Follow-up Thoughts to the Offseason Plan
Posted: July 22nd, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 43 Comments »Many questions and issues arose to yesterday’s post. I answered some in the comments section, but others are worth talking about as part of a full post.
RT — A couple of people aren’t sure why I don’t see more of a need at RT. I’ve written about this a time or two this spring, but not everyone has been reading the whole time so it’s worth covering again.
Winston Justice played well in 2009. He wasn’t dominant or anything like that, but played well. He looked like someone you wanted at RT for the next 5 years. 2010 was a far different story. Justice was up and down. He wasn’t awful, as some seem to want to believe. There were games when he played very well. There were other times when Justice really struggled. Clay Matthews killed him. To be fair, Clay killed just about everybody.
One thing that hurt Justice was the instability at RG. For much of Training Camp and the preseason the starting RG was Stacy Andrews. He didn’t play well. Nick Cole was the RG for the first couple of weeks of the regular season and was awful. Reggie Wells played most of the JAX game and wasn’t much better. Max Jean-Gilles took over for a while and probably gave us our best RG play of the season. Cole got the job back in November for a few weeks. Then Max got it back. Then Cole started the final couple of games. Injuries affected Cole and Max all season long. That revolving door of mediocrity absolutely had an effect on Justice. The RG and RT have to work in unison on stunts and blitzes. They must be on the same page. Also, when the guys next to you seem like a turnstile, it is going to distract you from your job.
A lot of people get down on Justice for his poor play in the Wildcard loss. He was bad. He was also injured. He had offseason surgery to repair the issue. You can argue that he should have sat the whole game and let King Dunlap play. We were much better with King at RT. The only problem with that is we hold the players to a double standard. We demand they play through pain and do whatever it takes to be on the field. Guys try to do that, but aren’t able to play to their normal level and then we scream at them for how poorly they played. If anything, the coaches are at fault for not pulling Justice sooner and getting Dunlap out there.
Justice has one good year under his belt, 2009. He has one inconsistent year, 2010. I don’t blame the organization at all for giving him another chance. Justice does have the ability to be a very good RT if he can play up to his full potential. He will be pushed by King Dunlap this summer.
C / OL — Part of this point ties in to Justice at RT as well. The Eagles hired Howard Mudd to come here as the O-line coach. They accepted the fact he likes different kinds of players. They accepted the fact he would change the blocking system. Mudd wasn’t told who he’d have to play. The organization asked him to study the current players and decide what he wanted to do. We know he felt RG was the one position that absolutely had to be addressed. He didn’t see the answer anywhere on the roster. That led to the selection of Danny Watkins in the 1st round. If the Eagles go sign a RT in free agency, that will tell you that Mudd didn’t like Justice or Dunlap. Everything I’m hearing is that Mudd is in fact fine with the RTs on the roster. He thinks he can “coach ’em up”. Justice doesn’t lack potential. Dunlap either. Those guys just need to be more consistent.
I listed A.Q. Shipley atop the depth chart at Center. Just a guess. I don’t see Jamaal Jackson (31 years old, big guy, coming off injuries) being a guy that Mudd is going to ideally want in the middle. We drafted Jason Kelce, the smallest O-lineman in the whole draft. That should tell you that Mudd is at the other end of the spectrum from Juan Castillo and his biggies. Shipley fits the description of a Mudd player so I made him the C. Just a guess.
I have no idea if Mudd liked Shipley when he was coming out of Penn State. If so, then maybe this is a player Mudd does want on the field. Or maybe Mudd will have a veteran targeted in free agency. There are some players in the 290 range that could play in Mudd’s system. Maybe we go that route.
Mudd hasn’t had a chance to meet or coach his new players yet, but he has studied every snap. He watched preseason tape. He watched game tapes. Heck, he might have checked out practices. Some of the guys he knew from doing draft preparation when they were coming out. He’s got informed opinions of the players. I’m willing to trust him when he says he likes a player and slots him accordingly.
Eagles / Free Agency — Remember that the Eagles are very selective shoppers. They treat FA different from a lot of teams. The Eagles make a very specific list. If they don’t land those players, the Eagles generally stick with the players on the roster.
We fans make up a list of the top five running backs or pass rushers we want. If the first one goes elsewhere, we just move down the list. The Eagles don’t do that, except at positions of absolute desperation (RCB). The Eagles find a few guys they like and go after them. If that doesn’t work out, they stick with the incumbent players or go with the young guys on the roster. You might think this is a dumb way to do business. We can have a long philosophical debate on that. Bottom line, that is how the Eagles operate.
2-deep questions — I limited my depth chart to just 2-deep. This left off guys like Curtis Marsh, Teo, Ricky Sapp, Trevor Laws, and future Hall of Famer Brian Rolle. I was just trying to keep things simple. I’m in no way down on any of the players who were left off. Quite the opposite. I’m excited to see what some of these guys can do.
Trades / Cuts — Speaking of Laws and the DTs…that is a position where we could see change. I like the 4 guys we have in place now. If the Eagles are able to land Big Al, someone has to go. Mike Patterson makes the most sense because he has good trade value. Plenty of teams around the NFL would love to have Mike as a starting DT. The Eagles got trade offers for him last year. These were unsolicited offers. Teams just called up to find out about Patt. If Big Al is banished to the AFC, we’ll likely stick with our current group. One oddball note, I still am curious to see if Victor Abiamiri is shifted to DT in the new scheme. I think he’d be a natural in there.
DE is a position where we will see something happen. We have 37 (give or take) guys ready to contribute. Take a look at the list right now.
Trent Cole
Juqua Parker
Darryl Tapp
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim
Ricky Sapp
Phillip Hunt
Brandon Graham (hurt)
Bobby McCray (long shot)
If we go sign a veteran, someone has to go. Graham will be on the PUP list to start the year. McCray is probably just a camp body. That still leaves 6 guys and the free agent. I think Juqua Parker could be the odd man out. I’ve written him off before, only to have him come in and play well. He is 33 years old. At some point, age will get the best of him.
Remember that Washburn believes in a heavy rotation. He will give 4 DEs regular snaps. This won’t be like in the past where the starters saw 90% of the reps. The Eagles are high on Teo. They expect him to play well this year. Sapp and Hunt are guys the team can’t wait to see in action. They have the potential to do well in the new system. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. We have to see them play before knowing anything.
All About the Red Zone — Some fan was shocked that I didn’t have Darren Sproles as my #1 target at RB. Darren is one of the best weapons in the league. He’s explosive and dynamic. What’s not to like? Sproles would be great, but he would help us move the ball up and down the field. That wasn’t much of an issue last year. We were 2nd in the NFL in yards gained. We finished 3rd in scoring. That sounds great, but we were only middle of the pack in the Red Zone and I think that stat is skewed by Vick’s ability as a runner. We didn’t execute the base offense in the Red Zone with any kind of consistency and that hurt us at times.
I think the players we target need to be guys that can help us in the Red Zone. Sproles has 6 rushing TDs in his career. He doesn’t get a lot of touches in the Red Zone, but that’s for a reason. He’s not as effective down there. I’m certainly not going to be mad if the Eagles sign him, but I hope we do find some players to help out the situation.
Speaking of which, Ray Didinger says he’s heard from some NFL sources that Burress coming to Philly is all but a done deal. Interesting if true. Plax is very good in the Red Zone and he would make he happy in that sense.
I have no doubt that if Mudd thinks we need a FA o-lineman that Howie and the gang will try to get one… but having said that… I agree with Tommy that it’s not a serious need.
REPOSTED from previous article
I’m not making the case that Mudd came out of retirement because he was peeing his pants with excitement over Shipley. That is a gross overstatement on your part.
What I am stating is the FACT that Mudd knew the situation. If Mudd didn’t like Jam Jax or McGlyn I would be willing to bet my entire savings account that it came up during conversation at some point (obviously).
I know that I am not going to convince you that Kelce is the long term solution but here are some actual facts for you and others to consider. To sum for those who don’t want to take the time to look… (spoiler alert!) Kelce ranks in or around the top 10 for O-line in: 40 yrd dash, verticle jump, long jump, 20 yd shuttle, and 3 cone drill. He earned the fastest 40 and 3 cone times.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011-nfl-combine-results-offensive-linemen/
Some of that is obviously attributable to the other fact that he is 20-30 lbs lighter than the other guys.
So to do a “control” for the weight variable you can compare his stats to those of D-linemen (who seem to have a tendency to have more raw athletic ability). He ranks 21st in 40 yd dash and vertical jump. 26th in long jump, and 2nd in 20 yd shuttle. (I was unable to get the website to display the d-line’s 3 cone times).
The D-line athlete that he “matches” athletically seems to be Adrian Clayborn (whom you may recall was drafted 20th overall).
Again, I am not trying to convince you that he is the savior of the offensive line, but rather making an attempt to increase general awareness that Eagles fans don’t need to start jumping off buildings due to the fact that we may have an open competition at the Center position of our o-line during the short training camp.
@ will:
Does his athleticism translate well on the football field? That is the main question 😉 If he can’t play under Howard Mudd then I’m fairly certain he just can’t play so I guess we’ll find out!
Oh and to add a slice of sarcasm to the mix… we have what… 5 players capable of playing C on this team. Let’s go get more!!!
@McG (also a repost from prior)
Nobody is jumping off of buildings if there is an open competition. It’s if the players competing are not good enough that is worrisome. [5 guys capale of playing center badly doesn’t help us. We just need 1 who is good. If for whatever reason Jackson and McGlynn are too big, the other 3 “capable” guys are pretty crappy choices.]
Kelce went in the 7th. You can cry “steal” all you want, the reality is that 7th rounders to not typically ever become full time starters, no matter what their measurables.
From 1999-2009, Howard Mudd’s tenure with the Colts, an outstanding drafting team, here is a list of players taken in the 5th or later and how many career starts they had:
Year Round Player (NFL Starts)
1998 7 Aaron Taylor (0)
2000 5 Matt Johnson (0)
2001 7 Rick DeMulling (53)
2003 6 Makoa Freitas (6)
2004 5 Jake Scott (105)
2005 5 Robert Hunt (0)
2006 5 Michael Toudouze (1)
2006 6 Charlie Johnson (54)
2008 6 Steven Justice (1)
2008 7 Jamey Richard (11)
2009 7 Jaimie Thomas (0)
It’s pretty impressive that three of those guys have become full time starters in the NFL. But that’s still just 3/11, or 27%. And of those three, only Scott became a starter in his rookie year.
The expectations have to be realistic. If Jason Kelce starts in the NFL, it will be impressive. If he starts successfully as a 7th round rookie for the Eagles, it will be the most impressive draft pick/performance for Howard Mudd since at least 1999. I have no problem having him in place to learn and hope for the future. But counting on him to do jack in 2011 is crazy, no matter how bright you hope his future is.
Re. DT
Was listening to Philly sports talk last night and the host said he thinks Bunk is the odd man out if we sign Big Al. What??!! Bunk thrived in a one gap scheme in college and that’s why he was so highly touted coming out of FSU. If nothing else, he could have a rebirth in the new scheme. The most surprising thing to me is that Danny Klecko was co-hosting and said nothing about it. He did, however, say that he thinks Trevor Laws could thrive if he puts it altogether.
Competition is a good thing. We’re going to have Shipley, Kelce, Jackson, and McGlynn battle like heck out there, and whichever guy really works his tail off will get the job. Time’s yours.
The more I think about our Center candidates, the more I wish we could just play without one.
boy boy
i been listening to philly talk shows for 3 years now and i came to realize 90% of them dont know much about the birds. they know all the players but they dont follow it like we do. thats why i love this site, tommy knows everything about the birds.
those talk show guys say things just to get people to call the show. i find myself frustrated every time i listen to the shows.
for some reason i like kelce. but i could be falling into the “every undersized white dude will be jeff saturday” trap.
about this thing i been hearing about babin being bad in the lockerrom and he just cared about his stats. i think that was suggested as a possibility on a website. it doesnt make much sense to me. a guy that just made the team and is barley hanging on is saying “i need my sacks”? he never really had any sacks.
im not huge on getting babin unless the price is right. but i dont think he was a bad lockerroom guy.
@ Sam
Worth the read, thanks for re-posting. The thing that impresses me the most with Kelce isn’t the measurables though… it’s actually his reputation for playing smart.
My prediction is that between McGlyn, Shipley, and Kelce we will have what we need for this year at C.
If not, any ideas who could be signed?
Any body think we could take a look at the other FA DE from Ten, Dave Ball? He had 7.0 sacks last season… I doubt that we would add an older mediocre DE though with all the young guys who need some experience/opportunities, but I feel the need to at least throw the name out there in case anyone has seen him show up on tape while watching Babin.
For as much of a pain as this off season has been, I have enjoyed having so much time to debate on potential moves and hash and rehash the possibilities. It’s refreshingly different from last year where the gates of FA opened right away, we didn’t sign Peppers, and everyone was groaning. lol
Question: How athletic does a center need to be?
It seems like of all the positions on the O-line, center would be the one you’d need the least athleticism from. Aside from the quickness needed to snap the ball and get your arms up, I’d imagine you’d just want a big guy with long arms who could take on a massive NT/DT and who is smart enough to read and recognize defense.
If I’m not way off thinking that (it was a genuine question, not a rhetorical one), Kelce doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense at C. The knock against Shipley I keep hearing is short arms. If JamJax can stay healthy, I’d think you’d want his experience next to the rookie guard protecting the QBs blind side.
@ CVD — yeah, it was Rob Ellis, who I don’t hear that often but I thought he was above that. lol
The main thing that shocked me is that Klecko didn’t chime in on it.
Also, if you read the Ray Diddy article that Tommy posted (the link for), he’s asked about Bunk. He simply said that Bunk has underachieved. I agree with that to an extent, but I really think it was a more of a matter of Dixon fitting that 2 gap scheme better than Bunk did. Who knows, maybe Bunkley is chomping at the bit to be able to attack upfield again and not just be utilized as a run stuffer.
Some hope Mudd can Obi-Wan Kenobi Shipley into Jeff Saturday, some fear that attempt will be shoved down our throat. I’m guessing Mudd will try to stick with the main starters, letting McGlynn fight it out with JJ, and then see what he has with the others. I like Kelce and think Mudd developed plans for him, and don’t forget that G Vandervelde was drafted earlier.
Based on the picks, it seems unlikely they’ll go for a FA. Watkins was drafted to start now at RG (+PR). He was the most NFL-ready pass blocker and one should remember that Reid doesn’t like to use high picks on linemen, so he’s not into raw juniors. But there’s also the possibility that Watkins could flip out to RT down the road (which may be in December) if Mudd likes an interior lineman at RG. Mudd has RT Howard to work with in addition to Dunlap, so there are Plan Bs being readied if Mudd can’t improve Winston Justice.
I’m not hugely knowledgable on the ins and outs of O line play. But I think Mudd knows what he is doing, who he wants and what changes need to be made. I think we stay put for the time being with the guys we have. See what a little bit of Mudd coaching does to them, see if theres any improvment. If something is lacking, there should be at least a decent Linemen we can get before the season starts. From what I remember of last season, one of the biggest problems was not being able to identify the blitz, now that can be put on Vick, but look at Jeff Saturday, he does as much identifying as Peyton does. All i’m saying is that I want someone who has a feel for the game sitting at C. Blocking technique, adding weight or whatever they are lacking can be taught easily enough. But football smarts can only be gathered so much from watching tape, some players just see what others don’t.
Rotate these guys at C during camp and let the defense do some exotic blitzing, and see who picks them up. I’m not saying vision is the be all and end all of the position, but it’s definitely something I’d like to see(and it would help Vick out aswell)
People keep saying Babin was a bad lockerroom guy, but I thought all those stories were about Clemons (getting his numbers, etc.)
Kelce went in the 6th. Point probably still remains.
Both O-Line and D-Line have some interesting potential. Safe to say at least one or two careers will be reborn with the legendary coaches and not-yet-realized talents. And safe to say one or two on each side will not catch on and flame out after this season. The fun of it is who’s it gonna be? Ricky Sapp? Philip Hunt? Shipley? Austin Howard? Abiamiri?
This is kind of make-or-break for Justice, Bunk, Laws and guys who have shown glimpses but haven’t been consistently really good.
d3
teo is another one. i think laws steps up for us this year
@ theguyotc
I think the appeal of an athletic center is for the screen game and pulling on running plays.
@D3Keith
I thought the stories were that there were 3 guys that were a problem for McD in the locker room: Clemons, Babin, and… a LB maybe? I don’t remember. Obviously the guys that make the decision know the truth, but if you cut a guy for whining about his stats, then bring him back after he goes elsewhere and racks up gaudy numbers it would seem to undermine what the coaching staff is doing. Maybe I am remembering wrong, it was all hearsay at the time, anyway.
And I am excited about Sapp and Teo as well. It seems like with the players they drafted last year – Teo, Sapp, Allen, the LBs – and obviously this year as well, that Andy was gearing up to alter the defense even then.
@ theguyotc
Mudd will run much more of a zone scheme. The zone OL blocking scheme is based on having athletic linemen. This is because your objective isn’t to take the man in front of you and drive him to the goalline. The two main types of blocks that the center will be asked to make is a wall off block. This requires him to use his superior athletic ability to get to the playside of the DT/NT and then wall him off from the play. The other type of block would be a combo block where either the guard or center initiates contact on his man and works towards the playside shoulder. Then the other OL will come in and slide onto that block creating a temporary push and overtaking the block. The first OL will then proceed to go smash London Fletcher/Sean Lee/insert awful giant lb here. Thats how the Jeff Saturdays and Marc Schlereths of the world block the Saragusa’s and Wilforks.
All speculation aside, I have my popcorn ready for some epic OL vs DL coverage this training camp. Hope the new practice rules won’t dull the excitement too much.
I don’t know much about OL play (am from the UK and have only been following football seriously for about a year) but my Dad (who knows even less than I do) raised a valid point about McGlynn while watching a game last season. He pointed out that there were a lot of wayward snaps that Vick had to juggle in order to catch them compared to those by the other team’s center (I forget who it was) that seemed able to deliver the ball into the QBs hands every time.
Has anybody else noticed this, or am I just missing something?
Also, people talk a lot about Jeff Saturday being a good center – is it completely out of the question for us to trade for him? He only has 1 year left on his current contract and would probably like to be working with Mudd again, but I guess the Colts would expect a lot of compensation that we can’t/won’t pay.
Jamaal Jackson looks in great shape… he and Laws and Chaney have been spending a lot of time at Power Train, you can tell just by looking at them
re: DT and specifically Bunk
Though I didn’t hear the radio show, I am not surprised that Klecko said nothing to defend Bunk. The Bunk I remember played well under Jenkins (and his 2-gap system) in year 2 and 3 after disappointing terribly in his first. He played at a level under those performances in year 4 and 5 under Segrest (a Jenkin’s disciple). During this time, I would assert his strength, in the most part due to his physical strength, has been his run stuffing.
On the other hand, I don’t think the Eagles have seen anything to suggest he is a natural or great pass rusher, hence he is not an everydown lineman. Rather, the Eagles use DEs or specialist DTs (Klecko) to get to the passer, and maybe during his time as a specialist pass rushing DT, Klecko witnessed Bunk’s technique and ability.
If Big Al became an Eagles, I feel for so many reasons from contract to performance that Bunk is the most likely loser.
Yeah, I see JJ being back at center too. With McGlynn providing competition. Also, I’d think Stewart Bradley will be back – he’s shown enough when he’s healthy to think he’d be a solid contributor. Is Jerome Harrison too much like the backs we already have? OK, bring someone else in then. Given our RZ woes, I could definitely see Plax in the mix. Tommy, I think you were right the first time when you said Kolb would get us a player like DRC and a 3rd rounder – I now think I was wrong about the 2nd. Watch – we’ll end up with a 4th! I could definitely see Babin brought back given the Washburn connection but I have my doubts about Haynesworth. I’m not sure Andy Reid could stomach him, and Andy can stomach almost anything…yuck yuck. I wouldn’t trade for him unless he was willing the re-do the remainder of his contract and even then I’d only offer a 5th. I hope you’re right about Poz and Hasselback but think they’re both long shots. But then, we all know the Iggs are gonna be super aggressive this year.
I think Barrett Ruud may be a target. I’m pretty sure he has experience at both MLB and SLB. He has experience in the cover 2 already and is more athletic than Bradley. He didn’t have the best year last year true but look at the state of TB’s defense where the DTs were hurt frequently and they had constant changes in the secondary.
@ATG,
You might be right about the three lockerroom complainers. I didn’t have any recollection of Babin being that guy — I think he’s take it or leave it as an acquistion. Just like Big Al and Plax, if we got him, great, if we don’t, I think we’ll survive. The only must in free agency (or Kolb trade) is a very good CB. We got our RG. Everything else is just fixing holes we create (No. 2 QB/RB, etc.) or gravy.
RE: Jason Babin
He was not a bad locker room guy from what I’ve heard. Eagles are open to bringing him back.
Clemons was the worst. Sean Jones was bad as well.
Omar Gaither can be a headache when he wants to.
I think it’s a good possibilty that Watkins doesn’t start at the beginning of the season. I want to resign Gillis as a backup . He wasn’t great last year but he was solid.
I have a strange feeling that we won’t sign any significant DEs or LBs in free agency
Four guys I want to take chances on: Plaxico Burress, Albert Haynesworth, Kevin Smith, and Vernon Gholston
i watched the GB playoff game and i still wonder how djax got tackled on that catch and run. i would love to c another angle, that looks like a play where he never gets caught.
i love watchin mccoy play. he will get noticed around the league this year if he stays healthy. i think he goes to the probowl.
i know hayneworth is a bum but the one thing i cant take is another team just running up and down the field and we cant stop it. that is the worst feeling, u feel like ur getting abused. i would take a million 3 and outs but i cant take teams goin up and down the field and converting 3rd down afetr 3down. so i say take a chance on this guy.
the only reason i dont c plax is he wont play special teams. our 3rd or fourth guy needs to play special teams. but it does sound like he is coming here, i def dont have a problem w him coming here.
i feel the problem with our redzone play is that we are not good in tight qaurters. we like to air it out, vick likes to drop back 7 yards, everything we do is about space so we can use our speed. so we get down there and we struggle just pounding it in. hopefully if we do get plax he can help somehow.
why does everything philly fans talk about someohow become actual news.
DRC for kolb started here on this site, then all the sudden its real. 610 started saying we should get farve, now PFT says howard eskin says we might sign farve. we are NOT signing farve. but i also said we are NOT signing vick. i actually bet me left arm we wouldnt sign vick
It’s the era we live in, a lot of sites fail to distinguish what they’re rehashing — clearly speculation, or well thought out assumptions — from what journalists are reporting. And there is a big difference. But sometimes we just slap a head on it, call it “rumor” and trot it out there right next to the news.
It’s kind of like one big game of telephone — the more times we repost and link to something else, the further you get from what the original source actually said.
Also as much as I love Tommy’s work, I read DRC elsewhere before here. It was BGN message board speculation a while back. Now if we sign Pozlusny then IgglesBlitz gets full credit!
@Tommy,
Appreciate you naming names re: locker room problems.
@Dan,
I think Watkins definitely starts from Day 1, but I wouldn’t be stunned if we whiffed on LB and DE. We have a lot of bodies at both positions so anyone we sign would have to be outstanding. And as we know there are only a few of those guys to go around. As Tommy mentioned the other day, the Eagles ID guys they like, not positions they need to fill. If they DEs they like go elsewhere, we’ll roll with the 12 DEs we already have.
Is it me or do nearly all the rumours about the Eagles stem from discussions on this site?
Brett Favre as a backup is the latest but there’s DRC as another great example. Can’t think of any other way they would get hold of such rumours!
We should start an even more ridiculous one and see if it spreads.
Kolb for DRC did not start on this site. That info was out there, even if only to select parties, as soon as during the draft.
I actually think Tommy Lawlor is Howie Roseman and the photo he uses for Lawlor is just some poor sap who got his photo swiped of an old MySpace page.
Reid and Lurie were looking to promote someone to General Manager and they asked, “Who’s this goeagles99 guy?” Roseman finally came clean.
cliff
hahaha. u might be right. tommy always seems to know a few guys we are drafting.
i love the fact the eagles will go after the guy they want and if they dont get him they dont overpay for the 2nd best guy. it seems like if they dont get their guy they go for a bargain guy. this way they are never one of those teams over paying for a tj housmenzada or dj ward and cutting him a year later. no matter how loud some fans scream that we should pick that guy up, the eagles never seem to do it
the drc thing really took off after it was on here and bgn. once it hit 610 then it was like it was real. i would love to get drc but i think we get a 1st and a conditional
Yeah, there’s no doubt the mainstream folks read some of these blogs and sometimes run with the ideas on them; same time, reporters who report are getting their info from inside the team walls, and even though the anonymous sourcing sometimes makes things sound shaky, you’d be surprised how “close to the general manager” the sources are at times.
The lines blur more and more as to whether someone is borrowing someone else’s ideas or participating in the discussion as all outlets begin to tweet back and forth to each other. It’s very easy to repeat what’s been heard, and this offseason has been especially devoid of new news, it’s probably taken that to another level.
Ultimately though it’s probably a good thing that everyone interacts and respects each other’s work enough to forward it on.
The Favre thing is a great example of something that started as speculation and was always nothing more than that, then got serious when Vick heard the speculation and tweeted his opinion, at which point it becomes “news” even though nothing actually happened. Weird, huh?
I don’t see or understand how you’d reload the season starting the same guy at RT–protecting your franchise’s blind side–that you benched in the most important game of the year. I get that they extended Justice with starter money, and have other holes, but plan B is to have an open competition between Dunlap and Howard??
There are players out there that can help, and would solidify the most important position on the line, and they are just going to go into the season with a lick and a promise? We’ve seen this story before, and we know how it ends.
Did you not read the part where I said he was injured in the GB loss? He then had surgery to fix the injury. The Justice that got benched in that game wasn’t anywhere close to 100%.
If Howard Mudd is comfortable sticking with him at RT, that should tell you all you need to know.
And what players would help? Tyson Clabo is primarily a run blocker. Doug Free isn’t a sure improvement and he would cost a huge salary. What quality RTs are out there that excel as pass blockers?
Justice has the size and athleticism to be a very good RT. He played well in 2009, but somehow that season doesn’t count because he sucked when he tried to play through an injury against the Packers.
In order, I’d prefer: Jared Gaither, Willie Colon, Marshal Yanda, Doug Free, Matt Light, or Tyson Clabo. I realize Vick can do a lot to make protection look bad, but I feel Justice’s inconsistency is going to burn the Eagles, and is an area they have a fantastic chance to improve upon during this bizzare and truncated FA frenzy.
Justice was decent in ’09, but he certainly didn’t blow anyone’s doors off. He was the emergency plan B when Stacy Andrews didn’t work out. ’10 saw him protecting a completely different style QB, with increased pressure and responsibility–with opposing d coordinators regularly lining their best pass rusher up over him in an effort to get to Mike.
If they are going to go out on a limb by signing character concern guys like Big Al and Plaxico, in order to make a SB run, why not make the move to improve Vick’s blindside protection? Besides the Steelers in ’08, you generally need a line that’s going to keep your QB clean to win a Lombardi. Just one man’s opinion, but I’d hate to see the season end on a blindside clock-cleaning because they decided Justice was “good enough”.
A little suprised you put A.Q. Shipley at the top of your depth Chart. But I can’t argue with the boldness of your thinking.
Last year at training Camp, if I remember correctly, they had Nick Cole running with the 1st teamers, Mike McGlynn with the 2nd’s, and A.Q. Shipley with the 3rd’s. Of the Three I thought Shipley played the best. Cole the worst (snaps were terrible).
Shipley seemed to be a little short, maybe not a bad thing, but was tenacious and consistent.
I agree Jamaal Jackson might not be an ideal fit at center with Mudd. But if healthy, and thats been a big BUTT in his career, I think there is a significant talent differential between the two in favor of Jackson. If Jackson wants to win the job, after this long layoff, he’s got to be in better shape. I believe Jackson is signed through 2013.