OUR Offensive Line kept our QB’s upright, and kept our ground game churning out yards and scores. When the dust settled it was Eagles 21, Browns 20. We’ll look to improve on that dominance this week, against the Miami Dolphins.
A win would be cute, but it’s neither here nor there. The NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. We have seventeen, possibly twenty, very long weeks coming up, and injuries are part of the game. This week isn’t about the opponent. It’s about picking the best depth possible, from the men battling to keep their dreams alive.
****
The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus the: Dolphins
1) Pass Rush: Someone get a sack. Doesn’t matter who. Two games and not one sack so far. That’s not Eagles football. Wait, let me amend my statement! It does matter who gets it. The sack has to come from a player who isn’t a DB. Also, it has to be a tackle in the backfield. None of that QB run out of bounds for a loss, bullshit. A real sack.
2) Some TE involvement:The passing game is all WR right now, and that doesn’t work. WR’s help keep S’s out of the box, but it’s a TE who’s a receiving threat, which loosens the box for the RB. No one is asking for a 50 yard bomb to a TE, but TE Noah Togiai’s 6 catches for 35 yards (5.8 ypr) represents the team’s best, through two games.
3) Kick Return Impact: If someone can break a couple of big returns, they will make this team. This team needs a return threat. Period!
4) Flash from a DE: Even if a DE doesn’t get a sack, something has to pop out there. For both of these games, we’ve been gashed for rushing yardage on the boundaries. If not dominant pass rush, we need to see a DE show real run contain. That means make, or cause a tackle for a loss, on his side of the line.
****
If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
This is just a preseason game. Winning doesn’t mean the final score, it means finding the right pieces to help us build our roster. If they’re smart, our guys will compete against each other, and not the Fish.
****
Prediction: EAGLES 21 – Dolphins 18
WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.
Categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s + 3rd downs converted by rushes – sacks allowed = score); as well as theDrive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).
New 2022 Category Ace, is for Kick return TD’s, Returners run-down, kicks blocked, etc.
Offensive Line Report / Enforcer: (2 + 5 – 1 = 6) / (S) C Cam Jurgens
Drive Killer: (B) S Jaquiski Tart (0 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0)
Sack Leader: N/A
Ace:N/A
****
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: BROWNS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
DT Renell Wren makes a tackle for minimal gain, while being held
1) Don’t get gashed: I know I said that I’d set aside big runs to the outside, but contain was so bad, so often, that I’d be deliberately misleading you if I did that. So I’m throwing it in, as well.
Cleveland rushed for 174 yards on 32 carries (5.4 ypc). Our defensive line got almost nothing in the way of penetration all day, being repeatedly blown off the line throughout the game. (NOT DONE)
2) Cut the Engine: There were far too many upright tackle attempts in this game. Lack of penetration or contain against the run, just made for bad tackle angles in pursuit. As a result, Browns runners were bouncing off of Eagles defenders, like everyone had opposing magnetic charges. It was distressing to see. I was distressed. (NOT DONE)
3) Clean Interior Pocket: All day long, Eagles QB’s enjoyed clean pockets, and huge passing windows. Some of it had to do running so much RPO stuff early, but mostly it was just soundly executed football. Even QBReid Sinnett’s (4/9 – 44.4% – 69 – 1 – 0) 12 yard run for a first down, was facilitated by a massive alley right in front of him. (DONE)
QB Gardner Minshew had no trouble seeing his receivers in this game.
4) Solid Team Culture: There were plenty of vocal and jovial players from guys who are guaranteed spots on the roster. There wasn’t nearly as much camaraderie amongst players fighting for jobs. This is of course, to be expected from the average person. It however, speaks to how each man handles pressure. It asks the question: Do I want this man on my team? The Eagles have a certain culture, and to perpetuate it, it helps to have people who intrinsically lean into it. I didn’t see many standard bearers today. (NOT DONE)
****
This week saw the Eagles accomplish 1 of 4on the Four Things list. Really it was more like three things, as the last one wasn’t strategy, but observation of reactionary behavior(s). In any case, we’ll take the ‘W’ and hope for better next week, against the Miami Dolphins.
****
On The Whole:
Lots of mixed feelings today. Tons. But we won, right?! It’s hard to be super-critical of back-ups, and players who won’t be players, in a week. So instead of criticism, how about some praise for a couple of these players.
If we keep six WR’s, Deon Cain has got to be one. I doubt he’d look quite as crisp against starter level players, but his hands, body control, and sideline awareness would all be what they are, against any level of competition. What I don’t want, is us releasing him, and seeing him show up in Dallas. (Given their receiver troubles.) Can’t we just trade Reagor to them, now?
Also WR Devon Allen’s route on that 55 yard bomb. His subtle jab step to the right, widened the alley between the CB and the S. So instead of Sinnett having to throw into a tight window, all he had to do was put the ball in the area code. That little step was delicious! I don’t know if Allen should be one of the six, but he’s certainly got my attention finally. Not for his speed, but that crafty bit of route running.
LAST week’s narrow loss to the Jets, saw our starters basically put us up 14 – 0; before calling it a night, in the second quarter. Don’t expect to see starters at all in this one. Instead, get ready to find out which Eagles back-ups are ready to break through, and put the world on notice.
While the wins and losses mean nothing to us fans, they mean a great deal to the lower draft picks, the undrafted, and aging back-ups. Understand this, almost no one who plays in this game, is guaranteed a roster spot. You will see players this Sunday, who will be gone next Sunday.
****
The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Browns
1) Don’t Get Gashed: Given the players that we have at DT, we have no business giving up a ton of rushing yards up the middle. It’s preseason ball, so there’s bound to be some miscues. So a long run broken to the outside, isn’t a big deal, right now. It’s all the routine runs.
LB Nakobe Dean and DT Jordan Davis.
Setting aside any 30 yard runs (Pitches, Tosses, Sweeps) directly to the outside, keeping the Browns under 80 rushing yards and 4.0 yards per carry, is a decent goal for back-ups.
2) Cut the Engine: Wrap the thighs, to kill forward progress at the point of the tackle. That’s the tackle technique I’m looking to see. Hard to get helmet to helmet penalties when a player is aiming for thighs
3) Clean Interior Pocket:Guard, Center, Guard. They have to keep defenders out of the gaps and away from the passer. The QB needs to be able to step into his throws, and those three players especially, make that happen. Also, when a defender jumps to bat down a ball, that interior pocket (G-C-G), needs to make his landing a rough one.
4) Solid Team Culture: Every player you see out there, is likely playing for his football life. Despite the inherent competition for survival, it will be interesting to see which players offer each other encouragement, and cheer for their competitors. We will get a taste of just how strong the team culture, really is.
****
If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
The win or loss only means something to players. Some of whom will suit up for the last time on Sunday. For the rest of us, it’s being billed as lesser than the joint practices, which the teams conducted this week. Let me tell you what it really is.
2010: Rookie, 7th round, S Kurt Coleman enters game four of the preseason as a player “On The Bubble”. This is a do-or-die game. Not for the team, but for Kurt. His dream is on life-support. During the game he recovers not one, but two fumbles, and he returns them both for scores.
The Eagle lose the game, but Kurt makes the team. He goes from 7th rounder with barely a chance in 2010, to being a starter in 2011. He plays 10 seasons. Intercepts 7 balls in 2015 (the NFL leader had 8). And all of it hinged… on a single game like this. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll see the next Kurt Coleman in this game.
****
Prediction: EAGLES 17 – Browns 13
WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.
EAGLES QB Jalen Hurts (6/6 – 100% – 80 – 1 – 0), came out and did his thing. I said that I was going to focus on four other players, and I’ll get to them shortly. However, first there’s some housekeeping to be done. In that same article, I said that I would also be watching the Jalens. Here’s what I saw.
On the surface, Hurts stats look great. What they don’t tell you, is that he was decisive with the ball, threw over the middle, and threw a scoring strike to his left, from the pocket. His first passing attempt was a carbon copy of 2021, but after that, he used the whole field. His feet still dance a little after his drop, but the ball is coming out quicker. Progress is apparent.
Seeing action with the second string, I have to admit that WR Jalen Reagor (4 – 3 – 26 – 8.6 – 0), was reliable. I’m by no means a fan of his, and was hoping he’d get a chance to make an eye-popping play, to increase trade interest. Sadly, he never really had a chance to stand out, as the play-calling was milquetoast. Screens and shallow dump-offs, were pretty much all that was on tonight’s menu.
+++++
Now to the meat!
I said I wanted to get a look at J.J. Arcega-Whiteside’s transition to TE from WR. I specifically wanted to see his in-line blocking. Didn’t happen. Though he played Special Teams all night, I only noticed him on a couple of Offensive plays in the fourth quarter. One was a pass that was thrown behind him. The other was on the Eagles final play.
How it looks: The Eagles know, just like LB Shaun Bradley (1 – 0 – 0 – 0), JJAW is a core Special Teamer who has upside on regular downs. When they did deploy him, it wasn’t as a blocker, but as a receiver. Even on the “Hail Mary” (that was never thrown), the coaching staff had him out there.
On Defense, I wanted to see if the Eagles used LB Patrick Johnson more like a LB or a DE. They did neither. He played a great deal of that game, coming out with the second unit. He primarily lined up as a 4 – 3 DE, but never put his hand in the dirt. Instead he played in a crouch that had his center of gravity far too high, on every snap.
How it looks: Tonight I guess they wanted to see him at rush DE, but he really didn’t generate much pressure, or influence any plays. In fact, he frequently got washed up-field, past QB’s when pass rushing, and he didn’t set the edge well, vs the run. If the Eagles want him to be a rusher, the coaching staff needs to teach him some counters.
My third subject was WR Britain Covey. His only chance to make this roster, is as a KR/PR. For all the buzz he’s been generating during Training Camp, he looked downright ordinary in his debut. He was even shown-up by RB Jason Huntley (16 – 48 – 3.0 – 1 – 1 / 5 – 4 – 39 – 9.7 – 0), who cracked off a 43 yard return in the 3rd quarter.
How it looks:There is no way a 5’8” 173lb WR without blazing speed, makes this roster. Or even the Practice Squad. Covey has two more games to show that he’s an extraordinary returner. Otherwise, he’s toast.
Finally we come to TE Jack Stoll(1 – 1 – 6 – 6.0 – 0). I wanted to see if the Eagles would go to him as a receiving option. Well, he caught a 6 yarder, less than a minute into the game. Then… Nothing after that. Wasn’t even targeted again.
How it looks: TE Noah Togiai(4 – 4 – 29 – 7.2 – 0) caught all of his targets and even ripped one away from a defender. That said, he looked slow against third stringers, and doesn’t offer much as a blocker. Stoll’s 2022 roster spot and role, are all but etched in stone. That is unless another TE can suddenly become a better in-line blocker.
+++++
I didn’t talk about most of the names that everyone else is talking about, because everyone is talking about those. You’ve already read/watched/heard/been tweeted at about those. You don’t come to me for common, so I never give it to you. You come to me, specifically for what you can’t get anywhere else. And I’m glad that you do. (I just wish you would COMMENT more.)
Listen, even with as terrible as announcer Ross Tucker was tonight, he did (ad nauseum) get one thing correct: Some of those second and third string guys, will help determine the outcome of games this year. He mentioned the ascension of RB Boston Scottand WR Greg Ward from the Practice Squad a few years ago.
That had me looking for this year’s eye-catching third stringer.
The Eagles coaches did everything they could to sell us Jason Huntley, but I was far more impressed by RB Kennedy Brooks (7 – 26 – 3.7 – 0 – 0 / 1 – 1 – 2 – 2.0 – 1). He was not easily stopped, and fell forward at the end of his runs. Even his touchdown catch involved him lowering his shoulder to get into the end zone.
I’ve been talking up DT Renell Wren (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) since we picked him up this Spring. He’s a big (6’5, 320), strong, feisty presence. The problem has been injuries, which is why Cincinnati gave up on him. Tonight, he got in on a tackle, and made a stop on a play ran away from him. Wren’s biggest problem now, is who’s ahead of him at DT: Milton Williams, Jordan Davis, Javon Hargarve, and Fletcher Cox.
So far, I’m rooting for these two. They likely won’t make the 47 man, so I’m hoping that we they aren’t stolen (especially by a rival) before we can put them on the PS. I hope to see them pop again next week at Cleveland.
NORMALLY I would do a Four Thingsarticle here. Just to get in a little “Live” practice. Like the players will be doing. Or should be doing. Instead, since the starters will play less than a quarter, I’m going to focus more on players, than on tactics this week. Besides, no one is game-planning for this game anyway. Why should I outwork the coaches?
Yes. For the 7 downs that he plays, I will be looking for how fast the ball comes out of QB Jalen Hurts hand, after his dropback. Yes. I will have an eye on WR Jalen Reagor as the team showcases him as trade bait. Yes, I will watch the Jalens. That said, my real focus Friday night, will be elsewhere.
There are certain players that have piqued my interest over the offseason. Some players that I’m flat-out rooting for: FS Marcus Epps, WR Britain Covey, TE Jack Stoll, (all of whom I wrote articles about in THE 12 ), and CB Zech MacPhearson.
WR Britain Covey
Then there are players with stories that have intrigued me: WR J.J.Arcega-Whiteside’s transition to TE; WR Quez Watkins usage in the Slot; LB Patrick Johnson in his second year; and the rejuvenation of CB James Bradberry, whom I erroneously referred to in May , as a “fading star”.
There won’t be any deep strategizing– (isn’t it weird when you have to add a word to Word’s dictionary?) –so instead of trying to separate gnat shit from pepper, I’ll have my eye on a few of these guys tomorrow night. Namely, Covey (during kick returns), Stoll (as a receiving option), JJAW (specifically his in-line blocking); and Johnson (getting snaps at DE vs true LB).
Preseason games have always been watered down events, but ever since this latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, coaches are more concerned with making sure their starters are available Week One, than making sure that the team is any good for Week One.
So, during this game, we’ll get one or two series of the players we paid to see, then an hour of back-ups, followed by Practice Squaders and guys who’ll be at your job, filling out applications in three weeks. (Wow. I almost said something waaaaay depressing here. Something about euthanizing a dream. Quick! Here’s a picture of a cute piglet.)
In the meantime, tomorrow we’ll get to see the sausage get made, and hear every chop and squeal. So I don’t think I really need to roll out a full-on, Four Things article for this game. I’m just going to keep an eye on FOUR GUYS, while I eat Five Guys. Then I’ll write about them, so we can start to build a working picture of how deep, multi-faceted, and resilient this team really is.
I’M not going to keep you in suspense. It’s QB Jalen Hurts. All the beat reporters in Philadelphia don’t have the balls to do what I’m going to do here. Let me put it plain language, so that no one can be confused by it, and so I can’t back away from it in January.
QUALIFIER: If Hurts isn’t mentally sharper in 2022, the Eagles won’t win 9 games. However, if he is better at seeing passing lanes and getting the ball out on time, the entire NFC, not just the East, is on notice. This 2022 Eagles team will be competing for a first round bye, in the playoffs.
Am I getting ahead of myself? Nope. Not at all. You saw my qualifier. I didn’t say it was an automatic. I clearly stated the one thing, and ONLY one thing, that has to happen to trigger this team’s ascension.
I hear you ask “But BEAST, what about injuries?” We will have some, and some of them will be more damaging than others. Of course if the team is decimated by injury, even with a better Hurts, we’re probably screwed. That however, won’t need to be said to smart people. (So anyone who ignores parts of article, to focus on other parts, will be removing themselves form the ‘Smart’ category.)
As for a normal amount of injuries, what sets the Eagles apart, is that everywhere that we’re strong, we’re also deep. Let’s go position by position.
Stay close. The season is bound to get weird on us, at some point.
QB – Hurts and Gardner Minshew. No back-ups here, just two starters.
WR – Devonta Smith, A.J. Brown, Quez Watkins, Zach Pascal. Our top four WR’s have all been starters, who have posted at least one 600 yard season. There are no untested kids here.
OT – Lane Johnson, Jordan Mialata, Andre Dillard. Dillard doesn’t start because of how good the guys in front of him are, and teams have inquired about trading for him.
C – Jason Kelceis a Hall of Famer in-waiting, backed up by an heir (Cam “Beef” Jurgens) that Kelce hand-picked, as well as a couple of guys (Jack Driscoll and Isaac Seumalo) who have been plug and play at this position.
DT – Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Milton Williamsand Jordan Davis. There are teams that don’t have one guy of this caliber at DT, and we have FOUR. (FYI: If they can get Renell Wren going, they’ll have to change the scheme to get any three of these guys out there at once.)
LB – Kyzir White, Hassan Reddick, T.J. Edwards, Nakobe Dean. Anyone who expects Dean to walk away with the starting job in camp, wasn’t paying attention to Edwards, once the team gave him over 50% of the snaps in a game. Go and look at Weeks 8 – 16. Go look.
CB – Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Avonte Maddox, and Zech McPhearson. Maddox is strictly a slot guy, but he’s Top 10 (#9) at it. McPhearson is a pup, but he’s got dawg in him.
Those are positions of outright strength for the team. Next we have some positions that aren’t deep with game-changers, but have plenty of options if the starters go down.
RB – Miles Sanders is our guy. Behind him are Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. Neither is spectacular, but in Sander’s absence, they’ve already shown that as a duo, they can keep the Offense running.
G – Landon Dickerson is a star. Isaac Suemalo (the other starter), isn’t a star. Young Jack Driscoll has made a strong case for Suemalo’s spot, and if Driscoll wasn’t coming back from his own injury, the job might already be his. So there’s one star, and two starters battling for a job. So we’re solid.
DE – Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat. Graham is not a sack artist, but he generates hurries, and contains the run extremely well. Conversely, Josh Sweat is pass rusher more than a solid End. Derek Barnett never became the sack artist he was drafted to be, but he’s low-key pretty good vs the run. There are no stars here, but no weak links either.
Right now S has too many question marks to say that it’s an asset yet. There is also almost no depth at TE. This is why I wrote earlier that the Eagles need the experiment of moving J.J. Arcega-Whitesidefrom WR to TE, to be a success story.
*****
Since this article was written (originally on July 16th), Training Camp has begun, and USA Today has picked us to go 11 – 6, and win the NFC East. So far so good, everything looks like it should, right about now.
I do have some concerns about Hurts though. And I’m not alone. Some guy named Brian Westbrookalso used “concerned” to describe his feelings about the team “When I’m hearing our quarterback is struggling early on in the preseason, early on in the camp, I’m absolutely concerned because I absolutely know that our quarterback has to carry us for a certain part of the season. We have to find a way to make sure Jalen Hurts is the guy and right now, based on some of the reports that are coming out of camp, he hasn’t done too well.“
It’s not just me. It’s not just BWest. As he said, reports coming out of camp. This is internal stuff, folks. Even Head Coach Nick Sirianniused the ‘C’ word. “Would you want to eliminate a couple of the turnovers? Absolutely. There’s a couple too many turnovers in there. That’s where my biggest concern is.”
So this is not me picking on Hurts. Fan, former player, and Head Coach are all concerned. So this can just be dismissed. I want to believe the kid can do it, but he’s running out of time and wasting opportunities. Game One is closer than it appears.
Do you want to know what my nightmare is? Watching Hurts be outplayed twice this year, by QB Carson Wentz. Are you up for that? Hurts has started two games against the Cowboys, and been blown out both times. Are you up for that again? Last year, Hurts (QB rating 17.5) was massively outplayed by QB Daniel Jones (QB rating 94.0), in a 7 – 13 Eagles loss. Are you up for that again? If you aren’t up for this stuff, then you need to be concerned.
No way we split with either of these failure factories, this year.
THE players have returned. I watch QB Jalen Hurts joke and pal around with the fellas. Player’s children run across the field, carrying footballs. Bubble wrap appears on a helmet. All of this just SO cute! And I don’t give a damn about any of it. Because bitterness is all that I can taste.
We lost a playoff game. On national television. In humiliating fashion. Our QB was exposed for reading defenses as well as a JUGGS machine. Our Defense was as well-carved as any Thanksgiving bird to ever grace my table. Sadly, that was my last taste of real football. I’ve been walking around with this taste, this distaste, in my mouth, since Sunday January 16th.
I tried to cleanse it with some NFL games rebroadcast on NFL Network. I tried to banish it with the upstart USFL. I even sampled Canadian, hoping that a different flavor might distract me. But this taste. I can’t get this taste out of my mouth. I can’t make this go away, until I finally can get what I crave. What I need.
I need Eagles football.
I haven’t written about Training Camp yet, because it hasn’t started yet. It’s still early. Guys are running around in shorts and no pads, and that’s necessary. Trust me, I get that. It’s Level Two conditioning. I only played semi-pro, but from high school on up, some things about football are universal. Level One conditioning you do on your own, but L2 introduces competition: Are you better than him, and him, and him, and him? Can you get better? SHOW US!!!
Football however… Real football, doesn’t start until the hitting does. It’s easy for athletes to be tough guys in shorts, but repeatedly getting hit in 90 degree weather, with a fiberglass oven on your head… Not every man is built for that. I can remember showing up to camps in May, and seeing 120 – 150 guys. Each thinking he was NFL bound! Then the grind would start. By early September there’d be just 40 to 45 guys left. One of which would be me.
But the Eagles.
All the improvements we’ve supposedly made… To be honest, to this point I’m not seeing them. For instance, the offseason footwork program that Hurts went through in California. I was hoping to see him committing it to muscle memory, but he still bounces after his drops, and doesn’t consistently step into his passes, leading to this
Notice how the ball is (still) BEHIND WR A.J. Brown? Given how much time he and QB Jalen Hurts spend working with each other in the offseason, this is concerning to still be seeing almost in August.
I mentioned this back in May and so far, it looks the same. As I said, it’s early. (But I’d still like to see improvement from May.)
Aside from the hitting, I’m waiting for Friday, August 12th. In what should be a vanilla preseason game, I’m hoping to see improvement in the Eagles habits:
I want to see how often Hurts get the ball out, as his drop ends.
I want to see the Defense give up fewer 8 to 10 yard completions, inside the numbers.
I want to see a LB’s cover a TE for three seconds.
I want to see RB Kenneth Gainwell finish runs by falling forward.
I don’t need to see a ton, but I need to see something. Just a little something to tell me that 2022 will be different. And to help me to finally, begin to get this taste, out of my mouth.
LETTING FS Rodney McLeod walk as a free agent, was probably a little premature. While I think FS Marcus Eppsis ready for the starting role; it would have been better to increase Epps snap share for the first four weeks, then hand him the keys on Week 5. If for any reason he looked shaky, McLeod should have still been here as insurance.
Instead, what we did was jump right off that bridge. Maybe not the most careful move, but it’s easy to see why the Eagles did it. Hell, I’ve been yelling for months, that they should. Epps has generally looked good with extra snaps (usually at SS). Also, given his age (26), and his contract situation (Unrestricted Free Agent after this season), the Eagles need to know what they have.
Rod McLeod congratulates Marcus Epps on his interception. A torch passes.
That said, we need to stick with him when things get bumpy for him. Let me repeat, a lot of his best tape comes at SS, so playing alone, back deep, he’s going to be learning a new gig. Though Anthony Harris has started at FS (in Minnesota), his deep speed is questionable. While K’Von Wallace can run, his eyes are less experienced. Epps is unseasoned, but the clear option here.
We didn’t draft Epps, but we signed him when Minnesota cut him, just eight weeks and 12 defensive snaps into his rookie year. He’s been an Eagle ever since. We raised him. Nurtured him. Brought him from deep bench, to possible starter. What is the point of stockpiling young talent, just to develop it for other teams? Don’t do that. Start Epps, and stick with him. Period.
DEFENSIVE Coordinator Jonathan Gannon came to Philadelphia saying that his defensive system wasn’t a system. He said that he wanted to “be multiple”. As in: Use multiple defensive fronts (4 – 3 , 3 – 4, 5 – 2, 4 – 2, etc.) He did much of that last year, primarily playing out of a 4 – 3 base. This year however, we’re hearing rumblings of using more 3 – 4.
I will never say that the Eagles shouldn’t strive for versatility, but we can’t allow ourselves to fall in love with the 3 – 4 this year. By “fall in love with”, I mean starting more than one game in it. By “fall in love with”, I mean more than 15 snaps per game in it, or using it EVERY single week. The 3 – 4 can be a weapon. It just needs to be concealed carry. Not hanging off the brim of our baseball cap.
Understand, most of the players we have on Defense, were plucked from 4 – 3 systems in college, and have played 4 – 3 as pros. That means 4 – 3 is what they are good at. They have become experts in 4 – 3. So why strand them in something they aren’t proficient in? The idea is to spend as much time as we can, getting the most out of our players.
We do have players here, who have played in a 3 – 4. DE Brandon Graham played OLB, and DT Fletcher Coxplayed DE, in a 3 – 4 Wide Nine, back when Bill Davis was here. You remember him?Chip Kelly brought him here, and he ran our Defense into the ground. You may remember that I wrote an article called “WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS”. Then we fired Bill Davis and won a Super Bowl. Yeah, that Bill Davis.
My point is that switching 4 – 3 players, to 3 – 4 players didn’t work well for us. So again, why strand them? Look, sprinkling in a little 3 – 4 could be a major weapon for us. A major one if used just 5 to 8 downs per game (out of an average of 60). An opponent isn’t going to devote much time to stopping something we run only about 10 percent of the time. The time isn’t there. Not with less than a week of prep time. That alone makes it scary.
Also, with DT’s Cox, Javon Hargrave, Jordan Davis, andMilton Williams playing in the ‘A’ gaps, it’ll be much easier to keep our LB’s clean. Compare that to using a NT with open spacing, which allows opposing G’s to get up on our ILB’s. It’s no contest. The 4 – 3 should be the base, and we shouldn’t do to much with the 3 – 4.
CB James Bradberry picking off his ex-team. O’ Danny Dimes… The pipes, the pipes are calling…
COUPLE weeks ago, I said that we should pass on adding fading stars like CB James Bradberry and instead, focus on developing our young players. In fact, Bradberry was one of two stars that I specifically named in that article! For the record, I still think sticking with youth was the way to go. However, since Bradberry is an Eagle now, I want to make a few things crystal clear.
First, James Bradberry, welcome to the Eagles. You said that our Defensive Line is what tempted you to come here. That is our gift to you. That being said, to him who much is given, much is expected.
Second, in itself signing Bradberry isn’t a bad move. He’s been a good player in this league for years now, and he has active hands, in terms of denying the ball to receivers. He gave up a ton of yards in 2021, but I’m not concerned that he can’t play anymore. I’m concerned that his starting, means our youth doesn’t gain much experience. That will keep us from developing that youth, and hurt our long term picture.
I know. I know…
Third, I’ve spent this offseason banging a pot to draw attention to CB Zech McPhearson. He was a fourth round pick in last year’s Draft, and spent 2021 learning, and rightfully sitting behind CB Steven Nelson, whom we brought in on a one year deal. Giving a player a one year deal, basically says that that player isn’t in the long term picture. This ostensibly, put McPhearson in the on-deck circle.
So when Nelson was allowed to walk, my thinking was “BOOM! The future is now”. Instead, we inked another player (Bradberry) to a one year deal. It would be one thing if we’d added a CB in this years Draft; but since we didn’t, that makes it seem like McPhearson is still our top young guy waiting in the wings. So why the delay? Long term it makes no sense at all.
My only guess is that the Front Office sees something about the team that says “PARADE!” this year. If that’s the case, there are a couple of key things we’ll need to power through first. But I’ll wait to discuss that, in this year’s upcoming ‘THE 12’ series.
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