1 minute ago, austinfan said:

That's what makes it a "trick play." There are limited options b/c the QB has to basically make one read and get rid of the ball quickly.

If you run it on a regular basis, teams began to pick up on the open targets (if you're running you've cut the field in half) and also took a page from Buddy Ryan, just hit the QB on every play, as a RB he's more vulnerable and gets less protection from refs.

With a conventional play action, it comes out of a standard formation, so the whole field is in play, and the OL knows its assignments.

 

 

Uh no, RPOs and conventional play-action can be run from the exact same formations. The whole field is in play for both, and the OL knows their assignments for both, they are just different assignments. 

 

Quote

There's a place for the read-option and run-pass option plays, it gives the defense another look, and if you only run them 5-10 times a game a defense can't key on them and they're more likely to be successful. Same reason play-action works best if you use it out of the base offense where you run 3 or 4 times for every play action gake.

Yeah this is another fallacy too, but you're free to believe what you wish.

13 hours ago, Iggles_Phan said:

In no way can I blame the collapse of the starting pitching on Garrett Stubbs... but...   the Phillies desperately need to upgrade their backup catcher.   If Stubbs was a great receiver behind the plate, or was great with the pitching staff, you could put up with his pathetic bat.   Meanwhile, if he was a threat with a bat, you could put up with his mediocre skills as a game caller/receiver...   but, when you combine his inability with a bat, with his mediocre abilities with the pitching staff, besides being a 'fun guy' to have around, what does he bring to this team?  

 

Gotta hope that the Phillies can get JT back soon and that he's not going to miss a lot of time, but I can't remember the Phillies having a backup catcher that I was more non-plussed by.  How I long for Chris Coste!  

They had one in Logan O'Hoppe but they traded him for Marsh. They also have Rafael Marchan who I think is much better than Stubbs but maybe he doesn't play the correct music after games. Who knows. 

7 minutes ago, vsptroops said:

They had one in Logan O'Hoppe but they traded him for Marsh. They also have Rafael Marchan who I think is much better than Stubbs but maybe he doesn't play the correct music after games. Who knows. 

I believe Kyle Teel is one of the Red Sox top prospects who is supposed to play in 2025 meaning maybe we can get one of Connor Wong or Reese McGuire to back up Realmuto

11 minutes ago, garingovt2000 said:

I believe Kyle Teel is one of the Red Sox top prospects who is supposed to play in 2025 meaning maybe we can get one of Connor Wong or Reese McGuire to back up Realmuto

No idea who that is but if he's better than Stubbs, sign me up. Lol. They do need to start thinking about life after JT. He only has 1 more year on his contract and I hope DD doesn't sign him to some stupid 5-year extension with his balky knee.

4 minutes ago, vsptroops said:

They had one in Logan O'Hoppe but they traded him for Marsh. They also have Rafael Marchan who I think is much better than Stubbs but maybe he doesn't play the correct music after games. Who knows. 

I wouldn't undo that trade for Marsh.  O'Hoppe is currently a nothing player for the Angels, and Marsh is a central figure on this team.   Still isn't hitting LHP very well, but he's been crushing RHP pretty well.  And his defense is on point.   That was a great trade by the Phillies.    

I don't know that Marchan is any type of improvement over Stubbs either.   The best backup catcher in MLB right now is likely playing for the Braves.  Ironically, another former Phillies minor leaguer.   Travis D'Arnaud would be the guy for me that I'd love to have as the backup catcher.   Who might be available around the league as a trade chip for guy like... Carlos De La Cruz?   Obviously, you aren't going to give up a ton for a backup catcher, unless its for a young guy that you are hoping to develop.  But, generally, those guys stay at the minor league level to play everyday, rather than sit on the bench for 100+ games a year.   So, this would be targeting a guy in his late 20s, early 30s to be that guy to sit behind Realmuto and get the spot start.   That won't be a big price tag, especially if you target a good receiver from a bad team.   Not sure who that guy would be... and I'm likely spitting into the wind with this.   Stubbs isn't going anywhere this season.   They care too much about the locker room to mess with him.  

 

In other news... this team needs to find a way to keep Cody Clemens with the big club.   He seems like what they hoped Jake Cave would be, and frankly, I think he offers more versatility than Cave did defensively.  Clemens can play 1B, he played 2B last night, he can play 3B (though not ideal) and I think he'd be just fine in LF, he'd be no worse than Schwarber.  I'm not sure who the expendable guy would be for Clemens.  But, I would say that I think that Clemons might need to stick around.  If I had to point to one guy, it might be Pache.  Pache might be a guy that they move at the deadline for another bullpen arm.  He's young enough and had the pedigree in the past that a team might take a shot on him for a decent arm.  And, its possible that Clemens could be platooned with Castellanos for an extra lefty bat when Castellanos goes cold in the playoffs.  Not that Topper would do it.

In regards to Jurgens, there's also questions of how much he can hold up that I don't see ever discussed much. I know injuries can happen to anyone and they can also be streaky especially early in careers, but Jurgens missed a lot of time in his first year of playing. If he misses a stretch of games, the O-line will be a real problem. Really, losing any starter at any position could be a significant problem. Hopefully Keegan is a quick learner because this is the worst O-line depth I remember having in a long while. 

12 minutes ago, vsptroops said:

No idea who that is but if he's better than Stubbs, sign me up. Lol. They do need to start thinking about life after JT. He only has 1 more year on his contract and I hope DD doesn't sign him to some stupid 5-year extension with his balky knee.

Most importantly, it seems like Stubbs just doesn't have what it takes to help his pitcher out when he's struggling.   I just don't think he calls as good a game as JT, and I don't think he has the same feel for the pitchers.  And maybe most importantly, he doesn't seem to have the same trust from the pitching staff.

2 hours ago, austinfan said:

Dropping into coverage is both athleticism and instincts, and probably comfort in space. Sweat is probably more comfortable moving forward than backing into coverage.

He's never shown LB skills, he's a pure pass rush DE.

It's not just getting to a spot quickly, it's having the feel for the passing game so you can read QB eyes and anticipate routes through your area.

I disagree.  Took Sweat some NFL seasoning but he can control the edge and has on occasion dropped.  You may be reading too much into Hunt’s experience as a backup S at Cornell.  The kid has decent attitude but not the instincts for a S and slow for that at 4.64.  He looks a little lost at times in coverage.  Another Howie project at third down.  Neither Baun nor Nolan Smith has shown that they can cover better than Sweat at this point.  I like the projection and the potential for disguise but it’s a projection.  For example, Hunt plays high at times and lacks a repertoire of pass rush moves (decent description of Sweat coming out of the draft, btw).  Both can be trained.  

Teams always have to adjust to losing a franchise historic player. You don't truly "replace" players like Reggie White, Dawkins, Kelce...no one will ever be as good. We still have never had a safety or defensive player in general like Dawkins. You move on, replace the position with the best players you can and your team takes on a new identity. The offense will likely never be what it was with Kelce because of the unique things he did. 

It's up to the coaches to work with the offensive roster they have and design scheme and plays around their strengths and adapt.

Rumors out there that Eagles will be hosting MNF Week 2. Makes sense as that gives them an extra day from flying back from Brazil, but my goodness, what is the NFL's obsession with Eagles Week 2 primetime and on top of that constantly screwing Eagles fans with their home opener? This would be 3 years in a row the home opener is a night on the Weekday. Give them a proper Sunday afternoon game home opener already. 

9 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

In regards to Jurgens, there's also questions of how much he can hold up that I don't see ever discussed much. I know injuries can happen to anyone and they can also be streaky especially early in careers, but Jurgens missed a lot of time in his first year of playing. If he misses a stretch of games, the O-line will be a real problem. Really, losing any starter at any position could be a significant problem. Hopefully Keegan is a quick learner because this is the worst O-line depth I remember having in a long while. 

He got banged up last season... and he's not that big.  He very well could miss time this year.   

I agree about the OL depth.   It might be decent, but right now its a lot of unknowns.   Personally, I think Keegan might have been the steal of the Eagles' draft.   I see him, at worst, as a long term top interior backup OL at all 3 positions.   But, its very possible that he could develop into a quality starter too.   And more importantly, I think he comes to the Eagles as a very well coached OG, so his learning curve shouldn't be overly steep.   That's all optimism at this point though.    Hennessey is the top interior backup until proven otherwise.   And the OT depth remains a question mark.   What is Becton?   Is the healthy, or is he just a body?  Is Fred Johnson going to stick as the LT backup?  Gotta hope they can find the Chip Kelly shake recipes.

3 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I didn’t even know they signed claypool. They are now doomed 

Can beat the Eagles NFL record for drops with a large majority of those pick ups.  Kind of the WR version of Howie’s Ss and LBs last year.

22 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

In regards to Jurgens, there's also questions of how much he can hold up that I don't see ever discussed much. I know injuries can happen to anyone and they can also be streaky especially early in careers, but Jurgens missed a lot of time in his first year of playing. If he misses a stretch of games, the O-line will be a real problem. Really, losing any starter at any position could be a significant problem. Hopefully Keegan is a quick learner because this is the worst O-line depth I remember having in a long while. 

Health on the OL is a thin ice that the entire team is skating on.  I’ve been saying it for 2 years that these guys are all injury prone…and fortunately they’ve done a really nice job of proving me wrong.  Mailata, Dickerson, and Lane have all been more or less healthy the last 2 years.  But all 3 still make me hold my breath.  Add in Jurgens, who WAS banged up a bunch last year….and I really worry we could be in for one of those years where we see 12 different OL permutations over the course of the season.

28 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

In regards to Jurgens, there's also questions of how much he can hold up that I don't see ever discussed much. I know injuries can happen to anyone and they can also be streaky especially early in careers, but Jurgens missed a lot of time in his first year of playing. If he misses a stretch of games, the O-line will be a real problem. Really, losing any starter at any position could be a significant problem. Hopefully Keegan is a quick learner because this is the worst O-line depth I remember having in a long while. 

Which is why I've been banging the table for Connor Williams. Would have been one of the first OL signed if not for the ACL. Can be had at a bargain. Howie likes to upside hunt. Has OG/C versatility. Can never have enough OL bodies. Would be nice to have even if he starts the season on the PUP.

38 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

In regards to Jurgens, there's also questions of how much he can hold up that I don't see ever discussed much. I know injuries can happen to anyone and they can also be streaky especially early in careers, but Jurgens missed a lot of time in his first year of playing. If he misses a stretch of games, the O-line will be a real problem. Really, losing any starter at any position could be a significant problem. Hopefully Keegan is a quick learner because this is the worst O-line depth I remember having in a long while. 

They have had this kind of depth before.  Arguably, this season is better than it was in 2017.  

The initial 53 man roster in 2017 was:

Offensive tackle — Jason Peters, Lane Johnson, Halapoulivaati Vaitai

Offensive guard — Isaac Seumalo, Brandon Brooks, Chance Warmack

Center — Jason Kelce, Stefen Wisniewski

It will likely look like this this season:

OT - Lane, Jordan, Becton, Fred Johnson

OG - Dickerson, Steen, Keegan

C - Jurgens, Hennesy, McMahon

Vaitai and Seumalo were both unproven at that point.  Wisniewski was a journeyman brought in to provide a viable back up for Kelce but ended up winning the LG spot.  Warmack was a can't miss pick by the Titans.  He signed with the Eagles after his 5th year option was declined.    

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I wouldn't undo that trade for Marsh.  O'Hoppe is currently a nothing player for the Angels, and Marsh is a central figure on this team.   Still isn't hitting LHP very well, but he's been crushing RHP pretty well.  And his defense is on point.   That was a great trade by the Phillies.    

I don't know that Marchan is any type of improvement over Stubbs either.   The best backup catcher in MLB right now is likely playing for the Braves.  Ironically, another former Phillies minor leaguer.   Travis D'Arnaud would be the guy for me that I'd love to have as the backup catcher.   Who might be available around the league as a trade chip for guy like... Carlos De La Cruz?   Obviously, you aren't going to give up a ton for a backup catcher, unless its for a young guy that you are hoping to develop.  But, generally, those guys stay at the minor league level to play everyday, rather than sit on the bench for 100+ games a year.   So, this would be targeting a guy in his late 20s, early 30s to be that guy to sit behind Realmuto and get the spot start.   That won't be a big price tag, especially if you target a good receiver from a bad team.   Not sure who that guy would be... and I'm likely spitting into the wind with this.   Stubbs isn't going anywhere this season.   They care too much about the locker room to mess with him.  

 

In other news... this team needs to find a way to keep Cody Clemens with the big club.   He seems like what they hoped Jake Cave would be, and frankly, I think he offers more versatility than Cave did defensively.  Clemens can play 1B, he played 2B last night, he can play 3B (though not ideal) and I think he'd be just fine in LF, he'd be no worse than Schwarber.  I'm not sure who the expendable guy would be for Clemens.  But, I would say that I think that Clemons might need to stick around.  If I had to point to one guy, it might be Pache.  Pache might be a guy that they move at the deadline for another bullpen arm.  He's young enough and had the pedigree in the past that a team might take a shot on him for a decent arm.  And, its possible that Clemens could be platooned with Castellanos for an extra lefty bat when Castellanos goes cold in the playoffs.  Not that Topper would do it.

The thing with o’happe is he’s played only 92 games in his career so far. Hard to judge what he is after that amount of games. He’s had a decent year so far for the angels (.270/.320 with a 0.7 WAR so far this year). Wouldn’t undo that trade however the Phillies when they traded him should’ve been trying to draft and develop a catcher prospect higher in the draft knowing realmuto was getting older, gonna start breaking down and needing his eventual replacement and knowing Stubbs/marchan weren’t guys they saw having bigger roles in the future.

Marchan isn’t even their best catching prospect anymore. It’s Tait (17 years old) whose projection is 2028 and maybe even 2029. Marchan might be a better backup then Stubbs but they’ll never remove Stubbs at this point for him just due to his clubhouse dynamic. But the Phillies really need to think about taking a catching prospect high in the draft to develop him over the next 2.5 years so he’s possibly ready when realmuto is done and gone and compete with Tait. Even if tait and the other prospect pans out, catching prospects hold a lot of demand if they can hit cause it’s becoming harder to find really good hitting catchers. There’s just not a ton of them 

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Rumors out there that Eagles will be hosting MNF Week 2. Makes sense as that gives them an extra day from flying back from Brazil, but my goodness, what is the NFL's obsession with Eagles Week 2 primetime and on top of that constantly screwing Eagles fans with their home opener? This would be 3 years in a row the home opener is a night on the Weekday. Give them a proper Sunday afternoon game home opener already. 

1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

The thing with o’happe is he’s played only 92 games in his career so far. Hard to judge what he is after that amount of games. He’s had a decent year so far for the angels (.270/.320 with a 0.7 WAR so far this year). Wouldn’t undo that trade however the Phillies when they traded him should’ve been trying to draft and develop a catcher prospect higher in the draft knowing realmuto was getting older, gonna start breaking down and needing his eventual replacement and knowing Stubbs/marchan weren’t guys they saw having bigger roles in the future.

Marchan isn’t even their best catching prospect anymore. It’s Tait (17 years old) whose projection is 2028 and maybe even 2029. Marchan might be a better backup then Stubbs but they’ll never remove Stubbs at this point for him just due to his clubhouse dynamic. But the Phillies really need to think about taking a catching prospect high in the draft to develop him over the next 2.5 years so he’s possibly ready when realmuto is done and gone and compete with Tait. Even if tait and the other prospect pans out, catching prospects hold a lot of demand if they can hit cause it’s becoming harder to find really good hitting catchers. There’s just not a ton of them 

Agree, the Phillies need to get someone behind Realmuto for the long haul.. but that guy will be working in the minors, not sitting on the bench in the majors.   So, in terms of the big club, having Marsh is much more important than O'Hoppe.  He may turn into something some day.  But, this is a team built to win now, so that's a great trade.  

 

It will be interesting to see if the Phillies can strike Panamanian gold again with Tait.  It would be awesome.  But, he's years away even if he is the guy.  Adding more C depth is absolutely a need for the future.   Personally, I'd rather a different backup C now than Stubbs, but this team seems to focus so much on the locker room, I doubt they'd do anything like that to mess with the mojo.   Only move I see at the deadline would be a bullpen arm (or two) and maybe another bat off the bench.  But, that's what Merrifield was added to be.  With Merrifield and Clemens, they have a righty and a lefty they can call on.   But, for Clemens to stick, someone else will need to go when Turner comes back.   If they can trust Clemens in LF, I think that guy will be Pache who might get moved.

13 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

 

Wouldn't this be the opposite of that since they are being put on a nationally televised game?

Why does Bohm get hit so much with the bases loaded?!?!   🤣

2 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Wouldn't this be the opposite of that since they are being put on a nationally televised game?

🤦‍♂️.  No.   The question was why are they screwing the FANS.  

18 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Agree, the Phillies need to get someone behind Realmuto for the long haul.. but that guy will be working in the minors, not sitting on the bench in the majors.   So, in terms of the big club, having Marsh is much more important than O'Hoppe.  He may turn into something some day.  But, this is a team built to win now, so that's a great trade.  

 

It will be interesting to see if the Phillies can strike Panamanian gold again with Tait.  It would be awesome.  But, he's years away even if he is the guy.  Adding more C depth is absolutely a need for the future.   Personally, I'd rather a different backup C now than Stubbs, but this team seems to focus so much on the locker room, I doubt they'd do anything like that to mess with the mojo.   Only move I see at the deadline would be a bullpen arm (or two) and maybe another bat off the bench.  But, that's what Merrifield was added to be.  With Merrifield and Clemens, they have a righty and a lefty they can call on.   But, for Clemens to stick, someone else will need to go when Turner comes back.   If they can trust Clemens in LF, I think that guy will be Pache who might get moved.

I thought for sure in the 2022 mlb draft they were going to take Daniel Susac the catcher out of Arizona. They took Crawford so I’m not gonna complain. Cause Crawford is going to be an absolute stud. Just that the Arizona coaches (have met and become good friends with some coaches on that staff) told me they thought the Mets and Phillies were the two teams they knew had scouted him a ton. Mets took a catcher and Susac fell to the Phillies and they didn’t. Susac was kind of a perfect prospect in terms he had 2 years of college baseball and was great. Probably be in the minors for 3-4 years so at the end of realmuto’s contract you’d have him be the backup and eventually platoon. That said still would take Crawford over Susac. I tend to think the Phillies didn’t believe Crawford would be there and if it wasn’t him they are taking Susac just based on what the Arizona coaches alluded too with the Mets and Phillies. 

yeah they won’t upgrade from Stubbs due to the clubhouse. It’s unfortunate cause he’s really become what Andrew Knapp had become at the end of his time being the backup catcher. Stubbs has a couple years left of arbitration but he’s 31. You want a younger backup that can learn from realmuto and hopefully take over. Marchan is gonna be 26 next year and hasn’t exactly stayed healthy. Likely need to try and find a diamond in the rough or just a better more productive backup.

they need to go out and get a bullpen arm at the deadline. They’re gonna blow through their bullpen because you can’t trust Dominguez or Soto. Frankly Dominguez should be in the minors working his stuff out. He need to accept  doing it or just put him on 15 IL and send him down to do "rehab”. Cause given him a month and a half to fix the issue and he still hasn’t. it’s not helping him staying in the majors as he’s not gotten any better. He’s been the same all year.  And he struggled with his consistency last year. (Soto i think is just a lost cause and not as good as they thought. He has good velocity and stuff but he just doesn’t have great control). if Castellanos isn’t hitting better than what he is right now I think you have to make a move for a bat at the deadline to platoon him. The guy that makes the most sense is in San Francisco. Who’s a left-handed bat in Conforto. He’s having a very good year and he’s only under contract this year. He’s a LH hitter so he can platoon with Castellanos. 

 

I don't know how many pieces the Phillies can afford to trade for though.  The minor leagues are kind of slim pickings, outside of a few blue chippers they are going to need to step up in the next couple years to replenish the talent pool as the current stars age.

 

They can't touch Crawford... and they can slate him to step in to an outfield position for Castellanos' spot.   

They can't touch Painter and Abel.  Hopefully one of them can become a big time pitcher.   Wheeler and Nola will be in their mid-30s soon.  They will start to tail off, and having some young arms to mix in would be good.  They could take Walker's spot in the rotation.

Then you've got Miller... and adding him to the big club might be nice as Schwarber moves on (contract runs through 2025).  Add Miller to the infield mix and let Harper and Turner get more time as DH to keep them fresher, as this team is locked in to both for a long time.   Having the 5 of Harper, Turner, Bohm, Stott and Miller mixing in and around the infield would be a really special group...  if Miller develops as they hope.

Predictions on Sixers big moves this off-season?  Can't say PG-13 either