WR

All posts tagged WR

CAN’T CATCH A BREAK.

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/10/26
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

dropped.JPG

CARSON Wentz will be a wasted pick if we can’t get him a Wide Receiver to rely on. Most of the great Quarterbacks you can think of, had a go-to WR that also comes quickly to mind. Wentz doesn’t have anything remotely like that, and it’s starting to stunt his growth.

I’m seeing ball after ball forced in the direction of Nelson Agholor.

I’m seeing Jordan Matthews (still being employed poorly in the slot, and taken off the field in too many sub-packages) become all but invisible during most of the game.

I’m seeing Dorian Green-Beckham make short catches in traffic, and then get all but ignored in the red zone. (Though he did just catch a 6 yard touchdown on Sunday.)

I’m seeing back-up WR Josh Huff lead the team with 39 yards receiving in a whole game.

I’m seeing the Eagles trying to trade for a second WR in just over 3 months.

The easy answer is to say that the WR’s aren’t good enough. That was fine to say before the DGB trade. However, the whole idea of trading for him was though he had off the field/maturity issues, he has plenty of talent. That means we can’t say it’s a talent issue anymore.

Fact is, our 4 guys top WR’s all have very different styles from each other. Yet we’re to buy that none of them can play at all. One or two guys? Sure, I can buy a bum or two on a roster. But FOUR at one position? One that you traded for! I can’t be made to buy that. My I.Q. is just too damned high, my eyesight is too good, and I know too much football to quietly swallow that B.S.

The real problem is that Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich and Head Coach Doug Pederson don’t really know where they want to hang the team’s hat. We were billed as running a hybrid West Coast Offense, that included elements of the Spread, and utilized the TE more. The thing can’t be smooth, because they built-in too many wrinkles.

Week to week, the focal point of our Offense seems to be making sure that everybody plays, and gets a chance to hold the ball. On most teams, the staff will draw up specific plays designed to get the ball into a specific players hands? Do you EVER feel like we do that here? I sure as fuckall, don’t.

Our coaching staff seems incapable of putting ANY of our WR’s in “a better position to succeed”. Our receivers are used as interchangeable parts, instead of maxing out their built-in advantages and individual talents. We have three WR’s (Matthews, DGB, and Huff) who could each be a match-up headache, but instead are looked upon as mediocre at best.

Like I said, one or two guys sucking, I can buy. One or two guys with no talent? Sure, okay. One or two guys with bad work ethic. I could even spot you that. But FOUR guys? Four guys? Meanwhile Paul Turner (remember him?) just sits at home inactive?

Look, we drafted talent high, traded for talent, and have talent sitting at home. The issue isn’t player talent, it’s coaching. The coaching staff needs to decide who we are on Offense, and figure out how to get the most from each player to help define that identity.

FIXING THIS OFFENSE QUICKLY.

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/20
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

Pederson coaching Bradford

THERE is nothing seriously wrong with the Eagles Offense. Stop laughing. Schematically, its concepts work just fine. While I wish we worked out of the Shotgun less, it doesn’t appear to be impeding the run game, regardless of whether the starting O-line is on the field or the back-ups are. The biggest problem this Offense faces is a lack of discipline.

Penalties, dropped passes, routes run wrong, failing to recognize stunts…these are all lapses in focus that come down to player discipline. When a man’s head isn’t into what he’s doing, he is much more likely to be sloppy in how he does whatever task he is performing. He is more likely to miss details. He is more likely to be unaware of what is going on around him.

This team needs discipline, but at this point, discipline is going to be a hard sell coming from Head Coach Doug Pederson, because of the start his regime has gotten off to:

1) QB Sam Bradford was allowed to come back to his starting role after throwing a tantrum and walking out on his team.

2) WR Nelson Agholor spent no time in the doghouse after drawing negative attention to the Eagles, when he was accused of rape by a stripper who felt she hadn’t been paid enough for sex.

3) We just traded for WR Dorial Green-Beckham, who at worst is a malcontent, or at best is simply misunderstood and lazy.

It would seem the ship has sailed on Pederson’s ability to rule with an iron fist. So then how does a coach instill discipline when he is perceived by his players to be a softie? Simple. He does it by being a softie.

Let me give you an example of how this can work. WR Josh Huff has fumbled and had a couple drops these last two games. However, he has also started these last couple games, so everyone on the team knows he has some value. This is PERFECT. Couldn’t be a better set-up for an example.

Rookie WR Paul Turner has been making the most of his opportunity. Granted, he’s been playing against second and third stringers, but he himself is a third stringer. He doesn’t get to decide who he takes on, he only gets to decide how to beat them.

Pederson could spend a week lauding Turner’s focus and individual discipline, to the media. Then he could reward Turner in this next game, by playing him in Huff’s place. Meanwhile Huff can watch (in full uniform) from the sideline. Let Huff see how fleeting it can all be.

If Turner looks overwhelmed, then it’s still a wake-up call to Huff, who’d have to spend a week answering the same embarrassing questions. If Turner responds well, then we can move Huff (for a 6th or 7th round pick to say…Denver, where every pro knows he’d be buried on the depth chart) as away to open up a roster spot, save some cap space and add another Draft pick. Either way, it would send a loud and clear message to every Eagle on the roster, about what happens when Pederson does and does not, get what he wants.

And all the while, Pederson would never have to raise his voice, or utter one word in anger. He could smile the smile of a man who knows that he will win, no matter how it turns out.

When each player here gets his own head back into what he is doing, the focus will return and with that the discipline. THEN you will see this Offense in its full bloom.

Belgrade St. outside of P.A.L. 4.15.15

Belgrade Street, outside of P.A.L. 4/15/15

JORDAN MATTHEWS LEAVING?

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/07
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Jordan Matthews card

“EAGLES Matthews Seems Destined To Play The Slot”. That was the headline for an article on Philly.com. I run a Facebook Eagles group called Eagles Maniacs where a similarly titled article also popped up. While the use of Jordan Matthews as a slot WR is a detrimental to the whole Offense, I also don’t like the split it’s setting up between Matthews and the Eagles.

Before you dismiss that as crazy, point to the time where I’ve been wrong about the Eagles losing a player…You can’t, because I haven’t been. EVER. Now let’s continue.

The headline is 100% accurate. “Eagles Matthews seems destined to play the slot”. Key word there is ‘Eagles’. Once he goes elsewhere, he will be allowed to line up as a starter on the outside. You’ll see him do things for other some other offense, that he has not been allowed to do here. Yes, I said and meant the word ‘allowed’. I will get into that later down the page.

Why would the Eagles intentionally hold back their own player’s potential? Two words: Price Control. The Eagles don’t want Matthews outside on the edge yet, (emphasis on ‘yet’), because once his (4y/4.94M) rookie deal is up after 2017, they’ll have to negotiate with him at market price.

For perspective, the most expensive slot WR you can think of was Wes Welker. In 2007 Welker signed an extension in New England for 5y/18.1M. In 2012 it was a one year franchise tag of 9.15M. He went to Denver in 2013 for 2y/12M. Collectively that’s 8y/39.6M, or roughly 4.95M per year.

The market for outside guys? Here are 5 guys who finished within 10 receptions of Matthews in 2015: A.J. Green 5y/70M (14py); Randall Cobb 4y/40M (10py); Golden Tate 5y/31M (6py); Eric Decker 5y/36M (7py); Jeremy Maclin 5y/55M (11py). I didn’t even touch the Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Jordy Nelson echelon of WR. I kept it where Matthews would be if his rookie deal were up today. Keep in mind that with inflation, those numbers will be higher in 2018, and things will also have to be bent around Fletcher Cox‘s impending contract.

Relegating Matthews as a slot WR changes his market and drops his price tag. Sure, after he’s re-signed the Eagles could always move him outside, and they’d have an outside guy at a bargain bin price. Sounds smart at first. The problem with that: If I can figure that ruse out, you can bet your ass that Matthew’s agent sees it too and is preparing his client.

Let’s recall two other players the Eagles tried to save a buck on: Reggie White and Brian Dawkins. Here’s another: Terrell Owens. Let’s do one more: Evan Mathis. Nickel and diming players has always blown up in this franchise’s face, and we always ended up needing the player, more than player needed to be here. Every one of those guys had success where they went next, and we ended up with holes that in some cases took years to fill. Why do that again? Especially considering that with the picks we traded away, it’ll be harder than normal to replace him.

I mentioned earlier that Matthews could be doing more for the Offense, if he lined up on the outside. Here’s what I mean. Matthews is a big WR who actually plays like one. He’s not the sort of WR that a CB wants to have to handle alone, after the catch. That means sliding a Safety out of the box and farther outside towards him. Not only would this loosen things inside for the running game, but it would open room to roam for a TE like Zach Ertz.

Cramming Matthews inside lets teams to keep a Safety in the box, which allows their LB’s to key on the run. How did Matthews in the slot played out for us? Well just look at us over the last two years. Our run game was sputtering even in LeSean McCoy‘s last year here, and it was all but dead last year. On the outside we had no mismatches to exploit, and it did nothing to make life easier on anyone. The results speak for themselves.

This is a naked attempt at price control and nothing more. It was cute of Head Coach Doug Pederson to say that Matthews will be “moved around” this year. It’ll be interesting to see how often Matthews starts games in the slot, vs how many times in a game he’s motioned to the outside.

All I can do at this point, is hope that Pederson has a change of heart. Or that others see what I see, give the Eagles hell for it, and maybe help shame them into doing what’s right.

LINE RILEY COOPER UP ON THE OUTSIDE

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/06/09
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

player-rileycooper.500

NELSON Agholor starting at WR on the outside is almost a given at this point. Many fans are split over whether or not Jordan Matthews should play the other outside spot, or remain in the slot. (Personally I like the idea of him on the outside, as I said in this past article. ) Other options that fans are discussing for the outside, are Miles Austin or Josh Huff due to their speed and ability to potentially stretch defenses.

What I find curious is the way fans seem to have just written off Riley Cooper. We all know that the contract extension he got last year, makes it stupid to cut him right now due to dead money (see the contract) . That all-but guarantees him a roster spot in Philly this year, unless some team is willing to trade us for him. Whether people like it or not, Cooper got that extension because the coach sees something that he likes in him. But what could that be? Let’s take a look.

Cooper has a few things in his favor actually. Standing 6’4 and 230 pounds, he is the most physically imposing WR on the roster right now. His run blocking is generally well regarded. Since being called upon as a starter two years ago, he has never missed a game. His first fumble as an NFL player came last year, during his fifth season. He’s used to catching wounded ducks from Tim Tebow. If DeSean Jackson can keep drawing double-coverage, Cooper could have another year like…Oh wait. Never mind.

To be honest even Cooper’s best year wasn’t that big of a deal considering the circumstances surrounding how it happened. Under those circumstances another WR would have made more of Jackson drawing so much attention. In fact, Jeremy Maclin frequently did just that. The boiled down truth is that the Eagles should have let Cooper walk last year, but instead they shot themselves in the foot, and gave themselves little flexibility with him.

Today it would be an extra two million and change to free up a roster spot by cutting Cooper. However, it could be looked at as an investment! Look, given the commitments to players like Agholor and Matthews, the blatant favoritism of Huff, the upside of rookie Devante Davis, and the speed and kick return experience of Quron Pratt, eating three million or so (only for this year), by cutting Cooper and Miles Austin now, frees up practice reps and time to develop all of these young receivers. It allows us to potentially field a stable of young studs.

People aren’t discussing Cooper because they have too many other reasons not to. We know what he is, and more importantly, after five years, we know what he isn’t. The smart play for the long-term, is to line Cooper up wide. I mean wide like way wide. Not just along the hash marks, the numbers, or even the sideline, wide. More like the parking lot, wide. Like playing bocce ball at 10th and Carpenter, wide. Or waiting for a cab at Chelten and Germantown, wide.

The wider out we can get Cooper (and Austin) the better for this team it’ll be in the long run.

IS JORDAN MATTHEWS MILES AWAY FROM STARTING?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/03/31
Posted in: Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

miles

SIGNING WR Miles Austin to this team for any amount of money is bad enough. But how about if you’re Jordan Matthews or Josh Huff? What message does spending millions on yet another fragile athlete, send to them about where they stand? Particularly Matthews, of whom a great deal is expected .

Consider that last year the Eagles spent a 2nd round pick on Matthews and reached to grab Huff with the teams very next pick in the 3rd. So we invested heavily in these guys, and now when Jeremy Maclin is allowed to walk, we replace him with a brittle, 30 year old, who was told “thanks, but no thanks” by the Browns. I don’t get it.

In January (thinking that Maclin was as good as gone), I wrote an article saying that Matthews could be a monster, but  I also pointed out some flaws in his game that are not being addressed by the WR coach here. We’re all familiar with Josh Huff’s ability to generate mistakes.

To me this comes down to an issue of not developing your own youth. If we did, Miles Austin would be unnecessary. Instead the head coach thinks he’s 2.3 million dollars’ worth of necessary.

Yayyyyy!!! Ex-Cowboys and blown ACL’s all around. Gotta LOVE this offseason so far.

JEREMY MACLIN: THE BEST WR IN THE NFC EAST.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/11/20
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Offense. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

NFL: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles

IS Jeremy Maclin better than Dez Bryant?

For years Maclin took a backseat as the #2 to DeSean Jackson. Now that Jackson has moved on, we’re getting a taste of why Maclin didn’t want to sign a smaller deal this offseason. In a head to head comparison with Bryant, Maclin owns him every single category that they aren’t tied in. Someone in a Facebook group (NFC BEAST) that I’m currently a member of,  posted this question:

KAT

It makes you wonder if those who respond will compare Bryant and Maclin’s careers, or if they’ll go by this season. My answer was Maclin. Not because I’m an EAGLES fan but because MACLIN

Right now this is no contest. It’s not even fair. I mean look at this:

MACLIN2

And that’s with BOTH men having played 10 games, as both teams are 7-3. Again, Maclin owns Bryant in any category they aren’t tied in.

OWNS him. Like a dog. Or a pair of socks. 

Now that Maclin is no longer the second option, he’s making it known that HE is the best WR in the NFC East. But what do you think? Comment here on the website.

HOPING WE DON’T CATCH HELL

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/05
Posted in: Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

coop drop

 

LAST year Riley Cooper burst on the scene with 47 catches, 835 yards and 8 TD’s. Because of those numbers, fans are expecting more production from him in 2014.

Until yesterday (despite him being the #2 WR), I really wasn’t dwelling much on the idea of Riley Cooper . Then Jeremy Maclin pulls up lame for a second time since the start of camp, and now I can’t stop fixating on Cooper. Let me explain.

Should Jeremy pull a Maclin, we’re left with Cooper and a rookie as Nick Foles top targets. While Jordan Matthews is a talented player, there are wrinkles of this game that he has never seen before. And while he can study coverages on tape, it’s different having to play against them. He’ll in all likelihood need some shakedown time. In which case our #1 WR would be Riley Cooper. But can Cooper really carry us there?

Of his 47 catches last year, 8 of them occurred over two weeks in games versus injury depleted teams, Oakland and Green Bay. In those two games he also collected 241 of his 835 yards and 5 of his 8 TD’s.

Setting aside Oakland and G.B, in the remaining 14 games, Cooper’s numbers are just 39 catches, 594 yards, and 3 TD’s. While no player has a static level of production week in and week out, that level of fall-off is staggering. (Especially in light of his contract extension.)

I can’t say that I’m emotionally prepared for the fallout of Cooper being the #1; and I can only assume that the idea of Maclin being out for any length of time has to be costing Foles’ agent at least a little sleep. Up until now I thought that Maclin need to stay healthy for the sake of his financial future. Now it seems like so much more is riding on his fragile shoulders. I just hope we catch a break.

TWO?! REALLY?!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/05/10
Posted in: Draft, Offense. Tagged: , . 2 Comments
Image courtesy of fishduck.com

Image courtesy of fishduck.com

LET me get this out first: I have no intention to knock the guys we drafted in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. This article is about the picks themselves, not the athletes the picks were used on.

A WR would have been fine. Most knew we’d get one in round 1 or 2, so when we took Jordan Matthews, it was no big deal. His 6’3 212 pound body type certainly is a departure from DeSean Jackson’s, as Chip Kelly did say that they wanted to go in a different direction at WR.

I wasn’t over the moon for the pick, but it was fine. It certainly was nothing anybody sane could bitch about. It seemed solid. Since I was home, I kicked back, ate mango ice cream from the carton, and channel surfed while waiting for the next Eagles pick.

Then my team f 😦 ’d me. Maybe they didn’t 😦 you, but they definitely 😦 ‘d me. They (for whatever reason), decided to DRAFT a second consecutive WR. Specifically Josh Huff, who Mike Mayock likened to a RB. Seriously, who does that?!

There was NO logic to that pick. NONE. Consider the money they put out at the position already. Consider our other areas of need. Consider that you can carry only so many guys on a roster when the season rolls around.

It seems like nobody considered any of this.

Meanwhile most of the (non-WR) difference makers are gone, and we still haven’t gotten a Safety. Or a CB. We’re still small up front and our 31+ year old Guards have no depth behind them.

I hope these WR’s can pass protect.