Tuesday Night Update
Posted: January 24th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 36 Comments »I wrote up some notes on the North practice. Here they are.
As for the Eagles stuff of interest from earlier in the day, here goes. First nugget is that Jimmy Kempski and I went to eat lunch together. While I’m busy eyeing the menu, he says “Guess who’s behind us?” It was Juan Castillo and Sean McDermott. We didn’t get to sit near them (blame Jimmy for choosing the wrong side of the restaurant – Saucy’s BBQ). We checked them out as best we could. It looked like old friends catching up more than anything. They did work together for a decade. Still is interesting to have the de facto DC talking to his predecessor.
I got to meet Mike Zordich. We had a nice chat about Penn State. I tried to pick his brain about Senior Bowl players, but he’s smart and didn’t say squat. Nice guy. Easy to talk to.
I haven’t had a chance yet to meet Howie Roseman or any Eagles scouts. I am hanging out with the guys from PE..com. There have been a couple of guys who came by while I was with them, but you don’t want to kill credibility and turn into fanboy.
Spent time with Adam Caplan and Tony Pauline. Both are very nice guys.
This morning Castillo was spending a lot of time with Brett Veach. He used to be Andy’s assistant and famously got in Andy’s ear about drafting this skinny WR from Cal. He’s now a scout and he and Juan spent a lot of time watching CBs. I didn’t see Juan at the afternoon practice so I don’t know who he was watching.
Phil Savage talked to Virginia DE Cam Johnson for quite a while earlier today. I compared Cam to Trent Cole back in October. 6’4, 267 DE that can play the run or get after the QB. Good day of practice.
David Culley talked to WR Marvin McNutt for a couple of minutes, but it looked like a very casual conversation.
I saw Sean Gustus (area scout) and Louis Riddick (Pro Personnel Director) today. Jim Washburn was talking to Gunther Cunningham and another Lions assistant. This is interesting because they also run the Wide-9.
As for Eagles targets…
DE Melvin Ingram continues to light it up. If the team wants an athletic, versatile DL, Ingram is the guy. I thought he was more of a 2nd round pick prior to this week, but he may have played his way into the 1st round. Really good athlete.
LB Keenan Robinson had a nice day. The Eagles chatted him up yesterday. SAM prospect. Good athlete. Right now I think of him as a 3rd round type.
I like Sean Spence a lot, but his agent is Drew Rosenhaus. I was standing about 2 feet from both of them today and just got a creepy feeling. I know Drew is just doing his job, but that doesn’t mean I’ve got to like it.
Washington LT Senio Kelemete just looks like a Mudd guy. He’s 6’3 1/2, 300. Skinny, athletic build. Probably not a LT, but could be a G prospect for us.
Joe Adams is similar to DeSean in listed height, weight, but just looks more muscular. He could really be of interest if the Eagles deal DJax or let him walk. Really interested to see how he runs in Indy. The big WRs aren’t lighting it up down here. Eagles might want to go get that guy in FA and find the speed guy in the draft.
After seeing this group of QBs up close, I hope the Eagles sign a veteran and make Kafka the #3 guy. Just not impressed.
I’ll cover Zach Brown in my South write-up later tonight. Solid day.
Glean any info from Zordich about the future of the safety position and or Jarret?
Great, great stuff. So jealous!
Question: are the practices open to the general public, or are you using your PE.com credentials to attend practices, the weigh-in, etc? I know the Combine is really strict with credentials, but I wasn’t sure what the protocol was in Mobile.
great stuff as always. looking forward to the rest of this week
Oh, woe is me. The end game is in sight. Tommy is schmoozing with the Main Stream Media types.
He is going to get noticed by some people who make actual money doing this kind of stuff and our personal access to the remaining Eagles-writing 3 Musketeers (who were actually a very poorly named group of 4, like our own Derek, Sam, Bounty and Tommy) will be severed.
This is almost worse than the game-winning touchdown salsa dance in the upcoming wound-salting Super Bowl.
Who did he mention that was MSM? Caplan?
The guys I would consider MSM link to Tommy’s blog, echo thoughts he writes about and at some times plainly cite his work, so I think he’s been noticed. And it’s not always a bad thing if an organization with resources picks up a passionate, motivated blogger and lets them do what they do. I imagine if it paid well enough to be full time, Derek would still be with us, for instance.
Sure, that’s exactly what another blogger would say.
Actually, I’m with you… as long as Tommy doesn’t forget all us little people when he trades in his PBR for… well, anything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_dFEWYqEUk
So Brandon Boykin can play slot CB, WR, RS… and he can DUNK?
I have absolutely no problem taking this kid in the 2nd round. He’s Javier Arenas, if Javier Arenas could completely throw down.
Love this kid! I really think he should be looked at for our 3rd round pick. If he lights it up at the Combine, he could bump into the 2nd. Glad we have the picks to possibly get him. Hopefully, Tommy has some good things to say about his performance at the Senior Bowl. Along with CB, WR, and RS, he also put some time in at RB! Dude does it all.
Can they please just sign DeSean already. I think at how long we struggled to find top WRs here before the DeSean/Maclin drafts (i.e. Thrash, Pinkston, B. McMullen, Fredex, R. Brown, GLew, etc) and I get a very bad feeling.
Odd. I got excited when Tommy wrote this:
” Eagles might want to go get that guy in FA and find the speed guy in the draft.”
Of course having DeSean back would be good, but it’s a great year for FA WRs, and I get a good feeling that one way or another, something good has to happen at that position, besides having Maclin back.
I would be happy with Dwayne Bowe, for instance. And the Bowe writeup here, which is included with a rundown of who all might be available in FA, should probably make Eagles fans who’ve watched us in the red zone salivate:
http://www.footballsfuture.com/2012/fa/wr.html
Double post. Sorry, carry on.
Heard good things about Mike Martin today, DT from Michigan. What you think about him so far.
Man crushes so far:
Melvin Ingram
Jaye Howard
Brandon Boykin
Keenan Robinson
What sort of grading is Jaye Howard getting Tommy? He seems like a prototypical Jim Washburn DT.
Keenan Robinson was flat out dominant from what I saw of him.
Day2 South notes.
http://bit.ly/z3ypaj
Yesterday’s philly.com actually had a snippet about how Juan spoke to McDermott often during this season to seek counsel.
Hypothetically… if we sit tight at 15, and Kuechly is gone… but Coples isn’t (and for arguments sake lets say he is truly the best player available) do you take him and improve a strength, or are we so needy at LB that we trade out of the 15th pick to draft a LB later in the 1st round… or do something else entirely?
I know I can’t say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Coples would be the BPA but…
Take the BPA. Eagles have plenty of ammunition (especially with Samuel) to trade back up into the late 1st to pick up a guy there.
I think he goes to Miami or Jacksonville, but I would not hesitate to pick him at 15. He could be a force at DT in our system!
Here’s something I don’t understand. Tommy’s review of Zebrie Sanders from Florida state was very negative; saying he got beat by this guy and that guy. However, reading Scott Wright’s review you think the guy was destined to be a great player. He said he did well against all of the best pass rushers. That isn’t to say that he never got beat, but he came away very impressed by his showing.
Of course not everyone is going to agree on everything all time. But generally you can tell whether not a player plays well. You may disagree on their upside potential or quality of the skill set, but you generally get a sense for how well a player plays by watching. A prime example to me is Nate Allen. Some people still think that he has lots of upside and is a talented player while others don’t, but no one disputes how poorly he played this year.
I fine these disagreements interesting but I would like for there to be more accountability. In the end we need to know who has a track record.
Just a random thought
Yeah reading scouting reviews that have opposing views on the same guy is a head scratcher. But scouting is not a science, and it helps to get information from several sources. I like reading NFL.com, NFP, WalterFootball, Tommy’s Scout notebook (* sometimes I think TL is not completely unbiased on Eagles targets, b/c I thought he was too positive on Danny Teo-neshiem), watching whatever video I can get my fingers on, and definitely Mike Mayock (who seems to have a pretty good track record except for his praise of JaMarcus Russell).
Post Script, WalterFootball’s observations on Zebrie Sanders performance on on Tuesday’s practices pretty much matches Tommy’s thoughts, sample:
“Quinton Coples slapped and fought away Florida State offensive tackle Zebrie Sanders to win an edge rush. In the rematch, Coples grabbed a hold of Sanders and tossed him aside to run free to the quarterback marker…”
“Melvin Ingram was dominant as well. He beat Sanders with a bull rush. He also burned Sanders with with a speed rush around the corner. Ingram got Sanders again by starting to the outside before darting to the inside to get pressure.”
And he hated Darren McFadden and Mike’s opinion seemed valid until the past 2 seasons.
What praise? Mayock said he wouldn’t take Russell in the first round. He raved about his physical traits and his potential, but he didn’t think he could come close to reaching his ceiling because he wouldn’t put it all together. He was right.
What praise? Mayock said he wouldn’t take Russell in the first round. He raved about his physical traits and his potential, but he didn’t think he could come close to reaching his ceiling because he wouldn’t put it all together. He was right.
Curtis Lofton/D’Qwell Jackson for MLB….tag and trade Desean…sign Stevie Johnson (may drop a ball here and there, but Revis can’t cover him). Draft Micheal Floyd with our #1. Now that’s a receiving core. Seriously, look at the Cowboys and Giants. Cruz/Nicks/Manningham – Robinson/Austin/Bryant Those combos are better than Jackson/Jeremy “made of glass’ Machlin/Avant. Stevie Johnson/Machlin/Floyd is much better.
Use our 2 2’s on Boykin and the best DE on the board. Keenan Robinson or Audie Cole in the 3rd for our SAM (if we pull another 3rd for Asante then draft two OLB’s to compete on both sides…maybe a Bobby Wagner for WLB.) Sign Jason Jones in FA to shore up the DT’s. I just think since we are in win now mode a proven vet at MLB is a much better buy, than a rookie who may take a little time to adjust to the NFL.
the new max tender for a restricted free agent is a 1st rounder. i wonder if a guy like mike wallace could be a target for just a 1st rounder. i know its highly unlikley, plus stillers would probably match, but u never know.
No surprise about Melvin Ingram.
I live in Atlanta — so there’s lots and lots of SEC coverage.
And Ingram was always the guy teams tried to scheme around but generally couldn’t. Impact player since freshman year.
Wouldn’t mind seeing both Ingram and his WR teammate Alshon Jeffrey (after he loses about 15 lbs) in green next year.
Your LB reviews made it sound like they were all pretty good. Of Zach Brown, Keenan Robinson, and Sean Spence, which ones would you think the Eagles would be most interested in, and which round would those guys most likely go in?
I’m not Tommy, but I think the Eagles would have most interest in Robinson out of those three. They’ve spoken with him at the Senior Bowl, and he could play the SAM position, where we don’t have any answers right now. Brown reminds me a little too much of Sims and Spence would have to play WILL in our system, where we already have Rolle, so to use a 2nd on another one would seem like a waste to me.
I think they will go in round:
1st Z. Brown
2nd S. Spence
3rd Robinson
I’m becoming kind of enamored with Vinny Curry as a 3rd/4th rd target. He’s impressed me this week.
Do you think he’ll last that long? If he does I wouldn’t mind it at all, but all I’ve heard is that he’s penciled in to go in the 2nd… Of course you never know!
And the Eagles have been seen talking to him at the Senior Bowl…
Valid question. My assumption of his current grade was based off of the depth of the DE/overall pass rusher class this year, but if he continues to improve in Mobile as well as Indy in February, he could very well go higher than that.
Just seems like a nice, high-motor fit for the Wide-9. A situational guy to develop for sure.
Does anyone else feel that the defensive coordinator situation is starting to get out of hand? Before Spags was signed, there were no real reports indicating that the Eagles had any interest. Once he was signed however, several reports, including Peter King’s report that he didn’t come here because of Washburn started to come out. Then, a few conversations came out with Castillo which came off sounding as if Castillo himself was unsure of his own feature. Now some players are apparently wondering if Castillo is the defensive coordinator.
I didn’t see the need for AR to hold a PC to simply state that Castillo was staying, but no that people from the team are starting to seem confused, it seems to me that he needs to repair confidence in the players and coaching staff. I didn’t want Castillo coming back in the first place, but now that it seems he is likely to come back, I would much rather have a confident Castillo (and players who believe the organization/AR believe in him) than a guy who is questioning his job status himself.
Well, at least the offensive coordinator position seems to be settled… gotta assume Marty is returning, after Oakland hires Allen and the Colts just announced the hiring of Chuck Pagano.
yay…?
A play in one act:
McDermott: Hey, Juan! Remember when I got fired and everybody said there was no way the defense could get worse? Boy, were they wrong! BWAHAHAHAHAHA.
Castillo: Go screw, you soulless ginger bastard.
SCENE
Tremendous.