol…
“Someday, somehow, the Phillies might get another good manager both in the clubhouse and at the c-level.”
___________
As soon as the Phillies add 3 more high quality starters, a couple of young power-hitting outfielders, quality replacements for Howard and Utley . . . the Phillies manager will be a GENIUS again.
Once he brought Papelbon to town there was no going back…. did I mention how much I hate Papelbon?
I can’t stand the guy either, but honestly he’s been a pretty darned good closer.
It’s the most over-estimated position in sports, but he’s been good.
ok so yeah Amaro’s best move was to bring in a closer….
not impressed… it’s not like he got Papelbon for a discount
You won’t find me defending Amaro.
It was a dumb move that indicated he had less grasp on the state on the franchise than the average fan.
My equal comparison would be if Chip f*cked everything else up except
fixing our kicking game lol.
Better than Parker/JOwnz? Unpossible!
Apt analogy.
Lee and Halladay trades were great. Overall, he’s been a disaster though, even with those. He’s been awful with contracts (not much better than Wade was), neglected the farm in terms of spending (though that has been such a long-term Phillies fail that I assume that is more to do with Montgomery and higher than Amaro), and the Pence pair of trades… just ugh. Biiiiig mistake going with Amaro rather than Arbuckle, though that was a mistake you could see coming years away. Montgomery getting pushed out is the first ray of hope. But it may take a while.
I almost spit my water out when I read this…
I just realized I replied to you and not @ACViking.
Amaro: “well I can’t fix our farm system, get anything of value for any aging star and totally violated Pat Gillicks golden rule of not signing pitchers to more than 3 year deals…. but hey at least I got a decent closer for way to much money.”
dagger through the heart!
Chip press conference at noon
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Cancelled? It looks to be removed from the homepage.
No, the media is tweeting out his comments now.
In watching it live on csn now
close the browser and reopen if you’re on pe.com
I find it interesting that with Cox not being at OTAs yesterday, the Eagles had Bennie Logan at DE and Beau Allen at NT with the first team. I realize they rotate players through various positions but the simple move would have simply to have Curry fill in for a day. Moving Logan to DE seems more like a permanent move if Cox isn’t going to be around for a while, either due to injury or holdout. Probably making too much of it, but that alerted my spidey sense.
Ignore. Cox is at practice today.
Not a big deal, Logan and Beau actually got snaps together In games last year. Beau always came in at NT and Logan would slide over to DE..
Wow, Wolff cleared by Dr.Andrews 2 weeks ago. I find it odd that he isnt at least doing some drills.
Chip said it’s all about pain tolerance. Basically, Wolff is a pussy….cat.
pop a couple advil and get the f out there…
After the team screwed up his diagnosis last season, you can’t blame him for not being comfortable with them this time around.
Dr. Andrews is an independent doctor, not employed by the team.
Dr. Andrews cleared RGIII to start too early, he’s not infallible.
Here’s my thing: Right now, it’s voluntary OTAs so he can do what he wants. Once it becomes mandatory mini-camp, if the team doctors have cleared him and an outside doctor has cleared him then he needs to do what his employer(the guy writing his check) tells him to do and get his sorry behind back on the practice field.
“Right now, it’s voluntary OTAs so he can do what he wants.” You that think that’s true for earl on this team? i don’t think so.
As far as the rules go. I don’t think he has a strong chance of making the team, even less so if he can’t play through a little pain and get on the practice field.
Tell me how much pain Wolff is in, since you seem to know so much about it.
This is why I wish we would just IR Wolff, let him have all the time in the world to get completely healthy and have the best chance at having a long career….. If he doesn’t out perform players in camp, he could easily get cut… That’s why I would almost rather give him all the time in the world so that the next time he tal a the field he will have the best chance of winning a roster spot…,.. Wolff has to get on the field soon, Chip is running out of patience is the impression I get… Hopefully he is ready to be a full go for mandatory activities
He gives a medical clearance, not a “football” clearance.
A knee may be “healed” as a far as a doctor is concerned, but there’s still a path to getting back into playing form.
Would it better if Wolff was practicing with the team? Only if he were 100% at the start of camp.
They’re different? What’s the use of a medical clearance if it isn’t geared for football. I guess they’re just running around right now.
No kidding. After the team doctors screwed up his diagnosis last year, you can’t blame the guy for not trusting them this time around.
All those people calling him “soft” last year showed how full of shit they were then, it would be terrible if their stupidity was revealed again this year.
The team doctors didn’t screw up his diagnosis. He was cleared to play then and has been cleared to play now. It’s a pain tolerance issue, not anything that prevents him from playing.
They didn’t?
Who screwed up his diagnosis last season?
It’s funny that people believe the limited information the team gives out on injuries when it suits the “pussy!” narrative.
Why do you think his diagnosis was screwed up to begin with?
Because all season they said he was fine and then suddenly they say, “oh snap! he actually does have a problem and needs surgery!”
This has been discussed ad nauseum on Eagles forums.
Interesting that chip said Travis Long is looking really good and that he would have made the team last year if he didn’t get hurt. He is producing on OLB and Special teams
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Chip also says Walter Thirmond has been the most productive DB so far, in terms of interceptions, pass break ups and stripping the ball, “always around the ball”
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Like I talked about yesterday, Wolff was cleared weeks ago, its up to him when he will stop practicing with trainers and start practicing with the team
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Cox is here today, Sproles will be back tomorrow
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Praised Vinny Curry too
At the end of every running back meeting Murray has all the RBs compare each other’s notebooks..
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Very impressive Byron Maxwell has been with his work ethic..
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Wow. That’s interesting, and really good moving forward.
Chip keeps telling the media we will never openly discuss contract situations shooting down all the hypothetical questions about Mathis.
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Lea Bowan I think asked him: at some point you have to decide if he will be on the team? Chip responded that they will just take it as it goes and that he hasn’t talked to Mathis
I was thinking same thing, MS has a great mentor there on the team for early expectations gone awry. He seems determined so we shall see. Someone also compared the SB time table to Carson Palmer, SB injured himself 3 months prior to Carson so someone to sort of compare to. He has to be close based on timing alone so agree he can probably do much more but just taking it slow and being smart about it.
Interesting Fisher made him wear a brace for 3 years. That may have contributed to the injuries.
he makes all players wear a brake this time of year. Certainly could have since you wouldn’t develop the stabilizer muscles, so when you go no brace later i think the knee is actually weaker.
It was interesting that he wasn’t committal on whether he would be getting rid of the brace in the future.
I also wonder about range of motion. Bradford was wearing the brace when he had his second tear. If the brace limited the motion of the knee it could have been a contributing factor.
I admit I know 0% of anything about this.
my takeaway from the press conference with chip is the same as usual.
CHip is the coolest.
whats the virtual thing the guy was asking him about?
Dallas is using VR headsets for its QBs (maybe other players) to simulate in game reps.
Seems like something you have to do if you were a QB on my team.
I’ve been wondering when this sort of thing would make its way into the NFL. A VR company could make a mint licensing real game simulation.
oh sanchez hits cooper deep over Maxwell on 11-11’s?
is the world ending?
Earl Thomas breaks up that pass.
Tebow looking unstoppable in redzone drills (according to report).
go tebow!