Tim Tebow

All posts tagged Tim Tebow

KILLING OFF ALL STARTING QB’S

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/06/12
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Crazy Talk, Defense, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

HOWIE is likely going to be fired, if QB Jalen Hurts doesn’t play like a potential star in 2021. Despite what some fans thought about QB Carson Wentz, Owner Jeff Lurie knew he had a bonafide Franchise QB, and that those are difficult to find. Still, General Manager Howie Roseman, convinced Lurie to trade the bird in his hand, for a QB factory in the bush.

There’s a high-stakes game going on, folks! Don’t miss the real action.

This isn’t about Hurts or Wentz. It never was. It’s about the “QB factory” that Howie later regretted mentioning: “Of some of the things that I’ve done this season, I certainly regret that comment about quarterback factory,” Roseman said. “Really it was just in terms of how — the importance of the position around the league, the importance of the position to this organization and really a reflection of our experiences with backup quarterbacks when we did that.”

Notice that he didn’t say that he regrets the idea, or the concept. He said that he regrets the comment. He regrets that he slipped and revealed to us, what was really on his mind. He regrets that we know. This was never about one player over another. It’s about a philosophy.

The Hurts pick is about transforming the QB position into just another position.

By default of how long it takes to develop a QB, they are a huge investment. So the ones with the best raw traits, come at a premium at the top of drafts. Few of those pan out, so it naturally skyrockets the price when a proven, young, veteran QB hits the open market. It’s why teams do everything they can, to keep those proven, young, veteran QB’s from hitting the open market. Often overpaying them.

The NFL was able to control other positions by killing off the idea of star players, who are true specialists:

Star RB’s became RB by committee.

The FB, H-Back, and blocking TE positions are practically extinct.

True #1 WR’s became more expendable with the adoption of Spread concepts.

On defense, players without a hard designation are becoming the norm. Whether it’s all of these CB/S, or those 215 – 220 pound LB/S tweeners, or the Edge players… None of that used to be how football worked, even 10 years ago. None of it.

The QB position is harder to redefine and control, but it must be done. And it must happen SOON.

The NFL needs to find a way to quickly develop QB’s who can be productive, not just to control investment costs (like draft capital), and operating costs (like contract terms), but so that the QB position can be platooned. Yes, platooned. Think about Hurts and Wentz. Or Drew Brees and QB Taysom Hill. Think about Tim Tebow now back in the NFL, at 33.

This is an experiment to figure out how best to phase out the “every game” starter. Instead, coming up with something more akin to a baseball starting pitcher. A guy who’s relied on only to start a percentage of the games, instead of all of them. Sure you’ll have an Ace, but he won’t be your Franchise.

If the NFL doesn’t do this, there is no way that they can expand beyond 18 regular season games in a season. Also, do you see the contract that QB Pat Mahomes signed? Or the one that QB Dak Prescott signed, despite owner Jerry Jones admitted to overpaying? Platooned QB’s would have far less leverage at the bargaining table.

That’s where Hurts comes in. Hurts was drafted “sort of” high. Right on the heels of Wentz winning a division, after having put practice squanders on his back. With a franchise QB like Wentz, drafting Hurts made no sense.

Then packages were added to get Hurts on the field early in his career, despite that fact that it ruins a starting QB’s rhythm. Disrupting our Franchise QB’s rhythm made no sense.

Suddenly Wentz became a turnover machine, when taking care of the ball had been the absolute cornerstone of his career. Yet no serious adjustments were  ever made to help him. (I even wrote about it back in November of 2020.) That also made no sense.

Except in hindsight, all of it makes perfect sense. It’s an experiment. The Eagles made sure they started with a good, but not franchise quality QB (lower draft capital). The speed of the game is what young players say takes the most time to adapt to. So Hurts was spoon-fed a little time here and a little time there, until the game slowed down for him.

Understand, this is the Eagles version of the experiment, but the entire league has a stake in it. Trust and believe that many eyes follow this. Roseman’s experiment requires Hurts to not just play, but start. So, Wentz was removed from the equation. He had to be. Now Hurts is front and center, and barring a preseason injury, he will start.

That all being said, if Hurts turns out to be the formula, and the QB factory opens in Philadelphia, Jeff Lurie will be the guy who hired the inventor of “The (NFL) Process”. However, if Hurts fails, Lurie will have been talked into spending years of investment money, on a single spin of Roulette. That likely means Roseman would be fired.

High-stakes game going on, folks! Don’t get caught missing the real action.

FOUR THINGS: NEW YORK JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/30
Posted in: Coaching, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

timmy teebs

BELIEVE it or not, there are reasons to care about this last preseason game. This is the game where the roster gets rounded out with all of your “TIWL”depth. If you don’t know what that is, it’s fine, because I just now coined the term. As in right this instant. Use it early, use it often. One day you’ll be able to tell your friends that you were using “TIWL” back before Joe Theismann heard it and began using it wrong in every broadcast.

What “TIWL” stands for is “This Is What’s Left”. Every so often a team finds themselves starting a guy they kept on the roster with no real intent to ever have him do anything other than hold a clipboard or play Special Teams. Then injuries mount and sometime in late October, early November, the team is forced to start one or six of those guys. Speaking of TIWL players, the guy in the picture is Tim Tebow.

When you don’t get a good look at your TIWL players, you get what happened to the giants in the game that Odelina Beckham was suspended for last year. They had to start a WR (Randle) who couldn’t even make our roster as a 3rd stringer this year. You saw what happened when the Cowboys had to rely on their 3rd string QB. Need I say (Kellen) Moore? When you don’t get a deep look at the back end of your roster, you can get stuck with guys who can’t play. Or worse, you might give away guys who can.

Now let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for in this next preseason game!

1) Special Teams needs to look special. There is no back-up Special Teams unit. So the guys we’ll be relying on weeks 1 through 17, are the guys who’ll play on Thursday. They need to use the game as real practice. Making sure their communication is clean, that every man knows his responsibility, and that they don’t allow a blocked punt again Ed Reynolds.

2) Seeing who earns the #3 Offensive Tackle job. We talk a lot about RB Ryan Mathews getting injured, but you know who else spends a fair amount of time on the shelf? LT Jason Peters. Rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai (I can’t believe I can already spell that without having to double-check it), looked horrible vs the Buccaneers a few weeks ago. Will Vaitai or Matt Tobin lay clear claim to the #3 spot? Will either man’s play push Allen Barbre at RT?

3) Can Cedric O’Neal make a case for himself? He was cut, but he was brought back after rookie RB Wendell Smallwood came up small prior to getting injured last week. RB Byron Marshall has shown little in the way of speed, elusiveness or the ability to break even the slightest tackle. If O’Neal (who also offers short yardage bulk), can show potential behind a second string O-line, then either Marshall or Smallwood may soon find themselves wearing a different jersey.

4) Empty the pantry. We need to see some guys get more time than they’ve had, in order to be sure that we aren’t releasing or otherwise overlooking talent right under our noses. (I’m still annoyed that we didn’t draft Lee Woodall in 1994, despite all that we knew about him, that other teams didn’t, because they couldn’t know.) Guys like O’Neal, LB’s Quentin Gause and Don Cherry, WR David Watford, G Darrell Greene, and rejuvenated DE Marcus Smith; all need long looks before a decision to cut them is made.

This is the game where we get to make sure that we don’t give away talent, and that our TIWL shelf has guys who you can feel good about, if they get pressed into starting. (TIWL shelf. See what I did there?)

yeah bitch

THE RETURN OF MICHAEL VICK

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/05/15
Posted in: Conversations, Crazy Talk, Fans, NFL, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , . 9 Comments

mv2

SAM Bradford has a great arm, but his durability is an issue that most fans can’t seem to overlook. And while Mark Sanchez played well in relief of Nick Foles after he had his collarbone broken last year, Sanchez was far from dynamic and showed no real ability to be a game changer, even momentarily. Our 3rd string QB is either Tim Tebow or Matt Barkley. Considering all of that, and given his familiarity with our system, how would you feel about the return of Michael Vick?

Hold on! Understand, this is just us fans talking. Nowhere have I heard that the Eagles were one of the handful of teams kicking the tires on Vick. The NFL’s website however does mention (HERE) that some teams are. I just thought I’d bring it up, since it’s the offseason and we have time to chew the fat and say “Hey man, what if…”

I’m talking about this purely as a back-up. Vick was never a 16 game starter even when was supposed to be, so I don’t see the point of trying to project him out as such now. What he could be if he were forced to start a few games though, is a guy who forces teams to throw away what they learned about this system with less mobile QB’s running it.

While opponents caught up to this offense with Foles running it, they did so at the expense of almost always leaving the backdoor wide open so they could stop the run. When Foles went down they did the same with Sanchez, because neither man could exploit it and make them pay. That’s not the case with Vick.

Vick isn’t the guy that the Falcons selected number one overall, but three years after he retires he’ll still be more of a running threat than Foles, Sanchez, or Bradford are today. With Vick as the back-up everything teams assume that they know about successfully defending against the Eagles, goes right out the window the second Bradford goes down.

Look, Sam Bradford may surprise us all. Chip Kelly could put him on a steady diet of Orange/Peanut/Spinach smoothies and Bradford might start every game as a result. However if Bradford goes down again, somebody has to start in his place for however long he’s out. Considering what’s on the roster today, the return of Michael Vick might not be such a bad thing.

SEEMS CHIP KELLY AGREES WITH ME

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/04/20
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, NFL, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , . 1 Comment

tebow2

BACK in February I put out a breakdown of what the Eagles roster needed. I listed the positions that I thought they should draft and in what order I would do so if it were up to me. Two positions I said I wouldn’t draft are Quarterback and Cornerback. I said I’d get those in Free Agency. Well, it seems that Kelly agrees with me. Or at least my process.

What drives me nuts is the FA players who Kelly has used to fill these holes. Particularly this Tim Tebow signing. It’s like having a flat and replacing the whole wheel with a trash can lid. YES, the lid is round, but it’s a poor fit for the job. And Tebow is a poor fit to run the Eagles Offense. That is, if we’re to take Kelly at his word.

Remember when he said that his system doesn’t require a mobile QB, and that it does require a QB who can read and make quick decisions with the ball? When Tebow last played, quick reads and deliveries were not his strength, they were his Achilles Heel. And if my memory serves me correctly (and it does), Tebow’s most polished skill is running with the football. WTF coach?

If it wasn’t for the fact that I already don’t trust a goddamned thing Kelly says, this move would confuse me. Fact is however, that I understand why he did it. I doubt it’ll pay off (and in fact I’m pretty sure it’ll hurt us); but I get why he sees it as a low cost move right now.

I’m joking of course when I say that Kelly agrees with me. In fact the odds are pretty low that he’s ever heard of this website, so the odds of him listening to anything I wrote are even lower. That said, what can’t be disputed is my knack for predicting where he’ll go with his roster moves and the reconfigurations of his Offense. (BTW there’s a second philosophical shift coming this season.)

This suggests that either I’m psychic or just a guy who really knows his stuff. I’ll let you decide for yourself which of the two it is.