Howard Mudd, Plaxico Burress, and More on Chad Hall

Posted: May 23rd, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Tags: , , , , | 17 Comments »

For SB Nation I took an updated look at the O-line.  I am excited about having Mudd as the OL coach because he’s been so good over the years, but also because I wasn’t enamored with some of the guys we added over the years.  We’re now going for grinders.  They won’t physically dominate you, but that wasn’t going to happen in our pass-happy system anyway.  If we’re going to be a passing team, go get athletic pass blockers and guys that play with a chip on their shoulder.

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NY Daily News writer Gary Myers opened a can of worms over the weekend with some comments about the Eagles and WR Plaxico Burress.  “I’ve heard that the Eagles will eventually be first in line, but there’s also speculation the Steelers, Chargers, Falcons and Ravens could also be interested.

Gary is a solid NFL writer, but I’m not so sure about his connections to the Eagles.  I’m betting this “info” came from Burress or someone in NY.  I don’t know if that person believes the info or is just trying to drum up interest in Plaxico.  Regardless, I’m not buying it.

Burress would come here to be the #3 or #4 WR.  If we use him as #3, then is he working the slot or are we moving Jeremy Maclin in there?  Mac didn’t come across as the most physical guy last year.  I’m not thinking he’d aggressively embrace regularly working the slot.  Would Burress?

Our backup WRs play on STs.  Jason Avant had 4 solo tackles last year.  Riley Cooper had 3.  Would we bring in a guy like Burress to be a role player, knowing he wouldn’t contribute on STs?  Doesn’t make sense.

It would be nice to have Plaxico as a Red Zone target, but Reid has never fully embraced the fade pass.  He said Donovan wasn’t real good at it, but I don’t recall our other 37 QBs throwing it much either.  Reid would rather run the sprint right so the QB can have no one open and throw the ball into the 8th row.  Seriously, isn’t that the worst RZ play in the NFL, at least as run by us?

I seriously doubt Plax is a target for the Eagles.  Now, if this turns out to be true, it will be a sign that Reid is going all-in on the Eagles being a Super Bowl team in 2011.  You don’t add Plax unless you expect to compete for a title or if you need a WR.  We no longer need WRs.

Final note…back in 2005 when Plax left the Steelers and was a free agent, there were consistent rumors that the Eagles were interested.  I have never confirmed from any of my sources if that was true or not.  It makes you wonder if this is all Plax’s agent just stirring up the market, just like he might have been doing back then.

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How does Chad Hall compare to Danny Amendola or Danny Woodhead?  I’ve gotten a few questions about comparing the situations.  This ties in to what I was trying to get at the other day.  Amendola was on the Dallas Practice Squad for all of 2008.  He came to the Eagles in 2009 and was snatched away by the evil Rams.  He had a year to adjust to the league before he got on the field.  And he wasn’t great in ’09.  Danny averaged 7.6 yards per reception, with a long play of 25 yards.  He ran 3 times for -2 yards.  He only got into the endzone once all year.  He did post okay PR numbers and good KOR numbers.  Last year Amendola played better on offense and scored 4 TDs.

Danny Woodhead is a RB that can play the slot and catch the ball.  He spent 2008 on IR.  He then played for the Jets in 2009 and put up modest numbers.  He had a breakout season in 2010, but most of that was on the ground.

Hall spent time with teams in the summers of 2008 and 2009, but that’s hardly the same thing as being part of a team for an entire season.  Even being on IR gives you a chance to understand the game as you sit in on film sessions and listen to coaches.  Hall had to learn on the fly in 2010.

When you compare “first season” numbers among the three, Hall is fine.  That doesn’t mean he’ll turn out to be as good as them.  It does give you some hope that he could become a good role player.  Of course, it might help if he changed his first name to Danny.  Or Betty (anyone get that reference?).

Amendola 09:  3-(-2) rushing, 43-326-1 receiving, long of 25 yards, 12 yds PR, 25 yd KOR

Woodhead 09:  15-64 rushing, 8-87 receiving, long play of 24 yards, only 1 KOR

Hall   2010:     9-29 rushing, 11-115-1 receiving, long of 48, 10 yds per PR, 16 per KOR


Saturday Links

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Tags: , | 6 Comments »

For my PE.com column I covered a few topics of interest, the biggest being Chad Hall (insert comment about irony here).  I’m curious to see if 2010 was as good as it gets for Chad or if he will be better in 2011.  Remember how many questions we had about LeSean McCoy heading into last summer?  He was hardly a unanimous choice to have a great year.  Shady played well in the preseason and gave us hope.  Then he lit things up during the year and made believers of us all.

I’m not saying Chad can make a substantial jump, but he could look like a much better player this year.  Will that be enough to get him a roster spot?  If so, does he get regular playing time?  Hall doesn’t have a lot of upside so he needs to play well this year if he wants to keep his career going.

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Here’s a PE.com article with some comments from Juan Castillo about his DTs and Jaiquawn Jarrett.  Castillo says he likes the 4 DTs and thinks Bunkley could be in for a breakout year.  As I said on Friday, it won’t shock me if Bunk has a breakout season.  This scheme should bring out the best in him.  The challenge is for Bunk to embrace the opportunity and play at a high level.