Zech McPhearson

All posts tagged Zech McPhearson

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/02/15
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), playoffs, Rants, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EAGLES Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, has fucked off to become Arizona’s head coach. This is a HUGE break for our team! Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen also left, to become the Colts next scapegoat, but I don’t give shit about that right now. I want to celebrate Gannon’s departure RIGHT NOW! This is addition by subtraction.

The very first article that I ever wrote on this site, was ‘WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS.’ In it, I mentioned how continuing to settle for Davis as our Defensive Coordinator, wasn’t going to get us where we wanted to go. I wrote that on February 2, 2014.

During 2015, the Eagles fired then head coach, Chip Kelly, and Davis followed. In 2016 Doug Pederson, became our new Head Coach. Pederson was joined by DC Jim Schwartz, who inherited the talent that Davis had been squandering on Defense. The result was that we won our first Super Bowl on February 8, 2018.

Similarly, Gannon has been squandering the talent on the defensive side of our roster. Yes, yes, I know! We got 70 sacks in 2022. But what else did we do? Let me give you a quick rundown:

We got turnovers in bunches at the beginning of the 2022 season. When those dried up, no adjustment was made. Just more and more soft coverages, allowing easy completions which kept our Defense on the field. Look at how we finished the season:

Ryan Tannehill: 14/22 – 63.6% – 141 – 1 – 0

Daniel Jones: 18/27 – 66.6% – 169 – 1 – 0

Justin Fields: 14/21 – 66.6% – 152 – 2 – 0

Dak Prescott: 27/35 – 77.1% – 347 – 3 – 1

Andy Dalton: 18/22 – 81.8% – 205 – 0 – 1

Davis Webb: 23/40 – 57.5% – 168 – 1 – 0

That 3rd and 30 vs Dallas? Our four man rush allowed Dak Prescott to move gently left, and heave a 50 yard strike, to a guy who had recently been on his couch! Who dialed up that rush? Who called for that loose coverage?

Looks like our Secondary wasn’t set right?
NOPE! We were set. This alignment is just how it was called.

Hey, how about the development of the rookies, DT Jordan Davis and LB Nakobe Dean?

Davis was injured in Week 7, and sat out three games. Prior to his injury, he had five starts. Once he returned, he would never again see 20 snaps in a game under Gannon. Free agent additions DT Ndamukong Suh and DT Linval Joseph, helped give DT Fletcher Cox relief during Davis’s injury, but they should have never out-snapped Davis after his return. Both did in every game.

Dean played all of 34 snaps all season long. He played a total of 43 if you count the playoffs. There is no way to convince me (or most of you), that Dean should have played behind LB Kyzir White for most of this season. Don’t even get me STARTED about CB Zeck McPhearson barely seeing the field.

Does anyone want to discuss his adjustments in the Super Bowl? What adjustments? Great question. The Chiefs played pitch and catch all game long. I’ve seen clouds under more pressure than QB Patrick Mahomes saw that night. And yet how often did we see a five man rush? How about Man-Press? A Fire Zone Blitz?

When asked what defensive system he ran, Gannon answered with “Multiple”. I hated that answer right from the get-go! Multiple should mean that we see all kinds of exotic looks, but this guy didn’t come with the resume for Multiple. (Few in history have.)

Instead of “Multiple” what we got was mostly 4 – 3, off-Corners, 2 Deep Zone. Translation: Missionary, under the covers, in the dark, while wearing pajamas. Just get me someone who wants to play with his toys, and dreams up inventive things to do with them. Handcuff her behind her knees, and hit it from the back with your foot on her cheek. Let’s see some imagination!

My fear was that Gannon was going to stick around, and continue to squander talent. However, his fucking off, opens the door to a quick return to the Super Bowl. Maybe even as soon as next season, despite free agent departures like DT Javon Hargrave and CB James Bradberry! We could stumble into a dynasty here, folks.

Hold on. Let me dial it back a sec. I haven’t been a fan of any of our DC’s since Jim Johnson. Most of you have ridden that ride with me (hey, remember Juan Castillo?), so I don’t have to go into detail. We could still screw this up, but as of now, we’re stronger for having lost him. Today, we had some addition by subtraction.

DOES JAMES BRADBERRY MEAN SUPER BOWL?

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/05/19
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Players, Rivals, Roster, Super Bowl, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
CB James Bradberry picking off his ex-team. O’ Danny Dimes… The pipes, the pipes are calling…

COUPLE weeks ago, I said that we should pass on adding fading stars like CB James Bradberry and instead, focus on developing our young players. In fact, Bradberry was one of two stars that I specifically named in that article! For the record, I still think sticking with youth was the way to go. However, since Bradberry is an Eagle now, I want to make a few things crystal clear.

First, James Bradberry, welcome to the Eagles. You said that our Defensive Line is what tempted you to come here. That is our gift to you. That being said, to him who much is given, much is expected. 

Second, in itself signing Bradberry isn’t a bad move. He’s been a good player in this league for years now, and he has active hands, in terms of denying the ball to receivers. He gave up a ton of yards in 2021, but I’m not concerned that he can’t play anymore. I’m concerned that his starting, means our youth doesn’t gain much experience. That will keep us from developing that youth, and hurt our long term picture.

I know. I know…

Third, I’ve spent this offseason banging a pot to draw attention to CB Zech McPhearson. He was a fourth round pick in last year’s Draft, and spent 2021 learning, and rightfully sitting behind CB Steven Nelson, whom we brought in on a one year deal. Giving a player a one year deal, basically says that that player isn’t in the long term picture. This ostensibly, put McPhearson in the on-deck circle.

So when Nelson was allowed to walk, my thinking was “BOOM! The future is now”. Instead, we inked another player (Bradberry) to a one year deal. It would be one thing if we’d added a CB in this years Draft; but since we didn’t, that makes it seem like McPhearson is still our top young guy waiting in the wings. So why the delay? Long term it makes no sense at all.

My only guess is that the Front Office sees something about the team that says “PARADE!” this year. If that’s the case, there are a couple of key things we’ll need to power through first. But I’ll wait to discuss that, in this year’s upcoming ‘THE 12’ series. 

LET’S PLAY OUR YOUTH

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/05/08
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Roster, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments
Marcus Epps being congratulated by Rod McLeod on his interception.

MANY Eagles fans were hoping that we would add S Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu. I said in February that we should re-sign FS Rodney McLeod, and I’ve long been pounding the table that S Marcus Epps should take over for McLeod. Well, we seem to be doing the thing I wanted, without the stop-gap move of re-signing McLeod. Which has me thrilled. Let’s play our youth!

I know many fans wanted “a name”. I however, want to see the Eagles produce young, impact players that we either drafted, or claimed off of waivers in their first year or so. Like Marcus Epps. In 2019 he was drafted by the Vikings in the 6th round, and they cut him in September of that same year. He’s been an Eagle ever since. I want to show that we can grow those guys.

The giants are cutting CB James Bradberry. No surprise there. I told you that, in early April. Though he had 4 picks, his yardage allowed is way up. Teams seem to have found something on tape about him that they can exploit. Yet I’m seeing and hearing Eagles fans say that we should bring him in here. Why?! Why do we need to drag in everyone’s fading star?

Why not start CB Zech MacPhearson opposite CB Darius Slay? MacPhearson was low-key amazing last year. (Seriously, click the link.) Facts: 1) Without signing someone else, the Eagles let CB Steven Nelson go; 2) They followed that by not signing, trading for, or drafting a CB.

We traded for picks, a player, signed people, but didn’t add a CB, even in the 6th round. Draft and Free Agent, we completely de-prioritized the Secondary this year. Ignored it! Shunned it! You probably didn’t notice that at all, until just now. The Eagles weren’t at all concerned with finding Nelson’s replacement. Which strongly suggests that they already have one.

When Training Camp starts, if we have any sense, our starting Secondary should look like:

CB Darius Slay

CB Zech MacPhearson

SS Anthony Harris

FS Marcus Epps

NCB Avonte Maddox

K’Von Wallace makes a deposit.

Guys like S K’Von Wallace are going to be in the mix, because the Eagles spent a 4th round pick on him. Honestly, I think I prefer him more as a box Safety than back deep. Even better would be if we saw more of the Two-Deep look, that we were promised last year. Single-high is going to bumpy for almost any young player, so it’s no wonder Wallace is progressing slowly.

Not exactly a shadow in coverage, CB Andre Chachere is more of a NCB. In fact, his play suggests that he too should get a look at the FS spot. His passion and physicality may limit how often QB’s throw into his area, for fear of losing a favorite target to a concussion. He’s also one hell of a gunner on Special Teams, which may work against him getting Defensive snaps.

My point is, we have guys that we should be and could be developing. That said, it’s hard for a young guy to learn from mistakes and show what he’s got, if like Wallace, he only sees 184 snaps in a 17 game season. (It’s 10.8.) Even worse, it becomes almost impossible to develop our young guys, if we keep stacking “names” and fading stars ahead of them.

Look, an NFL roster is a highly fluid thing. So the make up of what we have here, may change as you read this. People get elevated, signed, cut, and moved for all kinds of reasons. Usually for talent, but sometimes as financial easement, or to attract another player. (Example: WR A.J. Brown wanted 80M$ guaranteed to stay in Tennessee. If QB Carson Wentz were still our starter, would Brown have accepted just 57M$ guaranteed to move to Philly? Nope. Brown’s best friend, QB Jalen Hurts made Brown 23M$ more affordable. So we got him at like 30% discount.)

Noooo! Not that Count, DIScount (I regret nothing!!!)

Hey we get it. If an All-Pro CB suddenly becomes available, sure the Front Office is going to chase it. As fans we understand that. We may not always like it, but we get it. That said, while we are still constructed this way, while the roster looks like this, let’s give this version of the Secondary a fair chance. Let’s play our youth.