MEET DESEAN JACKSON’S REPLACEMENT

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/05/01
Posted in: Offense, Players. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

 

Image courtesy of nbcphiladelphia.com

Image courtesy of nbcphiladelphia.com

EVERYWHERE I look it seems fans want a WR. [Kelvin Benjamin], [Mike Evans], [Brandin Cooks], [Cody Latimer]. There are more names but you get the idea. Even if it means trading up, in a year where we’re short on draft picks, fans want a guy to pick up the slack left by DeSean Jackson’s departure.

Fellow Eagles fans, I think we may be outsmarting ourselves here.

Even if only for depth purposes, the Eagles drafting a WR is practically a sure thing. But it occurs to me that Jackson’s replacement may not be a rookie. It could be Jeremy Maclin.

Maclin isn’t going to put up 1,300 yards of course, but he could be used to open up the box and continue to make it easier to run between the Tackles. I don’t know if anyone remembers when he was drafted, but a lot was made of him helping out with KR/PR duties because he had done so in college and he could also break arm tackles and make guys miss. Andy Reid gave it a whirl but not much came of it.

Fast-forward to today. Chip Kelly runs a system called the Spread. While it’s called that because you spread your opponent out horizontally, it also has a way of isolating defensive players from help. Maclin, if he can still break an arm tackle and/or make a guy miss, doesn’t need Jackson’s speed to be dangerous.

While Maclin may not be a home-run hitter, having a more consistent hitter is nothing to sneeze at. (Put another way: Maclin may not be Ryan Howard, but it’s hardly a bad thing if he’s Chase Utley.) If Maclin can make guys miss and break tackles, teams will cheat a Safety his way and that will strreeeeetch the box horizontally and make it easier for LeSean McCoy’s blockers. (Though I think McCoy could get blindsided a LOT more this year, because of this.)

A single WR replacing Jackson’s numbers won’t happen in 2014. No one on the roster is physically capable of it, and a rookie has to still learn how to read NFL coverages. However, the most impressive thing Jackson did last year can be somewhat duplicated, and the best man for that job (so far) is Jeremy Maclin.

Sidenote: Earlier this offseason I predicted that Maclin would post a number of career lows and still have what would be a good year. That of course was with me projecting him in a 3 WR formation along with Jackson.

Things have changed obviously, so I’m going change right along with them and re-vise those numbers accordingly. My new prediction for Maclin: 74 catches, 890 yards, 10 TD’s. 

CHIP KELLY SHOWS INTEREST IN JOHNNY MANZIEL

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/29
Posted in: Draft, Offense. Tagged: . Leave a comment

MANZIEL

CHIP Kelly, when asked if the Eagles were interested in [Johnny Manziel] responded:

“We have an interest in anybody that’s draft-eligible this year.”

Would have been too much effort to throw Nick Foles a bone, I guess.

This is really starting to wear thin isn’t it? The whole cloak and dagger, men of mystery vibe the Eagles try to give off, is really tiresome. Everybody and their momma knows we need a pass rusher, a receiver, offensive line depth, and a Safety in case Earl Wolff doesn’t pan out; or if he does and Malcolm Jenkins blows up on the launch pad. NFL teams are not fooled by such shoddy trickery.

The idea that the Eagles may take a QB later in the Draft is pretty widely agreed on. The notion that we’d take one prior to round 4, no one really takes seriously. We have Foles, veteran Mark Sanchez, and a guy who can be the project in Matt Barkley. So no one buys the whole “Bond. James Bond” thing.

That means the Eagles can drop the act.

Unless of course 95% of fans and media are wrong, and the Eagles do go QB early. That would mean ignoring other needs and putting your starting QB on notice, right? And nobody believes that the franchise is dumb enough to do something like that.

Could you imagine a scenario (not involving injury) where we go from Foles and DeSean Jackson, to a rookie and Jeremy Maclin? Me neither.

So enough with the “We have an interest in anybody that’s draft-eligible this year” kind of talk. Only idiots buy that sort of talk and there is no reason to play to the idiots. Let’s hear about guys we may actually get at positions we actually need.

THE EAGLES SCHEDULE IS A SET-UP!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/28
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

Cheer: Philadelphia-Eagles-Logo

THE Eagles regular season record will be 11-5. Or 7-9. Or 9-7. Before we get into predicting records let’s get a look at the schedule here. It’s been out for days now and you’ve no doubt read all the predictions. But what about reading the schedule itself?

First, let’s look at what it isn’t:

There are no home-stands or road-trips of more than 2 weeks. So it should prevent players from getting too stale.

 

Now let’s just look at the schedule itself for what it is:

Early in the season we get 3 “punch you in the mouth” games (Redskins, 49ers, Rams) in a row, followed by a divisional home game against the Giants.

This looks like 4 straight battles followed by an early Bye Week. Normally I don’t like the Bye this early, but this year we may need it right where it is. (Thank you schedule makers.)

November has 5 games crammed into it, with it alternating home/away for all 5 weeks. It favors the road 3 to 2, but that’s nothing worth complaining about.

There is only one short week all season long (Nov 23 – Nov 27). (So far so good?)

The fatigue factor could be of some concern in the second half of the season, since the Eagles traditionally tend to play a lot of 1pm EST games. This year a number of those games don’t start in that time period. Not a big deal for most Head Coaches, but Chip Kelly likes his practices to mirror game times. Either he has to adjust his approach, or he seriously risks throwing off his own player’s circadian rhythms. (This could be the biggest hurdle of the season by the way.)

The last 5 weeks are a road straight through Hell. The emotional toll of those weeks all coming rapid fire could mentally exhaust any team. Closing out on the road for the last 2 weeks after a Cowboy/Seattle/Cowboy sandwich, has to be someone’s idea of sick joke. By then, if the Redskins game has any playoff implications whatsoever, that could end up as one of the most brutal games these two teams have ever played.

 

All told, I don’t like how this schedule is set up. It’s easy on the eye if you just look at the “who”, but a closer inspection of the “when” makes it look like that thing where someone gets on all fours behind you, to make it easier for another person to push you over.

Jerk the players all around the clock, then put them through a 5 week mental meat grinder vs the division and the Super Bowl Champion, all as a prelude to the playoffs IF we make it? Man, I was born in Philly, I know a set-up when I see one.

SO WHO’S THE 2014 BEAST OF THE EAST?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/24
Posted in: Conversations. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

article regular-nfc east

YOU’VE read the reviews. Nothing left to do but hand out the hardware.

 

Strongest Offense:

Dallas has a green light at every position on offense

Weakest Offense:

New York will probably turn over half its O-Line.

 

Strongest Defense:

Philadelphia. Washington is more dominant up front, but Philly has better balance throughout.

Weakest Defense:

Dallas has a red light at every position on the defense.

 

Strongest Special Teams:

Dallas

Weakest Special Teams:

Washington

 

Dallas should be an offensive monster this year, but not being able to stop anybody means they’d have to win shootouts every week. I won’t say they can’t, but it’s uphill all 17 weeks that way. That makes it unlikely.

New York lacks the toughness to run the ball, the personnel to run the ball, and now may lack an Offensive Coordinator who’s committed to running the ball. On top of that they likely will suck on defense. All signs point to an early demise for Big Blue.

Washington is the wildcard. If they can get their O-Line on the same page early, they WILL be a nightmare. There is however no back-end to their defense. It’s an Achilles Heel that could disappear during the Draft but as of today it’s something to keep in mind.

Philadelphia gave away the advantage in the divisional arms race, but still has enough weapons to hurt opponents. Defensively 10 of 11 players return to the scheme they played well enough to win 10 games last year.

 

Bottom Line:

All bias aside, I have to go with the Philadelphia to win the East in 2014. It’s the only team in the division without a gaping hole on Offense or Defense, and/or isn’t going through a coaching shake-up, and/or isn’t dependent on any big “if” to improve a .500 or below record into something substantial. While the QB position is a (-) not a (+), that is solely due to the change of offensive focus, and the fact that Nick Foles will not be able to study and get a jump on it prior to OTA’s.

Word of Caution: If Washington can get their act together early on, they could carjack the Eagles for the NFC East.

 

Rookies don’t usually shake up this division, so there’s a pretty good chance that what you see here will be how it shakes out for the year.

That said, this just my take on it. If you think I missed something, or that you know something I don’t, by all means let’s see it. 

NICK FOLES WEIGHS IN.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/21
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.). Tagged: , . 6 Comments

Cheer: Philadelphia-Eagles-Logo

LeSEAN McCoy declined last week to throw dirt on DeSean Jackson‘s name and say he was a bad teammate or a distraction. 

Now Nick Foles has added himself to that list. His exact words?

“I know he’s gonna do well. He’s a great player. He’s been tremendous for me. But at the same time we have to keep moving forward as an organization. I do wish DeSean well. I had a blast playing with him.”

Foles was asked about Jackson being a distraction and a bad teammate.

“He was a great teammate to me,” Foles said. “We had a great relationship on and off the field. Everybody has other things going on, but to me personally, I really enjoyed playing with him. I’m excited that he landed on his feet. He’s a heck of a player.”

Could someone PLEASE produce at least ONE player who will substantiate the allegations reported by the media of Jackson being a locker room problem. So far it’s looking more and more like the media has either been thrown under the bus by the Eagles organization, or like the media itself has conspired to smear Jackson’s name.

While the Eagles may have gone mum about the matter, the fact is the media has enthusiastically reported these things, that had to originate somewhere. This is shaping up to be a matter of media credibility vs. protecting the source(s) of leaked but so far unreliable information.

So far the only one coming up smelling like a rose is DeSean Jackson. Add to that how the media is reporting on how the team’s big guns are less than thrilled with this move and it looks more and more like the media is gearing up for some serious retribution.

WHY YOU’LL RARELY SEE HYPE FROM ME

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/19
Posted in: Rants. Leave a comment

clony

EVERY so often I get fellow fans asking me why I don’t write “more enthusiastic” articles or why I don’t “hype my team more.” The reason is two-fold.

First, hype has no substance. Social media is full of people saying “Go team go!” We have plenty of that; but for the fans who want to have an actual discussion, there has to be an actual subject. So instead of “Go team go!” I break things down so that those fans can talk about what’s on their minds.

Second, where is the honesty in acting like our team is the greatest, while our trophy shelf collects dust? Instead of rooting for what I know to be dysfunction, it makes more sense to root for something broken to be fixed first.

Put bluntly: I don’t fake the funk. I’m the guy you see if you want to “real talk” about your team.

Speaking of real talk, next week I’ll review an NFC East team each day, and reveal the front-runner for division champion on Day 5. It’ll be on here on Sunday, but those who only find me Facebook, Google+, and other social media may not see it until Tuesday.

WHEN IT HAPPENS, DON’T FORGET TO LAUGH.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/18
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.). Tagged: , . Leave a comment
Image courtesy of funnyjunk.com

Image courtesy of funnyjunk.com

BACK in March I reported that the Eagles would face major salary cap woes in 2015. My assessment was echoed two days later by CSN columnist Rueben Frank. It was a simple process of first looking at the 2015 salary structures for the Eagles roster, then adding up everything everyone was making, and finally subtracting that number from the projected 2015 salary cap. 

Put bluntly, this was extremely basic stuff. The Bottom Line is that there is going to be some major belt tightening coming up.

So today I come across an article by Jimmy Kempski, talking about the Eagles rolling over $20M from this year’s cap into next years cap. This is all fine and dandy and sounds like it’ll be a huge help toward next years problem. Except for two things.

1) NFL teams are REQUIRED to spend a minimum of 89% of the salary cap. PLAIN ENGLISH: This year the cap is set at $133M. The Eagles must spend at least $118.37M. That leaves a rollover maximum of $14.63M, not $20M.

2) This years rookie class must still be signed. If this team takes say…a WR, his salary will top out at more than the salary of a G would. PLAIN ENGLISH: This year the Eagles will be picking more expensive positions (OLB, WR, S) than they did last year (OT, TE, NT).

The Eagles have about $6M in space left between their current 20 and the maximum of 14 that they’d be allowed under the CBA. And that’s if they don’t run across a group of rookies looking to make larger bank than last years class, which topped out at about $6M.

We have lot to brace for in 2015. Better to take off the rose tinted glasses now and be ready, than to lie to yourself and be shocked by what comes later.

And make no mistake: It IS coming.

 

 

WHAT MAKES A REAL FAN?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/17
Posted in: Rants. Leave a comment

article regular-fans

NOT a day goes by that I don’t see some pinhead saying that someone else ‘isn’t a real Eagles fan” or “must not be/can’t be, a real Eagles fan”. They talk as if they were granted some special power by the Eagles to set the standard for what a real Eagles fan is or isn’t.

As the man who created this website to celebrate Eagles fans, that ruffles my feathers to no end. I’d rather listen to a Cowboys fan drone on and on about their last Super Bowl, than to ride with an Eagles fan who turned on his fellows.

Because at least the Cowboys fan isn’t a traitor to their fellow fans.

Trust me, if these traitors showed up at the Linc they’d need a ticket to get in, just like that guy in a Redskins jersey. If they showed up with an open bottle of liquor, they’d be told to discard it prior to entry just like any guy in a Giants jersey. In fact, if they don’t buy a ticket and a woman in a Tony Romo jersey does, guess which one gets in and which one doesn’t.

So all their superfan bullshit nets them what? Nothing. It’s just an e-thug trying to make you feel bad about not being an asshole like them. 

Usually the jerk takes a cheapshot by posting some inane crap in a language we’ll call “Functional Illiterate”, where every other word is either badly misspelled or substituted for, using “Netspeak” which is basically just cyber-Ebonics.

These  morons are usually the same people with a TON of bathroom selfies, proudly displayed as profile pictures. Imitation grown men practicing how to “look hard” in the bathroom mirrors of the Old Country Buffet that they work in. (Look: One or two bathroom selfies isn’t a big deal; but when you’re taking off your shirt at work to take pictures of your chest tattoos, someone needs to throw you an intervention.)

Long story short, here’s what it takes for you to be a REAL fan. You have to think you are. Only YOU set the standard for you. No one else has that right unless you give it to them; and by and large the people who want to take it, are the LAST people you want to give your power to.

Don’t let an asshole tell you how to love what you love. Most times assholes don’t know a thing about real love anyway. Do your real fan however YOU see fit. 

This is The BEAST, with love for ALL my fellow fans, no doubt!

CLARITY ON DESEAN’S RELEASE.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/16
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , , , . 7 Comments

FP: red-pill-blue-pill

LET’S be clear on something: I do not want to discuss DeSean Jackson‘s merits or faults on or off the field. The only reason I’m bring up his name is because he is on the other end of this story.

What I do want to discuss is his release from the Eagles.  Back on March 26th I wrote an article that gave the reason he’d be leaving. That reason was money.

In a nutshell, the Eagles wouldn’t have been able to afford him in 2015. Replacing him with a FA in 2015 wouldn’t be cost-effective, and next year’s Draft won’t be as deep at WR. This years Draft allows for a team to get what would normally be  mid-2nd round talent, deep in the 3rd or early in the 4th round. That makes making this move now easier to do.

So why not just say it’s over money? Because that reflects poorly on GM Howie Roseman. This franchise let go of fiscal wizard Joe Banner in favor of Roseman. How would it look if they had to get rid of a key player with no replacement available, and say it was all at the feet of Jeff Lurie for backing the wrong guy? As it stands the Eagles are already looking at a salary cap crunch in 2015 that will have longtime fan favorites like Trent Cole packing his bags.

So why all the (alleged) leaks about Jackson? Because it makes his exit seem like it’s his fault. (FYI: If he were actually guilty of any wrongdoing he’d be awaiting a trial, not raking in more guaranteed money.) From gang activity to repeatedly cussing out his coach, nothing the man has been accused of has a source willing to back it. LeSean McCoy said he’d never seen or heard of the latter.

However it does have people looking left (fake leak), when the trick is on the right (millions freed up in cap space).

It’s been weeks of chasing smoke for anybody interested in the “Why?”, and that’s a shame, because the truth is and has been, right in front of them all along.

MAYBE A FELLOW FAN CAN TELL ME.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/04/14
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

Lost and Confused Signpost

BRANDON Graham has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff. Okay. That happens.

DeSean Jackson fell out of favor. Jason Avant fell out of favor. These things happen

But could someone please explain to me why Jeff Meahl, and Casey Matthews are still here. Or why Will Murphy, Brandon Bair, or Josh Kaddu were added to the roster.

Murphy is a WR who’s ENTIRE college career consists of 24 catches for 240 yards, and a touchdown. IN 30 GAMES!

Bair is a DE who’s ENTIRE college career consists of 5 sacks. In 2 years pro, he’s been on 2 teams and has yet to play a down.

Kaddu is a LB who’s 108 tackles in 40 collegiate games is the definition of the word ‘underwhelming’. In 2 years as an NFL pro he’s played in 5 games and has yet to record a statistic of any kind.

Did I mention that all 5 of these guys played at Oregon? 

Did I mention that so far the most successful pro out of all of these has so far been Matthews? Soak that in for a second.

Now we’re trying to trade for ANOTHER Oregon alum, who’s so far been underwhelming as a pro, and now has had an injury (torn shoulder labrum), that will be easy to re-injure/re-aggravate in this particular sport. 

I understand wanting to have a comfort zone, but this is getting out of hand.