Defense

PICKING MARCUS SMITH.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/05/09
Posted in: Defense, Draft. Tagged: , . 7 Comments
Image courtesy of ogdraft.wordpress.com

Image courtesy of ogdraft.wordpress.com

MARCUS Smith. That’s the guy we picked.

My best friend and I watched the Draft at the South Philly Bar & Grill down Passyunk. I ordered a Philly Tap Water (awesome drink), 2 cheesesteaks and I gave away some EAGLEMANIACAL tee-shirts to fellow fans who also showed up to watch.

The annual strokefest that is the Draft was going according to formula, with every pick being a blah-blah “good pick” or a blah-blah “solid pick”. Mel Kiper had his poor Draft evaluation of Ray Lewis thrown in his face, with now HOF Ray sitting just one guy away. It was fun.

When the Eagles pick came in, we were all on our feet. Pryor was gone, Clinton-Dix was gone, Barr was gone, Cooks was gone, and Ford was gone. Who was left? Whoever it was, we all were expecting the pick to be a great one.

Then Marcus Smith was announced. You could have heard a flea fart from across the street at Capitolo park. I haven’t heard such eerie, dead silence in Philly since Mayor Nutter closed the city in preparation for Hurricane Irene in 2011.

Murmurs broke out and I expected full on bitching to commence in 3-2-… But it never came. It’s like the spirit had been gut punched out of the bar. People settled into drinking and a couple guys schlepped over to the beer pong table. You could hear the ping pong balls, but neither man was talking. I ordered another Philly Tap Water, my friend ordered a Pepsi. The night was over.

 

I don’t know whose idea it was to draft this guy, but barring an amazing next 2 days, that person should be out of a job come Monday. Aside from Danny Watkins, have you ever been more underwhelmed about a Draft pick?

More to the point, why did we reach so badly for this guy??? CBS Sports had a solid  2nd round grade him. Not a 1st – 2nd grade, a solid 2nd. Draft Countdown had him as a 2nd – 3rd. NFL.com Scouting had him down as a 3rd – 4th. The only thing about him that says 1st rounder, is his Draft history.

Let me go you one better. When you pick a guy in the 1st you should expect him to contribute heavily if not start, in that same year. Did anyone see anything that said “Yeah. Sit Trent Cole down, so this kid can get out there”? I sure as hell didn’t.

It’s 3:21 a.m. now. I came home and went looking for video of this guy. This is video of him in a game which was a runaway for his team. Observe how consistently dominant he is:

 

AND THIS IS HIS HIGHLIGHT REEL! So you see my frustration? This next 2 days had better be some of the most bang-ass drafting us Eagle fans have ever seen. Because between this and Jacksongate 2014©, the Front Office is looking less and less like they know what they’re doing these days. 

MAY THE STRONGEST SAFETY WIN

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/28
Posted in: Defense, Players. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Image courtesy of Phillymag.com

Image courtesy of Phillymag.com

THE question of who is going to start at SS opposite Malcolm Jenkins came up yesterday. Some fans say Nate Allen, some say Earl Wolff. Some are even holding out hope for prospect [Calvin Pryor]. Unlike most Eagles questions this one has a simple answer. And it’s staring you in the face.

This team’s biggest need right now is a top shelf pass rusher, so I wouldn’t put my money on drafting a Safety high. Unless he falls into the 2nd Round, I’d rule out Pryor.

Nate Allen is here on a 1-year deal. That indicates that he’s not seen (at least right now) as a long-term solution. He’s still young enough to have a breakout season and rake in some cake in 2015; but with the Eagles already cash strapped for 2015, I wouldn’t bank on seeing Allen here past 2014. If he’s really blowing it up this season, they could always sign him to an extension during the season and trade him prior to any 2015 salary obligation. (At least I’d do it that way.)

The Birds already had Earl Wolff when they brought back Allen. If they wanted to start Wolff on Day One, there was no need to re-sign Allen.

The handwriting on the wall says that barring a kick-ass Training Camp, Wolff opens the season behind Allen, and is slowly moved into a starting role somewhere around Week 7-9.

I think Allen finishes 2014 as the starter if Wolff doesn’t look ready by Week 9. By that point we’re talking playoff push. If it’s a tight division and the Safety play is solid, you don’t rock the boat, you “dance with the girl who brung ya”. 

But I’m interested to hear who you would start and why? Poll and comments right below. 

THIS PISSES ME THE F#@% OFF!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/17
Posted in: Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , . Leave a comment
Image courtesy of Fansided.com

Image courtesy of Fansided.com

NATE Allen got a 1-year extension today, and at first it pissed me off a little. Then I gave it some thought.

At which point it pissed me off a lot.

Keeping around a guy who’s been a sub-par NFL Safety for the last few years now, is bad enough; but what message does it send to young players like Earl Wolff or free agents who don’t know the team culture? How do you tell THEM that that they have to elevate their play, if you keep shelling out for what you brought them in to replace? 

Did Allen get an extension to sit the bench? Likely not. If he starts and we still suck vs. the pass, worse still if it costs us games, many fans will blame Allen for that. Not me. 

This one is squarely on the narrow little shoulders of Howie Roseman. He talked a big game about getting a player at that position this off-season, and to be fair he got us a decent cover Safety in Malcolm Jenkins, but when the moment came to do something big, he bitched out. Now we have this crap load of back-up Safeties. These Special Teamers with “upside”. Man fuck outta here! MAKE AN EFFORT! 

Special Teams hurt us in the game against New Orleans, no doubt. But you know what hurt us more? Getting the ball run down our throats, by a PASSING TEAM! Having the league’s leading rusher fairly bottled up by a defensive front that pushed our Offensive Line around. Having the NFL’s Most Over-paid Player blanketed by a 3rd round draft pickalready on his second team. THAT’S what hurt us.

We need some NEW STARTERS. Notice the capitalization of the words “new” and “starters”? That was not a mistake.

This signing on the other hand, is.

THIS EAGLE IS NO SAINT

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/12
Posted in: Defense, Players. Tagged: . Leave a comment

player-malcolmjenkins470p

EARLIER this year on my Wishlist, I wrote that if we can’t get Jairus Byrd I’d settle for Malcolm Jenkins. Well we ended up with Jenkins instead of Byrd, and I for one ain’t cryin’about it.

Some of you may be less familiar, or completely unfamiliar with Jenkins. So let me hip you to what we have here.

While Jenkins has not been a Pro Bowler, since he became a starter the Saints defense has been one of the top units in the game (with the exception of 2012 and the suspension of the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator).

Jenkins was a very good college CB who was seen as a tweener in the NFL. Due to his willingness to stick his nose in there against the run at CB, New Orleans decided to roll the dice with him at FS.

Though he’s willing to hit and play physical, the strength of his game is in his ability to match-up well with WR’s that aren’t burners. He can run better than anything we have at FS, but his discipline is I think his best attribute. He is the last line of defense and he plays like he understands that. He doesn’t gamble. He doesn’t freelance.

I read recently that he’s also a “film rat”. That explains so much of his game. He’s a vet who believes in independent mental prep. What we have back there my fellow fans, is a pro.

With the Saints as one of my fantasy defenses over the last 3 years, I watched a good number of Saints games. Based on what I’ve seen, Eagles fans should be pleased by the improvement in our deep coverage, even if some still want to look at N.O. and envision that any play Byrd makes should have been a play he was making for us.

ARE THE EAGLES CORNERED?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/06
Posted in: Defense, Players. Tagged: . 4 Comments

Image Courtesy of AP Photo (AJ Mast)

 

WHAT do you think? Should we kick the tires on Vontae Davis, or are we okay with Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher?

I’m seeing some grumbling about getting a CB early in the Draft, or maybe going after Alterraun Verner or Aquib Talib. For the record I like Davis far more than Verner or Talib as an option, but I think we’re good with what we have, for the moment.

Some fans are a lot harsher about the Eagles CB’s than I am, due to some of the metrics they read about which CB was rated above which other CB, in one of those publications that crunches such numbers.

Okay. I won’t argue that point. We all have our bibles. We all have our sacred sources of information on which we base many of our arguments, and use to solidify, even justify our opinions. (For me it’s Pro Football Reference.com, Eagles Salary Cap.com, and Spotrac.com; because I like being backed by facts that can’t be disputed.)

There are a few reasons I don’t get into metrics, but I won’t get into those now.

Overall, I think our CB play has gotten a raw deal for the last 5 years, due to spotty help from the Safeties. It’s hard to accurately judge an engine with a clogged and crusted air filter, and that’s what our Safety play has been like. Like an engine choking for a full breath of clean air.

Considering that many of the easy to complete passes were over the middle and in the flat, it’s hard for me to crucify Fletcher and Williams, so it’s hard for me to say they need to be replaced.

That said, if we’re going to kick anyone’s tires, I think it should be Davis.

 

 

TWO BIRDS IN THE BUSH?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/05
Posted in: Defense, Players. 3 Comments

Image courtesy Buffalobills.com and ohio.com 5509px

JAIRUS just might end up a Bird after all.

Between Jairus Byrd already turning down an offer from Buffalo that would have made him the highest paid Safety in the league, as well as saying that he thinks the Eagles are headed in the right direction, as well as his collegiate connection with Chip Kelly; if Byrd doesn’t intend to come here, at worst he’s certainly putting a spotlight on Philly for other free agents to do so.

Which brings up an interesting scenario.

With the Browns not having tagged T.J. Ward, he’ll definitely hit the market this year. With the Browns also being a perennial shit team, Ward may just be looking to go somewhere he can enjoy some success for a change.

So what if we could get them both? Why not?

Cap space? We have it. About  24 million dollars worth of space in fact. That’s even counting the new deals for Kelce, Peters, Cooper and Maclin. So the rest is for what, rookies and FA players, right? This would be that, right?

So why not swing for the fences?

ARE YOU O-KKK WITH RILEY COOPER?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/02/27
Posted in: Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

New York Jets v Philadelphia Eagles

WHILE I would have preferred Eric Decker, I guess I can live with the idea of Riley Cooper sticking around.

Hell, it’s not my money.

Besides if Jeremy Maclin (who is also close to re-signing) pulls up lame again, at the very least Cooper has shown he can man that spot. Provided Cooper can improve his game, he could possibly unseat even a healthy Maclin this year. We’ll see.

Word on the street, (and the internet) is that Jason Kelce is also close to an extension. I’m a little weirded out by the number of Reid-era players not only still here, but getting extensions to stay longer. Heck, half the talk has us keeping Michael Vick.

I’m hoping for more changes on the Defense this year at least. A lot has been made of how DC Bill Davis didn’t have enough of the right pieces last year, which was why his unit performed as schizophrenically as it did.

If we’re going to button up the the Offense before Free Agency starts, I’m really expecting something substantial to happen with this Defense in 2014.

WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/02/20
Posted in: Coaching, Defense. 5 Comments

THE question of whether or not Chip Kelly’s system can work at the NFL level has been resoundingly answered.

So our Offense is not a problem.  Our Defense on the other hand is, which you saw clearly when we got man-handled by of all teams, the pass happy New Orleans Saints

Before I start in on the Defense, let’s talk about the guy who coaches it. I mean of course Bill Davis. Let’s start with the cold hard facts. Here is his resume as a DC.

In 2005 the 49ers ranked 30th in points allowed and 32nd in yards allowed.

Then in 2006 they were 32nd in points and 26th in yards.

***

The Cardinals in 2009 ranked 14th in points, and 26th yards.

In 2010 they slipped to 30th in points and 29th in yards

***

So far every defense he touches isn’t great in his first year, then does WORSE in his second year!

Last year WE were 3rd in turnovers, but 17th in points, and 29th in yards. The turnovers aren’t surprising as his teams tend to rack them up, but it always seems to be at the expense of giving up yards and points.

Davis has worked under Dom Capers, Bill Cowher, Vic Fangio, Dick LeBeau, Mike Nolan, Wade Phillips and Marvin Lewis during his coaching career. He has also helped guide seven players to the Pro Bowl: Keith Brooking, Darnell Dockett, Kevin Greene, Walt Harris, Lamar Lathon, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Adrian Wilson.

So why has he sucked so badly when he was the guy in charge? It’s not like he hasn’t had talented players, or an innovative brain trust around him. I just don’t get it!

Frankly, I don’t need to.

What I DO get, is that if we don’t recognize our mistake and correct it, it’s only going to keep hurting us. Possibly for years.