Looking Deep
Posted: August 19th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 497 Comments »Coaches need time when they take over a team. They need to install their schemes. They need to change the roster. That can involve looking for scheme fit, youth or simple talent upgrades. Building a football team isn’t something you do overnight. A baseball team can be built very quickly. A basketball team can be built instantly. One or two players change everything in that sport. Football is worlds apart. You need time.
Chip Kelly is now in Year 3 of running the Eagles. One of the ways this team is improved is the depth of the roster.
Kelly prefers the 3-4 defense. The key to the 3-4 is good linebacker play. Kelly had a good pair of starting outside ‘backers in 2013, Trent Cole and Connor Barwin. The backups were Brandon Graham and Casey Matthews. And remember that was not the current version of Graham. Back then he was really struggling with the move to OLB. He was awful in coverage and not exactly dominant as a pass rusher.
The coaches didn’t want Graham on the field due to his limitations as an overall player. He finished with 3 sacks, 1 FF and 1 TFL. Those are hardly compelling numbers. Matthews was only on the field because he was basically the only option. He was not meant to be a 3-4 OLB. The coaches trusted the fact that he knew the playbook, could cover (a little), could rush (a little) and could be an effective run defender. That made Matthews good enough.
Think about where the situation stands two years later. Cole was cut. Graham played well enough as a backup in 2014 to earn a new contract. He will now be the starting ROLB. Former first round pick Marcus Smith has the inside track to being the number three OLB. Bryan Braman, who has good size, athleticism and some experience, is on track to be the fourth guy. And consider that this is after the team lost Travis Long to an injury.
Kelly doesn’t have OLB exactly where he wants it, but the overall position is better off than it was in 2013.
Think about some other spots and how the depth has improved in two years. You have Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and Riley Cooper starting. Matthews had a terrific year in 2014. Cooper had a career year in 2013. Huff is a former third round pick and has looked terrific this summer. On the bench, you have first round pick Nelson Agholor, productive veteran Miles Austin and special teams standout Seyi Ajirotutu. Kelly has talked about wanting to play receivers in waves. He can do that when he has this kind of depth.
The Eagles are deeper at CB than they have been in recent years. That sounds crazy because of all the new faces, but it is absolutely true. Byron Maxwell has one starting spot locked up. Nolan Carroll is on pace to start opposite of him. Second round pick Eric Rowe is competing to play the Nickel spot. If he doesn’t get that job, he can be a backup on the outside. Jaylen Watkins, who was a fourth round pick a year ago, is battling with Rowe to cover the slot. Veteran E.J. Biggers provides depth inside and outside. The team is very high on rookie Denzel Rice, who they feel was a steal as an undrafted free agent.
The Eagles don’t have a proven set of players in that group, but they have a collection of bodies and skill sets that fit the scheme. And those players are performing well this summer. Even more impressive, the team already lost JaCorey Shepherd to injury and traded away Brandon Boykin.
The Eagles 2014 draft class was mixed. Jordan Matthews had a great year. Huff flashed ability, but was highly inconsistent. Beau Allen became a solid backup NT. The rest of the guys struggled to get on the field. More than a few people were throwing bust labels around.
This summer those players have taken a step forward. They are competing for jobs. Smith could be the top OLB off the bench. Huff might start. Watkins could be the Nickelback. Taylor Hart is bigger, stronger and in the mix for playing time. Ed Reynolds is coming off his best NFL game. He had a pair of INTs in the preseason opener and played well.
Nobody is going to mistake the 2014 Eagles draft for the Steelers 1974 class, but the group has real value. They are providing depth and competition. Think about Seattle in recent years. They have had some roster holes that hurt them, but also had really good competition at some spots. Their defense was loaded. They had a great set of RBs. Those just happened to be the areas that drove them to a Super Bowl win in 2013 and a narrow loss in 2014. You want player pushing each other. You want highly competitive practices. That generally is how you bring out the best in players.
It took Pete Carroll and John Schneider several years to build that group. Kelly has been building the Eagles and seems to have the team firmly pointed in the right direction. The regular season will be the real test of just how talented and deep the Eagles really are, but right now they look pretty good. And deep.
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The quality of our cuts will be much higher this year. Gonna be hard to hide guys.
It always feels that way, but everyone wants to keep their guys, most teams aren’t very active poaching other players. Not all of that is bias so much as investment, spent a summer getting your guys ready to play in your system. Hard to drop one to replace them starting from square one.
True. But Seattle and SF have been hit the last couple of years. The injuries to guys like Long and Shepherd make it a little easier, but guys like Mostert and Rice aren’t gimmes for the practice squad.
Yeah, honestly as Chip says, I hope they all get jobs when this is all said and done.
Yes; Tim Tebow, Riley Cooper, and Kenyon Barner are going to be very high quality cuts.
Cooper isn’t going anywhere for at least another year.
He needs to go into a dumpster.
$ 3 mil. guaranteed to him and 3.8 cap hit this year if he’s cut.
Considering the injuries we had at OL and ILB last year, having depth is the smartest thing to do. We know CK wants that, because he talks a bit about having the backup players look like the starters.
Although there isn’t a whole lot of quality proven to be going on with the OL after Peters, Johnson, and Kelce.
Yeah we gotta wait for some full games to get a feel of our Guards.
Or any of the other new players. Practice reports and preseason isn’t quite enough.
True, but one of the two need to be the best guard in the NFL or they did a poor job replacing talent with talent.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/05/15/the-pff-101-no-7-evan-mathis/
Fair point.
if you only go by PFF stats.
McCoy out with a hamstring injury, has MRI today. They are hoping it’s just a strain.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000512343/article/lesean-mccoy-to-get-mri-after-hamstring-injury
I am optimistic about the team as it is, but I think Kelly needs another offseason to fully transform the roster. With that said, I agree with you Tommy that the Eagles’ roster looks deep, and I also believe (or at least hope), that the team is firmly pointed in the right direction.
Get us a young developmental QB and a bunch of young linemen to develop next off season and we’ll have a very good outlook for the future, not just a season at a time
Yeah, I’m wondering if they go OLine heavy next year.
I think they have to. If Tobin who is 25 was the one pushing for the starters spot instead of Gardner then there may be less of a need.
JP’s replacement is already on the roster at least, but there is going to be an opening at RT sooner then later. I’m curious to see if JPs play dips this season.
That’s going to be a sad day for me when JP has to retire. He lost weight this year coming into camp, so I’m hoping that extends his career a bit.
It will definitely be good for him. The problem older OL have generally is not going against the power moves but the speed moves.
And a safety.
yes that too, even if Reynolds pans out, still always want to have someone developing (someone with upside) anyway.
Not ready to close the door on Reynolds and Couplin. They may turn out to be good options there.
I need to get a look at Couplin. I really don’t know a thing about him.
I don’t think any of us know a thing about Couplin besides his measurables and his practice squad history.
He got a few mentions before his appendectomy, so I want to think he’s showing up in practice. Whether that translates to the field is something different.
That is fair, but for how much longer would you expect Jenkins to be here as a top flight starter? I’d love to get a guy next year early, groom his as the 3rd safety, and put him in as our top starter when he is in year 3 or 4 of his deal.
They like the Safeties to have nickel experience, so maybe they try Watkins back there again, or Shepherd.
Or FA. If we can get that browns safety Gipson (?). Team will be set but that’s lot of money tied up in the secondary.
Somewhere GEAGLE just got VERY excited.
Agree, although I do think Thurmond as long as he stays healthy will be good for us.
I’ve gotta ask, Eagles fan in/from Hungary?
I am Hungarian and I have been following the Eagles since 2005. The NFL has a lot of followers here in Hungary, just like everywhere else across Europe. The sport has gained popularity in the last 10 years in Central and Eastern Europe, most of the countries in this region have their own amateur or semi professional teams competing in leagues (as far as I know). Hungary’s best team – in terms of overall accomplishments -, for example, are the Budapest Wolves. We have recently formed a national team too, and the Hungarian national team will square off against the Czech national team on September 27 in Budapest in a friendly game.
Remind me not to piss you off. Hungarians have wreaked havoc upon us.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IrsaoXPVNII/hqdefault.jpg
As far as I know Keyser Söze was Turkish, so you should worry about the Turkish commenters here on IgglesBlitz. 😀 There were however some Hungarian smugglers in the movie, including one who spoke some hilariously broken Hungarian in a scene in the beginning, if I remember correctly.
My bad, you’re simply a crime associate.
This explains the push to get a team in London.
And once that happens, the experimental games in Germany will start every year. Expect one each in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich with a process to ultimately whittle down to one German city.
A London / German portion of one division would make a KILLING for the NFL in terms of TV rights.
And if they need an American with a love of football and international travel experience to both nations to assist in the transition into Europe for either of those clubs……..I’m interested.
Boy I hope that happens b/c the poor owners just are barely getting by.
Wow. Great to have you here.
This is very, very cool. I’ve just got to know, do Eagles fans in Hungary also hate the Cowboys?
They sure do here in Denmark…
Shows how there are intelligent people everywhere.
Oh yeah, I think that is a universal trait of Eagles fans. 😀
We’re from different nations but united in Eagles Nation.
I am by no means a Chip Kelly expert, but I was thrilled when he became our coach. I didn’t think of him as a “program builder” but I just had a sense that he would transform the Eagles into a well-oiled machine. I figured he would need 4-5 years though, and that was before he (or Howie) chose not to make major moves the first two offseasons.
I think Kelly will look to improve this roster all year round, 24/7, and 365 days a year.
That’s one of his best qualities.
He never settles in and says “were good”.
I think we have a solid roster, capable of winning this division this season and beyond.
Count on Chip to continue to mold this roster into Champions sooner than later.
I love the depth more now than the past few seasons, and that is a testament of having a coach who is also a capable GM.
I agree with a bunch of what is written here, with the exception of counting on Cooper for much. I think he is average at best, a #4 who needs to contribute in special teams and I can’t wait for Alcohol and Huff to push him off the field.
Alcohol has pushed many an athlete off of the field.
Taking a huff of paint probably has too for that matter. :weaksmile:
There’s no way Cooper can be as bad as he was last year.
Why not? He’s likely to lose snaps to Huff.
I just see don’t see a guy being that atrocious two years in a row. And you’re right, he should lose snaps this year
Cooper playing less than productive football for his salary is what it is with him. He’s just not that good. He’s a WR 4 being paid WR 2 money; BYE. We have enough other talent with that group to be able to cut Cooper.
I’m not arguing on keeping Cooper or that he is a good WR. I just don’t believe he will be as bad as he was last year. He was a straight liability.
And we have see what happens to guys who Chip thinks make too much $ for their position/production.
Unfortunately, Cooper has guaranteed money coming to him and nobody else will pick up his contract. Cooper will be here this year and next year to play out that money. Then he’ll be gone.
I’m not a cap expert but it’s my understanding that the Birds can move on from him after this season with a minimal dead money hit. I think this is the last season for him.
This year is the last of the guaranteed money. His salary is basically fully guaranteed this year, so cutting him saves nothing (but also costs nothing other than the minimum salary to whoever takes his roster spot). If he’s not among the top 6 WRs, he’s gone. But I think he is at least that good. After the season, there will be a large financial incentive to cut him, so this is his last year unless he suddenly plays better than 2013.
If one is looking at QBs for next year’s draft to put (hopefully) behind Bradford for a few years.
http://walterfootball.com/draft2016QB.php
Interesting: Cook, Hack, Goff, Kiel, Towles, Hogan, Brissett
NO INTEREST: Prescott, Boykin, Kessler, Golson, Miller
Need to see more: Jones
I don’t have any vibe on the rest of the guys.
Why no to Boykin, Kessler?
Why no Barrett? TJ Barrett is my favorite together with Boykin (if he takes another step forward)
Boykin is a run around guy who isn’t likely to ever master the art of learning how to pass properly and read a D on the NFL level.
Kessler strikes me as JV Matt Barkley.
Barrett also runs too much.
I love Cook
Very interesting prospect. We’ll see what having a light shined on him all year does.
I don’t think we will be in any position to pick him.
Unless he gets picked apart by the draft process and lasts until 28th.
I forgot about the “Bridgewater Special.”
I might die laughing if Cook winds up having his NFL doppelganger, as stated by the draftnicks, be Sam Bradford.
You mean 32nd? Or do you think we trade up to 28?
I have us 11-5 (+/- 1 game) winning the division, the #3 seed, beating Vikings or Cards here in the wild card round, and losing at Green Bay in the division round.
…just as much as Cousins lol? I loved Cousins comin out.
…..man I hope Hackenburg has a good season… 5 star QB totally falling off the cliff that is PSU.
He’s got some great recruits coming into his team. PSU is another recruiting class or two from being back as a perennial top 10 team.
One of the big reasons I think the depth will be not only outstanding this year but next year as well is I believe Chip is building a program. Something I am seeing that I cant remember seeing before at this rate is the development of players. I am seeing big jumps in ability. J. Matthews looks more agile (yoga or wwhatever he does), more confident, a little bit more burst, and his hands appear to be more sure.
I took a risk on Matthews. I have been singing his praises ever since I saw his tape and heard the reviews from some of the guys on this blog. I even bought his jersey after I saw him at training camp last year. A move that I may regret.
It makes me joyous that I see players saying they are working on improving and seeing them actually improve.
I remember that is something Chip emphasized when he came in. Developing players. I think at the highest level GMs and teams and coaches try to plug in talent. While that may have you winning 1 or 2 championships. I wanna see a consistent winner. A program that even if we lose, we have a legitimate reason to believe the team will be stronger the next season. Not that we are just being optimistic fans, But that the team is considered a franchise and one that is revered. I want that for those guys simply because I have believed in this team so long and supported them. My support pays off when that happens. It means more.
So I think that line of thinking oppose to the, hey “Aldon Smith just got let go, lets go scoop him” mentality is key. That mentality to bring in a certain culture, that’s not better or worse, but right for that group. a culture that melds and where all the palyers are growing.
How I feel Chip has done this is through establishing order, authority, loyalty, and picking guys that fall under a value structure. Not saying certain people didn’t and that’s why they are gone.
That was so key. And every time I come on the blogs and talk about potential and development of players people don’t want to believe. I understand. Proven stats and history is the most tangible thing to judge players on.
However, I believe that Chips whole entire plan for this organization has made the sense of growth and development a much more tangible belief. and I find that fascinating.
I cant remember this many players coming out and showing improvement in this manner.
Just think about how nervous J. Matthews looked. Then flash to now and he caught that errant pass by sanchez high in the air, got smacked in the back, didn’t even wence, got up and just dropped the ball like it was a mic and he just won a rap battle. That whole sequence showed so much growth.
Then think about ed Reynolds. WHAT. I mean those were QUALITY interceptions. When is the last time we have seen those? Like there are three types of interceptions
1) The QB throws it straight to the defender
2) The ball gets tipped either off a defender or off a WR
3) The CB jumps a route or steals the ball.
The third type of interception to me is the true sign of a great corner in pass coverage. Especially a safety.
And Ed had two. Don’t even bring up the level of competition, because how many preseason games have I watched and I haven’t seen that in a while. Not only that, but two interceptions is ALOT in one game.
Not only that, the QB in the game had some skill. he wasn’t a push over. Dude has legs and a good arm. He may have telegraphed it. But that was mightily impressive.
Then you go back to the fact that Ed is only going to get better if he does the right things. Because this team is about development.
I love it. a developing team. A team that can not only sign talent, but produce higher levels of talent over time.
Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and Riley Cooper are not better than DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant from Kelly’s rookie season.
Matthews could top those guys, Huff could equal Avant and Algohor could top Jackson -but right now, especially with Cooper in a starting role -WR is weaker than it was three years ago.
I really hope Huff can top Avant. Avant was done
And Avant possessed one of the most despicable and worthless collegiate backgrounds as well. Pure scUM, just ask Ike Reece.
good point, Avant might be more comparable to Cooper here, just cooper is always on the field while Avant occasionally came off the field, since they played different positions.
Hopefully the young trio performs well enough to get Cooper off the field.
Maclin was hurt Kelly’s rookie season. We don’t know that they aren’t better because both Matthews and Huff are out of their rookie year and they finally have a better QB.
The offense will be fine as long as Bradford stays healthy, and I’m not willing to concede Matthews and/or Huff won’t be better this year. Plus, Agholor (Mac clone) is also on the team.
Agholor has a faster top gear than Maclin and is less likely to be rolling around on the ground after every 3rd play.
LOL – I love the nickname self-tacklin Maclin.
it wasn’t funny back then.
I found it a fun combination of funny and scary.
I agree, except I am already convinced Agholor will be better than Maclin as a rookie and will be better than Maclin in the long run. A Maclin clone, except much more physical!
I think he will be better then Maclin. I know it’s just one play but that first step showed more juice then Maclin had so physically he’s got an edge and sounds like he has great work ethic so his mental game/route running should be eventually as comparable as well, which was Maclin’s major strength.
I agree they COULD be better (minus Cooper plus Agholor), but apples to apples looking at the roster -which is what Tommy’s doing here -it’s hard to argue that a guy who didn’t produce in his rookie year, a second year player with an excellent rookie campaign, and Cooper are better than the trio from three years ago.
“Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and Riley Cooper are not better than DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant from Kelly’s rookie season”
Replace Cooper with Nelson Agholor and take out Maclin since he didn’t play; lets revisit this topic at the end of the season
Don’t disagree with the potential.
Even if you do not think they are better, the team is certainly deeper at wide receiver than when Chip got here.
Mac never saw the field with Jackson under Kelly. Talking top 4 or 5, this squad can definitely be better than either of the previous 2 years.
If I were to rank guys (and project Huff into the lineup) as how I think they are as players (and/or will be in Chip’s system) I’d go
1. Jackson
3. Matthews
4. Agholor
5. Huff
6. Avant
2345. Cooper
Never ceases to amaze how overrated Desean Jackson was and is. He’s a perfect example of a player with a unique ability who usually disappeared in big games. His playoff stats are pretty cute, too.
I’d take Huff, Matthews, and Agholor over him in his prime any day.
Agholor wasn’t part of the equation and at this point is all potential.
He’s a good player, better than Huff is right now, better than Cooper will ever be. That’s what Tommy was comparing against.
Almost getting time for the one-of-the-guys-we’re-going-to-cut for one-of-the-guys-you’re-going-to-cut trades. I’m interested to see if we can turn Mostert, Barner, or Rice or one of the logjam at ILB into a backup OLB or OL.
Bye bye Barner.
Trade to NE?
The CFL would be more appropriate given his skill set.
I don’t want to trade with Belicheck. I don’t want ex-Pats. Never works. Just erase their number from the rolodex.
Asante Samuel worked out pretty great.
great? good? ok but I don’t trust their system guys. but I’m fine trading for Gronk.
The Sopoaga trade worked out OK. We moved from the 6th to the 5th round in the next year’s draft for that, then used the 5th rounder to get Sproles. The Ellis Hobbs deal was bad but… can’t remember any other trades with them really that involved us getting players. We have traded them players (Sopoaga, Tracy White, Greg Lewis) for low picks that we haven’t done much with (outside of Sproles). I guess we have gotten a player or two they cut which turned out bad (Patrick Chung, though he played much better in NE and was injured here). Where there others besides Hobbs and Chung?
maybe we can get something for tomlinson – let him flash in another pre-season game.
Or maybe we can just carry 3 RBs and let Tomlinson flash his way onto the roster as the 4th TE. He’s certainly a better option on the 53 than Barner.
I’m beginning to think that you may not be a big fan of Barner?
He’s a overrated ducking piece of trash who was not worthy of being kept on the roster longer than Josey last year.
At least you’re honest about your irrational biases. I don’t believe Josey is on any other NFL rosters at the moment either, though.
True, but simply going off of how both guys played in game action last year; Barner is offensive.
They seem to like Rice, I don’t think they want to move him. I think they may consider a fantom redshirt for him.
Tomlinson is a good guy for the practice squad.
Problem with our depth at ILB is none of them are the young year 1/2 guys that you see in those types of trades. I think the team may more be looking to let Goode and Acho play all the way through PS and hope to move them for a 7th.
Plus with those cut for cut trades 80% of the time it’s not going to amount to anything worth anything. If they are looking for a depth OL I think that’s a different type of trade that comes in the days before final cuts.
Guy I think the Eagles would include in a deal like that:
Mostert, Pratt, Andrews, whichever one of Raciti/Mikhalik they like less.
Guys I’m interested in keeping an eye on through a cut/cut trade, waivers, or a late round on deadline day:
OLB:
Shaq Riddick (ARZ)
Tyler Star (ATL)
Tony Washington (HOU)
Zack Hodges (IND)
Brock Hekking (SD)
Obum Gwachum (SEA)
Ryan Delaire (TB)
OL:
Rob Crisp (ARZ)
Eric Lefeld (ATL)
Tanner Hawkinson (CIN)
Andre Davis (DEN)
Greg Mancz (HOU)
Brandon Vitable (IND)
Wesley Johsnon (NYJ)
Gabe Ikard (TEN)
Tom Compton (WAS)
Tyler Larsen (WAS)
S:
Kenny Ladler (BUF)
Anthony Jefferson (CHI)
Kurtis Drummond (HOU)
Josh Evans (JAX)
Chris Hackett (TB)
Nice one T Law. I agree that they looked deeper than most previous eagles teams. It is easy to say there are obvious concerns along the line, but what team doesn’t have one hole/weakness with a 46 man roster?
The Colts are a decent team. The Eagles out hustled, out classed, and had the offense humming in no time at all, without Bradford, Murray and Ertz (!). Plays were left all over the field and still put up 36.
It was nice to see them looking so hungry and dominant in their first preseason action, without so many key players including Alonso, Ryans, Kendricks. It’s way early, so I’m going to patiently watch to see how this team performs but so far I am impressed with them and the brand Kelly is building.
Thoughts on how Mike Vick would fit in as our QB3 and get rid of both Barkley and Tebow?? At least MV7 has the rocket arm and can still run the read option a bit. Already knows the system. Not sold that either Barkley or Tebow are worth keeping.
Keep him to mentor a new mobile QB, if one is chosen next year?
Nah, bring him in as a coach if we do that. MV is done as a player, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be useful as a coach or mentor.
coaching people how not to read a defense?
If Vick couldn’t read the defense, how come he was always able to find a defender to throw it to?
Vick 6
b/c djax was unstoppable, or he’d just run, or let mccoy run.
I’m not sure if you read what I wrote very carefully. 🙂
true!
Well……………..
if you want to cut both Tebow and Barkely, roll with two QBs after week 1, and pay Vick the non-guaranteed vet minimum for weeks 2 through divisional playoff weekend.
You’re asking — if CK would bring back a player he already let go because he wasn’t right for CK? Sigh.
Wa$ Vick let go becau$e he wa$n’t right for Chip or wa$ there another rea$on to let Vick leave?
If CK really, truly believed Vick was ‘the man’ he’d still be here. That’s one position the cannot be compromised with lesser talent. Which is why, in the years CK has been here, we’re going through QB’s at a turnstyle pace…
we might yet have another QB next year….I pray it’s Bradford, but right now, Bradford could be the next Foles and we trade him and a second rounder….lol
That is what we thought then, but now we know that Chip doesn’t like to coach talented players. With hindsight, we can reasonably conclude that Vick is so talented that Chip couldn’t handle it. And that is why Chip wouldn’t consider bring Vick back.
Look, I’ll be kind — but you’re 100% off targe. CK coaches players via value — not via talent…
I was being sarcastic. Maybe it didn’t come across. Just poking some fun at the idiotic idea that Chip wants to get rid of all his talented players.
lmao — yes I missed that…sorry…
No problem. I find myself agreeing with most things you post. When I don’t have much to add, I tend to go to sarcasm to amuse myself.
The man vs. worth a spot as a 3rd stringer on a non-guaranteed deal is a big difference.
that’s confusing 2 points. Vick wasn’t worth CK’s value. He let him go. If Vick isn’t worth the value then, CK isn’t going to bring him back now….
I don’t agree. Everybody has a price/role. Vick coming in as a possible 3rd stringer who knows the system on a non-guaranteed deal in 2015 as opposed to leaving as the deposed starter on too rich of a deal in 2013 are entirely different entities.
because that’s your thinking and logic. Think of CK’s thought process….
You don’t think Chip has thought through what every guy and/or position is worth from a $ standpoint? Wasn’t that the reason Mathis is gone?
which is exactly why Vick isn’t here and never will be
at his 2013 number.
you mean the first time CK took over? He didn’t have the time. I argued back then Vick should have been let go. As either Oregon Ducker or T-Law(I forget which one) stated — CK wanted to look at this players with his own eyes…
No, you’re missing the point. I can’t see Kelly wanting Vick on the team as a starter being paid starters money; which is what led to Vick not being on the team after 2013 concluded.
There is an entirely different set of evaluations that would go into who would be worth keeping as the 3rd QB. If the preseason finishes and Chip decides that he’s don’t with Barkley and Tebow only provide gimmick value; that would put any one of a different number of names into play as the QB 3 after week 1 concludes because those deals are not guaranteed at that point. Kelly has shown/said nothing that indicates how he would feel about Vick as a 3rd stringer on chump wages.
Vick the 3rd stringer on a low ball deal is not same as Vick the starter on top dollar.
Again — in a fantasy world — yes, that’s a great idea. I reality — who in the world would want Vick as a number 3? Nobody. Vick, himself, would not want to be a number 3. You can do all sorts of “what if”s and come to your own conclusion that it’s a great idea and that’s fine. But it’s not ever going to happen, even if Vick offered to come to the team for 3 dollars. It’s not happening.
…..
Don’t you think CK would have reached out to Vick over the winter if he thought it was a remotely good idea? Vick isn’t here, for back up, 3rd stringer, water boy, kicking tee ‘getter’ for a reason.
We’ll find out in 5 or 6 weeks.
i think it was that nicky stixx was the starter and vick didn’t want to be a backup, would vick be better than sanchez, that’s a tough call
As a 3rd QB, not starter yank fan.
if CK wanted him as a 3rd QB, he would have never let him go…
That’s interesting, but i think he’s basically retired
If you want him to potentially mentor someone next year, then hire him as a coach or coaching intern next year, no need to use the roster spot now.
NO!!!! Just NO!!!!
vick is a turnover machine. period
being so utterly disgusted watching Peterson practice it brought to mind a list of most reviled players to ever be in the NFL. Im sure there are old ones I dont know about but heres my order.
Rae Carruth
Hernandez
Belcher
OJ
Leonard Little
AP
Vick
Josh Brent
Stallworth
Rice, Hardy and all the domestic abuse cases are too long to list and where does Ray Lewis fall.
Rozier and the like I dont know if I count, unknown, older but that dude killed like 6 people. Who am I missing in this morbid list? Its weird I forgave Vick but was initially so disgusted by it. Wonder if I would do same if AP was an Eagle. Having a 4 yr old myself is why it bothers me so much.
I know everyone here hates Cooper. But I think I’m going to be the only one to make an argument for him staying on the team.
Cooper has size and he seems to use it well. He’s an excellent blocker, but he may come in handy in the redzone. Matthews was asked who jumped the highest on the receiving core, and he mentioned Agholor and Huff. He also went out of his way to say, “White men can jump, and I wouldn’t sleep on Cooper.”
Sam Bradford’s health is important to this argument, but Cooper has a big body that he could use in the RZ and he may get a few TDs this year simply by out-jumping a defender or using his body on the out-of-bounds line to let Bradford put it in a place only he can get.
As much as I’ve been frustrated with Cooper, I think he has a better year this year.
And if you need a guy to come up small in a big situation, you know he’s your man.
LOL
You’re right, I hate Cooper.
And I don’t think you can properly discuss him as a member of this team without looking at his contract vs. his production.
We have a ton of talent entering years 2, 3, and 4 of contracts; cutting guys like Cooper could be the difference between keeping that talent or letting it walk.
I’d rather have Vinny Curry and Ced Thorton back than one of the two and Riley Cooper.
I’m not saying we should keep him, just making the argument if they do keep him. His production vs. his contract is a gripe, but if his production goes up this year to match his contract – then I’m not mad at keeping him.
That goes for anyone on this team.
I hear you, but I don’t see Cooper being anything other than a sub 50 catch player. Especially considering that Matthews, Agholor, Huff, Ertz, Murray, and Sproles all represent better pass catching options than Cooper. Gun to my head, I think Cooper doesn’t break 40 catches this year.
Probably not. I don’t think anyone goes over 70. I think the ball is going to be spread around quite a bit with this team.
If you go with targets from the first pre-season game, I’m comfortable putting Matthews at 80+. That would be 5 catches a game, which I think he can do.
Not sure, I hear Huff’s name a lot (and Cooper’s) when Sammy B is throwing the ball. We might get a better idea on Saturday. The starters get a whole quarter right?
Huff and Bradford seem to hook up a lot in practice. I think it will carry over on game days
Yes, and I scored some tickets at half price, so I am stoked.
Can’t wait to see SB running this offense.
Should be a real treat and I am looking forward to see some more INT’s and our D line shutting down the running game.
So many things to see with all the roster battles going on.
I will feel like a kid in the candy store Saturday night.
Go Eagles !!!
Matthews is Sanchez’s woobie. Hard to project those numbers with a different QB, as last year showed (Maclin v. Matthews under the differing QBs).
Anybody who is constantly running that wide open across easy (except for Sanchez) to hit spots in the middle of the field is everybody’s woobie.
Maclin was Foles’s woobie last year, not Matthews. Don’t get me wrong, I like Matthews and think he has a higher ceiling than many on here, but you have to discount his targets a little when Sanchez is playing if you’re trying to extrapolate what he will see when SB is playing.
We’ll find out. But open is open.
there is NFL open (half step) then there is Chip Kelly open, which is like the old Spurrier Florida highlights. I mean, you can’t be much more open than the 2 plays Sanchez missed on last game. The 2nd one especially.
But keeping Cooper vs. cutting him is a negligible difference to the cap.
If he’s here next April, then yes, it’s pitchfork and torches time.
I’d rather get all of that money out of the way now and save this year’s salary (sans guaranteed portion) vs. getting a lesser aggregate amount next year.
Cap rollover.
Cutting now v cutting beginning of next league year is the same net effect.
The savings, as best as I can read it, for doing so now is a net of $200k vs. waiting to do it next year due to the guaranteed portion of his salary for this season; so you’re correct that the net effect is basically the same.
I’m just not one for ripping off the band-aid slowly in these types of situations. Cooper is a dead end of a player and I’d rather not play him if it retards the growth of Huff in the offense. Even if you want to move Cooper down to the #4 WR spot, I’d rather see Austin there. I’d rather just move on now.
I feel better about having him around. Huff and Agholor will have ups and downs as they try to establish themselves. He has size for the redzone. I mean I won’t be thrilled if he’s taking 600 snaps but for no real cap savings him provides utility.
The time to address upgrading over Cooper was in the offseason, but since he’s still here, Cooper is probably better than the guy we could pick up off the street right now. If the other WRs on the roster can’t outplay him, then he deserves every snap he gets until they can.
I assume Coop will be on this team…. I don’t really care if they keep him or get rid of him, but I do expect him to be on the team this last year, and cut him next year when the dead money goes down
Nah, I am liking Coop, but not loving him.
With his size, and physical traits, he should be worlds better than he has shown.
He has no excuses why he hasn’t been more productive, but he is still young and has the ability to be very good in this offense.
This is a make or break year for Coop and I think he knows it.
I won’t be surprised to see him make the most out of having an accurate QB like Sam who will put the ball exactly where it needs to be, which should lead to Coop having a very good season and maybe he makes some stellar blocks this year to remind us all that he is here for a reason.
However, if he stinks it up this year, it’s time to move on.
This is Coops last stand, let’s see how he reacts with his back up against the wall.
Kelvin Benji carted off the field, non-contact injury….
Somebody threw him a weight, he dropped it, and it shattered his foot.
Looks like ACL, but not confirmed. Not good for him.
Good for Erik Tomilson and Mostert
Kelvin Benjamin on Carolina – not Barner
Excuse my dislexic moment
any news on Shady?
saw tweet that he’ll be ready week 1
that would be good. His exit from Philly was ugly but NFL highlights are always more fun when Shady is involved. Also pulling for the Bills a bit this year. Seems like a fun team, maybe that D can give Brady a tough time for us.
agree, Ill be rooting for Foles also. All those carries add up, right
Nothing direct, but the Bills signed two more guys on D today. That would tell me they’re not overly concerned about RBs.
There were rumors of Ray Rice interest but they shut that down..
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I dunno why they signed Red bRyant, their im defense doesn’t need help
Badly pulled hamstring…. Shady didn’t miss time to nagging soft tissue injuries while in Philly… He leaves our sports science Hub and in his first summer away from philly he gets a Severly pulled hamstring
I got this feeling everyone is going to know our DL this year. Fletcher is the rising star and there is a lot of talk now about Bennie…. i hope Ced gets his due credit also cause Curry gets mentioned on telecasts quite a bit for a guy who is a rotational player…..Beau just rounds out that solid group with that 330+lb belly of his lol…..Bennie/Beau are gonna make some noise this year.
Disagree baseball teams can be built quickly…development takes years in baseball and the teams that invest in drafting, talent evaluation and international scouting do better than the spend big on FA only ones. Witness how long it has taken and will continue to take for the Phillies to turn their ship around after neglecting the farm for years and keeping old declining vets too long. I would also argue football skills are easier compared to hitting or fielding a baseball position etc.
Football teams can be turned around quicker IMO since FA is active, the cap forces teams to rebuild quicker and non-guaranteed contracts makes it easier for teams to move on from players and open up spots for new ones.
Cole was not cut, was he? I thought he left as a FA.
I think many of the players you’re talking about we know little about as of now since they were only recently drafted or drafted this year. Unlike baseball, draft picks come right to the NFL team and can play right away. We definitely need to see how this season plays out before we’ll have a better idea of the reality. Chip has them moving in the right direction for sure, but he also has taken some major injury risk on and is relying on young players to be impact guys right away.
Cole was cut
http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/nfl/307617/eagles-cut-trent-cole-after-10-years-w-team
no respect
He is a fool if he didn’t know he was going to be cut…. You could have looked at his contract 3 years ago and know we would clearly cut him after last season. his price tag was insanity, he should have known he would be cut in 2014 when he signed that contract .
.l
Heck we drafted !Marcus last year, knowing he was raw, hoping he could help fill the void next year when we would cut COle
…
Trent SHOULDNT have been surprised…
No you’re supposed to say “don’t ask me, I’m just a commenter”
I don’t think the point was so much that baseball is easy and you can pick players up off the street without issue, so much as the players and talent available is highly plug and play. There are very strictly defined positions in baseball. You can put a great shortstop from one team into another without skipping a beat.
Tommy being an Os fan; it surprised me he said baseball teams could be built quickly :D. The current team started being built truly in like 08′ 09′.
Word is our skill players smoking the ravens at practice, but its just practice.
That’s what all the Eagles’ writers are saying. I’ve tried to find an in-depth Ravens reporter but seems like they’re pretty bare now that Aaron Wilson no longer covers them.
T. Davenport Ravens reporter at Eagle practice
I live here and I don’t even know any. I do know the radio beat guy for the station I like when I’m not in DC territory wasn’t gonna be up there.
Aaron Wilson was so good though..
Hoping to see a report that Bradford looks sharp dissecting the Ravens defense… By Friday, I hope to hear reports from Ravens players and coaches about how amazing SAM looks..
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I look forward to seeing the Eagles and Ravens have a competitive hard fought oractice, helping each other get ready for the season, Without breaking into a team brawl like the rest of the trash in our division(skins, boys)
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So trashy to have joint practices end in Brawls cutting their practices short because Gruden and Garrett can’t keep their scumbag rosters under control
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I’d Bet Chip and Harbaugh keep their players under control and that there will be severe penalties for not being respectful towards our practice opponents… Skins and Cowboys shouldn’t be allowed to have joint practices next year since they have been proven to have no Discapline and weak coaches Who can’t keep their players under control..
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brandon Williams and Timmy Jernigan should provide great practce opponents to get our interior lineman, Barbre and Gardner ready to play in September.
Also like our DBs having to compete against Flacco, and tough, fearce competitor steve smth
I don’t see an deangelo hall (who was doing the trash talking on hard knocks) and dez type player on this roster at least not any veterans.. don’t know the rookies that well.
It doesn’t even matter… It’s not about the type of player on the roster.. chip and Harbaugh Command respect and discapline from their players and they probably make it clear to their players that if they dare Embarress them, they will get thrown off the team…. REAL head coaches would be furious if their players disrespected them and embarressed them by acting like trash towards a team we are fortunate enough to get to practice against
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You would NEVER see Patrots players disrespect Bellichek and have a team Brawl against a coach and team that Bellichek brought in as a guest….Jay Gruden, Jason Garrett, NOT surprised their players didn’t know how to act..
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I’m sure HARBAUGH made it clear to his players that they better Dare not disrespect the host team and Embarress Harbaugh, and chip has these practices every summer, most of the players have been here and know WHATS expected of them. And this current Roster has a better CULTURE then past two years when we still had some idiots on the roster like Cary, Desean…
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Coaches that can’t keep their players under control SHOULDNT be allowed to have Joint Practices Next year…
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I have to admit it must be a great feeling to have gotten a chance to Punch Dez in the Mouth… im jealous
Great to hear that Kiko is practicing, flying around breaking up passes…
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demarco Murrqy practicing iant even worthy news since there is nothing wrong with him and we are just lightening his summer load trying to counter the 500 touches he got last year
We’re killing ’em on O and D according to live feed ! Only practice but wow.
Bradford not sharp, yet.
we should all get hotel reservations for Feb. now.
“Bradford not real sharp in first 11/11 vs #Ravens D tho he did hit J Matthews on deep cross On one play”
Sanchez??
ISNT that what Eliot Parks tweeted? It was after a bad pass to Sproles in the flat.l
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But allegedly our RBs and TEs have been destroying Ravens LBs in 1 on 1 dills
Ed Kracz tweet. Saw another tweet saying similar but its still early.
it seems like QB’s have a tough time hitting Sproles, wonder why that is. He is faster, or smaller, or just coincidence.
he has such a small catch radius if the pass isnt perfect he drops it. Ive been complaining about that since he joined the Eagles but I have to of course take the good with the bad. He more than makes up for it. I guess Im just not a fan of him trying to be a receiver outside of about 8 yds.
Wonder if Chip is crawling out of his skin at the pace of practice. He had to slow down for the pats, and they are on of the most progressive teams in the league. Wonder if it is even slower with Baltimore.
This is why I think the Falcons are particularly screwed. Chip is going to unleash hell on them. It’s like I have all these fast toys and I can’t take them out.
All depends on quality of qb play.
and how Falcons look with new coach and coordinators.
I think we win, the quality of the QB play means it’s relatively close or an OH MY GOD slaughter.
Agreed we are a horrible match up for them both sides of the ball, they wont be able to run on us and they wont be able to stop our running game either. Need some pretty inspired QB play to level that equation.
Falcons OL better play the game of its life when the “NO NAMES” come flying into town….. if our DL DOMINATED and B-Max contains Julio, we win by double digits
Book it. Easy money to be made.
Yeah it’s slow… No music, and we huddle before every play..
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It wouldn’t be fair to have Ravens practice against our tempo, plus it’s not a benefit to us to beat the Ravens in practice because they are tired or not lined up fast enough to stop our tempo… That defeats them purpose of these practices.. We want to work on our technique in these practices…lt would be a waste to practice aganst a team if we are just going to crush them with our lightning practce tempo… … We will get more out of these practices by not using our tempo as an advantage
definitely, bet it’s killing Chip though, he probably looks like that little leaguer in left field taking handfuls of grass and just throwing it up in the air.
I wonder if the plan was to get rid of the marquee Reid players that didn’t fit the ideals, after turning over he bottom of the roster.
Apparently Bennie Logan “B-Loge” continues his Dominance, exploding into backfield tackling Ravens RB’s for a loss…
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“Swamp” Thornton talked about how improved Logan is and how his dominance would take our DL to the next level…Scary Thought, Logan was a beast last year and our DL was elite,, for him to be so Noticably even better then last year, will make our DL straight up DOMINANT
Logan has easily become my favorite Eagle outside of Fletch. His drive, personality, and work ethic are just great. You can see why he had the honor of wearing #18 at LSU. Also seen on twitter recently that a random fan asked him for his autograph and Logan told the fan to send whatever he wants autographed to the Linc with his name on it and he will sign it and have it sent back, that’s just cool as hell.
REALLY COOL dude…always interacting with his fans…
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Must suck for centers havng to deal with THIS monster, and when he gets tired, we bring the Fresh WAR PIG Beau allen off the bench….
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I’m glad Kelce doesn’t have to play against him
Every time they showed players going to the sidelines in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the the pre-season game you could see Logan talking to the players coming of the field and pumping them up. From afar, it seems like he is becoming a real leader on this team.
I saw some all-22 somewhere and it looked like Logan just threw guards and center around like rag dolls. This guy is significantly stronger this year – Samson/Hercules like.
Allegedly he mow has a real handle on all the blocking schemes they throw at him, And he is able to anticipate what offenses are doing, and he no longer needs to think, he explodes and makes the stop… The one play he ate a double team with ease, Thorton crashed inside and he disengaged the double team twisted around The crashing Thornton and made the stop…
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He led NT in tackles most of the yeaar lasts season, he was a monster last year, but it sounds like last year was nothing compared to how he looks this year and that’s a scary thought for Centers around the league..KELCE should be thankful he is on our team… Soon Logan is coming after Marcel Dareus for that top. NT in the league title
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Ravens Brandon Williams is also a very good NT… Hopefully KELCE handles him much better then Ravens center handles Bennie
“Sam Bradford has more bounce in his dropbacks today than I’ve seen to date.” from Kempski no less, is this a sign he isnt still recovering ha.
Ryan Matthews just keeps making plays “Ryan Mathews busted thru the Ravens first team defense for a big run.”
All encouraging news. Also read Demarco is looking sharp as well. This running game is going to be fun to watch.
ya Les tweeted he looks sharp. Good things so far
Ryan Mathews burst thru the Ravens 1st team defense for a big run
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Cox explodes into backfield and Clotheslined RB for a loss!
Yea when I read the clothes lined one I was really excited. Hope Cox lays out a couple of RBs this year with clotheslines.
______________
Also, Kelly made some Class A comments post-Colts game re: Bailey — local kid with family tracking him. Class A, all the way.
whos not rooting for this kid. PS and see how he improves in next camp is what sounds like should happen
I hear Riley Cooper say that no N from a D3 school was going to take his job.
Cut Cooper immediately and let Bailey on this team!!!!!!
Eh, he can’t block on Coopers level and does not have the size or physique to beat out Riley, but I can understand your hate.
Don’t get me wrong, cause I love me some Bailey but he’s not beating out Coop just yet.
whoa Jmatt almost had to fight will hill after a late hit!
Will Hill is about that life, be interesting to see how Jmatt responds (on the field).
LOL Radio Dorks Misanelli and that fat piece of out of town trash Josh Innes got into it at Eagkes practice… They were talking trash, Musenelli started to go after him, Inmes took a few steps back like the piece of crap that he is, and they broke it up… Booooo! Let Misanelli smack that tool Innes
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You have to be dog crap for me to root for misanelli (idiot) slapping you
.l
I despise WIP for letting this out of town Donkey on philly airwaves.
Rasheed Bailey Pancakes a CB with a big block
BG with a pick
B diot grizzle had a nice play dropping into coverage against the colts too…
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With BG a improved in coverage, Barwin awesome against TEs and Marcus smith being rsolid in coverage, add Kiko, Kemdricks, Hicks to the mix and our LBs cover as well as any in the league
lots of turnovers, you can already see it in the first PS game and in these practices, strips, picks, FF. Better draft Eagles D early!
I’m reposting this since it was buried in one of my comments responding to someone at the bottom of the thread.
It’s about that time where you start looking at guys on other rosters for filler/filler trades, late round pick for player, or waiver wire guys. Here’s my list at OLB, OL, and S. Three positions we could look for depth help. These guys are a mixture of guys who could be good backups that I would trade a day 3 next year for, to guys that have a unique skillset that provides a complimentary piece to a position group, to guys I would try to sign to the PS as developmental guys.
OLB:
Shaq Riddick (ARZ)
Tyler Star (ATL)
Tony Washington (HOU)
Zack Hodges (IND)
Brock Hekking (SD)
Obum Gwachum (SEA)
Ryan Delaire (TB)
OL:
Rob Crisp (ARZ)
Eric Lefeld (ATL)
Tanner Hawkinson (CIN)
Andre Davis (DEN)
Greg Mancz (HOU)
Brandon Vitable (IND)
Wesley Johsnon (NYJ)
Gabe Ikard (TEN)
Tom Compton (WAS)
Tyler Larsen (WAS)
S:
Kenny Ladler (BUF)
Kurtis Drummond (HOU)
Josh Evans (JAX)
Chris Hackett (TB)
Any good RBs in place of Barner?
lol I must ask why so much hate for Barner? I’m not a fan either but I read your daily Barner hate and I never knew why such hatred.
A combination of my annoyance the aggregate number of Oregon guys on the roster along with the fact that the staff acted like he was a better player than Josey last year when that clearly wasn’t what was shown on the field.
I’m sure there is anther Tucker type guy floating around.
If we bring in another back it would be someone we take off waivers.
I would argue that we already have quality depth at RB with Mostert.
That kid is pretty good and IMO, just as good as Barner but if they can find a better alternative, I am all for it.
I like Barner, especially after this first appearance against the Colts.
I trust that Chip saw this performance coming which justifies his roster consideration.
We have got to be the most stacked team in the NFL at RB, and that is a great feeling going into the season.
I mean he did some nice things in the game but you have to remember Henry Josey looked like a stud last year in a similar role, he’s currently out of the league.
He had 136 career runs at Purdue. PURDUE! So I’m a bit skeptical. I don’t think we necessarily need to keep a RB4
I’d be lying if I said I knew who most of these guys are, but this is the sort of thing I’m going to bookmark and come back to while watching some pre-season games. Good stuff.
It’s the upside of being a draft nerd. You find a bunch of late round/UDFA guys you like. Your team tends to only end up with a few so you have a working knowledge of some back of the roster guys.
D3FB, great list. What about Andy Levitre, who is ZBS guy in the wrong scheme in TEN and heading to the bench? If he isn’t released, could he be acquired for 6/7?
This list was more focused on back of the roster young guys.
As far as Levitre:
He’s got a huge contract still and he’s 29. He would cost us $6.5 per year for four years. He’s also only 6’2. And scheme or not he’s struggled the last few years. I’m not sure they would be terribly interested. And if they move on from him the Titans eat 6.3 in dead money,
Supposedly DET has a surplus of talented OGs, you think any of those guys become available?
They’ve got Laken Tomlinson, who they took in the first, Manny Ramirez who is 32 and more of a quality vet to not have to rush Tomlinson, and Larry Warford, who is very good, young, but more of a massive phonebooth mauler.
Torrian Wilson was a UDFA from UCF that moved inside from tackle because he’s only 6’3. Reports I found imply he’s decently athletic and technically proficient, but I honestly cant say I’ve watched him.
The other guy seems to be a 6’1 G/C back of the roster guy who has kicked around for a few years. I don’t think he would be an upgrade on a guy like Vandervelde.
So maybe Torrian but can’t say I’m familiar enough to have an opinion and with Rameriez aging they may try to hold on to Wilson as a developmental guy.
They are saying that the Ravens are throwing the closest thing to live pass rush then anything Bradford has faced up to this poïnt, but he is standing tall in the pocket, delivering STRIKES!
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They took a cheap shot at Pope Jordan, there was an injury scare, but he is back on the field catching Lasers from SAM…
Good lesson for Matthews.
Yeah I think it was that former Giant’s trash will hill. Surprised he hasn’t been suspended for substance abuse violation yet
got any views as to where this Deflaetgate thing is heading? Judge keeps saying you guys are idiots settle, and the settlement discussions go nowhere. Judge acted like a mediator with his questioning pointing out weaknesses in each side’s case. But no settlement seems forthcoming.
ya seems like they wont budge. Brady willing to take a few games but completely not budging on admitting Wells report. On other side NFL wants him to assume responsibility more than they care about suspensions it seems like. Sounds like thats where they refuse to agree.
how can the NFL require Brady to admit to the Wells report as part of a settlement. The first rule of settlement is no admission of guilt. I keep thinking that this can’t really be an NFL demand, it must be a leak from Brady’s camp.
is that really a rule of the settlement? Mortensen made it sound like this was the case this morning
A settlement is a negotiated agreement.
The parties, as in any contract, can agree to any mutually acceptable terms — including an admission of liability.
I didn’t mean “rule” I meant rule like in Fight Club, like an unwritten rule that portrays custom. I’m just saying you rarely if ever see it.
My views haven’t changed since Troy Vincent — and not Goodell, as required by the CBA — issued the initial punishment letter to Brady. (The CBA does not authorize delegations of the commissioner’s punishment *authority* — as distinguished from mere fact-finding.)
For the NFL — and the small group of owners advising Goodell on the matter — this case is *NOT* about Brady, his cell phone, or the footballs.
For the owners, this case is about trying to gain uncheckable power over the players through the commissioner’s discipline authority. A settlement won’t advance that agenda.
So Brady’s side smartly leaked his offer to take a 1-game suspension for obstruction. Shows he’s trying to be reasonable.
Whereas the NFL, apparently, continues to insist the NFLPA assent for the remainder of the CBA that (i) Goodell has the authority, regardless of past law-of-the-shop precedent, to do whatever he wants in the way of punishment, and (ii) players have no right to resort to federal court (in effect). And other terms that are non-starters.
As for the legal issues, I’ve always though Brady and the NFLPA had the much better side of the argument. (And the NFL didn’t help itself by leaking false information right after the AFC Title Game.)
I hear you on all this but I don’t want the PAts fans to feel like Brady is “innocent” so I can’t bring myself to root for him to win in court. I prefer any settlement or NFL winning.
I thought the Vincent thing can be argued away b/c it’s written something like the commissioner wanted me to tell you.
Im with you here.
Vincent, per the evidence, determined the punishment.
That’s undisputed at this point.
Regardless, it’s a minor issue compared to all the NFL’s other screw-ups under the CBA in this process.
You don’t think it’s kind of implicit that Goodell can delegate some of that authority to others? Frankly that is what *should* happen anyways — Goodell has been awful at that job. Does the CBA specify that Goodell and only Goodell can determine punishments, or does it leave it open? I would guess that without something spelling it out, that sort of thing could be delegated to someone else in his office. It just couldn’t be someone outside of Goodell’s direct control.
I think the case against the Pats overall is pretty strong. The case against Brady specifically is far weaker (more of “he *had* to know” plus being evasive and non-cooperative) but the destruction of the cell phone (and its timing) really hurt his case in my eyes. The standard of “preponderance of the evidence” might well still be met.
The actual football part of this was incredibly minor — I don’t think it affected anything. The fact that the Pats (especially after the spying business) would be comfortable trying to cheat the process *after* the NFL officials had done their part was probably much worse. Then, the non-cooperation with the investigation was probably the bulk of the punishment. It probably would have been just fines if the Patriots came clean after the super bowl.
This whole did expose some of the silliness of that process… by the report’s own evidence, one of the two gauges the officials were using was 0.4 PSI out of calibration when the full legal range is 1.0, and was probably at least 2.5 PSI (and like 3.5) out of calibration for a regular season game.
It probably should have been a 2 game suspension from the start (one for the act, and one for non-cooperation). But it feels to me the NFL is closer to the mark on this one than most of their other punishment handling the last few years. It’s just that the original infraction here is so silly as compared with those others.
No. Goodell cannot “delegate” authority under the CBA.
Because the CBA does not authorize a delegation.
Collective-bargaining law is very clear that the literal word of the agreement controls.
OK, thanks. Looking at the CBA more closely, I kind of see their point. Although the appointment of someone else for punishment of on-field acts almost makes it sound like that could be someone outside the league office (such as Tagliabue), as the appointment is done after “consultation” with the NFLPA, and if so that person may have different legal responsibilities than would an employee of the league office, which undoubtedly would be an issue in this case. It still feels like Goodell should be able to internally delegate the work to someone employed in the office. But, the letter of the CBA does not say that. Regardless I’m sure the NFL will claim the discipline was made by Goodell after consulting with others, and then communicated by Vincent, or perhaps it was “recommended” by Vincent and then approved by the Commissioner.
The evidence against Brady’s incredibly thin.
That aside, I’m no fan of the NFL owners. Not at all.
those texts tell me all the intent I need. Calling himself the deflator and “dont worry I wont go to ESPN….yet” I mean really what is that if not damning even if you cant put it in context which is what I always hear. They tried to spin that as selling tix and losing weight, ha cmon. I dont think many fans or players care they bent the rules and tried to gain an advantage. Should have just admitted he liked a softer ball but only to the lowest allowable limit, not below. Whats that guy going to ESPN with exactly
I agree with this 100%.
Also, I find all the arguments over the exact PSI levels largely irrelevant. Based on those texts and the fact that the guy took the balls away from the ref’s room and into the equipment room / bathroom after the refs had checked them makes it clear that they were messing with the balls after they had been checked by the refs. That is cheating regardless of how much of an effect the cheating actually had.
I also think Brady is full of shit.
He destroyed his phone on the day he was meeting with Wells and in his appeal hearing that he claimed he always does that when he switches phones. But, he was able to produce two other phones from before and after the time period in question that were not destroyed.
The science proves NO violation . . .
Why ignore the only objective, scientifically reliable proof?
huh, what is the Wells report? a fake report?
1) It is my understanding that all of the data used by the Wells report is crap. There were not accurate recordings of the pre-game PSI measurements and temperature during the pre-game measurements, and the ref was unsure of which gauge was used to measure the PSI. The science shows that the half-time measurements do not conclusively prove that the balls had been deflated, but the science does not prove that the balls had not been deflated.
2) The guy on the Patriots removed the balls after they had been checked by the ref. This action by itself is against the NFL rules and is highly suspect. There has been no logical reason given that explains this action other than tampering with the balls after they had been checked.
3) This is the basis for my personal belief that the Patriots were up to something and Brady was in on it. That doesn’t mean I think that the NFL has produced sufficient evidence for the punishment they gave to Brady. They didn’t. There is no conclusive evidence that the balls were actually under-inflated during the game and they did not find a “smoking gun” linking it to Brady.
I also think it had no effect on the game. Something about messing with the balls after the had been checked by the ref rubs me the wrong way, but it probably should have been handled by the NFL telling the Patriots, “Hey, cut that out” or maybe with a fine.
Beyond those texts, what do you have?
The scientific evidence *contradicts* the NFL’s position on the Colts game.
As for *obstruction* . . . Brady’s a dead man.
beyond those texts what do I need?
Scientific evidence claims are based of disagreement on which meter the officials initially used to measure the balls before the game.
The reality is that a Patriot ball boy went into the officials locker room, took the tested balls that were under there care and against NFL rules, on the way went into a toilet and stayed there enough time to tamper with the balls, lied about it twice under question (firstly denied he went to bathroom – and then claimed there was a urinal when there was not).
This ball boy had received from Tom Brady extensive gifts and items on a regular basis, called himself the deflator and had many other communications that suggested exchange of information.
Is that beyond reasonable doubt that Tom Brady was involved and that balls were tampered with… ofc not. However that is not the standard it is being held to. It is the standard of more likely than not – and i think that is a reasonable conclusion to reach regardless of disagreements over ball measurements.
How does the scientific evidence contradict the NFL’s position?
If I recall, there were two things that were tested. One, could the change in pressure of the Patriot’s balls be explained by natural causes, and more importantly two, that the Colts balls should have been affected by those same natural causes, so both sets should have deflated roughly the same amount or proportion.
The certainty of first one basically depends on which gauge was used — the miscalibrated one or the accurate one, since the officials had one of each. It seems that most responses seem to focus on that, since that was indeed not enough evidence on its own.
The second one though is what the Wells report focused on, since even given the most favorable treatment of which gauge was used for which measurement, it was still more than a 95% chance that the differences in the amount of deflation of the Colts balls vs the Patriots balls were not due to chance. And that most-favoriable-treatment of gauges was almost certainly not the correct scenario anyways, given other reading values — so the chance was probably more like 99% it was foul play. Basically, you’d have to identify a factor that caused the Patriots balls to deflate much more than the Colts balls did (and the weather etc. was obviously the same for both). I may have missed an argument to the contrary, but that part of argument seems to hold up. Particularly when backed up with a video of the guy going into a room alone with the balls (when they were in a supposedly sacrosanct state) which they then did not admit to until after the video, then had multiple stories as to why. I mean, go to the bathroom before you get the balls (come back for them) or after you put them where they are supposed to go.
Whether Brady knew about it or directed it is a much tougher question, and the evidence was pretty shaky on that. I’m sure he was going to talk to the ball handlers after everything became public guilty or not, and the gifts… I could easily see Brady making a practice of giving that type of stuff to various team employees. The report did sort of point out that the ball handling guys did get Brady’s wrath when the officials overinflated the balls to 16 PSI (i.e. they had a horribly miscalibrated gauge that game) which does indicate that Brady had basic authority for the state of the balls. Plus, the investigator obviously felt that Brady was not being forthcoming about any information, so there may have been something to hide (in contrast, the testimony around the kicking balls rang true to the investigator, so no issues there). Destroying the cell phone right before meeting with the investigators (and even checking with the phone company to make sure they could not provide records either) really points to making sure some evidence was destroyed… and I think one can fairly make the assumption there was something to hide.
“The evidence against Brady’s incredibly thin.”
I’m surprised to see you state that. I’ve seen plenty of people put away on conspiracy charges with far weaker evidence.
bill:
The context here, for me, is “no jury” — only a federal judge. And only with regard to the deflation issue. [Obstruction’s the best case, for sure.]
We have:
False statements by the “victim” (the NFL).
No cooperator testimony.
No “smoking gun” admissions to 3rd-party witness by Brady, admitting anything.
Scientific evidence that points to innocence for the Colts game. And nothing in the way of scientific evidence that indicates any prior violations.
Etc.
I agree with a bunch of people below. I totally think they were letting air out. I think they were doing it for many games including the Ravens game where it could have made a difference in the outcome.
TURRON DAVENPORT @TDavenport_NFL 3m3 minutes ago
Eagles DLine continues to look impressive vs Ravens 1st team. Making it hard to run on them.
From Ravens beat writer
Man against man; they can’t run block us. Their best o-lineman Yanda, can’t handle Cox or Logan, and we’re better (vs. the run at least) at every other spot. Good matchup for us.
And they have a good o-line too. If they can’t match up, rest of league isn’t going to fare much better.
The Dallas O-line, who left seamen all over the corners of multiple NFL writers’ mouths, couldn’t block our D line vs. the run. Even in the game we choked.
And yanda is the best guard in the NFL by far no matter what PFF or national writers think
Mathis
Thurmond picked Flacco! Man, I love this D!
Cody Parkey not looking pretty, hopefully media says nothing and doesn’t ruin this kicker.
yep right I’m sure Kempski won’t say a thing.
Haha, I’m sure there will be a Kempski article in 3, 2, 1…
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but with what I saw from Parkey last year I really don’t give a crap what he misses or makes until the games count.
I’m with you… There is nothing he could do in preseason or practice to concern me…. I’m sure he had rough practices last year in the middle of his spectacular rookie Probowl season..
Generally, I agree with this, but I think it is definitely worth noting that Alex Henery had a historically good rookie year and then became a major liability quickly after that. There are certainly differences in Parkey’s rookie resume and Henery’s (Parkey hit several long FGs throughout the season whereas Henery did not), so I don’t think there is a strong reason to EXPECT Parkey to regress the same way Henery did, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented.
On touchbacks alone, I prefer Parkey.
Absolutely. I don’t have any issue with Parkey going into the season. The misses are annoying to see right now, but presumably he should be able to correct those mistakes by the time the season starts. Still, it obviously would be much better to see make those FGs.
Parkey went 7 of 10 from inside the 50 (40-49 range).. Not ideal, no reason to worry yet… Plenty of time to work out the kinks
And 33 yard vs. 18 yard extra points really just boil down to muscle memory. I’m not worried at all.
Yeah, I mean, a miss is like him hitting the ball a millimeter too much to the right… This is a kid who charts every kick in a notebook.. He will figure it out.
..
When he missed in Games, he would comeback with a touchback on a Kickoff or hit the next kick…. When he misses, and mentally he breaks and misses the next kick, then I worry…… But as long as he bounces back from a bad kick with a few good kicks, I think he will be fine and get it together for the season .. Fingers crossed
Is our secondary better? Rowe just denied Steve Smith TD from Flacco.
Better than last year?
YES
Thurmond picked off FLacco…Maxwell had a big pass breakup on a long throw down the sideline… Denzel Rice made a play
I am convinced Bradford has helped to make our secondary better. Undlin and #Culture are contributing also.
Thurmond picked off FLacco… no INTs for Bradford so far
Rowe’s second punch out:
TURRON DAVENPORT @TDavenport_NFL 25s26 seconds ago
Nick Boyle makes a nice catch then Eric Rowe punched it out. Rowe us definitely looking to force turnovers
Man I’m getting excited
Rowe ballin
Death Rowe to WRs.
Hey Eli, put down the candy and let the little boy go.
Boyle? Delaware trash.
Baltimore, he’s kind of homerish but so are eagles writers so wanted to get a different perspective
Dude, this kid played outside corner for 1 year, NEVER played Nickel until two weeks ago and he already seems to be adapting… This is freaky talent. young corners usually suck! If this kid teaches himself how to play Nickel at an NFL level in one months time, we have a scary talent on our hands..
..
NORMALLY, ROWE shouldmt STAND A CHANCE at beating Jaylen watkins in year 2 at Nickel which is probably Watkins BEST POSITION… If he can beat out Jaylen, I wilL be blown away…. Usually. I want rookie corners to spend a year on the bench, if RoWE can hand.e this after being a safety most of his college career I will be in AWE of the kid..
Rowe would beat out Watkins if Watkins actually isn’t very good and Rowe is better.
teaches himself? LOL
Yeah, and now we know why Chip moved up to grab Rowe in the second round.
Chip just seems to have an eye for talent and if a majority of these moves pan out, (and so far they are all looking pretty good), every team in the NFL will try to copy his blueprint.
Several teams are already trying to assimilate our tempo and scheme, but none of them can do it like Chip.
He is truly an NFL Mad Scientist/Guru and any other moniker you want to use to state his genius level of overall NFL intelligence.
Chip is the real deal and you gotta praise Lurie for giving him the keys to the castle.
He could have taken him to the ground, but instead he Rowed him until help arrived.
I’ll see myself out.
Just a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Which is?
yeah I’m waiting.
refresh
when people post pictures you have to refresh
Disqus blows sometimes.
yes, very much so when it comes to posting pictures and edits, they don’t show up until people refresh
Dez getting punched in the face.
Hey Dez
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/03/03bd3ae9b61c9c951172e82713a9e22520ca03cced024d5c89928f6d971ac7dd.jpg
is that a direct hit or just a cool angle
he took it right in the face, it is awesome
who can we thank
rams full back Zach Laskey I’ve been told.
He has redeemed full backs from all damage done by Heath Evans
Direct hit, although from what Dez says he was blindsided which of course is BS.
he is being held
#DezCaughtThatPunch
Not around his arms
wow, twitter has it all, big fight that just kept escalating. The longest yard going on with Boys, nice young men on that squad Jerry. Hope Foles is ok
Is that FOles tossing haymakers?
No…he would have thrown the punch over his head.
Cam?
I think Foles would of backpedaled right to the locker room.
I love that Dez’s teammate is trying to pull him out but only succeeds in holding him down to take a punch to the face.
Dez’s arms were free.
guys, guys, guys. he hit Dez so hard that he LOST HIS EARRING.
(yea, i know he could have lost it at any point in this fight… but lets just assume that this is how he lost it)
see the second half of this link:
http://deadspin.com/dez-bryant-really-got-the-worst-of-that-training-camp-f-1725069953
this is a great team to practice with, they are well coached and have enough bad-asses to make us fight hard
So sounds like Rowe not great in coverage, especially on deeper routes, but tries to jack balls after the catch. Sounding like NC separating himself
From what I saw it was mainly Campanaro in the slot that gave him fits, which is to be expected.
A baseball team can be built quickly?! It takes a minimum of 3-4 years for a guy who is drafted to make the MLB level. Even college players who are more developed have at least a minimum of a 1-1.5 years in the minor leagues to make the MLB club.
As for impact, the last few years of rookies immediately coming in (especially pitchers) and making meaningful contributions almost right away is a historical anomaly if you look back.
Maybe he meant a team not run by Ruben
good thing baseball is dead
Nah, just the Phillies
Really? Just look at minor league attendance numbers and MLB attendance numbers along with local TV ratings.
Certainly is a sport that pails in comparison to the NFL but so does every other major American sports right now too.
Their fanbase has been trending consistently older. The average age last year was 54.
It’s a slower moving sport in a modern hyperpaced digital age. Kids aren’t drawn to it as much.
I think “baseball is dead” is a bit over the top, but it certainly is declining.
I think there is some hope, with the new wave of young under 25 superstars, but even the league admits that they have a problem.
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-04-01/fixing-baseballs-old-people-problem-with-merchandise-highlights
Baby Boomers were the last Generation to really be into baseball. It’s pretty niche in subsequent generations. The biggest thing they’re combating is games have actually been getting longer. So they’re trying to do sensible things like cut down time between pitches, cut down on the quirky habits and rituals like batters stepping out of the box to have a meeting with their bat, stare at it abit, adjust the grip, knock the dirt out of the cleats while standing on the culprit and placing the foot right back in the dirt, one last pep talk with the bat, BALL, repeat.
even in best case seasons with the Phillies being really good only the playoffs are fun to watch.
too much relief pitching, too many games etc…
not enough tackling or touchdowns
Maybe the reference is pointed to all of those teams who buy their players..like the Yankees/Dodgers.
nice review of the blocked punts of last season from Jimmy.
Brian Braman really is a ST demon.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/bryan-braman-catalyst-eagles-blocked-punts-2014/
this is crazy. 4 blocked punts in one year. But then when you think that JJ himself had what 5 or so touchdowns, that’s one of the most insane stats ever.
The lack of contributions from the ’14 draft was one of the reasons why this team didn’t make the playoffs last year.
Still say it is TBD but if this team is going to make the playoffs they will need a real contributions Smith, Huff, and Watkins to contribute meaningfully and for Matthews to avoid any soph slumps. Most likely avoid Huff to be a non-factor especially if Austin can actually stay on the field this year.
I am optimistic that 2/4 of four will occur and least high on Watkins. In fact, I think Watkins is going to be a guy who gets targeted early and often when he is on the field and have his share of struggles.
I’d say that if you are depending on your rookie class contributing, you are not a playoff team anyway.
Doubt coaches have these crazy fan expectations Draftimg kids and assuming they can pay off immediately,…. Sometimes a kid will need a few years before he blossoms into a gem, doesnt make him a bad pick… It’s why the professionals and people with a brain DONT even offer draft grades or OPPINIONS til 3 years After the draft…. After this season, we can finally judge the 2013 draft..
Honestly the primary reason they didn’t make the playoffs was the sheer number of x-plays allowed by the secondary. Take that away and the team is probably 12-4
x-plays plus league leading turnovers
That along with their problems with turnovers and their paltry red zone performance where they were in the bottom 1/3 of the league in % TD conversation ratio.
Even if the secondary is less than stellar this year (and I think it will be including Maxwell and Jenkins), if the Eagles just improve the turnovers and red zone performance they’ll be playing come Jan.
Honestly, expecting ANYTHING from rookies is silly,.. If rookie plays it should be considered a Bonus. You don’t draft kids expecting to pay immediate dividends… IN 3 years, if that class isn’t producing. You have a point…. Now, that’s just misguided expectations
We had 3 reasons why we missed the playoffs last year:
1) poor secondary play
2) O Line Injuries early in the season
3) poor QB play and injuries.
None of that had anything to do with a 2014 draft class. Getting what we got last year from Matthews and Allen is plenty in year 1 of a draft class, and if MSII or Huff become quality players will be a successful draft. If you have 3-4 drafts in a row where you get 3 quality players you are going to be a very very good team.
2012 – Cox/Kendricks/Curry
2013 – Johnson/Ertz/Logan
2014 – Matthews + Allen/Huff/Smith/Watkins/Hart who all look to make the team and be at least depth players (hell even Reynolds looks like he might)
2015 – Agholor and Rowe look like NFL starters at this point (but it is early) and Shepherd and Hicks look like the can be quality depth at the worst.
That is some rock solid drafting for the last few year really, and is why we suddenly look so deep as a roster. (all depends on the QB however)
4. Billy Davis
Lol Dez BRyant didn’t practice the first two days of joint pratice(Hamstring), but the Rams players were pised because Dez was running his mouth being an agitator the entire time.. Lol they caught Dez running into the scuffle with his helmet off Rams were probabky fighting each other to get to Dez first so they could be the Ram to punch him… This happened during the 2nd practice, havng to shutdown practice. These trashy fools are wasting great opportunities to get some good work in by fighting each other..
..
We have joint practices every year and none of this drama happens. I’m going to be pissed if it gets to a point that the NFL has to shut down joint practices because some Undiscaplined teams don’t know how to act..myou participate in a team brawl, you shouldn’t be allowed to have a joint practice the following year..
They don’t need a rule. If a team gets a reputation as the jackasses that start fights every year, no on will be willing to practice with them.
It could still easily happen. It probably would have in years past if Cary Williams had gotten his way.
Some folks seem to be pressing the ridiculous meme that — under Kelly — no Eagles have ever had a fight during Training Camp.
False.
http://readingeagle.com/news/article/another-day-another-fight-at-eagles-camp&template=mobileprofileart
I think it is a matter of degree. All I can get from the link is the headline, but I don’t recall and us vs. them 180 man brawls.
I can’t remember the year (it was late 80s early 90s), but the Eagles and the Falcons had a huge brawl in a scrimmage that was started by the Eagles ball boys.
that’s genius!
Those guys should be legends in Philly
Was that this incident?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2162605
If so that was pregame (early 2005 season, MNF), though not preseason. And it sounded like it was something between Kevin Mathis and Jeremiah Trotter that started it.
Great memory, but I’m talking about a team fight that happened when I was in middle school. The 2005 Monday Night Opener fight was actually instigated by that piece of shit DeAngelo Hall, but Trotter and Mathis are who got pulled into it.
Hmm… my memory is completely blank on that. But I did find this story:
http://articles.philly.com/1990-08-06/sports/25930945_1_eagles-scrimmage-b-a-a-a-d
A Buddy Ryan team and a Jerry Glanville team in a joint practice… that’s almost planning to have fights.
This it?
http://articles.philly.com/1990-08-06/sports/25930945_1_eagles-scrimmage-b-a-a-a-d
I think so, or there is a possibility there was a fight in practice the subsequent summer between the two teams up here.
But that is absolutely the right time frame.
Yeah there are almost always some fights in training camp. I’m sure many are not reported, or barely. If Geno Smith’s jaw wasn’t broken, then probably that incident doesn’t even make twitter.
i’m guessing that joint practices are different — those stand the very good chance of quickly getting into a team vs team situation where players rush in to defend a teammate, and can easily turn into a big brawl where players get injured. In a single-team practice, they are all teammates, so the fights probably tend more to stay one-on-one.
A Ravens reporter’s point of view on the early part of today’s practice:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-5-early-observations-from-ravens-practice-in-philly-20150819-story.html
I guess whoever wrote that must list vanilla as their favorite flavor of ice cream. I thought Baltimore had more colorful reporters than that, I’ve seen as much on the final season of The Wire.
Someone wrote earlier that Ravens coverage was hard to find (beyond the B-Sun, maybe).
Not like the Birds
We’re blessed here with the depth of coverage of our team.
Particularly enjoy hearing from commenters to this blog who make it to the practices.
That surprises me. Far and away the most popular team in Baltimore with a wide and varied fan base.
Right . . . Baltimore’s one of the great football cities.
I was just repeating what someone wrote.
Still miss saying ‘Baltimore Colts’. Then there’s this:
The Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons. They were the most successful American team in the CFL’s southern expansion effort into the United States, and by at least one account, the winningest expansion team in North American professional sports history at the time. They had winning records in each season, won a division championship, and, in 1995, became the only American franchise ever to win the Grey Cup.
yeah we are spoiled with our play by play practices. Could have saved himself some time and just wrote, practice happened today.
I love 90% of what gets reported with our team.
this is funny.
Thank you. I consider myself an expert in the cultural anthropology of Baltimore due to seeing every episode of The Wire.
Bradford didn’t throw any INTs, while facing the closest thing to a libe rush that he has seen.. Another positive Gradual step building Towards Saturdqy. Think Barkley threw 2 INTs, one was a pick 6..
..
Chip keeps saying they will rotate the RGs, but Gardner keeps starting. Started last week, the preseason game, and he was starting RG for joint practice.. Chip said they were gpmg to rotate in the next games, but I call BULLSHIT!!! With Bradford making his first start Saturday, NO WAY chip gives a guard evaluation reps while risking Bradford in a live game.. Chip is going to want his best combo of Lineman protecting SAM on Saturday, so he is most like.y going to start Gardner. if Gadner plays well, he locks up the starting spot and he spends the next few weeks building chemistry with Lane..
…
Thurmond and BG intercepted Flacco
..
Apparently our Starting Defense held its own against the Ravens offense, and performed much better then our starting D did against Brady and the Pats offense in past years.
..
Maxwell was said to be very vocal today in drills and 11-11 and he played up to his reputation breaking up a deep pass, and locking down Ravens in 1 on 1 drills
..
Eric ROWE struggled early in the slot against Campenaro, but then he went on to have a nice practice stripping balls, stopping steve smith from a TD, some PBU’s.. Was said to be having an impressive practice and towards the end he had a Few mistakes. pass interference, gave up a sideline catch to steve smith who was jawing at him all day. Gave up a slant to Smith…. Win/Lose this was Probably an excellent growth opportunity for ROWE to face a crafty tôugh vet like smith from another team who is trying to rip his heart out..
..
Our DL dominantes as usual. Cox got a “Coverage sack”, few tackle for loses, Kiko broke up a pass or two… thurmond with the Pick. Nolan had a PBU and apparently was sharp because someone tweeted that he had seperated himself from ROWE with this strong showing
..
Anyone ready anything about Marcus smith? Agholor?
.
Demarco Murray was finally unleashed,and most reporters said he looked sharp… No surprise, Ryan mathews continues to rack up big chunks of yards
.
Seemed to avoid injuries and get some good work in today taking it to the Ravens.. hopefully Bradford and the team can pick up steam and play better each day against the Ravens culminating in BEATDOWN kicking Raven ass on Saturday…
..
I would pay money to view these practices live on pay per view. Must be awesome. On one field its our starting Offense vs. Ravens defense, and on the other field its Raens starting Offense vs, our defense… Football heaven…
Any tackling allowed on the QBs today?
Any tackling at all today . . . or just wrap ups?
Apparently not if Steve Smith gave Brandon Graham the business about tackling one of his guys.
Steve Smith is a hard case, but he doesn’t want any of Graham. Last time I check Graham is a tad larger than Cary Williams.
I love Brandon Graham, but let’s be honest, Steve Smith isn’t about to back down from anyone, regardless of if he should or not.
I agree with your analysis of Stevie boy’s thought process, but good for him that he didn’t do anything.
And a fullback, no less. It must be embarrassing for a fullback when his WR has to tell the opposing team they are being to rough with him.
it’s steve smith, probably the guy least likely to turn the other cheek on the field.
I saw from one of the beats that Agholor was abusing their second team and was running open most of the time when he had his shot with the 1’s
ATG:
Fights in Eagles’ TC 2014 . . . try this one.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/132991/another-day-another-fight-at-eagles-camp
Got it. And it is shocking to be let down by such a fine journalistic institution. (The Reading Eagle is my local inky.)
My buddy does high school sports coverage for them
this is great:
Otherwise, Smith is not pleased about being in Philadelphia.
“No,” he said, when asked if he likes these joint practices. “I’d
rather be at home. Today is my wife’s birthday. I’m not at home, I’m
over here doing this bullsh***, and I’m missing my wife’s birthday. I’d
rather be at home singing happy birthday to my wife. Instead I’m out
here getting questions to assess a rookie corner.”
I wonder how he really feels?
This is one of the best quotes I have read.
Byron Maxwell talks about Eric Rowe: “the lights,coming on for him. he punched three balls out today. I don’t know if Yall realize that. He had 3 turnovers. He’s a playmaker man. He’s got a knack for the ball”
..
Steve smith been talking trash to him all Day trying to intimidate ROWE. smith is going to try and pick on him all week, but ROWE had his moments too today..Awesome for us that Steve Smith is trying to go at one of our rookies all week… We can’t ask for a better training experience for ROWE then an ornery, hyper competitive Steve smith with a Napolean complex trying to bully ROWE all week
Get ’em Rowe!! Utah alum on Utah alum action right there.
Napoleon complex. Exactly.
https://lauramctaggart.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/small-dog-big-dog.jpg?w=294&h=220
I honestly do not get how reporters and commenters can continuously say that their respective teams were ‘vanilla’ or that they had not game planned for the Eagles offense or defense and that is the only reason the Eagles were getting the better of them (my examples come from the Ravens and Colts respectively). But did the Eagles game plan for the other team? No. What the hell, ESPN has said this, NFL network has made this excuse as well. Are they really insinuating that the Eagles are game planning in pre season games and practices and that is the reason we look like the better team?
Sorry, I am ranting but this is such a double standard and I could not keep it in any longer.
I think they are insinuating that all the other teams are all the same, and so there is no need to gameplan, while the Eagles are a bunch of weirdos.
But we are love able weirdos.
the eagles are really weird though.
we have the weirdest qb’s the oddest running backs, a strange coach, goofy o-line, and a magician as the long snapper… I mean really who can prepare for that?
now you see it now you don’t.
my thing is that you just cant gauge much on preseason except trying to see growth of young guys and getting others just warmed up. Obviously without seeing starters on all the snaps and the way a game flows and changes and adjustments being made, you cant take much from it. Almost like they are eluding to that but also saying there isnt any strategy going on, just straight matchups.
It just seems they are implying the Eagles are game planning for teams. Because it couldn’t be that the Eags are a deep and talented team.
i would think Chip would look at it like these are ‘real’ reps, and he doesn’t want to waste them with ‘fake’ plays that he will never call in a game situation…he wants that repetition of the bread and butter plays.
my guess then is that he called a lot of the basic plays of his playbook that he wants the team to excel at. inside zone read, some of the ‘packaged plays’ and such. might not be “vanilla” by other teams standards, but those are our “basic” plays. i guess our standards are different : P
wtf random advertisement. Yeah I go to nfl.com, that doesn’t mean i deserve this: (refresh)
Fuck you Goodell
you know why they picked to target Dallas fans though right? Because those pansies will come out of the woodwork to get on a band wagon in good times, but the minute things go bad, “Oh wow nfl ticket exchange??” (refresh)
http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/540ccadbecad04960bcec636-1200-691/49ers-fans-at-att-stadium.jpg
Today’s picking 4th (of 12) fantasy mock. Thanks in advance for the feedback folks have been giving.
My haul today:
Le’Veon Bell, Shady, Nuk Hopkins, Latavius Murray, Brandon Marshall, Chris Ivory, Allen Robinson, Charles Johnson, John Brown, DeAngelo Williams, Rivers, Delanie Walker, Bradford, Kyle Rudolph, Eagles D, Nick Novak.
Shady’s injury next isn’t dire, so I couldn’t pass him up when he dropped to 21.
Bell, A-Rob, and Charles Johnson are great picks.
A Rob and Johnson are guys Evan Silva put me onto due to high volume of target potential.
Johnson was an animal last year down the stretch and is easily the Vikings best receiver. Robinson if healthy will definitely be a target monster. Bell, well Bell is who he is and that is the best fantasy back when he is playing and healthy. As for the Eagles DEF, is that defense/special teams or just defense?
def / spec teams.
Another great pick then. They’re not ranked particularly high on many fantasy boards but to me if you’re in a league that is DEF/Special teams then they are the best option due to what the special teams did last year.
Dolphins S Louis Delmas and Panthers WR Kelvin Benjamin out for the season with torn ACLs.
We play both teams this season.
Benjamin, and his parade of dropped passes, wasn’t scaring me.
Greg olsen just jumped a round or two for me in fantasy. Wonder if we can trade cooper
man if someone would sign mathis already we could trade cooper for HIM
Obviously this won’t actually happen, but could you imagine the tweets that would follow from Mathis? He finally swallows his pride and signs with someone for $2 million and gets a phone call an hour later saying he was traded to the Eagles?
He’d probably have to shut his twitter down for a while and being that he is a twitter addict that could be hard for him to do. I’d love to see it happen though.
that would be a classic way to lowball him
players knees droppin left n right
shh
Sad to say but is anyone surprised regarding Delmas?
Feel bad for both, hate to see any player out for the season. Maybe besides McCoy right now. Is that messed up?
we paid Maxwell a lot of money and some people think we over paid, but one thing though is that we seem to get a lot for the money.
he is a good cornerback, but also quite the leader and mentor with lots of experience and seems to be really encouraging to not only the young DB’s but also the young receivers. he’s teaching these guys everyday.
this is pretty cool, and he sounds like a really good fit and addition to the team.
If he plays well this year when the salary cap rises his contract will look very good. Really like everything I’ve been hearing about B-Max so far.
yeah I am a little surprised because I didn’t know anything about his personality before this.
I bet Sherman is that kind of guy too.
It was definitely hard to get a read on Maxwell’s personality while playing with Sherman, Thomas, and Chancellor who are all very outspoken, but I have been very pleased he is taking it upon himself to be not just an on field leader but a vocal off field guy as well.
Sherman is actually said to be a great teammate. Helps out in anyway he can. Also reportedly a very intelligent human being.
It’s a shame that people confuse loud/smack talking and confident with crappy person and not good team mate.
To be fair, Crabtree is a sorry ass WR.
From Noah’s lips to God’s ears
https://twitter.com/Noah_Becker/status/634117990829686784
Maybe if Howie was the gm…
nah, Howie loves Gators, Chip loves blocking, Cooper is bulletproof
I’m sorry, but who is Noah Becker?
I think he is the Panther’s GM…
…hopefully…
Media Mike’s twitter handle.
Apparently Rowe shut down Smith a few times when he was on him. Good stuff.
I love Smith and I’m happy Rowe has to face someone that can beat you physically and tries to get in your head.
yeah he is a great guy for Rowe to be practicing against.
he wont face anyone tougher in his whole career maybe.
harder to cover maybe but not tougher
Anquan Boldin is on hold and would like to speak with you.
put him through
I give the nod to Smith in the tough department. Boldin has the size, Smith does it without the size.
No one tougher? Did you see the way Dez smashed that guy’s hand with his face? Now that is tough.
Rowe’s problem was with a midget evidently.
Campanaro is a stud.
Cardinals LG Mike Iupati is expected to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery this week.
I’m not panicking but I’ll be damned if I’m not getting nervous. Hope he and the coaches can get a handle on whatever is giving him the “misses”.
Cody Parkey concerns continue: he missed three kicks during practice. One was a PAT (33 yards). Another one from 42 yards out bounced off the right upright. A third one missed from 47. Yikes.
he’s in a slump, just needs to get himself out of it, plenty of time to do so. All camp long he’s been lights out, missed and extra point and some FG’s on TV and he might be inside his own head a little bit. I expect he’ll be able to shake it off
yeah feel like best thing to do is not say anything, let him keep kicking.
If kicking in the NFL is anything like playing corn hole he should just have a couple PBRs before the game. Always helps me!
It is a bit of a mental position… always possible that he could get out of sync.
On the other hand, the ones he missed during the game *just* missed. They were well hit, and went straight, just a bit offline. Sounds like at lest one today was just missed to (hit the uprights). It seems worse when balls drift all over the place, or kickers start missing badly, etc. Doesn’t sound like it’s anywhere near there yet, but last year he was down the middle on most of his kicks.
Probably has some problems with the PATs. He’s been kicking them from one distance for years, now needs to retrain his brain, And legs, feet. This could be affecting his whole system of movements, timing, spacing, etc. As Ark87 said, maybe he’s in his own head for a while.
I don’t think it’s a specific problem with the PATs. He has kicked from that distance a multitude of times in his college/highschool/NFL career. Doesn’t matter if it’s a PAT or FG distance wise.
I think it’s just a current low confidence/over thinking thing. He needs to get out of the slump.
can tebow kick?
Pray on it.
oohhhhh!
Maybe Tebow should consider baseball. Apparently he doesn’t have to hit a home run over the wall. He can just throw it over!
Is anyone confident that Barkley could make this throw?
https://youtu.be/zbeNyKJB158
I’m not sure Tebow could do the one getting it back to Watt, I’m actually pretty impressed, who has experience accurately throwing a football to someone 3 stories below you?
Yeah, I was impressed Watt hit him right on the hands. When that guy let go of the ball, though, I cringed, thinking it was going to be embarrassingly off target. He must of thrown water balloons off an apartment building roof as a kid, or something.
Good throw and good moment. Watt despite the game and money seems to be a really down to earth and good guy.
I used to work in the counseling and addiction department and somebody that was friend/family/somebody that Ronnie Brown knew (can’t go into specifics) picked up their 1 year coin down here in Florida. Ronnie Brown actually came and gave this person their coin. He spoke to everybody. Keep in mind this is not a big event or anything he was paid for. Really cool guy. After he spoke he took time to talk to everyone that walked up to him. Didn’t rush or walk away from anybody.
It’s just really cool when someone in their position uses their position to help others and treats an average human being like an equal. NFL gets a bad rap for a few players but their are far more that do the right thing, and they do it low key.
That is very cool, and hopefully things like that (which normally go unnoticed) happen often. By all right, these men who receive pay and celebrity far beyond their contribution to society should be looking for things they can do to give back.
Sadly, no.
http://deadspin.com/adrian-peterson-will-never-believe-he-did-anything-wron-1725128700
Brown was also a decent player before his little sojourn in Philly. You’re right on when seeing a famous/rich person still behaving like a ‘normal’ human.
Foles was very cool to me at a corporate event last year.
Very cool. I would definitely not throw that back. Not just because it was from JJ freakin Watt, but that throw man…. I’m too shy to risk the embarrassment of hitting some unaware staffer.
Hell to the naw,naw,naw!
Considering the Eagles have been largely considered the healthiest team the past few and Long has been the only loss so far I really think this sports science is working. Players themselves say they have felt better.
That being said, let’s cross our fingers for the rest of TC and pre season.
I’ll toast to that.
We were trying not to talk about it man!
Woops
you’re the teammate that would go ask Hamels how his no hitter is going in the bottom of the 5th.
I would wait untill he was about to walk onto the field.
Daniel Jeremiah was defining traits of some QBs and Eli was one of them. DJ called Eli clutch, poised, and aggressive.
Lets ask Eli how he feels about that.
http://images.complex.com/complex/image/upload/t_article_image/ulfl30lthscoihlqjfoz.png
Pay the man!
http://cdn1.bloguin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/94/2015/07/eli_directv-600×356.jpg
I’d rather hang out with bad comedian Eli Manning.
Daniel Jeremiah should go choke himself.
Oh, and let’s not forget that we’ll have another OLB prospect come next offseason – Dion Jordan. I have no doubt he’ll be an Eagle come spring training next year.
I don’t know how the carries will be split but I’m pumped to see the opponents trying to contain Murry and Matthews all game! They should be near death in the 4th if we can execute and convert on 3rd down! Woooooooo! (Check the comments out below the video…my apologies if this was already posted)
https://youtu.be/X-1vuILb3PI
I was always impressed with his height/weight/speed….never did I realize how much power he ran with as well as how many times he is the one initiating the contact.
Yeah i’m looking at that highlight at the :50 mark, wondering which eagle defender tripped over himself, looked like kendricks
I was in the car a bit today and listened to more NE sports radio. Here is my new take on DeflateGate.
They mention the Supreme Court Garvey case says that absent something like out and out lying, courts should not rule against arbiters. NE radio reads the court/judge as hinting he will overturn. I read this the opposite way.
My theory/guess: The judge wants it to settle obviously. He is hammering on the NFL b/c he thinks it’s unfair what they did, but ultimately would give a ruling UPHOLDING the NFL while taking all kinds of shots at them about their findings. But he isn’t there to rule on the substance, and in the end won’t.
He is hammering on the favorite to settle not the underdog. NE radio is wrong.
There’s my hot take.
Mike Folrio seems to think the same way the radio guys do up there. He is a lawyer. He tends to be right about this sort of thing and never shuts up about it once he is.
I haven’t been following that closely myself.
Absolutely how I read it. The judge knows he really can’t vacate an arbitrator’s ruling absent something extreme, and this isn’t extreme.
I think the 2015 Eagles OLB group is very similar to the 2013 OLB group, considering Graham as Cole and Smith as a uncertain as Graham was.
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