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.

TIME TO MAUL SOMEBODY.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/02/28
Posted in: Draft, Front Office (F.O.), Offense. Tagged: . Leave a comment

NOW that LT Jason Peters and C Jason Kelce have re-signed; and since RT Lane Johnson is still on his rookie deal, the job of upgrading the Guards can begin.

While Todd Herremans and Evan Mathis have been solid contributors over the last few years, the facts are; they are both north of 30, and both have contracts that suggest that they would be an excellent source of cap relief.

Mathis:

mathis550pixels

Herremans:

herremans550pixels

(Both images courtesy of EaglesCap.com)

Some fans are banking on the idea of OT Michael Bamiro sliding inside and being a factor there. If it happens, great. I wasn’t high on the guy when he was drafted, and he didn’t show much in the pre-season. Maybe a year off where he could focus on study and conditioning, will see him come back a vastly improved athlete. However since that is rarely ever the case, I won’t hold my breath. I suggest you don’t either.

I actually think that Guard is a position that needs to be targeted in the Draft. I’ve said this for a few years now. If I keep saying it, at some point it has to happen, and no,  Danny Watkins doesn’t count. Show of hands: Who was happy when we drafted a retired, Canadian, firefighter?

Me either. I want a real prospect. Get a mauler for the run game. Get a guy who can move a DT off the line and who causes ILB’s to envision a train bearing down on them. Get a Guard, not a converted Tackle.

ARE YOU O-KKK WITH RILEY COOPER?

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

New York Jets v Philadelphia Eagles

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

Hell, it’s not my money.

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

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

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

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

What The Jason Peters Signing Means

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/02/26
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players. Tagged: . 1 Comment

JASON Peters was signed to a 4 year extension today, which was a very smart move on the Eagles behalf. Not only do we get stability at the LT spot, but he’s locked in at an almost static 10 million a year for next five years.

This means that as the salary cap expands over time, Peters will actually represent less of the cap figure. In a real sense, he gets cheaper the longer we keep him.

Full disclosure; let me say up front, I didn’t see this extension coming this soon. In fact I wasn’t certain it would happen. (Same with many fans speculating a 2015 move for Lane Johnson to LT.)  I thought if it did happen, it would come in October/November. I’m as surprised as anyone that it happened now. That said, this changes…just about nothing.

I put together a chart breaking down where the biggest needs were (using roster information from the Eagles salary cap page), so I can get a better-than-the-average-fan’s handle, on what the Draft will look like once Free Agency is over. Here’s what I have:

Chart 2014 

Under Contracts Expiring, we now only have 1 OT with an expiring deal, but I put this together on the 23rd, so of course that parts outdated now.

Otherwise, if we’re building for the future, all the Peters signing did was make that chart up there more feasible.

WE NEED SOME ALPHA MALES

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/02/24
Posted in: Players. Tagged: . Leave a comment

2012 saw the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl behind some MVP level quarterbacking by the unassuming Joe Flacco. The other side of the ball however boasted Alpha Males like Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Cary Williams and Ed Reed. Players who fear no conflict and back down from no fight. They played physical and determined football. Driven more by their will and attitude than by their 40 times, or bench reps.

Across the field in that same Super Bowl the opponent, San Francisco thundered: “WHO’S GOT IT BETTER THAN US?!!”

You know the answer. They MADE you know the answer.

Months later  Lewis, Reed, and Williams were no longer in Baltimore. The team was a shadow of itself. They didn’t even make the playoffs.

***

At the same time the same San Francisco team that forced their chant into your head, is still burning bright. There is no Baltimore to stop them now. The prize is theirs for the taking. Just two steps away.

The day’s opponent? A Seattle team that thunders: “LOB!” Unlike San Francisco’s chant, it’s not a question, it’s a warning. It means ‘Legion of Boom’. They also chant “Beastmode!” and the ever-chilling: “We all we got! WE ALL WE NEED!!! We all we got! WE ALL WE NEED!!!”

Seattle askes no questions. They declare that their intention is to take.

The game was a physical war that came down to the last play. One team imposed its will on the other, and to the victor (to the Alpha Males) went the spoils.

These teams didn’t sneak up on anybody. They told the world who they were, and what they would do. They started their missions and their opponents fell away like drunken toddlers on a high-wire. These Alpha Males ruled by sheer will and intimidation.

I won’t even go into the horror that was the Super Bowl. Instead I will quote a line from Joe Pesci’s song ‘Wise Guy’:“Freak scenes with your wife, last time I hit it”

Yeah in case you missed it, it was THAT bad.

******

HEY Eagles fans! When was the last time we had THAT team?

Our locker room is filled with nice guys who give plenty of credit and pay loads of compliments to even shitty teams, week in and week out.

Do the Eagles have a single player who you think could beat you in a fist fight?  I’m pretty sure I could beat the roster, given enough time to rest and heal between fights. There are no scary Eagles, or Eagles who you feel can impose their will.

No one fears us, nor have they in almost a quarter of a century.

With a Delta male mindset is it any wonder why year after year, we watch team after team of Alpha Males walk away with what we SAY we so covet?

We need some Alpha Males. We need some players who refuse to take a backseat to equals or look at a lesser player with anything less than piteous derision. We need players who understand that letting scrubs win, makes them lesser for losing. We need players hungry to be the best, AND show it, AND say it.

At this point, opponents fear actual Philadelphians MORE than the team that will be hitting them! I understand that GM Howie Roseman wants players who won’t rock the boat, but at some point we need players who can rock the opponent’s.

We need Alpha Males.

 

THE BIGGEST DRAFT DAY NEED

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/02/22
Posted in: Players. Leave a comment

EVERYONE has their idea of who, or what the Eagles should pick in the Draft this year. We need a Safety. We need a Wide Reciever. We need depth on the O-line. We need a replacement for Trent Cole, who isn’t getting any younger.

This is all true, and hardly a secret. What isn’t necessarily true is that anybody, including the Eagles, knows in what order these things have to be prioritized in.

Free Agency will have a lot to say about this Draft. More than it seems most people realize. If you pick up a guy in FA (of course paying him a ton of money with a lot of it guaranteed), odds are that you want him to start. Any FA you pay a ton of money is also not signing a one or two year deal. This makes them far too expensive to sit. Likely for 2-3 years. At least.

If you draft a guy in the first two rounds you want him starting soon. By soon I mean no later than Day One of the following season. Otherwise you’ve more than likely wasted a pick.

I say this because if the Eagles sign say…a Safety in FA, drafting one high means the pick has to sit behind the FA, (who again is guaranteed at least this year’s large salary). That would stunt our youth movement’s growth. I say youth movement because we still have a young Safety in Earl Wolff.

Once again, understand that I’m only using the Safety position as an example. This could be any position. We may not know all the Eagles FA targets or even if a trade is in the works. So until FA is over with, there can be no real prioritization of what, let alone who, to grab in the Draft.

So I’m just going to hang back and take a look at the Scouting Combine, and see what March 11th  brings us. Don’t expect me to shoot my mouth off about the Draft until April. I’m thinking the biggest thing we need for this Draft may be some patience, so we don’t end up jumping the gun.

WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

Frankly, I don’t need to.

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