While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.
INJURIES happen and football isn’t a safe sport. That said, maybe we shouldn’t have our top two WR’s, running lots of routes which take them inside the numbers painted on the field. While we can’t be skittish about playing them, routing them through S’s and LB’s, is a lot like dancing in front of tigers with handfuls of steak. Eventually it ends badly.
So let’s do less of that in 2023. I didn’t say let’s not do it, just do it less. I mean this especially about Brown, because he’s the one who does it more.
Taken as a pair, WRs A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith, not QB Jalen Hurts, are the straw that stirs the Eagles Offense. Defenses having to respect two full service receivers at all levels (shallow/intermediate/deep), is what opens up the field for the run game. Adding Hurts slows opposing defense’s reaction time vs the run, as they have to also account for him.
That’s not saying that Hurts is unimportant. It’s saying that he was a different QB before Brown got here, and we don’t have much depth at WR. Let me put it in plain English: If Brown goes down, WR Quez Watkins is the starter opposite Smith again. Like 2021 when we went 9 – 8, stumbled into the playoffs and were quickly dismissed, with our illiterate QB.
Now Hurts was clearly better in 2022, but I don’t want to find out that he’s largely “Brown dependent”. Better to keep Brown healthy, and the rest of the NFL scratching their heads over how Hurts got so good, so fast.
If we had more depth at WR, or if Quez hadn’t been a disaster in 2022, I wouldn’t be as worried about health at this position. However, knowing how and why the Eagles Offense works, I also understand how fast it can all unravel. So let’s be more careful with our top two WR’s.
While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.
SPORTS is great source for mixed metaphors. Yelling that a team should “work the body” (run more); or that they should “go to the upstairs” (throw it deep down the sideline); are two examples of football borrowing expressions from boxing. Well I’m borrowing yet another: We need to throw more uppercuts.
By this I mean, deep throws down the middle of the field. I’m comparing this kind of pass to an uppercut, because while it’s going to the upstairs, it’s taking a different route. Like an uppercut, it’s thrown behind the defense. If the defense can recover, the fight just goes on. However, if the uppercut lands, (if that deep pass connects), it can be a devastating blow.
A deep pass down the sideline often involves a CB and/or a FS with an angle, helping to run down the WR. A deep pass in the middle is usually against a FS. Look, usually a FS is a S, because he can’t run like a CB. If he also has no angle on the completed pass, then it’s just a footrace to the goal post. This is utterly devastating.
WR Quez Watkins rips the Vikings hearts out, during Monday Night Football, with this 53 yard score.
The Eagles have a couple of players who can make this into a real problem. First is WR Quez Watkins. The Eagles have used him like this on occasion, but I have no idea why they don’t abuse this as an option. He has blazing speed and and good enough hands to make uncontested catches. Throwing him open on a deep route needs to happen few times per game.
Second is WR Devon Allen. He’s an Olympic sprinter with 4..5 speed, who had a strong preseason last year, and spent 2022 on our Practice Squad. While WR Olamide Zacchaeus isn’t the burner the other two are, he has a talent for finding soft spots in the coverage, and making yards after the catch. Though at 5’8 he could be a difficult target to hit deep.
So we have the firepower to throw more uppercuts. The only question there is, will we?
While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.
QUICK knockouts in boxing usually come from punches to the head. So inexperienced fighters often fixate on (headhunting) throwing punches to the head. Even a mediocre trainer will instruct their fighter to “Work the body to bring down the head”; because punishing the body, can rob an opponent of offensive firepower, and make their arms feel heavy, loosening their defense.
Listen, there are no quick knockouts in football. No matter how hard the Eagles rock an opponent early, the game is still sixty minutes. Which just makes working the body even more important.
Running the ball is about power and will. Yes, technique is important, yes angles are important, yes quickness matters. However, the defense also has technique, they take angles, and they’re quick too. Once beef meets beef in the trenches, it’s power and will. And when you spend a day beating a man into the dirt, you break his will. You bring down the head.
The Eagles had three losses last year, and in two of them (Washington and New Orleans) we got away from our M.O. of running the ball, with just 14 handoffs in either game. We were in both games until the end, so there was never a need to get away from the run. We just sort of…did.
Instead of playing our game, our offensive coaching staff over-thought things, and played down to our opponent. Instead of doing what works, we got cute. Luckily we lost the Washington game, and it screwed our heads on straight. Had we gotten away with that game plan, who knows how far we’d have strayed from our fundamentals.
We are a running team, and we need to never lose sight of that. We’re a team that wins in the trenches! We win the street fights. We aren’t locked in here with them. They’re locked in here with US! Once the game starts, we get to play with our food for sixty minutes. So why not torture, torment, harass, and demoralize them? Punish them.
While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.
THERE’S an old expression in sports: “Dance with the girl who brung ya.” Well that girl, (running the ball), brought us all the way to a Super Bowl. So let’s stay right here. Dancing cheek to cheek with our run game.
Now that QB Jalen Hurts, has become more expensive, some may find it tempting to get pass happy. Others may want to run every single play through him. Well, either of those approaches would be stupid. Now that he’s more expensive, we should risk him less, not more.
Last year we averaged 31.2 rushes per game, 21.5 of which were hand-offs, with Hurts chipping in another 165 totes (in 15 games), for an average of 11.0 per game. We should scale down on the abuse he sees, and turn some of those 11, into hand-offs. Especially since it would be a waste of talent not to.
RB D’Andre Swift wearing the number “0”.
Although Kenneth Gainwell is (currently) listed atop the depth chart, let’s be serious here. Replacing RB Miles Sanders with RB D’Andre Swift, has the potential to be transformative to this Offense. While Sanders was very productive in his four years as an Eagle, Swift is a faster and more decisive runner. Which explains why even on a team with little supporting talent, he was able to be such an explosive player.
In each of his his three seasons, Swift has at least one run of 50 yards, with almost no help to draw attention from him. Here he has WR’sA.J. Brownand Devonta Smith. He has TE Dallas Goedert. He’s never had an Offensive Line like this. Oh, and his QB being a threat to run, makes every defense re-act half a step slower. This should be a career year for Swift.
The only way to screw this up, would be not feed Swift enough for him to get into a rhythm. If he sees 15 to 20 carries per game, we should be golden. That said, it’s not all about him. The RB room on this team currently includes: Swift, Gainwell, Boston Scott,Rashaad Penny, Trey Sermon, and Kennedy Brooks.
Ideally:
Swift should start, and see at least 15 carries in the game.
Gainwell could be sprinkled in for 2 carries per quarter, to give Swift some rest (and to play well enough to push him).
Penny comes in as the closer in the fourth. A big, fast, well-rested closer, capable of ripping off 60 yard runs to paydirt. Penny coming in basically ends Swift’s day, and we pack all of Penny’s carries (6 or so) into the fourth.
If the Eagles can put up 29 hand-offs per game, we should be unbeatable. In fact, last year we were 5 – 0 when hitting 29 hand-offs. In games of 17 hand-offs or fewer, we were 3 – 3 including a 17 hand-off Super Bowl. So yeah. Dance with the girl who brung us. Run the ball.
Categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s (6 points)+ 3rd downs converted by handoffs(1 point) + sacks allowed (-2 points)= score); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).
New Category Ace is for Kick return TD’s, Returners run-down, kicks blocked, etc.
Ace :(S) K Jake Elliott (Nominated for an Oscar after roughing penalty)
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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: Jaguars did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
Look at the receivers hands! Ouch!
1) Man Up: Despite injuries, to CB Darius Slay (no stats) and NB Avonte Maddox (DNP), the Eagles Secondary stayed in the faces of Jacksonville’s receivers. QB Trevor Lawrence (11/23 – 47.8% – 174 – 2 – 1) didn’t have anywhere quick to deliver the ball, so he had to hold onto it. That gave time for Eagles defenders to harass him, sacking him 3 times, and getting him to lose 4 fumbles. That’s not a typo. FOUR fumbles.
As a result of the coverage, the QB was forced into 5 turnovers, and their 72M$ Slot WR Christian Kirk (9 – 2 – 60 – 30.0 – 0) was exposed as an overpriced sham. On one play Lawrence stared down Kirk, and CB James Bradberry (2 – 0.0 – 1 – 0) flashed in between them, snatching the ball out of the air, in absolute defiance of the wet conditions. (DONE)
2) Box Them In: When I wrote this, I didn’t think condition would be as wet as they ended up being, so this worked so much better than I expected it to. Their RB’s were held to 16 yards on 16 carries (3.8 ypc). They had some early success down the middle, but once cleats started to chop up the ground, things settled down.
Let me explain “chop”. Early on, the field is whole and the grass can be slick. However, with each possession, the ground gets a little more torn (chopped) up. So you can put your feet in the chop, and get more purchase as the game goes on. Their interior o-line isn’t as strong as our DT’s, so when the slick grass was gone, the advantage that they had at the snap, evaporated. We did a better job of understand the ground.(DONE)
3) The Kerrigan Plan: We started out working it, and it helped us get back into the game, as TE Dallas Goedert (6 – 5 – 72 – 14.4 – 0) caught several balls in the Flat or on TE Screens. RB Miles Sanders (3 – 2 – 22 – 11.0 – 0) caught balls in the same area. As conditions grew worse though, the emphasis was wisely shifted to the run.
Interestingly, QB Jalen Hurts threw three passes to WR A.J. Brown. It was the same route off the right side, essentially a Post route, right under the Safety. They completed all three times for good yardage, but I started to think they were going to that well to often. That however, was a new wrinkle taking advantage of those vacated OLB areas. It’ll be interesting to see how that works in better weather.(DONE)
C Jason Kelce escorts RB Miles Sanders in for a touchdown. Kelce was HUGE today for Sanders.
4) Run in the Second Half: We started the second half like we had brain damage, running just once out of 11 plays and punting twice. Then we got it together, and ran on 24 of the next 34 plays, scoring twice in the fourth quarter. When the coaching staff meets tomorrow, hopefully they’ll talk… (DONE)
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We crushed the shit out of this week, going a perfect4of Four Things. Next week we go out to Arizona, and hopefully it won’t be a trap game. They are just awful. I watched/endured/was tortured by their game against Carolina today, and I will never forgive myself for sitting through it. That shit was gross.
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On The Whole:
“We should score easily enough, the only question is: How well will our Defense do?”
That’s how I ended Four Things. To answer, our Defense held a team averaging 28 points to just 14, grabbed 3 sacks, 1 pick, 4 forced fumbles, 4 recoveries, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves… Every time I question them, the Defense sends me a stiff message. So expect me to question them EVERY week!
I said this game had to be about talent and execution, and it was. Thank goodness for the inclement weather, because there were times when the Eagles coaching staff tried to be cute on Offense (beginning of the second half), and it just wasn’t working. If the weather had been better they may have kept trying. Mother Nature, we owe you one.
Understand, we spotted a team 14 points, and then cleared our throats. We were fighting a double digit lead, injuries coming in, injuries during, the elements, and still we just strolled to a victory. And this wasn’t against some bottom-feeder team. This was against the (still) division leader of the AFC South.
I said on June 9th: “Folks, people are predicting us to win the East, but I… I might already be looking past that. I’m telling you, if Hurts can read defenses better in 2022, the entire NFC (not just the East), is on notice. Rams, Bucs, Green Bay AT Lambeau. All of that. We want ALL the smoke.”
I have to admit now, I was wrong. We’re putting the WHOLE LEAGUE, on notice.
Categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s (6 points)+ 3rd downs converted by handoffs(1 point) + sacks allowed (-2 points)= score); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).
New Category Ace is for Kick return TD’s, Returners run-down, kicks blocked, etc.
Ace :P Arynn Siposs – Touchdown saving tackle on CB, after blocked FG
****
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: Vikings did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Stop Being Lazy Tacklers:Tackling this week was much improved from a week ago. That said, FS Marcus Epps (6 – 0 – 0 – 0) is still leading with his shoulder, and not his hands. Solid tackling helped force the Vikings into 4th and 5, on their two opening drives. After which we scored a second time, putting game permanently out of their reach. (DONE)
2) Don’t Get Rattled: As I said, Minnesota’s victory last week only looked impressive. Then I got under the hood and saw the details and context of it. So I was able to tell you that this week, they would be without the advantage they had last week. The players just had to not get rattled by the Viking’s Week One press clippings. And they didn’t.
Oh, and OLB Zadarius Smith (2 – 0 – 0 – 0), RT Lane Johnson kept him quiet. While we’re on the subject of being kept quiet, tonight CB Darius Slay had three takeaways. Two were interceptions, and the third thing he took away was WR Justin Jefferson (12 – 6 – 48 – 8.0 – 0). Honestly, tonight he was less effective than WR Jalen Reagor (2 – 1 – 7 – 7.0 – 0), who at least didn’t help produce two turnovers.(DONE)
3) Eagles vs Kerrigan: Jalen Hurts for sure threw some balls into the Flat. TE Dallas Goedert, WR Zach Pascal (2 – 2 – 14 – 7.0 – 0) and the RB’s made well use of the space. It was often so wide open that his completion percentage is almost gaudy for this game. (DONE)
4) Work the Hash: With Hurts spreading the wealth, everything was on the table, including the middle of the field. WR A.J. Brown (8 – 5 – 69 – 13.8 – 0) did a lot of his damage over the middle, near the hash. Goedert made some noise there as well. This opened up the area outside the numbers for WR Devonta Smith(7 – 7 – 80 – 11.9 – 0), who low-key put on an absolute clinic, on shaking coverage and presenting a clean target. (DONE)
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This week all 4 of the Four Things were done, and the result was domination from coin toss to shower. Next week, we hop on 95 for three hours, to visit Washington D.C. Once there, we’ll have our first divisional match-up vs the Commanders.
Did I mention that our ex plays there now? Yeah, QB Carson Wentz. Thought he was the one. Even put a ring on it. But Nick complicated that. Still smile when you think of Nick, right? Then there was Jalen. You know Philly’s weakness for dark meat! Randall, Donovan, Mike… (Donovan still ranks as the best we ever had, but shhhh! You have to say that quietly.) Yeah, poor Carson. We didn’t have to do him so dirty.
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On The Whole:
I’m going to get to the gripes first, then I’m going to hand out praise. What the fuck was up with these refs tonight?! There were three bad calls in the first quarter alone. And why was DT Marlon Tuipulotu(1 – 0 – 0 – 0) on the field again? He just gets pushed around vs the run, and offers little pass rush.
There was only one 3rd down hand-off in this entire game. Hurts again, ran the ball (11 – 57 – 5.1 – 2 – 1), too much again. His 28 carries this year, puts him on pace for 238 carries. I don’t know how this coaching staff expects him to absorb that much punishment, and still be an effective passer.
We scored no points in the fourth quarter again. Leads mean nothing late in a game, if the opponent feels as if, or knows outright, that they can get stops. At a certain point. A trailing teams start gambling with house money, with attempts to score. If they can put stops and scores together, they develop a substance called “Hope”. If we allow them hope, they may become inspired, and pull off a comeback. We have to get this fixed.
Now for the praise.
Back in June, in THE 12: #11, I wrote about using WR Quez Watkins (2 – 2 – 69 – 34.5 – 1) to run Go routes from the Slot. That 53 yard thing of beauty that Hurts threw to him, is exactly what I was talking about. With Brown and Smith demanding attention on the outside (plus Goedert), you can’t tell me that we don’t have another 8 of these in the chamber.
In that same article, I said that if Hurts gets better at reading a defense, the entire NFC, not just the East, will be on notice. His reading has clearly improved. It’s still has gaps in it, but gaps are better than the near illiteracy he exhibited at this time last year. His blitz solving skills would also benefit from a former NFL player’s guidance.
Hurts ball placement and timing, were… Look, I wanted improvement, and I believed that he could improve, somewhat. Just not this much, this fast. The question is how physically consistent can he be, as he takes more and more abuse from how the extra hits he takes running.
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.
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.
PRESSURE can bursts pipes, or make diamonds. So do we need a plumber, or a jeweler? Understand, TE J.J. Arcega-Whiteside switching position from WR, isn’t just pressure on him. The Eagles also have quite a bit at stake. In fact, it could be argued that the stakes are higher for the team, than for the player. The Eagles need for this move to work, more than JJAW does.
Aside from TE Dallas Goedert, the Eagles don’t have a receiver at the TE position. That’s where JJAW needs to come in. We know he can block and play Special Teams, and we need him for those things already. We just have to see if the change in positional coaching, will change his perspective enough to make him a respectable option, if he should have to start.
JJAW runs well enough. The issue is his reliability as a receiver. On a career 35 targets, he has just 16 catches for a 45% catch rate. Keep in mind, only 3 of those 19 incompletions are drops, but still, that 45% catch rate almost makes him a member of the opposing defense. Aside from the 3 drops, he’s had 16 phantom (balls not dropped) incompletions. Those are his worst enemy.
Little things like allowing himself to be undercut, and not attacking the ball. It’s not a drop, but this incompletion (interception) is very much on JJAW
Whether it’s miscommunication on routes, being late to signal when open, not being physical coming back to the ball, whatever. These are some of the things that cause phantom incompletions. The difference between being a talented WR, and being a professional one, is technique. JJAW wasn’t getting WR technique, so the team is hoping a different perspective will give the team access to his physical talents.
The Birds re-signed TE Richard Rogers, but if they were serious about him, they wouldn’t have a total of seven TE’s on a roster, likely to only carry three. TE Jack Stoll is a very good blocker whom I discussed in a prior installment. Stoll can be a chain mover, but he’s never going to be a match-up headache.
Rookie TE Grant Calcaterra has had so many concussions that he no longer has a count. Some media outlets report the number as three, but anything you read quoting Calcaterra (before he unretired), hints STRONGLY that the number is well north of that. Well north. The fact that there is no solid number reported anywhere, is terrifying in itself.
Promising young TE Tyree Jackson is still rehabbing a blown ACL, and TE Noah Togiai is getting cut. Early. So this preseason JJAW has to be put through the ringer. At least a dozen targets in the preseason, and some work in-line. He can’t be some pet guy that we’re stashing on the roster. Both the player and the team need to find a way to make this work.
This guy was drafted to be a redzone threat. With a running QB, he could be a nightmare.
Given his Combine scouting, I don’t know why this move wasn’t made years ago. No matter. If both sides can make this work, the Eagles might end up with a player very similar to former TE Jordan Reed. (Minus the concussions.) He wouldn’t be a steal, but he certainly wouldn’t be a wasted second round pick anymore.
WE’VE been told that WR Quez Watkins is going to be working in the Slot, a lot more this year. In an earlier article, I said that we should use Watkins and RB Kenneth Gainwellas a one-two punch in the Slot. Picture it: We pound teams with 12 Personnel, then we make them chase either raw speed, or short area shiftiness. Nasty! Just plain nasty!
When the Eagles won the Super Bowl following the 2017 season, they did it behind WR Torrey Smith taking the top off of defenses, and allowing room for TE Zach Ertz to work underneath. Having to keep a Safety over Ertz, made it easier to get balls downfield, into WR Alshon Jeffrey’s insane catch radius. Having to cover all of that, is what opened up the room for the run game to pile up 2115 yards (132 ypg).
For the next couple of years, the Eagles tried to replicate that formula, first replacing Smith with WR Mike Wallace (2018), who was hurt two games into the season; and then re-uniting with WR DeSean Jackson (2019), who was hurt three games into the season. (Note: It’s not that the formula didn’t work, it’s that we didn’t have the horses to run it.)
Well, now we have a new formula, and I personally LOVE it! I’ve been saying since DJax was here, that we should put our burner in the Slot, not on the Outside. This one move does more than the old formula does, and it does it much more simply.
Watkins in the Slot running “Go” and clear-out routes right down the middle, means that a defense in Single-high coverage, can offer no help to their CB’s. That frequently puts WR Devonta Smith and WR A.J. Brown in one-on-one coverage, on opposite sides of the field. Imagine a CB alone in space with Brown, after the catch. Damned near animal cruelty, right?
Watkins in the Slot running “Go” and clear-out routes right down the middle, means that a defense in Cover Two, has to squeeze the Safeties together, instead of letting them drift out to help the CB’s. (See above result.) This means committing extra resources to coverage. So now instead of four back deep, they have five back deep.
Five back deep, means a six man front. It means they’re in Nickel. Ladies and gentlemen, have you met our run game? Give a hand to RB Miles Sanders! And playing the part of Charlie Mack, I give you LT Jordan Mailata, and LG Landon Dickerson!
First out da limo.
Oh wait! We haven’t even started on TE Dallas Goedert on 15 yard Outs, after play-action. Watkins in the Slot will also force teams to declare more coverages, making pre-snap reads easier for QB Jalen Hurts. (This is where spreading the Offense really gets it’s mojo workin’.) All of which is done easily with Watkins being a speed merchant.
I hear you ask: How dangerous can a speed merchant really be? I mentioned Torrey Smith earlier. In 2017 he played in all 16 games, catching just 36 balls for 430 yards (11.9) and just 2 TD’s. Small numbers, right? However, it was his presence that made him the catalyst for the entire Offense. The loss of that, was 75% of why the Eagles looked so disjointed in 2018 and 2019.
Folks, people are predicting us to win the East, but I… I might already be looking past that. I’m telling you, if Hurts can read defenses better in 2022, the entire NFC (not just the East), is on notice. Rams, Bucs, Green Bay AT Lambeau. All of that. We want ALL the smoke.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 