2022 Offseason Thread

[Ozzy]

Damn that Jaquiski Tartt signing for the Eagles was outstanding!  

 

Legit secondary they have now with a ton of experience, sure Epps maybe could have done it but Tartt is clearly better than him.  Curious I thought Tartt was more of a FS type and so is Anthony Harris but in the NFL not sure it matters much and both safeties have to be able to do both cover and tackle.  Now with Slay, Tartt, Harris and Bradberry that is a very solid secondary all around.  Throw in one of if not the deepest DT group in the NFL and the addition of Reddick at LB and Dean in the draft that could be a much improved unit.  

 

Eagles are killing it, got AJ Brown on offense, a rock solid OL and they can obviously run the ball, solid backup in Minshew if Hurts does not do the trick and DeVonta Smith who could be a star WR especially with AJ Brown getting all the coverage to him.  One hell of an off season for the Eagles!

[TheRealMcCoy]

1 hour ago, Ozzy said:

Damn that Jaquiski Tartt signing for the Eagles was outstanding!  

 

Legit secondary they have now with a ton of experience, sure Epps maybe could have done it but Tartt is clearly better than him.  Curious I thought Tartt was more of a FS type and so is Anthony Harris but in the NFL not sure it matters much and both safeties have to be able to do both cover and tackle.  Now with Slay, Tartt, Harris and Bradberry that is a very solid secondary all around.  Throw in one of if not the deepest DT group in the NFL and the addition of Reddick at LB and Dean in the draft that could be a much improved unit.  

 

Eagles are killing it, got AJ Brown on offense, a rock solid OL and they can obviously run the ball, solid backup in Minshew if Hurts does not do the trick and DeVonta Smith who could be a star WR especially with AJ Brown getting all the coverage to him.  One hell of an off season for the Eagles!

Thanks Ozzy. 

We are actually fairly confident in Epps and think he could take another step this year like he did last year and maybe solidify himself as a starter and earn an extension during the year like Maddox or after the season is over. I take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but he was the best graded last season out of the safeties on the roster. He was definitely the most impactful safety for us last year despite being the 3rd guy in snaps behind McLeod and Harris. He was really good coming downhill from deep playing the run. He had 3 INTs over the past 2 years in basically a full years worth of play as a starter when you combine the past 2 seasons. He had 5 PDs in just like 500 snaps last year. That's 2 more than Anthony Harris who played like 330 more snaps than him. Not saying I'm expecting Marcus to be some great player, but I think he can be a solid starter. We are all hoping his playing time doesn't get eaten into too much since he could be a part of our future on a new 3 year contract, whereas Tartt and Harris are both already 31 and on the decline.

Tartt fits the role of the FS who rotates post-snap cause he's just done it more. Anthony Harris was better when we moved him closer to the LOS last year. Yeah, now we are just hoping that we stay as healthy as we did last year and not the injured seasons following the Super Bowl win that we had to endure the last 3 years of Doug's tenure. To be fair even the Super Bowl year we suffered some significant injuries and just overcame them. I think my hope would be that Tartt and Epps are the starters at some point with Harris as the 3rd safety when we need him in the box. Gannon has a connection with Harris dating back to his Minnesota days and probably trusts him more than any other player in that safety room though. Also, when listing the secondary players you left out Avonte Maddox who was probably a top 5 slot corner last year. 

I think there are three keys to this season:

1.) Jalen Hurts taking another step as a passer.

He's been working hard this offseason on his mechanics and it was showing in videos of his form from OTAs and his deep passing accuracy albeit on air was great.Jalen hasn't had a 2nd year in a row with the same offense with the same play caller since he was with his dad back in high school, so hopefully besides the mechanics getting sharpened the familiarity helps him too.

2.) Jonathan Gannon progressing as a defensive play caller.

Last year was his first year ever calling plays making the move from DB coach and nothing about it was inspiring. There was just too much lack of creativity and things didn't start to get better till at least halfway through the season and by then we had already played like all the really good to great QBs on our schedule who took what the soft coverages we were playing afforded them and just methodically drove on us for high completion rates. I'll cut him slack cause it was his first year calling plays and we didn't really have the personnel he needed to run what he wanted to, but Roseman went out this offseason and did a great job stacking the cupboard for him. The pieces are there for the defense to take a jump.

3.) Staying healthy

Last year was an anomaly for us in terms of how healthy we stayed besides at guard. We finished 12th last year in AGL (Adjusted Games Lost) which was a hell of a lot better than 30th in 2020, 21st in 2019, and 32nd in 2018. We brought in the Rams director of strength and training in 2020 and promoted him to vice president of player performance last offseason. We've kind of adopted the Rams way of doing things with shorter practices. The Rams have been the model of health in the league the past half decade. Their AGL numbers are incredible. They were 1st in 2017, 4th in 2018, 10th in 2019, 2nd in 2020, and 5th in 2021. We probably had the least amount of OTA practices this offseason which has been a big point of contention in the media and with fans this offseason. I think maybe the Bengals I heard were tied with us for the least, but they are coming off a Super Bowl run. Either way if we stay as healthy or even better than last year in 2022 I won't argue with the methodology.

Short version:

 

[TheRealMcCoy]

[TheRealMcCoy]

So, I was watching Britain Covey high school highlights at 3 am cause I can't sleep even with melatonin smh.

He won a Utah state title as a WR as a sophomore and they moved him to QB and never lost again winning another 2 state titles his junior and senior years.

Quote

Covey grew up in Provo, Utah, and attended Timpview High School, where he played two years at quarterback and led his team to a 26–0 record.[1] He totaled 4492 passing yards and threw for 56 touchdowns, while also making 2904 rushing yards and scoring 44 touchdowns as a runner. He finished his high school career fourth all-time in Utah touchdowns (with 111), despite only playing two years as a starter. He was twice the Utah Valley Football Player of the Year and led Timpview to back-to-back state championships. Covey made nearly 7,400 yards of total offense at the school.

That highlight tape is hilarious. Dude was just playing backyard football. Running around the backfield like a jitterbug throwing out multiple jukes and spinning out of tackles and his receivers just knew to keep running around to space and when he spotted one would just launch it lol.

Then, of course I moved on to his career college highlights (18 mins), so now I'm up to 30 mins of Covey highlights:

My favorite highlight came at the very end of the video where Utah was killing Oregon 48-13 late in the 3rd quarter his true freshman year (2015!!!) and they executed a fake punt to him and another Eagle by the name of Devon Allen who was the gunner ran all the way down the field super fast only to find out Covey tricked him and then pushes Covey in the chest out of frustration haha.

Quote

“I watched film to see what I look like when I am actually catching a ball and just tried to emulate that as best as possible,” Covey said. “They all followed me, and I just looked at the guy and said, ‘Gotcha.’ It kind of made [Oregon’s Devon Allen] mad, and he gave me a little shove after that.”

[Ozzy]

6 hours ago, TheRealMcCoy said:

Thanks Ozzy. 

We are actually fairly confident in Epps and think he could take another step this year like he did last year and maybe solidify himself as a starter and earn an extension during the year like Maddox or after the season is over. I take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but he was the best graded last season out of the safeties on the roster. He was definitely the most impactful safety for us last year despite being the 3rd guy in snaps behind McLeod and Harris. He was really good coming downhill from deep playing the run. He had 3 INTs over the past 2 years in basically a full years worth of play as a starter when you combine the past 2 seasons. He had 5 PDs in just like 500 snaps last year. That's 2 more than Anthony Harris who played like 330 more snaps than him. Not saying I'm expecting Marcus to be some great player, but I think he can be a solid starter. We are all hoping his playing time doesn't get eaten into too much since he could be a part of our future on a new 3 year contract, whereas Tartt and Harris are both already 31 and on the decline.

Tartt fits the role of the FS who rotates post-snap cause he's just done it more. Anthony Harris was better when we moved him closer to the LOS last year. Yeah, now we are just hoping that we stay as healthy as we did last year and not the injured seasons following the Super Bowl win that we had to endure the last 3 years of Doug's tenure. To be fair even the Super Bowl year we suffered some significant injuries and just overcame them. I think my hope would be that Tartt and Epps are the starters at some point with Harris as the 3rd safety when we need him in the box. Gannon has a connection with Harris dating back to his Minnesota days and probably trusts him more than any other player in that safety room though. Also, when listing the secondary players you left out Avonte Maddox who was probably a top 5 slot corner last year. 

I think there are three keys to this season:

1.) Jalen Hurts taking another step as a passer.

He's been working hard this offseason on his mechanics and it was showing in videos of his form from OTAs and his deep passing accuracy albeit on air was great.Jalen hasn't had a 2nd year in a row with the same offense with the same play caller since he was with his dad back in high school, so hopefully besides the mechanics getting sharpened the familiarity helps him too.

2.) Jonathan Gannon progressing as a defensive play caller.

Last year was his first year ever calling plays making the move from DB coach and nothing about it was inspiring. There was just too much lack of creativity and things didn't start to get better till at least halfway through the season and by then we had already played like all the really good to great QBs on our schedule who took what the soft coverages we were playing afforded them and just methodically drove on us for high completion rates. I'll cut him slack cause it was his first year calling plays and we didn't really have the personnel he needed to run what he wanted to, but Roseman went out this offseason and did a great job stacking the cupboard for him. The pieces are there for the defense to take a jump.

3.) Staying healthy

Last year was an anomaly for us in terms of how healthy we stayed besides at guard. We finished 12th last year in AGL (Adjusted Games Lost) which was a hell of a lot better than 30th in 2020, 21st in 2019, and 32nd in 2018. We brought in the Rams director of strength and training in 2020 and promoted him to vice president of player performance last offseason. We've kind of adopted the Rams way of doing things with shorter practices. The Rams have been the model of health in the league the past half decade. Their AGL numbers are incredible. They were 1st in 2017, 4th in 2018, 10th in 2019, 2nd in 2020, and 5th in 2021. We probably had the least amount of OTA practices this offseason which has been a big point of contention in the media and with fans this offseason. I think maybe the Bengals I heard were tied with us for the least, but they are coming off a Super Bowl run. Either way if we stay as healthy or even better than last year in 2022 I won't argue with the methodology.

Short version:

 

Epps could be decent but for right now I think Tartt is a better player by far and is obviously more proven.  Will see what happens but sure both of those guys are older and Epps is a solid backup at this point.

 

Hurts was awful in that playoff game, he really needs to simply take care of the football and if he fails this year it is all on him because he has weapons around him, a good run game and a solid OL so no excuses now.  If the Eagles fail as a team this year Hurts will be the reason why but he is a great competitor, good leader and poised so I would assume he will improve.  Minshew is a fine backup though so at least they have a safety net.  

 

Either way they are one of the best rosters in football no question but like the Browns last year, if a few injuries happen and the QB play is not great it could go down hill.  As for the same playcaller thing, sure that might be helpful but who knows, is pretty nuts but it was his choice to leave Bama and the NFL is constant coaching changes unless you win all the time.  

 

Maddox I like at CB and he helps greatly as well no question.  They have a lot of sleeper players who could be decent like Tyree Jackson at TE, or Grant Calcaterra at TE, heck Jack Stoll even.  Dillard will be a starting LT in the NFL in time and is one of the best backup LTs in the NFL, shocked he was not traded for.  Jurgens has tons of potential at center as a developmental guy, Gainwell is a dangerous RB, Devon Allen is very interesting with his track speed, Covey I like as well but will be hard for him to make the team.  Hell they got Carson Strong?  I love that dude, he has a cannon, no clue why he was not drafted and I forgot they got him!  Milton Williams obviously has upside at DT, Patrick Johnson I like and has good pass rush potential.  McPhearson, Gowan and Vincent Jr are promising young CBs or safeties and Dean again is a total steal at ILB and should be the starter soon.

 

So they sure do draft well and collect talent no doubt about it!

Edited June 25, 2022 by Ozzy

[TheRealMcCoy]

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Epps could be decent but for right now I think Tartt is a better player by far and is obviously more proven.  Will see what happens but sure both of those guys are older and Epps is a solid backup at this point.

I think you are underrating Epps and overrating the vets a bit, but that's okay.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Hurts was awful in that playoff game, he really needs to simply take care of the football

He took care of the ball pretty well last season for the most part, but yeah that playoff game was by far his worst game last year. Bowles and the Bucs defense frustrated the hell out of him that game. There was opportunities he missed despite that in the game still.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

if he fails this year it is all on him because he has weapons around him, a good run game and a solid OL so no excuses now.

Solid OL is an understatement. He might have the best OL in the league.

Hurts contributed a lot to the run game last year as the leading rusher. Sanders really needs to stay healthy.

But, agreed Howie has given him a great supporting cast all around to work with.

Not many QBs (even 1st rounders) have this great of a situation by their 3rd year.

It's put up or shut up time and Hurts knows that.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

If the Eagles fail as a team this year Hurts will be the reason why but he is a great competitor, good leader and poised so I would assume he will improve

I wouldn't let Gannon off the hook like that. Sure Jalen is the most important part, but both of them need to show improvement this year.

I'd say Hurts has improved every single year of his career since he was a true freshman at Bama when he was an awful passer, so I expect him to improve somewhat. The question is how much of an improvement will we see? His biggest jump passing wise was probably the transfer from Bama to OU with Riley and his rookie year to last year. We are gonna need more of an improvement than we got last year for him to become the guy or for us to be a legit threat in the NFC though. Even witht he roster upgrades teams like the Bucs, Rams, and even probably the Packers aren't gonna be sweating us if he only improves a minimal amount.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

As for the same playcaller thing, sure that might be helpful but who knows, is pretty nuts but it was his choice to leave Bama

I mean he wasn't gonna play at Bama with Tua there. He had to leave for his Senior year and it was absolutely the right decision. You watch enough college football to know this. I thought it was weird at the time he wasn't transferring out after his Sophomore year when Tua came in and won the National Championship game. It all ended up working out for him as he's in a great position right now and was able to come in his Junior year for an injured Tua and lead Bama to a comeback victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship game. 

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

the NFL is constant coaching changes unless you win all the time.  

Eagles typically have HCs at least for 3 seasons in my time as a fan. The 3 season tenure by Chip Kelly was the shortest and that's cause he was hard headed and didn't want to change whatsoever. That isn't a problem with Sirianni who showed almost halfway thorugh the season he can adapt as we switched over to a heavy run team and he handed play calling duties over to his offensive coordinator in Steichen. That was something his predessor (Pederson) never wanted to do. I expect Sirianni to be here at least next year and probably at least 4 years, but we'll see I guess.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

They have a lot of sleeper players who could be decent like Tyree Jackson at TE, or Grant Calcaterra at TE, heck Jack Stoll even.

Yeah, I'd say Stoll is probably as close of a lock out of those guys to make the roster since he's the best blocker out of the back-ups. I wanna say Tyree will start the year out on PUP. Grant can make the roster, but obviously he has to have a good camp. I think from how they talked about him they have a plan for him as the F-Receiver/TE. 

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Dillard will be a starting LT in the NFL in time and is one of the best backup LTs in the NFL, shocked he was not traded for.

You and me both, man.

Obviously we don't know what the Eagles might've been offered, but I thought some team would've at least given up a mid rounder for him. It's not really his fault he came in behind Peters and then a bicep tear shut down his 2020 season when he was the projected starter and allowed Mailata to come in and play fairly well for his first year playing real football games (not just preseason like his first couple years). Then Mailata was one of the best LTs last year and is a genuine physical freak with his strength/athleticism combo. His strength was a big issue coming into the league in 2019 and the bicep tear obviously put a stall in him working on his upper body in 2020. The past couple years he's worked to improve that and I think it was better last year... still not great, but better. Hopefully in 2022 he'll be stronger than he was last year.

This was a post he made to his Instagram like a couple months ago.

It's gonna suck if he doesn't really have to play much for us and we end up just losing him as a free agent next offseason and he signs a pretty small/modest deal and we barely get like a 6th round comp pick or something for him assuming we don't sign many FAs next year to cancel it out. I was hoping that we could've got like a mid round pick for him this draft. Maybe a 4th rounder to replace the one we lost in the Jordan Davis trade.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Jurgens has tons of potential at center as a developmental guy

Yeah, I don't think he could've landed in a better situation then with arguably the best OL coach in the league with Stoutland (its probably him or Callahan) and the guy he should be meodeling his game after with his athleticism in Kelce. Jason basically helped hand picked him with his input to Howie and seemed genuinely excited about teaching him everything he can. I'm pretty sure this will be Kelce's last go around, but who knows.

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Gainwell is a dangerous RB

Gainwell has been working hard this offseason training with Bills receiver Gabriel Davis. He just needs to clean up the drops he had last year as a rookie with 5 of them on only 50 targets for a 10% drop rate and 2 fumbles on only 68 carries. I think the Eagles like him a lot though. 

9 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Devon Allen is very interesting with his track speed, Covey I like as well but will be hard for him to make the team.

Yeah, its gonna be hard for either to make the roster, but I think Covey has a better shot than Allen. He can return punts and kicks at a high level. Allen doesn't even have much kick return experiene. He did it 8 times as a freshman at Oregon, but that was it. Covey's last 2 years at Utah he had a higher average per KR than Allen did as a freshman. I think Covey is definitely better as a receiver too and he can also be used as a passer on trick plays which obviously isn't gonna help him make the roster, but its fun to think about lol.

9 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Hell they got Carson Strong?  I love that dude, he has a cannon, no clue why he was not drafted and I forgot they got him!

Yeah, he got one of the largest deals ever for a UDFA, so he's probably making the roster as QB3 behind Minshew. Gardner also is on the last year of his deal, so he'll either be traded sometime during the year or leave in FA most likely. I'm assuming Strong picked the Eagles cause there is uncertainty with Hurts. My biggest worry with him is obviously how long his career will last with the knee, but as a UDFA.... why not? Dude definitely has a hose though. His passing was definitely hampered this past season by the knee not being fully ready to go just 6 months after the surgeries. They told him not to play this year, but he did it anyways. I'm definitely interested to see how he performs in preseason cause we have probably the deepest OL room in the league so even if he's 3rd string for some games or 2nd string he'll likely have better back-ups protecting him than the other teams will have back-up DL talent. Our WR room is also the deepest and best its been that I can remember since I've been a fan, so he has that going for him too.

9 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Milton Williams obviously has upside at DT

Yeah, he got better as his rookie year progressed. Held up better against the run than I was expecting for a smaller DT with really short arms. Defintely excited to see what kind of step he can take as a pass rusher in year 2. He had like the 7th most QB hits out of the rookies last year and none of the 6 ahead of him were interior defensive linemen. 

9 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Patrick Johnson I like and has good pass rush potential.

Yeah, I thought he looked decent in the few snaps (111) he got last year. He's gonna be battling with the other Johnson we drafted this year in Kyron Johnson for the back-up spot behind Haason Reddick at SAM. I think Kyron has the advantage over him as a special teamer and he's the more athletic of the two. Patrick has more size to contribute right now as a run defender though.

9 hours ago, Ozzy said:

McPhearson, Gowan and Vincent Jr are promising young CBs or safeties and Dean again is a total steal at ILB and should be the starter soon.

Definitely excited about Dean and hoping he's a starter day 1. 

But, yeah I'm interested to see which of the young corners can stand out in a good way at camp. We also brought in a few corners as UDFAs like Mario Goodrich, Josh Jobe, and Josh Blackwell. Have Josiah Scott who traded for from Jacksonville last offseason and Jimmy Moreland (inside/outside versatility) who we claimed after the Texans waived him recently. 

9 hours ago, Ozzy said:

So they sure do draft well and collect talent no doubt about it!

They had 2 really good drafts these past years IMO after eh drafts previously.

I'd like to see a 3rd good draft in a row in 2023 before I can say that, especially with how much front office turnover we had to endure this offseason losing 4 people to Assistant GM jobs and even more turnover beyond in the front office beyond just that.

BTW you're welcome by in the Eagles forum any time @Ozzy. Really appreciate your analysis, esp regarding the draft.

[Ozzy]

7 minutes ago, TheRealMcCoy said:

I think you are underrating Epps and overrating the vets a bit, but that's okay.

He took care of the ball pretty well last season for the most part, but yeah that playoff game was by far his worst game last year. Bowles and the Bucs defense frustrated the hell out of him that game. There was opportunities he missed despite that in the game still.

Solid OL is an understatement. He might have the best OL in the league.

Hurts contributed a lot to the run game last year as the leading rusher. Sanders really needs to stay healthy.

But, agreed Howie has given him a great supporting cast all around to work with.

Not many QBs (even 1st rounders) have this great of a situation by their 3rd year.

It's put up or shut up time and Hurts knows that.

I wouldn't let Gannon off the hook like that. Sure Jalen is the most important part, but both of them need to show improvement this year.

I'd say Hurts has improved every single year of his career since he was a true freshman at Bama when he was an awful passer, so I expect him to improve somewhat. The question is how much of an improvement will we see? His biggest jump passing wise was probably the transfer from Bama to OU with Riley and his rookie year to last year. We are gonna need more of an improvement than we got last year for him to become the guy or for us to be a legit threat in the NFC though. Even witht he roster upgrades teams like the Bucs, Rams, and even probably the Packers aren't gonna be sweating us if he only improves a minimal amount.

I mean he wasn't gonna play at Bama with Tua there. He had to leave for his Senior year and it was absolutely the right decision. You watch enough college football to know this. I thought it was weird at the time he wasn't transferring out after his Sophomore year when Tua came in and won the National Championship game. It all ended up working out for him as he's in a great position right now and was able to come in his Junior year for an injured Tua and lead Bama to a comeback victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship game. 

Eagles typically have HCs at least for 3 seasons in my time as a fan. The 3 season tenure by Chip Kelly was the shortest and that's cause he was hard headed and didn't want to change whatsoever. That isn't a problem with Sirianni who showed almost halfway thorugh the season he can adapt as we switched over to a heavy run team and he handed play calling duties over to his offensive coordinator in Steichen. That was something his predessor (Pederson) never wanted to do. I expect Sirianni to be here at least next year and probably at least 4 years, but we'll see I guess.

Yeah, I'd say Stoll is probably as close of a lock out of those guys to make the roster since he's the best blocker out of the back-ups. I wanna say Tyree will start the year out on PUP. Grant can make the roster, but obviously he has to have a good camp. I think from how they talked about him they have a plan for him as the F-Receiver/TE. 

You and me both, man.

Obviously we don't know what the Eagles might've been offered, but I thought some team would've at least given up a mid rounder for him. It's not really his fault he came in behind Peters and then a bicep tear shut down his 2020 season when he was the projected starter and allowed Mailata to come in and play fairly well for his first year playing real football games (not just preseason like his first couple years). Then Mailata was one of the best LTs last year and is a genuine physical freak with his strength/athleticism combo. His strength was a big issue coming into the league in 2019 and the bicep tear obviously put a stall in him working on his upper body in 2020. The past couple years he's worked to improve that and I think it was better last year... still not great, but better. Hopefully in 2022 he'll be stronger than he was last year.

This was a post he made to his Instagram like a couple months ago.

It's gonna suck if he doesn't really have to play much for us and we end up just losing him as a free agent next offseason and he signs a pretty small/modest deal and we barely get like a 6th round comp pick or something for him assuming we don't sign many FAs next year to cancel it out. I was hoping that we could've got like a mid round pick for him this draft. Maybe a 4th rounder to replace the one we lost in the Jordan Davis trade.

Yeah, I don't think he could've landed in a better situation then with arguably the best OL coach in the league with Stoutland (its probably him or Callahan) and the guy he should be meodeling his game after with his athleticism in Kelce. Jason basically helped hand picked him with his input to Howie and seemed genuinely excited about teaching him everything he can. I'm pretty sure this will be Kelce's last go around, but who knows.

Gainwell has been working hard this offseason training with Bills receiver Gabriel Davis. He just needs to clean up the drops he had last year as a rookie with 5 of them on only 50 targets for a 10% drop rate and 2 fumbles on only 68 carries. I think the Eagles like him a lot though. 

Yeah, its gonna be hard for either to make the roster, but I think Covey has a better shot than Allen. He can return punts and kicks at a high level. Allen doesn't even have much kick return experiene. He did it 8 times as a freshman at Oregon, but that was it. Covey's last 2 years at Utah he had a higher average per KR than Allen did as a freshman. I think Covey is definitely better as a receiver too and he can also be used as a passer on trick plays which obviously isn't gonna help him make the roster, but its fun to think about lol.

Yeah, he got one of the largest deals ever for a UDFA, so he's probably making the roster as QB3 behind Minshew. Gardner also is on the last year of his deal, so he'll either be traded sometime during the year or leave in FA most likely. I'm assuming Strong picked the Eagles cause there is uncertainty with Hurts. My biggest worry with him is obviously how long his career will last with the knee, but as a UDFA.... why not? Dude definitely has a hose though. His passing was definitely hampered this past season by the knee not being fully ready to go just 6 months after the surgeries. They told him not to play this year, but he did it anyways. I'm definitely interested to see how he performs in preseason cause we have probably the deepest OL room in the league so even if he's 3rd string for some games or 2nd string he'll likely have better back-ups protecting him than the other teams will have back-up DL talent. Our WR room is also the deepest and best its been that I can remember since I've been a fan, so he has that going for him too.

Yeah, he got better as his rookie year progressed. Held up better against the run than I was expecting for a smaller DT with really short arms. Defintely excited to see what kind of step he can take as a pass rusher in year 2. He had like the 7th most QB hits out of the rookies last year and none of the 6 ahead of him were interior defensive linemen. 

Yeah, I thought he looked decent in the few snaps (111) he got last year. He's gonna be battling with the other Johnson we drafted this year in Kyron Johnson for the back-up spot behind Haason Reddick at SAM. I think Kyron has the advantage over him as a special teamer and he's the more athletic of the two. Patrick has more size to contribute right now as a run defender though.

Definitely excited about Dean and hoping he's a starter day 1. 

But, yeah I'm interested to see which of the young corners can stand out in a good way at camp. We also brought in a few corners as UDFAs like Mario Goodrich, Josh Jobe, and Josh Blackwell. Have Josiah Scott who traded for from Jacksonville last offseason and Jimmy Moreland (inside/outside versatility) who we claimed after the Texans waived him recently. 

They had 2 really good drafts these past years IMO after eh drafts previously.

I'd like to see a 3rd good draft in a row in 2023 before I can say that, especially with how much front office turnover we had to endure this offseason losing 4 people to Assistant GM jobs and even more turnover beyond in the front office beyond just that.

BTW you're welcome by in the Eagles forum any time @Ozzy. Really appreciate your analysis, esp regarding the draft.

I agree the Eagles probably have the best OL in football, and agreed they probably have the best OL coach in football.  No question in terms of pure depth overall they have the best OL because even the backups are pretty solid with Dillard, Driscoll, Jack Anderson, Jurgens, Toth, Sills etc.  

 

And sure one can blame a coach if the team fails but still it all comes down to Hurts I feel.  His running ability helps him a lot and is hard to deal with, his strength and physical play at QB is hard to deal with, his mental toughness is hard to deal with  but he is a limited passer and not sure that will change.   Sure he has got better but he is missing something in terms of his processing and accuracy, hell if the Eagles Carson Wentz last year they would have been better.  Sure most Eagles fans hate the guy but he did not have a ton of help WR wise on the Colts and had a better year passing than Hurts did arguably on a team pretty similar in terms of the run game and the solid OL.  

 

Will see what he does but he could be the weak link who knows.  

 

I forgot they brought in Jobe and Goodrich, both are solid corners no question and might make the roster but will see what happens.  I like Scott as well in terms of his tackling ability.  As for Epps not sure he will take the place of Harris or Tartt in the starting lineup and if he does I would be surprised.  Sure he was productive last year but that defense was on the field a lot were they not.

 

I still am pissed Wingard was not drafted and was a UDFA and Epps was picked ahead of him but turns out Epps is pretty solid but Wingard when healthy has some ability as well.  He is comfortable in coverage and has good change of direction and that helps him a lot.

 

And yes I make comments from time to time on rosters I think that are turning out, Phili and Pittsburgh both have had very solid off seasons I feel and could make some noise come next season.  

 

 

[TheRealMcCoy]

2 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I agree the Eagles probably have the best OL in football, and agreed they probably have the best OL coach in football.  No question in terms of pure depth overall they have the best OL because even the backups are pretty solid with Dillard, Driscoll, Jack Anderson, Jurgens, Toth, Sills etc. 

Yeah. One thing Eagles are always gonna value as long as Roseman is here is the trenches.

We almost lost Stoutland to Bama after Doug got fired, but we were able to keep him from leaving and that was a big help last year to Sirianni and the reason Mailata has had the growth he has and Kelce hasn't hung it up already cause he loves Stout. 

Also, can you imagine Evan Neal having been coached last year by Stoutland? Whew buddy. 

2 hours ago, Ozzy said:

And sure one can blame a coach if the team fails but still it all comes down to Hurts I feel. 

Oh trust me I'm not disagreeing that Jalen Hurts is the most important part to how this season will go. I just think its also very key for Gannon to show strides as a DC. We can't waste the talent we have on defense.

Coaches are important at the end of the day, but even they'll tell you "it's not the Xs and Os, but the Jimmys and Joes" or something to that extent. 

2 hours ago, Ozzy said:

His running ability helps him a lot and is hard to deal with, his strength and physical play at QB is hard to deal with, his mental toughness is hard to deal with

Agreed. Ask the Saints (2021 Overall Def DVOA - 3rd Run D DVOA - 1st / 2020 Overall Def DVOA - 2nd Run D DVOA - 2nd) who Hurts has beat the past 2 years in large part due to the effect his legs have on the ground game and how they make it harder to key in on the backs with the RPOs. 

I think his mental toughness makes him great for the city of Philadelphia. That is just something that Carson lacked. He wasn't built for this city. When things were going well he was fine, but when adversity hit.... he crumbled. Every time Jalen has been faced with adveristy he has faced it head on like going to a High School in Texas at Channelview that wasn't one of the schools with much talent cause his dad was coaching there and they were 1-8 his freshman year and 4-5 his sophomore year. I only see passing stats on Max Preps for his Junior and Senior years, but those years when he did play at QB for sure they were 7-4 both years which is a nice improvement for a lackluster football school. He actually got them to the playoffs his Senior year where they got demolished by Manvel 71-21.

He's always carried a chip on his shoulder from that playoff loss I think.

 

Jeff McLane actually asked him a question about that playoff loss (see video above at 1:19 and quote below):

Quote

 

Asked on Wednesday what he learned about himself competing in his first playoff game, Hurts declined to answer the question.

“What are we getting at with this?” he said, before moving on to the next question.

 

Quote

 

When Channelview met powerhouse Manvel in the first round of a bi-district playoff game in 2015, few gave the program a chance. Manvel had around a dozen Division I recruits. Channelview had two, and one was Hurts, who committed to Alabama that June. He might have been the best player on the field, but it takes more than one in football.

Manvel scored the first 47 points and won going away, 71-21. The Mavericks had their share of dynamic moments, especially against an undersized opponent. But what stood out most about Hurts’ performance, coaches from both sides said, was his effort and the blow he delivered to a defender in the fourth quarter when the outcome was all but settled.

Henderson (Hurts HS QB coach) said he knew where Hurts was coming from (with his response to the Eagles reporter).

“It’ll still eat at him and you’ll never know,” Henderson said. “I’m not comparing him to Michael Jordan, but if you know anything about Michael Jordan, he uses everything as motivation. … It’s the same with Jalen. He feels if he takes a moment off, or a moment to reflect, then it’s going to deter him from moving forward.

“So he has to have those internal motivations to keep his fire lit to move forward. And I think that’s what those games do for him.”

 

Here are some more bits from that article if you care (you have to pay to see it... I would post the whole article, but I think that's against forum rules):

Quote

 

When college recruiters visited Channelview High School to meet Jalen Hurts for the first time, his father and coach, Averion, would sometimes bring into his office the Fighting Falcons offensive line.

“You’d have this 5-[foot]-6 kid, 5-8 kid. We had one that was 6-foot at the time,” Channelview offensive coordinator Byron Henderson said. “And Averion would be like, ‘I want you to understand these are the guys that are blocking for him. So everything that he’s doing, I want you to see what he’s doing it behind.’”

Channelview, located just east of Houston, wasn’t a Texas 6A powerhouse when the elder Hurts took over the program in 2006. It hadn’t made the playoffs since 1993 and it took 10 more years before the Falcons finally did.

The coach got close with his eldest son, Averion Jr., but it would be Jalen, in his senior year, who led Channelview into the postseason for the first time in 22 years.

 

Imagine that lol.... Jalen was being blocked for by 5'6" and 5'8" dudes on the offensive line in HS.

Quote

 

But Jalen Hurts never made excuses, according to Henderson. In fact, Channelview’s struggles only made the laser-focused young man that much more determined.

“The process was the important thing, and he’d tell his teammates, ‘Hey, let’s go out here and do it better than we did it before,’” said Bo Davis, the coach who recruited Hurts to Alabama. “I think he thrived on it. I don’t think the losing was a pitfall. He just pushed himself harder and the people around him harder to be successful.”

 

I think my favorite thing about Hurts overall is just his demeanor and how calm, cool and collected he is. 

Despite playing for his dad in HS this isn't a guy that was handed things on a silver platter.

Quote

 

He had successes and failures, and sometimes both in the same game, but Hurts has proved resilient. He was trained to be that way. Averion Hurts coached his son hard to strengthen his mental toughness. He had him power-lift to make him strong enough to withstand the hits.

The former offensive lineman coached him the only way he knew how.

“He wanted Jalen to be tough,” said Davis, who first met Averion Hurts when they both coached at Houston-area schools. “And so he groomed him like an O-lineman that you would expect as a former O-lineman dad to do with his son.”

 

I think this one was one of my favorite parts of the article was about how his dad coached him hard and like an offensive lineman like with how much emphasis he put on weight room training/power lifting. It explains why Jalen probably gets along so well with the offensive lineman and is often training with Lane Johnson in the offseasons at Lane's facility since becoming the starter:

He was built for tough coaching.

For my favorite Eagles on a personal level he's right there with Nick Foles.

Both of them are super easy to like and root for.

But, at the end of the day it comes down to being a passer in this league.......

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

but he is a limited passer and not sure that will change.   Sure he has got better but he is missing something in terms of his processing and accuracy

I agree with most of this though. I still have questions about him and how much he can grow as a passer. I know he's been working hard to fix stuff mechanically, but he has to be able to read the field faster and throw more with anticipation. I think some of the deep ball accuracy can be fixed with the work he's doing to tweak his mechanics. His footwork a lot of times last year or just getting his hip through was so inconsistent and he didn't have the arm to just not be on time, so when he was late the ball couldn't get where it needed to go like Mahomes, Allen, Herbert, and Rodgers can get away with, because they have absolute cannons.

I think his running ability provides him with a solid floor, but his ceiling is the question for me and many other Eagles fans and that will be dictated based on his improvements he can make as a passer like you said.

I'm not expecting some Josh Allen-like jump in year 3 like I've seen mentioned by Hurts stans on Twitter.

Allen went from a passing 67.9 as a rookie to 85.3 in his 2nd year to a whopping 107.2 for year 3 before falling back down to 92.2 this past season.

Hurts had a 77.6 rate as a rookie in his 4 starts and 87.2 last year in his first real year as the starter. I listened to an Eagles podcast that set the over/under for his passer rating at 97.0 cause that's basically where the top 10 started for passer rating last year. One host was shocked at that number he suggested for the over/under, but he said he chose that cause some fans are talking about him in contrast with Josh Allen, so if they think he is gonna take a big jump then his passer rating should be around the top 10 in that case. Both of the hosts said under which I would've too.

If Jalen can be in the 90s for passer rating I'll be happy. Like if you tell me right now he finished with a passer rating of 92 (5 point jump from last year) this year I'd be pretty happy, especially considering the element his legs provide. And, yes I know passer rating isn't the greatest stat, but I'm not gonna use QBR and passer rating just makes for an easier comparison.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Will see what he does but he could be the weak link who knows.  

For sure. No matter how it plays out it will be interesting no matter what. The amount of coverage I've already seen from the big networks on him from like Fox, ESPN, and so on already has been nuts. Every time I go on YouTube there is like a new video about them talking about Hurts lol.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I forgot they brought in Jobe and Goodrich, both are solid corners no question and might make the roster but will see what happens.  I like Scott as well in terms of his tackling ability.

Yeah. I don't know if any of them will make the roster, but we'll see. Goodrich seems like a better fit for heavy zone than Jobe. You think Jobe could make the transition to safety?

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

As for Epps not sure he will take the place of Harris or Tartt in the starting lineup and if he does I would be surprised.  Sure he was productive last year but that defense was on the field a lot were they not.

They were on the field a lot, but Epps played the least snaps out of the safeties and was around the ball the most I think. PFF graded him as one of the best run defenders for safeties fwiw. I don't really trust PFF's grading for safeties and secondary in general, cause its hard to know what exactly the calls and responsiblities are on an every down basis, but Epps didn't often miss tackles coming downhill from deep at least from my recollection.

I think Tartt and Harris could get the nod as the starters just based off experience and how comfortable Gannon might be with them for that reason, but I don't want Epps to play less snaps than he did last year. 

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I still am pissed Wingard was not drafted and was a UDFA and Epps was picked ahead of him but turns out Epps is pretty solid but Wingard when healthy has some ability as well.  He is comfortable in coverage and has good change of direction and that helps him a lot.

Can't say I scouted either of them extensively when they came out of Wyoming. All I remember is Wingard was a tackling machine and had majestic hair lol. 

Didn't realize Wingard went from 460 snaps in 2020 to leading the Jags defense in snaps at 932.... see that's the kind of jump I want to see for Epps who was at 505 last year. It doesn't have to be that many, but I want him in the 800 range preferably. I'd like Anthony Harris to be the 3rd safety I think.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

And yes I make comments from time to time on rosters I think that are turning out, Phili and Pittsburgh both have had very solid off seasons I feel and could make some noise come next season.  

Interesting about Pittsburgh.

I have some questions with their roster and QB situation, but somehow Mike Tomlin in his 15 years has never had a losing season. He's had some 8-8 seasons, but never a losing one. You can't really come out at .500 with 17 games anymore unless you get a tie, so I wonder if this will be the first year he ends up with that losing record like maybe 8-9 or 7-10. From the way you're talking about them I doubt you see it happening though.

Either way I know a Tomlin team is gonna be very well coached and I'm interested to see how our game with them after our bye turns out. We definitely can't overlook them. Feel like that could be a trap game.

Lucikly for us the game is in Philly..... since the 90s the Steelers have never won in Philly and the Eagles have only won in Pittsburgh just once in Andy Reid's 2nd year where David Akers hit a 42 yard FG to win the game in overtime 26-23. That was before I even became a fan lol.

[Ozzy]

30 minutes ago, TheRealMcCoy said:

Yeah. One thing Eagles are always gonna value as long as Roseman is here is the trenches.

We almost lost Stoutland to Bama after Doug got fired, but we were able to keep him from leaving and that was a big help last year to Sirianni and the reason Mailata has had the growth he has and Kelce hasn't hung it up already cause he loves Stout. 

Also, can you imagine Evan Neal having been coached last year by Stoutland? Whew buddy. 

Oh trust me I'm not disagreeing that Jalen Hurts is the most important part to how this season will go. I just think its also very key for Gannon to show strides as a DC. We can't waste the talent we have on defense.

Coaches are important at the end of the day, but even they'll tell you "it's not the Xs and Os, but the Jimmys and Joes" or something to that extent. 

Agreed. Ask the Saints (2021 Overall Def DVOA - 3rd Run D DVOA - 1st / 2020 Overall Def DVOA - 2nd Run D DVOA - 2nd) who Hurts has beat the past 2 years in large part due to the effect his legs have on the ground game and how they make it harder to key in on the backs with the RPOs. 

I think his mental toughness makes him great for the city of Philadelphia. That is just something that Carson lacked. He wasn't built for this city. When things were going well he was fine, but when adversity hit.... he crumbled. Every time Jalen has been faced with adveristy he has faced it head on like going to a High School in Texas at Channelview that wasn't one of the schools with much talent cause his dad was coaching there and they were 1-8 his freshman year and 4-5 his sophomore year. I only see passing stats on Max Preps for his Junior and Senior years, but those years when he did play at QB for sure they were 7-4 both years which is a nice improvement for a lackluster football school. He actually got them to the playoffs his Senior year where they got demolished by Manvel 71-21.

He's always carried a chip on his shoulder from that playoff loss I think.

 

Jeff McLane actually asked him a question about that playoff loss (see video above at 1:19 and quote below):

Here are some more bits from that article if you care (you have to pay to see it... I would post the whole article, but I think that's against forum rules):

Imagine that lol.... Jalen was being blocked for by 5'6" and 5'8" dudes on the offensive line in HS.

I think my favorite thing about Hurts overall is just his demeanor and how calm, cool and collected he is. 

Despite playing for his dad in HS this isn't a guy that was handed things on a silver platter.

I think this one was one of my favorite parts of the article was about how his dad coached him hard and like an offensive lineman like with how much emphasis he put on weight room training/power lifting. It explains why Jalen probably gets along so well with the offensive lineman and is often training with Lane Johnson in the offseasons at Lane's facility since becoming the starter:

He was built for tough coaching.

For my favorite Eagles on a personal level he's right there with Nick Foles.

Both of them are super easy to like and root for.

But, at the end of the day it comes down to being a passer in this league.......

I agree with most of this though. I still have questions about him and how much he can grow as a passer. I know he's been working hard to fix stuff mechanically, but he has to be able to read the field faster and throw more with anticipation. I think some of the deep ball accuracy can be fixed with the work he's doing to tweak his mechanics. His footwork a lot of times last year or just getting his hip through was so inconsistent and he didn't have the arm to just not be on time, so when he was late the ball couldn't get where it needed to go like Mahomes, Allen, Herbert, and Rodgers can get away with, because they have absolute cannons.

I think his running ability provides him with a solid floor, but his ceiling is the question for me and many other Eagles fans and that will be dictated based on his improvements he can make as a passer like you said.

I'm not expecting some Josh Allen-like jump in year 3 like I've seen mentioned by Hurts stans on Twitter.

Allen went from a passing 67.9 as a rookie to 85.3 in his 2nd year to a whopping 107.2 for year 3 before falling back down to 92.2 this past season.

Hurts had a 77.6 rate as a rookie in his 4 starts and 87.2 last year in his first real year as the starter. I listened to an Eagles podcast that set the over/under for his passer rating at 97.0 cause that's basically where the top 10 started for passer rating last year. One host was shocked at that number he suggested for the over/under, but he said he chose that cause some fans are talking about him in contrast with Josh Allen, so if they think he is gonna take a big jump then his passer rating should be around the top 10 in that case. Both of the hosts said under which I would've too.

If Jalen can be in the 90s for passer rating I'll be happy. Like if you tell me right now he finished with a passer rating of 92 (5 point jump from last year) this year I'd be pretty happy, especially considering the element his legs provide. And, yes I know passer rating isn't the greatest stat, but I'm not gonna use QBR and passer rating just makes for an easier comparison.

For sure. No matter how it plays out it will be interesting no matter what. The amount of coverage I've already seen from the big networks on him from like Fox, ESPN, and so on already has been nuts. Every time I go on YouTube there is like a new video about them talking about Hurts lol.

Yeah. I don't know if any of them will make the roster, but we'll see. Goodrich seems like a better fit for heavy zone than Jobe. You think Jobe could make the transition to safety?

They were on the field a lot, but Epps played the least snaps out of the safeties and was around the ball the most I think. PFF graded him as one of the best run defenders for safeties fwiw. I don't really trust PFF's grading for safeties and secondary in general, cause its hard to know what exactly the calls and responsiblities are on an every down basis, but Epps didn't often miss tackles coming downhill from deep at least from my recollection.

I think Tartt and Harris could get the nod as the starters just based off experience and how comfortable Gannon might be with them for that reason, but I don't want Epps to play less snaps than he did last year. 

Can't say I scouted either of them extensively when they came out of Wyoming. All I remember is Wingard was a tackling machine and had majestic hair lol. 

Didn't realize Wingard went from 460 snaps in 2020 to leading the Jags defense in snaps at 932.... see that's the kind of jump I want to see for Epps who was at 505 last year. It doesn't have to be that many, but I want him in the 800 range preferably. I'd like Anthony Harris to be the 3rd safety I think.

Interesting about Pittsburgh.

I have some questions with their roster and QB situation, but somehow Mike Tomlin in his 15 years has never had a losing season. He's had some 8-8 seasons, but never a losing one. You can't really come out at .500 with 17 games anymore unless you get a tie, so I wonder if this will be the first year he ends up with that losing record like maybe 8-9 or 7-10. From the way you're talking about them I doubt you see it happening though.

Either way I know a Tomlin team is gonna be very well coached and I'm interested to see how our game with them after our bye turns out. We definitely can't overlook them. Feel like that could be a trap game.

Lucikly for us the game is in Philly..... since the 90s the Steelers have never won in Philly and the Eagles have only won in Pittsburgh just once in Andy Reid's 2nd year where David Akers hit a 42 yard FG to win the game in overtime 26-23. That was before I even became a fan lol.

I did not know Stoutland was going to go to Bama?  Wow that would have been a shock, isn't he like the best OL coach in the NFL?  Why got to Bama?  I did not know Marrone got fired but they got the OL coach from Kentucky who had a good solid unit and run the ball well so that was a decent hire.  Was Marrone fired or did he just go back to the NFL?  I see he is the Saints OL coach now.  

 

I know Jalen Hurts is a weight lifter, if helps his mental toughness and obvious leg drive and power as a runner no question.  But honestly if Hurts got injured and could never run with power as a QB again not sure he would be a NFL QB with just on his arm alone.  Lucky for him he stays healthy, can take contact and is super strong and that run game from him is hard to deal with no question.  He had the most rush yards of any QB in the NFL last year and was ahead of Lamar Jackson even.  But like Jackson, Hurts needs TE production and a great run game and no reason that will not happen this year so that will help Hurts.  

 

With Pittsburgh honestly I would say Kenny Pickett, Trubisky and Rudolph is a more solid QB group, Pickett even as a rookie who has not played goes through progressions better than Jalen Hurts ever did in college or even now but will see how he does in the NFL.  Trubisky if he was on the Eagles could press Hurts for that starting job specially because of his athletic ability as well but has similar progression issues.  So not sure the Eagles are so far ahead in terms of QBs, but yes Jalen has intangibles like his hard work competitive mentality, poise and leadership ability not to mention physical toughness along with mental toughness.  Not sure Pickett has all of those things but Pickett is a better passer arguably, Mac Jones is a better passer than Jalen Hurts by far in terms of how he reads the field and delivers the football.  Will be interesting how Jalen Hurts does next year, but no way in hell does he make a Josh Allen type jump because he never has and never would have that kind of arm talent.  Lamar Jackson as well I would say coming out of college had by far the better throwing arm and more talented throwing arm compared to Jalen Hurts and with Josh Allen it is not even a comparison.  

Miles Sanders is decent but wish they would have kept Jordan Howard as a bigger back just to change it up, maybe Kennedy Brooks can be that bigger more physical back if Sanders gets hurt and most likely he will.  The rest are all smaller shiffty dudes which is fine but would be nice to get some power in there.  Then again the power is AJ Brown, that guy is a monster after the catch and is super physical and hard to break down, so Jalen better improve at throwing quick screen passes and quick outs to AJ Brown and just get it to him and let him work.  

 

DeVonta is not that type of guy but honestly if he was on another team I think he could have done way better as a rookie, I bet he was disappointed being drafted by the Eagles because he knows Mac Jones and many other NFL QBs are better passers than Jalen Hurts but will see how they do.  Sure they played together at Bama but I cannot imagine DeVonta loved being with him again but who knows.  He should be really opened up though with AJ Brown on the roster taking all the attention.  

 

[TheRealMcCoy]

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I did not know Stoutland was going to go to Bama?  Wow that would have been a shock, isn't he like the best OL coach in the NFL?  Why got to Bama? 

Well, I mean Stoutland was at Bama with Saban from 2011-2012 before Chip Kelly got the job with the Eagles and hired him to be his OL coach. Getting Stout to Philly was the greatest gift that Chip ever gave us. He's now been retained through 2 new coaching hires with Pederson and Sirianni. 

Seems like it was up in the air after Pederson was fired. He was probably mulling over his options.

If he really wanted to leave I'm sure the Eagles would've let him go to Bama, but obviously they convinced him to stay on and help the new HC.

Then, yeah Marrone was hired and left for the Saints job. 

Quote

 

On January 19, 2021, Marrone was named the offensive line coach at the University of Alabama under head coach Nick Saban.

On February 1, 2022, It was reported that Eric Wolford has accepted the position of Offensive Line Coach at Alabama. It is unclear whether Doug Marrone was fired or asked to resign from Alabama.

 

This is what's on Wiki, so no clear answer there.

I was just watching an interview with Matthew Butler and when asked about the toughest guys he faced he mentioned the Kentucky OL saying they are really well coached and play well together. I thought Fortner was a nice pick-up for the Jags at the top of the 3rd after Jurgens was off the board.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I know Jalen Hurts is a weight lifter, if helps his mental toughness and obvious leg drive and power as a runner no question.  But honestly if Hurts got injured and could never run with power as a QB again not sure he would be a NFL QB with just on his arm alone.  Lucky for him he stays healthy, can take contact and is super strong and that run game from him is hard to deal with no question.  He had the most rush yards of any QB in the NFL last year and was ahead of Lamar Jackson even.  But like Jackson, Hurts needs TE production and a great run game and no reason that will not happen this year so that will help Hurts.  

Well said. I definitely want Jalen to run a bit less this year and protect his body a bit more.

 

Plays like this one above were fun, but also worried me about him getting hurt.

I think that 2nd half against the Chargers and the first half the next week against the Broncos were two of my favorite halfs from him last year throwing the football wise.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

With Pittsburgh honestly I would say Kenny Pickett, Trubisky and Rudolph is a more solid QB group

Meh. Maybe it might be, but Rudolph is bad and Trubisky has proven about as much as Minshew. Picket hasn't proven anything. We saw much higher touted QBs come into situations and struggle last year, but I think Pickett is walking into a better situation than most of them with his weapons. Their OL is kinda shaky though.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Trubisky if he was on the Eagles could press Hurts for that starting job specially because of his athletic ability as well but has similar progression issues.

Eagles wouldn't give him a shot to start here. He would be riding the pine as the back-up same as Minshew.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

So not sure the Eagles are so far ahead in terms of QBs

Never said we are so far ahead QB wise, but the Eagles have arguably the best OL in the league and proved last year they can run block the hell out of opposing defenses. I like Najee, but I don't think that's something the Steelers OL can consistently do. Trubisky and Pickett are both mobile, but they aren't runners of the football like Hurts. I would be surprised if Pickett or Trubisky's throwing stats are much better than Hurts if they are at all, but I guess we'll see.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Mac Jones is a better passer than Jalen Hurts by far in terms of how he reads the field and delivers the football. 

I loved what Mac showed last year processing wise. Most rookies aren't that advanced. He has a really nice floor as a passer (opposite of Hurts with his solid floor being provided by rushing ability), but just like with Hurts I have some questions about how high his celing ultimately is.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Will be interesting how Jalen Hurts does next year, but no way in hell does he make a Josh Allen type jump because he never has and never would have that kind of arm talent.  Lamar Jackson as well I would say coming out of college had by far the better throwing arm and more talented throwing arm compared to Jalen Hurts and with Josh Allen it is not even a comparison. 

Yeah, that's what I was insinuating, so you're basically just agreeing with me.

Lamar has a pretty big arm like Vick did too. It's too bad Vick didn't take being a passer and watching film (he said he didn't even do that in Atlanta lol) seriously as a Falcon until he went to jail for dog fighting and Andy Reid brought him in. He was a hell of a talent.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Miles Sanders is decent but wish they would have kept Jordan Howard as a bigger back just to change it up, maybe Kennedy Brooks can be that bigger more physical back if Sanders gets hurt and most likely he will. 

I think Sanders if healthy is a top 15 back in the league, but the problem is he's never healthy. A big problem with him as a runner as a rookie was his lack of decisiveness. He was much better with that this past season when he was actually on the field.

He also only had 1 drop for a 2.9% drop rate last year after a dud of a year receiving in 2020 with 7 drops for a 13.5% rate right after a very successful rookie campaign receiving in 2019 with 3 drops for a 4.8% rate.

I will admit the Eagles only had him run simple routes out of the backfield. They definitely liked using Gainwell more as the recieving threat in the slot or out of the backfield on less elementary routes, but like I said he had 5 drops this past season for a 10% drop rate. 

I think as far as Kennedy Brooks goes I had him making the final 53 as a UDFA in my prediction like a month ago, but I could easily see Jordan Howard being brought back. I'm sure the Eagles told him to stay in shape and they'll be in touch. It's funny it seems like the Eagles are the only team really interested in him at this point in his career after Miami got rid of him. He gets what is blocked for him and the Eagles OL opens the holes for him to do so. He's not gonna break anything off, but he consistently kept us ahead of the chains last year and I appreciated that. I'd rather Brooks makes the roster cause he's much younger and would be cheaper I think as a UDFA, but Howard is a good pass blocker and experienced and used to running behind this line, so I wouldn't mind having him back at all.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Then again the power is AJ Brown, that guy is a monster after the catch and is super physical and hard to break down

Yeah, Dallas Goedert is also a monster after the catch. He's not Gronk in that regard, but he's still well above average.

Still makes me mad this play got called OPI from his rookie year.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

so Jalen better improve at throwing quick screen passes and quick outs to AJ Brown and just get it to him and let him work.  

I could be wrong, but I don't think Jalen really had a problem on those types of throws.

I think the area he needs to get better at is targetting the middle of the field like on digs which is a route Brown is a monster at already in his young career.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

DeVonta is not that type of guy

A physical YAC guy? Nah, but he has a good feel for getting upfield and getting extra yards despite his size.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

but honestly if he was on another team I think he could have done way better as a rookie

I mean sure. I think all of us on this forum have made that point. Like put him with an above average QB like Cousins like Jefferson had as a rookie or Prescott like Lamb had or Burrow like Chase had and you're looking at DeVonta putting up something like 1,200 yards and 8-10 TDs.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I bet he was disappointed being drafted by the Eagles because he knows Mac Jones and many other NFL QBs are better passers than Jalen Hurts but will see how they do. Sure they played together at Bama but I cannot imagine DeVonta loved being with him again but who knows. 

Nah. DeVonta loves Jalen lol. I'm sure he was frustrated at some points, but everyone on the Eagles is fully behind him. Don't let casual fans tell you otherwise. I'm sure if he doesn't keep improving passing wise then sure teammates would get frustrated and I mean that could happen, but the guys are behind him fully right now just like he galvanized teams behind him in college.

Also, he could've ended up with a Jones in last years draft, but it wouldn't have been Mac who was selected at 15.... it would've been Daniel Jones and the Giants who we leap frogged in a trade with the Cowboys from 13 to 11 with the Giants targetting DeVonta at 12. When we selected him they immediately took the trade from the Bears coming up for Fields. Worked out for them cause the Bears sucked and they ended up with another Bama player with that first rounder from Chicago in Evan Neal, so I'm sure they are happy with the result.

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

He should be really opened up though with AJ Brown on the roster taking all the attention.

Yeah, Brown said basically the same in his last presser from OTAs.

 

[TheRealMcCoy]

Jenkins only spent half of his last year in Philly w/ Epps who was a rookie in 2019, but he obviously left a good impression:

“When I was there, [Epps] was a player that was behind Rodney [McLeod] and I, but was rising fast on the depth chart," Jenkins told SI's Eagles Today. "Somebody who is physically gifted and is smart enough to understand defenses and where he needs to be in alignments. I think he’s soaked up a lot of game.

Since he arrived in Philadelphia, Epps has seen his role gradually increase over time, from 22% of the defensive snaps in 2019 to 38% in 2020, and then ending last season with playing 48% of the snaps. Even with the likes of Jenkins, McLeod, Harris, and former starter Jalen Mills seeing the majority of the time at safety.

One thing Jenkins said that was interesting is that Epps has to be his own player. He can't try to be the best safety to ever play in Philadelphia, and that, of course, is Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins, or even Jenkins.

Epps can only be himself, and that, the former safety said, should be good enough to be successful.

“You can’t be Dawkins or myself,” said Jenkins. “I watched Dawkins’ tape. I tried. I can’t do what he does. That’s why he is who he is.

"So, Epps has to find out what he does really well and I think he’s got great ball skills. He’s got range and tackles well. As long as he continues to develop his game and focuses on being the best Epps he can be, he’ll be fine.”

Epps’ best ability is being one of the Eagles’ most sure-handed tacklers. Pro Football Focus charted Epps at a 6.8% missed tackle rate in 2021, which is the best by an Eagles safety with a minimum of playing 500 snaps since Brian Dawkins' 8.3% rate in 2008. 

The young defensive back has also shown off his incredible range introducing himself to ballcarriers this past season. PFF ranked Epps as the second-highest graded safety in the NFL versus the run at 88.9, 1.3 points behind San Francisco 49ers’ safety Jimmie Ward).

[TheRealMcCoy]

On 4/17/2022 at 5:21 PM, TheRealMcCoy said:

More info on who DeVonta is training with and his program:

The Leonard in the quote above is Darius Leonard.

It details later in the article that Zach Pascal is also a member of Murphy's training program.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce1phjiJZqn/

Looks like Josh Sweat is training with Murphy down in Tampa as well.

Double digit sack season incoming.... I can feel it in my bones!!!

[TheRealMcCoy]

Didn't realize Sweat was still 25 years old till late March 2023...

He barely turned 21 the month before we drafted him.

___________________________________________________

Sweat's snap count percentage over the years:

2018 - 6.5%

2019 - 34.5%

2020 - 38.2%

2021 - 58.1%

___________________________________________________

I think I remember we brought him along slow at first when we drafted him cause of the past knee issues, but from everything Sweat has said about his body these past 2-3 years he's fine and obviously Graham going down had an impact on his snap count rising 20%. It was kind of a blessing in disguise for him, cause if that didn't happen he might have been in the low to mid 40s range. Just for comparisons sake despite the disappointing season Derek Barnett was still ahead of him with 63.7% of the snaps... smh. 

Part of the problem with us not getting sacks last year was the coverage and pass rush not being synced. You always hear that from defensive coaches that those two things have to be aligned with each other to have the greatest impact. Hopefully this year we'll play more aggressive coverage wise and give the pass rush much more time than we gave them last year to get home. I swear Sweat would've had 9-11 sacks last year if he played like 5% more snaps like Barnett and we did things coverage wise to keep QBs from just getting the ball out in 2.5 seconds or less. Even guys like Brady who get the ball out quick already were getting it out even quicker than they normally do against us cause we were playing soft zone coverages with two high safeties often and the really good QBs would just find their 1st or 2nd read pretty quickly and get what we were giving up. I also think they weren't letting Sweat who is fantastic rushing from a 9 technique do that too often last year. I forget who I was listening to or reading about it, but they mentioned that Gannon let him do that more in the second half of the schedule and what would you know, but 6 of his 7.5 sacks came from the Detroit game on.

I posted about this before, but in case you missed it:

Josh Sweat had the lowest missed tackle % on the team according to Pro Football Reference. He had a 2.2% missed tackle rate with only 1 missed tackle on the year which came against the Chiefs.

Went through our defensive snaps of that Chiefs game till I could find said missed tackle and I think this is it:

Video of Josh Sweat's 1 missed tackle on the season

That's not even really a bad missed tackle. He just was too far upfield and tried pivoting last second and was only able to get one arm on the ball carrier (CEH). 

Also, in that Chiefs game it just showed for the most part Mahomes getting the ball out pretty quick against us cause of how we were playing them. Josh Sweat almost got a sack on an inside pass rush against the guard Joe Thuney who is really good, but Mahomes panicked and just threw it up and Eric Wilson intercepted it. Then, there was a play earlier in the game where Sweat won off the EDGE clean against Niang for the sack, but it was negated by a hands to the face by McLeod smh. There was another play or two where he won pretty fast, but the ball was just out too quick to do anything.

Conclusion: I'm excited for what should be the 2nd year of Sweat as a starter and now he has a better running mate for the pass rush in Reddick and hopefully Gannon will trust his secondary more this year to play more aggressive at times. Hopefully he'll be at least at like 65% of the snaps this year and leading all EDGEs on the team in that category.

Edited June 27, 2022 by TheRealMcCoy

[TheRealMcCoy]

On 5/18/2022 at 5:51 PM, TheRealMcCoy said:

Also, since its the offseason are we gonna ever do The Baldies again? @Kiltman

Last time was 2017 when @Phireran it and still posted. First and only Baldies on the new site.

This next month till training camp starts on July 26th is gonna be super slow for news/stuff to talk about.

What do you guys say? @Kiltman@Danger@EaglesPeteC

[Danger]

Well let's discuss categories

I think we ought to modernize while keeping key awards