BOYKIN KELLY TRADE, OR WHAT?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/08/02
Posted in: Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

player-brandonboykin.600

BRANDON Boykin was never going to be a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles. Even after a game in which Bradley Fletcher was doused in gasoline and left to burn out of control; Boykin (and our other CB’s) continued to ride pine and saw no opportunity to show an ability to step in and possibly save the team from spending a high draft pick. So the idea of Boykin being traded (for a conditional 5th round pick) was hardly a surprise.

Actually, while it didn’t come as a surprise, the move still stuns a bit. Especially on the eve of Training Camp. Boykin was one of the few players that seemed to get the fans here. He talked big, but he also played big. When he made mistakes on the field it was due to him gambling for that big play. He wanted it as bad as we did, and we SAW that in him. Even in limited play, his fire was as plain as day.

Over these last couple years it feels like we’re losing all of our high-spirited players. Most of the guys we’ve lost were big talkers, but also big performers. What’s funny is that fans from Philly often shake their heads at players and say stuff like “Why can’t he just shut up and play?” or more frequently “He needs to shut the fuck up and just play!” That cracks me up because here in Philly, we’re talkers. (Especially when we deliver results.) I think the Boykin trade is hitting fans the way it is, because to us Boykin felt like Philly. Remember when he tweeted this:

boykin2

This is the sort of thing he did that made us love a second string player.

In a weird way it seems like the more Philly-like you are, the less this coach wants you on his team. (All the Oregon and PAC-12 guys he adds to the team, does nothing to combat that image either.)

Frankly I’m going to miss Boykin, and I think he’s going to shine as a Steeler. How much I miss him will depend on how well the young CB’s on our roster play. The way I see it we just made a mistake. We gave away a 25 year old starting caliber CB, for a 5th round pick. The sad thing is, this move was hardly a surprise.

EAGLES TRAINING CAMP 2015

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

player.marcussmith

MY Pre-Draft prediction, for who I think will win the NFC East, surprised some people. And so far at this point I see no reason to back down from what I said. All the early indicators are still pointing in the same direction. That of course, was the offseason, and the offseason is no time to takes sides, since no one is doing shit anyway. I try to keep it as unbiased as possible during the offseason since information is scarce and even fans of rival teams visit this website.

So that prediction was just me calling it like I see it; but I’m sure you know that just because you see something coming doesn’t mean that you like it. Frankly, I don’t like what I see coming and I’m hoping that I’m wrong. I’ve already said that if I’m wrong, I’m willing to admit it publicly, and even on my own site.

However now that Training Camp is coming up there is PLENTY of reason to take sides. There are guys you hope make it and guys you hope get cut. There are battles you look forward to, and a chance to see players show that they’ve grown.

There’s also my favorite part of TC: Positional study. I of course look at each position, but every year there are between one and three positions that I study maniacally. This year those positions will be Guard, Center, and Outside Linebacker.

Guard for obvious reasons, since the loses of Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans means two new starters. I can’t say at this point that I’m pulling for any player in particular to win a starting role since I’m on record as saying that I don’t think much of any of the Guards on our roster.

Center is a less obvious one. The typical fan assumption is that starter Jason Kelce will step up and help the new Guards until they get settled in as starters. I on the other hand am very concerned about not just the interior Offensive Line’s run blocking, but also their ability to establish and hold an area for our QB’s to step up into while in pass protection.

Outside Linebacker, is more just me seeing if Brandon Graham can give us anything new in coverage underneath now that he’s the starter. Also, whether and how often they bring in Marcus Smith (remember him?), are also of huge interest to me.

So the time for being a primarily unbiased information source is about to be on hold until next offseason. The time for actively rooting for my team and against my own prediction, approaches. I for one, can’t wait.

OPEN COMPETITION FOR EAGLES QB

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/24
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 4 Comments

opencomp

SAM Bradford and Mark Sanchez are supposed to be in “Open Competition for starting QB” once Training Camp starts. If that happens then it could mean things are moving on their regular schedule. It could mean that Bradford’s knee was ready. It could mean that Sanchez is looking to demonstrate more mastery of the Offense than any other QB in camp should be able to.

While some see the competition as a good thing, what it really means is, we’re still on the same treadmill we’ve been on since we traded Donovan McNabb to the Redskins in April 2010. This year’s competition means we’re heading into year six, still looking for a long-term solution at QB.

Over the last five seasons we fans have pinned our QB hopes on Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and Sanchez. Now (maybe) Bradford will be the sixth name. Between all the re-treads and long-shots, us Eagles fans have been waiting quite a while for someone to pull that sword out of the stone. And while we’ve seen flashes of brilliance (Vick’s ridiculous 2010 season; Foles ridiculous 2013 season) they’ve not been matched by periods of consistency.

I put most of that blame on the coaches and front office.

Those who’ve been reading me since before I had this website, know that I’ve been saying for years that the team needs to draft a young guy and develop him; or at least commit to someone on the roster. They paid lip service to Foles in March of last year; but by July they were already telegraphing that they’d screw him first chance they got. (And they did.)

They need to draft and stick with a guy over his initial bumps and bruises. Even if it means back-to-back sub .500 seasons. It’s time to stop with the half-measures and actually build something again. We’ve already seen it work before. Why should fans suffer just because our HC’s scheme (to sucker someone to trade for Bradford), blew up in his face?

For the last 5 years (and this spans 2 head coaches by the way), it’s been “open competition” at the QB spot every year. It’s yielded some winning seasons and even a couple playoff appearances (2010, 2013), but both were one-and-done affairs with no return the following year.

The last time we committed long-term to a QB was in 1999 with McNabb. We tanked the first year, but he got to learn how to be a QB, not just how to play the QB position. (That by the way is the real problem faced by Colin Kaepernic and BobG3, and formerly Jake Locker.) McNabb was coached on the little things, and the focus was on him developing, not on him producing immediate wins. As a result the wins did come, and McNabb went on to become arguably (definitely statistically) the all-time greatest QB in Eagles franchise history. This ain’t rocket science folks. Why not go back and do the last thing that worked for us long-term?

In the meantime, we (as a fan base) are about to get excited for a thing that’s not been working since we started doing it. This latest competition features two re-treads, battling it out to see whether or not we’re about to (frankly) overpay one of them, for having a single good year.

Welp! Let’s get our popcorn and get ready for “Open Competition at QB: Part VI: Franchise vs Sanchize”. This time, it’s personnel.

IS YOUNGER REALLY BETTER?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/20
Posted in: Conversations, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 1 Comment

2015draftclass

CONVENTIONAL sports wisdom says that it’s better to have a young roster, because it gives you a longer period of time in which to build a competitive and possibly dominant team, before (like all things) it peaks and declines. In sports this period is referred to as “The Window”.

Over the decades that theory has largely been sound, since wiser teams have been able to amass young talent, develop it, and ride it to generally positive results. However, in the NFL since the onset of modern free agency and now exacerbated by the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement), holding onto the young talent you amass beyond a few years, has gotten harder to do than it used to be.

Even if you can stockpile draft picks by trading down (like the Eagles and Patriots are famous for doing), developing and holding onto a number of mid-range to very good young players, is extremely difficult. In an era where teams commonly overpay to lure talent in free agency, you’re basically kissing part of your nucleus goodbye, once a few rookie contracts expire. You’re almost penalized years down the line, for having had good Drafts. San Francisco and Seattle are prime examples of that. So you need to be young, but not beholden to youth.

Aside from contract issues, youth has a way of being…well…young. By that I mean inexperienced. Not just in general, but particularly in big moments where emotion can overpower a player and make his mind his own worst enemy. Having youth on your team is great for any roster, but a predominantly young roster can lead to a lack of credible leadership.

A young roster with no history of playoff success or regular season success, is a recipe for disaster. It propagates the notion that you can lose a lot one year, and due to nothing more than youth, the key culprits get to return the following year. (The Eagles defense fell apart in 2013, returned 9 or 10 of 11 starters and then fell apart again in 2014. For example.)

So you see, too much youth can be a disadvantage. Everyone is dirt cheap at first but if they achieve success you soon can lose key players. They’ll stay cheap if they suck, but then by that point you’ll be drafting more young players into a losing culture.

A young roster in today’s “win or be fired” NFL? No thanks. Due to the way business is handled in the NFL today, the old model and the conventional thinking that went along with it, now need to be re-examined.

A PARADE DOWN BROAD STREET

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/19
Posted in: Conversations, Fans. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments
Courtesy media.philly.com

Courtesy media.philly.com

ONCE the Eagles win the Super Bowl, the organization will receive a replica of the trophy named after Vince Lombardi. The players and coaches will receive rings that they can wear (and brandish) on talk shows whenever they get interviewed. But what will we as fans get? We’ll get a parade down Broad Street. I for one would LOVE that. I’d love both the parade and the electricity that engulfs this city whenever one of our teams gets to the championship round. I’m far more interested in those experiences than I am in a trophy that will never sit in my house, or jewelry I’ll never wear. I can’t get hung up on hardware. Rings, plaques, trophies… Those objects themselves pretty much lack any meaning to me. Especially the Lombardi trophy. The Eagles alone own the man for whom the trophy is named. How big of a deal could an annual replica be, when you can say that no team can ever again pull off the feat that your team did? While winning a title has meaning, being able to show off trinkets does not. Frankly I don’t get why rival fans show off pictures these things. They’ll never wear them or possess them. It’s like bragging about your neighbor’s car. Worse actually, since at the very least your neighbor knows who you are. The parade however, would be all of ours. It would belong to athlete and fan alike. It would be a day and an experience that we all had in common. I have yet to post a single pic of the Phillies trophy, but a 30 minute video I shot of the Phillies parade is still up on my Myspace page (I just checked to make sure). The difference is that you and I own a piece of that moment. We share it. I’m looking forward to sharing another moment with my fellow fans, as well as the athletes who played and won to earn that moment. The hardware on the other hand…they can keep.

DO THE PLAYERS BELIEVE IN SAM BRADFORD?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/15
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Offense, Players. Tagged: . Leave a comment

Sambradford ota15

SKILLWISE I like Sam Bradford as our starter. He has very good arm, generally doesn’t take silly chances with the ball, and has a demeanor that players respect. He’s a legit NFL starter, but right now there have to be some questions about whether or not his teammates trust him to be there for 16 games or if (like many fans), they’re just waiting for the re-injury so that Mark Sanchez, can step in.

Bradford has missed chunks of the last two NFL seasons with Anterior Cruciate Ligaments tears to his left knee. Again, that’s two ACL tears to one knee, in two consecutive years. He spent all of OTA’s this year in a knee brace (pictured) that covered not only his knee, but covered portions of his calf and thigh as well for added stability.

To a man, the locker room is going to feed you that “We support whoever starts” BS; but you have to know that at least most of these guys have a favorite. They have an up close understanding of this game and an up close view of what injuries mean in both the short and long term, as well as the week to week management of them. They would be fools not to have some serious questions/doubts.

As Eagles fans we make constant jokes about the fragility of Redskin QB Bob Griffin, but the truth is, Bradford is just as brittle Griffin. What astounds me is how many Eagles fans still see Bradford playing 14-16 games this year.

Personally I would be surprised if we got 8 games out of him. Aside from our issues on the Offensive Line, there’s the fact that the doctrine on how to beat our Offense is over 20 years old. Playoff level teams have been killing us with that doctrine’s chief tenet: Hit the QB. Early in games hit him even if the hit is slightly late, and cheap shots (remember the first Redskins game last year?) are also fine. That doesn’t bode well for Bradford in particular. So I can’t help but wonder what that locker room REALLY thinks about Sam Bradford and the 2015 season.

 

LESEAN MCCOY or DEMARCO MURRAY

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/13
Posted in: Conversations, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , , . 6 Comments

shady v murray

THREE days ago someone on the NFL’s website wrote about an exec who said he’d take former Eagles RB LeSean McCoy over current Eagles RB Demarco Murray “Any day”. The story’s writer dismissed the exec’s evaluation as “silly”, and then proceeded to talk about all the wrong things.

Personally, I agree with the NFL exec. If I were building a team from scratch, had to pick a RB and my choices were McCoy or Murray, I’d take McCoy with zero hesitation. Zero.

The guy who wrote the articles basically said that both RB’s were products of their skills being well matched with with the systems they played in, also saying that neither would thrive in the system the other played in.

That’s complete horse shit.

Could Shady (McCoy) have regularly run through wide open holes? Sure he could have. He can accelerate quickly through a hole and then find a second gear beyond the line of scrimmage. He’s not known for running through tacklers (though he does), but his gift is his ability to set up his cuts well. The guy could make you miss him in a phonebooth.

Could Murray have bounced around and routinely created his own openings? No. Not at all. Murray is a one cut runner who is not known for creating what isn’t given to him before reaching the line of scrimmage. He’s more known for the extra yards he makes after contact, than for being able to salvage a poorly blocked play.

I’m planting this flag now, because we have an interesting opportunity here. The Shady vs. Murray debate isn’t new, but unlike most debates of this nature (which tend to go down as what-if’s), Chip Kelly has made it possible to get an answer. Murray will now get to play in the same system that McCoy played in for the last two years, piling up 2,900 rushing yards in that span. Murray if he’s as good as McCoy, should put up about 1,300 – 1,600 yards this year. If he’s better he should put up more. That is unless, somehow, someway, someone has messed up our Offensive Line since last year.

But (at least for the moment), that’s neither here nor there.

Still for my money, I’m rolling with Shady.

JPP’S COSTLY MISTAKE

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/09
Posted in: NFL, Players, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

JPP

THEY say to err is Human. Well, giants Defensive End, Jason P. ERRED big time. Heading into the 4th of July, Jason Pierre-Paul was in a position to turn his nose up at a 60 million dollar offer from his team that would have certainly included some guaranteed money, which even in the wake of this incident likely would have been his regardless. Oh if only he had had signed.

Having his index finger amputated this close to training camp, just about guarantees that his 2015 is over, even if you only consider the amputation and not the damage(s) that precipitated its necessity. Add to that surgeries, healing time, and occupational therapy. LOTS of occupational therapy.

I have no idea why a guy in his position would be screwing around with something like large fireworks to begin with. With 60 mil hanging from a string, I’d be walking around covered head-to-toe in bubble wrap. Especially if I thought I could refuse that offer for a better one. He however, risked it and it literally burned him. Or blew up in his face. Pick one. (Or share yours in the comments down there.) Now it’s going to cost him at LEAST this year.

I say at least this year, because a hand injury (even a severe one) doesn’t mean his career is over, or that he can’t still play at a high level. I happen to know that personally, since my right hand had to be reconstructed in 1997.

Like JPP it was the result of something stupid, and I put my hand (in anger over a woman) through a plate glass window. Palm-first. Open handed. My fingers were almost cut completely off, hanging backwards against my hand, dangling only by skin. You could actually see INTO my  hand. Long story short my surgeon (Albert Weiss at Hahnemann, much love to you!) was a genius, and I was able to keep ALL of my fingers.

In 2001 I tried out for a semi-pro team. Just a bucket list sort of thing. Long story short, I stuck and I started at Left Tackle beginning that very season. In 3 years of play I never allowed a sack. Of course I wasn’t in the NFL, but neither was my competition. They were on my level. JPP has proven that he’s an NFL player already. His competition is on his level. He’s even been dominant against that competition before. (Talk about irony. I’m typing this and the Dionne Farris song “Hopeless” comes on. My occupational therapist loved this song. It’s why I love this song 🙂 )

Anyway, I wouldn’t count JPP out just yet. Money aside, he’s going to want to come back. Almost need to come back. Pride will drive him. To prove he’s still physically capable, to hold onto his dream, to prove that he didn’t ruin his own life over something so stupid and trivial. Trust me. Been there. Unless he’s not medically clearable in 2016, expect to see him trying to redeem himself next year. In his eyes if no one else’s.

Side note: As an Eagles fan the worst part of this is, it doesn’t change how the NFC East was going to end up anyway, since the giants were already going to suck in 2015. At least the Dallas Cowboys are guaranteed to not end up dead last this year. 

“EAGLES ARE GOING 16-0”

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/07/03
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, NFL. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

ck

THIS team has made upgrades as far as RB depth, ILB depth, WR depth. We finally got rid of Nate Allen. We brought in free agency’s most coveted CB in Byron Maxwell. Clearly the Eagles are going 16-0.

I would love to mean those words. I really would. It would be amazing to see my team go undefeated during the regular season, but truth is, I doubt that this is even a 10 win ballclub  in 2015, let alone going undefeated. I’m a fan and I love my team, but I’m by no means delusional or willing to lie to myself, only to be pissed that “they got my hopes up again”. I watch some Eagles fans do this to themselves every year and I have to say “If you don’t lie to yourself, you may actually enjoy being a fan.”

There is simply no way to be a dominant team when your QB takes as much abuse as ours will this season. Due to subpar Guards our interior Offensive Line will be weak in 2015. That’s a problem since all of our QB’s that can actually throw a football, are stationary targets for the most part.

You ask: “So we have bad Guards. Big deal. How bad can it be?” My answer: Dennis McKnight and Ron Solt. Their play led directly to the Pat Ryan Fiasco. (For those of you who actually remember the Pat Ryan Fiasco I am SO VERY SORRY for even bringing it up, but there was no other way to make this point.) Due to crappy protection we lost Randall Cunningham in the first game of the 1991 season to a hit by Packers Bryce Paup. Cunningham was in the pocket stepping into a pass and the hit to his knee came from right in front of him. We lost him for the season and would go on losing QB’s to injury that season. We went through a total of five QB’s that year. Yes, FIVE. At one point even RB Keith Byars lined up under Center. When we ran out of QB’s, no one else wanted to come here and play behind our awful line. No one except for one guy: Pat Ryan. I’ll summarize and tell you (who don’t remember it) that Ryan made his Eagle debut on Monday Night Football and proceeded to commit turnovers like it was all he was ever born to do. We paid DEARLY for our inability to protect our QB’s that year. Three words: Sam Bradford’s knee.

But that’s Offense. Maybe the Defense will carry us this year.

During OTA’s I didn’t read word one about how the Defense was changing alignment or introducing a new concept. That says that the scheme from last year is still in place, and that the expectation is that the new players will be the answer to the coverage woes of the last 2 years. Let me go on record NOW with saying “that’s not how this is going to shake out”. Chip Kelly is about to learn a couple of harsh NFL lessons.

  1. In college you can elevate your program by simply grabbing up the top talent and starving out your opponents before you ever see the field. In the NFL stars go to teams that use them poorly all the time. Let me say three words about that: Nnamdi Asomugha (Eagles). Let me say three more: Herschel Walker (Vikings). Three more: Albert Haynesworth (Redskins). Four more: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Eagles). I could go on.
  2. Good players don’t mask bad schemes. For two years now many fans have given this Defensive system a pass and chosen instead to lay the blame for its shortcomings at the feet of the players. Well now those same fans have players they like and “all the bums” are gone. So there are no more people to blame after this season except for the coaches if we finish 2015 without a playoff win.

I would LOVE to be wrong and see us win the East. I’m willing to eat crow if we do, and I’ll even publish an “I WAS WRONG” story on this website, with a link back to this very article. If I’m wrong I will stand up and take my medicine. 

But if I’m right, (and I will be)….

Look, I’m not hating on my team, I’m just not willing to bullshit myself. I would love to see us do well this year, and will be rooting for us to do so, week in and week out. I just can’t honestly say that I can see us having a happy 2015. You can’t be this flawed, against this level of competition and have it turn out for the best. That’s just not how the real world works, and Chip Kelly’s late season finishes are proof of that.

Still though, the “Eagles are going 16-0”…it does feel nice to say.

IS THERE PROFIT IN JOHN MOFFITT?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/06/29
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 4 Comments

john moffitt

YOU’LL have to pardon me if I don’t jump up and do the ‘Chicken Dance’ over the signing of Guard John Moffitt. It’s not like we added an All-Pro or Pro Bowl level performer.  The guy is a reclamation project, pure and simple.

After retiring for two years to handle a multi-faceted drug problem (performance enhancing drugs, marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy), Moffitt is back hoping to show that he can be a contributor in this league.

This despite the injuries that also plagued him. That list includes a blown out knee, elbow surgery, and shoulder damage. Oh yeah, there’s also sleep apnea and “floaters” crossing his vision from all the head trauma he absorbed from over almost  20 years (man and boy) in football. We’ll see what he’s got left, but as a player he wasn’t all that great before he retired. Somehow I’m doubting that two years of sitting on his couch did his game much good.

The signing perplexes me more for another reason though. Chip Kelly says that culture is the most important thing. He says that “culture wins football”, and that “culture beats scheme every time”. So how does the signing of Moffitt benefit the culture here? For instance, what message does it send to Lane Johnson, who was already stung once by a PED suspension last year?

Moffitt has by pretty much any and every account, been sort of fuck-up his whole NFL career. The idea that Moffitt has something meaningful to contribute to this team’s culture, when LeSean McCoy or DeSean Jackson or Evan Mathis apparently did not, is worth a raised eyebrow I think.

The truth is, the Eagles neglected the Guard position, then let go of a player (Mathis) they could ill-afford to lose (just to make a point). Apparently Guards have not shown well during OTA’s and the Front Office has attempted to patch a leaky roof by signing first a college back-up (Jared Wheeler), and now a ho-hum player with a history of what he called “dumb mistakes”.

Put bluntly, I don’t like this signing. I mean be honest, if the Redskins, giants or Cowboys added these guys you’d hound your rival fans about it. I have no idea why we don’t trade for a real Guard if we can’t agree to terms with someone like Gabe Carimi, Nate Garner or even Davin Joseph.

In any case, for the sake of anyone dropping back to pass in an Eagles uniform this year, I hope Kelly is right and I’m wrong about Moffitt. However, if you’ve been reading me consistently over the last year and a half, you know that my track record is more than simply impressive, and the odds that I’m wrong about this, are staggeringly low.