4 hours ago, D-Shiznit said:

It's not, it's a great pass rush snap, his closing speed might be the best in the league.

Both Nolan and Dean have impressed so far.

Sometimes you read things around here that just don't make sense based on what is currently happening. Why, after a good individual performance (or multiple performances) do people still feel the need to complain about a player based on a previous bad performance? The only thing I can figure is that there's a portion of the fan base that just doesn't like Howie --- so they see these players he picked with high draft picks and they seem to want those guys to fail. They just can't convince themselves to root for some young prospects to improve. They'd rather the team just give up and move on if they aren't All-Pros from day 1. 

Regarding Dean, there are 3 things I keep hearing people say that are based on false perceptions. 

1 --- They say he's not athletic and lacks speed. I mean, that is a real laugher right there. That was the knock on TJ Edwards and currently on Trotter Jr., but Dean was praised by literally every actual college scout for his speed and athleticism coming out of college. I know that Dean didn't run a 40 before the draft, so people that just need to know his 40 time have gone back to his old high school 40 time which was supposedly around 4.7 and used that to argue he is slow. Forget game film that shows his current speed, that high school forty is the end-all to debate.

2 --- They say he "can't stay healthy" or is "always hurt." He's had 1 season in his entire football life where he even missed a practice and that was last season. He hurt his foot, returned  after allowing a few weeks of rest, played a bit and hurt the same foot again requiring surgery. It was unfortunate and it set back his growth as a player, but there's no reason to dwell on it. He doesn't have an extensive injury history to support the can't stay healthy narrative. "But what about his shoulder before the draft and how he refused to have surgery and that scared teams away?" It was a grade 1 pec strain he suffered preparing for the draft weightlifting. No doctor in the world is going to surgically repair a grade 1 pec strain as it just requires a few weeks of rest to completely heal on its own. He's had no issue with it since the draft concluded. 

3 --- They say, "he can't cover at all." Total BS. No doubt he struggled at times when he did play last season, but that is normal for LBs in the NFL. Teams throw a lot at you at the NFL level and you need experience to improve. Most LBs aren't going to be reliably solid in coverage until their 3rd or 4th season and the list of great coverage LBs currently in the NFL is  small enough to count on 1 hand. Getting even one of them matched up against a WR is a huge mismatch in favor of the offense. Anyway, Dean has been showing noticeable improvement in coverage ---especially in the last couple weeks, but there are some still hammering the old narrative. Even when he struggled last season, he wasn't awful, he just wasn't as good as you want from an All-Pro (which he obviously wasn't).

7 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

In draft order, when teams finish with the same record, I think the tie breaker should be preseason record.  Teams with the better preseason record get the better pick as tie breaker.  
 

It’s just a tie breaker rather than strength of schedule…but could be a fun little reason to win a preseason game.  Make it more watchable.  

I don’t want to give Howie any reason to tell his coach to play the starters more than they should in the preseason. 

Only had the Pats coverage available, so 2 weeks in a row of not knowing who half the players were.

• Not a unique opinion but I don't get Kenny Pickett.  I appreciate its a new system and backups, but he hasn't passed the eye test. McKee has, but he needs to throw more variety of passes.
• Scharping at LT. Yikes. Kid spent a lot of time on roller skates. Keegan is a player you largely forget is playing, for a good reason.
• WR3 is still a big hole. Ngata looked the best but there is nothing there that is standing out.
• I like the going for it on 4t down in PS. Players and coaches need those reps, so a smart decision.
• Ringo continues to show how much he has developed as a player. Kid has some swagger now

Good to win, but lots of work is needed.

6 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Do you think Gardner Minshew was a bad backup quarterback?

If the backup isn’t Super Bowl Nick Foles it’s a bust. I feel like some fans expect the backup to look better than the starter 

36 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

In draft order, when teams finish with the same record, I think the tie breaker should be preseason record.  Teams with the better preseason record get the better pick as tie breaker.  
 

It’s just a tie breaker rather than strength of schedule…but could be a fun little reason to win a preseason game.  Make it more watchable.  

I’m guessing within 5 years there will be one regular preseason game. The focus will be on joint practices that will be able to be streamed through either Hulu, Max, or another streaming service. Just a guess but that will probably make the league more money. 

I go to sleep and wake up and McKee is the 2nd Coming, lol.   He did good and yes Pickett isn't really airing it out but I still need to see more from both.  But yes McKee did do well last night.  

Hopefully we can get the starting offense on the field for a drive or 2 next game. I get not wanting to get anyone hurt but they need game reps as well.

andy over here about to play his starters a whole half. He playing for super bowls. Nick is too soft 

18 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

If the backup isn’t Super Bowl Nick Foles it’s a bust. I feel like some fans expect the backup to look better than the starter 

Or just look good enough to justify the draft capital spent to acquire the player. In which case, it's not looking good.

13 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Steen down 

I haven't seen any updates this morning 😕 

14 hours ago, bpac55 said:

This should be...interesting? I'm going to steal Brett Favre.

 

 

David O. Russell is a POS so there's that too. 

13 hours ago, Godfather said:

Shipley will be RB2 by week 8

 

13 hours ago, D-Shiznit said:

Shipley is really f'ing good

If he keeps this up he's got a shot to be #2 much sooner.  Gainwell is basically Reno Mahe at this point.

10 hours ago, Utebird said:

They missed a few, I just watched the highlights and its about 9 minutes long and I counted at least 3 Holds on Dean alone and im not sure how the refs missed in in the pats long KR as well that was blatantly obvious

Guess its ore seasin for refs or goodell has told the refs to chill on the holding cuz it stops big plays😒 

NFL has had a lot of refs retire/quit over the last few years as well as a revolving door at the leadership level, so they are a bit green.  Last year it resulted in a lot of bad calls.  But frankly, if they over concentrated on holding during the PS games, the games would go on forever because OL will do everything they can to prevent injury thus hits to the QB in PS, with the NFL’s blessing.  That said, how they didn’t call in the grasp to protect that leg is beyond reason.

10 hours ago, brkmsn said:

How is this "unblocked?"

 

that looked like a good sack to me

Besides Roseman and his ego keeping Pickett at #2 I'm sure another reason is they want to avoid him throwing a sissy fit if he is demoted to #3 like he did in Pittsburgh when he was benched.  They desperately need to just trade him for whatever they can get.  Grier is fine as an emergency #3.  If we are being honest, if Hurts goes down for the season then we are that rare team that Brady wpuld actually be interested in coming out of retirement for anyway.  McKee is perfect for stepping in for a few games so I'm not concerned about the #3 QB spot if we moved on from Pickett.

5 minutes ago, Random Reglar said:

that looked like a good sack to me

The roughing the passer for head contact was light. It was light contact with the facemask. Not a violent head hit, or leading with the top of the head, or under the QBs chin or anything like that. I hated the call even though it was right, by the rule. This one, on the other hand- he landed directly on the QB. That is roughing. 

1 minute ago, HazletonEagle said:

The roughing the passer for head contact was light. It was light contact with the facemask. Not a violent head hit, or leading with the top of the head, or under the QBs chin or anything like that. I hated the call even though it was right, by the rule. This one, on the other hand- he landed directly on the QB. That is roughing. 

Looked like Nolan intentionally headbutted the QB as lightly as possible - very weird. You play it in slow motion without context and it’s an obvious flag - in real time, nobody would ever get hurt by that. Good preseason lesson I suppose.

Michigan men finish. 

 

49 minutes ago, KINGnabb said:

I go to sleep and wake up and McKee is the 2nd Coming, lol.   He did good and yes Pickett isn't really airing it out but I still need to see more from both.  But yes McKee did do well last night.  

McKee looked great on a level playing field, Pickett looked overmatched playing with backups vs starters. Personally, I think McKee has shown better pocket presence so might have done better but picking on Gonzalez under pressure is bit more difficult than Marcus Dial (#27) from a clean pocket.

Huff, Smith, and Hunt all looked good to me. Dean too.

2 minutes ago, just relax said:

Huff, Smith, and Hunt all looked good to me. Dean too.

The most encouraging play from Huff was the screen recognition on was it the 1st play? Sniffed the play out, stopped his rush and made a great stop for no gain. That's the kind of play that Josh Sweat bites on 10 out of 10 times. Really liked what he did. 

Hunt is going to be a factor. He just looks like he belongs. 

28 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Michigan men finish. 

 

It's almost like an NFL Coach in Harbaugh knew how to develop NFL guys. Still wish they got Junior Colson

19 hours ago, paco said:

Xcel.  We worked out of a suburb office but after my first week at the one hotel on the same street I decided I needed more dining options than the 3 Applebee's within a 5 mile radius.

 

I've done a walkthrough of their plant right on the east side of the river just north of downtown. Definitely interesting to see how a major utility operates. I'm also proud that I have ate at zero Applebees almost 4 years here. You needed to find the local spots. 

Feeling great about this team. LB needs to sort itself out but seems like it will be better than last year at least. WR3 is probably missing, but still a chance Campbell is fine there. We havent seen him yet but hes the best WR of the bunch that have been on the field. 

On the plus side, many questioned OL depth and its looking awesome. 

Offense with new wrinkles is exciting. 

Secondary not sucking is exciting.

I think we are in for a big year. 

Eagles' Nick Sirianni: Kenny Pickett is our No. 2 QB

Philadelphia Eagles third-string quarterback Tanner McKee impressed once again in a preseason outing. On the face of it, Thursday's performance from McKee in a 14-13 win over New England should put pressure on Kenny Pickett for the backup job.

However, coach Nick Sirianni reiterated after the game that Pickett remains the backup behind Jalen Hurts, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports.

"You saw where they went in today. Kenny is No. 2 and Tanner is our No. 3, and I am really happy they're both on the roster," Sirianni said via the game's official transcript.

With Hurts and the offensive starters sitting, Pickett again got the preseason start. The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback went 11 of 13 for 67 yards -- 5.2 YPA -- while taking four sacks. Philly scored three points on five first-half drives with Pickett under center.

McKee entered in the third quarter and led two drives that ended on turnover on downs. The QB then gave way to Will Grier for two drives before returning midway through the fourth quarter to lead the go-ahead scoring drive, which included a nice two-point pass for the win. He finished 15-of-19 for 140 yards -- 7.4 YPA -- with no sacks.

"I thought they both did some good things today," Sirianni said. "I think, you know, Kenny was what, 11 of 13? Ball only hit the ground twice. He had some pressure on him. Tanner played well. I think he was 15 of 19 today, but made some good throws. I thought Will did some good things. I'm happy they're all on the roster right now. I really am. That's good room and they're all helping Jalen, helping each other, and I love that. So really is a good room. Like I said, the things that kind of stalled some of the drives in the first half today was some of the pressures we got. And we didn't run it great in that area either for some different reasons that we'll obviously look at and why. So no, I thought they both played a solid game tonight. Just some of the pressure that was on Kenny happened in that first half."