Any Cause for Concern?

Posted: June 3rd, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Any Cause for Concern?

There have been two OTA sessions open to the media. We heard a lot of positives from those practices, with one key exception. We didn’t get favorable reports on the QB play.

Is this a concern?

At this point, no. You would prefer the QBs to look good, of course. That’s the most important position in football. If you’re QB plays well, you have a chance to win. If he struggles, you need a lot of other things to go right.

Jalen Hurts, Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee are a talented trio. They are also learning a new offense and that is going to lead to some ups and downs. An offense is at its best when everyone is on the same page and the timing is like clockwork. That doesn’t happen overnight. Kellen Moore and Nick Sirianni are taking two playbooks and building them into one offense. It will take time and reps for things to click. What we’re seeing now is part of the learning process.

If the QBs are up and down in mid-August, that’s a different story. They should improve as they get accustomed to the new offense and develop good timing with the new skill players. Parris Campbell and John Ross are new to the team. Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson are rookies. CJ Uzomah is new to the Eagles. So are Saquon Barkley and Will Shipley.

There is also the X-factor that we don’t know what the coaches are telling the QBs to work on. They might be stressing the short passing game. They might stress working the middle. We see results, but don’t know what is going on behind them.

I’m not saying the QBs should get a free pass for their struggles. It is fair to scrutinize them and keep an eye on the situation. You want the struggles to lessen as the summer moves along. There is no guarantee that happens. Moore is the new offensive coordinator. Doug Nussmeier is the new QBs coach. They have had a lot of success over the years, but every situation is different. We have to wait and see what happens.

The final point to make here is that Hurts is always going to be more of a gamer than a practice QB. Part of what makes him special is his ability to mvoe around and create. That doesn’t factor into 7-on-7’s or most practice periods.

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I will be glad when this situation is over. James Franklin made an off-hand comment and somehow that got trumped up into a potential tampering charge. Howie Roseman knows when he can and can’t talk to players. I would be shocked if he actually did anything.

The Eagles shouldn’t get punished unless the league can prove something. I won’t be shocked if they throw some minimal punishment at the Eagles to try to discourage future teams from tampering or anything close to it.

The Falcons are in a very different situation. They will lose a draft pick because they did tamper. The question is how high of a pick.

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Bill Walton died last week. There were a million stories about him and what an amazing life he led. Walton is arguably the greatest college basketball player of all time. He was an MVP and two-time champion in the NBA. Walton then became legendary as an announcer and personality. Truly a great life.

I hated Walton for a long time. One of my first sports memories is my beloved 76ers with Julius Erving and George McInnis losing to Walton and the Trailblazers in the 1977 NBA finals. I hated Walton and his red hair and beard and stupid headband. He might have been my first sports enemy. He went to the Celtics and helped them win a title in 1986, which only angered me further. Seeing Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Walton happy together was enough to make me want to jump off a bridge.

Thankfully I decided not to jump since I knew all those Super Bowls were coming with Buddy, Reggie and Randall leading the Eagles.

Oops.

I did learn to enjoy Walton as a broadcaster and personality. He was a great storyteller and had a unique way of looking at things. The world is less interesting without him in it.

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