Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

RBBC

Posted September 6th, 2023 | 3 Comments »

The Eagles have had some great RBs over the years. Go back to Steve Van Buren and Timmy Brown in the old days. Wilbert Montgomery got the team to its first Super Bowl. Duce Staley, Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy were the stars of the Andy Reid era. There won’t be a workhorse RB in 2023.

  • D’Andre Swift has started 16 games in three years and has a career high of 151 carries in a season.
  • Rashaad Penny has started 11 games in five years and has a career high of 119 carries in a season.
  • Kenny Gainwell has one career start and a career high of 68 carries in a season.
  • Boston Scott has started 12 games in five years and has a career high of 87 carries in a season.

It is highly unlikely that any of those guys starts 17 games and gets 250 carries. And that’s fine. Running back by committee works just fine in today’s NFL.

The Eagles have an outstanding O-line. Jalen Hurts ability as a runner gives them a schematic advantage. Jeff Stoutland and Nick Sirianni do a good job of coming up with a creative running game that brings out the best in their players. The Eagles don’t need an elite runner to have a good run game. They’d love to have someone like Shady or Westy to feed the ball to, but they can get good production from the group they do have.

It does seem like the coaches are excited about Swift. He was a star at Georgia and was the 35th overall pick in 2020. He has averaged 4.6 yards per carry for his NFL career. Swift is a talented receiver and has 156 career catches. The Eagles traded for him when they already had Penny, Gainwell and Scott in place. They wanted Swift.

That play shows you big time ability. He had the vision to see space to the left. Swift had the lateral agility to cutback and get to that area. He then had the burst to get up the field and finished the play by running through a tackle. That’s just about everything you want from a RB.

We only got to see a little of Swift in the preseason, but I think he’ll be the feature back as the season starts. Still, he won’t be getting a ton of work. The Eagles are going to spread the ball around. The four RBs have different skill sets. The coaches can find ways to get the most out of them.

Penny is the biggest of the RBs and is a physical runner. He has big play ability because of his power and downhill style.

Gainwell isn’t big, but is a surprisingly good short yardage runner. He is a good receiver and will be the key RB in the 2-mintue offense.

Scott is the KOR and is a solid RB. He is small, but thick. He hides behind blockers and runs to daylight.

I would think at least three of them will be the leading rusher in a game this year. Possibly all four. If one of them is having a good day, he’s likely to get more carries and be The Guy for that game. I don’t think sharing the ball will be an issue since none of these guys has been a workhorse runner in their careers.

It will be interesting to see how the RBBC approach works this year. If the Eagles like it, they may stick with this in the future.

*****

The Eagles named their team captains.

9 captains? Really?

This makes me think of the movie State & Main and the running gag where they talk about giving out Associate Producer credits as a way to keep random people happy.

Sirianni seems to know what buttons to push to keep his guys happy, but 9 captains seems a bit crazy.

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A Special Dude

Posted September 5th, 2023 | 1 Comment »

Jalen Carter was a dynamic force for Georgia the past two seasons. He was going to be the top pick in the draft. The Chicago Bears had the top slot and were in desperate need of a dynamic force up front in their defense.

Fast forward from January to September and Carter is an Eagle. Tim McManus wrote an excellent piece explaining how that happened. We know a lot of the details already, but McManus mixed in some new nuggets. Make sure you read his piece.

The key to all of this is that Carter is a special player.

“He’s very physical,” cornerback Darius Slay said on his podcast. “Quicker than what you think and stronger than he looks. He’s pushing folks back.” Lane Johnson, one of the best tackles in the game, said: “This guy is ready to play right now and ready to take control of a game right now. He’s a game-changer.”

The Eagles have had a lot of good DL in the past 35 years. Only a few of them could truly be classified as special.

  • Reggie White
  • Jerome Brown
  • Fletcher Cox

All were high picks. All had a rare combination of strength, quickness and agility.

Carter has the potential to join that group.

Don’t expect Carter to be a dominant player this season. Aaron Donald had a terrific rookie season, but he’s the anomaly. Most rookie DTs are up and down. OL play takes a huge jump from college to the NFL. It can take DTs a year or two to adjust to that and be consistently disruptive.

As talented as Brown was, it took him a couple of years to become the special player we remember.

You just don’t see DTs with that combination of explosion and agility. JB was something else.

Carter got everyone’s attention in the preseason.

https://twitter.com/RunHurts/status/1698007003191205995

Carter then had some impressive moments in the joint practices with the Browns and Colts. Those of us not in attendance weren’t able to see him in action so we can’t wait to see him in the season opener. I’m torn on what to expect. The rational part of me says to keep expectations down. The delusional nut job that occupies a lot of my brain expects to see a green tornado destroying the Patriots offense repeatedly.

No matter what, it will be great to finally see him on the field for an extended amount of time. We’ll finally get an idea of what Carter can do this year.

I think one thing that will really help Carter is that he’s not here to carry the defense. He’s not here to be the key to the DL. The Eagles are still loaded up front. Carter can be a game changer, but he won’t have to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. If Jordan Davis falls on him he may think he’s got the weight of the world on him, but that is a bit different.

The Patriots OL has issues.

Carter and the other Eagles DL could have a big game on Sunday.

*****

The Eagles have shown interest in Mann in the past. No signing yet.

Smith was an athletic LB at Penn State. Doesn’t have great instincts, but certainly worth a look.

*****

Morrow is a guy you want on the PS in case of injury.

Phillips has shown potential in the past. He’s got 18 starts and is worth trying to develop.

Kyron Johnson just never showed much in the NFL. Solid STer, but not so good that you have to keep him around. Hopefully he gets another chance somewhere and fares better there.

Mullen was 1 of 237 corners on the Eagles roster. They can afford to let one go.

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