Roster Guessing
Posted: September 2nd, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 394 Comments »The preseason is over. Next up, finalizing the roster. Here is my guess.
QB – 3 – Sam Bradford, Chase Daniel, Carson Wentz
RB – 4 – Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Kenjon Barner, Wendell Smallwood
WR – 5 – Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Josh Huff, DGB, Paul Turner
TE – 3 – Brent Celek, Zach Ertz, Trey Burton
OL – 10 – Jason Peters, Allen Barbre, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, Stefen Wisniewski, Matt Tobin, Dillon Gordon, H. Vaitai
DE – 6 – Connor Barwin, Vinny Curry, Brandon Graham, Marcus Smith, Steven Means, Bryan Braman
DT – 5 – Fletcher Cox, Bennie Logan, Beau Allen, Taylor Hart, Destiny Vaeao
LB – 5 – Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham, Mychal Kendricks, Najee Goode, Stephen Tulloch
S – 4 – Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Jaylen Watkins, Chris Maragos
CB – 5 – Leodis McKelvin, Nolan Carroll, Ron Brooks, Jalen Mills, C.J. Smith
STs – 3 – Jon Dorenbos, Caleb Sturgis, Donnie Jones
Now for some thoughts on my roster choices.
Paul Turner is one tough subject. He had a terrific game against the Jets and he’s been fun to root for, but where does he fit into a league-wide list of WRs? He would be near the bottom. He isn’t special physically. He wasn’t great in college. Turner averaged just 9.7 yards per catch this summer. He doesn’t get much separation. Turner is tough. He has good hands. There is plenty to like, but there are also plenty of better WRs out there. I do think Turner would clear waivers and make it to the practice squad if cut, but that’s just a guess. The Eagles will scan the waiver wire to see if they can find anyone better.
I know some people are down on Smallwood, but the coaches seem to really like him so I think he’s a near lock for the roster. He had a good spring and is a very good fit for this offense so keeping him does make sense.
Only 3 TEs? Chris Pantale didn’t do enough to make the coaches keep him. He’s not one of the 53 best players. They can figure something out at FB with an OL or DL.
The Lane Johnson situation really complicates things with the OL. My guess is that the Eagles want 10 OL either way. With him suspended, the choices are obvious. With him as part of the roster, things get trickier. The starting 5 are obvious. Then you have Tobin as the top backup OT. You have Seumalo as the backup OG. Wiz is your backup C and OG.
Gordon showed LT potential and that makes him a player you need to try and keep. Vaitai earned his way onto the roster by the potential he showed coming out of college as well as his good moments this summer. He has the raw tools. He needs work and to get bigger/stronger, but those are fixable issues. The raw talent is there so he’s worth keeping around.
I don’t think Darrell Greene has earned a spot. The Eagles gave him a big UDFA signing bonus so they clearly liked him a lot. During the game, Mike Mayock had Greene pegged as making the roster so I’m guessing he’s heard some things from Eagles sources that confirm their belief in Greene. If Johnson is suspended, Greene makes it. If not, Greene goes to the PS.
I did consider keeping 11 OL and only going with 4 WRs. The logic there would be that Gordon, Vaitai and Greene all have starting potential. They are far from sure things, but if they pan out, they could start. Turner has virtually no chance of being a starting WR in the NFL. He could be a slot guy, but I’m not sure he ceiling is anywhere beyond that. I’m just not sure you can go with only 3 TEs and only 4 WRs so I moved away from the 11 OL and kept Turner.
I went with 5 DEs plus Bryan Braman. Marcus Smith did enough in the past few weeks to make me think he can continue to get better. He also has STs potential. Means had a terrific offseason and earned a spot. Braman was solid at DE this summer and is a great STer. The Eagles scheme is built on rushing the passer so going heavy at DE is okay.
The release of Mike Martin makes DT easy for me. I think Destiny Vaeao showed enough that you don’t want to risk losing him on waivers. Azziz Shittu played very well against the Jets, but he’s a project and is perfect for the practice squad.
I have the Eagles going light at LB. The 5 to stick with are obvious. Quentin Gause had a strong game against the Jets, but I don’t see him as ready for the NFL right now. Excellent PS candidate. The Eagles will scan the waiver wire to see if there is a 6th LB that interests them.
Safety is obvious.
CB is not. I have the team trading Eric Rowe. After the last 2 weeks, it sure seems clear the coaches just don’t love him. Rowe isn’t a bad player, but he’s not the right fit for this team. The Eagles have rookies Jalen Mills and C.J. Smith to keep and see what they can do. If he doesn’t fit at CB here, what about S? I hate to give up on a young player with his size/speed, but the coaches either don’t trust him or don’t like him. And this isn’t a case of coach bias. Rowe hasn’t played up to his potential. Guys like Watkins, Allen, Hart, Tobin and Reynolds have all taken a step forward under the new staff. Rowe has taken a step back.
There is also the consideration of cutting Ron Brooks and keeping Rowe. I’d certainly be open to that, but Jim Schwartz seems to like Brooks and doesn’t seem all that thrilled with Rowe.
The Eagles are deep and talented at some spots. They have projects at others. You can bet Howie Roseman will work the phones to see if he can make any deals that will help improve the roster. Could DT Taylor Hart be on the block? Steven Means? Rowe?
Some players did help themselves tonight, but no one is going to make the team strictly because of one game. The guys who make the roster earned that through either their track record or a really good overall offseason, or both.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor The preseason is over. Next up, finalizing the roster. Here is my guess. QB – 3 – Sam Bradford, […]
I like the outside the box thinking that Brooks could be cut so we can continue to develop Rowe. As a 2nd round pick there is no way we can get anything close to equal value via trade. I still believe in Rowe’s potential.
As much as the novice fan would like to see Turner make the final 53 Tommy is absolutely right on that he will not be a factor on this team as a 5th WR. I believe Howie will be looking to acquire a veteran WR that is clearly better than Turner who is caught in a numbers game and released as a final cut elsewhere. Plus I just think the team needs a least one veteran WR on this roster.
The Eagles like to give the players they cut a chance to catch on elsewhere. I would not be surprised if the Eagles released number of players on Friday to give them that head start to potentially catch on elsewhere.
yea, i love what ive seen from PT, but ultimately, he’s probably going to be inactive every game this season if he makes the roster, and i don’t see him contributing too much in a real game against a starting defense. maybe that PR TD shows some ST potential with him, might be just enough to keep him? i dunno…
would have been nice to see him go out with the 1’s.
Upset we didn’t try Rowe at safety at all this preseason. Another wasted early pick.
I would be surprised if they cut Rowe and I didn’t see them getting even a mid round pick for him because he’s the 5th CB and we aren’t great at CB. So I would prefer they keep him. But I understand the reasoning they don’t like him. Maybe you get a conditional 5th (he probably won’t meet the conditions).. Is it because he isn’t coachable/doesn’t respond to coaching). It’s bothersome he’s a good tackler.
This is sounding like the Brandon Boykin deal.
I doubt Rowe isnt coachable, but somewhere he went from our best CB down the stretch to almost getting cut.
I’m just wondering if Schwartz wants him to play a different technique and he can’t make the adjustment.
Don’t know if it’s “can’t.” Remember, Rowe got lit up in his first start, then played much better down the stretch. It feels like he’s slow to adjust.
I think he has limitations as far as quickness goes. He has good straight line speed, but isn’t a quick twitch loose hips guy. Was really disappointed with how poorly he played tonight. The one thing he had been doing fairly well was not getting beat over the top. Tonight, he couldn’t even do that and was panicking with the ball in the air. He still has upside and I hate to give up on him, but frankly CJ Smith has played better this preseason.
Let’s put 40 pounds on him and make him a linebacker. He seems to have what Schwartz is looking for in a LB.
Then he can replace the other disappointment, Mychal Kendricks.
If Kendricks can drop 30-40 pounds he might be a decent safety.
Not the way he covers. Frankly, not the way he tackles anymore either.
So much talent, so little consistency. Needs to get his head out of his a$$ and start doing the little things.
Where Davis wanted his CBs to press, Schwartz seems to play more off man coverage where fluid hips is the no. 1 thing you need and Rowe does not have that
I disagree on the Boykin comparison. Boykin played well, but the staff didn’t feel he fit their preconceptions on what a corner should look like.
Rowe has played poorly this preseason. It’s not that the coaches don’t think he fits. Undlin was his coach last season as well, remember? He simply has to adjust to a scheme where he’s expected to be more aggressive. Not certain anymore the eagles will give him that chance.
I was referring to Tommy’s comments. Why do you think Schwartz brought McKelvin and Brooks here?
McKelvin? Sure. Brooks? Think he was brought in to play ST and maybe slot. I don’t think the team was expecting Rowe to regress as badly as he has.
The correct answer was because they fit Schwartz’s scheme (not Undlin’s).
No, Boykin had health problems
Yet we didn’t hear about any of them until he was with Pittsburgh. If they were the reason the Eagles didn’t trust him, I could understand that, but they never said a word about them. Meanwhile, he just kept making plays.
All of the oddness makes sense if the Eagles knew about the health problems–the playing restrictions, the trade, the low payout, the lack of PT afterwards… none of it does if they didn’t.
Rowe looks like a safety to me. He is better when he can keep things in front of him. I guess he would do well in zone as well but he just seems to stiff to play the corner position well but what do I know?
I mean he’s not ideal but we haven’t had blazing CBs in a long time. C.J. Smith is better when he can keep things in front of him. Same with ,McKelvin. Not sure with Mills yet if he can cover deep as well as Rowe. . He is not a blazer either. Carroll has even gotten toasted at times.
Mills has the right attitude, but lacks top end speed. Really don’t see him as a starter, but he could be a really solid slot corner.
Idk if its a coincidence or not but Smith was able to KEEP wrs in front him and first teamers at that, Rowe did not.
I don’t know either. Smith just hasn’t played enough but he has good instincts too so far.
I am already forgetting Aaron Grymes who I really wanted to see more.
I would rather see Watkins back as a CB instead of Mills being one. Mills seems to have the same limitations as Rowe so I would rather see if he can fit as a safety.
Mills can’t tackle. Please don’t put him at safety. He’d be a trainwreck.
Watkins couldn’t either but look at him now. It still was preseason though so who knows if he can keep it up?
Watkins has actually played safety in college
Yes I know but he has played more CB than safety in the league.
I must admit, I also wasn’t that impressed with Mills. Felt he was really grabby and was daring the refs to flag him every play.
Watkins needed a wake up call and has improved a lot. He’s still the 3rd safety at best and I don’t know whether the coaching staff would trust him long term.
Watkins is 6’2″. Maybe we should be trying him at WR.
He can catch, so doesn’t that disqualify him?
Holy shit for real? He was like 5’11 when we drafted him.
Strange. He seems tall out there to me. And google says he’s 6’2″. But he is listed as 5’11” everywhere else.
I agree that he looks more like a natural safety in today’s nfl.
I rather keep him and give him a chance as a safety then just cut him unless you can get a good player in return
Totally agree there. He has great potential but not as CB in this system.
He struggled with angles in college. I agree that I’d rather kick him back there, but you think they would’ve done that by now. It’s been pretty clear for a few weeks we were ok with CB depth.
Converting a safety to a CB is very unconventional since it’s usually the other way around. IMO, it’s too early to give up on Rowe since Mills and Smith aren’t exactly surefired starter material.
When he played an entire season of college at CB, I don’t think it’s “converting”.
he played more safety than CB in his college career
I’m sure there will be wide receivers with a higher profile than Paul Turner on the cut lists, guys like Rueben Randle and Chris Givens.
Is Paul Turner going to become the “all he does is catch passes” cut that the Eagles regret? Because the guy gets open and catches passes. Does it matter that he is shorter and slower than Nelson Agholor if Nelson Agholor has trouble getting open and drops passes?
In a way, cutting Paul Turner would be a bit like getting rid of Mathis and Herremans. It makes sense to get rid of players if you don’t think they can do the job [i]but you better have someone lined up who can do it as well as or better than the guy you are getting rid of[/i]
Paul Turner really kicked some ass out there tonight.
some people just make plays
Exactly. If you applied the same logic to other players that Tommy does with Paul Turner you’d never see guys like Wayne Chrebet make really good careers for themselves. There’s something to be said about a guy who can get open and catches everything thrown his way. He might never be a play maker but we could do a whole lot worse for a 5th WR.
Did Wayne Chrebet only prove himself versus preseason scrubs?
No, because he was actually signed to the active roster and allowed to play in real games.
In his first preseason in the league as an undrafted WR from Hofstra who started out at the bottom of the Jets depth chart…yes. Yes he did. Just like Turner. The Jets gave the kid a chance and he made the roster and carved out a tremendous 11year career despite being short, slow and possessing none of the measurables that people consider necessary to have “potential” or upside.
Moving the sticks on third and short is “making plays” to me. If the staff doesn’t think that’s important, then maybe they need to just cut all the running backs too.
I thought this was the WCO.
Some quotes on Chrebet:
“On cut day, I was told there were 10 guys in the room. Nine wanted to cut him,” Weiss said. “Only [head coach Rich] Kotite wanted to keep him.”
“He’s probably the toughest player I ever had,” Weiss said. “There were games he played at barely 172 pounds. But he wasn’t afraid of anybody. He’d fight anybody.”
The final concussion came on the last play of his career, a six-yard reception on Nov. 6, 2005. He was knocked out against the San Diego Chargers when he banged his head on the Giants Stadium turf.
Even unconscious, the sure-handed Chrebet held on to the football. He earned one final first down.
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/garfield-s-wayne-chrebet-fought-hard-to-make-jets-ring-of-honor-1.1143645?page=all
Best case scenario is that Turner can be Avant 2.0. That’s not bad for a 5th WR but if you can try to get someone that can potentially better then why not? We could have a 4 way battle royale with these underachieving ass WRs if Doug wants some other WRs.
What’s wrong with a guy on the roster who may not have the physical attributes of a potential outside starter, but if you bring him in on 3rd and 8, you know he’s going to get open and you know he’s going to catch the ball.
That’s invaluable in my opinion.
I disagree with the “you know he’s going to get open” part….I like Tuner for the same obvious reasons as the next guy, but I don’t think we should ignore Tommy’s wisdom here, that he really has done this against nothing better than 3s at CB in this preseason.
So true
It’s not Turner’s fault they failed to give him playing time against starters. This is on the coaches.
True – but that doesn’t say anything about his ability to succeed in real games – does it?
I get it. He’s a fan favorite and has been great in the preseason. I agree. I hope he pans out. But I think fans often can be a bit irrational, and think they know as much, or more, than the coaches. And then they’ll bust the coaches for making decisions that go against the fan’s whims… Not wise.
Hopefully without the nonsensical celebrations for 3 yard catches.
Yeah! Maybe Atlanta will cut Julio Jones, or Houston will cut Hopkins or something.
Everyone keeps forgetting this kid has done it against the ones in practice and I bet you he got open and caught passes then too.
What I am saying is some players are just good Football players.
I think Paul Turner is an exception to the rule.
I love Turner’s effort and attitude, but he just has little to no upside. Also, really didn’t see him beating guys one on one. When he got a free release and was able to find soft spots in zone, he did a very good job. Really does remind of Avant, just without the imposing size.
Who cares if our #5 receiver has upside?
If you are thinking we are going to bring in a #5 receiver off the cut list who’s eventually going to become a solid outside starter you are deluding yourself. When has that ever happened? Riley Cooper maybe… He worked his way up from #4. But nobody was happy with the results.
I’m not opposed to Turner being our #5. If there’s no one out there without a better upside and an equivalent work ethic, go for it. Givens and Randle both are higher upside guys, but clearly weren’t working hard enough.
I worry with Turner mainly because your want your #5 WR to play ST. He’s not a punt returner despite the touchdown return today. He’s not a gunner. If he’s #5, he’s not going to get on the field barring injury more than a handful of plays and I’d rather have someone who can contribute elsewhere. To be frank, I don’t see that on the current roster. Cayleb Jones has probably been the next best guy, but he wasn’t nearly consistent enough.
Glad it’s the coaches decision, not mine. If they cut him, it will tick off a lot of fans.
Other than the dumb decision to not field that one punt that went out of bounds– which resulted in bad field position, but nothing catastrophic like a turnover– he looked like a punt returned to me. He got yards, didn’t run backward, didn’t muff a punt, and scored a TD. He wasn’t Sproles, but we already have a Sproles. He’s the backup Sproles.
Anyone remember when we had Reno Mahe in the 2000s? We would have killed for Paul Turner.
A 71 yard TD.
Have another look.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000693869/Paul-Turner-71-yard-punt-return-for-a-TD
“When he got a free release and was able to find soft spots in zone, he did a very good job. ”
We have a 2014 3rd rounder and a 2015 first rounder who don’t seem to understand how to do that and/or catch it / keep it when they do.
So, for 2016 at least, Turner occupies a football ecological niche that is currently vacant on this roster.
I think Agholor’s legal troubles completely shredded his mindset this year. His mistakes are all confidence and concentration related. Should he be better? Absolutely. Will we get a decent year out of him? Doubt it.
Huff was never a natural receiver. He has stiff hands and struggles with catching high passes in particular. I’ve never been as high as some here on him, despite his electric runs. He’s the WR version of a QB with a cannon arm but no feel for the passing game. At least Pederson found a few creative ways to take advantage of what he does well.
In summary, Turner appearing to be a viable receiver for the Eagles is more about how bad the rest are than how good Turner is.
I don’t want to call him Wes Welker or anything, but Wes Welker wasn’t Wes Welker until his fourth year in the league.
Welker was always as quick as a hiccup. Constantly got separation even though he lacked deep speed. Turner doesn’t have anything close to Welker’s quicks.
I hate to cut a guy who has done everything asked of him and has exceeded all reasonable expectations. What more does he need to prove? A guy with his head in the game has got to be someone you want to find a spot for.
And supposedly he was doing it in practice too. He’s not just a preseason game performer.
That’s my point with how Chip “managed” the roster in a few spots. Turner earned the spot with what we all saw in the pre-season games. No reason to cut him over some clandestine BS or for some mystery man who hasn’t proven it here.
thats the reason why i’d rather keep PT than to dump him to pick up a castoff from another team. the guy with marginal skills that you know is better than the guy with marginal skills that you don’t know.
the only thing they might be able to improve would be long term potential. but really… anybody with real potential isn’t going to be cut from another team, and since this is long term we’re talking about… we can probably get just as much potential next year in late rounds or a top UDFA…
Paul Turner beat out Givens and Randle to avoid being cut.
What’s that say about Turner?
IMO it says he has proven to be a better WR for this team and those two were supposed to be bigger names with more ability.
Keep Turner, he’s earned it.
I would like to give to ten upvotes dude. Dead on.
With Doug saying he wants 4 TEs, are people interested in Austin Seferian Jenkins? Rumors is that Tampa is cutting him, so maybe we could trade a low pick or player for him?
He kind of seems like a dick. I doubt he’d be content as a #4 TE.
I am hoping that they use the desire for a #4 TE to keep Dillon Gordon on the roster. His potential is intriguing.
I would say he would be the 2nd best TE in the roster right away, but maybe he is too much of a dick
Then who would the first be? I assume you mean Ertz but it looks like he’s still playing behind Celek. I guess he’d be the #3 at least.
But I like Burton and it seems like he’s finally going to start getting some touches.
But who knows… maybe the upside would be worth it. In Howie I trust.
Interesting name. Swap Rowe for him?
I place more value on Rowe and want to keep him around as a safety. Not sure we have anything the Bucs want in terms of players.
Anyone else think Steven Mean’s sack celebration was reminiscent of Jeremiah Trotter?
The Axeman Cometh?
I think that’s what Trotter’s celebration would have looked like if Trotter was sped up to actual NFL player speed.
Not sure what is up and I know its against backups, but Bryce Arians must be some sort of voodoo priest as he have made Matt Barkley look good.
His throws has much better velocity and he can actually throw more than 10 yards down the field
Some actual QB coaching vs. whatever the F Kelly was doing here.
And I’ll always love Arians for his tireless mocking of all things option.
QB [3] Bradford, Wentz [R], Daniels
RB [4] Matthews, Sproles, Barner, Smallwood [R]
WR [4] Matthews, Huff, Agholor, Green-Beckham
TE [3] Celek, Ertz, Burton
OL [10] Peters, Seumalo [R], Kelce, Brooks, Barbre, Greene [R], Wisniewski, Tobin, Johnson, Vaitai [R]
DL [10] Curry, Cox, Logan, Barwin, Graham, Allen, Hart, Smith, Vaeao [R], Means
LB [6] Hicks, Kendricks, Bradham, Goode, Tulloch, Gause
CB [5] Carroll, McKelvin, Brooks, Mills, Smith [R]
S [4] Jenkins, McLeod, Watkins, Maragos
SP [4] Doronbos, Jones, Sturgis, Braman
PS: Marshall, Turner, Watford, Andrews, Shittu, Tavares, Metz, Parker, Reynolds, Rowe, Gordon
The 5th WR who doesn’t play ST won’t be active on game day so there is no reason to include him on the final 53 instead of the PS.
Greene played the entire game yesterday but Gordon didn’t get in the game until late so I am projecting the former to make the team.
Gause can contribute on ST while learning the D.
I know I listed 11 for the PS but I am assuming one on more will be traded or selected off waivers.
Does Rowe still have practice squad eligibility? And even if he did, I can’t see him clearing waivers given how bad certain teams are at D back.
I think he is eligible but i agree that it is doubtful he would clear waivers. it is more likely that they will try and trade him if he doesn’t make the team.
He’d automatically be the 2nd best CB on the Giants.
Turner won’t clear waivers. Or Rowe.
I agree that Rowe probably won’t clear waivers so if they plan on cutting him they will try to arrange a trade. Turner has minimal upside so if he is claimed on waivers, which I doubt, good luck to him. The argument against adding him to the final 53 is the stronger position, in my opinion. He will never be active absent injury to the one of the top 4 receivers.
Turner likely clears waivers.
Given the guys in camp and lack of talent at certain positions; Tommy’s list looks pretty accurate. I don’t worry that much about somebody stealing Shittu and Greene from us.
Certain position groups are going to be in need of some massive upgrades and better talent as we go into next year (RB!!!!!!), but this looks like the group we’ll roll with.
Such a shame that Rowe appears to be adrift. He really played in an encouraging way last year after Billy hung him out to dry in the Lions game.
I just really hope Turner is given the chance to actually stay with the team for some regular season games. The guy won a spot and nobody is cutting Jerry Rice any time soon.
And for some early draft reading:
http://walterfootball.com/draft2017RB.php
There’s a decent amount of backs in the draft, so we could pick up one in Rd 2 or 3. Though I’d also like to get a T in one of those rounds too. Tough we don’t have a 1st this year, because then you could push getting a T or LB in Round 1. Maybe not having a 1st will help us resign Logan?
Not paying Kendricks and Bradford will help that! Logan is going to have an incredible year this year, so I hope we announced that deal now rather than after his price is run up.
I used to be 99% sure in Logan’s breakout. Now not so much. Especially with having to get the 3 DEs on the field + Cox. Plus the Beau breakout
Now that we’ve seen the whole league compete in 4 mostly meaningless games, show vanilla play calls, and move towards shaping their final rosters…………..
Eagles 7-9 (lean), but maybe 8-8 or 9-7 depending on how fast Romo returns and what happens with the QB situation in Minnesota.
I like us at 4-2 in division assuming Romo is back by the first Dallas game. Lose at Washington as well. Wins x 2 vs the last place Giants and win vs. both Dallas and Washington here.
Win vs. Browns, win at Chi, loss vs. Pitt, loss at Detroit, loss at Washington, loss vs. Minnesota, loss at Dallas, win at Giants, win vs. Atlanta, loss at Seattle, loss vs. GB, win vs. Washington, loss at Baltimore, win vs. Giants, win vs. Cowboys.
Funny I see them as a solid 7 win team, with a 3 game push either way depending on how things turn out. If Matthews stays healthy (doubtful) I think they can get 9, but if Bradford gets hurt or the Oline is atrocious we could be 5ish wins.
I’m assuming the O-line is going to suck, Bradford misses a few games, and Mathews shows his usual commitment to staying on the field. Kelce will continue to play poorly and Peters will be in and out of the lineup. This team is going to struggle to generate offense most weeks.
The D is going to carry us all year.
It strikes me that if you look at the last couple of years, you will see a rather similar trend. In that the D plays quite well the first 2/3rd of the season and then falls apart. Wouldn’t it be strange that if it all played out about the same, despite the massive changes?
Fandom is all about hope 🙂
You forgot the Bengals game. I’m going with 9-7 because of the D. 5-1 against the NFC. Even if Romo comes back, his ship has passed. Cousins gets pummeled both times by our D line, but the traditional tight games against NYG get split. Maybe lose the MNF game against Bears but make it up with an upset later over Det or Balt. Or, if the football gods smile, win Bears and one of those two, finishing 10-6. If Sam goes down, all bets are off.
Win vs Browns, win at Chi, loss vs Pitt, loss at Det, win at Wash, win vs Minn, win vs Dallas, loss at NYG, win vs Atl, loss at Seattle, loss vs GB, loss at Cinn, win vs Wash, loss at Balt, win vs NYG, win vs Cowboys.
Damn you Tommy
I posted Rowe as my surprise player in the gameday thread last night not making this team. Don’t steal this stroke of genius from me! 😉
While I’m running my mouth………
Arizona 14-2
Green Bay 11-5
Carolina 10-6
Washington 9-7
Seattle 12-4
Vikings 8-8
Patriots 13-3
Bengals 11-5
Broncos 10-6
Colts 8-8
Steelers 10-6
Raiders 9-7
And where’s the yearly surprise team making the playoffs?!
I’m struggling to find them this year.
That’s why they’re called surprise teams! Lol
No way ARI gets 14 wins, no way.
Arizona has not looked that good this preseason. Only preseason, but it sure looks like they’re picking up where they left off in the Carolina game.
Washington might be the ‘best’ team in the division, but they also have one of the toughest schedules. There really isn’t a good choice from the NFC Least.
Broncos win 10 games without a starting caliber QB and Kubiak gets coach of the year for sure.
I really hope Howie would get something in return for Rowe, if he decided to trade him. And I don’t think about the “sucking OL” compensation he got DGB for. For me, personally, you don’t give up too early on 2nd round Picks from the year before who don’t seem to have character issues. If we’d have 5 Richard Shermans back there, yeah, OK. But this position is our biggest weakness on Defense. I want to give him at least one more year.
That all changes when we get something in return. A 2nd rounder would be optimistic, even though Rowe showed something last year (never underestimate the value of halfway promising tape). But imo, it has to be a 3rd rounder. Being a 1st rounder short, even though we hope we can get something good for Sam next year, I can accept giving up on a 2nd rounder from a year before who had a bad summer in a new scheme, if we get a 3rd next year. Otherwise, give him another shot. It’s not like Brooks, Mills and Smith were killing it out there. McKelvin and Carroll were the only two CBs who kind of stood out (Carroll more than McK).
Re: Pantale cut. I had him as a near lock in some 53 projections I did, because of the 4 TE comments from Doug. But maybe we can’t trust Doug the way we could trust Chip (in that regard! If Chip praised a bubble player or even gave him a nickname, he normally was a lock to make the roster). The Martin cut really surprised people, same as Givens. For me, personally, I’d love to have that extra roster spot. Pantale showed nothing. Your reasoning is correct in that regard, Tommy. He’s not one of the best 53 players AND there is no glaring need numbers wise. If both of those things are true, you shouldn’t keep a player on the roster.
With Turner, I just really hope he’ll never return punts in real games. Despite his TD. He’s really slow and I hate slow return guys. Have to be halfway electric to play that position when the games are for real. But I guess we won’t have to worry about that, we have a clear #1 (Sproles) and a clear #2 (Barner) as PR. As a WR, he sure reminds me of an Avant version, like he does many fans. There is value, especially in this weak handed group, to have someone who catches the damn football on a regular basis. But on the other hand, looking at the waivers wire sure isn’t a bad idea.
Same as mine except I had Rowe instead of C.J. Smith. I wasn’t bold enought o predict a Rowe trade.
Good projection, Tommy, although I think I would keep Rowe and try to get Vaeao through to the practice squad. 11 defensive linemen is too many, even though one is primarily a special teams guy.
Vaeao probably won’t last on the practice squad.
I would hate to see them give up on Rowe. He has greater potential than some of the rookies. I suspect his trade value isn’t much.
LolCowboys
They just don’t stop restructuring contracts!!!
what is it this time? i haven’t seen any news
Scandrick. Converting base to signing bonus. Lol
Long live Jerry! They will never win another SB while he is pulling the strings.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Jared Goff would be the No. 3 quarterback were the season starting today.
In other words, Goff is the No. 3 quarterback, as there’s nothing he can do between now and Los Angeles’ Sept. 12 opener to leap Sean Mannion. Fisher gushed about Goff’s “progress” in the same breath, but the reality is if Goff had actually made any progress, he would be the starter, not third-string caddie behind a former undrafted free agent and 2015 third-rounder.
Apparently Goff was awful last night.
Can’t say I’m not a bit happy about him falling flat on his face, even though I have no real reason to dislike him or the Rams personally (except that they get what they deserve for keeping Jeff Fisher employed…).
Ram’s site has Goff as 2nd on depth chart, so maybe he is not 100%.
Kap donating money for the kids, $1m. Brave for a person who’s earnings potential is a little stunted
Yeah but according to people on this board he is only protesting so everyone forgets he can’t play football anymore. He won’t need that million dollars tho.
It’s still a million bucks. That’s a very generous donation from someone who might be jobless in a couple of hours.
I guess my sarcasm did not come through in the comment. He will very much need that 1 million.
Understood!
Can I just be a guy who thinks he is stupid?
Of course you can
I like him now more than when he was good.
For someone who is alledgedly stupid he was very articulate last night while being hounded by the beloved media. The very people who blew up his quiet protest into some kind of attack on the military. And who knows, once he’s fully recovered from 3 surgeries and knocked off the rust, he could be good again. Maybe even better with maturity. He was 1 overthrown pass away from winning the Super Bowl. And for those (not you Cho) who will natter on about how it was the work of everyone else on the team, yes, it is a team sport.
He is of course saying the right things now. I can much more get on board with what he is saying now, though I don’t agree with the method of protest (can’t think of another way). People putting the value of the National Anthem inside a box that supports soldiers was the most offensive part of the whole ordeal for me.
I also don’t really buy what he is saying now. Really feel like what he would really like to say is what he has already said. Basically “F- the Police”.
Sure is anything but intelligent, if my suspicion is correct. If you are going to try and be polarizing you better have your thoughts in order BEFORE the media shit storm.
I don’t agree with how he’s gone about his protest, but kudos to him for finding a more respectful method. His concerns about the continuing problems with race relations needs to be voiced. Sadly, the pig/cop socks were a horrible choice.
probably his agent told him that he’s about to get cut and blackballed from the league. Start trying to repair his damage.
#DeathRowe countdown is on…
so people really think they’re going to give up on a 1st round draft pick?
People would be dumpstering Rowe if he was a first round pick
ah, wait I thought he went a little earlier than he did.
you might have the Marcus Smith-itis infection
Well the first round pick from that year isn’t better. Crazy they had so much potential last year. Maybe CK picks need 2 full season in order to be backup ready
We also suck at drafting in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
Good thing lots of other teams/GMs are also bad at drafting in the high rounds apparently.
Especially in Tennessee.
Bennie Logan, Jordan Mattews, Zach Ertz, and Vinny Curry have hurt feelings.
Oh and Jordan Hicks… this is just off the top of my head very likely incomplete.
Pretty much the complete list for the past 10 years.
Busts
Trevor Laws, Curtis Marsh, Jaiquawn Jarret, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Bryan Smith, Victor Abriamiri, Tony Hunt, Winston Justice.
The Kevin Kolb/Gocong tier
Kevin Kolb, Chris Gocong
Needs more time
Eric Rowe, Josh Huff, unhealthy Jordan Hicks
One season wonders that faded due to reasons
Nick Foles, Nate Allen, Stewart Bradley
Starters
Vinny Curry, Mychal Kendricks, Zach Ertz, Bennie Logan, Jordan Matthews, healthy Jordan Hicks
Studs
Desean and McCoy.
So maybe 8/23 or 7/23 depending on Kendricks/Hicks health.
My list all more recent than yours. Come to the future man, we have snapchat and stuff! It’s pretty cool here.
So not too long ago, people were saying our CB problem was solved.
We had gotten rid of Fletcher and Sconces, replacing them with Maxwell and #rookie. My normal pessimistic self said, just because you throw resources at a position does not guarantee that it’s going to work.
Replacing starters is not easy in this league.
Hope they don’t trade him. He has obviously struggled to adapt to the new scheme and playing more zone, and has been a surprisingly poor tackler and run defender at times considering he played a lot of safety in college.. having said that i think it is far to early to give up on him at this point, he showed a lot of potential in his rookie year, and i think there is a good chance that he makes progress with his game over the next 12 months so that he can come back as a long term starter.
So does this regime wait until tomorrow to make the cuts or will they make them today? Hate the wait.
Good thing we picked Wentz and not Goff. Goff looked absolutely awful this preseason.
Shouldn’t you say “I’m glad the Rams picked Goff instead of Wentz”? We really didn’t the option of choosing which one we got. But yes, I am thankful we got Wentz instead. I liked him better during the draft process.
Hmm. I wonder if it would be better to wait for _just a little_ more data before drawing this conclusion.
Don’t be ridiculous, the jury’s in.
maybe we trade someone we will cut for Goff.
It’s much more fun to jump to conclusions and make sweeping statements. This is, after all, a football comment board.
There’s something to be said for that.
interesting b/c a LOT of people liked Goff. Would say it’s not totally fair since we haven’t really see wentz play much live action
Goff projected well to be a good/competent NFL player based on his resume and skills. Wentz projected to be that type of physical freak who very usually flames out, but once a decade or so turns into a great and ridiculously gifted type of player.
I liked Lynch best going in
Nah
http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/teams-nfl/nfc-west/los-angeles-rams/2016/09/02/jared-goffs-preseason-dont-panic-just-yet/
It’s a lot easier for me to go by the snippet that he is the 3rd stringer and assume he is bad than to read that entire article (it’s pretty long bro) and come to a reasonable conclusion. I choose the former, Goff sucks.
Way too soon to reach that conclusion, even tho I was not a Goeff fan at all
Guys (and gals) football season is upon us! What an awesome time of year!
Between Means, Turner, and Gordon, I say Turner is the lowest priority. Yes, we need WRs, but we will likely be running offense through TEs and Matthews, so Turner in particular is devalued a bit. If he was a potential stud #1 or #2 he’d of course be truly valued.
Having said that, D-Ped and Howie can send an strong message to the locker room if they allow Turner to make the initial 53.
But we Means is truly valuable (unless they determine his success was scheme and scrubs). And Gordon is just exciting!
Special teams, special teams, special teams. Fipp will some say with the bottom of the roster.
No matter what the offense looks like, they aren’t keeping less than 5 WR’s
It is ESP. Eagles shopping Eric Rowe, per source
http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2016/09/eagles_shopping_eric_rowe_per_source.html
So good chances are that they’re not shopping Rowe?
Lol good chance Rowe will be starting if ESP claims he will be traded
Is there a more despised philly reporter? Swear he gets more hate than all the other hacks put together.
Not going to post all cuts by other teams but more former 2nds getting axed in Tennessee.
https://twitter.com/glennonsports/status/771738971718164480
https://twitter.com/glennonsports/status/771740429846978560
makes the possible loss of Rowe hurt a little less to see other teams dumping 2nd round picks..
Well, only one team. I wouldn’t feel better if the Browns were dumping early picks, either…
Titans are also cutting their 3rd round pick last year, G/T Jeremiah Poutasi.
Couple of FBs available. The Bills released veteran FB Jerome Felton. Was MIN’s lead blocker previously and signed a pricy deal for a FB a season or two ago. They kept UDFA Glenn Gronkowski(Baby Gronk) over him. More of a pure FB vs. a TE/H-B type.
TB also cut 6th round pick Dan Vitale. I don’t know if I’d add him to the 53-man roster but could be a PS candidate.
Agree that Vitale’s more of a PS guy. He’s more of a jumbo back than lead blocker. Versatile, but just lacks the thud in the hole. He’s basically more of a running back version of Burton.
I can help but think Dillon Gordon will be the fullback on goal line with Trey Burton sprinkled in throughout the game.
I hope to see Burton at FB at times this year so that we can create a package where Burton is lead blocking for Sproles on a run play or two, that way we have the ability to audible into a no back set, flexing both SProles and Burton out of the backfield, hopefully catching the defense in a run defense personnel grouping
That was my thinking too.
I hate that we only have vanilla preseason to go off of…. I’m itching to find out what this regular season playbook looks like
..
Im also antsy to see Jordan Mathews, and you know Doug and Reicht have been holding back on all the screens and pass plays to Sproles..
..
Feel like Doug was trolling us a bit this offseason showing so much running the ball out of Shotgun. Hopefully that becomes a rare Occassion in the regular season
I understand being thorough but Pantale cannot be cut soon enough…
Is he contagious?
I’ll be dissapointed if we keep him. doug may ideal prefer Keeping 4TEs, but that kid clearly isn’t one of our best 53 players
Jeremiah Poutasi released by Tenn, has upside as G/T. I am sure someone claims him before us but would be a nice addition IMO.
Also, Tenn is absolutely clearing house/hating on the old regime with these cuts.
Hell no at T. Stone feet.
I will take your word for it. But how does he compare to our current guards?
Below Seumalo above Greene (but closer to Greene). He’s a fat phonebooth player. The 2015 draft wasn’t great for OL and he was one of alot of guys who got overdrafted. This year’s class was much better. I’m not overly interested.
I mean he showed up to the combine at 335. And not a Brandon Brooks 335.
Ah, he is a fatlete not an athlete. Gotcha
FWIW Tennessee fans say he’s been awful.
I could get into Kenny Bell…
https://twitter.com/JoshNorris/status/771742123913834496
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.
Please Howie.
know you were a big fan of him coming out, sometimes kids just need a change of scenery.
I would love to have him but he’s quietly earning the label of being injury prone + underachiever.
Liked him coming out of college, but I’d feel bad if they give Turners roster spots to some Wr cut by another team. I think keeping Paul Turner sends a good message to the locker room. The kid did everything to EARN his spot on the team, so I’d rather just go into the season with our 5 yoûng WRs, than to screw PT out of the job he earned for another teams cast off
Are you saying he had his bell rung? I’ll see myself out…
game is on nfl network now, for those who missed it
How would everyone felt if a few weeks ago DGB was traded for Rowe, instead of Kelly?
Less good. Rowe then still seemed to have potential and a future. Just going through a rough patch and I still hope this is the case. Rowe’s upper bound, IMO, was/is solid NFL starter, maybe even a good starter. Kelly’s ceiling is what he is – permanent backup OL.
Honest truth, I almost tweeted something along lines of “Suggested trade: Rowe for Dorian Green-Beckham” weeks before we traded for DGB. Liked giving up Dennis Kelly more than giving up Rowe.
I think Rowe makes the team
I think if we cut Rowe, I’ll pretend this happened, and I’d be okay with it.
SMH, this made the front page of Reddit today.
http://i.imgur.com/JZSdY8U.jpg
Im confused, what do you mean with this pic
18 yrs old. Classy and NFL fans dont really go hand in hand
Is Hart healthy enough to trade?
Who/what should we trade him for? I”m fine with Allen and Vaeo as the rotation guys.
I’d take a 7th. I have no clue who needs one.
#heart-healthy
Why bag on Hart this preseason? He’s actually looked like a reasonable backup DT for the first time since he was drafted.
Less about Hart more about being comfortable with Allen and Destiny with Shittu on the PS.
Anyone mind explaining why sometimes you can put a guy on IR immediately, sometimes you need to waive/injured them? McCalister is an interesting case where he was just suddenly IR’d and no one got a chance to claim him. Remember Wolff? He wasn’t even listed on the injury reports before he was IR’d. I don’t get it
Prior to the cut to 75 any player must clear waivers before being placed on IR.
Patriots swiped Carolina’s 6th round pick Tyler Gaffney back in 2014 this way. Since then teams pretty much hold everybody who they value back until the first wave of cuts.
So McCalister specifically could have been claimed?
No he was IR’d the day of the cut to 75. It was a straight stash.
thx
https://twitter.com/thelukerodgers/status/771770578961334272
https://twitter.com/terrymc13/status/771771365405974534
Defensive roster projection
..
DE: BG, VINNY, Barwin, marcus, Means, BRAMAN
DT:’Cox, Bennie, Beau, Hart
LB: Hicks, Bradham, Mychal, Tully, Goode
CB Nolan, Leodis, Brooks, Rowe, Mills
S: Jenkins, McLeod, Watkins, Maragos, Reynolds
..
Im struggling the most with whether they will keep CJ smith as a #6 CB,and only keep 4 safeties, or if they prefer keeping Reynolds as a 5th safety, and keep 5 CBs, cutting CJ and trying to get him on the practice squad?
..
If they can trade Taylor Hart, then it’s easier To keep Destiny…. Although they could look to keep our 4 returning DTs, and place both Shittu and Destiny on the practice squad hoping that at least one of them won’t get poached by another team. So we can elevate one to the active roster if one of our 4 DTs get injured…. Or they can cut CJ and Reynolds, go with 5 CB and 4 Safeties, which creates room that keep Destiny as a 5th DT
From your list, I think the Eagles cut or trade Hart and keep Shittu. CJ Smith and Reynolds to PS.
I really wish I could sit down with the Titans GM and ask about what turned him so far off of DGB. Guy seems eager to learn our playbook and has only showed his upside and so far it looks like a hugely lopsided trade in our favor. Was he really that negative with the Titans or was it more of old regime was dumb and the new GM wanted his old players, but it still makes no sense!
On one hand, I always liked Kelly as the backup swing tackle.
On the other hand, why wouldn’t TEN hold on to DGB longer? It’s not like he’s some gross scheme misfit.
Whoever trades for Rowe is probably going to be thinking the same thing.
Not if he keeps playing like he did vs. the Jets.
Fuck him.. Im eager to thank the Titans… So excited about that kids upside
Just wish we had a pure speed player opposite DGB
DJax, Maclin, & DGB – interchangable X, Y, and Z. Oh what could have been. FU Chip Kelly.
Best receiving core in the NFL? I think so.
Yeah I was thinking something similar last week. Next WR we draft should be a Brandin Cooks type…. Desean is in a contract year. IF he doesn’t lose a step, wonder if Roseman would consider bringing him home if Agholar doesn’t elevate his game? The fans would love HOWIE if he brought Desean home
..
Of course this won’t make any sense if we are a 6 win team… But if we make the playoffs, and think we have a chance to take a next step next year, maybe roseman would consider it?
..
Hopefully Agholar, DGB, and Jordan all end up looking good this year making this a moot point..
..
Either way. The next WR we draft, should be a smaller speed Deamon in a Brandin Cooks mold
.
Anyone know how fast Paul Turner is?
Would love to bring djax back – but it’s a different team.
hopefully our young WRs becone so good that we don’t even have to look at free agent WRs…
Titans did just dump more guys, Sankey and Justin Hunter, both former 2nd rounders. They are turning over a lot of that roster it appears.
Justin Hunter could get a 1 year deal.
Dexter McCluster and the 3rd round guard too
The Titans GM cut a ton of early picks from the last three years today. 2 more 2nd’s and three 3rd’s, I think.
Yeah I saw that, and out of all the players they have dropped I feel DGB is still the biggest head scratcher…
I don’t know Jon Robinson but some GMs and coaches have huge egos and want to win with “their” guys. They talk about changing the culture when the truth is that they want the credit for any turnaround.
Same here. But whatever it was that caused the Titans to give up on him, let’s hope the light went on for DGB and the trade woke him up. Its easy to see he can be a starting WR in this league. If he works hard at it, he can be a top WR. He’s certainly got the physique & athleticism.
I’m not a fan of DGB the person based on what I’ve read about his domestic violence issue. Still, there’s hope he can be our Chris Carter. Carter goofed his way out of Philly years ago only to end up a hall of fame receiver with the Vikings. DGB has that kind of talent.
Maybe the trade is just one of those things we are gonna look back on and say,” Damn, Howard really nailed that one.”
Like chip cuttin Djax.. gm knew better. Hope not.
Rob Ninkovich suspended 4 games for PEDs… I assume this was the motivation for the Pats trading for Mingo?
Seems like if Ninkovich’s announcement was today that Lane’s would have been too. But its all quiet currently.
No… ISNT this the first announcement that Ninkovich tested positive? Where as Lane is still waiting for the B sample… I think Ninkovich is also waiting for the B sample. So both Lane and Ninkovich are likely to be on the field for week 1, since it’s unlikely that they will have the results of the B Sample, then playërs file the appeal and have the appeal ruled on in time to keep them off the field week 1
..
I think both players will be on the field week 1
Read what ACViking said on this topic:
RE: Lane Johnson’s Status
According to Sec. 2 of the NFL’s policy on PED, a player is informed of a suspension only after both the player’s “A” and “B” specimens have been tested.
Only after the test of the “B” specimen comes back positive is the player notified of his suspension.
At that point, the appeal process begins.
https://nflpaweb.blob.core.win…
To recap, on 8/9/16, NFL.com reported that Lane Johnson faced a 10 game suspension.
http://profootballtalk.nbcspor…
All of which indicates, Johnson’s appeal is pending — not his “B” specimen test.
Lane will be on the field week 1… And if the B sample test has already been revealed Lane would have appealed it already. He isn’t even sure how to attack his appeal yet because he is still waiting on the results .. Im more interested in what Lane and the coaches had to say about it…. Are we pretending Lane is lying about being pissed off that he is still waiting for the B sample? Are we pretending that Pederson is also lying now? Someone is confused and it’s not me buddy
..
All THE TIME WE FIND OUT ABOUT SUEPENSIONS AHEAD OF TIME BEFORE THE B SAMOLES ARE REVEALED
There may be a difference between “official” notification and a player and/or his agent being told that his first test came back positive. None of this info is supposed to leak, but it does.
Right. If things are kept quiet like they are supposed to be, fans don’t find out until the suspension is a done deal and it will start immediately. If something leaks during the process, like it did on Lane Johnson’s, you really have no idea when the whole process will finish. Ninkovich has probably been in the process a while, maybe longer than Lane (or he had less grounds for appeal), and it’s just coming out now.
gotta think Lane’s situation is a little unique – hopefully they’re taking some time to really think about how to deal with it in a way that’s fair, but that’s not really Gooddell’s MO i guess.
The Bears are actively trying to trade LB Christian Jones, DT Will Sutton, and DT Ego Furgesson….Anyone know how Jones career has been going? I don’t think I have seen the Bears play since we spanked them in 2013. Roto says he doesn’t fit the 3-4
..
Maybe the Bears would be Intrested in a 3-4 DE like Hart?
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Not sure that Christian Jones is someone Eagles would be interested in.
I don’t think they are adding any more LB’s..
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More in terms of a team that could be interested in Taylor Hart, since they allegedly are trying to trade recent high pick DTs like Ego and Sutton because they dont fit their 3-4… We don’t HAVE to take a player back in return, maybe we can get a conditional pick for Hart?
Maybe.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2014/profiles/christian-jones?id=2543710
Looks like a size fit at SAM, but lacks NFL IQ.
Buffalo made all their cuts 2 hours ago and there have only been some random cuts otherwise.
Will Cowboys claim Aaron Murray?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/02/chiefs-cut-aaron-murray-loose/
I hope they can’t get their hands on any decent edge rushers or linebackers
better yet, they overpay for mediocre players
Why would it matter since the many have anointed Dak as the best rookie QB from the 2016 draft.
That has been the singularly worst part of this pre-season.
Dak needs a golf caddy.
We’re kidding ourselves if we’re pretending a JAG having a good preseason has trade value. Means isn’t Reggie White.
Where you been, Ty?!
KOY. Ty had a shorter career and mom doesn’t like him as much.
Ha, Jerry Jones just spoke and said Dak was the best quarterback at the Senior Bowl including Wentz. But why was he going to take Wentz in the first? And then try to trade up for Lynch only to take Dak in the 4th? Love me some revisionist history! Now, I want some glory hole!
To be fair i think Dak put up the best in game performance at the senior bowl, but Wentz had the far better week of training – and had 2 drives stall due to drops from WR’s that really limited his playing time in game where you only get 1 quarter.
That’s moronic. Dak is closer to a position switch to H back than he is to being the best QB from the senior bowl.
From what I have seen from the preseason, the WR situation, to me, looks quite a bit better than it did a month ago. Matthews being solid is a good bet. DBG putting up number better than last year is a good bet. Huff finally finding a groove with Pederson’s offense is a decent bet and if Agholor can stop doing whatever he did during preseason, its a decent group of young players. Not great maybe not even good but definitely better than the dredge of the league.
A month ago, Profootball Focus ranked our receiving corps as 29th in the league. The best receiver is a lower-tier starter and Agholor was the lowest-graded receiver in the league by their metric. Relying on Huff and DBG to elevate them to a higher tier is pure fan stuff.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-ranking-all-32-nfl-receiving-corps/
but isn’t that why we’re here?
There’s no way to get up.
Thats exactly what I am, a simple fan. I have to defer the expert analysis to you, my friend.
Ah, snark.
DGB wasn’t here a month ago, so yes, that one could actually change things. Given how fast the Titans gave up on him, I’m a little suspicious that his motivation will last, but he’s certainly got the talent to make a (big big) difference to our corps.
Otherwise, yeah, hoping for Huff/Agholor to get suddenly better probably isn’t happening. Perhaps better usage of Huff could help there.
I think our WR group is pretty bad – in all likelihood in the worst 10 units of the league. We have no real deep threat outside of blown coverage, and combined with Sammie the ever Conservative we will not be picking up chunk plays. We will rely on players like Huff and Sproles to have 1-2 big YAK plays a game to try and exploit weaknesses.
However I think we will be pretty decent in the redzone and on 3rd down with Matthews, Ertz, Sproles and maybe DGB being powerful weapons in those situations. This is going to be a grinder type offense that will struggle to score consistently, but will have 2-3 good drives a game and add in maybe 1-2 short fields a game from defense or special teams – how we execute in the redzone will define how good the offense is.
I agree that its still pretty bad all in all, I just have a bit more confidence than a month ago.
Sign Mr. Blown Coverage to an extension.
To be honest that was Cooper in 2013. Swear CB’s where so bored covering him and him just blocking every play they kind of forgot they needed to cover him and boom sudden surprise he is 30 yards downfield catching a Foles lob pass.
I’d call it a push. DGB looking up, Agholor looking down, Matthews still strong, Huff still sucky.
Wouldn’t mind adding someone to the mix at WR that can actually, consistently catch the ball when necessary. Paul Turner is a better wide receiver than JMatt, Agholor, and Huff, simply because he can actually catch the goddamn ball.
A decent preseason does not make Tuner better than a 3rd year WR who just missed 1k yards two years straight.
Agholor and Huff, I’ll buy the argument as neither has done jack shit as of this point in their pro careers.
Paging German Eagle – Paging German Eagle
They are (hopefully not) writing about you over at philly.com
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/When-is-a-German-eagle-a-Nazi-eagle.html
All good. I don’t have that tattoo.
Today is the real black friday. sucks to lose your job in such a public way.
Especially for the really young fringe guy who haven’t really earned any money.
It’s so quiet on the Eagles front… The suspense is killing me.
Anyone else feel like if Barner hadn’t stepped up and solidified the #3 RB spot, Bishop Sankey could have been a target? I’m not sure why Tenn cut him but I think he has enough talent to be in this league.
He still should be a target.
We need to design some kind of custom Kenjon Barner sucks shirt for you.
I’d settle for a framed copy of the transaction that finally got him cut.
I feel like you might be holding onto this Barner thing a little too tightly MM.
Without Riley Cooper to kick around any more, there needs to be some new folks with targets on their backs.
Eric Rowe.
He seems to have been targeted by the “reporters” at Nj.com
We all miss Casey matthewss
Who?
His name is Agholor
Cooper by and large deserved it. Barner, not so much.
Any dislike of Barner should be more about Chip’s favoritism than Barner himself.
That is 100% true, but he’s still here reminding me……….
Agreed, but Chip’s gone. Barner’s been solid this year without his former college coach running things.
Just looking over Wentz play and throws vs Goff in LA… looks like the team dodged the bullet there. Wentz looks like he could be really good. Goff..looks like JAG out there.
This season… meh… if some idiot gives up a fourth-fifth for bradford, I call it a win.
That is a lot of whiskey… but…
Again… hopefully this is a 16 year run of Wentz.
I think the defense is so good that watching chase is going to lead to a lot of could haves. Feel like people forget how much they hate it when eagles not competitive.
I may be in fetal position, full diaper, sucking thumb a lot this season….
Nah, there are no expectations this season. Last year, we expected great things, and thus every loss was so much more painful. This year most think they’ll suck so if they’re average, they’ll have exceeded expectations. Anything more is gravy.
I am expecting 5-11/6-10… teams play like crud with caretaker QBs.
:crickets:
Les Bowen
@LesBowen
4m4 minutes ago
I’m the guy who scoffs at Bradford trade rumors. But had a guy from an AFC team tell me Vikes r really trying to get a QB from somewhere…
Oooh, had to have something to spice up the wait until cuts.
Sounds crazy but I wouldn’t want to get rid of him for less than 1 1st round pick
A first?
You think we have Cam or Rodgers back there?
If Cutler was worth 3 firsts, how much do you think Cam and Rodgers are worth?
With 6 minutes on super bowl clock Cam was pouting like a spoiled 100% god given size & speed over coddled self focused brag when im winning but cry like a baby when not , its other peoples’ fault not me, PUNK ASS rich BaBY BUTCH ..
with 0 time staring at losses, ARod threw 2 winning hail marys..ARod worth a lot of 1sts .. Cam worth a few
1sr round picks are over rated
Only the ones taken against my wishes. The guys I like are NEVER overrated.
Well?
I agree. I’m not a big Bradford fan, but we would be giving up our starting a week before the season starts. It would be different if Wentz looked great in the pre-season and they wanted to go with him, but that is clearly not the case.
Getting back into the first round somewhere around pick 24 (ish) for Bradford and giving Cleveland a slightly better first round pick in the process seems worth it.
I’m sure the Vikings are blowing up phone lines left and right.
My 2 cents; call the Saints for Brees.
Brees isn’t signed there long term and the Saints can’t tag him again according to the CBA. Brees has shown zero inclination to give a home town discount. The Saints are going to be terrible again. They can’t block and they can’t defend. Brees would be a big cap hit to the Vikings @ $20 million (which they don’t have the space for), but they could convert $18 million of that contract to a bonus and give him a fake extension for two years that Brees can (will) void.
Not sure what the Saints would take, but hopefully two 1s would get it done.
Don’t know if this a factor, but Brees in New Orleans is possibly the most popular sports star in the country. It would be a huge a PR hit for the Saints.
I was gone all day. Nothing?
I saw a tweet that Myke Tavarres’ agent said he is going to be released.
That’s pretty much it. Other than the Eagles are shopping Eric Rowe.
Seems like Jalen Mills has been told he’s made the team.
Jalen Mills
@Mills_Island
11m11 minutes ago
Jalen Mills @Mills_Island 5m5 minutes ago
This is God’s Dream !
11 retweets 16 likes
I Love You …!
Surviving cutdown day is one thing… but it sometimes gets cruel later in the week when a veteran gets released by someone else the team likes more.
I always feel so bad for the kids that make the team only to get cut a couple days later. Seems extra cruel.
Calls Mother…….Guess what, mom! I made the team! All your hard work raising me paid off! Thanks! I love……Wait, there’s someone on the other line.
Woodhead
Good for Mills. He clearly
– has a ton of talent
– needs to work on a lot of his game
Hope he keeps improving.
What if “god” is a Cowboys fan and his dream is to see Mills get burnt by Dez?
jahri evans cut
Very highly regarded not long ago. What’s up?
Who knows, hopefully Howie does.
he’s shot physically
Remember back when I said Myke Tavarres was my feel good long shot, and people told me he didn’t qualify because he wasn’t long enough odds?
And then I couldn’t find one thing to get excited about?
And then Paul Turner?
And then Myke gets cut. Good times, good times.
That was a great roster projection Tommy and I agree with you with every single player you mentioned except one or two.
I think Turner not only gets open regularly, but he catches the balls that are thrown his way consistently.
That it a necessity we cannot afford to dismiss too easily as we saw last season.
The other one is Shittu, (Man I love his name).
I think he will get poached off our PS pretty quick with the way he has played this preseason.
I feel stronger about keeping Turner than Shittu,
I Shittu not.
How would you make room for them? That is always the tricky part.
You had to ask that didn’t you. LOL.
Hey, better to have too much than not enough.
I’m not sold on Smallwood, and with Johnson and Peters on this team, I don’t think we need any Smallwood but that’s just my opinion.
Oh snap, Tommy did keep Turner so were good.
Get rid of tiny and let’s rock the Shittu out of this season.
Not sold on smalleood either.. i liked the ‘bring back Mostrrt or Josey’ comments
Put Daniels on practice squad .. no one will pick him up
That’s funny, but Dallas, Minnesota, and Denver would all most assuredly steal him.
Not to mention to obvious technical point….
Id almost rather have sanchez .. save 2 mill/yr … hav Vick and save 4M/yr
But theyd want Bradford more … fuuuuuuuccccckkkkkk
First rouners are busts .. this move I’m not happy with I would rather ch rather get rid of Daniels
Shittu and Destiny are good hedges against possibly losing Bennie Logan and/or good guys to have around if/when Cox and Logan are no longer worth their cap hit.
Panthers released CB Zach Sanchez. They drafted him at the top of Round 5. The Eagles showed pre-draft interest. Name to keep an eye on.
Please not a ‘Sanchez’ again!!!
I think i hate what ive seen out of Chase Daniels as much as i gate sanchez … same exact player. . Take Sanchez back and save 2M/yr seems reasonable
Yup. Didn’t they have some interest in Jeremiah Poutasi last year pre-draft as well? Although, he may be redundant at this point with Seumalo on the roster.
Thus far, Myke Tavarres, Jake Metz, and McLeod Bethel-Thompson have been reported to be released.
This was just tweeted by Wade Phillips(verified account):
He deleted it…something about Bradford going to Vikings.
Adam Caplan
@caplannfl
1m1 minute ago
On Sam Bradford, #Vikings inquired, but I’d call it a long shot. Never rule anything out, however, as I’ve learned over the years.
Ben Goessling
@GoesslingESPN
4m4 minutes ago
Sources tell @caplannfl the #Vikings talked to the #Eagles this week about Sam Bradford, but the Eagles aren’t looking to move him.
Every one’s got a price……
7 retweets
2 likes
1 retweet
0 likes
skins dump cullen jenkins
Can’t make too much of teams cutting older veterans right now. Especially when they’re on 1-year deals. All players are entitled to termination pay once in their careers where if they are on the Week 1 roster and subsequently cut, they’re entire salary for the season is guaranteed. So teams often cut those type of players now and re-sign them before Week 2.
Geoff Mosher said on one of his radio shows that his source said to expect BIG(yes, in capital letters) surprises today.
Holy freaking hell.
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
1m1 minute ago
Minnesota Vikings are trading for Eagles’ QB Sam Bradford, league sources tell ESPN.
341 retweets
120 likes
Wow thought it was fake cause I SAW someone RT without his tweet
I might be the only one not happy about the Bradford news
I think Lurie looked at team in training camp and realized Eagles weren’t competing for anything this year anyway.
I disagree. East is very winnable. If we got a first fine, but it just sucks throwing the season away. Thought our defense could be top ten, maybe even more.
Big difference between competing for NFC East and actually winning a championship.
Were talking about the difference between 7 wins and like maybe 5…I’ll take the first thank you
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
24s25 seconds ago
Eagles have gotten significant compensation for QB Sam Bradford – don’t be surprised if it’s a 1st-round pick.
45 retweets
11 likes
Tom Pelissero
@TomPelissero
2m2 minutes ago
Source confirms: the #Vikings have traded for Sam Bradford. They gave up a 1st-round pick in 2017 and an additional pick in 2018.
72 retweets
13 likes
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/745/901/4da.gif
Any Howie haters here? If you are then fuck off
wow, guess we are punting the season after all!
Per Mosher, the 2018 pick is a 4th rounder.
Holy shit
Is this tweet from Adam Schefter real about Bradford being traded to MN for possibly a 1st rd pick+?
Yeah it’s on ESPN breaking news..he talking about it on espn.
I creamed my pants when I was driving back home from Wawa while listening to the fanatic. Love ya Howie.
holy shit i hate this fucking team
Look for Eagles to put waiver claim in on Aaron Murray, released by KC. Might be snagged up by DAL before he gets to Eagles.
wait we’re taking another shitty KC QB?
Howie you God!!!
damn, sammy dollaz literally cannot catch a break. i gotta assume bridgewater’s career is in significant jeopardy considering the consideration that was moved.
wonder how people feel about the sammy holdout now
Bridgewater was mediocre anyway…but then again so is Sam hmmm
haha i think we’re going to see mediocre this year.
I think we’ll be worse than just mediocre lol
Reunites with A.P. …minnesota is pressure too but not as bad . And Bridgewater might take a long time to come back.
Remember the last time he reunited with an old college rb
Dan Graziano is saying both picks are in 2017. Not a big deal either way.
bridgewater’s career must be over
Apparently not. Schefty confirms https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/772086784259788802
I wonder what the condition is…
Maybe something like he plays 1/2 or around 2//3 of games??
Well, the eagles just made Cleveland’s day. Good haul though.
defense is what’s going to make that game interesting
I thought he meant our 1st round pick just got higher?
you’re probably right
llol
I meant that they hold the Eagles 1st round pick.
Live image of Howie Roseman http://i.giphy.com/yoJC2qucp69lGypIuQ.gif
why are we paying jason peters 10m?
Anyone ever gotten 1st round pick for a player in September?
Trent Richardson to the Colts.
Well I guess technically he’s a player.
sad i really excited for this season — now i gotta pour one out for sammy dollaz. getting traded at literally the worst time.
Gause also cut
https://twitter.com/CSNPhilly/status/772075837197692929