Going Deep on Goedert

Posted: May 5th, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Going Deep on Goedert

The Eagles do a great job of using their coaches to inform and entertain fans. This time we have TEs coach Justin Peelle breaking down the team’s top pick, TE Dallas Goedert.

Great stuff. My only complaint is that Peelle is talking to that hack, Fran Duffy. Take away his animal magnetism, sex appeal and dreamy eyes and there’s nothing left. Why do supermodels get all the good jobs?

Peelle does a terrific job of talking about his newest pupil. It’s interesting that he shows plays that Goedert ran in college and will run in the NFL. There is less guesswork when you see a player doing the same things at a lower level of football. Peelle doesn’t show crazy highlights, but rather plays that were properly executed and can be repeated. Highlights can be so deceiving.

Peelle and Duffy also show blocking on a couple of plays. As they correctly point out, the real key is effort. College players don’t have enough practice time to be perfecting every skill. NFL coaches can help Goedert hone his blocking skills. Plus, NFL coaches tend to be better than college coaches. That makes a difference.

As I watched some of those clips, Goedert actually reminded me of Jason Witten. It is easy to hate Witten because he was a Cowboy for 15 years, but he was a great TE for a long time. I’m still confused on how he fell so far in the 2003 draft. I loved Witten and wanted the Eagles to take him.

Instead of getting to enjoy Witten in green for a decade or more, the Eagles thought they were doing me a favor by taking L.J. Smith. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Maybe things have come full circle and the Eagles will get someone similar to Witten. Doing it right after winning the Super Bowl and having the kid named Dallas could make things even sweeter. If Goedert and Zach Ertz turn out to be a deadly TE duo for the next five years, maybe I’ll finally be able to move past the L.J. Smith era.

That will still leave the Matt Schobel era for me to work through. I’m gonna need at least one more Super Bowl to even have a shot at that.

*****

Dave Spadaro had a couple of good nuggets.

How do you feel about the punter/holder position? The Eagles obviously feel like Cameron Johnston deserves every shot to impress and it looks like he’s going to get that chance. Johnston, a standout at Ohio State who averaged 46.7 yards per punt as a senior there, punted 15 times and averaged 44.9 yards per kick in last summer’s preseason, with three kicks inside the 20-yard line and one touchback. As important as his punting will be, Johnston will also have a chance to replace the outstanding job Donnie Jones did as a holder on field goals over the years. This a tremendously important part of the job responsibility.

Great point here about the punter also being the holder. Donnie Jones was a fantastic holder. Johnston will need to show he can handle that job. We’ll miss Jones, but it is hard to argue with the Eagles going with the younger, cheaper option at P. That’s especially true for a team that loves to go for it on 4th down.

And

Another position to think about? Safety, behind Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. Chris Maragos and Tre Sullivan are here to challenge, but you can be sure the Eagles will add more competition. And there are going to be veterans available late in the summer. Remember that Corey Graham signed with the Eagles on August 3 last summer and had a key role in the defense before it was all said and done. He played in more than 60 percent of the defensive snaps in Super Bowl LII.

Dave doesn’t say Graham is coming back. We haven’t heard much about him. Paul Domowitch mentioned in a column that Graham was “expected to retire”. I’ve not heard that anywhere else, but Domo is about as reliable as it gets. If that’s what he’s heard, Graham might be done.

There will be backup Safeties/former starters to choose from. Some are already on the market. Some will get cut over the summer as rookies emerge. The Eagles have time to figure out what they want to do.

And who knows…maybe Jim Schwartz can talk Corey Graham into one more season.

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