A Scout’s Take on the Eagles

Posted: September 7th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 34 Comments »

One of the ways that you know Paul Domowitch is a good writer is that NFL sources and scouts will talk to him.  That shows you that he’s respected.  Domo spoke to a scout recently for some takes on the Eagles.  Let’s check ’em out.

QUARTERBACK

“In my mind, Mike Vick is a 9-7 quarterback. Every now and then, he’ll make a great play with either his arm or feet that makes your jaw drop. But he isn’t very accurate, makes too many poor decisions, and can’t stay healthy.

“They’ve got to be just fed up with having to put him back together and constantly monitor him and heal all of his injuries. It’s not if [he’ll get hurt again], it’s when. His refusal to learn how to slide is just mind-boggling.

“The other day, Aaron Rodgers ran six times for 52 yards and two touchdowns. On three of his runs, he slid in the open field. Nobody touched him. He got up and ran back to the huddle. I don’t know how in the world you can’t make Vick slide. Why wouldn’t you work on that in the offseason. To continue to enable him and say, ‘Well, that’s what he does. We can’t stop it,’ I think that’s just foolish.

“To be honest, I think they might actually have a better chance to win this year with the rookie [Nick Foles] at quarterback. I know it’s only been the preseason, but the kid has been impressive. He dropped back something like 60 times before he finally got sacked.

“Guys that don’t get sacked a lot in this league, guys like Peyton [Manning] and Drew Brees, they don’t get sacked because they get rid of the football quickly. They know where their safety valves are. They’re not afraid to throw the football away, and they have real good functional mobility. That’s what he does.”

My take — Vick isn’t for all tastes.  Some football guys can’t stand him.  Greg Cosell isn’t a huge fan of Vick’s.  Why?  Inconsistency.  You know what to expect from Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees just about every game.  Vick is an adventure.  I think asking whether the Eagles can win the Super Bowl with Vick is a very fair question.  I hope so, but I’m not sure.

That said…”he’s a 9-7 QB”…baloney.  Vick is 15-9 as the Eagles starting QB.  Vick was the first visiting QB to win a playoff game at Lambeau field.  Vick led the Falcons to the 2004 NFC title game.  He put Va Tech on his back and carried them to the title game.  He is a winner.  Can he deliver a title?  We’ll see.  He’s more than just pretty good, though.

OFFENSIVE LINE

“They’ve got a huge hole at left tackle. King Dunlap isn’t very good. The next block I see him finish will be the first one. He’s going to get eaten up out there. They need the light bulb to come on for Bell, but so far it hasn’t.

“One of these guys is going to be seeing Jason Pierre-Paul twice, DeMarcus Ware twice and Brian Orakpo twice. That’s the toughest assignment in the whole league seeing those guys six times.

“Jason Peters was so good last year that everybody else around him looked better. Now, you watch Evan Mathis [in the preseason] and he hasn’t looked very good. He’s looked like a journeyman, which is what he was until he lined up next to Peters last year. They’re just not moving anybody up front right now. They don’t look good at all as an offensive line. I’d be very, very concerned about that group right now if I was Andy Reid.”

My take — Saying “King Dunlap isn’t very good” is overly harsh.  The guy has started several games for the Eagles and the team has generally done fine with him.  The big question is whether he can start and play well from week to week.  He might not.  We’ll see.  That’s still very different from “he’s not very good”.

As for the OL as a whole, I thought the other 4 guys were solid this summer.  Not great, but solid.  Nick Foles was sacked just once.  Can’t remember who was at fault.  I have faith in Howard Mudd.  Paid off last year.  This will be a big test.

WIDE RECEIVER

“The Eagles’ wide receivers are good, but I don’t think they’re great. They don’t really have a difference-maker from a size standpoint like a lot of teams do. Maybe Riley Cooper comes back healthy and emerges. But I haven’t seen anything from the guy that says he’s going to be a difference-maker. So you’re looking at Maclin, Jackson and Avant.

“Jackson is just a shade over 5-9. The rookie, Johnson, is what, 5-8? Cooper is the only wideout on their roster who is taller than 6-foot.

“Joe Gibbs won a Super Bowl with a group of small receivers. But you’ve got a small quarterback throwing to small receivers. It makes it tough. “That’s not the way the game is played right now.”

My take — Boy, I don’t get this.  The Rams had average sized WRs in 1999 and 2001.  How’d they do?  Ask Tom Brady about Deion Branch and Wes Welker.  Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne aren’t huge or physical.  This scout thinks Jeremy Maclin is small.  Mac is 6-0 and almost 200.  Avant is 6-1 and 210.  Coop is big.  DeSean and Damaris are the only small receivers.  I do agree that Mac plays smaller than his size.

TIGHT END

“Neither [Brent] Celek nor [Clay] Harbor are great blockers. They’re OK. Better than a lot of tight ends in the league. Celek was better last year because he played next to Jason Peters. And Peters was just so good that anybody could have helped out sealing the edge.

“Harbor improved as a blocker last year. They used a lot of two-tight end stuff, but he was mainly used in a blocking role. It’ll be interesting to see if they increase his role in the passing game, because I think he can be a pretty good pass-catching option.

“Celek was a big part of their passing game in the second half of the season. He probably was their most effective red-zone weapon. He’s an excellent run-after-the-catch guy. The thing you worry about with Celek is him wearing down. You look at him, he doesn’t look like a guy in his fifth or sixth year. He looks like a guy in his 12th year sometimes. I don’t think he’s going to have a long career.”

My take — Nothing really to argue here.  Interesting to hear the scout say Celek looks old.  Brent is tough and will play hurt.  You do wonder if that will cost him in the long run, as he wears down/ages faster than he should.

RUNNING BACK

“LeSean [McCoy] is a great running back. He has great vision and cutback ability and can make a lot of yards like that. But he is really, really going to miss Jason Peters. Peters was just so good. In goal-line situations last year, it got to a point where they just moved Peters over to tight end or wherever it was and ran LeSean right behind him. They didn’t even try to hide it. Well, they just don’t have anybody like that this year. As good as Peters was as a pass protector last year, he was the most devastating run-blocker in the league. So I don’t think LeSean is going to be nearly as effective without Peters.

“I really like their rookie, Bryce Brown. He’s their future at running back. I think he’s going to leap over Dion Lewis and be the No. 2 pretty quickly. They just don’t have anybody with that kind of size and speed.”

My take — The Eagles didn’t use Peters at TE as often as he’s saying.  They did it on a regular basis, but there were plenty of TD runs with Peters at LT and conventional goal line sets.  Peters was a huge weapon on draw plays.  His ability to shove the DE wide/deep and then go get LBs will be missed.  Neither Dunlap nor Bell is going to do that.

DEFENSIVE LINE

“I like their line a lot. They’ve got a lot of good pass-rushers who are going to make life miserable for quarterbacks this year. Jason Babin isn’t going to do much for you against the run, but they can move [Cullen] Jenkins and [Fletcher] Cox out there on first down and in short-yardage situations to give them some heft.

“I was really impressed with the CFL guy, [Phillip] Hunt, in the preseason. He’s got some quicks coming off the edge. He’s made great strides since last season. “This unit is going to make their plays. My only question is at what expense are you getting to the quarterback? Their linebackers have no clue how to play behind this line. There are assignments being broken and linebackers that are out of position. They literally don’t know how to play behind this group. And that’s going to be a problem.”

My take — Lack of praise for Derek Landri?  The scout must be Trevor Laws.

LINEBACKER

“Like I said, this group has no idea how to play behind that line. Ray Lewis wouldn’t still be in the league if he didn’t have [defensive tackle] Haloti Ngata in front of him. Linebackers can’t fight off offensive linemen on their first step and make plays. That’s why DeMeco Ryans was so ineffective for them in the preseason. He really has no idea how to play behind this line.

“I watched the tape of the Cleveland game. Ryans played something like 15 snaps and didn’t make a single play. Meanwhile, Ryan Rau goes in there and blows up a running back on the second play and forces a fumble. Ryans bites on everything he sees. And when you do that, you take yourself right out of the play a lot of times.

“DeMeco just isn’t the same player he was before the injury, and I don’t think he’s ever going to be. I can’t see any scenario where he’s going to be successful, particularly behind this line.

“The only linebacker they’ve got who can play in this scheme right now is Mychal Kendricks. Because he’s got unusual speed and unusual instincts to really get through traffic and sort things out and get to the ball carrier.

“[Akeem] Jordan is playing because [Brian] Rolle kept blowing fuses. Now, why is that? Why is he not covering the back coming out of the backfield or not picking up the tight end coming across the formation? I don’t know. But it keeps happening to this defense.

“You can keep juggling linebackers, but it’s not about putting three individual players out there that are really good. It’s about three guys playing together and playing off one another and playing behind your defensive line. They don’t really seem to know how to protect themselves and play off each other.

“[Bears linebackers] Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs have played a hundred games together. [49ers linebackers] Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman have played 2 years together. They look like a tandem. They play well together. None of these guys have been playing well together.”

My take — I decided to rewatch the CLE game to re-check DeMeco Ryans.

1st play – he buzzes underneath slot receiver, pass goes elsewhere
2nd play – DT, DE combine for TFL…Ryans had no chance to do anything
3rd play – pass to outside where Rolle got lost
4th play – inside run where he lost sight of the runner…sloppy
5th play – off tackle run…Ryans was in position to make the stop, but Landri got the RB from behind
6th play – run away from him, got sealed by backside OG
7th play – pass play to sideline…covered underneath zone
8th play – ran away from him, fought through backside OG to get in on tackle late
9th play – quick pass to sideline
10th play – run play that was bounced way outside by CuJo…Ryans pursued, but RB went out of bounds
11th play – screen play that Landri blew up with sack/FF…Ryans was dealing with the FB on the play
change of possession
12th play – engaged pulling OL in backfield to help stuff a run
13th play – had excellent coverage of TE, but pass went downfield
14th play – had middle zone in coverage…ball went to WR behind him, but throw was off target

I saw nothing to make me worried about Ryans.  He didn’t impress, but just had one of those games where the ball doesn’t come your way.

As for Rau, he attacked upfield at the snap on his first two plays.  One was a play-action pass where he was out of position.  The other resulted in a TFL.  Looked great, but the coaches don’t want players attacking at the snap.  They must read plays, then attack the ball.  Moise Fokou attacked on the very first snap last year.  That put him in the wrong gap and gave Steven Jackson an interstate to the endzeone.

I do agree that Ryans will have to get used to playing in the Wide-9.  Ryans was up and down vs PIT as he was lost a few times.  I thought he played well vs NE and looked more comfortable.

I think the Eagles LBs are going to surprise some people this year.  I agree with the scout’s point about the need for continuity and learning to play with one another.  However, that has to start somewhere.  You can’t magically make guys veterans together.  Takes time.  I think Ryans and Kendricks are excellent choices.  Jordan earned his job with a strong summer.  We have yet to see them go out as a group and play together.  That’s the big test.

CORNERBACK

“I know a lot of people like Nnamdi Asomugha, but he doesn’t have good ball skills. There are three phases to a corner covering a receiver. You can win at the line of scrimmage. You can run with the guy. And then there’s the top of the route. What you do with balls in the air. And he’s just not good with balls in the air.

“He’s good at discouraging the throw. I watched him get beat by the Browns rookie [Josh Gordon] on a throw down the sideline. He never turned around when the ball was in the air or tried to finish it by stripping it. He’s just not very good at that.

“[Dominique] Rodgers-Cromartie is their best corner by far. I expect him to have a really good year. His breaks on the ball right now are razor-sharp. He’s very competitive. He’s in the position where he belongs. I think he’s a really good player. A complete player. You have to play him in the press position. He’s not the smartest guy. But in that role, he’s what you want. He’s close to being a real stud.

“[Brandon] Boykin is a natural corner inside or outside. He reads routes well. He’s very smart, very competitive, very athletic. I have no problem putting him on the field and letting him go play right now. He’s going to be a really good player.”

My take — He’s right about Nnamdi and ball skills.  DRC is our best CB by far?  Not so sure about that.  Interesting opinion.

SAFETY

“Along with linebacker, this, to me, is their biggest concern. Nate Allen is a good player, but you wonder about his ability to stay healthy. And Kurt Coleman is 190 pounds. I like Kurt Coleman. There’s nothing not to like about him. He’s aggressive. He’s a good tackler. He’s all over the place. But how long can a 190-pound safety stay healthy in this league? “[Jaiquawn] Jarrett’s not ready to play. I don’t know if he’ll ever be. But you can’t put him on the field right now. [Colt] Anderson is a terrific special teams player, but you really don’t want him taking too many snaps at safety, particularly coming off an ACL injury. I like the kid they got from the Browns, [David] Sims. But it’s going to take him a while to get up to speed.

“If Allen and Coleman can stay healthy, I think they’re pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. But that’s a big if. Because of their lack of depth, I think it’s a position of weakness right now.”

My take — Agree with most of what he says here.  I disagree about depth from one perspective…Jarrett and Sims are unknowns.  Jarrett looked horrible vs PIT, but was worlds better by the Jets game.  Will he continue to improve or is he a guy that is going to be at his peak vs backups?  Fair question, but the scout is assuming the negative answer.  As for Sims, yeah he’s new.  That doesn’t mean he’s not a quick learner or won’t be one of those freaks who fits in right away.  Depth is a mystery more than a definitive problem.  Could be a problem, but we won’t know for sure until we see them play.

OVERALL

The scout raises some interesting points and valid concerns.  I do think one of the problems here is that he’s got some stylistic differences with the way the Eagles are built.  He wants big, physical WRs and not our speed guys.  He doesn’t like the Wide-9.  He prefers CBs with strong ball skills.  And Vick isn’t his cup of tea.

I’m also a bit curious about how much emphasis he put on the preseason.  The Eagles studied DeMeco Ryans game tape from the final 6 or so weeks last year and really liked what they saw.  This scout isn’t impressed by 14 snaps vs CLE in the preseason.  He might prove to be right, but I’m not so sure.

I do appreciate reading an outsider’s perspective.  Always good to look at things differently and see what you might be missing.

* * * * *

David Syversten posted an article about some draft prospects to watch this weekend.

I posted Week 1 By the Numbers  – a look at the players who posted the big stats last weekend.


34 Comments on “A Scout’s Take on the Eagles”

  1. 1 Jeppe Elmelund van Ee said at 10:43 PM on September 7th, 2012:

    Tommy,
    Great post by you, but amazing post by Domo. I thought it was very interesting reading a pro guy talk about our beloved team in a objective way. Something I have to admit may be very hard even though most of us try.
    When I read the article at first, I almost couldn’t believe that the scout was for real, because his way of looking at our team was way off of how I view it. However I guess there are several angles to approach the strenghts and weaknesess.
    My one problem with all of this is this: I firmly believe that we have one of the top 8 teams in the league, talentwise. But reading the scouts notes, which you mostly agree on, I would’ve thought that he talked about a team that was about to go 4-12 in the season. And that is not gonna happen.
    I would love to read the same scout and his analysis of the Packers, and the Browns, just to get something to compare his notes with.
    Can you follow where I am going with this?

  2. 2 TommyLawlor said at 12:53 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Yeah, it always helps to be able to compare things. If he picked apart 10 teams, you could get a better feel for where he’s coming from. With just this, it feels like the scout is picking on the Eagles even though that isn’t the case.

  3. 3 James Aaron Thomas said at 11:21 PM on September 7th, 2012:

    Sounds like a bitter Falcons scout. It seems like he has something against Vick and some of the scheme items sounds like what they are building, namely big WR.

  4. 4 Patrick said at 1:07 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    All i could think about when i was reading it was that at some point, this scout had evaluated for the draft. It seems like whenever someone isn’t prototype, hes got a problem with it, without ever considering anything else. Vick is a highly unorthodox QB, just as Pat White, Armanti Edwards and all these other guys, no doubt about that, but the core difference is that Vick played QB well and he won. Same thing with DeSean and Mac, yeah you would like them to be 6’4 with the exact same skill set, but thats not how it works. Remember Limas Sweed from the same draftclass and round as DeSean? 6’4, 220 WR from a big school like Texas who ran a 4.45 and as far as i remember showed great hands, sounds like the perfect prospect and exactly what the scout wants. One player is out of, another is one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL.

    I do think theres some good points from a more negative perspective, but essentially its the same point weve heard all offseason with some arguments that fit what he wants to say. Vick needs to stay healthy and constistent, Dunlap need to step up and Mathis/Kelce needs to prove there not one season wonders, LB and Safety play must improve in order or us to stop the run and big plays. Nothing new: Vick, OL, LB and S, Tommy has been writing that since his first off-season post.

    In the end i think something has got to with the Skip Bayless argument. how many is gonna listen if you’re not saying anything that makes noise

  5. 5 Anders said at 4:23 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Agree, it just seems he dont like smaller WRs and dont like “wide nine” front, but somebody have yet to prove that smaller WRs is a problem for this offense because its not like we have problem moving the ball and scoring points.

  6. 6 A_T_G said at 9:57 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Right. But why would anyone in the Falcon’s organization be bitter? They cant be upset about MV, can they?

    Oh, right. I wonder how you say “sorry, we tried to warn you, at least it was only a seventh rounder” in Swahili?

  7. 7 Yuri said at 11:30 PM on September 7th, 2012:

    Wow, I agree this is one of the best “pre-season” posts by Tommy. It’s not a question of arguing with the Domo scout guy (point-counterpoint), but presenting the entire opinion with the “where is this guy coming from” angle helping understand the difference in perspective. In any case, it is a little naive to think that “an NFL scout for another team” would be more complimentary to the Eagles than a hypothetical “100% objective scout”

    The QB and WR opinion is clearly a matter of taste with some assertions likely to be false. There’s no better change to win with Coles than Vick, and sliding has not been an issue in Vick’s injuries as Sheil K keeps reminding us. The OL and Safety assessments could be true or not–answer is that we have to wait and see–I am personally optimistic (we are counting on veteran Eagles players and coaches), and I am not too worried about the corners either.

    To me (and it sounds like to Tommy also given the length of the rebuttal) the LBs are a big unknown / biggest potential concernt. There’s a silly comparison of Ryans vs Rau by the scout… but the overall concern is valid. Basically, we had a “proven” and long-term hole and to fix it, 1) Ryans and Kendricks both must be good and 2) LBs must play as a team–and we do not know if either is true.

  8. 8 Brian Winings said at 11:38 PM on September 7th, 2012:

    Great post.

  9. 9 Gary said at 12:16 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    I feel like this guy has made many conclusions about the Eagles that you simply can’t make yet, which is Tommy’s main counterpoint. Like how he says our safety depth is weak and Tommy counters by saying that it’s not weak, but unknown. I think this scout is simply too conclusive when so much remains up in the air.

  10. 10 Dan said at 9:39 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Personally I think its interesting to see an outsiders view of the team, because for good or bad some of it is accurate. Granted, I think its easier to peg the Eagles with a negative view atm since last year went the way it did, however us being homers miss points that were brought up because we focus on the good.

  11. 11 A_T_G said at 9:59 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Agreed, on all three points.

  12. 12 austinfan said at 1:01 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    What’s a QB’s job, move the ball and score points.

    In two years, and Vick put up the same numbers in 2011, he averaged 27 ppg and 400 ypg. That’s not good, that’s TOP 5 good, only 4 teams scored more points per game and only three had more yards per game in 2011.

    Problem in 2011? First 6 games there were too many turnovers, and Vick was part of the problem. After that, except for Arizona when Vick had broken ribs and threw two Ints, Eagles had a normal amount of turnovers. The beginning of 2011 was a cluster f—, Vick was getting used to a more complex role, Kelce was a rookie center who couldn’t give him much help, they had four linemen playing new positions with only a few days of practice. It’s not surprising that Vick looked much better at the end of the season when he had a chance to sit, absorb what happened, and learn from it.

    Is Vick elite? Not yet. Is he a top ten QB, pretty close.

    Compare Vick’s 2010-11 to Eli’s 2010-11, passing stats are almost exactly the same (Vick has a better TD-Int ratio), W-L, etc. Difference is Eli never got hurt, and got hot in the playoffs.

  13. 13 GermanEagle said at 6:59 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    I happen to believe MV7 is a top 10 QB, in fact he’s pretty close of being top 5. Here’s my personal ranking:
    1. Brady
    2. Rodgers
    3. Brees
    4. Manning (Eli)
    5. Manning (Peyton)

    6. Flacco
    7. VICK
    8. Stafford
    9. Newton
    10. Ryan

  14. 14 Dan said at 9:37 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    No way Flacco is above 8,9,10. If you are going of last year, then 8,9, & 10 would also be above Vick. Vick basically had a year last year like Eli in ’10 with the turnovers. He also needs to top passing 30 tds at least to be considered imo.

  15. 15 GermanEagle said at 1:26 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    I think when it’s all said and done, Flacco will be considered a top 5 QB after leading the ravens to the super bowl.

    Just out of curiosity though, which QBs would you rank ahead of michael Vick?

  16. 16 McMVP said at 1:16 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Like Tommy, I agree and disagree with this paticular scouts’s take. I’m no expert, but I feel his conclusions on Ryans are premature. Was he making his opinion just on the Cleveland game? If so…not enough.

    I agree with the scout more than Tommy when it comes to the take on Vick. I’m not going to give Vick a ‘9-7’ label…but I do get where the guy is coming from.

    One poster said this scout review sounded as if it was a 4-12 prediction. I disagree. It didn’t sound ‘that’ bad to me. I think the issue is he sees problems where us fans don’t…or don’t want to. It doesn’t mean he’s right…but I agree with Tommy that it’s good to see another point of view.

  17. 17 Phils Goodman said at 2:32 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Are we sure this scout wasn’t really FakeWIPcaller?

  18. 18 FrenchEagles said at 4:47 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    It’s exactly what I had posted on the last comment section about this! Maybe FakeWIPScout?

  19. 19 Anders said at 1:26 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    shouldnt it be FakeNFLScout? 😛

  20. 20 T_S_O_P said at 3:12 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Personally, I detected some hate from the author. Celeb benefited from being next to Peters? Wouldn’t he have been on Herreman’s side when staying into block more often than not? What I got was – “I don’t like Vick and thus I don’t like his team.”

  21. 21 FrenchEagles said at 4:53 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Tommy, really nice post in order to answer to all his points. The thing I see here is, if there is a real scout here, he just want to sell and tell things that show he is interesting. There are some criticisms that are just here for free, and the positive aspects are always put aside, like: “OK, there is that, buuut…”. Even for the DL he’s doing that: “Yes they’re good, buuuuut think of the LB!”. And after that he’ll discuss about the LB once again…

  22. 22 T_S_O_P said at 6:28 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Answering a sceptical US journalist on the success rate of his fighter force, Dowding (L Olivier) states – QUOTE I don’t care much for propoganda… If we’re right they’ll give up. If we’re wrong, they’ll be in London in a week.

    This what I sensed reading this.

  23. 23 sonofdman said at 7:20 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    What I don’t get is this: “But you’ve got a small quarterback throwing to small receivers. It makes it tough.”

    I understand the concerns about small wide receivers and I understand the concerns about a small QB, but I don’t get how they are related. How would having a big QB do anything to alleviate the problems with having small receivers?

  24. 24 Dan said at 9:35 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    The problem is that the QB can’t see over the line and can’t see his receivers since they are shorter too, so might take longer for plays to progress and more chances you miss things.

  25. 25 A_T_G said at 9:51 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    But that is just silly. If Maclin was a few inches taller, Vick could see him over 6’10” Dunlap? If you draw a line from the QBs eyes to the top of the WRs helmet and put a lineman in the way, changing the height of the receiver doesn’t change anything (unless you make him apartment building tall), only changing the eye level of the QB, because of how close the lineman is.

    Tall WR have plenty of advantages, being able to compensate for the QB being short isn’t one of them.

    If Vick were 6’6″, I think this guy would say his passes are hard to catch because they have a downward trajectory.

  26. 26 sonofdman said at 2:21 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    Thanks ATG. That is exactly my point.

  27. 27 nicolajNN said at 8:15 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    I think this scout chooses to focus on the negatives/problems which is fine, but as Jeppe said I would like to see his opinion on other teams to compare with.

    One thing on Tight Ends though. When saying Brent and Clay aren’t good blocker what’s the comparison? Other Tight Ends or O-line players? If you compare them to OLs then almost no Tight Ends are good blockers, but if the comparison is other Tight Ends I would say that both Brent and Clay are good at blocking. The scout kind of says this with: “Better than a lot of Tight Ends” I just think starting out with saying they are not good blockers is odd then.

  28. 28 nicolajNN said at 8:26 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Another thing not related to this post is your take on the running back situation.

    Before the preseason people were excited about Brown and Polk, and thought Lewis maybe wouldn’t make the team. I didn’t buy it and with his play in the preseason Lewis but a stop to it. But now some believe he could be the odd man out and be inactive on game-day. Why? I know he’s injured right now, but even if that was not the case some think he could be inactive.

    Lewis was a higher draft pick(not that it means too much) has one year of experience, a year where he played well save for kick returning, and played at least as well in the preseason as Polk and Brown. Is it his size or does the kick returning still leave people with a sour opinion on him? I don’t get it.

    In short, who would you have as the 3 active backs if everyone was healthy? And why?

  29. 29 A_T_G said at 9:43 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    Who are the people saying these things? I dont watch television, but I didn’t read any articles about cutting Lewis. I saw a few opinions about such nonsense in the comments, but we all know that commenters should be ignored like the seagulls at the Jersey shore begging for the last of your hotdog bun.

    The same reason I never was a fan of us looking for a change of pace back as the #2 all those years is why Lewis needs to be active. The primary job of the backup is to be able to replace the starter. Brown and Polk can’t be trusted to do that yet. All the change of pace, homerun threat, short yardage, versitility, power back, special teams, closer arguments are secondary to replacement, in my opinion.

  30. 30 nicolajNN said at 10:03 AM on September 8th, 2012:

    On twitter, Elliot from BGN expressed that Lewis could be inactive after Marty raved about Brown and Polk but didn’t talk much about Lewis, Mosher also wouldn’t be surprised if Polk was active over Lewis because of ST play.

    And I agree, the back-up should be there to replace the starter and Lewis is best suited for that

  31. 31 ACViking said at 1:14 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    T-Law:

    I sort of chuckled at the scout’s remarks.

    Why? ‘Cause football isn’t baseball.

    Why have Welker and Branch thrived with Brady? Because he’s a great QB, they run good routes, and the O-line provides pass protection.

    Two years ago, Reggie Waynes and Pierre Garcon — the scout’s kind of WR — looked great. After Peyton Manning couldn’t play, those WRs weren’t very good anymore . . . because the Colts were terrible.

    In the late 90’s – early ’00s, the Broncos routinely turned out 1300 yard runners — because they had some pretty decent linemen, a great scheme, and they executed.

    Same for the defensive side.

    Concrete Charlie Bednarik (in his prime) could be the Eagles’ MLB and, if the DL don’t have some talent and — more important — execute the scheme, Bednarik would look like a “has been”.

    Football is all about concerted execution, not individual performance.

    So I take everything reportedly said by that scout with a grain of salt — putting aside any bias he may have and the fact we have no clue what his record is evaluating teams and talent . . . a fairly important item, I’d say.
    ___________________

    The “small receiver” prototype was established by the Eagles own Tommy McDonald, whose most important catch was on Van Brocklin’s beautifully thrown 35 yard TD on a corner route on an icy Franklin Field in the 1960 championship game.

    In 1960, McDonald caught only 39 passes — but 13 went for TDs. He did that in a 12-game season and when receivers were fair game for defenders both before and after they caught the ball, no matter where on the field.

    McDonald’s 1960 season yielded the 3rd best scoring percentage in post-NFL/AFL history for pass receivers with at 10 TDs — just one half of a percent behind Jerry Rice’s 1987 season of 65 catches for 22 TDs (McDonald – 33.3% v. Rice – 33.8%).

    At the top is former Seahawk Daryl Turner — a prototypical WR who Domo’s scout would love: 6’3, 200 lbs, 4.4 40 time. He played in the early ’80s
    and was the classic shooting star . . . with a very bad crack habit.

    In 1985, Turner had only 34 receptions but
    13 TDs (38.23%). In 1984, Turner had 10 TDs on just 35 catches
    (28.6%). In 1986, he had 7 TDs on 18 catches (38.9%). And in his final
    season, he had 6 TDs on just 14 catches (42.9%). In all, he scored 36 TDs in 59 games on just 101 receptions (career: 35.6%).

    Next in line after Tommy McD is former Eagles WR — traded as part of the Roman Gabriel deal in 1973 — Harold Jackson. Like McDonald, Jackson was about 5’9, 170 lbs. In 1973, in his first season in LA, Jackson caught only 40 balls for 13 TDs (32.5%). In ’73, the Rams added new coach Chuck Knox, along with former Chargers QB John Hadl and Jackson. They were a dominant running team with FB Lawrence McCutcheon and HB Jim Bertelson and a great defense.

    No. 4 is former LSU great and 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, who in 1967 caught 10 TDs on only 32 receiptions (31.25%) as a TE for the Oakland Raiders. A back injury had forced Cannon to move from RB to TE.

  32. 32 Zach said at 2:43 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    Can’t stand these type of articles is 90% negative, 5% neutral, and 5% positive. I’m glad you write this blog and are able to sift through the pile of crap, yet still agree with this negative nancy on rational concerns.

  33. 33 ACViking said at 3:02 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    The scout on whom Domowitch bases his opinion may be a 1st-year guy. A last-year guy. Or he may be working for his 8th team in 9 years.

    We have no clue as to the scout’s quality. His bias. His agenda. Or anything thing else. (The guy may have grown up a Cowboys fan for all we know.)

    Domowitch wrote a superficially appealing story that had lots of hits on the internet, but which cheats the reader out of all the most crucial information concerning his source.

    Jeez, in a court of law, where we’d get at least a modicum of information to provide some foundation for valuing what the scout said, Domowitch’s story would be laughed out the door (no offense intended).
    ___________________

    Where I live, I often hear it said that “even a blind squirrel can find an acorn once in awhile.”

    So this scout may have hit on a few “evaluations.” But even a blind squirrel . . . .
    ___________________

    With all the respect due Domowitch, this column is not in the same league as a T-LAW post. Thank you very much.

  34. 34 jmh said at 3:26 PM on September 8th, 2012:

    Who pissed in this guy’s coffee? Obviously we suck at every position, so why are we even playing the games? .Better yet, let’s just stand JP out on the field, because apparently everyone is so much better just by being in his presence? Do I have questions and concerns about this team? Sure. Does losing the best OT in the game hurt? Yes. But this guy is just a wanker.