34 minutes ago, time2rock said:

I think the biggest issue with Howie though (for most people, judging by what I read here) involves his dreadful drafting, leaving the team void of young talent.  I mean we have some young pieces (Goedert, Sanders, maybe Reagor ... TBD on him) but relative to most other teams, we have very little to show from the past 5 drafts (2020 not included since they all are TBD until they have an opportunity to prove themselves).  

There's absolutely no doubt that Howie's biggest flaw and issue is his inability to draft. He's completely useless at it. But I don't think there's anything else that he does as GM that is truly exceptional either. 

38 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Good point about Lurie's level of potential involvement in doing what it took to retain certain members of the current roster and possibly signing off on re-working the contracts in order to make it all work.  I think the biggest issue with Howie though (for most people, judging by what I read here) involves his dreadful drafting, leaving the team void of young talent.  I mean we have some young pieces (Goedert, Sanders, maybe Reagor ... TBD on him) but relative to most other teams, we have very little to show from the past 5 drafts (2020 not included since they all are TBD until they have an opportunity to prove themselves).  

I can't arguing drafting because the Eagles have missed on too many picks.   I'm not ready to write of Dillard yet and I see Barnett as a rotation DE.  Driscoll, Hightower, and Wallace all have potential.  Sweat is trending up.  Maddox is playing out of position. Hurts and JJaw were massive misses at an impact pick - those are hard to recover from.  The real "dead' year was 2017.   Plus, the injuries in the past 2 years have made it all look questionable.

Remember, we had Joe Douglas some of that time, too. 

I wish we knew more about the power structure versus simply assuming Howie has complete autonomy.  I know the desire is to have one person to target with blame.  With the Eagles, I think it's hard to separate Doug, Howie, and Lurie with their collaborative environment.

8 minutes ago, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles said:

I can't arguing drafting because the Eagles have missed on too many picks.   I'm not ready to write of Dillard yet and I see Barnett as a rotation DE.  Driscoll, Hightower, and Wallace all have potential.  Sweat is trending up.  Maddox is playing out of position. Hurts and JJaw were massive misses at an impact pick - those are hard to recover from.  The real "dead' year was 2017.   Plus, the injuries in the past 2 years have made it all look questionable.

Remember, we had Joe Douglas some of that time, too. 

I wish we knew more about the power structure versus simply assuming Howie has complete autonomy.  I know the desire is to have one person to target with blame.  With the Eagles, I think it's hard to separate Doug, Howie, and Lurie with their collaborative environment.

If Lurie is getting his hands in the mix with talent evaluation then perhaps it is time he sells the damn team.  If he doesn't trust his GM to make the right moves there even more reason to move on from him.  But to your earlier points, I agree on Dillard (he is another TBD since he really hasn't had an opportunity to prove himself yet other than a couple spot starts last year).  Any picks this year are TBD.  And Barnett is a nice player but certainly not playing up to the level you expect of a high 1st rd pick.  

The drafts have just been horrendous for far too long (even before Douglas arrived) - the one constant has been Howie.  That makes it a little easier to point a finger at him.  

5 minutes ago, time2rock said:

If Lurie is getting his hands in the mix with talent evaluation then perhaps it is time he sells the damn team.  If he doesn't trust his GM to make the right moves there even more reason to move on from him.  But to your earlier points, I agree on Dillard (he is another TBD since he really hasn't had an opportunity to prove himself yet other than a couple spot starts last year).  Any picks this year are TBD.  And Barnett is a nice player but certainly not playing up to the level you expect of a high 1st rd pick.  

The drafts have just been horrendous for far too long (even before Douglas arrived) - the one constant has been Howie.  That makes it a little easier to point a finger at him.  

I don't think he is involved in talent evaluation, but he is involved in high level positioning and  short and long term planning for the organization, which allows those around him to make the calls they make....good or bad.  Part of that high level direction could have been understanding that what we are going through was part of the plan (less the injuries and Covid). As fans, we all want to win the Super Bowl every year, but he likely was aware of the long term implications of the earlier short term decisions.  Again, we want to assume that this year wasn't partially identified in the past (kicking the can down the road). Personally, I doubt that was the case.

On 9/30/2020 at 4:01 AM, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles said:

I get it.  You don't see any value to Howie.  The problem is that you don't know the involvement that Lurie had (or didn't have) in those decisions. There is no clear understanding of the power structure.

The results are ..pathetic at this point as the ship lollipop is going down. 2017 was an aberration. The brains responsible have left after the Super Bowl, and we are left with second tier Howie and DP living on prayers instead of sound management.

3 hours ago, Traveler Vic said:

The results are ..pathetic at this point as the ship lollipop is going down. 2017 was an aberration. The brains responsible have left after the Super Bowl, and we are left with second tier Howie and DP living on prayers instead of sound management.

Haha I'm reading this as they are doing a spot on Bon Jovi on GMA and that song is playing in the background.  

4 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Haha I'm reading this as they are doing a spot on Bon Jovi on GMA and that song is playing in the background.  

Funny. Was thinking of the same song when I wrote that.

On 9/30/2020 at 9:45 PM, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles said:

I can't arguing drafting because the Eagles have missed on too many picks.   I'm not ready to write of Dillard yet and I see Barnett as a rotation DE.  Driscoll, Hightower, and Wallace all have potential.  Sweat is trending up.  Maddox is playing out of position. Hurts and JJaw were massive misses at an impact pick - those are hard to recover from.  The real "dead' year was 2017.   Plus, the injuries in the past 2 years have made it all look questionable.

Remember, we had Joe Douglas some of that time, too. 

I wish we knew more about the power structure versus simply assuming Howie has complete autonomy.  I know the desire is to have one person to target with blame.  With the Eagles, I think it's hard to separate Doug, Howie, and Lurie with their collaborative environment.

I've always been a big defender of Lurie but I think he's been behind too many of these decisions (such as the coaching mess there is on offense right now). And I don't blame the Eagles for not letting us know about the power dynamics in the office. The fans cause enough problems already. The last thing the team needs is to have us debating their dirty laundry. 

 

Anyway, there's a huge clean-up to do as this roster sheds age and big contracts. This is just not going to be a good team for at least 1-2 years. They have a decent young core of offensive weapons -- Wentz, Sanders, Reagor, Goedert, maybe Hightower -- and a couple of defenders young enough to keep around for the rebuild (Sweat, Maddox, Barnett), but everybody else basically has to go and new people have to be brought in. 

I'm not sure Howie can oversee that. But we don't know what goes on when the decisions are made, so I won't make the kind of super-confident pronouncement that TATE loves. 

What I wonder about Howie (and also Doug) is whether they're hungry enough any more. I would tend to favor keeping them around if they're still as hungry as ever, based on the fact that if anything they'll get better at their jobs. 

 

Lurie now as well? Is there anyone sections of this fan base won't throw under the bus to avoid concluding maybe Howie isn't a very good GM, his 'cap magic' is kicking the can down the road with back loaded contracts that he hopes will be eaten by cap growth that thanks to COVID 19 are now waiting to bite us in the a** the next two years with dead cap nightmares for players who are no longer productive or young enough to restructure. 

Hell, even if Lurie was pushing for certain players in '18, a GM who hasn't got the clout or smarts to talk his owner out of driving the team into cap hell or writing contracts that more or less ensure it isn't worth a toot on a tin whistle.

Howie isn't a good GM, he's horrible at drafting and has been slapdash at structuring contracts, literally any fan could write contracts that sign good players and carry a boatload of money at the back end, we might be able to cope with a dead cap crisis if we had some young starting calibre players on cheap rookie contracts ready to go to replace deadwood, but we got nothing.

4 hours ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Howie isn't a good GM, he's horrible at drafting and has been slapdash at structuring contracts, literally any fan could write contracts that sign good players and carry a boatload of money at the back end, we might be able to cope with a dead cap crisis if we had some young starting calibre players on cheap rookie contracts ready to go to replace deadwood, but we got nothing.

Ding ding ding ring the bell this one is over. 

Spot on buddy, spot on. 

5 hours ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Lurie now as well? Is there anyone sections of this fan base won't throw under the bus to avoid concluding maybe Howie isn't a very good GM, his 'cap magic' is kicking the can down the road with back loaded contracts that he hopes will be eaten by cap growth that thanks to COVID 19 are now waiting to bite us in the a** the next two years with dead cap nightmares for players who are no longer productive or young enough to restructure. 

Hell, even if Lurie was pushing for certain players in '18, a GM who hasn't got the clout or smarts to talk his owner out of driving the team into cap hell or writing contracts that more or less ensure it isn't worth a toot on a tin whistle.

Howie isn't a good GM, he's horrible at drafting and has been slapdash at structuring contracts, literally any fan could write contracts that sign good players and carry a boatload of money at the back end, we might be able to cope with a dead cap crisis if we had some young starting calibre players on cheap rookie contracts ready to go to replace deadwood, but we got nothing.

Agree, spot on.

 

On 9/29/2020 at 9:01 AM, EazyEaglez said:

Heard on the radio this morning that Doug said he was fatigued. Just a ridiculously bad look for him. He should just retire on principle after that. It’s a shame Howie’s done such a poor job getting this team talent. Stuck with so many older/injury prone players on bad contracts. They really need to fire Howie or restrict his responsibilities, because he clearly can’t handle all of them. 

I'm really late to this but are you sure it was Peters? Doug said they limited Sanders because he was apparently tired

On 9/29/2020 at 2:01 PM, EazyEaglez said:

It’s a shame Howie’s done such a poor job getting this team talent.

I guess my one slight defense for Howie, oh my as I write this I feel dirty, is that he did try to find our long term solution at LT. It's just unfortunate that Dillard is hurt this year so we can't evaluate him in the NFL. The way this year is going this would have been a perfect year to evaluate for the future. 

The owner, GM, coach, and OL coach all appear gutless for allowing Peters to get away with this.

1 hour ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I guess my one slight defense for Howie, oh my as I write this I feel dirty, is that he did try to find our long term solution at LT. It's just unfortunate that Dillard is hurt this year so we can't evaluate him in the NFL. The way this year is going this would have been a perfect year to evaluate for the future. 

He tried to get a solution at corner and wide receiver multiple times. Meanwhile the Eagles are still looking and had to trade away assets just to get a corner nearing 30. I can’t give Howie credit for almost doing something when so many of his almost choices have failed.

3 hours ago, Mike030270 said:

I'm really late to this but are you sure it was Peters? Doug said they limited Sanders because he was apparently tired

Pretty sure they said Peters and not Sanders. 

7 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

He tried to get a solution at corner and wide receiver multiple times. Meanwhile the Eagles are still looking and had to trade away assets just to get a corner nearing 30. I can’t give Howie credit for almost doing something when so many of his almost choices have failed.

Good point. I guess the thing with Dillard is we don't yet know if he's the answer or not. It was an unfortunate injury that's ruled him out. But yeah that's a fair point. 

6 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Good point. I guess the thing with Dillard is we don't yet know if he's the answer or not. It was an unfortunate injury that's ruled him out. But yeah that's a fair point. 

I wish Howie would just automatically remove any players from the PAC-12 from his draft board.  I'd be thrilled with the approach to spend most of our picks on players from the best conferences (SEC, ACC, etc.) - I think that would really help our "hit rate" (rather than Howie trying to outsmart everyone else thinking he is finding these hidden gems).  

11 minutes ago, time2rock said:

I wish Howie would just automatically remove any players from the PAC-12 from his draft board.  I'd be thrilled with the approach to spend most of our picks on players from the best conferences (SEC, ACC, etc.) - I think that would really help our "hit rate" (rather than Howie trying to outsmart everyone else thinking he is finding these hidden gems).  

I don't get why he continues to do it? Why does he think he's so much smarter when he's one of the worst in the league at drafting?

6 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I don't get why he continues to do it? Why does he think he's so much smarter when he's one of the worst in the league at drafting?

🤷🏼‍♂️

3 hours ago, time2rock said:

I wish Howie would just automatically remove any players from the PAC-12 from his draft board.  I'd be thrilled with the approach to spend most of our picks on players from the best conferences (SEC, ACC, etc.) - I think that would really help our "hit rate" (rather than Howie trying to outsmart everyone else thinking he is finding these hidden gems).  

This is the truth of Howie. He seems hellbent on trying to prove to everyone how smart he is. His drafts are littered with going after the injured guy who slipped in the draft, guys from smaller conferences, guys that seem like reaches, and guys who are projects. He just seems like he’s constantly trying to prove how smart he is at the expense of talent for this football team. 

3 hours ago, time2rock said:

🤷🏼‍♂️

Ego.

9 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Good point. I guess the thing with Dillard is we don't yet know if he's the answer or not. It was an unfortunate injury that's ruled him out. But yeah that's a fair point. 

Dillard is a house of cards. He’s fragile mentally and he will fold in the NFL. He’s a false hope and if the Eagles get a high pick in this draft and have the ability to draft a high level tackle I hope they Pull the trigger and not just assume Dillard is the guy. 

3 hours ago, time2rock said:

I wish Howie would just automatically remove any players from the PAC-12 from his draft board.  I'd be thrilled with the approach to spend most of our picks on players from the best conferences (SEC, ACC, etc.) - I think that would really help our "hit rate" (rather than Howie trying to outsmart everyone else thinking he is finding these hidden gems).  

 

3 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I don't get why he continues to do it? Why does he think he's so much smarter when he's one of the worst in the league at drafting?

 

4 minutes ago, EazyEaglez said:

This is the truth of Howie. He seems hellbent on trying to prove to everyone how smart he is. His drafts are littered with going after the injured guy who slipped in the draft, guys from smaller conferences, guys that seem like reaches, and guys who are projects. He just seems like he’s constantly trying to prove how smart he is at the expense of talent for this football team. 

Ego.

Why can't he be like all other GMs and not try to ever find hidden gems? Why can't he be satisfied with just being the 32nd best GM? 

 

I'm wondering ... do you even read what you're griping about? It's a draft. You do your research. You trust your scouts. You listen to your coaches. You interview players and their coaches. You set up a draft board. Other teams take some players before you do. You make the next choice on your list. You always try to find hidden gems. You always try to be the best at what you do. Do you really want the guy that isn't trying to do these things? 

 

Quote

His drafts are littered with going after the injured guy who slipped in the draft, guys from smaller conferences, guys that seem like reaches, and guys who are projects.

Wentz and Goedert are from smaller conferences (Yes, I know Wentz is playing poorly right now). Mailata is an example of a project. Jones was an example of "injured potential." Other teams are doing the same things. The very things you gripe about: "...going after the injured guy who slipped..." are the same things you gripe about him not doing (DK Metcalf).  It's always a crapshoot. 

1 minute ago, brkmsn said:

 

 

Why can't he be like all other GMs and not try to ever find hidden gems? Why can't he be satisfied with just being the 32nd best GM? 

 

I'm wondering ... do you even read what you're griping about? It's a draft. You do your research. You trust your scouts. You listen to your coaches. You interview players and their coaches. You set up a draft board. Other teams take some players before you do. You make the next choice on your list. You always try to find hidden gems. You always try to be the best at what you do. Do you really want the guy that isn't trying to do these things? 

 

Wentz and Goedert are from smaller conferences (Yes, I know Wentz is playing poorly right now). Mailata is an example of a project. Jones was an example of "injured potential." Other teams are doing the same things. The very things you gripe about: "...going after the injured guy who slipped..." are the same things you gripe about him not doing (DK Metcalf).  It's always a crapshoot. 

Maybe the problem is the scouts are sent out to find what nonsense the GM wants. Stop looking for sleepers and get the better talent. If you want to think Howie is good at his job then go on ahead. I don’t see it. 

Who didn't think he'd end up on IR sometime this season

1 minute ago, Mike030270 said:

Who didn't think he'd end up on IR sometime this season

I thought it would be a real injury at least, not because the big baby stubbed his toe.