DeMeco Update

Posted: March 30th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 206 Comments »

Today was apparently Give Injured Veteran Players Money Day.

DeMeco Ryans was signed to an extension. Jimmy Bama has the details on that.

Chip Kelly loves Ryans. He values him as a player and as a leader. Now Ryans will be an Eagle in both 2015 and 2016. On the surface, this seems like bad news for Mychal Kendricks. Kelly loves Kiko Alonso and Ryans. He doesn’t seem as emphatic when talking about Kendricks.

But Kelly might be willing to keep 3 starting ILBs. The Eagles generally play the most snaps in the league on defense. You could rotate the 3 ILBs to try and keep them all as fresh as possible. And all 3 have had recent injuries. Imagine if when Kendricks got hurt last year, you had Alonso and Ryans. Or that when Ryans got hurt, you had Kendricks and Alonso.

It is possible the Eagles will deal Kendricks. I don’t want them to do this any more than you do, but my opinion apparently matter’s less than Chip’s. Kendricks is entering the final year of his deal so if you aren’t committed to him long term, this is the time to deal him. Having him play this year and then leave as a free agent…that is the worst possible outcome.

We’ll know in about 6 weeks.

Now on to the Miles Austin side of things.

The more I think about this, the more I see Austin in the slot, like Jason Avant in 2013. Avant didn’t play on STs. He was just a solid veteran WR.

Some have asked if Austin could replace Riley Cooper. I guess that is possible, but I don’t feel that’s a likely scenario. If you get rid of Cooper, you want a clear upgrade. Austin would be more of a lateral move there.

There are a lot of good WRs in the draft. The Eagles could add one or two and have a much better looking receiver corps. You can’t count on those rookies to play like Jordan Matthews. That’s why you need someone like Austin who can be productive right away. He has limitations, but you know what you’re getting.

The one concern with Austin is durability. He’s had a lot of nagging injuries in his career, especially hamstrings. This could be the ultimate test for sports science.

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Missing DeMeco?

Posted: December 11th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 164 Comments »

The Eagles just faced Marshawn Lynch and held him to 23-86. One of those was a draw play on 3rd/long that went for 21 yards. The rest of the game he was 22-65. The week before the defense held DeMarco Murray to his worst game of the year, 20-73. I never thought this would happen with Casey Matthews playing in place of DeMeco Ryans.

The key in theses 2 games was the play of the DL, specifically Fletcher Cox. I thought he had a great game watching live, but when you study the tape you are truly blown away. He was easily the best player on the field Sunday…for either team. Amazing performance.

Still, this does make you wonder about the future at ILB. DeMeco is a good player and I’m not trying to diminish that. But he’s older, expensive and coming off an injury. You have to wonder if the organization will look at this situation and feel they could move on to another option that is cheaper/younger.

Obviously another factor here is Mychal Kendricks. He started playing great down the stretch in 2013 and hasn’t stopped. The only thing that slows him down is injuries. When he’s on the field, he’s a Pro Bowl caliber player. MK gives the Eagles one star at ILB and a player they can build around.

Matthews has been solid since taking over. He doesn’t do anything flashy and isn’t a tackle machine. He’s generally in the right gap and tackles the ball if it comes his way. That’s the minimum you’re looking for in an ILB. The coaches say he does a good job of getting the defense set. None of us outsiders can really comment on that.

I’d love to see the Eagles find another speedy, athletic guy. That would help with coverage. Maybe Najee Goode can be that guy. I don’t know if the coaches will seriously think of keeping Marcus Smith inside. He has the potential to be good in there. He can rush, cover and play the run. He’s got good size at 6-3, 251. His future will be somewhat determined by what the team does with Trent Cole and Brandon Graham. If the Eagles keep Barwin/Cole/Graham together, they need to move Smith to get him on the field. That’s no insult to Smith but rather a compliment to how well the OLBs are playing.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. Any number of things can happen. I am shocked that the defense hasn’t missed DeMeco more. Hes’ a terrific leader on and off the field. He’s also a good all-around LB. There is no question that he would have out-played Matthews had he been on the field. I guess the question is how much of a difference that would have made. Maybe less than any of us anticipated.

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