Practice Squad is Out
Posted: September 6th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 239 Comments »The Eagles 53-man roster is set and so is the practice squad.
Let’s take a look at the 10 men who will form the most elite unit in the universe (too much hype?).
DE Brian Mihalik
CB Randall Evans
S Ed Reynolds
ILB Deontae Skinner
OT Brett Boyko
OG Malcolm Bunche
RB Raheem Mostert
TE Chris Pantale
WR Freddie Martino
WR Quron Pratt
Mostert and Mihalik are my favorite players on the list. I think Mihalik could develop into a starting DL down the road. Remember that Cedric Thornton spent the 2011 season on the PS. He needed time to develop and adjust to the NFL. Mihalik has a great frame, but must add bulk and get stronger. He is a great fit for the Eagles scheme so this is the ideal scenario for him.
Mostert is an explosive athlete who also needs to get bigger and stronger. He needs to develop positional skills (such as blocking). Mostert has potential as a receiver, but needs time with the JUGS machine. He had some drops this summer that should be eliminated. He would also help his cause if he could learn to return punts.
I don’t know if Reynolds will ever be physical enough for the NFL, but he could be a good practice player. He does have good ball skills. His hitting/tackling got better this summer so there still might be some hope.
Evans never came close to challenging for a roster spot. He has talent and is worth trying to develop.
Bunche and Boyko are UDFA linemen that the Eagles like. Bunche did a good job as a run blocker. Boyko played as the #3 LT. He is probably better suited to playing G.
Skinner was a late addition to the roster. He showed enough to make the Eagles want to keep him around.
I was surprised to see Pratt stay on the PS. He played very well last summer and earned a spot on the 2014 PS. I hoped Pratt would be even better this year. Didn’t happen. He didn’t play poorly or anything like that, but just didn’t stand out. Martino caught 5 passes in the preseason game and averaged 19 yards per catch.
Pantale is the one brand new addition. He was a 4-year starter at TE for Boston College, where he knew Eagles QB coach Ryan Day. Pantale is an effective receiver, but only a limited athlete. He is 6-5, 254 and has potential as a blocker. He spent time on the practice squad of the Jets (2013) and the Bears (2014). He missed some time this year due to an illness.
Five of the PS members are rookies (Mihalik, Evans, Boyko, Bunche and Mostert). The other five have a mixture of experience with the Eagles and other teams.
* * * * *
I wrote a piece for PE.com on the roster moves from this weekend. I was able to add a couple of paragraphs about new QB Stephen Morris. I’ll be doing a full write-up on him this evening.
_
Diaheem Watkins wasn’t signed, Tommy. You notice that you have 11 players listed.
Fixed that.
Sorry man, Watkins didn’t make it. You’re showing 11
Where are the couple paragraphs about Morris in your PE piece?
At very beginning.
i dont get the pratt and marino over rasheed thing
He played well. One concern though…speed. The Eagles may feel he’s just not fast enough for the NFL. He was timed at 4.61 this spring. That’s not good. I think all of his catches were short/intermediate.
Little surprised Bailey didn’t make the Eagles practice squad and hasn’t been picked up by anyone yet.
Pratt and Martino don’t really make sense to me unless you’re keeping them to make Rowe feel better about how he can’t cover anyone so far.
Harsh.
I find the lack of Kinne highly disturbing.
Would be perfect if we found the future LT in Boyko, Peters seemed to like him.
Boyko is not going to be an NFL LT.
asked too much hã? hahaha
Lane is the future Left Tackle.. i WOULDNT be surprised if Peters proves to be a freak that can play 3 more years at a high level
Even if Peters begins to decline, which is natural, I think Chip just do not count with him when he find a new RT to the place of LJ.
OT in first rd next year. book it
You mean RT? Lane Johnson is the future LT.
Boyko’s likely upside is backup G/RT. Essentially Dennis Kellys job.
Do you see Pantale as a possible future replacement for Celek?
Not likely. Pantale doesn’t seem athletic enough to be key NFL player, even though he’s got blocking potential.
Just found his spider graph… I see what your saying.
http://www.mockdraftable.com/player/4201/
Eric Tomlinson (2015): 5.0712882816879 (78.3%)
I saw that and lost hope.
Pantale has more vertical and better arm length… so he has that going for him.
Yikes. A rare combination of lack of speed, lack of explosion, and lack of upper body strength. At least Tomlinson was one of his comps.
Strange to me for someone to have a decent vertical and be so low in the other explosive drills.
Yeah, what I meant to say was lack of agility instead of lack of explosion, but signals on explosion are mixed at best. I know Jean-Baptiste has terrible tape, and Bailey lacks speed, but if this is the best option at TE, do we need a TE4? Teeny tiny criticism in the scheme of things, I recognize, and maybe this dude offers value as a practice player or a future TE2. Measurable are woeful, though.
I don’t know what the scouts/coaches consider the explosive drills are, common sense says vertical jump, broad jump, and the 10 & 20 yard dash. And the shuttles show explosion and agility.
Besides his vertical… he doesn’t have much in either category. His size is good though!
Really pleased to have retained Mihalik, Mostert, Bunche, Reynolds, Martino..
..
Pratt, I really don’t understand.. I completely agree with Tom’s analysis of him, looked good last summer, but in the first two games, his drops are what stuck out to me. I didn’t see the growth I would hope to see from a WR we invested a year developing To warrant bringing him back for another year. I have no problem keeping Martino, but I felt Bailey caught everything thrown his way and consistently took advantage of his opportunities. For a Raw D3 kid, he intruiged me enough to see how much more he could grow with a year of coaching and practcing against pro talent….curious to know how was his blocking? Good? Acceptable? Problematic?,
Even tho Sheed DIDNT make our practice squad, i hope we bring Sheed back next offseason to show how much he has developed and łet him compete for a job.. Assume he is going to have to do a better job making his mark on ST, while also being a solid blocker if he is ever going to make the team,, I really don’t understand why Pratt is getting anotner year, but whatever.
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I liked Tomilson, but I assume the coaches are right and this Pantale kid is an upgrade..
..
I didn’t go as gaga for Mostert as most people, but I have to admit he is intruiging..for a kid making the transition from track his speed has translated to the football field which I isn’t always the case. For a kid that performed well this summer, I think there is still some nice untapped potential for him to grow into,, intruiged to see what he looks Like next summer.
”
I would have prefered Jaylen Watkins over Randall Evans, and Bailey over Pratt, but Overall Im pleased With the PS,, some decent young talent to work with
….
In preseason games, Mihalik to me has looked a step ahead of what Kruger, Gaethers, Villanueva. And Mays looked like in previous years.. For. Big raw DE to Develope, he seemed to Flash more in the PS games then his predessesors.. Bair isn’t a young man, and who knows if we can pay Logan, .Cox, AND Thornton? So im happy to have this kid being groomed for the future.
..
It would be really great of 1 quality NFL offensive lineman emerges from BUNCHE/BOYKO… Hopefully one of these kids grows significantly and makes the roster next year as a solid backup…
..
Solid Practice Squad Roster, can’t complain
Surprised no OLB on the PS
Same. Skinner can play both, I think someone said.
Read Dehiem Watkins didnt sign on for PS?
That turned out not to be correct.
Pantale, btw, is the name of a knockoff brand of shampoo you would find in the dollar store. Probably.
I love the 53. We are going to have some fun this season. Stay even keel though, don’t get to high on the early wins, and enjoy the ride.
We may see some 60s but also some heart breakers. We will see what kind of team we have by the mid point of the season. But I have too share with you, this looks awfully familiar.
What do you mean?
Looks like the Ducks during the Championship run. But the proof is in the play. I keep telling myself and others, we must be cool.
I bet you got Tommy thinking about pudding. That’s the way I read it anyway.
Yep, does it taste like great pudding or something else.
The preseason has produced a very good pudding. I expect it to only get better weekly. There may be a week or two they don’t quite get the silky texture just right, however, it may be deserving of a pudding title by the end of the year.
I’m overall very impressed with the 53 and the offseason. I think there will be some Duck-style blowouts and Chip will pull Bradford, Murray, and Peters. All conventions for substitutions are out the window in favor of his sports science conclusions. I like how he’s taking some risks on young players. This is the NFL and some teams will have an answer for this, but most won’t.
If you’re expecting college-style blowouts every week I think you’re in for a rude shock. The Eagles will blow out a few teams over the course of the season (as good teams inevitably do) but this is the NFL. No matter how good your team is, literally every opponent on the schedule is capable of beating you and many will come close even if they ultimately fall short.
I like 52/53rds of it.
I’m not down with Barner. Most likely will never be.
I like to hear this, Mostert wants to stay.
https://twitter.com/TesslerSports/status/640623697401880577
Anyone could have put him on their roster, and still might. But glad he wants to stay.
Well he can now choose unlike during waivers. If a team offers him a 53 man spot he can turn it down or the Eagles can offer more $$ to get him to stay on the PS roster.
Why weren’t the Eagles paying the maximum allowable p-squad salary for Mostert so they couldn’t get outbid?
Seems CK knows what he’s doing. From an article on Morris:
Summary: If you are a team with an established #1 and a good veteran #2 and you want a super talented project who needs a lot of coaching (late, great Bill Walsh level coaching), Morris is your guy. I hate to use too much hyperbole about Morris’ arm, but it really is stronger than 3/4 of the QB’s in the NFL. With a LOT of work and aforementioned coaching, could develop into a poor man’s Jay Cutler. Worst case you are looking at a Matt Simms type.
http://www.stateoftheu.com/2014/2/18/5420620/nfl-draft-preview-the-curious-case-of-stephen-morris
“Poor man’s Jay Cutler” Run!!
If he ever has to play at least it will still be interesting to watch.
I really don’t know what happened to Jay Cutler. I thought he was going to do well when I saw him in Denver. Now. I just don’t know if he’s got something going on in his head.
His attitude has been a big question. Many Bears fans thought he was toxic.
Cutler is this generation’s Jeff George. Classic case of million dollar arm, ten cent head.
“Has the look of a Franchise QB”?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000226491/article/miamis-stephen-morris-has-look-of-nfl-franchise-quarterback
I saw this one too. He’s got a great group of guys to work with.
There is potential here. He has to make the best of it or Chip will cut him in a heartbeat. Chip’s message to all players has been sent, and received.
I really like how CK operates, but seeing him cut Tebow and say he wasn’t good enough – that tells me he is totally focused on the end goal. Most coaches would have just stayed with Tebow or Barkley (the easier thing) and waited it out until the following year.
Yes the ” we,thought he wasn’t good enough right now to be our #3 QB” quote got me pumped up!
…
After all, TEBOW was just a “camp arm” replacement for Kinney
He should have taken Hundley. Hundley > Morris.
Nope. Hundley has lousy throwing mechanics. He’s also not a quick decision-maker. Verdict is out on Morris though.
Morris had 10 times the talent that Hundley had. Throwing mechanics are lousy? You’re the first one to say that.
He has a bad rap on footwork, hence the bad rap on throwing mechanics. Most of the pundit observations were made when he had a severely sprained ankle.
But I am no Morris fan-boy, I like what I see when he was healthy. He has to prove to Chip and us that he can play in a Chip Offense.
This is another bet by Chip that a player has been unjustly stigmatized due to injury.
So he doesn’t set his feet as often because no one can get open and his OL isn’t that good. Morris has the same issues and he had about 4 players that were drafted in the top 80 pick in this years draft to help him? Lets not look at the whole picture here then.
Morris is a good project but lets not get carried away here just because he looks good in a 2 minute highlight reel.
Did you read Ducks post? Injury related, not his lineman.
Irrelevant point. I don’t take one tiny point and run with it instead of seeing the whole picture.
I understand the Eagles with J. Sheppard. The whole picture. Not an injury that would deter them in their analysis. Since he was injured during the combine drills.
I would have loved to see Shepard play these past few weeks especially with Rowe struggling. If he couldn’t beat out Biggers then he might have been on the PS this year instead of the new TE we picked up.
I have heard enough #3’QB talk for one summer….
See you next year!
seriously
Hundley offensive talent final year:
Malcolm Bunche (Eagles PS)
That’s it. I’m not even kidding.
Morris had:
OL:
LT- Ereck Flowers
LG- John Feleciano (Raiders 53)
C- Shane McDermott (missed final 53 in DAL)
RG- Brandon Linder
RT- Seantrel Henderson
BACKUPS: Jared Wheeler and Malcolm Bunche
TE- Clive Walford
WR- Phillip Dorsett and Allen Hurns
RB- Duke Johnson
Hundley did have Su’a-Filo and Shaq Evans too but that’s about it.
His Sophomore year he did. His junior year though Miles Jack may have been the next best offensive player.
He definitely had a better coach.
Al Golden? Jim Mora Jr? Call that a wash.
I cannot substantiate my tolerance for the former or my misgivings for the latter. It was a totally subjective comment.
And you’d be correct. I cannot substantiate through any statistical insight why I can tolerate the former and have antipathy for the latter. A completely subjective comment to which I should have added IMO.
When?…Instead of who?
No one since we never had a 5th round pick. Those were traded for Rowe.
I think RC was saying that the two picks we did have before Hundley was drafted were used on Hicks and traded to Detriot.
So say CB Quinten Rollins and Brett Hundley and pick 156 instead of Rowe and Morris?
I would be ok with that. This has to do more with Rowe than Rollins though. Rollins’s tackling and lack of deep speed scares me. However, he’s raw but shows that he can flat out play despite of it.
Rowe’s footwork and inability to stay in a WRs hips makes me think that he needs a lot of time getting used to being a CB (if he even stays as one).
Morris vs Hundley is a matter of ceilings and where they’re at now. I think Hundley has a higher ceiling and will be a good QB in a few years. Morris has all of the tools to be successful here though. A good coach, a system that isn’t too complicated (like the one he had at Miami) and a good team.
Hicks or 2016 3rd from Detroit and Morris vs. Hundley…hmmm
You need to fact check before you comment man.
Eagles would have had to use the Hicks pick or the pick they traded for the 2016 3rd from Detroit to take Hundley.
They had two 6 round picks that could have been used to trade up to the fifth round to take him. Losing Evans isn’t a big deal. Shepard? Your guess is as good as mines since he hasn’t played a game yet.
A poor man’s Cutler is his ceiling? Wow, watch your head.
I’ll take anything that isn’t calling the guy a running QB.
https://twitter.com/EaglesInsider/status/640218213641515008
This is the same man that signed Sconcnes and Fletcher. I’m not quite sold on his/DB coaches evaluations so far.
TBF, that was Howie as the GM that spring. It was a stop gap signing and what was available at the time.
Somewhat true but Chip has some say in it though or else he wouldn’t have agreed to be here.
Don’t think anybody could have foreseen how sorry Fletcher would look here or how inadequate Williams’ play would be here based on what they had shown previous to becoming Eagles.
Williams was more average then inadequate with us. That being said Fletcher was benched and never regained his starting role with the Rams. The same problems he had with the Rams he had with us. He was then moved to the slot where he did not perform well either.
His failures with us could have been predicted by his past.
He said that in the press conference, but that was the polite thing to say whether or not it was true. Kelly wasn’t going to bad mouth a player he just put on the streets.
Right. What coach (other than maybe Parcells) would come out and say “oh yeah, we cut Watkins because he sucks” or something similar?
Momahtron made the team!
https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/640668055316660224
Good for him. He’s been working for years to make a team and the biggest baby in the league gave him a chance.
I really don’t like Arians and now the Cardinals have moved up the list of teams that I hate. They made a big deal of hiring a woman as a LB coach, put it all over their website, paraded her around – then get rid of her for the season.
I hate publicity stunts like this.
Wait..they fired her already?
She was a training camp intern, but no one really talked about that part.
I really don’t understand the Cardinals hate. Arians is a very good coach.
Not saying he isn’t. I just hate his whining and overall smugness.
Fuck that pig face looking fool… hate the cardinals and Ravens
Bummer about Bailey, I thought he earned his way onto the practice squad. Pleased with the rest though. Mostert in particular seems like a guy who could come onto the active roster and participate from day 1 if we get unlucky with Mathews and Murray’s injury situation.
I don’t know this, purely guessing here, but maybe Bailey was a poor route runner. Or in some cases ran the wrong routes. The latter was an excuse for Tebow’s poor play in one preseason game. Just guessing. But if it was poor route running or wrong routes then he’s a dead Duck.
I believe you are correct in that he was not a good route runner. That combined with his speed that did not allow good separation. As a WR in the NFL you can have below average speed and succeed, but not poor route running and below average speed.
off topic… what nicknames for players can rival these…
Too Tall Jones
Mean Joe Green
The Fridge
Ironhead Heyward
Megatron
Concrete Charlie
Beast Mode
Concrete Charlie funny thing is that he was a concrete salesman. That’s how he got his nickname.
They say Night Train Lane got his nickname because of his fear of flying.
my pa told me it was related to this:
https://youtu.be/l9inzaw1Hpk
I’m familiar with the song but am told it was not the origin of the nickname
Momahtron
Sweetness
Night Train Lane
Minister of Defense
“Big Daddy” Lipscomb (one of my dad’s favorite players)
I was always partial to Sweetness and Deacon Jones myself
Mean John Paluck (Washington DE long before MJ Green.) Don “The Blade” Burroughs (6’4″ 190# strong safety); upvote Kelce’s Beard for Big Daddy Lipscomb.
The Nigerian Nightmare and, of course, Weapon X.
Weapon X… never referered him as that… Dawk or Dawkins.
B-Dawk also
That too! Thanks!
The Axe man,, J-Trot
..
Cuban Missile.. Kiko
..
Mufasa… Meco
..
Swamp,.. Cedrick Thornton
..
V-Dot… Curry
..
B-Loge.. Bennie..
..
Papa Bear… Bair..
..
Dhalsim… SAM Bradford
The Minister of Defense. I rest my case.
edit: oops, someone beat me to it!
you shall rest well.
Chocolate Thunder (RIP)
Chucky (ok so he was not an NFL player)
I feel like the NFL used to have better nicknames than it does now:
Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch
Red “The Galloping Ghost” Grange
Daryl “The Mad Bomber” Lamonica
A few recent ones I liked were Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman and Anthony “A-Train” Thomas.
You just haven’t been paying attention to the surplus of terrible names GEAGLE provides us. Gems, all around.
Sanchize? 😛
Mile marker 23 and 24?
Toast
Pratt may be the placeholder, experienced in the system, for when Maehl returns from his injury. The order of cuts suggests the fleet Martino is ahead of him.
Bailey and Diaheem Watkins seem to have had their timed speeds catch up with them. Obviously I was rooting for Diaheem because I thought they stumbled into an answer for their 3rd OLB problem.
If the Eagles were interested in Cassel, Austin Davis, Ponder, or Flynn, it would make sense to claim Stephen Morris on waivers with his minimum two year contract and see if you can cut a deal with one of those guys after they clear waivers. I’m not saying that’s what they’re doing or that Morris isn’t the guy, but I’m just saying it’s not only possible, but if that’s what they’re doing they’re proceeding correctly. None of those guys have signed of course and it’s likely at least two of them will soon. Cassel – the supreme journeyman game manager after Orton hung it up, who’s lived Barkley’s financial dream, consistent where Barkley isn’t – had an obviously prohibitive contract, as Greg noted Davis also did, and Ponder and Flynn may settle for something lower than their waiver claim figure.
Morris is still intriguing, though. Once he gets hooked on the smoothies they can maybe slip him to the PS, if only a reporter would ask Chip how to activate a practice squad QB before a game. He’s fast but not a running QB, statistically he’s as good as several first rounders, and that arm.
I’m a bit disappointed in the Morris selection, too, but the idea that he’s just a stepping stone to a more accomplished veteran is wishful thinking.
Kelly said in the press conference he wanted someone who could fill in right away if needed, not a developmental guy.
Exactly why Morris was a disappointment.
When Bradford went down in 2014, Sanchez squashed rumors he’d go to the Rams, because he wanted to play here for Chip even if he was the backup. Maybe he thought Foles would be benched, but they need someone that buys into the system and doesn’t care about being de-activated.
“He’s fast but not a running QB”
Good, because running QBs are a dead end.
Can’t believe no one claimed Austin Davis or Bryn Renner.
Austin Davis’s salary would be $1.542M if he had been claimed. I suspect he’s in negotations with teams now for a lesser figure.
Just out curiosity is there any other team that has a Kicker or Punter on their practice squad (due to injury/possible injury status or a starter) going into the season?
“Mostert has potential as a receiver, but needs time with the JUGS machine”
There is a really good punchline out there for this statement. Just too tired to think of one right now.
Right, practice squad. Anyway…
I came across this recently, but don’t know the context. Is this an internet meme? What would be the meaning of posting this in a tennis forum thread?
http://giphy.com/gifs/stare-donovan-mcnabb-ToMjGpwNWT3C9VMORLW
Browns: Former Rams QB Austin Davis flying to Cleveland, expected to sign a contract, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports… http://espn.go.com/nfl/
Right move for him – he needs to play. They wanted him and settled for McCown because he was free then. McCown had only one year where his QB rating approached Ponder’s. The question of who’s next in line there will be discussed ad nauseam.
Starter by mid-season.
Wouldn’t be surprised.
I need Manziel to have a decent year…. 2016 we play the Ravens, Browns, Steeler, Bengals… I need Manziel to have a little success, in hopes that he will still be the Browns QB next yar when we
Take a look at some of Morris’ photos, then some of this guy. Might explain Chip’s choice? A resemblance?
Which guy?
THEY LOOK NOTHING ALIKE
They both have the… shape of a man!
Wow marshall safety tiquan lane had a hell of a day today..17 tackles and 2 pick sixes against Purdue.
Only problem is he is smaller than needed. 5’8 and 175 soaking wet is way to small to play safety in the NFL.
Wow didnt realize that he was so small..honeybadger, lamarcus joyner type
Vince Pantale!! Oh wait…
https://twitter.com/Astonia67/status/640824103721635840
https://twitter.com/Astonia67/status/640824699853885440
Hands/ability to adjust to football. Those are the strengths I saw. I totally understand why Martino(speed/athletic ability) and Pratt(playbook knowledge/STs ability) were chosen ahead of him.
From the limited amount of PS I saw I would agree those would be his traits.
And if he was 6’3 those traits would play up but as an average sized guy who runs a 4.6 it’s hard to see that ever projecting to be more than a fringe contributor. Preseason production for backups gets overrated.
Also agree that Martino ability to simulate speedier receivers and Prats ability to be most ready if called upon, as well as his experience with the day to day of PS life.
Wish the kid the best, hopefully he can catch on with the Soul or something.
In your view, how does Bailey compare to Jason Avant?
Avant light years more advanced in terms of route running.
Thanks, that sounds right.
It is funny how you root for a guy because he is a long shot, then feel cheated when he doesn’t make it. We know that is the mostly likely outcome with a long shot, but the Hollywood effect makes us expect different.
Pretty much.
I mean you can go find guys who are average size and run shitty and have had good careers at WR, but they are the outliers. And even then they have attributes that allow them to succeed.
Jarvis Landry and Avant- Polished refined big production for major schools
Colston- Size
Boldin- Strength
Good body control and winning contested balls is great, but it also means your being blanketed by guys who are 3rd or 4th string.
Best case scenario for him from a development standpoint is he turns into Jeff Maehl. Ostensibly they can be productive but not really.
Avant didn’t really hit his stride until his fourth year and rarely saw the field as a rookie. That was before they had a coach that decided slot receivers should be 6’3″.
Avant was a near perfect route runner which helped cover his separation issues. I think Avants hands were even better then Bailey’s. Bailey is not even in the same ball park when it comes to route running.
No, you/we don’t. If he was lighting it up for the Soul(do they play again this year?), and Riley Cooper was struggling, no one would ever hear the end of it.
HIs skills are strength and hands. He can out-muscle guys in the secondary, and he catches anything he can reach.
He’s not doing that to starting NFL DBs.
Against other roster bubble guys.
All he does is catch footballs. 😉
Understanding his list of short-comings, how much of that was he supposed to realistically improve on in one TC on top of learning a playbook and getting limited reps?
Fair point but it’s also not the Eagles onus to keep a player that provides less utility to them.
He failed to stand out on ST. The playbook isn’t particularly large, and he got a ton of reps, more than he would have anywhere else.
They gave the guy a shot, he got summer of coaching, got to put reps on tape, and he’s going to either get offers to play in smaller leagues or will likely be offered a futures contract in January.
He just doesn’t have much developmental upside.
He was a guy that PS was going to be the best case scenario for he barely missed it, and people are legit mad about it.
#HenryJoseyDisease
I get it. Well explained. I’m definitely not mad about it. I mean he went undrafted for a reason. I didn’t even get to see him play any. . I was mainly just surprised Martino made it over him after coming in a bit later. Our WR depth is the best it’s been in some time. #goBirds
I thought Josey showed much more talent than Bailey last year and even over Barner, but as said, all 3 guys are bottom of totempole in getting cut
Barner is at the absolute bottom of everything.
Yeah, but what about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9UbZGh1aHc
I think some of his issues may have been issues that could not be corrected by coaching. Lack of speed and quickness. As I have mentioned above I think another problem was route running. That is an issue that can be corrected with coaching and hard work to a degree, but if you don’t have good agility or quickness then it may be an issue that no matter how hard he works on it he may not be able to correct it enough.
I think the coaches felt like his ceiling was pretty much already met or was very close to it.
Agree regarding your tweet. Bailey had good hands and decent size, but I think his biggest issue was a lack of separation due to speed and quickness coupled with not being a good route runner.
You can be a good route runner with a lack of ideal speed and get separation that way, (example Boldin) but you can’t be a poor route runner and lack speed and quickness.
I take offense to your statement. I am a poor route runner and lack speed and quickness. Please don’t pretend like I don’t exist.
Lol… You like Bailey do exist…. just not in the NFL.
Yeah, those traits, combined with my questionable hands, lack of endurance, and absence of a high school football program, were a bit too much to overcome.
I just thought he was a competitor out there and kind of enjoyed watching him. I’m kind of bummed he didn’t make the PS but wouldn’t say I’m angry about it. I guess there’s always some guys we irrationally start rooting for through the training camp process :).
Agreed. Bummed he didn’t make it, but not an effrontery to good football like Barner over Mostert on the 53.
So the roster is all set. Time to look at Atlanta.
I was going to look at their depth chart on ESPN, but a quick glance of the Eagles chart on there indicates that those shiftless scumbags have yet to update post-roster cuts. Thankfully ourlads has one up.
http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/ATL
On O – Matt Ryan is a really good QB. The guy flat out plays the game the right way and I’d take him any day of the week of that clown in Carolina in that division, but Ryan on has one credible blocker in front of him; Jake Matthews. The other 4 guys are a mix of bums / journeymen / unproven (i.e. – prove yourself against some other team kid) type players.
Julio Jones is one of the absolute best WRs in the NFL, but Roddy White is a walking corpse (look at his fantasy production / health), the rest of the WR corps is below average, and their TE situation is comically bad.
Their RBs are a collect of stiffs as well.
On D, I have a hard time finding guys for whom I have much respect. The D line consists of some DEs who can’t pressure our OTs and some DTs who appear to be stout without having any pass rush ability. Brooks Reed is hurt, so we’re looking at a crap backup LB to go with their two other crap starters in that group. Desmond Trufant is a really good CB………..the rest of their DBs suck as well.
I really don’t see a way the Eagles lose this game unless our new “starters” at guard totally shit the bed and/or Atlanta’s OC finds a way to out-scheme Billy Davis to get Julio away from Maxwell.
Jake Matthews really struggled last year. He’s going to struggle this year too.
I can’t recall where I read it, but I saw something about him improving as the year went on. His matchup vs. Graham should be telling on a few levels.
I’m hoping a great year of work on the p-squad from Bunche and Boyko can have they earn their way into the starting guard jobs for next year. I still have extreme levels of doubts over the level of play with our current “starting” guards.
Looking at the 53 man roster, starters, schedule, etc; I think I’m comfortable setting 11-5, winning the division, and winning a home playoff game as “par” for this team.
We should be:
4-2 in division – I would really love to call this 5-1 with the only loss vs. Dallas, but division games often wind up being tricky.
3-1 vs. AFC East – New England is a loss. Miami could be improved, but they need to come here. The Jets and Bills are a bunch of tossers.
3-1 vs. NFC South – Tampa – sucks. Carolina – sucks. Atlanta – we’re not losing an opener to those pukes. New Orleans – I still can’t get past Sean Payton stealing Billy Davis’s lunch money in the playoff game and fear a loss here for some reason.
1-1 – Arizona / Detroit – Without drilling down too deeply, a split with the teams you have to play as part of the order of finish portion of the schedule seems appropriate.
Out of curiosity, if you replace Barner on the roster with Mostert, what would you put our record at?
Depends on if we sustain any injuries at the RB group.
if anything, I would say Mostert makes an injury more likely, since it means more punt returns for Sproles, but call it a wash. An injury is not more likely with either 4th stringer on the team. Use the same criteria you used to get to 11-5. What are we with Mostert?
Still 11-5, but getting the better RB reps now might improve your team more in the future.
And if I’m reading between the lines correctly, you’re saying you don’t want Sproles running back punts in favor of Barner doing it? Why take the ball out of the hands of one of the best guys in the NFL at doing that job?
If preseason is an indication, Sproles might be too valuable to do the job full time. It is good to have another guy who is dangerous and let’s coaches pick their spots.
But more to the point, you have a flair for exaggeration, yet not even you can rationalize it changing the outcome of the season. I think calling the cutting the guy who might, one day, if he learns to catch and pass block and gets stronger and bigger, be a legit backup in favor of the guy who you don’t like because of where he went to school and past decisions into which he had no input an “effrontery to good football” might be a bit hyperbolic.
So might tiptoeing around the point you were trying to make across 3 different posts.
Fair enough, I thought that was called a conversation. If you would prefer, I will work on including more caps lock, extreme modifiers, and absolutes in the future.
No need for caps lock Olympics, but I don’t mind a direct dialog on whatever point of mine with which you lack agreement. If you like Barner, you like Barner. I don’t If you want to get hung up on my prose, that’s your choice.
No, I don’t think caps are the way to go either, and I don’t particularly like Barner. D. Watkins would have been my choice, but I don’t know that he even made a PS, so what do I know?
As for a direct line of dialog, I asked a pretty direct question, you avoided it once, then tried to shift topic when I asked a second time. I think “… if you replace Barner on the roster with Mostert, what would you put our record at?” was pretty directly aimed at your Barner versus Mostert position.
Barner wil probably be inactive on game days. Don’t know who is going to return kick-offs, though…Of course, with the way kickoffs are in the NFL these days, that’s an average of one play per game.
The increased touchbacks as a way of keeping more guys from getting hurt seems like a fair trade-off.
Huff (primary), Agholor (backup).
Makes sense. Huff hasn’t shown enough value on offense yet to be “too valuable” to risk in the KO return job.
That’s a good point. Although Huff is a guy I see as having a much improved year.
A better question would be if we retained Mathis, signed Franklin to play the other guard spot, and fired Billy Davis in favor of Wade Phillips; would be we 19-0?
No because Wade and Chip would fight to the death over 1 gap v 2 gap, and then Chip would go to jail for murder and Dave Fipp would freak the entire team out with his crazy eyes playbook.
“ummmm coach, I don’t understand what you mean by a flying wedge pass play?”
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Fipp’s eyes!
Flying wedge! ;~D ;~D
The Saints don’t scare me this year, but the Bills’ and Jets’ Defenses do.
Tie Rod Taylor and a combo of Fitzy / Geno doesn’t scare me.
No. But those Defenses should.
So we win 19-4 both games.
I like your confidence. I sill remember our Offense struggling with the 49ers and Seahawk defenses last year. I’m not convinced those games are wins yet. I need to see us outplay one of the better defenses first.
Seattle is Seattle. They can also move the ball on O and could very will win the title again this year.
That San Fran loss was greatly aided by stupid unforced turnovers; hopefully we avoid that this year.
Big difference with a top qb. Guys were open in those games.
True, but you still need to block. That Niners game was a case study in ineptitude.
49ers game is irrelevant.. MOLK was getting thrown into our QBs lap all game… Not a true test of our team
I could see Rex Ryan coming up with a great plan to slow Chip. If that happens it’ll be a game of special teams.
And ours are special-er. Their starting Tie Rod Taylor at QB; that isn’t a guy who beats good NFL teams.
Full season from Bradford and reasonable health issues everywhere else, and first round bye is the realistic goal. Not expectation, but realistic goal.
Once shots start being fired of course, all plans go to hell.
I can’t quite join you on that yet. I still see the bye week teams as Green Bay and Seattle.
If you’d like to argue that Green Bay has a much tougher division than we do, I can see us as the 2. I’m just not there yet.
It’s ok for 3-5 teams having bye week as a reasonable goal. Injuries and other variables derail a couple, let’s just hope we are a team that stays on the tracks this year.
I agree that if nothing goes wrong for any of the top teams this year, GB and Seattle are the favs. But stuff always goes wrong. And while on the tracks, we are dangerous.
I agree 100% with that as a goal, but I have to make a definitive call as a prediction. So if I’m looking at NFC playoffs I like:
1) Seattle 2) Green Bay 3) Eagles 4) Saints (8-8) 5) Vikings 6) Arizona
Think/hope AZ will miss Bowles. Would like to see Arians brought down a notch. Vikings have definite surprise potential this year. I’ll go with Carolina backing in over Saints, who seem lost. Panthers front 7 got better with Shaq, though it continues to amaze me that they refuse to put blockers in front of Cam.
Shaq is a great addition for that team, but I don’t know if their DC (unless Rivera tells him how) is going to be able to use him properly. I don’t like their DBs in a division with a lot of WR talent either.
You hit the nail on the head with the o-line. Oher at LT? Really? Really? Plus their down a WR target, although an overrated one with bad hands and a rep built up on garbage time stats.
They are probably going to run base as much as any team in the league, with Kuechly and Shaq.
Seattle is more vulnerable than they have been during this run. Maxwell is a big loss, and it appears that this Chancellor thing will drag into the regular season. Graham is a freak, but, given their run-first style and his questionable blocking ability, it’s fair to question whether trading Unger for him was a good decision. Lynch is likely to fall off a cliff one of these years. Plus, as a general matter, it’s difficult to sustain success in this league. Things happen.
Totally true, but if they have one additional guy step up in rushing the passer, Lockett from K-state takes the league by storm, and Wilson continues to grow as a passer……….they could roll to 14-2.
Yup. At least this year there are ifs whereas last year you had to concoct some pretty calamatous shit to create a scenario where they weren’t world beaters. I see an opening!
NE is at worst a 40-60 probability.
I’ll settle for 5-1 in division, but 6-0 is the goal. F Dallas.
Amen. I’d love 6-0 in division, but the one game I won’t trade it for is Carolina.
Why Carolina?
Probably his incredible hatred of Scam Newton.
I don’t get that. There are more QBs deserving of such hatred than Cam
Much like Steve Buscemi in Billy Madison, I have a whole list.
Scam Newton
Johhn Streetball
RGMe
Kaepernick
Chris Simms (oldie but a goodie)
Eli
Eli
Eli
Vince Young
Where is Tebow on that list?
That’s on my list of hated H-backs. It might be rude to the QBs I hate to put Tebow in with them.
Nice twist.
Is the second one Manziel?
1/2 Winner. Fuck Sean McDermott as well.
Scam Newton / Idiot McDermott combo.
Also lower level beef with “Philly” Brown going to O’Hara instead of Upper Darby.
Dallas is always public enemy #1, even more so now that half their roster really is deserving of that.
#2 in my book. The Giants, from the late 90s onward, became the bigger villains in my book.
The kinder, gentler NFL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/sports/football/no-foul-mouths-on-pete-carrolls-field-football-with-a-new-age-twist.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0