1 hour ago, RLC said:

I think it may take him a while to get going. He's playing high. 

 

That's what stood out to me.  He keeps ata ding up like he's playing tackle.

1 hour ago, NCiggles said:

Oh Jake Rabababi is claiming to have sources now.  

He does. He crushed free-agency.

How many teams have anyone really solid at WR after their top receivers including TE? You look around the league and most teams have 2 or 3 guys getting all the receptions. The rest barely get any catches. 

Brown
Smith
Goedert
Barkley/Gainwell

That's who's going to get the catches. Depth at WR is a need, but the team has two 1,000 yard receivers, paid big money to Barkley and extended Smith and Dickerson. There's no reason the offense shouldn't feast with these guys and better coaching. If there's an injury, like with any team, you're not going to have some stud backup you're going to use the other starters and sprinkle in some backups and get creative.

18 minutes ago, jsb235 said:

From my perspective, playing a guy more than 8 snaps in a preseason game is a pretty good way to reduce the learning curve and help him get up to speed, especially with only one real practice this week.

You'll get no argument from me on that.   It doesn't reduce the learning curve, it provides reps ON the learning curve.  But, there is a significant learning curve, so a little grace needs to be shown when he misses an assignment on something that seasoned guards miss from time to time.  

 

8 minutes ago, NOTW said:

How many teams have anyone really solid at WR after their top receivers including TE? You look around the league and most teams have 2 or 3 guys getting all the receptions. The rest barely get any catches. 

Brown
Smith
Goedert
Barkley/Gainwell

That's who's going to get the catches. Depth at WR is a need, but the team has two 1,000 yard receivers, paid big money to Barkley and extended Smith and Dickerson. There's no reason the offense shouldn't feast with these guys and better coaching. If there's an injury, like with any team, you're not going to have some stud backup you're going to use the other starters and sprinkle in some backups and get creative.

I agree with the first part, but if you look across the league, there are plenty of teams who are 3-4 WR deep. They might lack the top end talent that the Eagles have in Brown and Smith, but they've got talent from top to bottom. The Eagles can and should absolutely bring in a WR3 who has WR1/2 traits if needed. 

37 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I don't know, I think teams will mostly just end up kicking the ball through the back of the endzone and put the ball at the 30.It's only a 5 yard difference from last year and even if they followed the rules as intended the ball would just end up around the 25/30 yard line anyway. 

Some probably will.  If all teams do that, the league will just change it to the 40 yard line and make doing it more penalizing.  

 

 

1 hour ago, NCiggles said:

The reason it's so boring is that no one can move until the ball is touched.  It totally changes the opening dynamic of the game. I think they should go to the old school kick offs but the players all have to wear those giant inflatable sumo wrestler costumes.  

Everything about it is just awkward. And it doesn't translate to TV well at all either. They have no idea how to film it. 

They should either get rid of kickoffs entirely or make them back what they were. If you're that afraid of concussions on kickoffs then don't have them. If you want kickoffs then have them. It's not like 5 people are getting concussed on every kickoff, and the evidence for concussions on kickoffs is anecdotal to begin with.

The NFL is in this dance of trying to change rules to prevent injuries while still making it fun. Eventually that's going to be an impossibility. Every few years they're going to try to ban something based on a couple guys getting hurt. Remember, the hip drop tackle was banned this offseason. Next it'll be tackling from the behind with the shoulders because it's a lot of the same mechanisms. Then one year scientists will find that front collisions increase concussion risk by X% because one physical freak driving a player running forward back stopping all his momentum rattled the brain inside the skull, and then front collisions will be banned.

It's never ending. The game will never be fully safe. It's just how far they can take it until it's totally unrecognizable.

1 hour ago, just relax said:

That's a tough one to pick up. The stunting rusher is the far-side DE, who lined up on the inside shoulder of the LT three gaps away. It's a stunt Becton never saw as a tackle so I'm delighted he got to experience it. The stunt also takes time to develop and Pickett had ample time to throw. He was never threatened. 

Toth's job was to eat snaps. In that regard he was, well, adequate.

I think people underestimate the impact of expanded PS squads.

Now you have to get players through waivers, but on cut down day, a veteran like Smith or Fred Johnson are unlikely to be claimed. Maybe Kinnard b/c of age.

It seems teams now reserve 5-6 spots for marginal veterans who you can plug and play in case of injury, whereas you really don't want to promote a raw prospect you're developing (you can only protect 3 at a time on the PS).

So one thing to watch is how stashing veterans on the PS changes how you build depth - if you're only dressing 8, the 9th/10th spot on the roster may be used to protect high value projects b/c if there's an injury they can't go into the game anyway and next week you can call up a veteran off the PS to dress.

37 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Everything about it is just awkward. And it doesn't translate to TV well at all either. They have no idea how to film it. 

They need a referee standing in the middle of the field on a podium holding up a flag to signal when the players can move.  

3 hours ago, RLC said:

Didn't think this was necessary as it was clear that Howie would try this.

Silly me. Like you wouldn't have to surgically remove Howie's phone!

If Howie isn't talking to every team that has a player of interest, laying the ground work for potential moves in two weeks (August 24-26 will be full of moves as teams dump players before cut down so they can protect other players) he's guilty of gross negligence.

Howie will make multiple moves as he always does, trading a couple players for picks, a couple picks for players, claiming a couple off waivers then cutting them and trying to get them on the PS. He and Dombrowski are cut from the same cloth - they're soulmates with the vulture: "patience my ass, I'm going to kill something." Howie NOT making a move would be a shocker.

John Metchie might be more gettable than Noah Brown and may have more upside.

1 hour ago, RLC said:

He does. He crushed free-agency.

I thought he just reported what Schefter had already tweeted. 

20 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

John Metchie might be more gettable than Noah Brown and may have more upside.

I could see them targeting Cedrick Wilson in New Orleans.  He had success with Moore in Dallas.  He's 28 and NO probably has a need at CB.  

2 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I don't know, I think teams will mostly just end up kicking the ball through the back of the endzone and put the ball at the 30.It's only a 5 yard difference from last year and even if they followed the rules as intended the ball would just end up around the 25/30 yard line anyway. 

A quick side comment regarding kickoffs. In the game on Friday, the Eagles announcer was critical of the Ravens decision to kick the field goal which tied the game 6-6. He couldn't fathom a reason why they'd do that. What I thought was that the Ravens chose to take the sure points so that they would ensure the opportunity to try another kickoff. A "test" kick to explore different possibilities of where the ball might land, how they cover it, etc.

Sure, if they had gone for the TD and scored, they would also get that same opportunity. But if they had failed, they wouldn't have.

I dunno. For some reason I thought it played into their mindset.

1 minute ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

A quick side comment regarding kickoffs. In the game on Friday, the Eagles announcer was critical of the Ravens decision to kick the field goal which tied the game 6-6. He couldn't fathom a reason why they'd do that. What I thought was that the Ravens chose to take the sure points so that they would ensure the opportunity to try another kicker. A "test" kick to explore different possibilities of where the ball might land, how they cover it, etc.

Sure, if they had gone for the TD and scored, they would also get that same opportunity. But if they had failed, they wouldn't have.

I dunno. For some reason I thought it played into their mindset.

The Ravens announcers were initially critical too but they changed their mind by the kick off and thought that was the reason they decided to kick the field goal. 

9 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I could see them targeting Cedrick Wilson in New Orleans.  He had success with Moore in Dallas.  He's 28 and NO probably has a need at CB.  

Can't understand why we showed no interest in free agency

11 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I could see them targeting Cedrick Wilson in New Orleans.  He had success with Moore in Dallas.  He's 28 and NO probably has a need at CB.  

They could have just signed him outright. He was available for a while and they never had interest.

20 hours ago, Random Reglar said:

Quez Watkins sucked yet the Eagles had him playing a lot of snaps for the last 2 years.

I like what the Eagles have at WR.  The WR room has been upgraded with players that I like that don't suck.  I don't want the players I don't like who don't suck to be displaced.

The Eagles could pick up a fast guy who can play special teams as well as Jobe,  who could be WR6.   I'm definitely good with Covey, Wilson, Campbell and Ross if they're all healthy,  and that leaves 6. 

Prolific stuff.  You should be a writer.  

I would argue that the players who don't suck that you may are may not like who are currently with the team in some capacity that I like are best.  

3 hours ago, just relax said:

That’s an excellent comparison.

Hopefully it turns out similarly, Davis was an absolute beast in the run game and a big wall in pass pro.

If becton shows out early I could see Howie extending him long term at OG. 

7 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

They could have just signed him outright. He was available for a while and they never had interest.

They may feel like they need him more now or Moore could push for him.  

3 hours ago, RLC said:

I think it may take him a while to get going. He's playing high. 

Yup that last one he got pushed back into hurt, too high as you said, but the rest he was moving his feet and moving people off the ball 

On the 2nd ir 3rd on a run id like to see him finish that block runyan style and drive him into the ground, looks like he let up but good block.

Hopefully he only gets better going forward but he doesnt look out of place so far 

3 hours ago, RLC said:

 

I think it may take him a while to get going. He's playing high. 

Agreed - I can't imagine it being easy to play RG with this technique: