OUR BIGGEST FREE AGENT CONCERN

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

 

vince lombardi.jpg

WE are not going to be able to bring everybody back from last season’s Championship run. However, if we’re going to try to make another run at the Lombardi trophy, there are a few areas we need to sort out. The most important of them, is WLB Nigel Bradham.

Regardless of who you voted for, or how you like your steak cooked, all Eagles fans can agree that Bradham was a beast for us at Weakside Linebacker last season. He did a great job against the run, helped get heat on opposing QB’s, and handled underneath coverage well enough. He was our best LB in 2017 and we have zero reliable depth behind him.

While Bradham is a “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none” type of OLB, a talent scarcity at his position in Free Agency this offseason, will give him leverage at the bargaining table. That’s certain to inflate his price tag.

Still, if we don’t re-sign him, then we’re either left trying to get lucky with a rookie, or trying to hit the ground running with Free Agent options (like Gerald Hodges, or Keenan Robinson). Either way we’d be missing out on a guy who already has excelled in our system. To say nothing of possibly losing him to a division rival.

Some of you may think that WLB as a position is the priority, not Bradham. To that I say, bullshit. As an option, Bradham is (for us), light-years ahead of the next best OLB in Free Agency. Not just that, but LB is a position we already needed to add to. We can’t afford a loss of talent at that position.

NO SUH. YES SUH.

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/12
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

 

Philip+Rivers+Ndamukong+Suh+Miami+Dolphins+DGAZmtY1I8bl

WHILE DT Ndamukong Suh is no longer the player he was in Detroit, he’s by no means used up. He still has the ability to beat blockers one-on-one. He still has the ability to collapse a pocket with solid technique and brute strength. He can hold the point of attack vs the run, and make tackles on grown men with one arm.

You don’t hear him talked about like he used to be, but the guy can still play this game at a higher level than most DT’s. For that reason, among my nightly prayers, is the phrase “Please don’t let Suh become a Cowboy. Or a giant. Or a Redskin.”

I don’t want him paired as a “war daddy “with DE Demarcus Lawrence in Dallas. I don’t want him snacking with DT Damon Harrison in New York. I don’t want him in the same half-empty stadium as DE Johnathan Allen and OLB Ryan Kerrigan in Washington.

Where I would like to see him, is right between DT Fletcher Cox and DE Derek Barnett. Or behind DT Timmy Jernigan, in a rotation. (Imagine that second line: DE Chris Long, DT Suh, DT Destiny Vaeao, DE Michael Bennett.) YIKES! Many starting defensive lines don’t look that good!

It’s unlikely that Suh will be an Eagle. However, what I can hope for, is that we don’t have to see him twice a year.

suh

THE 12: #12 PLAY SPECIAL TEAMERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/12
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE122018#12

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.

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LINEBACKER Kamu Grugier-Hill. LB/S Nate Gerry. S Chris Maragos. LB Najee Goode. LB Bryan Braman. LS Rick Lovato.

That is a list of six Eagles who are almost exclusively Special Teams players. That is a list of six players whom we can’t really rely on, during regular downs of football.

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Yes Heath, SIX. That’s too many such players to have.

All of those are defensive players by the way. Offensive players who play Special Teams like RB Kenjon Barner, RB Wendell Smallwood, RB Corey Clement, WR Mack Hollins, TE Trey Burton, are or were (looking at you Smallwood!), regular contributors during regular downs.

If we can get offensive production from Special Teamers, then why can’t we get defensive production too? There are 4 LB’s on that list! Under no circumstance should SS Malcolm Jenkins ever have had to log a single down at LB. Yet, after MLB Jordan Hicks was lost during the 2017 season, that’s exactly what happened. FOR SHAME!!

for shame

Instead of a handful of “Special Teams Only” players, we need to replace them with some DEFENSIVE players who will also play Special Teams. That’s unless some of the STO players we already have on our roster, prove that they can play actual football.

That however, won’t happen if they don’t get the opportunities to show it.

THE 12: #11 FEAR OUR HOLDER

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/11
Posted in: Coaching, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Roster, Special Teams, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

THE122018#11

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.

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WHAT if I told you we could make our Holder a player that opposing coaching staffs were concerned over, and even practiced drills for?

In 2017 Punter Donnie Jones was the Holder for K Jake Elliott, but he just retired. (Right after I wrote the original version of this installment.) That leaves Cameron Johnston as our P, and de facto Holder. Nobody ever gives much thought to the Holder. Generally if he gets the ball down quickly, and gets the laces right, that’s about all most fans want from him.

However, we can get more out of that position.

The smartest and most aggressive move, would be going with a back-up QB as the Holder. After running just one early season field goal fake, teams would stop lining up for a block, and focus on getting men back to cover for a fake. Then Elliott could operate without having to rush his kicks. That in itself could really help with his accuracy.

Jake Elliott 9.24.2017.JPG

To get the best out of Elliott, the smart move would be to name a Holder now, and ink him to a contract as long as Elliott’s. If that’s done soon, they could get some work in even before OTA’s.

Any back-up QB could handle that duty, so Nick Foles or Nate Sudfeld would be fine. However, if you really want to see opposing coaches shit their pants whenever we line up to kick, then using WR Greg Ward is the way to go.

Ward is a former college QB whom the Eagles converted to WR, so that right there tells you he has better speed than the average QB. His experience as a passer under pressure would make throwing against a block attempt almost a breeze. All that while giving us that catcher/runner/passer/Special Teamer versatility that we’ve enjoyed from TE Trey Burton since 2014.

This move is easy, it’s cheap, it’s dangerous, and not many teams can copy our approach to it. It has the ability to make our Kicker better, and scare opposing coaches out of even wanting to “ice” Jake Elliott, for fear of giving Head Coach Doug Pederson a chance to hurt them worse.

We need to do this.

THE 12: #10 ROTATE THE LINEBACKERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/10
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, Rants, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

THE122018#10

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.

************

WHEN we lost MLB Jordan Hicks last year, it was just “Next man up“, right?

No. Not really.

The next few men (as it turned out), sort of sucked. Hick’s injury exposed a severe, almost crippling, lack of development in our reserve/young LB’s. That said, Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz, did manage to compensate for it, but odds are good that we can’t get away with that again.

Instead of tempting fate and being reckless with the middle of our Defense, we should rotate our back-up LB’s this year. That way they can get some defensive snaps under their belts. I don’t mean rotate them as a package, like we do with the Defensive Line. I mean just drop one guy in at a time, so he can learn the reads, calls and signals.

Nate Gerry and Kamu Grugier-Hill

Linebacker/Safety tweeners Nate Gerry (47) and Kamu Grugier-Hill (54), need to see some defensive snaps in 2018.

This way we develop guys, and can be confident when they’re needed, instead of what happened with Joe Walker,  Najee Goode and Dannell Ellerbee. The guy who knew the calls (Walker) couldn’t play. The guy who could play (Ellerbee), didn’t know the calls. And the guy who shouldn’t play regular downs (Goode), got beat for Minnesota’s only score, due to a miscommunication during the first drive of the NFC Championship game.

doors

In 2017 at back-up MLB, there was a tiger behind every door.

We need to make a point of developing young LB’s this year. That way, when we need one to step up, we’ll run the risk of actually having one (or more), that we can feel confident about. (That way SS Malcolm Jenkins won’t ever end up having to play LB again. All 204 pounds of him.)

THE 12: #9 GET ALSHON 1-ON-1

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/09
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

THE122018#9

THIS was already on the list BEFORE I learned that WR Alshon Jeffery had played 19 games, caught 69 balls, for 1,008 yards, and 12 tuds, all with a rotator cuff torn since Training Camp. Now, after learning that, this is not only on the list, but it’s probably the most important part of it.

We need to find a way to get Jeffery isolated, and in space against any CB who isn’t 6’3”. Then he can use his height and wingspan to make those 50/50 balls more like 85/15 balls.

Vikings Eagles Football

The best way to get him that space, is to get teams to load the box, (which I covered in #7 of this series). If we can do that, then teams will have to telegraph which poison they’re picking. That will make life easier on the Offense, which will make it easier on the Defense, and therefore improve our chances of a second parade in a row.

I’ll say this now: I expect 80 catches and 13 REGULAR SEASON touchdowns out of Jeffery this season. I drafted him in Fantasy last year and he was a big part of my Championship run. (With Nick Foles as my QB. No joke. Check it out.)

BAD TOUCH FAP FAP 2017fb

THE 12: #8 BLOW UP THE CENTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/08
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

THE122018#8.jpg

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.

************

WHEN we traded for DT Timmy Jernigan to put next to DT Fletcher Cox, it seemed like we were going to have an interior D-line for the ages. It certainly started that way during the regular season as well. However, as the year went on, our interior seemed to run out of gas.

card.timmy.jernigan

Some of the slow-down can be attributed to the mid-season loss of MLB Jordan Hicks. As a result, DC Jim Schwartz had to compensate to cover for it. That meant asking for the DT’s to occupy blockers more, instead of giving them full reign to attack gaps aggressively. That part we can let slide.

What was alarming was how often our DT’s seemed to be locked up with a G, while pass rushing. There seemed like a lot of three-technique being played (directly in front of the G) and not much two-technique (in the gap between the C and G).

No C can block both of our DT’s. It can’t happen. So why didn’t we ever see both DT’s pinch the C, force him backward, and invert the pocket? Not on every down, (since there are ways to exploit that, if you use it too much) but why not a few times? Would have come in handy against the Rams run game. IJS.

We need to add that to our 2018 arsenal. We need to break that weapon out on 3rd downs, and even throw it in on a few 1st downs. Something that hits that fast, would convince opponents that they have limited options against us, and make them less dynamic. It would render them less imaginative and easier to predict.

Let’s blow this shit up.

WHAT MICHAEL BENNETT MEANS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/08
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

(2a.m., coffee bathes the lower halves of my pupils, fingers flying, ‘No Church In the Wild’ on repeat, on repeat, on repeat.)

(Whispering) Run with me.

TRADING away a 5th round pick and WR Marcus Johnson, to get DE Michael Bennett and a 7th round pick, seems like a steal on the surface. A fiery, veteran pass rusher, who’s used to winning? That sounds like a guy any defense would be happy to have in their starting line-up. Clearly we crushed the fuck out of this trade.

Whoa now. Pump the brakes. While there’s no knocking the addition of Bennett, his being added to the roster signals two things.

curry cam

The first thing is that, the Eagles are about to release DE Vinny Curry, in move that’s designed to save the team $5M of the $11M he’s scheduled to be paid in 2018. (Initially I’d put my feelings about that in this article, but it hijacked the article’s tone. So, I decided to relocate those paragraphs. They’re still part of the original draft, they just weren’t added to what you can see here.)

barnett sack

The second thing it signals is, Derek Barnett will now become our starting RDE. No surprise there. That was the plan from the moment he was drafted on the steps to the Art Museum’s East Door last Spring. However, Curry’s contract still had guaranteed money on it, and that didn’t facilitate Curry being a back-up in 2017. So Barnett sat lat year.

That was last year.

It remains to be seen how this will affect our run defense however, since Curry was our best DE against the run in 2017. Curry did an excellent job of setting the edge of the defense last season, and keeping runs from successfully bouncing wide, on his side. It remains to be seen if Barnett can hold it down the same way.

For his part, Bennett is here to be the 2018 version of Chris Long. A veteran player who probably isn’t as good as he used to be over 16 full games, but might be awesome over 16 half games. There can be no doubt that he will put heat on QB’s, and probably make our four man pass rush even more effective than it was in 2017.

bennett v prescott

While Bennett can be moved around pretty much anywhere on the Defensive Line, he’s likely to mainly line up at RDE. I love that. A QB who sees Bennett lined up on his blind-side, is already thinking of quickly dumping the ball. Even before the ball is snapped. That’s already a rushed pass.

Basically Bennett means we can intimidate opposing passers, just because of where we line him up. Not bad Howie Roseman. Not bad at all.

Oh yeah, just because I put this out, doesn’t mean I skipped out on today’s THE 12 article.  You can find that right HERE

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THE 12: #7 RUN THE BALL HARDER

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/07
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

THE122018#7

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.

************

LAST season we ran a lot from the Shotgun, behind blocking schemes that focused more on movement and isolation, than on simply overpowering a man. This isn’t a complaint about that. I mean, it worked, right?

Foles holds the trophy aloft approaching LOVE Park

During the 2017 season, 8 of our 16 opponents were either leading us, or still withing striking distance in the 4th quarter. Physically wearing them out early, would take care of that in 2018. It also sends the message that tackling our hard-charging RB’s is the “easiest part” of stopping our run game. That’s the sort of thing that breaks an opponent’s spirit.

We all know the expression “Why work harder, when you can work smarter?” In most cases, I’m all about that. But not here. In this case there’s a huge pay-off for “giving an opponent chicken” as former Eagle RG Shawn Andrews used to call it. Put bluntly, there is no cute or clever way to rag-doll an opponent. There is also no substitute for it.

A more power-oriented rushing attack, (with the QB under Center more often), suites the current make-up of our roster (RB’s Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement). It also means teams would have to roll out 8 and 9 man fronts, as much to cope with the blockers as the backs.

Three Headed Monster

The Eagles 2017’s Three Headed RB Monster showed the NFL how to share the rock: (l to r) Corey Clement,  LeGarrette Blount, and Jay Ajayi 

That’s kind of the situation that Dallas would have, if they had a single wide receiver worth worrying about. The Eagles on the other hand have a few guys who’ve proven that they can find holes vs Cover One and Cover Two. Even Atlanta’s Cover Three, in the playoffs.

If our receivers can get more than a few looks per game against Cover Zero… It would be a string of massacres. We’d break scoreboards. Every record we set would be written in pencil, because we’d probably break it the following week. Defensive Coordinators wouldn’t sleep for days before they faced us. Head coaches already on the hot seat, would quit so they wouldn’t end up with that beating on their resumes. Opponents would talk about us like facing a firing squad.

That could all be set up, off of the run game.

We gotta run the ball harder this year. We gotta. We won it all last year, so we’re the hunted this year. We’re the team to beat now. We have to act like it.

THE 12: #6 BRING MORE BLITZES

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/06
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Reviews, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

THE122018#6

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.

************

PASS rush is literally that. The idea is to force the QB to rush his process, so that he makes a costly mistake when he passes the ball. Right or wrong, defenses now seem to make hurries the point of their pass rush.

Last year the Eagles led the NFL in hurries. The unofficial number is 271. (I think.) As a result, we were 4th in the NFL with 19 interceptions. Those seem like nice numbers, but there’s tons of room for improvement. Fact is, we left a lot on the table last season. We need better production in 2018.

While I can’t find an official stat anywhere, word around the campfire says that the Eagles blitzed less than most NFL teams in 2017. We were also 15th in sacks, with just 38 through 16 games. Seems like we were more thunder than lighting last year, and teams are bound to notice that.

We got a lot of pressure from rotating in fresh pass rushers last season, but teams are going to be ready to handle that better in 2018. So we need a new wrinkle. That new wrinkle should be that we don’t just show blitzes anymore. Now we bring them.

Better than hurries, are sacks or sack/fumbles. Those result in downs that the defense wins clearly. Either because they either end drives, or make the next down harder than the one before it. (When we make 2nd and 4 become 3rd and 11, it feels great right?)

philly philly

I won’t speak for you, but that parade made me hungry for another one. The cost for that is staying ahead of all the teams that will be coming for us in 2018. We aren’t underdogs now. We’re the hunted. We have a target on our backs.

So we need to strike back with more ferocity than last year. Don’t just hurry a QB. Don’t just hit him. Sack him. Take the ball. Put the other 31 teams on their heels, and keep them there. Stop faking the blitz so much, and just bring that bitch.