Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Youth Movement

Posted October 31st, 2023 | 4 Comments »

Howie Roseman is the NFL’s preeminent trader. So what did he do on NFL trade deadline day? Nothing. The Eagles didn’t make a single deal. They traded away DT Kentavius Street on Monday, but were silent on Tuesday.

Does this mean Howie thinks the roster is all set? The fact they didn’t make a deal doesn’t mean Howie didn’t try. You know he worked the phones harder than I do the bottom of a Funyuns bag, looking for that last tasty morsel. Nothing came of all the calling. I’m guessing this is a combination of there not be compelling targets and also not finding the right prices.

  • The Giants traded 29-year old Leonard Williams and his 1.5 sacks and 5 QB hits to Seattle for a 2nd round pick and a 2025 5th round pick. That seems nuts to me.
  • The Packers traded 29-year old Rasul Douglas and a 5th round pick to Buffalo for a 3rd round pick. Douglas was lights out in 2021 and he’s been erratic since then.

With prices like that, Howie decided to stick with the guys he already has. If you think about the potential weak spots on the team, there is young talent already in place.

LB – Nakobe Dean

SAF – Reed Blankenship, Sydney Brown

CB – Eli Ricks, Josh Jobe, Kelee Ringo, Mario Goodrich

Edge – Nolan Smith

That is a talented group. They are also unproven, which can be dangerous for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. The old coaching axiom is that you would rather play a rookie a week too late than a week too early. Missed assignments can kill you.

Howie traded for DE Robert Quinn last year and that proved to be a waste. He traded for WR Golden Tate in 2018. That helped the team win a wild card game. Was that worth the 3rd round pick they gave up for him? Very debatable.

If you’re desperate, make the trade. If the value is right, make the trade.

The Eagles aren’t desperate this year. We have to guess that the value wasn’t right. Rather than force something, you go with the young players already in place. Draft picks like Sydney Brown and Nolan Smith will need to step up. Nakobe Dean is in Year 2, but still young. He needs to prove the team was right to count on him as the key LB this year. Ricks is a UDFA. That means there is less pressure on him, but this is a huge opportunity. If he plays well, Ricks could earn a job and prove he’s a good role player (or even better).

Brown certainly did some good things against WAS.

History tells us not all of the players will work out as hoped. The only way to find out though is to play them. See who can handle it and who can’t. The Eagles have a strong enough core that they should be able to play the young guys and still win games. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year while playing four rookie DBs.

We’ll have to see how things play out for the Eagles.

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The Eagles were desperate for a safety and made the deal for Kevin Byard last week. They got a good price so Howie was very smart to make that deal. That gave him the flexibility to be a careful shopper this week.

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Sean Desai was asked about the late TD his defense gave up to Washington. He became visibly frustrated. Not at the question, but at the drive that his defense allowed. I was happy to see his reaction. You could tell he was ticked off.

D’Andre Swift was wrong to score on the trick play, but the Eagles defense should not surrender a 49-second TD drive to Sam Howell. Desai said his coaching was to blame, but a lot of that was on the players. Hopefully that drive will stick in their memories the next time they have to protect a lead.

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It is certainly fair to be critical of Brian Johnson and the offense at times. I think we also need to understand that side of the ball is still pretty darn good.

2022 – 3rd in yards, 3rd in points

2023 – 3rd in yards, 3rd in points

Johnson hasn’t made things look as easy as Shane Steichen did. Steichen is one of the best play-callers in the league. You don’t lose someone like him without feeling it. But let’s make sure to appreciate Johnson for doing a good overall job, especially for someone new to being an NFL offensive coordinator.

The drop-off from 2017 to 2018 was significant. This is nothing like that.

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Trade Talk

Posted October 30th, 2023 | 2 Comments »

The NFL’s trade deadline is Tuesday at 4pm. We got news of an outgoing trade today, but no news on Howie adding players to the Eagles. We can speculate for now, but will have to wait til Tuesday for any real news.

Back to the trade that did happen.

The Falcons lost DT Grady Jarrett on Sunday and needed DL help. Street wasn’t playing a lot with the Eagles. They can give his snaps to rookie Moro Ojomo. The Eagles have DT Thomas Booker and NT Noah Elliss on the practice squad so they’ve still got solid depth.

So what is Howie doing to improve the team?

https://twitter.com/MattLombardoNFL/status/1719101101822066809

This would be interesting. Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat are stud pass rushers. Brandon Graham might finally be showing his age. He’s got 0.5 sacks and 3 QB hits. After that you have rookie Nolan Smith and Derek Barnett. The team is mixing in Smith, but not a ton. I’m not sure they trust him to be on the field a lot right now. Barnett does not have a QB hit this year. He’s been okay vs the run, but isn’t pressuring the passer at all. Patrick Johnson has primarily been a STer.

Finding pass rushers is tricky. The Eagles dealt for Robert Quinn last year and that didn’t work. Teams don’t want to give up good rushers unless you pay a lot for them. I don’t think Howie is looking to give up key assets. That’s just a guess on my part. Tuesday will give us real answers.

We’ll see who the Eagles get.

Or we’ll find out that there just wasn’t a deal to be made.

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If you want to know what picks the Eagles have this year, Jimmy Bama has you covered.

As long as the comp picks pan out as expected, the Eagles will be in good shape.

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The Eagles added a bit more cap room.

They are always tweaking contracts to maximize available money, for this year or the future.

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There are things to fix on defense. Having some stability in the secondary would be a big help. Constant change has been an issue this year.

Yikes.

That number could go up if the Eagles deal for a DB. They could be looking for a nick if they aren’t sold on Bradley Roby, Sydney Brown and/or Eli Ricks. Or Josiah Scott. I hope Avonte Maddox realizes how inconvenient his injury has been. Very selfish of him to get hurt and miss the rest of the season.

I thought Brown did some good things on Sunday. I’ve been impressed with Ricks in multiple games. Roby didn’t do a lot for me before he got hurt. This is another situation where the Eagles might want an upgrade, but the price has to be right.

The Chiefs showed last year that you can win with young DBs. Find the right guys and give them a chance to play through their mistakes. The Eagles need to find long term solutions in the secondary. They can’t keep going through this kind of shuffle every year.

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Sua Opeta got hurt late in the first half and rookie Tyler Steen had to take over at RG.

Good job by the rookie. Did his job and the offense marched right down the field for a TD. Opeta came back out for the second half.

It sounds like Cam Jurgens will probably be back this week. Nick Sirianni wouldn’t commit to anything at his press conference, but Jurgens was at the game on Sunday and moved without issue. We’ll see if the Eagles activate him from IR on Wednesday. I’m sure they would love to get him back. The run game hasn’t been the same without him.

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