RIGHT now our 2014 Draft looks awful. DE/OLB/ILB/ Marcus Smith had played in 4 straight games before being held out of the Arizona game. That has all the earmarks of regression. At this point the EAGLES have to hope he was a 1st round reach, and not a 1st round bust.
Despite clear athletic talent, WR/KR Josh Huff has shown some really questionable instincts so far. This only adds weight to notion of him having been a reach in the 3rd round.
WR Jordan Matthews on the other hand has been a consistent contributor so far, but it’s clear that he’s underachieving and is somewhat trapped in his role as a slot receiver. When Chip Kelly said on Draft night that Jordan would start in the slot, I had visions of him working intermediate along and in between the hash marks. Keeping both opposing Safeties playing closer to the middle, and away from being able to help their corners against our WR’s on Fly routes and Fade routes. I didn’t expect him to be a deep threat, but I did expect a guy who allowed the deep threats room to roam.
Instead what we have is a guy who runs WR middle screens, and Bubble screens. That’s mostly because it’s what he’s asked to do. Seems to me that a WR selected in the 2nd round should be given more rope by now. It would certainly help the run game. Let me show you something:
That’s RB LeSean McCoy’s career. See that huge, across the board fall-off this year? That’s because up until this year he had 2 WR’s that could get vertical and be enough of a threat to open up room for him to create those long runs. Matthews and fellow WR Riley Cooper aren’t allowing for that. One on hand, routes called for Matthews keep him close to the line of scrimmage. On the other hand neither WR is doing much with yards after catch, as Matthews has 103 YAC, and Cooper has 75. So there is no room for McCoy to create long runs. Oh yeah! Then there’s the other thing. Let me show you something:
Combined Matthews and Cooper have fewer yards than WR Jeremy Maclin. Despite each having just 10 fewer catches than Maclin, neither man has even half his yards. Or TD’s. Maclin is also on a one year deal and will be an Unrestricted Free Agent after this season. He is clearly looking for a big contract and if someone offers him more money, he’s as good as gone. At that point our experienced WR’s are Cooper, Matthews and Huff.
It would be smart to sit Cooper and start developing (or trying to develop) Matthews into a starter ASAP. This offense was deadly with DeSean Jackson as our #1. It’s fallen to good with Maclin there. However if we lose Maclin too, we’re pretty much dead in the water.
Maclin settled for five million this just year (1.75 base, 3.5 signing bonus) , instead of signing for 5 per year on a longer deal. I’m guessing he’ll want the kind of money he saw DJax making, and will ask for something like 9 million per year. Odds are good there’ll be bidding and we’d have to overpay to keep him next year. Especially with what’s behind him, because as of right now the EAGLES have zero leverage. And oh, have I mentioned that there’s a salary cap crunch looming? Too much money paid for Maclin will, (not may) mean the difference between being able to afford someone and having to release or trade them.
If we don’t start developing Matthews soon, we’re going to be paying for the failings of this Draft through the nose.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 
Well you know I have never been much of a Cooper fan. I would have rather they just kept Jackson and Maclin together, but they chose to bring 1/2 season wonder Riley Cooper back with a size able raise. I thought he would be gone, but the Eagles outbid themselves for his services. They also blew it with Maclin. If he out gains, out receives, and out scores Dez Bryant (like he’s on pace to do now) the Eagles could find themselves having to pay Maclin top 5 receiver money. Maclin is a really good receiver, but I don’t see him as top 5 at his position. All of the Howie Roseman praise has to be put on hold. He’s responsible for bringing back Nate Allen, not giving Maclin a decent enough contract, overspending for Riley Cooper, and failing to find a reasonable trade for Desean Jakson. Of course Chip Kelly gets blame here too.
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“outbid themselves for his services” Too well said!
I don’t understand how Roesman even has a job at this point. The cap problems, the Drafts, and I’m STILL of the opinion that we gave up too much for Sproles, since N.O. was going to release him anyway and NOBODY wanted to pay him $3M per year (except us). Most people say “Eh it was just a 5th round pick” but to me giving it awaywas just one more display of Roseman’s wasteful mindset.
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I totally a agree with you on Sproles even though I like him as a player. We overpaid to get him, and we overpaid him! Nobody wants to state it, but the reason the Eagles couldn’t move up in this draft is because they gave away too many picks to make any moves. That’s why I state the Eagles first round pick was a failure. It’s not because they drafted Smith. It’s cause they targeted six players in the first round and failed to get any of them. Personally I can deal without having say Josh Huff if it lands me Dix, or Mosely, or any if the other targeted guys.
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Im going to put a little more blame on the owner. Chip kelly couldnt have pulled that smear campaign on Jackson without Mr. Luries consent. This was a team effort from owner on down to PR director to run Jackson out of town. It was a money move and now we have holes to fill. Its that simple. Looking inside out from Philly its about a bad relationship between Kelly and jackson. Looking form outside in it appears to be all about money. To me its about the money. Lurie saved a boatload jettisoning Jackson. Sproles was a great add but hes a real short term injury prone solution.
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Well look on the bright side. You’ll finally get your wish of Shady shipped out of town next year. I can’t see them paying him 12 mil to stay.
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Good article beast. Some good analysis and pretty much dead on.
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All I did here was present the facts as the organization has lined them up. This is all easier to read than a road map. All anyone who wants to see it has to do is look at it.
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They’re not going to move him out of the slot. For whatever reason Chip likes him there. It’s a shame Ertz is such a horrible blocker. He’s been rendered useless this season.
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Yeah I don’t get why a few guys are playing where they are at this point.
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With the Qb situation things may change with personnel. I expect to see Ertz on the move.
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I hoped the line getting back together would mean more Ertz, but with Herremans now gone for the season I’m just not sure. I think Sanchez makes them run the ball much more. More running means less Ertz.
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On the upside, McCoy will be more dangerous.
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Three headed running back monster. Polk, Shady, and Sproles. Sproles is a surprisingly hard runner for a little guy. Shady isn’t as elusive as he used to be, but still can break one and go for over a 100 in a game. Polk give them the ground and pound. The had JJ Watt one of the famous high motor guys in the lead sucking wind by the end of the game. He was worn out by our offense.
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Is Brad Smith the 3rd string QB? Sanchez isnt exactly without risk of injury.
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Right now (if he isn’t still injured) my guess is that Smith would be our de facto 3rd stringer.
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