Mr. Right?
Posted: January 3rd, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 177 Comments »The Eagles found their QB.
Carson Wentz is the future.
The Eagles found the biggest piece of the puzzle, now they just have to build around him.
Some people hear statements like these and wonder how true they are. Wentz went 7-9 this year. He finished with a rating under 80. He only threw 16 TDs and turned the ball over more than 20 times. He threw a ton of short passes and failed to come through late in games for most of the year. How the heck is that guy your franchise QB?
I think many people get confused with what we’re talking about. Wentz has the potential to be a franchise QB. He has the tangible qualities and the intangibles to develop into a star. He isn’t anywhere close to that level right now. When you think of Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Brett Favre and the other classic examples of franchise QBs, you think of the finished product. Those players, like most QBs, were very different early on.
Dak Prescott is having an amazing rookie season. He’s set more than a few records and looks like the real deal. Why can’t Wentz be like him? As with any QB, circumstances are a huge factor. RB Ezekiel Elliott has a legit chance to be the league MVP. Think about that for a second. Prescott is having a great year and he’s not even the best rookie in the offensive huddle. Elliott is the foundation of that whole team. Prescott just has to get the ball to his playmakers. That takes a tremendous amount of pressure off him.
Wentz has no such star RB to lean on. The Eagles lack playmakers. Who is the MVP of the Eagles offense? Jason Peters started all 16 games, but wasn’t dominant. Darren Sproles was terrific at times, but finished with 865 yards from scrimmage and 4 TDs, hardly great numbers. Jordan Matthews was the key to the passing game, but failed to make some key plays and missed a couple of games. Wentz should be the offensive MVP.
Some of you read this and say “You’re just making excuses for Wentz. Stop it!”. Nothing could be further from the case.
I can’t tell you that Wentz would be great if he had Julio Jones to throw to or David Johsnon to hand the ball to or whichever skill players you want to bring up. I don’t know how Wentz would perform. He hasn’t had the chance to do that. And that’s the point. We need to see how he does play when surrounded by really good talent.
No young QB is going to thrive when he has to carry most of the load on his own. It always bothered me when Peyton Manning got praised over and over and no one brought up the point that he always had HOF talent around him. The moment he stepped onto an NFL field, he had Marvin Harrison and Marshall Faulk as his weapons. Faulk was then traded and replaced with Edgerrin James. Manning was great, but those are some seriously potent weapons to work with.
Late in his time with the Colts, things fell apart. Manning didn’t have his star players. He still found a way to pile up yards and points. That’s when I truly gained an appreciation for him. But Manning had more than a decade of experience by then and could carry a team on his back.
How many people remember Steve Young in Tampa? He left BYU and went to the USFL, where he was a star. Then he came to the NFL, but had the misfortune of going to the worst franchise in the league, the Bucs. Young played there in 1985 and 1986. He went 3-16 as a starter. He threw 11 TDs and 21 INTs. Bill Walsh traded for him and Young sat behind Joe Montana for a few years before he got a chance to play. Young then had an amazing run from 1991 until he retired. Even a special talent like Young needed the right situation to make him a star.
Wentz might become a star if the Eagles can find the right supporting cast. It is also possible that we’ll find out he’s not that guy. I can tell you that I see all the right signs. I can tell you that he looked better to me as a rookie than Donovan McNabb did. If Wentz turns out to be a better version of McNabb, he’ll be a terrific pick and the team should be in for a good run.
It is also possible that Wentz will prove to be a mediocre QB like Sam Bradford or a flat out bust like Matt Leinart or Jake Locker. I don’t think he is likely to be a complete bust because of what we’ve seen so far this year and the fact that Wentz is hard working and driven. Locker just wasn’t that good. Leinart was focused more on hot chicks than hot reads (understandable, but not good for a QB).
We need a couple of things to find out if Wentz is the real deal. The first is time. It took Matt Stafford a few years to really blossom as a QB., The Lions were patient and it paid off. Time works the other way as well. Mark Sanchez looked like a terrific young QB early on, beating Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in playoff games. He didn’t handle success well off the field and his game regressed on the field. He could be out of the league in a month or so.
We also need the Eagles to get Wentz some key pieces. That could mean an elite RB. It could mean a great receiver. It could be a couple of good receivers. Whatever. We need to see how Wentz plays when he has good players around him.
Then we’ll find out if he is in fact Mr. Right.
_
Moved from old thread: HOF ballot 15 finalists
LaDainian Tomlinson
Jason Taylor
Brian Dawkins
Don Coryell
Terrell Davis
Joe Jacoby
John Lynch
Kurt Warner
Terrell Owens
Morten Andersen
Alan Faneca
Tony Boselli
Isaac Bruce
Ty Law
Kevin Mawae
Left off Carson Wentz, first ballot 2035
Ty law, Jason Taylor, Terrell Owens, Isaac Bruce, Tomlinson
you spelled Dawkins wrong.
Seriously.
T.O’s attitude has to keep him out for at least a few years. Shear numbers shouldn’t be everything. Completely destroying the Eagles 05′ season, causing internal conflicts with every team he ever played for. For as great as T.O was, I feel like his career could have been so much more.
Law is a great player. One of my favorite all-time non-Eagles. Never seemed like a diva. Played both ways when such a thing was unheard of. I would love to argue Dawkins over him, but call it a coin flip I suppose.
Lets leave out MeO though.
Good article, Tommy. I have as much faith in Carson as you do. Theres a fire in him that is not normal. The organization has to put the right players around him early in his career to bring out the best in him. I truly believe that we need to not only add djack…but also alshon jeffrey. Give him some veteran playmakers to make his life easier and to boost his confidence even more. During this season, you could see the disappointment on his face after every 3rd down or big play drop or penalty. These are the type of plays that will kill his confidence in the players around him. Make the game fun for him and he will take us to the promise land
“Curry had nine sacks in 2014 as a third-down specialist, which was enough evidence for player-personnel chief Howie Roseman to make him the 10th-highest-paid defensive end in the league last year. On the field for 42.6 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps this season, he had 21/2 sacks. Smith played half as many snaps but had just as many sacks: 21/2. It was his career high.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20170104_Sielski__Oh__yeah__Eagles_need_a_better_pass_rush__too.html
Curry stinks and paying him top dollar based on what he did in ’14 was Roseman worst move last offseason. He’ll have some mediocre ones again this year too (every GM does) but he can’t afford any real misses like this one this offseason.
Not that the contract is looking good at this point… imagine if they had signed a CB with Currys money last off season. But Curry may well break out of this funk and produce next year. He has the tools and ability but has just really struggled to transition to this scheme, hopefully he will double down this off season and come back and make plays because the kid is a huge Eagles fan and a real leader in the locker room.
I’m willing to give this defense the benefit of the doubt as they settle into the scheme. The most successful defenses (and offenses) are those with some continuity of scheme from year to year. We haven’t had that.
Is just one of the reasons why i am positive about next year (especially with Schwartz not seemingly getting HC interviews meaning he will be back next year). Both offence and defence should be improved by both coaching and players getting to know each other better, add in some better execution in 4th quarter, continued development from Wentz and a good draft and the team could be really fun next year.
In all fairness, didn’t the defense get worse as the season progressed? Your outlook should point to the opposite.
Took NFL a while to remember how bad eagles corners are and start throwing jump balls.
No need to throw jump balls when they could run right by them. Eagles don’t need the ‘long and tall’ guys Kelly liked but some guys with speed out there and can actually cover.
The other thing I wondered too was if it wasn’t a mistake to play McLeod all that money. Mills can’t play outside at CB but I do wonder what he could at S.
My request is for a corner who can actually track a football.
and coaches who will actually teach them to turn their heads around and play the ball
Please
Hm, maybe. Does it seem like the players’ familiarity and comfort in the scheme were the most likely cause of decline? Because if so, then you are right, another year of understanding will make them even worse.
Or, I wonder…could there be some other factor in the decline over the season?
Exactly. I feel like losing Ron Brooks hurt our overall secondary performance more than I would have guessed. When you start throwing Watkins in and shifting Jenkins to nickel, you’re losing something.
New scheme, old scheme, whatever, our corners were a real problem, both in quality and depth. Overall talent is another problem outside of scheme awareness. I wonder if Gilmore would be a primary target in FA because of his familiarity with Schwartz’s scheme.
Clearly that decline isn’t super easy to identify, or it would of already been corrected. Seems like an interesting off-season topic we will debate for months and months.
I think they transitioned to the scheme just fine. Just when teams hit the quarter season mark, and had tape on the scheme, they didn’t have that “second pitch” that they could turn to. I think having a second offseason makes a difference in that respect. Continuity of scheme allows for more wrinkles as time goes forward. Can’t say that it will definitely be better, but there’s good reason to believe it might.
Oh, and as others have mentioned, losing Brooks coincides with a general downtrend in the defense. I think that has more to do with the downgrade at S that ensued than it did with Brooks directly, but I do think that was a big problem that allowed some of the better QBs to switch to the quick hit scheme without any consequences.
Not sure what Curry’s preseason knee injury was, but it may have affected him. Can’t argue that his season was a disappointment, but I still think it’s a bit early to say he can’t be better.
My earlier comment was tongue in cheek. Everything you wrote is spot on in my honest opinion.
Yeah, pretty disturbing.
The whole defense seemed to have a problem getting sacks after the first 5 or so games. Cox went silent, Graham went silent and Curry was silent the whole time. Not sure what the issue was. Maybe it was new scheme. Maybe it was the lack of coverage that allowed QBs to get the ball out quick. Maybe it was all the mobile QBs we faced. Maybe it was the fact that Barwin was basically a useless blocking sled out there for 90% of his snaps. I don’t know. But, it was definitely shocking to see us get so little pressure as a team down the stretch.
You know I never really did focus my disappointment on Schwartz. Probably should do that.
Getting sacks but Graham did a consistent job of getting pressure on the QB all almost year. The problem was he was the only DL who did although Cox started and finished strong.
They really need an upgrade at the other DE position but are stuck with a bust (MS2) and a badly overpaid role player (Curry).
Yes, good QB took advantage of our poor coverage LB and CB as they have for years now. The quick strikes negate the pass rush and force Schwartz to blitz which is a killer because then our coverage is even more vulnerable if the blitz fails. I also saw a lot of poor edge containment by our DE on outside runs, misdirection plays and QB scrambles. Barwin especially looked bad in that regard.
Which CB? Because sure as hell was not going to pay Jenkins after just trading Maxwell away.
Someone like what’s his name from Seattle? Yep he has already moved on to “what’s his name status”.
I prefer the tactic of paying my own. Easier projection. You can never tell how a guy is going to react when they think they have a lifetime of financial security. Probably also sucks that really good players have their contracts run out when you change the coaching staff, making the projection more difficult.
Maxwell is just the most recent in the list of failed FA CBs. Starting to really have no faith that those become available via FA.
Curry’s stats were definitely way off where most thought he would be this year. But, it’s very clear that he still effects the passer much more than Smith on a regular basis. I have a feeling Curry had a down year, but certainly has the talent and insane first step to be a much more productive player going forward.
Curry has to work on winning on the edge this offseason.
What does this mean
He’s overly reliant on trying to trying to go inside or through the T (part of the reason he doesn’t get as many holding calls as he should) rather than around him. He has to beat the tackles to the outside with speed or some kind of rip move. If he can’t consistently take the edge, he’s going to be relegated to a NASCAR DT type player.
Would you mind explaining what through the T means and also why he never gets holding calls his way? I do notice the missed holding calls on him.
Through the T means a bull rush. Because he always works through or to the inside of the T he’s less likely to get calls because the T’s body is blocking the view of the official (who stands behind the play) as opposed to if he rushes around the edge it helps illuminate the hold. Some of them were ridiculously dogshit that should have been called anyways. If Curry doesn’t scare T’s around the edge, they don’t have to kick slide as hard, and can just sit heavy in their stance and wait for him to come into them or inside.
BG had this problem too for a long time. He doesn’t have the burst he did coming out of college but has refined a couple of outside moves that has opened up his full arsenal.
Appreciate the commentary- do you think this is why, in part he was so effective as an inside DL rusher, facing guards rather than NFL tackles?
Also, his initial burst doesn’t seem to be the same as it was in the past; I don’t know if his early season knee injury hindered him, but he doesn’t have the same wow moments from an “eye test” perspective.
I was thrilled with the Curry deal. I don’t recall one negative comment in this space about it.
Easy to be a hindsight hero now….
Curry can still be the guy we all thought he was. Just not all that likely. Seems like when a guy decided to steal money, they never change their mind.
I did. Playing him decent starter money for a guy back was a 1-truck pony and hadn’t even played that well last year. Really paying him off his results of one season 2 years ago.
Credit to ya then. I thought he was worth it.
One season does not a career make.
Question #1: Davis or Williams? And why?
Williams, is my preference – but that is just because i have actually feel like i have watched him against NFL grade talent. Williams has the size and speed to be a monster at the NFL level, physically outmatching every CB he is match up against. Davis i am not so sure about and his Combine is going to be really important i think.
Corey Davis is a guy we should definitely consider in round 1. Guy reminds me of a young slightly shorter, but quicker and with better hands Terrell Owens. He’d be Wentz’s best friend immediately.
Mike Williams. He has the better hands, play strength, and has played the better competition. Davis is in a sense a poor man’s Demaryious Thomas. He’s not as big or fast as DT but he’s more polished than DT was in college. He also shares the same issue that plagues DT, good hands but sometimes has focus drops. I think both guys might end up as good-elite possession WRs.
Williams.
Davis is a little more athletic but doesn’t consistently use his size well. Williams doesn’t get acres of separation but catches damn near everything in his radius and is a back shoulder monster.
If it’s 3rd and 12 with the season on the line, I’m taking Williams. Therefore Williams > Davis.
Question #2: Fournette or Cook? And why?
Cook in a west coast offence – he will be scary in screens and off check downs, and generally the scheme does not need a power backs. Having said that Fournette is a freak as well and could be really fun to build around.
This is like the coke vs pepsi debate. Take the flavor you like most.
In an offense that is designed around the likes of Westbrook, McCoy, Charles, take the guy who can do the same, so Cook.
My gut says Cook, for a few reasons. He’s a threat when he touches the ball (so is Fournette) but he can do it as a WR or RB. A year of mentor-ship under Sproles lends to an increase in value.
Fournette looks like a bruiser- think Ryan Mathews only more durable and a bit more long speed. Both have their value, but Doug seems to prefer match up mix ups, and Cook lends better value in that regard.
Question #3: Which first round CB? And why?
It seems that there will be quite a few quality CBs available in the 1st and 2nd round.
I doubt we go first round CB- always a possibility, but our defensive philosophy doesn’t seem to value that kind of investment.
I could see us going for an impact player on offense, or if a DE/DL falls out of the top 10, going that direction. Of course, there is always the potential for a trade back, but the top 20 of this draft have a nice quality feel to them. So far.
Tommy – not to nitpick – but he threw 16 TDs (14 ints)
You are forgetting about the fumbles. QB can turn it over in more ways than just INTs.
I’m not forgetting anything. The article said he threw 14 tds- Tommy has since corrected it. I added the 14 int part in case that was his confusion, not because I disagreed with the turnover stat
sorry to go off topic, but the Sixers won tonight and I’m excited but getting very worried that if they get rid of Okafor (for anything) they would have won by 25 tonight, and then add Simmons, and well they are going to ruin their pick while at the same time Lakers going into tank mode to keep their pick. I love having two potential elite players, but adding say the #2 and 7 picks this year would be so fantastic. So I guess, play Okafor more?!? Are you guys worried too?
I totally get that if Simmons is good and they win more than expected that’s a good problem, but I want IT ALL.
Speaking of building around Wentz, I’m gonna copy a post I made late to the previous threat since I think it has some decent info for those you might have missed it. Sorry if you already read it and now have to look at it clogging up the comments section again:
I was playing around with our cap to see how much space we’all have this year. Things aren’t nearly as dire as they would appear at first glance. Without making a move we’re at $9M under the cap, which ranks 29th. However, by making the following moves we can open up more than enough space to make the necessary moves in FA to fill in some substantial holes:
Cutting Barwin frees up $7.75M
Cutting Ryan Mathews frees up $4M
Cutting Leodis McKelvin frees up $3.2M
Cutting Kendricks frees up $1.8M
That’s $16.85M in extra space without doing anything drastic or unexpected to the roster
Marcus Smith can be cut to save $1.5M
Ron Brooks can be cut to save $1.6M
So we could potentially open up nearly $20M extra in cap space if we really wanted to. That would give us between $25-29M in cap space depending on who we cut. And that is using a projected cap of $166M whereas recent reports have it going as high as $170M. https://www.google.com/amp/www…
The real interesting thing I noticed however, was in looking forward to our cap situation in 2018. A lot was made about all the contracts Howie gave out this past year and how they effected our cap situation in 2017 (putting us at the bottom of the league in available funds, 29th overall). But, few people looked ahead to 2018 and beyond.
In 2018, if you assume we already unloaded Barwin, Mathews, McKelvin and Kendricks, we will be looking at a projected cap space of: $31.9M.
And, that is with Jason Peters counting $11.25M, $10.25M of which would be saved if he’s cut after next year, Brent Celek counting $5M, $4M of which can be saved if he’s cut after next year, and Chase Daniel counting $8M, $7M of which can be saved if he’s cut after next year.
Kelce could also be cut for a $6M savings, Ron Brooks for $2.14M, DGB for $1.2M and Agholor for $600k.
So anywhere from $50-63M in space is projected to be there with the core in place just around the time Wentz is hitting the beginning of his prime. If you assume about $5M for each draft class in 2017 and 2018 and $10M for each free agency haul in each of those years, we could add a significant FA and a mid level veteran with each FA, and still have $25-30M to play with in FA next year. And, Jordan Hicks and Jordan Matthews are the only young players (aside from Bennie Logan this offseason) that will be in line for an extension going into 2018.
Say what you will about Howie, but the guy knows how to work the cap. Even two years out we know the team will enter Wentz’s prime with its LT, C/G, RG, QB, a stud TE, two DE, a stud DT, and two top notch safeties looked up on what will look like very reasonable contracts by then, with 2 draft classes, 2 free agency classes and an addition $30M in space to fill out the roster just as Wentz hits the point of being ready to compete for a Super Bowl.
Compare this to our rivals the Cowboys:
They are projected to be $2.7M over the cap in 2017. The only significant cap hit they can shed is Romo’s and even with that he will still carry a $19.6M dead cap hit, so the net result of moving on from Romo will be an additional $5.1M, bringing them up to $2.4M in cap space. Not even enough to sign their draft picks.
The only other players that have significant cap hits without equal or more dead money if cut are Sean Lee, Jason Witten and Doug Free. Witten would save $7.4M, Lee would save $7M, Doug Free would save $5M.
On the lower end, Cole Beasley would save $2M, Alfred Morris saves $1.7, and James Hanna would save $1.5M. That’s it. Everyone else is essentially locked in.
There’s no way they would cut Sean Lee or Doug Free, in my opinion. But, they need to come up with at least $5M in cap space to sign their draft picks. (http://overthecap.com/rookie-c…. Unless they do some major restructuring to people like Dez or Sean Lee, Witten is the obvious odd man out. But, even with him cut completely that only brings them up to $9.8M total cap space to sign their draft picks, sign FAs and stash for emergency mid season signings.
They also have the following players set to be FA:
– Morris Claiborne
– Rolando McClain
– Ronald Leary
– Barry Church
– Darron McFadden
– Lance Dunbar
– Jack Crawford
– Gavin Escobar
– Terrell McClain
– Justin Durant
– JJ Wilcox
– Terrance Williams
That’s a lot of roster spots to fill, including 5 starters and some key backups as well. Without massive restructuring, they will struggle to fill out their roster and most certainly will not be able to be players in FA. Plus, by restructuring contracts they will simply be putting off the cap payments into future years, which will again lock them in to unfavorable situations like they are in with Romo now, where he will count almost $20M against their cap even though he is almost assured to be playing elsewhere in 2017.
Dez is probably the safest bet to restructure. He’s young and he’s a beast. You can be pretty confident that committing cap space to him into the future will not go to waste. However, his cap hits are scheduled to be $17M in 2017, and then $16.5M in both 2018 and 2019. If you lower his cap this year, you’ll eventually have to pay it back in future years which is just going to make his future cap hits absurd. After that, there’s not many other players who you can do that with. Tyron Smith is only the 3rd highest paid LT in the league. He’s young, but he’s got cap hits averaging $13M a year from now until he’s 32. The most likely is Sean Lee who carries a $12.5M cap hit next year, followed by $8.5 and then $7.5M in 2018-19. You could shift some of his cap hits around and move them towards those later years. But, then you’re also locking yourself into an oft injured LB who’s turning 31 next season.
If they eat Romo’s dead cap hit in 2017, 2018 looks a lot better. They’ll have about $60M of space to work with. However, that’s only counting the 25 players they have locked up through 2018. They’ll need to fill out another 26 roster spots with that cash over the next two offseasons. Witten will be gone as he’ll be a 35 year old UFA at that point. Doug Free is FA after 2017, as are Zach Martin, Brandon Carr, and DeMarcus Lawrence. La’el Collins will be a RFA. Byron Jones, Randy Gregory and Meliek Collins will all be on the final years of their deals and Dez will only have one year left on his deal.
Overall, that’s 11 starters over 2 years that still need to be locked up long term, and a couple others that will have soon to expire deals that will want a new contract. And, there’s absolutely zero depth on that team. I predict their run will not last long. They are not set up for longterm success the way the Eagles are. Dez, Dak and Zeke will keep the team competitive and they should continue to have a good line with Frederick and Smith locked up. But, with Leary, Martin, Free and Collins all having their contracts coming to an end around the same time is less than ideal. They won’t be able to keep all of them.
They’re going to be in a position by 2018 to have to replace or resign 3 out of their 5 starting oline, their #2WR, a HOF TE, and multiple starters at every level of their defense. They’ll have to do this without spending much if at all on free agents this year due to Romo’s dead cap hit, while simultaneously filling out a roster that has no depth behind the starters and only 25 players signed through 2018.
Great summary. Appreciate all the work. Now just need them to lose in the playoffs and then wait for the downturn
A small (read: large) part of me will die on the inside if the Cowboys win the Super Bowl this year.
I thought they were frauds all year. The way they dismantled Det, makes me realize they are actually a pretty solid team. In fact, starting to think they are the best team in the NFC. Green Bay is my hope in the NFC. KC or NE would probably stomp them in the big one.
I really just don’t want them to win a play off game.
I still think they are frauds. Det isn’t a great team. I don’t believe in Dak. I believe they’ll lose their first playoff game, this year, and then never contend again for years.
Dallas loves to restructure deals, and there are a options. Frederick’s due $14.2M in 2017 in basic salary and i am sure it was designed to be restructured in this off season to be turned into almost entirely signing bonus which should free up ~$10M in cap space.
They could also restructure Smiths deal and free up ~$7M, although that would leave Smiths future years being really expensive in both annual salary and prorated bonus.. He would be counting ~17mil a year against the cap the next 2018-2020.
Add in a Dez extension/restructure and they should be able to make significant moves this off season.
Now it will come back and bite them in the ass 2-3 years down the road especially when its Dak’s turn for a new deal… but Jerry loves to put his chips all in soon as he has a decent team.
I hope they keep restructuring– in the end it only serves to help their opponents, and the law of averages says that they will suffer more injuries in the upcoming years than they are currently.
Not that I wish injury on any team- but they have stayed relatively healthy on offense; less so on defense
Oh for sure…there’s definitely ways for them to get around it in the short term. But, it is far from an ideal position to be in and it will definitely limit their window to compete.
Rolando oh, you will never step foot on a football field again. Enjoy a life of drugs and douche baggery. Given so many opportunities and never saw the light. No sympathy.
I think you are assuming a bit much in thinking that cutting MK and LMcK is a given. Let’s also remember that while not preforming up to his contract Kendricks really played solid football most of the season. He is a guy who could really step up in year 2. He has never really seemed to flourish in year one of a defense anyway.
Great stuff though. This is the kind of stuff you should save for next month when I am in sports limbo.
McKelvins gone. Kendricks will be dangled but is probably kept.
I hope you are right. Just not having faith we can find a replacement at this point.
I think they’ll add a younger stop gap guy and double dip in the draft.
Obviously things will change as the off season progresses (combine, pro days) but who has the physical and mental traits that Schwartz will look for on defense in the form of draftable/undrafted CB’s?
With our defensive philosophy, I’m not sure we will go CB in the first round (or two) but are there any intriguing options at a later point? Schwartz seems to prefer zone type players, but we did have a number of 1 on 1 opportunities that our secondary faced this past year. A lot of that had to do with the injury to Brooks, but it seems like we need to add at least 2 fresh faces, plus some outside FA help.
There should be intriguing CBs on the board well into the fourth or fifth round. If they don’t come away with two from this class (both good and deep) Howie and Joe messed up.
Got any names?
if you say it fast enough it sounds like Shinobi… maybe he can be our Shinobi X)
Cameron Sutton, Kevin King, Rasul Douglas, Gareon Conley, and Brandon Facyson. Not sure if most guys listed fit our scheme though.
Douglas is a familiar name, the others not so much- I’ve got plenty of time to read and research though.
With Chip it was pretty easy to find the applicable traits that he would look for and draft; it’ll be interesting to see how Douglas and Howie go about their board and selections this year.
With Mills and TinyErection (Smallwood) we have athletes with a questionable event in their background- both seem to have been able to move forward in their growth process. I’m interested to see who slides in this draft because of similar circumstances, and if they are of interest/value to our organization.
Teez Tabor is the only CB that I’ve heard about having off the field issues but who knows? There has been stupid and untimely events that happened to CBs in the past before the draft (looking at you Bradley Roby).
I like the other Washington corner (king) as well as the other colorado corner (witherspoon) and damontee kazee has been gettting a lot of buzz. I’m not the best with CBs, hard to get a feel for them with TV copy
I hope so… CB needs a complete overhaul. Keep Ron Brooks and Mills, start over with the rest of those roster spots.
Did you include the $8M we getting carry over from 2016?
Good info. The issue is these moves open up more holes in the roster and the Eagles have a very mixed track record of filling roster holes effectively over the last 6 years. We’ll have to see what happens.
Bang on Tommy as usual , great article
“I can tell you that he looked better to me as a rookie than Donovan McNabb did.” — I’m glad you mentioned 5. I keep telling people that Wentz > 5. People replied — are you nuts, do you not remember what 5 did for the team. I have to tell them all that they are missing the point. Wentz has done things 5 has never done in his entire career. Does that mean Wentz > 5? no, not by comparing careers. It’s all the stuff T-Law mentioned. There’s something different about Wentz as of right now. As mentioned — anything — good or bad can happen, but right now optimism is sky high for this kid.
……
T-Law chooses his words carefully(because people like me are very literal :))… finally — after article after article about “talent” at WR … he wrote … “It could be a couple of good wr’s”. WOW. Well stated. IMHO…it’s just not the lack of talent. Eagles need to look at some of these coaches. Even though players skills weren’t the greatest — basic fundamentals were horrendous. Can’t blame all that on the players….
“because people like me are very literal”
__________
So how do deal with nuanced writing?
Weighing in on Wentz: This off season is critical. If he ends up a bust, everything you needed to predict it could be seen this season. Inaccurate, doesn’t win close games, makes bad decisions. The flip side is if he ends up being great, you saw all the tools, the leadership, the competitiveness and oh the inaccuracy was his mechanics, the losing close games was on the bad team around him, and the bad decisions were because he was a rookie. So while I tend to be optimistic in uncertainty, it must be said that we aren’t at a place to accurately predict Wentz’s caliber yet.
Certainly he could go either way at this point. Look at other young QB’s around the league right now – why does a guy like Derek Carr progress so quickly when other guys like Tannehill, Bortles or even Luck seem to stagnate? It’s why I think it’s critical the team spends this offseason surrounding Wentz with offensive talent to facilitate his development (or at least not impede it.). I think getting a nucleus of good, young players on the offensive side of the ball is probably more important for the team to be contending for the next decade than to worry about adding CB’s and pass rushers early in the draft – I want this team to win a Superbowl, not just make the playoffs.
I was reading a deadspin piece on the greatness of Brady this morning (you don’t have to like it, but you really should appreciate it) and came across this comment – “OK, so even without Gronk, Brady’s targets aren’t going to be confused for, say, the Eagles’.” Pretty much says it all.
Yeah it’s super frustrating, but for me the reason you have to keep Doug and his QB cabal for 2 more years. Give Wentz an environment where he has a chance to become a franchise QB. Which is weird, I can’t see any scenario with Doug being here more than 4 years, or getting even a whiff of a super bowl. But I can see him developing Wentz into a guy that can carry this franchise for the next decade+
Who better to learn from than Doug, a backup NFL QB that had to learn all of the little idiosyncrasies to survive. Partner him with Reich, and DeFlippio (sp?) and that’s all a young QB could ask for……….
But I think you are correct- Doug (at least at this point) seems to have an average shelf life of an NFL coach (2-4 years). We will see going forward, but I’m hesitant to offer any excitement about his potential going forward.
We do need a few pieces to stretch the field. Perhaps the Delorean reference by Howie was a hint towards Jackson coming back. Hard to say, but without a home run threat, we will continually be stuck in the mud on offense.
Home record is also an indicator
Howie giving a presser right now. He was asked about explosive plays on offense. He said that we used to have those guys, he does not have a Delorean time machine and so we will work with the young guys we have and look to get better.
Pretty much spot on.
Just goes to show that Howie had no idea what he’s doing. Any decent GM would have had a Delorean.
And now he can’t go back and get one.
Serious repercussions for those messing with the space time continuum.
Well, McClane gate has gone to the interweb, kind of an awesome article on the ringer (spiritual successor to Grantland). It’s great because we are all so familiar with the beat writers by now.
https://theringer.com/oral-history-philadelphia-eagles-press-box-jeff-mclane-120a90dbd9c1#.6td5y51vu
And Gonzo wrote it
I’m surprised the boss heard the story from the security guard and said, let’s throw McLane out. Just seems insane, even if McClane could have been more polite.
The boss heard the story from Zach Groen, a public relations coordinator.
Also, the “Security Guard,” although unnamed in every article, is JP Hayslip, Director of Facilities Security.
crazy how our beat writers have a bad rap, but Sheil and Tim were indisputably great, so that got snatched up. Gonzo, I don’t recall being particularly great, but I know their lead editor at the ringer is Chris Ryan, who’s from Philly so maybe it was a connection.
I thought this was funny
“McLane: They were just rallying because they saw something that was wrong, at least according to them. This is all sausage-making stuff. You have arguments or discussions with team personnel all the time. Generally that doesn’t see the light of day because it happens behind closed doors.”
Yeah Sheil and Jimmy have completely dispelled any prestige of football and beat writing over the years, writing with glorious irreverence. I Miss Shiel
This article eventually lead me to this, which somehow I had never seen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOelz0rrX9Q
This is INCREDIBLE
To me, this is uncannily like some high school classroom drama. Students get loud and are told to quiet down. One of them says something rude. Teacher and student step into the hall to discuss it in private. Next thing you know, the principal is escorting the student out, the teacher is quiet about the details of the conversation, and the students are all yelling about how he didn’t do anything.
Meanwhile, the key is the conversation in the hallway. Either McLane said something inappropriate or threatening or offensive and crossed a line that prompted the staffer to talk to his bosses and security, or the staffer didn’t like what McLane had to say and chose to show off the power he could summon.
It could be either one, but I have trouble seeing a guy going out of his way to fabricate a story and create an issue with the press hours before the season ends.
I think the article hit the perfect tone: amusement.
Exactly, and I think Bowen’s sanctimonious Twitter rampage made their position look, just as you said, childish.
Journalism is dead.
commentary and punditry is booming though!
Ironically, humorously enough, this article is fine journalism. And The Ringer is a commentary/culture site. He told the beat writers’ story in their own words, and tried to get the team’s story. Left the reader to do their own critical thinking.
The article you linked to was entertaining, and unlike many things this days represents real journalism (an attempt to tell the whole story from as many viewpoints as possible).
It’s ironic that the main subjects in the article are fellows who would likely consider themselves journalists, but are clearly not.
Be funny, provide education, report facts (or things close to facts), or gtfoh.
Honestly, I appreciate the comments on this board more than I have the likes of Sal Pal, Eskin, Roob, Les, and Mclane for the past 5+ years.
Good post, Tommy. Agree this is a team sport and the Eagles need to prove they can build a team around Wentz. The QB does not cover/return punts/kicks nor play defense. The QB is vitally important, but the other elements need to be at least decent to good for the team to have consistent success.
There is also a time clock running on the process. Wentz is on his rookie deal which nowadays is team cap friendly. Once that rookie deal is up (and really the year before that), the Eagles will need to decide if they are going to sign Wentz to a market rate QB deal or go in a different direction. If they have failed to build around Wentz by then, the decision will be very difficult for the reasons you state. And, if they do sign Wentz long term at market rate, their chances to build something successful around Wentz within the cap will take a big hit.
Indy is the downside comparison – great QB in Luck, but no team around him and limited cap to turn it around.
This is also a test of leadership and management from Lurie on down to the players. There must be a comprehensive plan, it must be implemented effectively and they must have the courage of their convictions to stick with it. If Lurie believes that Roseman/Douglas/Pederson et al. are the right set of leaders, he must back them 100% and give them all the resources and time necessary to succeed.
One point I disagree with you on, Tommy. Elliott is not the foundation of the Cowboys offense. That stellar OL is the foundation and makes Elliott, Dak, Bryant et al. all the better. This is where the Eagles need a plan: the OL is the engine of an offense just like the DL is critical for a defense. Our OL must be upgraded and given the resources it deserves.
Hmm. I really am not sure what I think about this.
Say Carson turns out as good as 5? Is that good enough? I don’t think so.
Look, I love 5, and we had some great memories. But early 2000s Eagles were not Donnie and the Jets, this was a well-constructed team that grinded people down with a talented defense, good OL play, Westbrook, a fresh offensive scheme, and finally, Donnie. What’s more, the NFC for most of that period was down, especially the NFCE. When we finally got to the Superbowl, we beat a crappy ATL team headed by super-flashy Mike Vick.
If Carson turns out to be as good as 5, borderline HOF, that probably is just not going to be good enough. If he turns out to be like Stafford (a very possible result), that’s probably not good enough either.
My takeaway from the last decade of football is you really need to be _very_ good at something. And usually that includes a _very_ good QB. The teams that won had _very_ good QBs, or at least ones capable of playing at a top, elite level for several games in a row. Donnie never was that guy.
Don’t think it’s wentz, it’s can we put a team around Wentz that’s good enough to compete consistently.
I don’t know man- number 5 was pretty damn good, and with just a tad more offensive help, he could have raised the Super Bowl trophy in this town.
Think about what we have had since 5 was here, and what we had before him. If Carson can reach his level, or even just a bit higher (he seems to have the mental makeup and drive to do so) then we have potentially the best QB in franchise history.
Number 5 was a very good QB, but his elite years were cut short by injury and a lack of offensive play makers. Think about 2004. McNabb was a 5 year vet, we had a bunch of competent guys but lacked that “go to” guy- the year with T.O. was one of my favorites. Then everything blew up. By 2008 McNabb was slowing down, as he never developed the mental side to the game to complement his physical capabilities.
Carson seems to have both the mental and physical makeup to be an elite QB in this league. But like any QB, he needs stability, great coaching, and a lot of help. How good would Rodgers be if his back shoulder throws to Nelson more often than not fell incomplete?
Keep in mind that 5 was throwing to the Todd Pinkstons, James Thrashes, Kevin Curtises, and Reggie Browns of the world for most of his career.
Curious to see how Dallas does this year. I think Dak is a step below Wentz, but that team is very good offensively at every other position. Flacco, Eli, and whatever Frankenstein’s monster you want to call Denver’s QB last year certainly provide evidence that the QB doesn’t need to be *very* good.
I’m not a Stafford fan, but it’s tough to say he’s incapable of being a winner, given just how poorly that franchise has been run for 20+ years.
And I’m still going to put an * next to that Super Bowl that the Eagles lost, given it was an acknowledged cheating situation (the full extent of which was hidden by the NFL commissioner’s destruction of the evidence). Maybe Donnie could have had a ring. But there’s no doubt, in my mind at least, that he lacked the drive and commitment to be a top tier QB, especially given how short his career, especially his top tier career, was.
DMAC was close to his peak when he entered the draft. Sure he needed to adjust to the speed of the NFL, and the defensive schemes that are way more elaborate than CFL. Wentz has a ways to go to hit his peak. He’s thrown more picks in one season than DMAC ever did. But that gives me optimism. DMAC was very disciplined, and held the ball forever, because his athleticism permitted it, and because he was loathe to turn the ball over. Occasionally, he’d escape the pocket and trigger a dazzling broken play, but often his inability to let it fly early resulted in less than a first down.
I am hopeful that CW can maintain his impulse to throw on time, while addressing his need to consciously set before he throws. He hasn’t got Stafford’s arm, but his arm is strong enough. He’s smart enough to see what needs fixing. So next season, we should see clues as to whether or not he’s approaching franchise status.
I really do like the offseason. It brings uncertainty and excitement in trying to predict what we will do. It is just soooooo looooooooong. (And it hasn’t even started yet). Not playing meaningful football in December and January sucks.
What if they doubled the length of the season, but gave teams a gap of two weeks between games? 😀
Not to mention the Eagles have “won” the offseason trophy a few times. A lot better than their history in the real season.
Very sad…..
Former Bills and Falcons S Keion Carpenter passed away at the age of 39 last week.
According to the medical examiner, Carpenter died of blunt force trauma to the head after he fell while on vacation with his family in Miami on December 29. Carpenter was racing his son back to the vehicle after a dinner when he collapsed and struck the back of his head on the ground. He regained consciousness but suffered a heart attack in the ambulance. Carpenter had four children.
Miami is a Bermuda Triangle for pro athletes — especially NFL players.
Just ask McDougle and, more recently Bradham.
“When we sat down and discussed the offer,
we really started thinking about the likelihood we’d sign him to an
extension,” Roseman said of Rowe, who isn’t eligible to sign a contract
extension until after the 2017 season. “We want to build this team with
some continuity. We felt at that time that we weren’t going to sign him
to an extension and to be able to get that value for him and possibly
add someone who would be here for a longer period of time made sense for
where we were.”
This explanation is not the truth.
But it’s a damn good fairy tale . . . the kind Kelly could never tell.
(When Kelly lied, it was obvious and ultimately very off-putting.)
I take it this is Roseman’s polite way of saying:
“We thought Rowe was a talentless, over-drafted underachieving CB with no NFL future — even for a team like the Eagles that has no talent or stability at the CB position.”
Myself, I’d rather they kept Rowe.
Even after Schwartz gutted his confidence.
It’s even scarier if it is the truth. You bail on a 2nd round pick after 1 year – a guy who actually showed flashes of being able to play at a position where you know you are weak – because you don’t envision resigning him in a couple of years? And then you wonder why they don’t have a great track record of developing young talent…
It’s obviously a lie, nelson ags is on the team.
I encourage folks to watch Roseman’s PC from today on the Eagles site. I am more skeptical of Roseman than others, but am heartened by what he stated and the, albeit hazy, outlines of his vision. He really cannot say anything detailed because we do not want anyone to know what the plan is, but one can hear in his comments encouraging signals that he gets most of what needs to be done and is ready to take the challenges on.
May be minority position but I’ve always liked him.
Think he has been a solid GM. He has never had a franchise QB while being GM, nor had a continued rebuilding period to stack the roster with top 10 picks, and without either of those its very hard to build a great roster.
Interestingly top 10 picks make up over half of the Probowl on average – showing how important those top tier picks are for finding elite players… and during his time he has had 1 chance to pick top 10 and found the best player in Johnson, and the other time he traded up he for a top pick he got Wentz who looks to be a franchise player.
In the end his roster building over the next 2-3 years and Wentz development will either doom his tenure or we will be looking at a period of sustained success.
I am not a Roseman fan or supporter either. Took kind of the opposite message from the press conference including how what he said contradicted what he said right before the season about contending this year & continuing to deflect blame for the offensive woes on Kelly a bit by the moves he made (e.g., Jackson & McCoy).
Just strikes me as the penultimate corporate schemer who uses double-speak and blame deflection. When times are good or ok, you can begrudgingly work with them but when things turn south you better shiv them before they shiv you.
Talk about firing him or Pederson though was ridiculous after this season. It is ‘put up or shut up’ time though for Roseman over the next 2 years.
I was willing to give him and Pederson 3 years (including this one) to show this team was making progress in the right direction. That being over .500 in total and making and winning a playoff game by the 3rd season.
Great argument as usual Tommy. Especially the point about WENTZ looking better than McNabb in hIs first year. I remember the moment I knew McNabb had turned the corner. It was a Monday night game against the Giants I believe…pretty low scoring and McNabb drive them down to win at the end and he looked in control. Do you remember that game? It was either late in dons first year or in his second year. I saw several similar moments from Wentz this year…and by my eye test he is clearly more talented than McNabb…hopefully that Ao1 attitude takes him over the top. Thank s for the writing as always…
WOW, I looked it up and it was game 6 in his THIRD year, eagles won 10-9 (only TD was the final drive)…like I said, I saw more from Wentz already and it took me 3 years to really believe don was a franchise QB. And Jim Schwartz is no Jim Jonhson yet either…
So if the Eagles lose both DeFillipo and Reich this year, how much does that stunt Carson’s development and his off season? Do we promote Deuce to OC or look outside our current coaches? Really hope we don’t lose either for continuity sake.
They won’t lose both, but from what I’ve read people are very high on DeFillipo in the NFL community.
Well it was a hypothetical question. Not saying they will lose both but only if they do.
Didn’t mean to come off as anything other than the most informed and smartest. Lol.
I hear what you mean- losing both would be tough, but in the same off season probably unheard of; though I do seem to remember McNabb going through something similar in concurrent years.
Calling ACViking– didn’t Randall lose his QB coach during the 88 or 89 season? I seem to remember their helmets with a black stripe through the Eagle decal signifying as much. Ironic that Randall would never really fly with the Eagles, but turned in a magical season with the Vikings in which they should have made the Super Bowl (how Atlanta won the NFC Championship game I’ll never fully understand).
Any insight?
You must be thinking of Doug Scovil. He died after riding an exercise bike towards the end of the 1989 season. He got a lot of credit for developing Randall as a passer. That said Randall’s best season as an Eagles came in 1990, finishing second to Joe Montana in MVP voting. I was young at the time, but I always heard his success that year really poisoned his work ethic.
Good info; that’s why I don’t exercise.
Yes. In late December 1989 with 3 games left in the regular season.
The coach was Doug Scovil.
He was 62 years old and a genuine father-figure for Randall — who had lost both his parents as a kid.
He died the night before the Eagles beat a 1-15 Dallas team.
The Birds were 9-4 at that point, and went 2-1 over the last 3 games — including a dreadful loss on MNF to the Saints and a nobody QB named John Fourcade.
Randall’s play noticeably fell off those last few weeks.
The Birds finished a game behind the NYG for the division title.
And — on New Year’s Eve, AGAIN — lost in the opening round of the playoffs to the LA Rams.
Randall had a lousy, lousy game.
Rams’ game may have been Randall’s worst game here.
Rams rushed 3 all game. Sigh. Now I need a beer.
Now I’m depressed; perhaps I should think before I ask to take a trip down memory lane.
Thank you for the info, you are a great source as always.
Lose DeFillipo to what, OC? They can block that. If Reich gets hired, they will move DF to OC and block him from leaving. If DF gets a HC job I don’t think they can block, but that’s a big jump no? I think you can worry about other things.
I think the only way we will lose Reich is if the Bills make him their hope. Feel like he was already overlooked for the Chargers job in the past so im thinking the Bills are the only obvious threat to losing him.
..
Norv Turner says he wants to return to coaching the right situation. He is about as experienced as it gets for an OC so he could be an obvious candidate if Doug looks for an experienced OC to replace Reich
..
I don’t see why schwartz would get a head coaching job now coming off a year away from the game and a rollercoaster year in Philly. If he didn’t get a HC job after the year he had in Buffalo as a DC, I don’t see why he would be a hot commodity now. Keeping schwartz would be great because we will never be any good until we can bring stability to the coaching staff, the schemes, and continuity between players for example:
A group of OL having a few years to gel together
.
A QB and Wrs developing chemistry after years of playing together
.
defensive backs building chemistry, knowing what each other will do in every situation
.
A QB getting years to master a certain scheme and all its intracacies
..
Even coaches having a few years to really know exactly what their players are and aren’t capable of. Coaching stability allows coaches to know you well enough to really maximize your skills and keep you out of situations that you aren’t good at
.
If possible, I think it would be great to keep schwartz another year, but fortunately there will be some interesting defensive coordinators looking for jobs in the next year or two:
Mike Zimmer
todd Bowles
Gus Bradley
marvin Lewis
The only way they could afford to elevate Deuce to OC would be to find another exceptional QB coach. Carson’s mechanics have to be priority #1 this off-season for this offense. And I mean that, even more so than finding WRs or RBs.
I really hope at this point he has not only hired a private coach, but Reich and said coach have already discussed the desired results of said coaching.
Basically, the mechanics thing should be long on the way to solution before Carson is ever allowed to talk shop with coaches again.
https://twitter.com/caplannfl/status/816755850412965888
2015 Paul Turner vs 2016 Paul Turner
Hahahaha! USA! F You Russia! F You Putin!
Sorry, USA beat Russia in the World Junior Tournament today.
Maybe Putin can try to hack their systems and have the score changed. Then Trump can tweet he supports Putin again and doubts our intelligence agencies know what they are doing.
Same intelligence agencies that said Iraq had WMDs, right?
The CIA was wrong in that case and many others post-911. They suffered massive institutional failures that led them being sucked into Bush’s agenda for invading Iraq, allowing the administration and DIA to make up evidence and have Powell give it legitimacy at the UN. Facts were sacrificed for political gain and expediency. It was inexcusable by the CIA, but more blame lies with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others who wanted revenge at any cost and were willing to throw our principles out the window.
Since then, the CIA has undergone a major overhaul, has totally different leadership and is operating under a totally different administration. Plus again, this is NOT just the CIA who has seen the evidence proving Russia did the hacking and attempted to manipulate our election process. It is the entire intelligence community.
Trump is a total jackass for mocking his own people and agencies he will be working with before even taking office and for also supporting dictators like Putin. I cannot believe more people are not absolutely outraged that Russia attacked us and attempted to manipulate our election. That is way over the line and to have the President Elect support such action is beyond sickening. The guy is a total scumbag.
Nah. If you saw the FBI report that was released, what happened was that Podesta and other DNC officials got sent phishing e-mails, and they were stupid enough to offer up their credentials. That’s how the e-mails were obtained. Then, the connection between that phishing success and Russia proper has never actually been concluded, only assumed.
But yea, these dumbasses in the Democratic party gave out their credentials. Pretty funny when you consider this was partly due to bad security on a private server. Couldn’t imagine dumber people if I tried.
Actually, the phishing attack has been verified by the intelligence community. The “inference” you refer to is actually pretty damning as well, in that outsiders in the tech community have done their own data gathering, leading them to “infer” that the phishing attack was led by Russia.
Basically, the phishing attack was part of a mass attack on a number of sites, institutions, etc. They all trace back to accounts created by a URL shortening service that wasn’t properly set up, so IT people could do some simple API requests on those shortening services’ public APIs. From that they were able to determine who was targeted in the mass attack.
Not surprisingly, all of the targets are subjects of interest to Russia. Predominantly individuals with military backgrounds, military organizations, government organizations, defense contractors, journalists (critical of Russia), etc. Also a number of authors. You can trace the topics that the authors write on as well, and it breaks down into Russia, Ukraine, “Global Affairs”, etc.
A good breakdown of how this was determined by actually looking at the Podesta emails and backtracking can be found here.
https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/816621553643294720
Anyone with any experience in tech can tell you that this isn’t hard to do; the mass hack was just a big net cast, not targeted intelligence gathering by top level operatives. But it got them the information they needed.
So, you can go on all you want about “these are the same people who bleah bleah bleah” but if you think that this wasn’t Russian led, you’re either willfully ignorant or painfully naive. If you think that you can trust Trump and Julian Assange (and Putin) more than _ALL_ of the intelligence agencies of our own country, more than the people who have put their lives at risk at times to gather intelligence, than I think you might need to reassess your relationship to this country.
Sorry to go political, but when people say blatantly untruthful things about something so INCREDIBLY important, it has to be called out. We want to be talking about American Football for years to come on this site, not chess and caviar.
Got em
Nothing like blaming the victims, wow.
If you’re ok with a foreign power attacking our institutions and attempting to manipulate our democratic system and with our President Elect asking them to do so during the election and continuing to cheer them on for political gain, we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
” and with our President Elect asking them to do so during the election”
That’s how I know you’re being disingenuous. Clearly was a joke. Also, the way these boomers got hacked was frankly embarrassing and an indictment on their ability to be anywhere near national security.
Trump complained in 2013 that his Twitter was hacked, so yeah. There’s that.
Even assuming true it does not excuse nor deserve as a response an authoritarian kleptocracy.
How come nobody talks about what was leaked? The DNC and Clinton skeletons, I mean. So pretty corrupt shit in there. Shouldn’t some of them be investigated too?
The DNC is mad that the Russians exposed the DNC rigging elections.
I will absolutely cream myself if the Browns don’t tag Pryor and the Eagles somehow signing him…
Get Pryor and draft Corey
Carson, is that you?
Nope.. just me Chuck Berris.
I won’t pretend to know a lot about him, having not paid attention, but is Pryor a safe bet at WR at this point?
He appears to be. He seems to get hated by team mates though, which I don’t love.
Titans just fired WR coaches.
需要向博主学习的地方还有很多，很多，很多……
Wentz sure looks the part of a franchise QB to me. His final stats weren’t eye-popping, they compare just fine to the first year numbers of other guys who have since proven themselves among the best in the league at the position (Roethlisberger, Rodgers, Newton, Luck, etc.), and Wentz put them up playing with a very poor supporting cast around him – the backs and receivers are probably both bottom 5 NFL units and while there is talent on the OL injuries and Johnson’s suspension meant constant shuffling there. Moreover, Wentz made a lot of “wow” plays this year – reads/escapes/throws that only guys with top level talent can make. Honestly, I saw him make many more than Prescott did. He still has some kinks to work out, but there is no question he has elite physical tools, and he also appears to have exactly the right personality to give us faith that he will improve his weaknesses – smart, mentally tough, resilient, fanatic about the game of football, able to connect with his teammates, etc. I have lots of doubts and concerns about the team going forward, but Wentz isn’t one of them. If I had to wager I’d bet he’s going to end up being an elite NFL QB for a long time.
I was really, really happy with the pocket awareness he displayed, especially towards the end of the year. I can recall 4 or 5 times he bought time with his legs. It wasn’t always for a big play (Sproles up the sideline for a td) but the fact that not only does he have the inert feel for the pass rush but seemed to get better at it as the season went along is pretty neat.
“Innate”. I never correct people in this way but seeing “inert”, knowing it was wrong, and not being able to remember what the correct word was for a good 15 minutes was irritating
Yeh, thats the exact opposite of what I meant! lol, stupid auto correct.
Okay, I get it. We are all going to pretend that we are looking for WRs as if Howie didn’t just drop the mic by signing Bailey.
Turner, Mathews, Bailey with Treggs taking to top off? Signed, sealed, and delivered.
I’m yours?
2012 DRAFT (Howie’s last solo draft until this past spring):
Round 1 – Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi St.
Round 2 – Mychal Kendricks, LB, Cal
Round 2 – Vinny Curry, DE, Marshall
Round 3 – Nick Foles, QB, Arizona
Round 4 – Brandon Boykin, CB/KR, Georgia
Round 5 – Dennis Kelly, OT, Purdue
Round 6 – Marvin McNutt Jr, WR, Iowa
Round 6 – Brandon Washington, OL, Miami
Round 7 – Bryce Brown, RB, Kansas State
Best draft since the Sheppard/Brown/Westbrook/Lewis combo. Don’t care what anyone says.
2 starters (Cox and Kendricks), 1 rotational DE who has always had a mad first step (Curry), 1 back up qb, 1 starting slot cb that Chip probably ruined (#measurables), 1 decent back up OT that he traded for a 2nd rnd WR with “potential,” He traded freaking Bryce Brown for a 4th…. wow. Overall solid job imo.
Do we blame Howie or Chip for the lack of guards drafted in the past 4 years?
When i doubt, blame Chip. I think he has established himself as more incompetent in the NFL than Howard ever will.
I’ll be disappointed if DGB doesn’t realize his true playing potential here. If he can’t be a #1, can he become a strong #2 depending on who is playing opposite of him?
Anyone who isn’t excited about Wentz either doesn’t know the game or is too up in always seeing the negatives.