20 minutes ago, RLC said:

Is he still mad about Casey Toohill and Elliss?

Let it gooooo

Funny or unfunny I don’t think he cares, it’s a bit.

1 hour ago, Texas Eagle said:

Kept too many in secondary. Imagine they will add a TE and have to clear room - not sure how long we keep 5 safeties, esp knowing Brown is coming back at some point. Would McCollum make it to the PS? Or Bradberry trade maybe? Also surprised Kinnard made it. I feel like a good amount of changes will take place before next Friday.

I think they really like Kinnard's upside.  There were rave reviews early in camp about his potential 

41 minutes ago, wussbasket said:

Its ok, they burned 2 on Dean alone last year. They are completely fine throwing one away on Albert O.

I at least see the logic behind A.Smith. Kid needs to get healthy and study the game before getting back out there.

He needs to learn how to catch the fn ball is what he needs to do

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

So under the new rule you have to designate these two specifically ahead of time. I misspoke by saying you HAVE to bring them back but they are taking up two of the 8 return spots whether they come back or not. 

That was my understanding.  They have a chance to come back if needed but not mandated.  Who else would they have IR'ed? 

Maybe they these guys need to get healthy and can provide something down the line. 

23 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Was he waived? I would have loved to see the Eagles claim him if it was an option.

 

 

That dude is a player when healthy...when healthy.

Sorry for bombarding the blog 😅  Just catching up at the bar after a long day

11 hours ago, austinfan said:

On the final day of training camp last week, the Eagles’ coaches had some players square off in 1-on-1’s against each other in front of the whole team to close practice. LB Ben VanSumeren lined up at receiver against rookie UDFA S Andre Sam. VanSumeren ran an absolutely filthy corner route, complete with head fakes at the route stem, and absolutely dusted Sam, causing both offensive and defensive players to go nuts. But... Kenny Pickett overthrew him. "I played receiver growing up,” VanSumeren said after the Eagles-Vikings preseason game. "They wanted to give me a look at running some routes. So I ran one. I had a nice little swim off the release, gave him a little head move from the outside, little push off, and then back out to the corner. So, you know, it just felt like it did in high school, I guess.” Asked if more opportunities to play on offense were on the horizon, VanSumeren said, "We’re gonna, see, we’re gonna see real soon. That’s all I can really say on that.”

 

6'2 231m 4,45 speed, explosive athlete. Too small for TE, but perfect for H-back (played FB in college as well as LB).

Nice way to build depth on the bench. 😎

 

 

3 hours ago, Random Reglar said:

OK.  did you make that up?

Because I've been saying that - annoyingly (to many here) often.

And I would say that if there is a "too small for TE" player who is actually big enough to block as an inline TE, it's BVS.  29 bench,  42.5 vert, 1011 broad is really really strong.  the strength makes up for the 10-20 pounds light. 

Looking at the PFFs this preseason,  BVS led the Eagles with a 91.  But the Eagles did bring in a lot of good, experienced ILBs,  and the Eagles might want to go in the direction of experience.  And they might not want to platoon.   And BVS might be left with special teams snaps only.   Instead of special teams snaps only,  they could add "can also block on offense, and be good at that,  at WR, RB, FB, HB, TE"  I'd question TE pass blocking, but that's about it.  

Vansumeren bio on offense.
 
WR - Hauled in 85 receptions – a regular season state record – for 1,259 yards and 13 touchdowns during his senior season

QB - Also went 11-of-25 passing for 249 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions as a senior, adding 54 carries for 387 yards (7.2 per carry) and six touchdowns

FB - Freshman with Michigan Wolverines - Made his U-M debut at fullback against Western Michigan (Sept. 8) and also saw snaps there against SMU (Sept. 15)

RB - Sophomore with Michigan Wolverines -  • Carried the ball four times for seven yards and his first career touchdown against Middle Tennessee State (Aug. 31) and also played special teams

https://mgoblue.com/sports/football/roster/ben-vansumeren/21388

I'm very much in favor of VanSumeren playing as the starting LB.  91 PFF is great.  But the Eagles do have a lot of good ILBs.   The Eagles do lack depth at a lot of places on offense. Especially run blocking, which showed up in the last preseason game.  He can do many of those things on offense.  Michigan RB and FB,  can pass protect,  allowing Saquon to run a route.  Not clear who else can do what Barkley can do in pass protection.  Don't think Gainwell provides the pass protection, not clear that Shipley is up to Barkley's level at this point.

Afan, of all the crap you’ve said and cans of worms you’ve opened, this was the worst.

24 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Funny or unfunny I don’t think he cares, it’s a bit.

Definitely not funny

34 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Was he waived? I would have loved to see the Eagles claim him if it was an option.

 

 

No, he’s been around since 2018. I liked him years ago but he’ll be 31 in November and has bad injury history the last few years. He’s likely washed. 

3 hours ago, Godfather said:

What did Burks show you that your extremely upset by him not being on the roster? 

I like the athleticism of the whole group of LBs.   Burks hasn't been bad in the NFL, he hasn't been great,  his playoffs PFF from last year was 31.  So, there have been times he has been bad.   This season he was mostly hurt, and had a PFF in the 50s in the game he played,  so, he was below average.  

Most of the LBs have great combine numbers and played some offense in high school and some college.

28 defense and 22 offense.  No blocking TE,  no pure speedster on offense.  They had VanSumeren run a route in practice, there could be more of that.  There are players on defense who, physically, should be able to block better than the lighter TEs.  they might weight the same,  but those LBs are stronger and faster. 

I think there's an upgrade at Blocking TE available with Zach Gentry, who Pickett was throwing passes to in 2022.   Gentry is very big, and, after looking through the cut TEs, the biggest I found,  going through Las Vegas.  Cut by the Raiders.  He had an 82 Run Blocking PFF in 2021.   If Uzomah couldn't do it,  Gentry's 2021 Run Blocking was better than Uzomah's 75 last year, and Uzomah was 4th best in the NFL.  In other years, Gentry's blocking PFF was 70, twice.  2 70s and an 82.   All 3 numbers were better than all but Goedert.  

He's big - 6'8  and was 265 and is apparently 280 and blocks like a OL.  Was recruited to Michigan as a QB and spent one year on the Michigan roster as a QB.  So, versatility.

The Eagles have 5 players on offense who are getting most of the snaps.  Sometimes you want to have a big blocker in addition to those 5.  Running situations.  Uzomah was that,  Gentry seems like a possible upgrade over Uzomah or Stoll.
 

Zach Gentry
https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2023/3/2/23615867/steelers-vertex-what-does-zach-gentry-bring-at-the-tight-end-position-stats-film-blocking

https://steelersnow.com/steelers-all-90-zach-gentry-dirty-work/

 

 

5 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

No, he’s been around since 2018. I liked him years ago but he’ll be 31 in November and has bad injury history the last few years. He’s likely washed. 

He's 31? Damn, I thought he was much younger. 

16 minutes ago, Cliftoma said:

That was my understanding.  They have a chance to come back if needed but not mandated.  Who else would they have IR'ed? 

Maybe they these guys need to get healthy and can provide something down the line. 

Hard to say who else not knowing everyone’s injuries or expected time. But you could safely waive Albert O and come to an injury settlement, then resign him later when he’s healthy.

it would even make sense to me to cut Lovato, keep Albert O on the 53 for a day, IR him tomorrow and sign Lovato back with a couple extra thousand as a thank you. That’s the same end result without using a return designation prematurely. 

18 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

 

Afan, of all the crap you’ve said and cans of worms you’ve opened, this was the worst.

We need something to keep us entertained for the next week. 

3 hours ago, T-1000 said:

I can't for the life of me understand why they would keep Bradberry.

Setting aside the obvious contract implications that make the benefit of cutting him negligible... I think it's as simple as Fangio running a lot of cover-3 and also being a curmudgeon who isn't as patient with rookies. As fans, there might also be a bit of recency bias/PTSD on our part. 

10 minutes ago, Random Reglar said:

I like the athleticism of the whole group of LBs.   Burks hasn't been bad in the NFL, he hasn't been great,  his playoffs PFF from last year was 31.  So, there have been times he has been bad.   This season he was mostly hurt, and had a PFF in the 50s in the game he played,  so, he was below average.  

Most of the LBs have great combine numbers and played some offense in high school and some college.

28 defense and 22 offense.  No blocking TE,  no pure speedster on offense.  They had VanSumeren run a route in practice, there could be more of that.  There are players on defense who, physically, should be able to block better than the lighter TEs.  they might weight the same,  but those LBs are stronger and faster. 

I think there's an upgrade at Blocking TE available with Zach Gentry, who Pickett was throwing passes to in 2022.   Gentry is very big, and, after looking through the cut TEs, the biggest I found,  going through Las Vegas.  Cut by the Raiders.  He had an 82 Run Blocking PFF in 2021.   If Uzomah couldn't do it,  Gentry's 2021 Run Blocking was better than Uzomah's 75 last year, and Uzomah was 4th best in the NFL.  In other years, Gentry's blocking PFF was 70, twice.  2 70s and an 82.   All 3 numbers were better than all but Goedert.  

He's big - 6'8  and was 265 and is apparently 280 and blocks like a OL.  Was recruited to Michigan as a QB and spent one year on the Michigan roster as a QB.  So, versatility.

The Eagles have 5 players on offense who are getting most of the snaps.  Sometimes you want to have a big blocker in addition to those 5.  Running situations.  Uzomah was that,  Gentry seems like a possible upgrade over Uzomah or Stoll.
 

Zach Gentry
https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2023/3/2/23615867/steelers-vertex-what-does-zach-gentry-bring-at-the-tight-end-position-stats-film-blocking

https://steelersnow.com/steelers-all-90-zach-gentry-dirty-work/

 

 

Although if I guessed, I'd say Gentry might go to the Chargers.   They cut their tall TE who doesn't block that well, and they might want the tall TE who does block well, and it was current Chargers HC, former Michigan HC, Jim Harbaugh, who converted him from QB to TE at Michigan.  

15 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Setting aside the obvious contract implications that make the benefit of cutting him negligible... I think it's as simple as Fangio running a lot of cover-3 and also being a curmudgeon who isn't as patient with rookies. As fans, there might also be a bit of recency bias/PTSD on our part. 

Recency bias on his CB play or his safety play? Because both were bad. 

You know what’s going to be cool about week 1?  The Packers *seem* to be a team that took preseason more seriously.  (I actually have no idea because I paid no attention to anyone this preseason, including the Eagles…but that’s what I seem to have heard).  We know the Eagles don’t.

I’ve been very moderate in my interpretation of their spa approach.  It’s weird blowing it off but I totally understand their hesitation.  Under the assumption that 2024 doesn’t demonstrate there is a big quality difference between the Eagles and Packers, it will be interesting to see two seemingly high quality teams with very different preseason approaches square off while dealing with the typical week 1 cobwebs.

I think it’ll go a long way towards reinforcing or damning their preseason process.

13 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Recency bias on his CB play or his safety play? Because both were bad. 

I meant CB play under Desai/Patricia. Sample size is an issue with his time at S, and never seemed like a natural fit to be honest. Keeping him around as a cover-3 corner is one thing, cross training him at a position that Dejean is far better suited for, is another. 

Maybe we kept Bradberry just to troll the forty-whiners

4 hours ago, beto_eagles said:

I didn't think Bradberry was going to be here after June 1st, but since his salary is already in the books anyway, why not keep a veteran as an insurance at CB and S? Especially since he wants to stay, apparently. He's not going to be starting above the younger players, so it doesn't really hurt. 

I think he’ll be fine.  Historically Bradberry seems to have a good season followed by an "off season” then back to "good” and so forth.  Hopefully the pattern continues.

Julian Okwara is visiting Arizona. 

44 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

You know what’s going to be cool about week 1?  The Packers *seem* to be a team that took preseason more seriously.  (I actually have no idea because I paid no attention to anyone this preseason, including the Eagles…but that’s what I seem to have heard).  We know the Eagles don’t.

I’ve been very moderate in my interpretation of their spa approach.  It’s weird blowing it off but I totally understand their hesitation.  Under the assumption that 2024 doesn’t demonstrate there is a big quality difference between the Eagles and Packers, it will be interesting to see two seemingly high quality teams with very different preseason approaches square off while dealing with the typical week 1 cobwebs.

I think it’ll go a long way towards reinforcing or damning their preseason process.

The Chiefs haven’t started off hot and they play starters. I think the light practices were worse than preseason playing time and the Eagles snap counts were up 20% in practice from last year I believe

31 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

You know what’s going to be cool about week 1?  The Packers *seem* to be a team that took preseason more seriously.  (I actually have no idea because I paid no attention to anyone this preseason, including the Eagles…but that’s what I seem to have heard).  We know the Eagles don’t.

I’ve been very moderate in my interpretation of their spa approach.  It’s weird blowing it off but I totally understand their hesitation.  Under the assumption that 2024 doesn’t demonstrate there is a big quality difference between the Eagles and Packers, it will be interesting to see two seemingly high quality teams with very different preseason approaches square off while dealing with the typical week 1 cobwebs.

I think it’ll go a long way towards reinforcing or damning their preseason process.

I think the trip to Brazil adds several unique variables that make your hypothesis unreliable.

30 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I think he’ll be fine.  Historically Bradberry seems to have a good season followed by an "off season” then back to "good” and so forth.  Hopefully the pattern continues.

Yeah usually his contract years he is good then gets paid and sucks the following. 

3 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

 

"Youngest roster they've had in a while"- current average is .1 higher than season before last lol

6 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Not sure some other team doesn't add him to their 53. Good ST'er and a decent backup.

I said the same thing yesterday. I have a hard time believing there’s a team out there that doesn’t need a solid back up linebacker and St help. Frankly, I thought San Francisco might be in on him with Greenlaw hurt and that he played a good amount of snaps for them in the Super Bowl.