Eagles phans have had a lot of information to assimilate about the 2015 edition of the team so far. As usual the Livefyre commentary ranges from “Oh yeah!” to “Oh No!” with regard to the personnel moves and acquisitions.
I thought I’d single out of a few of the comments here made over the past two days.
First up is Mr. Beans from The Land Down Under:
“So… theory goes… and I am guessing as much as ANY pro-sports writer in the states of Merica… We like [Malcolm] Jenkins. We like Seattle’s simplicity. BUT we want two interchangeable Safeties. IE- two ‘Jenkins’… [another] guy who can play man and deep zone coverage.
“I read a good article the other day by Sheil K… simplifying Chip’s approach on O and relating it all the way back to Lombardi.
“Makes sense that the same approach and values are held with the D, and all my crapping on about Seattle is really just about that. They run simple shit repetitively and it run it REALLY well.
“Sidenote to that – A coach like Belichick KNOWING that can come up with a plan to beat it. Sure it smarts like Hell that Chip couldn’t knock off him or [Pete] Carroll so far. ”
Next batter is Mike BirdCrazy from South Carolina:
” Some calls it rebuild…more like rebirth…..this secondary is reborn and on paper looks to be be pretty decent…on paper…I hate that term…we gots no luck with it to this juncture….we shall see……”
Sunbutts from Sarasota nee Camden, New Jersey, on what the Eagles need to do to beat Belichick and the Patriots:
“Giants’ defensive line [once] owned Belichick. I believe they sacked Tom Brady ten times in two games. They hit him so much he was punch drunk at the end. That’s the only way to handle Brady.”
Sunny is also tired of the griping by Eagles phans over bad breaks and tough losses:
“A steady diet of sour grapes breeds chronic discomfort. Old Moonbeam saying–circa 2015. Alka Seltzer anybody?”
Fieldsy from New England had an idea why Nolan Carrol II could work out just fine as a cornerback in the Eagles’ new DB rotation:
“Carroll couldn’t be moved into the starting line up [last year]. The linebacker injuries killed the Eagles nickel and dime defenses. They moved Carroll into what they called a hybrid LB/S role but really he was acting as a safety. The Birds were playing with 5 Db’s a lot of times because they couldn’t keep Casey Matthews in on anything that resembled a passing down. That’s why Chip loaded up at MLB. There was no one but Kendricks to cover intermediate routes and TE’s. Add to that [Trent] Cole not quite being average covering anyone out of the back field and Bradley Fletcher requiring over the top help to cover every one (and Cary Williams being too tired from practice) and we really never got to see what Carroll could do until the last game. Bill Davis gave a great explanation on why he didn’t reshuffle the secondary and it comes down to MLB injuries.”
ATV of Henderson, Nevada batted cleanup behind Fieldsy:
“Welp, everyone was healthy as of TC [2014]… And Carroll had his shot to beat out Fletcher then… And couldn’t. Stop making excuses…”
That brought the Big Dag Brizer out of the dugout to protest:
“ST FU!!!!,….Fletch actually played well,..FIRST part of season. He kinda got dinged,..and his play declined. The losing started,..and the rest is history. Those be the fax,.and they are not disputable.”
ATV got in the last word before being ejected by Bri:
“Even if true… Carroll did get a legit shot to beat out Fletch and he couldn’t. All things equal, Fletch was better than Carroll.”
Then T-Bone from Boise, Idaho brought us all up to speed on the Roto reports:
“Trey Burton is expected to be groomed into the Eagles’ future No. 2 tight end. Burton, an undrafted project out of Florida last year, is a plus special teamer for now. Eventually, the Eagles hope he can play that role and back up Zach Ertz. Burton played some wideout while at the University of Florida. [Source: CSN Philly Jun 30 – 12:33 PM]… Last hurrah for Celek…whom I used to like.”
“CSN Philly’s Geoff Mosher expects Zach Ertz to make a “sizable jump in snaps” this season. Ertz played 40.5 percent of the snaps as a rookie in 2013 and only progressed to 50.3 percent last year. Too often he was watching from the sideline as superior blocker Brent Celek held the edge in Chip Kelly’s scheme. Celek returns for his ninth season in Philly, but Ertz is expected to surpass him on the back of improvement in the blocking department. We know the Eagles need him on the field as a receiver now that Jeremy Maclin is gone — especially in red zone. Ertz will break out if he gets roughly 75 percent of the snaps. [Source: CSN Philly Jun 30 – 12:14 PM ]”
Harry from Toronto, Canada didn’t mind batting last:
“We’ll be relying on the defensive front seven to cover up deficiencies in the defensive backfield. Stop the run, rush the passer…Is the front seven capable of getting to the QB in a hurry, on a consistent basis?
“Oh, hellz yeah. They better be, anyways…”
And on it went…
One of the main reasons the Eagles have generated so much angst among their fans this season is how many radical personnel changes have been executed by the Chippah over the past two seasons.
Naturally, it makes a devoted phan want to look back or around to understand what went wrong with a 10-6 team that failed to make the playoffs in 2014.
It also makes you tend to question what was so broke you had to fix it?
First off… the wide receivers.
I get that Jeremy Maclin was going to have to be paid more money than the Eagles were willing to pay for a guy who was maybe just a reluctant substitute for DJax in Kelly’s overall program.
So you let him go…
But did you have a replacement in the program?
Apparently not. Jordan Matthews works out of the slot…but who replaces the production of Maclin?— and more importantly, who will be there to stretch opposing defenses?
Maybe it’s rookie Nelson Agholor… but we don’t know that for sure.
I will give Kelly a pass here—no pun intended— as I feel he is going to try to supplement Maclin’s numbers on offense with a whole lot more passing plays called to his running backs and his tight ends.
But we don’t know—and so we wait, as ATV puts it so well.
ESPN’s Power Rankings after all the OTA’s and minicamps have concluded are in— the Eagles dropped down to the middle of the pack. They are No. 15 overall, well behind rival Dallas in the NFC East (at No. 6). The Eagles are ahead of NFC East opponents New York (at No. 20) and Washington (No. 27).
Hmmmm…
Teams are ranked based on five categories: coaching, front office, quarterback, draft acumen and the rest of their current roster.
I get the angst over quarterback. As ATV has documented so pithily, we now have a $13 million QB in gimpy Sam Bradford who may or may not be ready for training camp. Our backup option is Mark Sanchez— who basically is a great athlete but unable to shake a .500 winning percentage legacy as a starter.
We just don’t know— and that is the genesis of anxiety.
Maybe the best thing the Eagles did was to go out and get DeMarco Murray as their new feature back. With this guy, you can be a star QB by simply handing off the ball to DeMarco…
Ooops, I spoke too soon again… Coach Kelly just cut our two best guards!
Tehe… Phil Sheridan wrote this for ESPN.com, but it could have been just as easily TGFJB99 (“The Sage”) ghost-writing it for him:
“How many of those new starters are better than the players they will be replacing? Going purely on on-field performance, without taking the salary cap into account (a luxury Kelly didn’t have), here’s a player-by-player comparison:
Byron Maxwell in place of Cary Williams at cornerback:Maxwell was the fourth best defensive back in Seattle. He will be called upon (and paid) to be the best player in the Eagles’ revamped secondary. The risk is that the Eagles are paying a lot of money for a guy who might not be significantly better than the guy he’s replacing. Still, Maxwell has to be better than Williams was last year. Verdict: Maxwell.
Nolan Carroll (or Eric Rowe) in place of Bradley Fletcherat cornerback: This one is tricky. Fletcher melted down last season, but he was a pretty decent player the year before. Rowe is a rookie who will need time to learn the defense and adjust to the NFL. Carroll wasn’t able to beat out Fletcher last year, although he should have replaced him before Week 17. Fletcher will be better in New England. Verdict: Carroll or Rowe over last year’s Fletcher.
Walter Thurmond in place of Nate Allen at safety: TheOakland Raiders signed Allen for $23 million over four years with nearly $12 million guaranteed. They may be wrong, but that suggests a belief that the Eagles’ scheme was a bigger problem than their players. Thurmond is a cornerback making the switch to safety. Will he really be better? Verdict: Even, because the scheme is the same.
Brandon Graham in place of Trent Cole at outside linebacker: Cole went to two Pro Bowls and sacked opposing quarterbacks 85.5 times over his 10-year career. Graham played well last season to remove the label “first-round bust” from his resume. It is possible Graham will be better in a starting role, but that’s no sure thing. Verdict: Cole until Graham proves otherwise.
Kiko Alonso in place of DeMeco Ryans or Mychal Kendricks at inside linebacker: Alonso, coming off a torn ACL, has looked really good in the Eagles’ offseason workouts. He figures to pick up where he left off during his stellar rookie season. That means he is likely to displace either Kendricks or the veteran Ryans at one of the inside linebacker spots. Verdict: Alonso should be better than either.”
Again, even Phil is emotionally banking on the unknown. But that is what makes following your favorite sporting team fun. If you knew how it was going to turn out, would you bother to watch?
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