Saturday Stuff

Posted: September 7th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Saturday Stuff

The most interesting position on the Eagles might be linebacker. Nigel Bradham is a proven commodity. Beyond that, there are a lot of question marks.

At least that is the way things seemed a few months back. I think the Eagles are happy with how things played out this spring and summer. Kamu Grugier-Hill looked great before he got hurt. He will be back in a couple of weeks and is very much a player on the rise.

Veteran Zach Brown started slow, but played well in the preseason. I think he’ll be fine. L.J. Fort impressed the heck out of me this summer. His athleticism just jumped off the screen.

Nate Gerry struggled in the preseason opener, but got better each week after that. The coaches remain high on him. Rookie T.J. Edwards played well enough to earn a roster spot. He could develop into a solid player down the line.

If the Eagles have to go to the 4-3 base, I’m curious where everyone plays. Here is what I would do:

SAM – Nigel Bradham
MLB – L.J. Fort
WLB- Zach Brown

We’ll see what the coaches do.

*****

One of the strangest NFL summer sagas I can remember is over. There is all kinds of blame to go around on this one, but the bottom line is that AB was too out of control. Teams will put up with a lot from a great player, but they need to feel the guy can be counted on to show up and do his job. AB’s words and actions didn’t generate confidence in that so the Raiders decided to protect themselves and their investment. That led to the fines and eventually AB deciding he didn’t want to be there anymore.

Some team will sign AB. He will get another chance.

I feel pretty confident that won’t be in Philly.

My guess is Washington, but that is purely a guess. We’ll find something soon enough. Do remember that looking into things is very different from making a move.

Dead on the money from Chris.

*****

Interesting.

I wonder if he’ll be active. That would be more for STs than offense. Ellis is a solid athlete and he is physical player. This is a guy you want sprinting down the field to cover kicks/punts. He’s also the guy you want blocking on returns.

We talk a lot about how Howie builds such a good roster with his bold moves and creative thinking. We also have to give him and the coaches credit for rewarding a player like Ellis. No one paid attention when Ellis was signed. He was a camp body.

But Ellis worked his tail off and showed up on offense and STs. He earned this spot.

The Eagles are smart enough to know that guys like this can be very valuable. You don’t want a team full of stars. You need some grinders. Those guys are hungry and bring some juice to the locker room.

*****

Very interesting.

I get all of that except Opeta. I might need to go back and re-watch some preseason tape on him. Clearly a guy the Eagles like.

I didn’t know anyone actually thought this was the case, but Sam certainly put that notion to rest.

Lauletta is the better player. He deserves more money.

*****

We all love Jason Peters. Jeff McLane wrote a great piece on Peters, one of the all-time great Eagles.

I found this particularly interesting.

And the Eagles listen, from the top of the organization on down. It wasn’t until Peters had lost faith in Chip Kelly, for instance, that Jeffery Lurie started to seriously consider firing the then-Eagles coach.

And

“When he gets pissed off the whole building knows. You can kind of sense it,” (Lane) Johnson said. “The stuff with Chip and before games and whether he was going to play or not. Well, I guess that was that. When the big man gets angry, a lot of people pay attention.”

I love the fact that Jeff Lurie pays attention to his players. If guys you know and trust start to let you know something is up with the coach, you better listen to them.

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