WANNA hear a joke? The Eagles are going go be smart, aka careful, with QB Carson Wentz.
Here we are at the beginning of OTA’s (Organized Team Activities) and Wentz has been medically cleared to resume being a QB, which means no limitations stemming from the rehab of a stress fracture of the vertebrae in his back.
Wentz’s injury was a different kind of fracture from the transverse process fracturethat QB’s Cam Newton, Derek Carr and Tony Romoplayed through, and more akin to the one that QB Matt Stafford played through last year. (FYI: While Wentz would have preferred to play, it was the organization that decided to shut him down for the season. They then subsequently cleaned house regarding three key members of the medical staff. Somebody fucked up.)
With Wentz being fully healed, the team is going to be careful with him. By which they mean, they will let him get the shit kicked out of him, like any other NFL QB. What else could they mean? He (like the other QB’s) is already wearing a red jersey in practices. So he already can’t be hit.
Mind you, this isn’t me complaining! I’m all for it. This is his gig. We need him to be able to do his job. I like the idea that we aren’t putting a skirt on him. I just think it’s hilarious when any football coach or front office type, says they’re going to be “careful” with a player.
“See those 11 guys? Well they want this ball, and are willing to kill whoever is holding it, to get it. So here, you take it. Then try to throw it accurately to a track star, running away from his own assailant. Just take what they give you, but impose your will. And hurry, ‘causeyou’ll only have 4 seconds. Or 3. Maybeless. Fingers crossed, right? But don’t rush your reads. And don’t forget about your blindside. Now go! And remember Doc, Keeeep Smiling!”
Because you know. Careful.
So yeah. The team is going to be SMART. Gonna be careful with the Carson. Not gonna let anything happen to the Carson. Now we’re being careful. Because apparently, we weren’t already being careful with our franchise QB. Wait. What? Nope. Nope! You know what? Fuck it. Fuck it. We’re being careful now. That’s our thing now. Now it matters because…..Arrrrgh! Fuck it. Just go with it. Just go limp and ride it out. Be a fan. I can do this. I survived Chip Kelly. I can do this. I can do this.
Oh Eagles. Even when it’s good news, you can still manage to make me want to chew Brillo. That’s how you know it’s love.
EAGLES fans have already fallen for rookie RB Miles Sanders. He has yet to log a single Training Camp carry, and already I’m seeing talk of how he’ll be the starting RB next season. Not during the 2019 season, but the 2020 season. There are some people who are already looking past offseason trade acquisition, RB Jordan Howard.
This is a mistake, and proof that some members of our fan base, keep failing to grasp a fundamental NFL truth. That truth being: You can never have too much talent in a position.
2002: The Eagles had CB’s Al Harris, Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Troy Vincent, and Bobby Taylor, all on one roster. By 2004 all but Sheppard and Brown would be gone.
2002 Secondary Top row Left to right: Brian Dawkins, Al Harris, Bobby Taylor, Rashard Cook, Troy Vincent. Bottom row: Michael Lewis, Blaine Bishop, Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown
2008: The Eagles added CB Asante Samuel to a roster that already included CB’s Sheppard and Brown. Immediately the chatter began about who to bench or not re-sign (Lito) because we had Samuel and Brown. Instead of learning from 2003’s mistake and embracing depth, we made depth a detriment. Again.
2018: A QB room that looked like Carson Wentz, Nick Foles and Nate Sudfeld. Foles was allowed to walk for nothing, ostensibly because the Eagles couldn’t afford him. Foles subsequently signed a 4 year contract with the Jaguars. Since then, Eagles GM Howie Roseman has found a way to gin up/create/conjure roughly 21M$ in cap space. That’s 21M counting the rookies. Oh yeah, Foles 2019 salary cap figure: 12M$. The Eagles didn’t let Foles walk over money. Don’t let anyone fool you about that. Not now.
In 2017 the Eagles had RB’s LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, Corey Clement, and Darren Sproles. Until Sproles got hurt. However, even with Sproles being hurt, we were still ridiculously stocked at the position. In fact, we leaned heavily on those RB’s in our Super Bowl win. After which, Blount was allowed to leave.
That left us Ajayi, Clement and Sproles in 2018. The idea was to make Ajayi “the guy”, and let him be spelled by Clement. Sproles was never supposed to figure in heavily. Then Ajayi got hurt, and Clement got nicked up, then injured. Suddenly a position that was embarrassingly deep in 2017, was a bare cupboard in 2018. Raise your hand if you missed Blount in 2018.
Learn the lesson Eagles fans.
Right now RB looks like Jordan Howard, Miles Sanders, Corey Clement and Josh Adams. (Scuttlebutt has it that Wendell Smallwood is on the outside looking in.) However, as I said, many fans are already looking forward to the days (2020) when Howard has moved on, and the onus gets thrust upon Sanders. That’s a short-sighted thing to wish for.
First of all, depth is NEVER bad. NEVER. Second, playing these guys as a platoon, keeps them fresh during the season, and could prolong their overall careers. Third, if we find a guy who works for us, we should by any and every means at our disposal, lock him down. Even if it’s just so that our rivals can’t find their salvation in him. If this group works, it’s only smart to keep it intact.
It’s time to learn the lesson Eagles fans. It’s time to stop making the great, the enemy of the great. Sanders is great to have. I’m excited about him too. However, even greater than Sanders, is Sanders when surrounded by big-time help.
THE Eagles may already be auditioning others for QB Carson Wentz‘s job.
Nine days ago, former Eagles QB Donovan McNabb said on a CBS sports radios show, that if current Wentzcannot stay healthy and make deep strides into the playoffs in the next three (“two really”) years, that the Eagles “should look to possibly draft another quarterback, because you just don’t know about his durability.”
Many fans and RT Lane Johnson, quickly lunged for McNabb’s jugular, calling him “bitter”, “jealous” and “afraid that in a few years Carson would surpass him”. All of those things may well be true, but they don’t acknowledge one key point:
Donovan McNabb is 100% correct in his assessment. While people may not like that HE said it, it happens to be dead on balls accurate.
Wentz is about to get a new contract worth about 35M$ per season. Do you really think that this Eagles team, the one you’ve rooted for for decades, the team that has conducted business a certain way since 1994, the one that parted with fan favorites Brian Dawkins, ^Reggie White^, and Jeremiah Trotter all with plenty of gas in their tanks, the one that traded their all-time best QB (McNabb) to a division rival, if you think that this Front Office will eat 70 – 105M$ with no success, and just keep on keeping on, then you can stop reading right here. Because there is just no reaching you.
For the rest of you, there are three things that I find telling about this situation.
First, a couple of major market local publications have said that McNabb is correct. The Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes says in an April 22nd article “Donovan McNabb is right. He just said it wrong. This, for him, is nothing new.” When comparing all four NFC East QB’s, NJ.com’s Joe Giglio, just this morning said April 29th “Wentz stands at No.1, but he’s also the most likely to be replaced within three years—just like Donovan McNabb said.”
WOW. For professional journalists who want to stay on good terms with the Eagles organization, those are wow statements. However, on their own they’re merely statements. Just a couple of local scribes giving their opinions. No need to assign any weight to them. And I would agree with that except, well…
Second, today makes nine days since McNabb made his original comment. NINE. And in all that time, the Eagles Front Office has not issued one statement on the matter. If not to wave off McNabb’s words, then to at least offer a statement of long-term, “hell or high-water” faith in Wentz. Verbally however, they have been stone silent. How about NON-verbally?
Third, seven days after McNabb’s comments, the Front Office drafted QB Clayton Thorson in the 5th round of the Draft. I know, I know, “Who cares? He’s a fifth round rookie. He’s a camp body. We already have QBNate Sudfeldas our #2. Hey BEAST, stop making fucking mountains out of molehills.”
I hear you.
Thing is, upon watching game tape of Thorson, I was struck immediately by how much his mechanics look like Wentz coming out of North Dakota. Think I’m crazy. Okay. Here is Thorson and here is Wentz.Have a look. If you follow this page, you’ll be too smart not see it.
As I said in my Draft Report, Sudfeld is hardly locked into that #2 slot. He’s a Redskins 6th round pick, now being pushed by an Eagles 5th round pick. Sudfeld has all of 25 career pass attempts, zero starts, and 0 – 6 loss to the Cowboys, where he played most of the game. If Thorson looks good in mini-camp, he will challenge for #2 in Training Camp.
Do you see the wall? Do you see the writing? While McNabb may have said it, it’s the Eagles who have already put a plan into motion. Wentz needs to have playoff success and he needs to have it soon. Like in the next three, two really, seasons.
LEFT Tackle Andre Dillard! Let me just say that love the pick. Now that you’re no longer in suspense, let me do a little housekeeping. I’m doing something a little different this year. Instead of issuing multiple article covering each day, I’m just going to update this article daily. For those who see links to this through social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.), you will see this same article re-posted, but there will be new content on it.
NOW BACK TO THE DRAFT!
I didn’t do much homework on him initially because from all early indications, both Dillard and OT Jawan Taylor would be off the board by 17, 18 at the latest. There was no way we’d have a shot a top LT at 25. Just no way. So I didn’t do much leg work on them. (As it was, I barely got my Wish Listout on time, this year.)
Then we got to 22 and both players were still on the board. By the time the Draft started I no longer wanted a DT, since we re-signed DT Timmy Jernigan earlier in the day. So it didn’t sting in the least when DT Christian Wilkins went to Miami (which is where I thought he’d go, and so I hoped we’d trade with.) I had no idea what we’d do at 25.
What we did was trade up to 22, trading our 1st (25), one of two picks in the 4th (127), and our 6th (198). At which we took forever before pulling the trigger on a guy who looks to be a better option than OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, already.
Round 1 (22 overall):LT Andre Dillard.
At about 16 seconds into this video, Dillard steps forward into pass protection, instead of kick sliding backward. Then he does it again at 1:15. Then again at 3:03. And at 3:20. And 4:36. Then once more at 5:29. Keep in mind, these are on pure passing plays. By pure, I mean passing plays which employ no element of play-action.
He won’t be able to do that in the NFL, but when I saw it, I was IMMEDIATELY in love with the pick. (More on that in a sec.) He can get back quickly and deep. In fact (best example) at 3:47, but most of this video shows that his base technique is a shallow step back. So he’ll need a little time to make that slide feel second nature. But that could come as soon as mid-season, so don’t expect this to become a project.
The knock on him is that he isn’t a big-time run blocker, and it’s true. He really he isn’t. At least right now. He comes out high, which exposes too much of his chest. Against a smart defender, that can cause him to be used to trap his RB behind the line, stringing out a run, and giving time for the cavalry to get there. That will get fixed just by the way that O-Line coachJeff Stoutland runs the drills segment of camp.
That’s not to say that Dillard has poor instincts for the run. Quite the opposite. He understands where he has to be relative to the runner’s emergence point. In fact, (best example) at 5:06, you see him make two blocks, and create an alley for a rushing touchdown. He has the eyes and the instincts. He just needs to play in a grown-up offensive system.
A bit ago I said I fell in love, at about 16 second into this video. Really it was more like I started falling after 54 seconds, when I saw that the first step-up block wasn’t a fluke, (but this play included play-action.) However, by 1:15 (pure pass), he had me. He reminded me a little of another kick-ass LT that NEVER allowed a single sack in three years. He reminded me, of me. And that’s not a compliment that I just hand out.
With the cues I see in his game from this video and other videos (those were based on his QB), I think he’ll do great things, not just good things, at the LT position.
Round 2 (53 overall):RB Miles Sanders
Not a bad pick, but not a great one either. My guess is that he’s here to be an upgrade over RB Wendell Smallwood. Similar in body type, but with more speed and better feel for creating in traffic. There’s also no history of him being a reliable receiver.
Generally I like to get video of a player going against a tough opponent. I figure, a tough college opponent will show who a player is, when faced with a challenge. Initially, I went with Penn vs Michigan, but Sanders came up small, and seemed like he didn’t know some of his blocking assignments. So I went with a video vs a lesser opponent, to get an idea of his NFL upside.
If he gets a crack, he can hurt a defense.
Round 2 (57 overall):WR Jose Joaquin “J.J.” Arcega-Whiteside
Jump ball winner. Sort of an Alshon Jeffery-lite, in that even if he’s covered, he’s still open because he’ll win a contested ball. There’s a lot of “arm waving business” early in his routes that cuts into how fast he REALLY get into the route. That’s a shame, because at times he does a nice job with his feet to stem his routes. Fortunately that’s something that coaching may be able to clean up by the end of Training Camp.
Between recent draft picks Mack Hollins and Arcega-Whiteside, and the rumors of moving WR Nelson Agholor, it seems like the Eagles are winding up for a big WR corps, when the contracts of Jeffery and DeSean Jackson expire.
Speaking of Arcega-Whiteside, he needs a nickname. From us! JAW comes to mind, but Ron Jaworskiis already Jaws for us, and Jaws II seems weak. A&W is cute and could have a root beer tie at the stadium, if the fans drive it hard enough. Just some thoughts.
4th round (138 overall):DE Shareef Miller
Miller went few picks earlier that I had pegged him on my Wish List, but he’s not a bad pick in this spot. Not only is it nice to see a Wish Lister in here, but I have to love the fact that he’s a Philadelphia native. Here’s what I said about him in the Wish List:
Miller (6’4″ 254) does a solid job of playing “the run first” on every down. He sets and wins the edge, but doesn’t do a good job of exploiting it when he wins it. Too often he runs himself out of plays, or doesn’t bend inside when he has the Tackle on his heels. These are things that can be fixed quickly with coaching, and should have been already. (Then again PSU’s coaching staff is now infamous for letting some things go on too long.) Given that Chris Long‘s game is also “set the edge–play the run–rush the passer” Miller could be just the rotational player to fill Long’s (on-field) role.
5th Round (167 overall): QB Clayton Thorson
He is CLAYTON! Son of Thor ! Just kidding.
I’ll be damned, but watching this kid move around in the pocket, pick up short yardage and scramble, all reminded me of Carson Wentz. (Go back and check the tape.) He doesn’t have Wentz’s willingness to stick the ball in tight spaces, but that might have more to do with not having the faith, that his skill guys have the skill to make the plays.
That won’t be a problem in Philadelphia. We have all kinds of firepower here. In fact, the question is whether he’ll be able to sit in the saddle and ride such a powerful beast (our Offense). There’s a chance that it could overwhelm the young lad, as he’s never sat so tall, upon such an impressive monster as this.
If he does impress in camp, the fact are Nate Sudfeld was a 6th round pick, not the Eagles draft pick, and only has 25 NFL attempts, with no starts, and no wins on his resume. If Thorson shows some hunger, he might be able to challenge for best view of the name on Wentz’s jersey. At which point having a guy who plays like Wentz will be a heck of an insurance policy against injury.
Shit just got real.
All in all, it was a really good Draft. We had a LT, RB, and WR all fall to us. Grabbed a DE to replenish a loss that may or may not happen, and grabbed a QB who will either sharpen our current, competent back-up, or supplant him. All of those are good things.
THIS is not a Mock Draft. I never try to predict what the Eagles will do in a Draft. Mostly because unless you work in their Scouting department, you haven’t the faintest clue as to what they’ll do. Which is fitting. Because, if they aren’t picking in the top FIVE, they never have much of an idea either.
The Eagles don’t use a “needs based” Draft philosophy. They instead take a “best athlete available” approach. Meaning that, they’ve ranked every player entered in the Draft, and will take the highest ranked player on their board, REGARDLESS of his position, when their pick comes up.
Given the high number of trades before and during the Draft, this allows them more flexibility, and won’t get them jammed up if “their guy” is picked before they can get him. The Eagles are not alone in this. Most of the NFL drafts this way now.
Since I have no way of knowing how the Eagles have ranked each prospects, I approach my Wish List from a “needs based” standpoint. I make a list of what we need, and then try to weave a solid draft out of what should still be there according to the Draft order as of the moment this article is published.
This is (more or less) what the Eagles Draft would look like, if I were the GM. Whether you like it or not, I’d like to hear your thoughts or your ideas.
1st round: No. 25 overall(TRADE this pick, CB Jalen Mills and WR Nelson Agholorto MIA to move up to No 13 overall)DT Christian Wilkins.
Wilkins (6’3 315) spends a lot of time being double-teamed and still manages to be disruptive in the middle of the offense. He’s not a pass rush specialist per se, but placed beside DT Fletcher Cox, in a rotation with DT Malik Jackson that keeps them all fresh, would rob opposing coaches and QB’s of a good night’s rest on the regular.
2nd round: No. 53 overallWR Parris Campbell
You didn’t like the part where I mentioned trading Agholor. Relax. I wouldn’t leave you hanging without a plan to raise you higher than where you started. Trust me. There’s always a plan. Campbell is bigger (6’0″ 205), faster (4.31), more slippery, and comes in as a more competitive blocker. His presence would make WR Alshon Jefferyeven more dangerous. Did I mention that he also has kick return experience? Oh! My bad. He also has kick return experience. Which we need. And did I mention that we wouldn’t have to overpay for a Slot in 2020? Like I said. There’s always a plan.
2nd round: No. 57 overallS Darnell Savage
He’s a little smaller (5’11” 198) than Malcolm Jenkins, but Savage has the same heady aggressiveness that you want at this position. Whether FS, SS, or Slot, he can play them all. Again, similar to Jenkins. Savage provides an insurance policy at a level we don’t currently have. Oh yeah. He’s also regional guy with a great name for a jersey and headlines. C’mon, you wouldn’t wear a jersey with SAVAGE on the back? You wouldn’t like to see a SAVAGE hit? You know you like the sound of those.
4th round: No. 127 overallRT Bobby Evans
RT Evans (6’4″ 312) likes to see his opponent on the ground, and seems to enjoy putting them there. In the past, the Eagles have said that they wouldn’t move Lane Johnson to LT. However, if it does become necessary, it’d be nice to have a little Runyan-esque play on the right.
4th round: No. 138 overallRB Alex Barnes
Barnes (6’0″ 226) has a 5th round grade on him. However, he’s a guy who can run it, catch it, pass protect, act as a lead blocker, pick up short yardage, and take direct snaps. All of which you’ll see him do, and do well, in this 12 minute video. So no. I don’t buy him lasting until the 5th. I don’t buy the 4th either, but if he’s still there, we’re idiots not to take him.
5th round: No. 163 overallDE Shareef Miller
Miller (6’4″ 254) does a solid job of playing “the run first” on every down. He sets and wins the edge, but doesn’t do a good job of exploiting it when he wins it. Too often he runs himself out of plays, or doesn’t bend inside when he has the Tackle on his heels. These are things that can be fixed quickly with coaching, and should have been already. (Then again PSU’s coaching staff is now infamous for letting some things go on too long.) Given that Chris Long‘s game is also “set the edge–play the run–rush the passer” Miller could be just the rotational player to fill Long’s (on-field) role.
6th round: No. 198 overallC Ross Pierschbacher
It was necessary (and ironic) to use video of RB [Josh Jacobs], to show Pierschbacher (6’4″ 307), since he had no video of his own. While he’s not the biggest or strongest at his position, he’s really smart, active and he moves well. Remind you of anyone who’s likely to retire soon? He also has experience playing LG and RG, so he’s depth at worst.
So this is how I would restock our shelves. Being a playoff team, and a year removed from a Super Bowl win, we by no means need an overhaul. However, we do have to start making moves not only to sustain our success in the moment, but to ensure it for the future.
ASKING people to join a social media you started, only to turn around and use your position to attack them in a public forum, is sign of a sick mind. It’s under-handed, and needlessly mean-spirited. It is only compounded when a host wishes death on a member, and publicly defames or debases a known deceased loved one.
This behavior was exhibited yesterday in a Facebook group that I (for just the next few moments) am still a member of. That group, NFC East Anything Goes, was ostensibly started as a trash talk group, for fans of NFC East rival teams. It’s not unusual for debates to get heated, and names to be called when people get to debating. We’re big boys and girls. We can take that.
While the title does include the words “Anything Goes”, the Facebook platform that it’s hosted on, has conduct standards. It is for that reason that groups have moderators and/or administrators, to monitor member behavior, for when things go too far.
These “admins” have the ability to edit member comments, erase member comments, erase member posts, or if need be, remove members entirely from the group. So when I became aware of the group’s chief admin, completely crossing the line with one of my loved ones and insulting her late father, who was also a friend of mine, I wanted to (what can I put in print?) I wanted to communicate my feelings, non-verbally for a few minutes, with the admin.
Instead, I chose another route to exact my pound of flesh. I opted not protesting in the group (where my comments could be deleted.) I opted not to complain to Facebook (where he could use a new profile and reappear.) I opted not to “bully” him in another group we’re both in.
I simply opted to show the bully for what he is, for those who don’t know who they’re following. Here on this website, where he cannot take down what is posted. I opted to use his own publicly shared video. While I’m not allowed to COPY his video, fair-use allows me (or anyone) to SHARE a link to posted content.
So for as long as these links exist on YouTube, they will play here ON MY SITE, when you click them on. Here, get a look at the intellectual capacity of this 25 year old “man” who chooses to wish death those whom he asked to support him. It shames me that he is an Eagles fan, but it is what it is. This is what that looks like:
There’s more, but I figure this is enough to give you enough of an idea of why he LOST in his own group, and why he couldn’t cope with that. Apparently you can be a target for him, but don’t beat him at his own game, or you will have your comment removed, then be removed from the group, in an attempt to allow him to control the narrative of what happened.
Unfortunately for him, here is where Icontrol the narrative.
As I said. For as long as his links remain shared on the Internet, you’ll be able to view them here, in a place where supporters are not attacked.
Keep in mind, when these predictions come out, no one knows who will be drafted by which team.
This is an assessment of the team as it is staffed by veteran players with track records.
Rookies don’t usually shake up the NFC East division, so there’s a pretty good chance that what you see here, will be how it shakes out for the year.
Strongest Offense:PHILADELPHIA
While there are issues with the Offensive Line, every team except Washington has issues there. While the Cowboys also have dangerous weapons, they have no proven coaches on that side of the ball. Philadelphia has players, coaches and a system that has yielded two straight playoff runs. This one was easy.
Weakest Offense:WASHINGTON
Lacking a QB, or credible receivers makes the Redskins a team a one-dimensional, running team. Oh yeah, and they have a 33 year old RB as the tip of their spear, and no reason not to load the box.
Strongest Defense:DALLAS
Like Philadelphia, they have a strong front seven. Dallas however, lets their DB’s challenge receivers, which occasionally helps out the pass rush.
Weakest Defense:WASHINGTON
There are holes all over this unit, and they will likely get shelled this year vs deep threats. Their 3-4 system allows too many easy passes to the Flat, and they don’t have the speed to cover deep.
Strongest Special Teams:NEW YORK
Give them credit for turning a liability into an asset. Better yet, give them credit for committing to winning the hidden yardage battle.
Weakest Special Teams:DALLAS
Ignoring depth is how you end up with weakness here.
Projected Winner:PHILADELPHIA
Last year a very healthy Dallas went 10 – 6, won the division, and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs. Last year an injury ravaged Philadelphia went 9 – 7, and also lost in the divisional round of the playoffs. Philadelphia has shown that injuries won’t derail the team from the postseason. Dallas has shown no such resilience. That doesn’t mean it will be easy. The division will be a war in 2019.
Darkhorse Winner:DALLAS
The Redskins and giants are too poorly run to seriously be mentioned here.
ASKING people to join a social media you started, only to turn around and use your position to attack them in a public forum, is sign of a sick mind. It’s under-handed, and needlessly mean-spirited. It is only compounded when a host wishes death on a member, and publicly defames or debases a known deceased loved one.
