Clayton Thorson

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK PS2 – JAGUARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/08/16
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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THE night belonged to fourth string, rookie QB Clayton Thorson (16/26 – 61.5% – 175 – 1 – 1). That wasn’t the plan, but after third string, journeyman QB Cody Kessler (1 /4 – 25.0 – 11 – 0 – 0) was knocked from the game, Thorson was all we had left. That’s because back-up QB Nate Sudfeld was out with the broken left wrist he suffered last week, and Starting QB Carson Wentz is still not being allowed to wipe his own ass, for fear of injury. (I wasn’t big on the Colin Kaepernick idea, but now I uh… mmm, uhhh… Maybe?)

DE’s Daeshon Hall (2 – 2 – 0 – 0) forced a fumble on one of his two sacks and practically sewed up the #4 DE spot. If we keep 5 of those, then DE Shareef Miller (3 – 1 – 0 – 0) has to have a wide lead on DE Josh Sweat (bupkiss – nope – zero – BONK!). DT/DE Aziz Shittu (1 – 1 – 0 – 0) got his hand on two passes, and did what he’s always done here since 2016: Flash in the preseason before getting caught in a numbers game.

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HEY! Here’s a thought. It’s probably good that QB Nick Foles didn’t play last night. His 6th round, rookie, back-up, QB Gardner Minshew (19/29 – 65.5% – 202 – 0 – 0) left the game with a rating of 85.7. Last week Minshew was (7/14 – 50.0 – 46 – 0 – 0) with a rating of 57.4. We’d have made Foles look like goddamned Joe Montana out there.

For Thorson’s part, I already saw some growth in him. In my Ideal 53 article, I called him a poor man’s Wentz. In my 2019 Draft Report, I said he reminded me of Carson. I said he didn’t seem to have Carson’s willingness to stick the ball into tight spaces, I made the allowance for that to be a lack of trust in his college weapons. WELP! I nailed the hell out of that one.

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EAGLES 24 – Jaguars 10

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

So, of the Four Things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

1) Starters need to play a quarter: Players who wanted to play, played. S Malcolm Jenkins (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) and DE Brandon Graham (no stats, great pressure though), are two examples of that. Players who didn’t want to play, sat. If I start talking about that, this section will become an article. Let’s put a pin in that. (NOT DONE)

2) Go deep to Djax: Can’t if he doesn’t play! (NOT DONE)

3) Look good running the ball: Impossible to gauge with so many different players touching the ball, who won’t be touching it much when the games count. (NOT DONE)

4) Generate some pass rush up the gut: The line did a much better job of collapsing the pocket and clogging up the lanes, which allowed us to record 4 sacks on the night. (DONE)

Yet again we end with a score of 1 out of 4, which brings our preseason tally to 2 of 8. Next week the Baltimore Ravens run into the Linc, and we get to watch their QB move his lips as he tries to read our Defense. Should be fun!

On The Whole:

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What is there to say? Three weeks from now, most of the sacrificial lambs who played that game, will be working in a call center, or learning how to operate a forklift. That’s not knocking honest, decent work. (I’ve done both of those myself.) However, we came out of that game with no additional information about the players who will impact the season. Particularly those new to the team.

It was a sloppy, entertaining exhibition, but on the whole it left me as a fan, more worried about this team, than I’ve been since Chip Kelly went 10 – 6 in his first year. That 10 – 6 record was built on an unsustainable model. While many fans were seduced by the immediate gratification of a playoff berth, I saw the cracks in the dam. I warned you about the flood. Well, now I see cracks again.

In a year where the Dallas Cowboys are undermining themselves and trying to hand us the NFC East, we seem intent on undermining ourselves and making sure they keep it.

STABILITY AT QUARTERBACK

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/18
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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CARSON Wentz has missed 8 of a possible 48 regular season games, and all 5 of the Eagles postseason games in the last two years. Still with the amount of talk about him being injured, you’d think he’d missed whole seasons, and didn’t contribute heavily to BOTH of the Eagles playoff runs.

The perception is that he’s always hurt, but let’s step back and look at the facts:

1) In 2017 he suffered a common football injury, when he tore up his knee whilst diving for a touchdown in a game where we were down 24 – 28. The touchdown was called back, but he got up on that torn up knee and threw a touchdown on the subsequent play. The victory would go a long way towards our playoff seeding, helping us secure our fourth championship via our first Super Bowl win

2) The first two games he missed in 2018 were the team holding him out, until they got medical clearance to allow him to play. This was done despite Carson’s insistence that he could practice and play.

3) The last three games he missed in 2018 were due to the team shutting him down when damage was found to his vertebrae. This was also despite Carson’s insistence that he could play.

4) Only three of Wentz’s missed regular season games were directly the result of his injury. Five of his misses were the Eagles organization being cautious with their Franchise QB, and shutting him down over his public objections. That’s not fragility. That’s a smart organization thinking of the big picture.

Offense

Yes, Wentz has missed 8 starts in two years, 13 counting playoffs. Those are facts, and indisputable as such. However, facts without context leads to poor perception, which leads to poor understanding. Garnering facts without understanding them, is in many ways worse than not having the facts at all, as it leads people to assume that they get what’s happening, when nothing could be further.

Now with a mega-deal in place. Wentz will be expected/allowed to play through things the team used to shut him down over. That’s not to say he’ll never miss time. He has a history of injuries and the body doesn’t age in reverse. What it means is, it will likely take a catastrophe to get him off the field, going forward. Expect to see him out there.

That said, this article is called STABILITY AT QUARTERBACK. That means the whole position not just at Starter. So let’s look a little deeper in the bag and see what we have in here.

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Many fans are wishing QB Nick Foles was still an Eagle and they might get that wish granted. In a roundabout way. QB Nate Sudfeld has a similar build, a sneaky sort of athleticism, and also plays within himself, while trusting the system he plays in. Nothing about him screams Pro Bowler, but he’s been nothing but solid when asked to step in.

He hasn’t been as bold as Foles, but then again he hasn’t had the benefit of ever being a team’s starter. He’s going into his third season with the same system and core players. He’s on a 1-year deal, but with the plethora of young QB’s all over the league, even if he left after this season, he’s walking into another back-up job. With a brand new system to learn. So expect him to be here in 2020.2019 Clayton Thorson .jpg

Rookie QB Clayton Thorson reminds me a lot of Carson, back when he came out of college. Word has it that Clayton didn’t look great in mini-camp, so he’ll have a steep hill to climb to challenge for that #2 spot in Training Camp. Which is almost certainly for the best. A year wearing a baseball cap, carrying a clipboard, and asking Nate questions is probably the best thing for him.

It’s hard to tell if QB Cody Kessler is just a camp body, or the Eagles hedging to have depth already on the roster, just in case of injury during Training Camp. Word is, he’s looked good in mini-camp, but what else would you expect from a 4 year vet, with starts on his resume?

So lets re-cap. Carson doesn’t miss with injuries that often, Nate is experienced within the system, with the players, and even with the weather we get late in the year. Cody is the second most experienced QB, and Clayton is all up-side. Of all of them, Carson and Cody are the oldest at 26. It would take very little to sign a couple of these guys to long-term deals. So yeah. The Eagles are stocked and stable at QB.

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REPLACING CARSON WENTZ

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/29
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Crazy Talk, Draft, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

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THE Eagles may already be auditioning others for QB Carson Wentz‘s job.  

Nine days ago, former Eagles QB Donovan McNabb said on a CBS sports radios show, that if current Wentz cannot stay healthy and make deep strides into the playoffs in the next three (“two really”) years, that the Eagles “should look to possibly draft another quarterback, because you just don’t know about his durability.”

Many fans and RT Lane Johnson, quickly lunged for McNabb’s jugular, calling him “bitter”, “jealous” and “afraid that in a few years Carson would surpass him”. All of those things may well be true, but they don’t acknowledge one key point:

Donovan McNabb is 100% correct in his assessment. While people may not like that HE said it, it happens to be dead on balls accurate.

Wentz is about to get a new contract worth about 35M$ per season. Do you really think that this Eagles team, the one you’ve rooted for for decades, the team that has conducted business a certain way since 1994, the one that parted with fan favorites Brian Dawkins, ^Reggie White^, and Jeremiah Trotter all with plenty of gas in their tanks, the one that traded their all-time best QB (McNabb) to a division rival, if you think that this Front Office will eat 70 – 105M$ with no success, and just keep on keeping on, then you can stop reading right here. Because there is just no reaching you.

For the rest of you, there are three things that I find telling about this situation.

First, a couple of major market local publications have said that McNabb is correct. The Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes says in an April 22nd article “Donovan McNabb is right. He just said it wrong. This, for him, is nothing new.” When comparing all four NFC East QB’s, NJ.com’s Joe Giglio, just this morning said  April 29th “Wentz stands at No.1, but he’s also the most likely to be replaced within three years—just like Donovan McNabb said.”

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WOW. For professional journalists who want to stay on good terms with the Eagles organization, those are wow statements. However, on their own they’re merely statements. Just a couple of local scribes giving their opinions. No need to assign any weight to them. And I would agree with that except, well…

Second, today makes nine days since McNabb made his original comment. NINE. And in all that time, the Eagles Front Office has not issued one statement on the matter. If not to wave off McNabb’s words, then to at least offer a statement of long-term, “hell or high-water” faith in Wentz. Verbally however, they have been stone silent. How about NON-verbally?

Third, seven days after McNabb’s comments, the Front Office drafted QB Clayton Thorson in the 5th round of the Draft. I know, I know, “Who cares? He’s a fifth round rookie. He’s a camp body. We already have QB Nate Sudfeld as our #2. Hey BEAST, stop making fucking mountains out of molehills.”

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I hear you.

Thing is, upon watching game tape of Thorson, I was struck immediately by how much his mechanics look like Wentz coming out of North Dakota. Think I’m crazy. Okay. Here is Thorson and here is Wentz. Have a look. If you follow this page, you’ll be too smart not see it.

As I said in my Draft Report, Sudfeld is hardly locked into that #2 slot. He’s a Redskins 6th round pick, now being pushed by an Eagles 5th round pick. Sudfeld has all of 25 career pass attempts, zero starts, and 0 – 6 loss to the Cowboys, where he played most of the game. If Thorson looks good in mini-camp, he will challenge for #2 in Training Camp.

Do you see the wall? Do you see the writing? While McNabb may have said it, it’s the Eagles who have already put a plan into motion. Wentz needs to have playoff success and he needs to have it soon. Like in the next three, two really, seasons.

THE 2019 DRAFT REPORT

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/26
Posted in: Conversations, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

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LEFT Tackle Andre Dillard! Let me just say that love the pick. Now that you’re no longer in suspense, let me do a little housekeeping. I’m doing something a little different this year. Instead of issuing multiple article covering each day, I’m just going to update this article daily. For those who see links to this through social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.), you will see this same article re-posted, but there will be new content on it.

NOW BACK TO THE DRAFT!

I didn’t do much homework on him initially because from all early indications, both Dillard and OT Jawan Taylor would be off the board by 17, 18 at the latest. There was no way we’d have a shot a top LT at 25. Just no way. So I didn’t do much leg work on them. (As it was, I barely got my Wish List out on time, this year.)

Then we got to 22 and both players were still on the board. By the time the Draft started I no longer wanted a DT, since we re-signed DT Timmy Jernigan earlier in the day. So it didn’t sting in the least when DT Christian Wilkins went to Miami (which is where I thought he’d go, and so I hoped we’d trade with.) I had no idea what we’d do at 25.

What we did was trade up to 22, trading our 1st (25), one of two picks in the 4th (127), and our 6th (198). At which we took forever before pulling the trigger on a guy who looks to be a better option than OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, already.

Round 1 (22 overall): LT Andre Dillard.

At about 16 seconds into this video, Dillard steps forward into pass protection, instead of kick sliding backward. Then he does it again at 1:15. Then again at 3:03. And at 3:20. And 4:36. Then once more at 5:29. Keep in mind, these are on pure passing plays. By pure, I mean passing plays which employ no element of play-action.

He won’t be able to do that in the NFL, but when I saw it, I was IMMEDIATELY in love with the pick. (More on that in a sec.) He can get back quickly and deep. In fact (best example) at 3:47, but most of this video shows that his base technique is a shallow step back. So he’ll need a little time to make that slide feel second nature. But that could come as soon as mid-season, so don’t expect this to become a project.

The knock on him is that he isn’t a big-time run blocker, and it’s true. He really he isn’t. At least right now. He comes out high, which exposes too much of his chest. Against a smart defender, that can cause him to be used to trap his RB behind the line, stringing out a run, and giving time for the cavalry to get there. That will get fixed just by the way that O-Line coach Jeff Stoutland runs the drills segment of camp.

That’s not to say that Dillard has poor instincts for the run. Quite the opposite. He understands where he has to be relative to the runner’s emergence point. In fact, (best example) at 5:06, you see him make two blocks, and create an alley for a rushing touchdown. He has the eyes and the instincts. He just needs to play in a grown-up offensive system.

A bit ago I said I fell in love, at about 16 second into this video. Really it was more like I started falling after 54 seconds, when I saw that the first step-up block wasn’t a fluke, (but this play included play-action.) However, by 1:15 (pure pass), he had me. He reminded me a little of another kick-ass LT that NEVER allowed a single sack in three years. He reminded me, of me. And that’s not a compliment that I just hand out.

With the cues I see in his game from this video and other videos (those were based on his QB), I think he’ll do great things, not just good things, at the LT position.

Round 2 (53 overall): RB Miles Sanders

Not a bad pick, but not a great one either. My guess is that he’s here to be an upgrade over RB Wendell Smallwood. Similar in body type, but with more speed and better feel for creating in traffic. There’s also no history of him being a reliable receiver.

Generally I like to get video of a player going against a tough opponent. I figure, a tough college opponent will show who a player is, when faced with a challenge. Initially, I went with Penn vs Michigan, but Sanders came up small, and seemed like he didn’t know some of his blocking assignments. So I went with a video vs a lesser opponent, to get an idea of his NFL upside.

If he gets a crack, he can hurt a defense.

Round 2 (57 overall): WR Jose Joaquin “J.J.” Arcega-Whiteside

Jump ball winner. Sort of an Alshon Jeffery-lite, in that even if he’s covered, he’s still open because he’ll win a contested ball. There’s a lot of “arm waving business” early in his routes that cuts into how fast he REALLY get into the route. That’s a shame, because at times he does a nice job with his feet to stem his routes. Fortunately that’s something that coaching may be able to clean up by the end of Training Camp.

Between recent draft picks Mack Hollins and Arcega-Whiteside, and the rumors of moving WR Nelson Agholor, it seems like the Eagles are winding up for a big WR corps, when the contracts of Jeffery and DeSean Jackson expire.

Speaking of Arcega-Whiteside, he needs a nickname. From us! JAW comes to mind, but Ron Jaworski is already Jaws for us, and Jaws II seems weak. A&W is cute and could have a root beer tie at the stadium, if the fans drive it hard enough. Just some thoughts.

4th round (138 overall): DE Shareef Miller

Miller went few picks earlier that I had pegged him on my Wish List, but he’s not a bad pick in this spot. Not only is it nice to see a Wish Lister in here, but I have to love the fact that he’s a Philadelphia native. Here’s what I said about him in the Wish List:

Miller (6’4″ 254) does a solid job of playing “the run first” on every down. He sets and wins the edge, but doesn’t do a good job of exploiting it when he wins it. Too often he runs himself out of plays, or doesn’t bend inside when he has the Tackle on his heels. These are things that can be fixed quickly with coaching, and should have been already. (Then again PSU’s coaching staff is now infamous for letting some things go on too long.) Given that Chris Long‘s game is also “set the edge–play the run–rush the passer” Miller could be just the rotational player to fill Long’s (on-field) role.

5th Round (167 overall): QB Clayton Thorson

He is CLAYTON! Son of Thor ! Just kidding.

I’ll be damned, but watching this kid move around in the pocket, pick up short yardage and scramble, all reminded me of Carson Wentz. (Go back and check the tape.) He doesn’t have Wentz’s willingness to stick the ball in tight spaces, but that might have more to do with not having the faith, that his skill guys have the skill to make the plays.

That won’t be a problem in Philadelphia. We have all kinds of firepower here. In fact, the question is whether he’ll be able to sit in the saddle and ride such a powerful beast (our Offense). There’s a chance that it could overwhelm the young lad, as he’s never sat so tall, upon such an impressive monster as this.

If he does impress in camp, the fact are Nate Sudfeld was a 6th round pick, not the Eagles draft pick, and only has 25 NFL attempts, with no starts, and no wins on his resume. If Thorson shows some hunger, he might be able to challenge for best view of the name on Wentz’s jersey. At which point having a guy who plays like Wentz will be a heck of an insurance policy against injury.

Shit just got real.

All in all, it was a really good Draft. We had a LT, RB, and WR all fall to us. Grabbed a DE to replenish a loss that may or may not happen, and grabbed a QB who will either sharpen our current, competent back-up, or supplant him. All of those are good things. 

Now to grab some Free Agents!