Wide Friggin’ Open
Posted: April 6th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 253 Comments »I had some ideas on what might happen in free agency. I wasn’t anywhere close to reality. Chip Kelly made moves that I would have never come up with.
Because of that, I’m as excited for this draft as any I can remember. I wrote about that for PE.com.
There were times when Andy Reid would throw me a curve ball, but I generally knew what he was doing. Same with Howie Roseman. I don’t mean that I could predict every pick, but I had a good feel for the players they would like and when they might go after them.
I have some very basic ideas with Chip, but I also realize he could do shocking things in the draft. He could trade up, he could trade down. He could make surprising choices. The actual draft board was mostly put together by Ed Marynowitz and the scouting department so this isn’t as if Chip Kelly is going to take a long snapper in the 2nd round and then spend a 3rd round pick on a kid from Oregon that the rest of the league sees as a UDFA.
The scouts are looking for Chip Kelly’s type of players so there won’t be a lot of 5-9 CBs or 230-pound Safeties in the mix. But the scouts are grading players in a conventional way. They started this process last spring. Howie was the GM and ran the scouting department. Chip took over in January. I’m sure he communicated to the scouts what he was looking for, but he couldn’t completely overhaul how they graded players in a matter of days. I don’t know if Kelly even wants to do that. He’s just very specific with what he is looking for.
With Kelly running the show, the draft is wide open. Just about anything can happen. It will almost be disappointing if the teams stays put at every pick and makes seemingly normal selections. After the flurry of pro personnel moves, I think we all expect at least one pick where we say “What is Chip thinking?”.
Less than a month away.
Are you starting to get excited.
* * * * *
If the Eagles miss out out on CBs Trae Waynes and Kevin Johnson, and they don’t like Marcus Peters (possible character issues), I hope they go for Eric Rowe over Byron Jones. I love Jones athletic ability, but Rowe is smarter and more instinctive as a player. I value that in DBs.
The more I watch of Rowe, the more he grows on me. He’s not an elite corner or special player, but there is a lot to like about him.
* * * * *
Someone in the comments section found this snippet on Nick Saban.
What makes Saban such a fantastic coach is that he recruits players who fit his system. One example that I read in The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football, is that Saban follows what he called “the blueprint” for success. According to the book, Andy Staples in Sports Illustrated, stated that the “blueprint targeted high school athletes who fit certain character/attitude/intelligence criteria and position-specific height/weight/speed guidelines tailored to Alabama’s offensive and defensive schemes. Cornerbacks, for example, should ideally be between six feet and six feet two inches and about 190 pounds and run a sub-4.5 forty-yard dash; linemen should stand no less than six feet two because as ( Kirby) Smart (defensive coordinator) drily noted, ‘big people beat up little people.’”
They state that they might not be interested in guys who might be five-star players as seen by recruiting websites, if they don’t fit their parameters at Alabama. Smart states, “Sure there are exceptions to the rule, but we don’t want a team full of exceptions.”
Sounds very familiar, huh?
Just interesting to hear how much coaches can think alike, despite being very different.
_
Can’t wait to see what Chip does come draft day!
Mark F. – Any chance you are from NEPA?
570 represent.
Same here-Carbondale!!
Not there anymore, but grew up in White Haven.
Where you located?
No sir, Delaware born and raised, now stuck in this god-awful humid swamp that most of the idiots around here who drive like cracked-out asian women texting on 3 cell phones simultaneously call south Florida…
Good article and I mostly agree. I’m going to disagree on the — “The actual draft board was mostly put together by Ed Marynowitz and the scouting department” — comment. There is no way, no chance the board is “mostly” anybody other than Chip. Mr. Detail is going to let someone else put together a list, and infer that Chip will be picking from that list? Let me check on those odds. Zero. Chip isn’t sitting somewhere and saying — OK, Mayo, I’ll sit here and you guys go do you work and report back to me. Chip knows who he wants. Chip knows who he wants to target. Mayo and Co. do their diligence on Chips orders – on those players. Chip will counsel Mayo, sure – no question. But that’s it. Let’s not start with the ‘who was drafted on Mayo’s advice’. This is all Chip, all the time.
……
I’m not saying Chip is always right or I’m following Chip blindly. But this is Chip’s boat. The rest are just rowing….
I also wouldn’t put it past Chip to completely overhaul the player grading system since January…
I think Chip has his own grading system. I think that’s where T-Law talks that his staff probably has the ‘old’ grading system and Chips has to combine the two for this year.
I’m guessing Chip doesn’t have time to thoroughly look at every prospect, considering he needs to be looking at tape of other NFL teams all the time for next season, watch tape of his own guys, and handle day-to-day GM responsibilities. Yeah, he’ll look a little into lower-round prospects, but he won’t know them like he does the guys on Day 1.
No, I don’t think Chip does either. I don’t think anybody can. I’d imagine Chip has his “A” list of players and those, he’s directly involved with. Players where the OL coach does an individual work out, that’s by Chips direction. Chip already knows about that kid and wants visual confirmation.
….
Maybe that’s where Chip will learn to trust his staff with later round pics? Just a guess. But I don’t think there’s anybody that the staff can return with(as a suggestion) a player name that surprise Chip. Would Chip go 100% on someone else’s word? Maybe – but not this year.
Not 100%, but perhaps 60%. When it gets to late round picks and undrafted picks, maybe that figure is more like 80% reliant on someone else’s words, whether it’s an assistant coach or a scout.
I really hope he isn’t micro managing his college scouting department. Not only is it not what he has made his name at, but since there are guys present who have, it isn’t the best use of his time. Do I expect he should be doing ton of work in that department and be very well informed? Of course. Just to hear the hours those guys put in though, I just can’t see him personally knowing every detail of every player.
Chip has hired a staff, he needs take accept grades and opinions, and make moves based on the intel his staff gathers. If they provide bad intel, they are axed. Hope he is trusting his people to do their jobs.
I do think, in time, Chip will mold his staff exactly how he wants to grade them. For this year though, I don’t think Chip can afford to say “Mayo – I need a guard, go find one” and Mayo comes back with a list and Chip except that list. In time, I do think Mayo can come back and tells Chip that he found “they one” and Chip will except it….
….
If Chip accepted, or was open, to be their opinions — why didn’t it work with Howie? It’s not like Chip thought Howie was lying, it had to be an issue with what Chip wanted and what Howie wanted.
“why didn’t it work with Howie?”
Howie wasn’t white enough.
LOL. Is Mayo?
“Whisper down the lane” – Howie was just another filter where information could be lost or distorted. Looking at the article it seems as if Mayo will be working with Chip the same way he worked with Saban. Take Chip’s “Blue Print” and find the players that fit it best and were productive at big schools. Then do the background checks/character evaluations. Setup the board and go over it with Chip and roll into the draft with that, with Chip making the final call when each pick comes up.
That gets back to the trust thing. Doubt that Howie had much of a feel for CK’s prioritization of metrics. Howie studied player evaluation watching Joe Banner and Andy Reid. To borrow from Brett Smith 5 hours ago in this thread, “the Big Red plucky, high-motor midgets” were a staple before CK. And to be fair, Howie was educated to be a lawyer who coveted GM responsibilities, and he came pretty late to player evaluation. I would bet he is watching and learning all that is playing out. EM has much more experience, as a player, and primarily as Saban’s capo.
Mark Helfrich found Mariota. He promoted MM to Chip who approved his acquisition. MM showed promise but not against top teams. He had problems with footwork and other things. But Chip trusted Helfrich. The rest is history.
Remember in this draft Chip is also relying on input from position coaches as well as Mayo. I’m sure they have a “if this then that” matrix based on several scenarios. I’ve shared some of them here but we will never be sure until things unfold real time. Trade up and trade down scenarios are all in the matrix btw.
Remember Mayo was trusted by Nick Saban in recruiting, so not like he hasnt done something similar before and add that it seems Saban and Kelly looks for some of the same things in recruits/draft picks and it should be smooth transition
I was hoping you’d chime in here as I trust your words. I do think, trusting a college scout is different than trusting an NFL scout. College has 1000’s and 1000’s of prospects to choose from. NFL, you’re not digging that deep. The players are more or less in front of you.
….
Chip has a lot riding on this draft. Maybe the most important draft of his career. Maybe the most important pick with his 1st pick. Chip already knows(mostly) about all the players. He’s not going to rely on someone(say Mayo) to come to with a player — Joe Schmo(real name :)) and Chip trust that he can draft him. I just can’t buy any GM doing something like that. Chip is already in a class(thinker) by himself.
….
If everything else CK does is unconventional, how can he handle the draft — conventionally? I’m not buying it :).
eagleyankfan – While Chip does have a strong personality, he’s not a dictator with his people. While I will concede he probably has the final say, he’s going to trust the due diligence of scouts, assistants, and Mayo.
Having said the above, I really expect more than one WTF moments. His selection criteria for need are the big unknown. Factor in trade up and trade down scenarios, then you get lots of uncertainty. We are going to be surprised and some us very angry – especially if there are key starters in the deals. 😉
well, I think you got me. I do view CK as a dictator. Not someone using a whip but someone that’ll say something like — yes, you did represent a great idea and proposed a great candidate, however, my player likes green drinks. I’m thinking, the pick will be CK’s guy who like green drinks. I don’t think anybody will argue with CK over a player he likes. But like I said — you know him better an I’ll concede my ‘dictator’ thoughts…..oh, and I’ll be surprised and angry IF we have a boring draft. I expect more fireworks 🙂
As confident as you are, I think you’d be wrong. From an interview last year with Kelly on PE.com:
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Quotes-Head-Coach-Chip-Kelly/4140a43f-c8e7-4f4f-bb85-b5a0cc186191
Although this article refers to positional coaches, I can only imagine it applies to the entire organization. I think that’s the reason he took so long to hire Ed. He wasn’t looking for a yes man, he was looking for someone who understood his system, and the types of players he wanted, and could find them for him so he didn’t have to spend all that time doing it himself. It just so happens that that person was already inside his organization.
I can’t agree with that at all. First — was those answer before or AFTER he demoted HR? Second, I don’t think he will micromanage the positional coaches, it’s the ‘higher up the chain’ that he’ll micro manage for awhile. (like Mayo).
….
This is Chips first year in charge. There’s no way Chip is going to allow a draft to happen purely on the word of his people. Chip positioned himself in charge for a reason. If Chip didn’t want to be in charge(or micro-manage the players he wants), why all the changes with Howie? Everything happens for a reason. Chip wanted more control. “More control” doesn’t mean he’s going to let his staff determine the list players Chip can choose from.
….
You trust everything Chip says? I think we’ve learned that Chip is the master of talking. “Foles is our QB for the next 1,000 years”. I think it was ODuck that said we have to learn the game Chip plays. Part of that ‘game’ is the interviews….
No one is
saying that he’s putting it all out of his hands. I’m saying that there probably is a pretty
good chance that the draft board is put together by the scouting staff. I think we’d both agree that Chip is the guy
who makes the picks, but I can’t imagine that he’d interfere with his
professional scouting department in putting together a list of players that CK
would like, with assigned values. The
whole point of the moves was to get someone Chip trusted in there, and
understood the types of players he wanted, so that they could work
autonomously, and he wouldn’t have to micromanage. No human being in the world has enough time
in the offseason to be an NFL head coach and also do all the scouting and put
together a draft board. Micromanaging is
the sign of a poor leader. You can build
a house of cards on your own, but you have to build a house of rock with help
(trademark that shit, you saw it on IB first).
He always
defers to people on issues he doesn’t know a lot about. Its like how he lets Billy D do his own thing
on defense. It’s the same with draft
value. He has no idea what the hell he’s
doing, and I’d hope someone as smart as him has the sense to defer to other
people, if the rumors of his value on players from last year’s draft are
true.
You can say that you can never believe a word
CK says in his interviews, but lets put a little context to the situation. Most of the misinformation or misleading
statements we’ve got from Chip have been about personnel moves, and that’s
pretty evident if you look back. But he
has ALWAYS been straight-forward about his philosophy as a HC and as a football
mind. The statement I linked clearly
falls under this category. You can
believe him if you want, but looking at the history, odds are that this is a
truthful statement.
That formatting is what you get when you try and type up a long response in outlook as a faux email to mask what you’re doing at work.
no worries. And we can agree to disagree here. There is no way that Chip put the entire list of draftees , especially their 1st choice(whether 1st or second round) in Mayo’s hands. That just wouldn’t be Chip. Chip is the guy that has his players walking on specific parts of the lawn. Chip is the guy that has the players drinking specific drinks. I don’t think there’s 1 ounce of a chance of the 1st picks, of Chips 1st year, being a list made up from Mayo….
Agreed. Thats the fun part about CK. Its fun to debate what he’s actually doing, and know we’ll only ever know the results of those actions, not the actions themselves.
He’s going to drive us mad. LOL.
2 things on this subject: Since Chip hired Marynowitz and EM answers to Chip, it is obviously out of the question that anyone but Chip makes the draft pick calls. And since EM was hired because he knows what Chip is looking for, it is very likely that there is little daylight between their player assessments. Where there is, we know who wins the opinion battle.
Even the players tell CK what they think will work better, he seems to be approachable.
Meh, i think he has input on the front and back end of the draft. The consensus 1st rounders you definitely want your boss’ seal of approval, and I am sure Chip has a bunch of guys in the late rounds that he gets excited for (i.e. Beau Allen was Howie/Chips pick?)
I don’t think, there’s any chance, his staff will come to him and say “pick this guy at 20” and Chip say – ok, I’ll do that(re: boss’ approval). I think it’s the other way around. I think Chip says “I want that guy” or “research the top(for example) 5 cb’s” and Chip will pick.
….
I don’t think there’s any chance Mayo comes back and says “here are your first round targets”. That’s not to say Mayo isn’t doing his job. Chip “having final say” doesn’t mean Chip will chose from a list of players Mayo has. Chip knows who he wants. Mayo won’t talk him out of it…
Go check out a photo posted on 24/7. It clearly shows at least 3 different Eagles executives, including Chip, talking with a draft prospect.
“The other two men pictured are defensive coordinator Billy Davis and Eagles senior football advisor Tom Donahoe.”
If Chip is as smart as people think, he would always look for advice from people he trusts. Any intelligent CEO or upper management individual does the same. We read frequently about Chip consulting other coaches and GMs, etc. It’s how the smart ones get to the top.
Aw, never mind. If you actually want to know how Chip thinks, instead of how we think, just check this out.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/Philadelphia_Eagles_Chip_Kelly_Profile.html
They cynic in me would say — “including Chip”. Who’s educating who? Is Chip training them? If that picture doesn’t include Chip and the Eagles were to draft him, my opinion would be different. Chip is doing as much as the dirty work as the main scouts. If he was to trust his scouts, why would he be there? (again, maybe in the future when CK trains them, there would be no need for him to be there)
There’s trust and there’s blind trust. My impression is Kelly trusts his own eyes and gut feelings, but he isn’t going to do that in a vacuum. I bet some HC’s and some GM’s do depend almost entirely on their personnel departments, but Kelly wants to see for himself, and get as much background info and insight into anybody he might pick. He would need a lot of assistance for such an ambitious and busy personal agenda.
Shady at the Bills OTs
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CB6UWl3UEAEUHfy.jpg
Gonna be weird to see him in Buffalo. Shame he couldn’t be traded to a better organization. The Bills are only one tier above Cleveland and Jacksonville in the factory of sadness rankings.
Edit: oh and Oakland. How could I forget Oakland?
It is our body’s natural desire to eliminate useless information. Oakland is definitely useless.
Bills are kind of like the cubs of the NFL. Lovable losers.
“Someone in the comments section found this snippet on Nick Saban.”
Someone? Come on, Tommy. Getting mentioned in an article is a big deal.
Yeah, “someone” really missed their chance to shine. Haha. Sorry I shouldn’t laugh about that.
yeah, that was me, but I saw it quoted at OverTheCap
Credit is due for sharing with the rest of us!
Credit is due for sharing with the rest of us!
No it wasn’t me, if that is what you found funny.
Nah it was more of a Schadenfreude thing. I’m terrible that way, always finding sadistic humor in the misfortunes of others.
“…and then spend a 3rd round pick on a kid from Oregon that the rest of the league sees as a UDFA.”
Oh I wouldn’t be so sure about that.
Ugh, Saban. The guy had one good year at Michigan State in 1999 before he went to the SEC and put on a recruiting tear with 4 and 5-star recruits. I’m sure some has to do with his personality, some on the high profile schools, and some on payment to players/families. Here is his recruiting ranking and win/loss record:
NA -1995 – Michigan State, 6-5-1
NA- 1996 – Michigan State, 6-6
NA – 1997 – Michigan State, 7-5
NA – 1998 – Michigan State, 6-6
NA – 1999 – Michigan State, 10-2
#21 – 2000 – LSU, 8-4
#2 – 2001 – LSU, 10-3
#21 – 2002 – LSU, 8-5
#3 – 2003 – LSU, 13-1
#3 – 2004 – LSU, 9-3
NA – 2005 – Miami Dolphins, 9-7
NA – 2006 – Miami Dolphins, 6-10
#13 – 2007 – Alabama, 7-6
#3 – 2008 – Alabama, 12-2
#2 – 2009 – Alabama, 14-0
#1 – 2010 – Alabama, 10-3
#1 – 2011 – Alabama, 12-1
#1 – 2012 – Alabama, 13-1
#1 – 2013 – Alabama, 11-2
#1 – 2014 – Alabama, 12-2
#1 – 2015 – Alabama
So in Saban’s last 14 years of coaching college, he has had only three teams not ranked in the top three for recruiting. Anything about him being a genius coach and how he recruits guys should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s easy to say you are picky recruiting guys who fit you’re mold when every 4 and 5 star recruit wants to play (get paid) by/for Alabama.
One thing about recruiting rankings is that if a 3 star athlete is ptiched by Bama, he might end up as a 4 star recruit, therefor Bama ends high just by the fact a few of their guys get an extra star just for been recruited by them.
You could argue that point for any top program in the country.
My point is that Saban is a lot like Belichick…both are revered by the media as coaching/program geniuses. We cannot know for sure for about Saban as it appears he will always have great players. Belichick, on the other hand, can be more fairly judged once Brady retires and we see how he coaches without a Hall of Fame qb.
Counter argument is looking at a coach like Mike McCarthy, he has arguable the best QB in the NFL, yet the Packers are no where near as well coached as Pats as can be seen in the Packers win% and play off success compared to the Pats
I don’t think many will argue that McCarthy is a great coach. I’ll add John Fox to that list too. They are still employed because of their QBs, not their coaching prowess. Again, when Brady retires, we’ll see whether Belichick is really that good.
I think the Belicheat is really good though i doubt his teams would constantly make the playoffs without Brady.
He did go 11-5 with Matt Cassell
Bellicheck has the defensive chops to put any team with an okay offense in contention. Brady may have helped his HC status, but Bellicheck has certainly assisted in Brady’s accomplishments. His approach to teaching and implementing defense is very sound.
Kelly: “Saban … you magnificent bastard, *I read your book!*”
so much for chip kellys “wet dream” of this time last year lol
..
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen says the Browns have mostly “moved on” from Johnny Manziel.
Just one year after taking Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick, the Browns appear to be throwing in the towel. “When they were putting together half of a new offensive staff, Manziel’s name barely even came up in conversation,” Mort said. SI’s Peter King chimed in Monday, saying Mort’s take is 100 percent accurate and that Josh McCown in the “dominant talking point” in the organization. Furthermore, it’s been confirmed the Browns were (and may still be) trying to trade for Sam Bradford. Manziel is coming out of rehab and entering a steep climb on the depth chart…roto
..
oh how the mighty have fallen! “you gotta come draft me so we can WRECK THIS LEAGUE TOGETHER!” bwahahahaha more like WRECK THE BROWNS franchise together…
..
dont get me started on the GREAT Justin Gilbert… everyones favorite “athlete” last year
If they start with #12 and change, then maybe we start talking about where to go from there.
Manziel had bust written all over him from the start. Childish, party boy, more interested in fame and cocaine than hard work, not talented enough for the NFL anyhow.
The “magic” he had in college was never going to translate to the NFL. He isn’t athletic enough to make the same plays in the pros as college. If he had Michael Vick athleticism he might have been something but he doesn’t.
Or the drive to be great. His work habits didn’t seem to lend themselves to future success. You can get by on athleticism when you have talent around you in college football. In the pros, you need to bring more to the table.
Manziel never really looked like a football player to me. When I saw him on tv accepting the Heisman I just didn’t think he looked like a football player.
i hope to see him at the age of like 75, he could look really funny, like something out of the hobbit.. Big nose, pot belly, big ears, hair growing out of his nose and ears… really hope i get to see him at the age of 75. lol need to put his face in one of those advance age simulators lol
didnt stop our media and half the fanbase to think he was chip kellys dream QB, only a year ago… But yes, I agree, and I would have agreed with THAT statement before he was ever drafted..
..
I cant even believe how grossly over rated he wasin just about every way possible, and whats scary is, it was pretty obvious… yet half of the media members we listen to this time of year thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread to the point that chip would trade up for him….
…
Its BAD when even Jerry Jones and the cowboys were smart enough not to draft you, yet so many media members we take que’s from today thought the kid was going to be great… and i dont see how this all wasnt obvious…
..
the browns drafting him was just perfect.
..
Im not even sure if Manziel was a better prospect then Tebow, and thats bad,.,,
yeah can you imagine what their background check said? I think CLE got him just for the season tickets, I can’t hate the pick. We’ll see if he’s changed when he comes out.
who you think was a better QB prospect entering the NFL, Tebow, Manziel? they are so bad, I cant even guess which was worse..
..
justin Gilbert and Manziel were the worst two picks in the draft, both Browns,… its one thing if you cant play as a rookie, QB and CB arent easy positions to transition to the NFL level…. but If you cant play as a Rookie AND you are a character concern, poor work ethic, low football IQ, thats just rock bottom for a first round pick. but at least Gilbert actually had round 1 athleticism.size… manziel has round 1 NOTHING
hahah, wow. I didn’t watch Tebow’s pro day,would be interested to see what that looked like. As a GM i wouldn’t be interested in “changing players”. What mobile QB has EVER become a pocket passer?
Personally I hope that recovery is the first step in Manziel getting his stuff together and having an NFL career.
its really that bad… how Tebow and Manziel got drafted in round 1 I will never know…. the classic great college, crap NFL player and it was so obvious to see. Id rather have Blaine Gabbert and Akili Smith
josh huff, Taylor Hart… yeah i dont believe for one second that this is the FIRST Chip draft… blame howie if we want, but i dont believe for one second that howie drafted a single player chip didnt love..
..
my guess, we see this draft look alot like the first two, questionable “reaches” that we have to wait and see if prove to be genius, or foolish..
..
but I dont mean to sound negative about it… I like the 2013 draft, and last years draft has some kids I still believe in who were drafted knowing they wouldnt be able to play as rookies, Hart, Marcus… i just dont believe that its now any more wide open then before, because i bet howie was more then accomodating on players and just challenged chip on round value.. but we will know soon… Lane Johnson, Marcus Smith… IMO they were more predictable picks than any andy reid draft. I never could get a read on what undersized d2 player from bumble fuck andy was going to draft… chips Pac-12 /big school fetish, and measurables make it easier then predicting andy who often didnt follow commons sense,.. of course the interview process, football intelligence is what makes figuring out who we will pick challenging…odds are, he demonstrated football intelligence on the blackboard and probably graduated
knowing the Eagles had 3(at least) solid players at a position, was Marcus a BPA or “future” pick? Doesn’t sound like it was a need pick. Future pick(?). I wonder, even though there were needs last year, that they didn’t like any player to fill that need. That could be the case this year too. So many variables, so many players…glad it’s not me :).
Do we use that thinking in trying to guess this years 1st round pick? Meaning, do you think Chip will draft for a position, say like OT knowing he won’t play much this year? Or you think Chip has a targeted name he wants and will move up for him? Tough to figure this out…lol….
I think the draft threw them off. He would have taken matthews, but Howie said take a pass rusher and this was the next guy up i guess — it was basically a “free pick” is how i see it. Maybe chip would have preferred to use the first and second to jump up and grab someone, who knows.
OLB was much more of a hole last April than people seem to remember.
Graham wasn’t very good as an OLB in 2013, he was a liability in coverage, and didn’t do much as a pass rusher either. It was very possible that he would be moved if he didn’t have a good camp.
Cole was up there in age and Barwin needed to get more of a breather (he played 151 fewer snaps in 2014).
whoever was going to draft the kid knew he wouldnt play as a rookie, and about half of the edge rushers that come to the NFL need to spend their first season getting strong enough to be able to play the position at the NFL level..
..
heck, go to an archive a year ago, id bet its not hard to find a post of me talking about Marcus leading up to the draft, and I always talked about how he would need year 1 to get stroinger, which is why we draft him last year when we had 3 ballers at his position, knowing we could be in position to really NEED him this year if we lost both Cole and BG… He was always drafted, knowing that AT BEST, all you would get was a situational 3rd down rusher maybe the second half of his rookie year and possibly play Special teams… just so happened we might have had an all time great ST, with dudes whith his body type who were playing like Beasts on Teams last year, James Casey, Burton, Braman, BG… its kind of hard to complain that as a rookie he didnt play on one of the better special teams I ever friggin seen… now if our ST was average, and he didnt play, we wiould have a problem,… but the kid grew up playing QB, probably means he didnt grow up playing as much ST as most kids..
…
A Major Major Major part of why he didnt play last year was him NOT BEING strong ENOUGH!!, WELL thats not that hard to fix, sounds silly to rule out a kid because we cant wait a year to gain strength, especially when he was always going to be a kid that wouldnt be able to play much as a rookie, which is why the eagles were smart to draft him last year, knowing that THIS year we may have lost both Cole and BG…
…
hopefully by the end of this year, the kid will show everyone obvious top 50 talent, and leaves everyone feeling good about him by the end of the season..and that we all go into the 2016 season expecting a major breakout year from him..
..
its really not THAT uncommon to spend top picks on edge rushers who need to get stronger their rookie year before ever starting to pay dividends.,.. Its one of the hardest College to NFL transition positions along with CB,
…
Its hard for me to complain that he wasnt getting any pass rush opportunities by the end of his rookie season, when Brandon Graham wasnt even getting enough snaps, and he was BALLING!!!
who knows what going to happen.. i dont think we willl go into it mapping out our plan of attack by position….. I assume like last year we will have 6-8 players targeted who we would take if they last til #20, but I expect these names to be ambitious highly rated guys who could all be gone by 20… after that, I assume he will go into the draft with a backup plan, basically another 6-8 names who will definitely be available at #20(could be a lot of high second round grades),… So unless one of the kids we view as top tier last til 20, my guess is that they would have another list of players who could be considered slight reaches like Jake Fisher, Nelson Agholor types, and try and trade back as far as we can without losing everyone on this list of 2nd tier guys…
..
you figure, normally a draft has 20 players with legit first round grades, out of those 20, eliminate half of them for character, scheme fit, lack of desired measurements at their position.. at 20 its hard to even know if we end up with a kid with a legit first round grade, or if we are choosing from a group of high first round grades… not all of the legit round 1 grades will be scheme, character, “fits for chip”, so its not a guarantee that one of them is still available at #20…. for example, Im sure the round 1 grade on Landon Collins is legit, but I dont even think he will be placed on the Eagles draft board
…
there is a school of thought that with howie gone, chip could be aggressive and trade up to secure a kid he loves with a legit round 1 grade, and we certainly cant rule that out, but I do think Chip respects draft picks more then some people think, so I could just as easily see a trade back as I can see him trading up…… But Chip Kelly Claims, he had Odell Beckham as the #1 player in the entire draft last year, not just #1 WR…. he claims that the 3rd WR drafted was who he thought was the best prospect in the entire draft, which if true gives us an idea of how different he could grade kids from the consensus… Now THIS year, if the kid he thinks is the top player in the entire draft hapens to still be available at #12, maybe he does trade up for him….. I think Chip is willing to trust himself and reach for certain players banking on him evaluating them better then others, at least for his own scheme, so i can see him make some reaches, but I do think he values the QUANTITY of picks we have. I think he will be more frivelous with his reaches, then he will be trading away multiple picks for one player…
..
I do believe he wants to build through the draft and that this was an ANOMOLY offseason. I assume this was like the 2013 offseason with alot of turnover, but next years offseason will be quiet like last years when we added Jenkins and a few special team players…so If chip wants to have a quiet free agency next year and start building some continuity, he is going to have to hit on some picks this year…
.
we also talk about the immediate NEEDS, but last year we took OLB, because good chance we needed him to be ready by this year if we lost BG and Cole….. If Chip is serious about not paying to keep Boykin, Curry and Kendricks, then he will have to make some picks, with his eyes on having talent in place to be able to let go of those young talents that we have playing Key roles for us. Nickel CB is a bigger role then we want to admit because we want to see Boykin outside, Curry is our #2 Interior pass rusher when we go to our 4 man lines next to Cox… Curry and Cox are the top 2 interior pass rushers we have….and there is a major, drastic drop off from their ability to get after QBs, to the #3 interior pass rusher, who Im not even really sure who that would even be… That has to Change if they plan on letting my man curry walk and break my damn heart… which is why I can see why they are looking at Omagawbe the DE/OLB from UCLA… like Vinny Curry, I could see them moving him to 3-4 DE to be our interior pass rusher, instead of moving him to OLB which is the natural transition for a 4-3 DE when he moves to a 3-4.. We all thought Curry was initially going to OLB, that was normally what would happen… but we decided to move him inside. I can see them doing the same thing with the African Edge terror from UCLA….
…
I dont Think Chip will EVER take a polished player who will be better next year, then a kid who can be twice as good as that kid 3 years from now, no matter how big of a NEED we have…. when you load up on TEACHERS in your coaching staff, that says they will usually take the High upside kids even if they cant provide instant gratification as rookies… If a draft pick happens to surprise us and be ready to play as a rookie, it will have to be a surprise, not something we targeted for example of Lane Johnson, as RAW as it gets, we got lucky that he developed so quickily and could handle starting from day one… when we made that pick, he was so Raw that he could have ended up going the MS2 route of not being able to play til year 2…. We drafted Lane because his Upside was ridonkuluos, and we got lucky that he provided instant gratification… I dont think we would have taken Joekel; over Lane if they were both on the board, and Joekel was supposed to be the cant missed polished player… Lane had the higher upside and I think Chip will always trust his coaching staff to take the kids with the serious upside and let our coaches worry about turning them into NFL football players…. every once n a while, you get lucky and a kid like Bud Dupree falls in your lap, who has a very high ceiling, but will probably be strong enough to handle seeing some playing time as a rookie,,,
…
but normally, the most POLISHED prospects are typically the most limited with lower ceilings… If they were POLISHED yet still had a really high ceiling to grow into, they would be cant miss top picks….. but its not even uncommon to see really high ceiling players drafted top 10, that need time before they can handle the NFL game…
..
If the intelligence, and the intangibles/measurements are all there, I expect Chip to always roll the dice and take a kid with a High upside but who is more raw, over a polished kid… and I cant say I mind, as long as 2-3 years down the road he develops them to reach that high ceiling we drooled over when we drafted them… year 2 leap, year 3 leap, whatever, at the end of the day I judge draft picks on, is this a kid who will be good enough to where we wont want to lose him when his rookie contract expires?.. as long as Marcus Smith is good enough to get a 2nd contract from the Eagles, he will have been a good pick in my book… If Chip drafts players who he will be ok with losing once their rookie contracts expire, its a failed draft pick, at least when talking about Top 100 picks…
,..
roster needs alot of work the next two years. we almost need a player at every position with in the next two drafts, so I dont think Chip will just target the immediate Needs…. the BIGGEST IMMEDIATE NEED is SAFETY!!
..
Its easier to buy Barbre starting at Guard, its easier to buy Jordan starting at WR… then it is to assume Jaylen Watkins or Wolff can play safety for us at a high level for 16 games next year, Safety by far is the biggest immediate need on paper…If we dont go crazy, chasing that position in the draft(which I dont expect), then I doubt he will put much of an emphasis on the positions… with him, I expect its all about trying to get as MANY of HIS GUYS as possible, and I dont necessarily mean his guys as Ducks, I mean guys he absolutely falls in love with like ODB and Jordan Mathews….
..
Think chip kelly will be ALL ABOUT, whats the best way to go about getting as many of the kids I want as possible(obviously the higher rated ones he will covet the most)…I think in his mind, he worries about NEED more in terms of DEPTH. I think in his head, he already has a player he can coach up to start next year at every single position..
..
so I think for Chip NEED is more a combo of Depth, and NEED down the road… because I doubt we see too many intances where Chip drafts a kid and pencils him in immediately as the day one starter the way he did with Jordan and the Slot WR spot
I really wanted to read this whole post (no shots).
holy hell… dude, my bad… thats out of control even by my standards… I wrote that entire thing while on the phone and watching the game on an Ipad.. lol I had no idea.. out of control!!! i dont blame you
I’m betting, with that short list of top targets, CK doesn’t miss out on one of them…like last year…
Was it just me who thought Tommy was a bout to write about all the open Eagles WRs that our QBs missed last year?
Nope, me too.
And I thought we’d see an article about B. Fletcher.
What happens if Kelly coaches against a defense with B. Fletcher at CB? can guys get that open?
Being that there is a finite amount of space, the receiver would probably be so open that they are covered again. Kind of like how the ghosts wrap from one side of the screen to the other in Pac-Man.
Ref will get confused and keep throwing “12 men on the field” flags.
Didn’t Fletcher sign with NE? We’re meeting them next season, but I don’t know what chance he’ll be on the field in cover-3, cover-2, nickel or dime package. Of course, if past is precedent, he’ll get a pick.
i never make a wish for the draft, but if there’s a way to get devante parker i would be pretty excited
we better draft someone to help stop AP and the cowboys.
I hope the Cowboys go hard after AP and leave their D for another day. I don’t think Peterson can be the mule that Murray was last year, and we were already very good v the run. The acid test will be Dez.
Demarco had a great year, but i don’t know if he’s AP.
Oh, I agree. But if Linehan wants to run that possession game with AP or DM, those guys will not hold up as well as Murray did, imo. Same with Shady in Buffalo. He’ll do fine, but if Cassel isn’t mixing in a fair number of passes, he’ll be seeing a lot of stacked fronts. Peterson is or was the best in the game, but time and big, mean linebackers may change that sooner than later.
yeah they def need a change of pace back. I think the GM was involved with how much they ran murray last year. Chip probably appreciated that he didn’t say anything and just kept producing, i think that’s the kind of guy chip wants.
We allowed 3.7 yards per attempt last year. That’s very good. 5th best in the league.
I’m more nervous than excited this year.
Excited to finally have long tall Corners and big Linebackers. I was completely done the Big Red plucky high motor midgets.
I like Byron Jones’ measurable but I don’t see him as a first rounder on play.
I am not comfortable with the fact we are heading into the draft with positions of need where we are betting on Second Year Leaps and Homerun Drafting.
Jones is the 2nd best cover CB in this draft. You don’t draft a CB based on his “flashiness” but his technique and intangibles.
his spider chart is crazy.
yeah it is.
he’s like a brown recluse….
I heard Chip doesn’t like Brown Recluses or Black Widows.
his chart actually looks like spider man
Spiderman and Wolverine are prime examples of players who are too short for Chip. He’s looking for Colossus and Punisher.
I didn’t see Jones as a press man corner. But I am also nothing more than a fan who watches football.
Much like Tommy I like Rowe as a better fit for the scheme. Jalen Collins will probably be gone at 20 but I like him as well.
PJ Williams might be a good scheme fit.
Collins is like 3rd or 4th round talent with 1st round athleticism. PJ Williams is a knucklehead.
I like Jones more than Rowe
Yeah I forgot PJ Williams is not very smart…
If we could get Jones in the 3rd it would be great but he will not last that long.
Jones is not 3rd round talent. He is mid 2nd round at worst and his athleticism alone pushes him into the 1st for the right team
Jones played press coverage. He gets tons of praise for being great at it. Collins isn’t going top 20 unless the Seahawks trade up for him.
Some guys was on Jones as 1st round pick before the combine.
I don’t see how the combine should change any of that though, only to reaffirm it. Plus, I’m all about the “drafting athletes and coaching them up strategy” as long as we aren’t reaching for them in the first round.
I agree this is critical draft for Chip and the Eagles…I think he will likely be more hands on for this one since there has been a transition from Howie to him and changes on the staff etc.
I also think last year’s draft so far has shown a mixed bag…some potential hits with Mathews, Allen, Huff, but a bunch of potential misses too with Smith, Reynolds, Watkins. Therefore, the mandate has got to be to nail this draft as best as possible since we all know what consecutive years of poor drafting can do to a roster…
Major reason we had to sign Williams, Fletcher, Jenkins, Carroll & Maxwell/Thurmond this year was the failure to draft/develop good CB and S players…..that cannot continue if we want to be consistently good and also maintain good cap flexibility…
I’m very interested to see what Chip will do in this draft and hopeful that his plans will work out…
The more I look at this, the more I like drafting OL in the first round because of the value on the board. You get get guys that look the part of Chip’s secondary afterwards, and there will be fast WRs on day 3. They have space on the roster for up to 3 DBs, one or two OL, one or two WRs, maybe a DE or LB, that’s about it. If they grab the value at OL at 20 they’ll be hard for defenses to deal with.
u can also get Ali Marpet or someone like that if he’s there in the third after you’ve used a first on OL.. you never have enough..
If you look at this
https://eaglesrewind.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/screen-shot-2014-05-07-at-10-29-30-am.png
We should go CB in the 1st and then WR in the 2nd
Hell, if you go by this metric based off of %All-pro and Pro-bowl we should go LB in the first and OT in the second.
I’m a believer in picking one guy at a time. CBs Johnson and Peters have value at 20, Byron Jones may pan out in the NFL but is a huge risk in the first. OL Scherff, Flowers, La’el Collins, Erving, and Clemmings are all excellent value at 20.
Jones film+athletisme values him as late 1st and I like him more than Johnson
I just read Sheil Kapadia’s column on Jones and he makes a good case for him. Still, when you draft a DB in the first round not knowing where he’s going to play, you’re taking a guy who has not availed himself of collegiate competition to show he can be an NFL CB or S instead of a guy who has. In Jones’ case you’re talking about UConn’s opponents. He is a long term project. The fact that he rates as intelligent means he is more likely to learn how to play football at the NFL level than someone who’s not (like 3rd rounder Curtis Marsh, a size speed specimen who played some good games in college).
Jones is a CB and he is not raw like a Curtis Marsh (converted RB). Jones has played both safety and CB and from I can find was a DB/WR in high school.
Jones is not a long term project anymore than what most CBs is and that means 1-2 years before he is ready anyway (even Tray Waynes or Kevin Johnson will need 1 year to fully get ready).
1. The fact that it’s hard to adjust to the NFL at CB can support both positions: college experience helps that transition, when you already know ABC you can learn D sooner;
2. Rookies do play well: Sherman, Haden, Trufant, McCourty, Cason, Talib, Jimmy Smith. All those guys played at least 2+ of college CB. It’s not unreasonable to think that Johnson or Peters can be more effective in 2015 than a backup grade veteran. Then some of those guys build on what they’ve learned in college and as a rookie as you may notice from that list.
You do know that pretty much all of the guys you named wasn’t playing much as rookies or wasn’t that good?
Here I thought Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, and Bill Belichick knew what they were doing, now Anders is setting me straight..
I support your thinking because many people will tell you, “you win in the trenches.” That’s where I believe the safest most impactful players can be had in the first and its arguable that OL is the most important in Chip’s offense. My vote for #20 is Clemmings, hands down, that is, of course, is Strong is gone.
yeah OL / DL first round (although teams like the Rams go a little too crazy with this concept) other positions can be had mid-round and through FA.
You really only need to draft LT in the 1st round, the rest of the positions can be found later.
Is that the traditional thinking? Chip isn’t traditional.
Isn’t the first round where you’ve got the best hope of going BPA? I mean that perspective can be applied anywhere in the draft, but if Andrus Peat is there at 20 or Parker or Dupree, I’d have them all higher on my board than Waynes. I’m not exactly sure what the chart is meant to represent. If we draft by position, particularly in round 1, it could mean passing over a better player.
Its more about where NFL teams in general get players from, but in theory if you have a QB and a guard in the same grade tier, you should take the QB because of how tough it is to find one in any other round
The college coaches have been mum about CB Marcus Peters and a pro scout can get the inside scoop about what happened, but it was a first year head coach, the guy apologized, and for some reason lots of scouts are interested in him.
To relate this to recent Eagles history, I realize King Dunlap wasn’t Gene Upshaw, but he got benched in college and he wasn’t a problem for the coaches here.
But there’s more background about Peters I don’t know. The guy looks like he can be a shutdown corner in the NFL.
Dunlap was with Andy. Andy is way more lenient with knuckleheads than Chip is.
He got benched for part of the bowl game his junior year as well.
“They started this process last spring.” So many uneducated folks posting comments here and elsewhere don’t want to believe this. They have the strange idea that coaches and GMs and personnel departments just look at a few pieces of film then make desperate grabs. Ron Wolf, who many consider a near-genius at drafting, over many years, said the same thing. They start watching as many players as possible a whoe YEAR before the draft.
percey harvin, McCoy, Sammy Watkins, from Cassel or:
Jmatt, Demarco, Huff , from Bradford?
buffalo might be legit this year.
I take what ever team is coached by Kelly
good answer!
me too.
bills have some talent though.
plus that D…
100%, but I think its more of fantasy hightlight team than a consistently good offense
string enough highlights together you get a win.
“a consistently good offense” but that defense…
rex will ruin it
very good talent with a very bad hc. I’ll pass.
I don’t think Rex Ryan is as bad as a head coach as most think and not as great as a head coach as he thinks.
I’m sure there’s middle ground. He took over a talented Jets team and ran it for years until he wanted his own guys in there and the rest is history. LOL. How in the world do I cheer for Shady and not Rex?
They don’t have a first or fourth round pick. We do. Offseason isn’t over yet.
can we get a game breaking WR? please?
Yes…in the 4th round. Remember Na ‘best hands in training camp ever’ Brown?!
Massively overrated.
I’ll take a well rounded receiving corps.
Look at the final 4 teams this year and their best WR: Baldwin, Lafell, Hilton, and Nelson. Nelson’s a very good WR, but I don’t think anyone would call him a game breaking WR. Hilton is a solid player but not a take over a game WR.
Last super bowl champ to win with a dominant WR? Probably Plax in ’08, if not then Wayne and Harrison in ’07.
How many playoff wins do Dez, Demarius, Megatron, Julio, AJ Green, Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall and Fitz have combined?
Like 10?
I think the perception of “game breakers” being a requirement for a good offense is heavily driven by fantasy football. The whole way they derive points is so disconnected to actual football that individual players performance based on arbitrary metrics has become the standard way a players value is perceived for people who don’t actually study the game. It’s kind of like how ESPN promoted poor tackling technique in the 90s by glorifying the big helmet-first diving hits that have since been outlawed…
O-lines and TEs still count, right?
That said, I still probably take the Eagles’ quartet. Because Cassel.
buffalo is Def going to be legit…. their defense is not to be Focked with, and you know Rex is going to try and build a top ranked run game.. when you dont have an elite QB, best way to compete is Defense and Ball control run game….. Bills are going to be a tough team next year… If they actually get compatent QB play,.they could win some games in that division…. Dolphins and Jets are also going to be much improved… this may be one of the tougher years for the Patriots in terms of division strength
yeah good thing they got that SB out of the way again.
whats his name is running his mouth… percy harvin, talking about how this is going to be his REAL breakout season…. ill believe that when I see him play 10 games without getting hurt but I adore the Bills! I have been watching them for like two years now…
.
IMO they should dump every draft pick they have into 1 ILB and all OL… and just try to control the clock with run game and maybe a better defense then the seahawks.. few people even acknowledge that they had a better pass defense then seattle..
..
if they build a top OL, run the ball all day, and Cassell is competent off play action passes, and simple YAC plays like screens and slants, they could be tough to beat. Basically their pass game needs to become like Russell Wilsons two years ago, all simple passes. use the TE’s and RB in the passing game, and keep all the routes to short/intermediate easy throws and let Sammy and Percy Harvin get yards after catch,
..’
I really look forward to watching Bills vs. Jets games, never thought Id say that anytime soon… Heck even the dolphins could be solid. They need to stop dicking around with the RB position… THATS a team that should have tried to trade for shady or AP, but i dont think they can afford it. Dolphins are prob drafting a RB and WR this year…
..
The division should be alot more fun for football fans this year then it has been for the majority of the Brady era
I’ll believe it when it happens.
I wanted to share an experience from this past weekend while I was visiting my brother in RI. We took the kids to a place called 5-wits. There, the employees take on the persona and lead the kids through an adventure. They loved the experience.
The reason I want to share here is because 5-wits is located in Foxboro, in a collection of stores attached to Gilette Stadium. And because the adventure the kids acted out was one where they were spies, tasked with breaking into the evil spy operation across the street through underground tunnels and stealing back blueprints.
So we took our kids to the Patriots stadium where they pretended to be spies. It felt dirty.
http://www.5-wits.com/foxboro/espionage.htm
Off topic – but the Phillies are who we thought they were – they suck.
already?
remind me of booing the eagles after like 5 minutes in the opener..
i can understand booing baseball.
Eh, The Phils are expected to be bad though, that changes things.
I’ll trade teams with you…
http://www.ndtscouting.com/
I just bought this and its pure gold imo. Some controversial rankings (he has Hundley very high), but if you love reading about the draft, I say it is worth it.
Hate how sites like this now only want to do digital downloads instead of actually sending you a paper/book copy. Some of us still like reading things in the traditional manner.
Now, get off my lawn!
Its much cheaper for you and me as it would cost 20-30 dollars more to make a book copy and send it.
It depends on how wide of a distribution they have. The more copies they sell, the cheaper the unit price.
problem is, a guy like Kyle is never going to sell enough copies to make printing cheap enough to out weight the loss of customers due to price.
Yes, I understand his logic. For me personally though, there’s enough free info on the net that when I’m going to buy a draft guide I want one that is portable and that I can read elsewhere. Yes, e-readers, I know. I’m old and set in my ways.
I understand problem is simply that even the biggest guys on the market do not sell enough to make paper version worth it and if you really want a paper version, you can get it printed and bound plenty places
I’ve always bought Lindy’s early draft magazine and then closer to the draft PFW’s draft guide. It might not be the most detailed, but it’s $20 and easily n at Barnes & Noble’s. Even though PFW has gone under, they still basically produce the same draft guide under another title. Nolan Naworcki still writes the profiles.
Exactly. Dane Brugler doesn’t sell enough for that model to work, and he’s got a much bigger following.
The thing is that Brugler provides a lot of the info that is in the Lindy’s pre-draft magazines and at the cbssports.com website for free. I’m sure his draft guide is more detailed, but for me it’s not worth the cost.
Agreed, but I’m also sure he sells more simply due to his reach.
He’s talked about it on twitter extensively and has said that he does it to keep the price down.
He figures that if people really want the hard paper version they can just print it out.
Put it on a USB drive, take it Kinkos, and print it out.
Kyle is one of the best, he’s one of only two guys that if we disagree I’ll go back to tape to try and see what he sees.
I’ll be buying it closer to the draft once I wrap my film work.
First, I can’t wait to see what Chip does in this draft. He and Mano (silent ry) recruited all of these guys and know them better than anyone. We will have a draft that leaves people saying WTF all over the place.
Second, Chip is listening to his coaches. Shurmur knows Bradford, and told Chip bring him in, and Chip agreed. Bradford is our QB and will be signed to an extension unless he gets traded for Mariota.
Third, I think Chip sees too many holes to give up a ransome for Mariota. I expect draft day deals, possibly shipping Boykin, Kendricks, and Curry out for more draft picks. It’s pretty clear Chip wants a WR, 2 OL, a LB or 2 and some players to add to the secondary mix.
I agree with your thinking. The current proposed MM deals will kill the team; the Titans are greedy bastards.
I do expect a trade up, Browns? #12?(non-QB related), and I am hearing WR for any trade up. Probably because WRs are at a premium in recent drafts and the guys on our board will be gone by #20?
Like you I expect several WTF moments.
Only wr worth trading up for is white imo, but not sure how wrs ate at a premium consider the talent in the draft
Anders – just to clarify, top WRs have gone quickly in recent drafts as RBs have gone down.
I expect White, Cooper, and Parker will be gone by #20.
The best players will always be at a premium no matter how deep the class is. Especially if you really want a certain player. This draft is full of rbs too but chip went out and signed 2 FA rbs. Its just another example of Chip not thinking like everyone else.
yeah really weird considering RB is one of the positions where rookies tend to produce at a high level. A data-driven approach would tell you that. Murray is a guy that just got worked, has injury and fumble histories. Like why pay mathews anything — though maybe that’s b/c chip wanted to have his 2/3 round picks available for other reasons.
That’s kinda what I’m thinking.
White is the only lock to go top 20. Cooper and Parker are nice players but they’re not locked in top 20 guys.
Insominiac – Most mocks I have seen have these three WRs going in top 12. The teams likely to get them – Raiders, Bears, Vikings.
Most mocks are always wrong.
They are, the only one out of the big 4 that may fall to 20 is Strong.
ZERO CHANCE Cooper IS ON THE BOARD AT #20… crazy statement… and I dont even like Bama
Awesome, you just jinxed Cooper to the Eagles! #Pooper
you think we would trade up for a WR? like white?
that guy looks tough
no idea what we would do…. I see the thoroughbred everyonbe sees when they look at White, but I wouldnt be surprised if Chip kelly liked Amari Cooper more… me personally, two similarly rated WR, Im going with the Size in white as the tie breaker… but I could see chip like Amari Cooper more, just how he liked ODB more then Mike Evans and Sammy
My point was, why trade up for a Cooper or Parker, when you can get 90% of their talent in the mid 2nd? Also for me, WRs isnt an impact position in the NFL and not worth using a premium pick on unless its a great talent
That would be a shocker if the Eagles give up their #20 and their second rounder to move up in order to ‘just’ draft a WR.
The only WR I’d happy to give up that much for is KW, however he will long be gone by the time #12 rolls around. The others [Cooper, Parker] are nice too, but I wouldn’t give up a couple of high draft picks for them.
My ideal scenario – amongst others – is still to trade down and collect another 3rd [or ideally 2nd]..!
we should trade up for a WR that can take over the game and red zone. why not? lets score some effing points dammit!
If there aren’t wtf moves, I’ll be disappointed :).
I’m still not buying, no matter how times people say it.
…
I can’t buy that Shurmer did a song and dance, followed by a pony show and then say .. well, this is the best play if we don’t get MM. That doesn’t make any sense to me. Maybe there never was a plan to get MM. If that’s true, then maybe, maybe I can buy the story that this is Shurmurs guy.
….
What you’re also saying is, not 1 coach, nowhere stood up for Shady and DJ to tell Chip NOT to trade/release them. Whatever reason Chip had for moving those players, it was Chip and all day Chip. Now we’re saying all the guys that are being brought in aren’t Chips moves? Nope. It doesn’t work like that….
….
Is it possible Shurmur brought up Bradford? Sure. But there’s no question in my mind that Chip did all his own research on Bradford. If Chip researched and decided that Bradford wasn’t HIS type, he wouldn’t have made the move. He did not do that move blindly and Shurmurs word.
No need to be over the top. I never said this was on Shurmur, I’m just saying that Bradford was rookie of the year under Pat and the most talented QB available this offseason. When iit comes to scouting college players for the pro game, you have to identify the key traits for success at a give position within you system and then grade players according to those traits. It is clear Chip values accuracy and decision making above mobility at QB. I can see why a Chip would like Bradford. In fact I’ve been expecting this move since Bradford got hurt last summer and it was clear the Rams were moving on from him.
Also, while Chip might like Mariota, it isn’t realistic to think he can be obtained without moving heaven and earth, so why wouldn’t he put himself in a position to upgrade his QB whether or not Mariota falls to him in the draft? There are too many variables to push all of your chips in on Mariota before draft day, and leave yourself no option if things don’t go as planned. This was Chips decision, but Shurmur’s opinion certainly played a major role in the decision.
There is no question this is Chip’s show. We are talking about a coach that traded away the Franchise’s leading rusher, and let his best receiver walk out of town 2 years in a row. Chip is thorough, if nothing else, and I bet he is having better conversations with the scouts than Howie has in all his years here. Giving the scouts a voice and moving coaches into the scouting ranks to ensure what is produced by the scouts will translate into success at the NFL level, is key. Engaging and empowering his scouts is something that I think will help this franchise for a long time to come.
I don’t think it’s over the top. I think its spring and people all of a sudden know exactly who CK is and how he operates. You expected Bradford to be an Eagle? Come on. And now, CK is handling(better conversation) scouts better than HR? Do you have any facts to back that up with or is that just a gut feeling? 3 months ago everybody was raving about HR. Then, everybody thought CK lost his head in demoting HR. Now HR is the evil guy? I don’t remember reading reports(and it’s quite possible I missed them) about HR having conflicts with his people. HR isn’t in his old position because he and CK did not see eye to eye….
If you Google Honest_T and plillymag.com I posted (as a guest) in December that Bradford was coming to Philly. Not that it means anything.
Also, I said I bet, implying speculation. I’m not knocking Howie, I’m just saying Chip is injecting NFL coaches into the scouting process, which is a different approach because beyond talent it is the implementation of a game plan in the meeting room that makes a team successful, and Chip is asking scouts to think about things in a new and different way. In my professional experience, it triggers new creativity and engagement and typically better work.
We don’t know or understand Chip, I am just more optimistic and enjoying the process, while the “negadelphians” are having heart attacks because they were comfortable in their mediocrity and fear change.
Chip is stating that mediocrity is not good enough, and the margin between victory & defeat in he NFL is so small that he wants to bet on consistent execution of his plan rather than less predictable results from unscripted gains. Chip was brought here to implement his system and he is doing that. This also means that the team will suck after Chip leaves because we are betting that the system will bring the results not the players.
So McCoy says CK doesn’t respect stars. Someone is still feeling salty.
For real lol Link?
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20150407_LeSean_McCoy_says_Chip_Kelly_doesn_t_respect_stars.html
geez the guy is still crying?
I used to love McCoy now he sounds like a baby.
This kinda adds to the reason why he was traded.
no crying in football
He’s a tremendous football player, but has always been a jerk.
But I hear he’s a great tipper though…oh, never mind…
Yeah, to me it reads more like, CK doesn’t pander to divas, even if they are good.
was McCoy a diva? I don’t think so — he’s obviously super salty. apparently chip has tried to call him a couple of times, he’s not really interested in talking, doubt chip cares that much about butthurt players.
he’s got a pretty long history of being a diva, dating back through Pitt to high school. Not to say he wasn’t hard working, because he was (and presumably is). But he has diva-esque qualities. He won’t dog it during a game, but he will pout if he’s not getting treated like a prince.
Note this is simply my impression based on numerous things I’ve read and absorbed over the years, so take with a grain of salt.
It’s a reasonable point of view.
We’re all still waiting for that “there’s going to be something that comes out about this” DeSean Jackson story…
Maybe Chip just doesn’t like star players.
And it’s certainly a much more realistic possibility than Kelly’s stated reasoning (which contradicted Lurie’s explanation)
givie me a good defense and an OL, and I dont really care ultimately what he does on offense.. Defense is my joy, and I like that chip LOVES to run the ball, and will always boast a top run game, I assume…so I can live with what he does on offense…as long as we have a quality defense, and a top run game, along with one of the better Special teams, we will be plenty competitive, so Im willing to see his vision on offense..
..
The only hard part to swallow isnt that he is letting probowlers get away, its that we are letting probowlers get away before we have their young eventual replacement in our stable already being groomed to replace them…. Normally, teams with salary cap problems, poorly run teams, have to lose probowl players without already having their young replacement on the bench, so its hard to support that methodology.. when we looked at our team, it was very hard to justify that the WR position was one of the areas that needed a complete overhaul, which is what we are seeing.. Desean, Mac, and Coops head will be on the chopping block after the season, unless he takes a sever drastic paycut that reflects the salary of a #4 blocking WR. If the price is cheap enough we probably keep Coop, AND EVERYONE will complain… but I think there can definitely be a place for Riley Cooper if we put a gag order on him not being allowed to talk to the media at any time… But he cant be your most expensive WR and a starter on the outside… I would still give him snaps in every game, some screens, jump balls, and a lot of blocking but it really all depends on the price,,
,..
we talk about allocation of resources and Im pleased with the drafting of the Pope and Huff should pay dividends soon, but one has to wonder how much better we could have been if we simply left our WR’s alone, and focused on overhauling positions that desperately needed it like the secondary
..
you have to wonder where we could be right now, if we just left our STARS ALONE and focused on upgrading positions that lacked star power, but If this offense stays on the field, I think its can surprise people with a few more key pieces of course.. of course no one can feel great about the injury risk
..
the one thing I like about chip, is I do thnk he is smart enough to learn from his mistakes and is going to be a guy who improves as a coach and GM with every year of experience he gains.. curious to see the Eventual polished Chip Kelly offense and see if the vision was really so great that we had to lose such quality players like Desean, Maclin and Shady… if Chip really thinks he can do better, Id love to see it…. Show me!.. i do think the man is trying to improve our team, where as the way some fans talk you would think Chip is purposely trying to destroy us…
…
Defense should be much better at getting off the field on 3rd down, and thats really all we were missing from being a top defense. the run defense was there…..I expect a top eagles defense very soon, to pair with our top ranked Special Teams… get a top ranked OL in place and we should be the best team we have been since chip arrived…. or we could set NFL records fdr number of players on IR lol…
Not reasonable if he won’t take Chip’s call. The only reason not to is out of anger or spite, which means he isn’t thinking objectively about the situation. There are plenty of reasons for the move stated here and elsewhere that are more reasonable than ego.
IMO, Chip wants players who are students of the game. Desean and Lesean both relied on their talent and athletic ability, rather than being cerebral players. This is one of the reasons why I always always rank Westbrook above McCoy in the pantheon of Eagles’ running backs. Go watch a long Westbrook run or screen pass and look how he sets up the defenders to be blocked. Westbrook was always tuned into the game and he was watching defenses tendencies. He would eventually exploit those tendencies.
“AzCardinals.com doesn’t consider third-year OG Jonathan Cooper a viable candidate for the team’s center job.
The Cardinals have a hole at center with released veteran Lyle Sendlein thus far refusing to return at a discount, but Cooper is penciled in at right guard. The No. 7 overall pick of the 2013 draft, injuries have limited Cooper to just 10 appearances and two starts. 2015 is shaping up as a make-or-beak year for the interior lineman”.-roto
..
..
Hoping he has a poor year for the cardinals who seem to be losing patience for the kid. Im hoping he flames out in Arizona and we eventually get him “Buy Low”, and hope a change of scenery can get him to become a Late Bloomer
….
Bengals signed WR Danerius Moore…. Kids been a bust up to this point, but I cant rule out every player that doesnt succeed in Oakland. especially a WR who has never played with a real QB
..
He ONLY signed a 1yr deal, havent seen the numbers yet, but stylistically he was supposed to be a speedy Deep Threat, so stylistically, we could use a player with his skill set in our WR corp…. Thisn is a classic Buy Low situation, Im assuming he was really cheap and I would have liked to see us take a flier on his talent, if we could have signed him to a contract with no guarantees that you can easily cut if you dont like what you see in camp…
..
curious to see his money compared to Miles austin, and I dont know anything about this kids football intelligence or work ethic.. but considering Dereck Carr as a rookie was the best QB they had in years, makes it hard for me to write off a talented WR who didnt succeed in the black hole
Moore was a 5th round pick. I don’t get how this guy has been a bust.
poor choice of wording…. just a WR I had some high hopes for coming out of Ten…someone I thought had a chance to be nice value outside the top 100
…
Only real knocks on him were needing to add some weight, and they worried that it took him too long to reach his top end speed which i thought was a little exaggerated.. Thought he could have had a nice career for a kid outside the top 100;… more of a personal bust… certainly not a bust in the traditional sense. Just a kid I expected more out of and cringed when I saw the raiders call his name… Raiders to Andy Dalton isnt exactly getting a chance to see him in the chip kelly offense… I like him more as a flier then Miles Austin who never really crossed my mind as a target, injury and the whole cowboy thing were just too big a turn off
he was solid in fantasy football when carson palmer
I love his highlights but most of his production was his rookie year. From what I understand, he’s not a culture fit. Underachiever, I’ve seen rumors that he has a weed problem. It’s too bad, because talent wise he seems like a nice scheme fit.
I recall one of the Cowboys (maybe it was Aikman) referring to playing under Jimmy Johnson similar to having to walk on eggshells all day. I get the feeling that Chip wants his players to be in a similar mental state. Jimmy did let Michael Irwin do his thing a little but Irwin was a fierce competitor that would do anything to win on game day. If McCoy or DJax had similar attitudes, they would still be on the team IMO.
Interesting thought, at least to me: If we were to keep all 3 ILB’s are we still better suited to play a 4-3 than a 3-4!?! Curry and Graham as the DE’s with Thornton, Cox and Logan rotating at DT. Meco at mike, Kendricks as Will and Kiko as Sam or perhaps Meco at Sam and Kiko as Mike?
“More tools in the toolbox.”
In a 43 over? They may run a small package of those plays but from a roster construction standpoint it doesn’t make much sense.
Basically in order to shoehorn a 31 year old linebacker coming of an Achilles injury or justify not trading Kendricks you would be changing schemes pretty drastically. If you have a run of injuries to the LB’s you’re talking about Goode/Jones/Acho as your second team.
You would also be displacing Barwin, MSII, Hart.
I would love to see Curry stay around and I respect Meco for what he’s done here, but that simply doesn’t make sense.
I guess I should have said, “assuming Meco is healthy.” Just a fun thought not saying this is any type of possibility. Kendricks is probably gone and we are gonna scoop up his brother or Anthony.
Moving Mychal and then going for his brother who is only an inch taller, ten pounds lighter, and not as athletic isn’t going to happen.
Even assuming Mecos healthy (which he wont be) he’s got limited range, so changing the scheme drastically so that he could play still wouldn’t make sense.
I know it was just a thought LOL. Eric Kendricks can play anywhere, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I know, I’m just trying to explain why it doesn’t make sense right now because otherwise people start to think about it and then I’m playing whack-a-mole with people insisting we are going to play a 43, just like people still think Kiko is going to play an on the ball OLB.
D3FB, you are wrong. I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD START THINKING ABOUT US RUNNING A 4-3. BARWIN AND MSII CAN PLAY WHEN YOU SWITCH TO A 3-4 ON SOME DOWNS. I hope you’re ready.
If this happens now, I will find you, and I will shove your stethoscope in a not so nice place. You can tell us all what you’re colon thinks about playing the 43.
BTW, what is your read on our first pick? I’m going with Clemmings/Strong I think.
https://twitter.com/Astonia67/status/581626005279903744
OMG, we think the same!!!! Are you my long lost twin? I’m getting better at this draft stuff.
Idk, but I have my picture as my profile, so you would have a better idea. Personally I choose to picture you as a 5’3 half vietnamesse/half irish man whose full name is Mithcell Nguyen O’Malley.
In all honesty it means we are both seeing the same things on tape and coming to the same conclusions based on reasonable assumptions about Kelly’s preferences and how the draft board falls.
5’10’, 175, Caucasian, brown hair, blue eyes, Tauros, likes long walks on the beach….. However, if I was Vietnamese, I would have had a hell of a lot easier time getting into med school.
Your bday isnt the day before the draft is it? Because that’s going to be really creepy.
April 24 lol, pretty close. It used to be THE day of the draft and it was such a beautiful thing. Last year was awful, had to wait 2 extra weeks….
So, to summarize, the final take away from this exchange:
“I know, I’m just trying to explain why … I’m … insisting we are going to play a 43, just like … Kiko is going to play an on the ball OLB.” -D3FB
Got it!
Never would have pegged you as the type with long blonde hair.
And behind all of the smoke and mirrors is…Carl Davis. Wow that would stop me from trying to figure out Chip forever.
Smith’s best fit may be as a 4-3 SLB. I agree that you’re not moving to a 4-3 under full-time, but I do think it will be mixed in.
You could move to a 43 under pretty easily. We have the personel to run that it would basically just change a few alignment/assignments. I don’t think we would go to this due to Kelly’s philosophy on 2 gapping.
It’s the 43 over that really wouldn’t make sense.
How would a switch like this affect what you are trying to build in the secondary? Would you still err towards big press man cover corners and play a lot of Cover 1 and Cover 3? Or play more Cover 2? Or does it not matter at all?
You can play any back end shell out of both the 34 and 43.
barwin’s one of our best two players on D.
Wow. McCoy admits he hated Chip Kelly early on…
“He’s not the bad dude everybody makes him
out to be. He’s just different. But I don’t really have any hate for
him. I really don’t. In the beginning I did, but I don’t. If I see him
I’ll speak to him, respectfully – ‘How are you doing, coach? Good luck.’
”
Read more at
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20150407_LeSean_McCoy_says_Chip_Kelly_doesn_t_respect_stars.html#7lFGcqIELEyP80wY.99
How would you feel if you had to work in Buffalo?
$40 million for 5 years… I wouldn’t bitch too much.
Hate on Rex all you want, he did some good things with the Jets while he was there. He just never figured out how to field a reasonably good offense.
Rex traded for Shady because he has nice feet.
What good things did he do(besides winning games with the team he inherited)? The longer he stayed, the worse the team became….
It sounds like he meant right after the trade.
Wassup w Shady being such a diva? I’m sure he’s hurt and all, but come on, act like a pro.
https://twitter.com/Sixers/status/584853104627167233
Next year can’t come fast enough.
If anybody wants a good laugh before they go to bed, read this:
EXCLUSIVE: Browns, Eagles Discussing Trade Involving Johnny Manziel And Sam Bradford
http://www.chatsports.com/cleveland-browns/a/EXCLUSIVE-Browns-Eagles-Discussing-Trade-Involving-Johnny-Manziel-And-Sam-Bradford-10-27-1775
Seems legit
Funny enough, it wouldn’t shock me.
Woman of Alien
Great work you’ve finished, this website is really neat with amazing facts. Time is God’s strategy for keeping every thing from occurring directly.