2 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Let’s go Toronto, I guess 

It’s never "let’s go Toronto”, at anything.

They are people who think they’re the center of the universe, when Vancouver and Montreal are both far better cities to visit.  Calgary is also a superior place to live or travel to.

Hopefully, the Make Beliefs go another 100 years without success 

40 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

It’s never "let’s go Toronto”, at anything.

They are people who think they’re the center of the universe, when Vancouver and Montreal are both far better cities to visit.  Calgary is also a superior place to live or travel to.

Hopefully, the Make Beliefs go another 100 years without success 

Let’s be honest Toronto is better than 92% of US cities lol

2 hours ago, Alphagrand said:

It’s never "let’s go Toronto”, at anything.

They are people who think they’re the center of the universe, when Vancouver and Montreal are both far better cities to visit.  Calgary is also a superior place to live or travel to.

Hopefully, the Make Beliefs go another 100 years without success 

Agreed, Montreal is a far nicer place

The Maple Leafs are the biggest choke artists in North American sports.

14 hours ago, ToastJenkins said:

If only we had drafted him…

Didn’t his mom work for the team at the time too?

 

5 hours ago, GoEagles614 said:

Let’s be honest Toronto is better than 92% of US cities lol

Shame that it's completely unaffordable to actually live there

23 hours ago, RLC said:

Since 2021, Jalen Carter is really the only "character" risk they took. They got A+ guys in Dickerson, Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown, Nakobe Dean, etc.

2020 & 2019 was ROUGH character wise: Reagor, Quez, Hightower, Dillard, JJAW, etc. 

Football character matters.

I wonder if Carter is the only character risk.  Howie said several times during the recent draft that they were looking for players with a chip on their shoulder.  Perhaps some of those college champions arrived with a bit too big of an ego, the last couple of years.  Was Nolan Smith an A+ character in the Eagles classroom? Ringo?  Davis?  We saw so little of Dean but I didn’t get a solid green dot leader impression.   Maybe a little too much "I deserve to be here” and not enough "I have to work my ass off every day to get better to keep my job”.  Basically only Carter of the top picks got much playing time.  Now the Eagles tend towards redshirt years but Howie also mentioned the young players need to play.  Maybe the deference to older one team players like Lane, Kelce, Cox and Graham last year was misread by those college champions.  Yes, the old guard had talent but they also put in the work that got them multiple contracts.  The reality is there are more Terrell Lewises and Brandon Smiths around than Brandon Grahams. 

16 hours ago, eagle45 said:

What’s rough about the character of anyone from 2020 and 2019?  You just hate them because they are busts.  None of those guys got in trouble or were questionable characters.  They just sucked.

And I see no reason to be sure the others are A+ guys…just more successful football players and therefore easier to like.

Part of football character is how they handle adversity and whether they love the game.

Dillard refused to play RT because it was too hard. The most extreme example is Danny Watkins. He just wanted to be a firefighter.

I'm not knocking the Davion Taylors of the world who tried, but just couldn't hack it. 

8 hours ago, Alphagrand said:

It’s never "let’s go Toronto”, at anything.

They are people who think they’re the center of the universe, when Vancouver and Montreal are both far better cities to visit.  Calgary is also a superior place to live or travel to.

Hopefully, the Make Beliefs go another 100 years without success 

I sure as hell wasn’t rooting for Boston 

 

Take I’ve been workshopping:

The dislike of Aaron Rodgers by so many is purely confirmation bias that someone who has different worldview than them makes them a bad person. The biggest complaint about Aaron Rodgers I hear is "he’s such an attention ****, he can’t stand when the spotlight isn’t on him.” Except he has no control over the media. The media is the one who’s obsessed with him, not the other way around. Rodgers got bashed for a RFK running mate story that he had absolutely nothing to do with. He didn’t speak about it, he didn’t comment on it, he said nothing of it. Yet the response to it was "Rodgers can’t stand that he’s not the center of attention right now with the NFL playoffs ongoing.” The media is the one who drove that story. Not Rodgers. And secondly, it wasn’t even true. Everyone’s perpetuating the same stories they claim to hate.

My feeling is that ever since it became apparent that he was of a certain sociopolitical camp, and especially after the whole immunized thing, people decided this guy isn’t completely on board with our worldviews, so they view everything he says in a very cynical and sometimes dishonest way. What bad things has the guy even done? Told Adam Schefter to F off? All his teammates seem to absolutely love him.

There will be players out there who have like 10 kids to 10 different mothers and players who get accused of sexual assault who will be more beloved by the sports world than a dude whose worst crime is having some batty conspiratorial worldviews.

15 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

I wonder if Carter is the only character risk.  Howie said several times during the recent draft that they were looking for players with a chip on their shoulder.  Perhaps some of those college champions arrived with a bit too big of an ego, the last couple of years.  Was Nolan Smith an A+ character in the Eagles classroom? Ringo?  Davis?  We saw so little of Dean but I didn’t get a solid green dot leader impression.   Maybe a little too much "I deserve to be here” and not enough "I have to work my ass off every day to get better to keep my job”.  Basically only Carter of the top picks got much playing time.  Now the Eagles tend towards redshirt years but Howie also mentioned the young players need to play.  Maybe the deference to older one team players like Lane, Kelce, Cox and Graham last year was misread by those college champions.  Yes, the old guard had talent but they also put in the work that got them multiple contracts.  The reality is there are more Terrell Lewises and Brandon Smiths around than Brandon Grahams. 

Davis isn't a disappoint, I think people have unrealistic expectations. All you have to do is watch the run defense when he isn't on the field to see his impact. Still a work in progress. Compare to Poe, who peaked at 23/24 then gradually declined, last good season was at 27. Poe was PB at 23/24, but also played with stars like Hali and Houston on the edge, Derrick Johnson at LB, and Berry and Flowers in the secondary.

Dean I think is more about injuries, but he fell in the draft for a reason, pro scouts don't care about college production but NFL projection.

Smith was a project, too small to be a NFL edge rusher, not enough experience as a true LB. I think Howie saw him as a redshirt who needed time to add strength, learn how to play LB.

Ringo fell b/c of issues, but played well for a 4th rd CB (rarely find CB starters at that point in the draft).

We'll have a better feel after a year of Fangio, this team just didn't look well coached last season.

4 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Davis isn't a disappoint, I think people have unrealistic expectations. All you have to do is watch the run defense when he isn't on the field to see his impact. Still a work in progress. Compare to Poe, who peaked at 23/24 then gradually declined, last good season was at 27. Poe was PB at 23/24, but also played with stars like Hali and Houston on the edge, Derrick Johnson at LB, and Berry and Flowers in the secondary.

Dean I think is more about injuries, but he fell in the draft for a reason, pro scouts don't care about college production but NFL projection.

Smith was a project, too small to be a NFL edge rusher, not enough experience as a true LB. I think Howie saw him as a redshirt who needed time to add strength, learn how to play LB.

Ringo fell b/c of issues, but played well for a 4th rd CB (rarely find CB starters at that point in the draft).

We'll have a better feel after a year of Fangio, this team just didn't look well coached last season.

I don’t disagree about last year’s defensive coaching staff.  But the fact Howie talked about players with chips on their shoulder more than once during the draft draws attention to the statement.   Looking for hungry dogs.  Makes me wonder if the Dawgs weren’t hungry last year.

So Howie is once again changing draft philosophy, still trying to learn how to draft after 12 years? 

He shifted to drafting proven winners from top college teams, but now they have egos so he's changing to draft guys with chips on their shoulders? 

One year his theme was speed. One year it was clones of veterans on their way out. 

What's next year's theme? Guys who had the most teammates at their birthday party? 

14 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

I don’t disagree about last year’s defensive coaching staff.  But the fact Howie talked about players with chips on their shoulder more than once during the draft draws attention to the statement.   Looking for hungry dogs.  Makes me wonder if the Dawgs weren’t hungry last year.

Maybe, but Howie was talking about the need to play young players before the draft, and cleared out a lot of under performing veterans (and what are the odds Bradberry is an Eagle come September/).

So I see it more as an overall breakdown. Howie has prepared for this transition for two years (accumulating future draft picks) but hoped to patch his way over the gap. Didn't work. But he remained focused on the future with most of his picks.

Mitchell and DeJean may play a big role this season, but most of the improvement will come from 2nd and 3rd year players, as usual. Which is why you can't instantly turn a team around through the draft, generally outside the top ten or so, you're often trading off between "NFL ready" and "ultimate upside." Someone like Smith is an upside pick, he may not make it, but if he bulks up to 245 without losing speed, and learns how to be a complete WOLB, he has pro bowl potential. Howie lucked out with Mitchell (smaller college) and DeJean, both are NFL ready (at least for this scheme, Mitchell might need a year to start in a press heavy scheme), but both have the athleticism to have a lot of upside (DeJean probably would have gone higher if he had a couple months to prepare for the combine and posted eye catching numbers). Hunt's a good example of an upside pick

One thing to remember, any team with Hurts at QB is not going to a comfortable clubhouse for underachievers. Your QB, especially with a big contract, sets the tone for the team.

Hurts has the work ethic that'll put other players to shame if they can't keep up. You can see it in those weight room videos. He ain't chasing dog toys in the desert.

1 hour ago, austinfan said:

Davis isn't a disappoint, I think people have unrealistic expectations. All you have to do is watch the run defense when he isn't on the field to see his impact. Still a work in progress. Compare to Poe, who peaked at 23/24 then gradually declined, last good season was at 27. Poe was PB at 23/24, but also played with stars like Hali and Houston on the edge, Derrick Johnson at LB, and Berry and Flowers in the secondary.

Dean I think is more about injuries, but he fell in the draft for a reason, pro scouts don't care about college production but NFL projection.

Smith was a project, too small to be a NFL edge rusher, not enough experience as a true LB. I think Howie saw him as a redshirt who needed time to add strength, learn how to play LB.

Ringo fell b/c of issues, but played well for a 4th rd CB (rarely find CB starters at that point in the draft).

We'll have a better feel after a year of Fangio, this team just didn't look well coached last season.

Afan’s final sentence is the bottom-line for me.

26 minutes ago, NOTW said:

So Howie is once again changing draft philosophy, still trying to learn how to draft after 12 years? 

He shifted to drafting proven winners from top college teams, but now they have egos so he's changing to draft guys with chips on their shoulders? 

One year his theme was speed. One year it was clones of veterans on their way out. 

What's next year's theme? Guys who had the most teammates at their birthday party? 

Theme?  Why does a Draft have to have a theme?  In fact, given the individuality of the circumstances of each individual pick, how is it possible to unify those individual picks into a single theme?

39 minutes ago, NOTW said:

So Howie is once again changing draft philosophy, still trying to learn how to draft after 12 years? 

He shifted to drafting proven winners from top college teams, but now they have egos so he's changing to draft guys with chips on their shoulders? 

One year his theme was speed. One year it was clones of veterans on their way out. 

What's next year's theme? Guys who had the most teammates at their birthday party? 

Howie is better at drafting than you. 

Davis has definitely been a disappointment. They didn't trade up for him and take him that high to be what he's been. That doesn't mean his career is over, but if he has another year like he did his previous two, DT is going to be right at the top of their list.

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

Take I’ve been workshopping:

The dislike of Aaron Rodgers by so many is purely confirmation bias that someone who has different worldview than them makes them a bad person. The biggest complaint about Aaron Rodgers I hear is "he’s such an attention ****, he can’t stand when the spotlight isn’t on him.” Except he has no control over the media. The media is the one who’s obsessed with him, not the other way around. Rodgers got bashed for a RFK running mate story that he had absolutely nothing to do with. He didn’t speak about it, he didn’t comment on it, he said nothing of it. Yet the response to it was "Rodgers can’t stand that he’s not the center of attention right now with the NFL playoffs ongoing.” The media is the one who drove that story. Not Rodgers. And secondly, it wasn’t even true. Everyone’s perpetuating the same stories they claim to hate.

My feeling is that ever since it became apparent that he was of a certain sociopolitical camp, and especially after the whole immunized thing, people decided this guy isn’t completely on board with our worldviews, so they view everything he says in a very cynical and sometimes dishonest way. What bad things has the guy even done? Told Adam Schefter to F off? All his teammates seem to absolutely love him.

There will be players out there who have like 10 kids to 10 different mothers and players who get accused of sexual assault who will be more beloved by the sports world than a dude whose worst crime is having some batty conspiratorial worldviews.

I dislike Aaron Rodgers because he fails in pressure spots and takes zero accountability for it.  His go-to is throwing coaches under the bus.  The only title he won, they went into the playoffs as a #6 seed and surprised some teams — including the Eagles.  If Michael Vick doesn’t throw to Riley Cooper on the biggest play of the game, the Packers likely don’t get past the Wildcard Round.  
 

As the favorite in subsequent years, Rodgers has almost always come up small when it mattered most.  QB has to take more accountability.  If he’d learned that then he’d be seen much more favorably.

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

Take I’ve been workshopping:

All his teammates seem to absolutely love him.

Putting Rodgers' awful takes aside, this point is just wrong. Green Bay's front office, players and coaches were thrilled that he left. 

Rodgers is a fantastic player, but that doesn't make him a great teammate. It's fine when you're winning. Not as good when you're losing. 

25 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Davis has definitely been a disappointment. They didn't trade up for him and take him that high to be what he's been. That doesn't mean his career is over, but if he has another year like he did his previous two, DT is going to be right at the top of their list.

Prime example of RAS being an inconsistent indicator. If Davis doesn’t really step it up this year he will be a bust unfortunately.

18 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Davis has definitely been a disappointment. They didn't trade up for him and take him that high to be what he's been. That doesn't mean his career is over, but if he has another year like he did his previous two, DT is going to be right at the top of their list.

Davis has been around top 1/4.   30th of 130 DI on PFF.  70.9 PFF.    Has been doing good.   Carter was great last year. 87.4 PFF.  6th of 130 DI.   Milton Williams was also good last year.  70.4 32/130.   None of these are problems.  The DTs are a very good part of the Eagles.

46 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Theme?  Why does a Draft have to have a theme?  In fact, given the individuality of the circumstances of each individual pick, how is it possible to unify those individual picks into a single theme?

Please. He has to complain about something.

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

Take I’ve been workshopping:

The dislike of Aaron Rodgers by so many is purely confirmation bias that someone who has different worldview than them makes them a bad person. The biggest complaint about Aaron Rodgers I hear is "he’s such an attention ****, he can’t stand when the spotlight isn’t on him.” Except he has no control over the media. The media is the one who’s obsessed with him, not the other way around. Rodgers got bashed for a RFK running mate story that he had absolutely nothing to do with. He didn’t speak about it, he didn’t comment on it, he said nothing of it. Yet the response to it was "Rodgers can’t stand that he’s not the center of attention right now with the NFL playoffs ongoing.” The media is the one who drove that story. Not Rodgers. And secondly, it wasn’t even true. Everyone’s perpetuating the same stories they claim to hate.

My feeling is that ever since it became apparent that he was of a certain sociopolitical camp, and especially after the whole immunized thing, people decided this guy isn’t completely on board with our worldviews, so they view everything he says in a very cynical and sometimes dishonest way. What bad things has the guy even done? Told Adam Schefter to F off? All his teammates seem to absolutely love him.

There will be players out there who have like 10 kids to 10 different mothers and players who get accused of sexual assault who will be more beloved by the sports world than a dude whose worst crime is having some batty conspiratorial worldviews.

Out of curiosity have you workshopped Colin Kaepernick in the same way?  Both used the media to get their views to a larger audience, both expressed views that challenged many other's "world view", both have been vilified in one way or another.  Very similar trajectory, though different hot button "sociopolitical" topics.