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.

NICK FOLES’S NEW WEAPON

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/10
Posted in: Offense, Players. 1 Comment

player-nickfoles550px

MOST of the talk this month has centered on getting a Safety or two (Jairus Byrd and/or T.J. Ward specifically). Then it’s whether to draft [Dee Ford] or [Kyle Van Noy], or some other prospect. And of course, who and who not to re-sign.

Lost in all that is that this year the Eagles are getting Nick Foles one of the nicest gifts he could ever get: A new back-up QB.

The new back-up says to Foles: There is no chance in going back. The spot is yours. The old king is not looking over your shoulder, saying all the right things, but still hoping for his chance again.

Now when Foles looks into the stands and sees #7 jerseys, he’ll know it’s just a shirt, not a show of support for his rival. It’s his team, his crowd, his stadium. He’s only missing one thing.

Foles needs “his own car”.

Foles needs a signature weapon. DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean McCoy all cut their teeth as starters under Donovan McNabb, all of which were inherited by Kevin Kolb, and then Michael Vick, and now Nick Foles. Riley Cooper was also a hand-me-down, albeit only slightly soiled.

Every one of Foles major components was brought in for another system, under another coach. While it’s true that Zach Ertz looks to have a bright future, today he’s #2 on the Depth Chart, behind another McNabb era starter in Brent Celek.

They should go out and get Foles a weapon that makes him light up when he sees the prospect on tape. The sort of player that Foles can and grow old with.

To this point Foles has done a pretty good job working with borrowed tools. If he’s going to be the starter, the Eagles owe it to him that he have an opportunity to play with someone who he feels suits his skills, and instincts.

NO FEAR.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/08
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: . Leave a comment

nofear

EVERYONE you talk to senses that the Eagles are gonna straight beast it out in Free Agency this year. Not necessarily by buying the place up, but spending on a couple of big names.

Most of us are excited by the idea, but there is a tiny contingent of whiners who just won’t quit with: “Buh-buh-buh but what Nnaaaamdi? Nnaaaaaaamdi? We can’t have no more Nnaaaaaamdis!”

You know what? FUCK Nnamdi. What about my empty trophy case? It’s better to fail because you tried, than fail because you were too chicken shit to make a move. If we fall, lets go down swinging.

I want to see a big splash this year. We won the NFC East last year. We had a few breaks along the way, but in the end it was ours. We should make a move that sends the message that it just got harder to beat the champ. We won’t see as many breaks this year, as we saw last year, so we may as well strap up, and dress warm.

The last thing I want is for my team to become afraid to try. We have failed to win a trophy since 1960. Does that mean we should stop trying? Of course not. We’ve failed for five years to replace Brian Dawkins. Does that mean we should stop trying? Of course not.

Philadelphia is not a city of cowards, and we shouldn’t ask our teams to represent us as such, just to avoid potentially wearing a little egg from time to time.

IF WE TRADE DeSEAN…

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/07
Posted in: Offense, Players. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

dionjordan-Image courtesyofPhillymag

SINCE this trade could go down at any moment, I wanted to be on record with this before it all goes down.

If we trade DeSean Jackson, I think that would make Riley Cooper our #1, go-to guy.

You’re laughing. Maybe shaking your head. Perhaps frowning.

That’s fine, because at first I did too. Then I thought about it. No. I mean really thought about it. From the Eagles perspective.

Cooper is pulling in five million a year for the next four. The Eagles have made a fair sized investment there.

Jeremy Maclin has a one year deal, which fans hope will yield a longer one here. Security wasn’t a concern since Maclin rejected the five year offer from the Birds, opting for the one year deal instead. He’s banking on having a big year, to angle for more money per year, in 2015.

What are the odds that the Eagles staff will draw up game plans to pad Maclin’s stats, and drive up his 2015 asking price? Remember what I predicted as a “good” season for Maclin? Write that down somewhere. And I won’t even bring up the dreaded “I” word. But if it doesn’t go the way Maclin wants, he could be unemployed, damaged goods in 2015, and wishing he’d taken the five year offer.

Some will insist that we’ll get a rookie WR, but right now we haven’t drafted him, signed him, taught him, started him, or watched him have any success. So right now in 2014, Cooper looks like the top of the food chain as far as our WR depth goes.

If we truly become the run-based Offense that Chip Kelly says his system really favors, then we could be okay. But if our defense doesn’t improve much and we need to win shootouts to win games, I don’t see us as having the firepower.

In a real way, in order to make a DeSean Jackson trade work, our Defense has to improve.

And for those who insist the Eagles wouldn’t trade Jackson: Donovan McNabb. To the Redskins.

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?

WHO ARE THESE EAGLES?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/05
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Leave a comment
Image courtesy of John Geliebter, USA TODAY Sports
Image courtesy of John Geliebter, USA TODAY Sports

WHAT does it say about your culture when a guy like Jason Avant gets cut, and a guy like Riley Cooper gets a 5 year, 25 million dollar deal for offending over 40% of the city’s population? Yeah. Over 40%:

I know. Folks are going to say “But we had to cut him”, “Avant is too slow”, “He didn’t really fit in with the plans” and things of that nature. Believe me, I get that. It’s a sport.

In sports you need better athletes than your competition. Not nice guys. Not guys who are faithful to their wives. Not God-fearing guys. Not guys who mentor. Just guys who are better athletes. That part we understand. The rest is extra, right?

Except for one thing. Howie Roseman, back during a January interview, said this:

“You want to make sure that you’re bringing guys in that are gonna fit into your culture. Right now we have a good culture, and that’s a fun part of it. You want to make sure that you continue that and you don’t bring anybody who’s gonna rock the boat.”

You know that saying about actions speaking louder?

Remember how when we lost a certain high character FS, our Secondary went to pieces?

Remember last year when the Cooper incident hit, who stepped up to squash the beef, and even broke up a fight between Cary Williams and Cooper? Wasn’t Nick Foles. It was Michael Vick. (Even prior to being named the Starter.)

Remember the veteran WR who didn’t squawk (and prompt a private meeting) when asked to play out of position last year? It was the same guy mentoring the young WR’s. That would be Avant.

2014 will find us without either player. So who are the leaders? Who in the locker room now sets the tone? Who will step up?

Last year Cary Williams didn’t shy away from a camera, and was ALWAYS making himself heard. Maybe he’ll step up. Who else? DeMeco Ryans is a voice in the huddle, but how about off the field?

There is a leadership vacuum on our team. Worse than that, there is a question mark as to who we even are as a team.

Put bluntly, we’re lost. We need to find Magnetic North, and we need to find it fast. Someone  −and I mean a player−  needs to set a direction, and be the new voice of reason, maturity, and credibility. And with OTA’s coming, that needs to happen fast.

TRENT COLE’S REPLACEMENT: UPDATED 3.3.14

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/03
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

 blog.triblive.comWorilds

TRENT Cole stays an Eagle for 2014, but when his contract balloons to 11 million in 2015, I’m thinking he gets cut. With 8 sacks last year, and 3 the year before, the handwriting is on the wall.

To be ready, I think we should go after Jason Worilds this year to have Cole’s replacement here already for 2015. It would give Worilds time to learn the system and be eased in, instead of being rushed in, crashing and burning, and quickly being seen as a FA bust. Once you’re wearing that tag it’s a pretty hard one to lose.

For those who are asking “Why Worilds?” it’s simple.

All the top OLB prospects in the Draft look to be gone by the time the Eagles draft 22nd. We can wait for a guy like [Jeremiah Attaochu] in the 2nd or 3rd, but by then with as valuable as pass rushers are, we aren’t even guaranteed that he’d be there by the time we were up again.

Now if we go the Free Agency route, we can just straight up buy the guy. Easy peasy. Better than that, we can do it knowing that his 2015 price tag will still be dramatically cheaper than the 11 million Coles would be (or would have been), due in 2015.

Everything else at OLB in FA this year looks like this. If you didn’t click that link, trust me it was bad. For those of you who did click it, I’m sorry. I was the only way to show you. Worilds isn’t the best option there, Worilds is THE option there. It’s either him or save your money.

While the Draft includes an element of chance, FA is something you can control. It’s just a matter of will you or won’t you make that commitment. This one is easy. Let’s not blow it.

UPDATE:

Worild’s signed a 1-year $9.7 million tender with the Steelers. Unless another pass rusher becomes a cap casualty (yeah right), it looks like the draft (or a trade) is the way we’re going.

Shit.

DESEAN JACKSON NO LONGER AN EAGLE?

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/02
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: . 6 Comments

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CONSIDER how much cap space is wrapped up in WR’s DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin (26 million). Consider Jackson’s dissatisfaction with an already gaudy contract. Consider now having to deal with any fallout from Jackson’s “Jaccpot” endeavors.

All things considered, it seems there are grumblings about trading DeSean Jackson.

First: Trading DJax wasn’t my idea. If you want my sources I will rat them out for you. Just ask.

Second: This wasn’t my idea, but it might not be completely crazy. Or is it? I don’t know. The idea is still so new, that I’m still getting used to it. I’m soaking it up

If we do go through with it, I just don’t want to get hosed on the deal. I don’t want a situation where we trade DJax to say…I don’t know, MIAMI. For Dion Jordan. Then we end up with a project, while the Fish end up with DJax on one side and Mike Wallace on the other.

That would be a bullshit ass trade.

If we were to trade Jackson, I’d want to trade him out of the conference. I’d send him to the AFC. Perhaps to the Chiefs for James Houston or Dontari Poe and a 4th rounder. Or maybe to Buffalo for Jairus Byrd and a pick. Like I said, just don’t get hosed.

It sounds weird to say, but this is something we could manage and maybe even profit from in the long run.

Where do you stand on this? Leave a comment. Let’s hear it.

JEREMY MACLIN’S KNEE

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/03/01
Posted in: Offense, Players. Tagged: . 3 Comments

Washington Redskins v Philadelphia Eagles

EXPECTATIONS are high for Jeremy Maclin’s production this year, despite the fact that it usually takes about a season to get full explosiveness back after an ACL tear. Not sure what some fans mean when they say they expect him to put up big numbers, since most shy away from a prediction when pressed. So I’ll be the brave one.

First let me say: I doubt his knee will be an issue in 2014, so my take is that his starts will be between 13 to 16 games.

I’ll also go out on a limb and tell you what sort of stats I look to see out him in 2014:

51 catches, 690 yards, 5 TD’s. While almost every one of those numbers is a career low, I still think it would be a good year for him.

I’m not expecting lower numbers because of his knee. I’m expecting that last year’s emergence of Riley Cooper will cut into Maclin’s opportunities. While my guess is that Maclin, Cooper and DeSean Jackson will start out of a 3-WR formation, there is after all only one football per play. There are also other players who excel at catching the ball to consider: LeSean McCoy, Brent Celek, and Zach Ertz to name three.

Last year 360 completions was about par for the course, (we had 310) for NFL teams. Erring on the high side of completions, the 6 players I mentioned would see 60 receptions each. And that’s if ONLY those 6 catch passes all year long. (FYI: Last year 12 different players caught passes.)

Even with a higher number of projected completions, odds are that Maclin won’t grab 60 balls. Not with so much competition around him. But this would likely be a good thing.