OTAs – Day 1

Posted: May 23rd, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 25 Comments »

Let’s start with the LBs.  Jamar Chaney surprised us by participating.  He suffered a neck injury late in 2011 and was supposed to sit out until Lehigh.  Apparently seeing all the young bodies at LB made him decide to get out there and work.  That is good.  The practices are non-contact and shouldn’t affect his neck.  The awkward news is that Keenan Clayton was absent.  If he’s got a good excuse, that’s fine.  If he just chose to miss for a casual reason, not good.  He’s fighting for his NFL life.  He needs every rep possible.  Here was today’s depth chart:

SAM:  Mychal Kendricks ….. Akeem Jordan ….. Moise Fokou

MLB:  DeMeco Ryans ………. Casey Matthews … Greg Lloyd

WLB:  Brian Rolle …………… Jamar Chaney …… Monte Simmons

Casey Matthews does look bigger.  He looks like a MLB.  Simmons has a thin build.  I’ve been projecting him at SAM, but I don’t know what to make of him.  With Clayton out, maybe they simply slid Simmons into that spot at WLB.

Based on what reporters had to say about practice, the LBs did okay.

* * * * *

Depth chart for the OL:

#1  - Demetress Bell – Evan Mathis – Jason Kelce – Danny Watkins – Todd Herremans

#2 – King Dunlap – Julian Vandervelde – Dallas Reynolds – Mike Gibson – DJ Jones

#3 – Dennis Kelly – Alfred McCullough – Steve Vallos – Brandon Washington – Thomas Welch

It is interesting that Reynolds is the backup C for now.  Not sure what to make of that.  He’s played almost all OG in his time with the Eagles.  He played all over the place at BYU.  I like him at C.  Maybe he’s earned that role in the individual work.  Maybe he just knows the offense better than the other options and that’s why he’s there.

Bell got beaten on an early rep by Trent Cole.  Welcome to the Eagles.  Bell didn’t face top pass rushers in practice in college or up in Buffalo.  Going up against Cole will be a good education for him, as long as it doesn’t affect his confidence.

I watched the PE.com video and liked a few things.  Dennis Kelly has natural strength and power.  Real interesting project.  Demetress Bell hit the sled once and coach Eugene Chung let out a big “wooooooo”.  He liked that pop.  DJ Jones looked sleeker than I expected.

* * * * *

* Based on reports, Mike Kafka had a good opening day.  He threw the ball well and looked comfortable.  Trent Edwards struggled.  That’s only one day for Trent, but a guy in his position can’t afford too many of those.  Nick Foles looked like a mid-round rookie.

* A couple of people remarked that Nate Allen looked bigger.  It was interesting to read Roobs article on him and Kurt Coleman and find out Allen’s comments about the cold weather making it tough on his knee.  I’ve never had a knee injury so I can’t imagine what that’s like.  Nate isn’t the first guy I’ve heard talk about it so this isn’t some made up excuse.  Complicating matters, Nate is from Florida.  He is still getting used to dealing with cold weather.  I’m not a Philly resident, but I’m guessing Florida winters are a tad more mild.

* Jimmy Bama said on Twitter that Jeremy Maclin looked bigger to him.  Dave Spadaro has said that as well.  Mac has to be one happy guy right now.  He’s healthy and on the field, hoping to have his best year.  Big change from last spring.

* Boy, there is a noticeable difference in Chad Hall and Damaris Johnson when those guys are on the move.  Damaris is very quick and very agile.  Chad is punctual, friendly, and a good driver.

* Brent Celek wasn’t scheduled to participate in the OTAs, but decided to give it a go.  He’s one tough dude.  Must have learned from Jon Runyan.  Any rep you miss gives someone a chance to steal your job.  Don’t be Wally Pipp’ed.

* * * * *

For notes from someone who was there, go check out Jimmy Bama’s post.

  • T_S_O_P

    It is amazing how different the OL drills were compared to before, they kept moving away from the camera rather than backing into it.

    When attacking the sled and high-stepping with their legs (if that is what it is called), Dunlap looked awkward, certainly more awkward than Kelly. McBigdraftbody also looked to have good feet and got ‘whoooop’ from Chung.

    • TommyLawlor

      King was awkward. He’s too frigging tall. The good thing is that he shows up on gameday.

  • Cliff

    Oh snap! I didn’t know Kendricks was wearing 95!

    I’m actually excited now. I like the 90′s look on a LB. Makes me nastalgiac for the days Omar Gaither lorded over the middle like a stouter version of King Richard III.

    • since1961

      Ah, for the halcyon days when John Bunting prowled the field in from the LLB position…..

  • TrentColeHamels

    I’m actually kinda glad Babin is not participating, I want Brandon Graham getting every rep possible. Same goes for Jenkins and Cox.

  • Davesbeard

    Kelce looked noticably more stacked in the OL drills video, very encouraging. You can tell Watkins has been in the weightroom too, not so much in terms of size but definition compared to last year.

  • aub32

    Tommy if you haven’t checked it out you and all eagles fans should listen to the latest rich eisen podcast featuring Nnamdi. This was the first time I heard him express how uncomfortable he felt trying to mimic the play of Asante. He mentioned it really cut down on his game prep because he had to learn a new style vs studying his upcoming opponent. This makes me really hopeful that he can return Oakland play if we play much more press man. Although it does make me question the coaching staff (Juan in particular) for even trying to change his play style which had been so great previously.

    • TommyLawlor

      The FO and coaches had good intentions last year, but simply tried to do too much. The CB experiment sounded good in theory, but worked like crap. Big lesson learned for Howie and for Juan. Fit and talent need to go hand in hand.

    • D3Keith

      It made sense at the time. “Nnamdi is so good he can play any style.”

      I actually don’t think he was that bad last year, and yet I’m geeked to see him and DRC press, our LBs tackle, and … Lemme cool off, it’s only May.

  • Kevin_aka_RC

    Keenan Clayton must know something about his abilities that we don’t

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Anders-Jensen/748307140 Anders Jensen

      He had surgery yesterday

      • http://www.facebook.com/jakwaggoner Jack Waggoner

        well that explains that

  • Eric Weaver

    I can attest to the fact that weather can affect past and present injuries. I’m 30 with arthritis, but I still workout/go to the gym frequently. However, the weather does make me sore in certain joints from time to time.

  • Pitmanite

    Do you know if Mike Labinjo is going to get any reps this week?

    • TommyLawlor

      He sure as hell would if I was in charge. I’m telling you, he can be a star. Guys like Mike Labinjo only come around once in a generation (or week).

      • T_S_O_P

        “You say Labinjo I say Carfagno,
        Labinjo,
        Carfagno
        Let call the whole thing off.”

        Sing along :)

  • ian_no_2

    You’d think the Eagles will want to keep a backup C on the roster, which I had figured would be Gibson. Reid and Mudd may like Reynolds who was good in college and has been a fixture on the PS. He’s been on the PS longer than Gibson because unlike Gibson, no one claims him. There’s plenty of time to move them around of course.

    About the WILL competition, it would make sense to switch a good run defender off with a nickel guy like Clayton or Matthews, so the starter should be someone who can stuff the run but still cover a first down pass. Maybe that’s Chaney. It’s hard to tell what Rolle’s strong point is. It would be interesting to read a run defense analysis of the 5 to 7 WILL candidates.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GWMNZ32U6YPGGA7N4JNWH4OSJE Mac

      Are you talking about Debbie Gibson? She was always a marginal talent IMHO.

      • ian_no_2

        Always talking about Debbie, or at least I was until the team got Landri

  • rage114

    Any word on why Babin and Jenkins aren’t there?

    • HazletonEagle

      Babin is hunting in Alaska, and Jenkins is with his wife who had surgery

  • nopain23

    Chaney,Ryans,Kendricks..that’s a lot of speed at the LB position.I like Rolle but he just seems to get eaten up by big OL.If Chaney can improve his tackling and that’s a BIG if….then ou LB’s could be the best in the league this year.That’s just gonna take a lot or pressure off our safeties.
    also. really hope bowles can bring out the best in Jaijar ’cause he was a tackling machine in college and if he can translate that to the pros…look out.This defense needs a BIG hitter in the secondary.Nate can be our ball hawk..we need JaiJar to become our enforcer.

    • D3Keith

      Best in the league?

      I’d settle for “not the worst.”

  • Flyin

    My first attempt at analyzing the offensive line:

    I thought Vandervelde and Mathis showed good footwork and leverage emptying the water from the sled. Mathis showed his quick feet to adjust his positioning. Vandervelde showed he can anchor well and move his feet to maintain good balance while using his strength to over power the opponent.

    One thing I would have liked to see from the lineman is the punch to the gut. Something has to be done to keep the defensive lineman from getting their hands up and deflecting passes.

  • trinieagle

    Wish I could have seen them work in person. The D Line looked quick… VINNY is a big man… loving the little view watching the D Line on the sleds, Blocking Dummies maybe it was the camera angle but TC was quickest out of his stance, only BG matched his quickness from his stance to impact… The King looked like he picked up some some waistline… loving the little view from my armchair.