Just now, tuffstuff07 said:

Yeah but Stafford got killed a week ago against Miami. Their o line didn't block for crap 

Yeah that was their biggest issue. Granted they got a lot of guys back on oline and they haven’t played together a lot. Would be around 3rd game back playing together. 

4 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Not exactly.  If Davis forces them to throw the ball, and we don't have players capable of making plays in the passing game, that's a self-defeating effort.   Without Mitchell and Dejean being added Davis forcing teams to beat us through the air would just be a faster way to lose.  Davis can't impact the game from the sidelines.  So, is it Davis that makes the difference, or having two young studs at DB that makes passing the ball much much harder?   Players who can only do one thing are less valuable than players who can do multiple things, even if the one thing they do is very good.    For example, Carter is a more valuable piece, because he's effective against both the run and the pass, and he plays in both situations, and at a very high level.  Davis is a less valuable piece, and more easily replaced, because he's only showing acute abilities in one phase of the game, and is by and large ineffective in the other phase.  

Davis' run stuffing ability was pretty worthless for this team down the stretch last year as team after team would just throw the ball down the field with impunity.  Sort of makes him a complete non-factor without the players on the back end that can shut down the passing game.

Yep, and even with our success on the ground, along with the Ravens, and Lions, on the whole, it's still a passing league and a pass rusher will still provide much more impact than a run stopper.

4 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said:

We can likely do better than Becton. He's been solid at RG, especially in the run game, but not exactly the most reliable in pass pro and there's probably a decent chance Stout can work with a couple young prospects to replace him adequately enough. Baun, on the other hand, is an absolute gem that we should not let walk. I don't care if that means we have to part ways with Davis and Williams to do it, he's been exceptional and needs to stay. Finding his replacement would be so much harder.

I don’t think the drop off between Becton and Steen is that drastic where they would give Becton a top tier OG deal. 

Even with its weaknesses I think this is the best D we've had in a long time. A really long time.

Howie's history says he will prioritize Becton over Baun.

OL over LB is the most Howie thing ever.

10 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

Seems like it's been trendy for fans to hate on Slay, but even at his age, he's still a solid CB and his performance this year is a testament to how a good scheme fit is just as important to a CB's play as their own talent. Also helps that he's been relatively healthy so far (knock on wood.)

2 minutes ago, D-Shiznit said:

Howie's history says he will prioritize Becton over Baun.

OL over LB is the most Howie thing ever.

Idk they let seumalo go then just went out and drafted steen. Frankly steen looking good when called upon and potential someone pays becton more than we want to offer is real possibility. I think the plan behind baun is much more murky then with becton. Becton felt like a cheap lotto ticket that if stoutland hit then we could benefit via comp pick the following offseason.  

 

5 minutes ago, Arthur Jackson said:

Even with its weaknesses I think this is the best D we've had in a long time. A really long time.

They finally got the big momentum stop that they could never get last year in the 4th down stop. That sealed the game and was huge. And the encouraging part is that they’re getting better week by week and against good QBs like Burrow and Daniels. It feels nice to have competent pieces at linebacker and in the secondary. 

15 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

Glad to see you have found your way back to the EMB.  I hope you and your family are doing well.  

Mom is doing as well as a 101 year-old can do.  It is up and down for her, and my sister, who lives in Philadelphia carries the bulk of the support load.  She is nine years younger than me, but I defer to here 10 times out of 10 in caregiving situations, and that means getting on a California to Philadelphia flight at times to lend a hand.  Health issues here in California are much better since the doctors have put me on a daily nitrogycerin regime.  They turned off my pacemaker the other day to see what my native heartbeat was and it turned out to be zero.  Ahhhhh the miracles of modern technology!

All things considered I feel pretty lucky to be 77 and have the great healthcare that Kaiser Permanente affords me.

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

The way Howie has been structuring his contracts recently there's really no one to restructure. He's been using option bonuses every year on all the high profile guys which is essentially the same thing as if he was restructuring them, but skipping out the middle man of doing it every year. All the websites already account for the option bonuses and how they are structured also, so there really isn't any hidden savings anywhere unless someone takes a paycut like Sweat did or you extend a guy like Jordan Davis, although it wouldn't be much. 

You can see in the base salary how everyone is basically at minimum already. 

 

Wait till you see the insurance payout he is going to receive for James bradberry.

17 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Last I read was Dallas was in no hurry to extend him and Parsons was willing to wait next year

It'd be crazy if Dallas let him walk

It would be crazy, but given the way Jerry has managed the cap with Dak and Lamb and others, he probably doesn't have the money available to be proactive with Parsons.

1 minute ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

They finally got the big momentum stop that they could never get last year in the 4th down stop. That sealed the game and was huge. And the encouraging part is that they’re getting better week by week and against good QBs like Burrow and Daniels. It feels nice to have competent pieces at linebacker and in the secondary. 

LB pass coverage still needs to get better

and I'd love to see more sacks but that's just a stat, all that matters is getting the stop

19 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Karlaftis is pretty good. Had 10.5 sacks last year (3 in the playoffs too). on pace for 8 this year and really has a chance to get to double digits when you look at who the chiefs face after Buffalo. 

I'm not devaluing Karlaftis, but also not devaluing Davis.

2 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Mom is doing as well as a 101 year-old can do.  It is up and down for her, and my sister, who lives in Philadelphia carries the bulk of the support load.  She is nine years younger than me, but I defer to here 10 times out of 10 in caregiving situations, and that means getting on a California to Philadelphia flight at times to lend a hand.  Health issues here in California are much better since the doctors have put me on a daily nitrogycerin regime.  They turned off my pacemaker the other day to see what my native heartbeat was and it turned out to be zero.  Ahhhhh the miracles of modern technology!

All things considered I feel pretty lucky to be 77 and have the great healthcare that Kaiser Permanente affords me.

Wow, that's incredible. Best of luck in both yours and your mother's health, matt. You've been a fixture of the EMB for as long as I can remember, and I hope there are many more years to come with you a part of it.

17 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Not exactly.  If Davis forces them to throw the ball, and we don't have players capable of making plays in the passing game, that's a self-defeating effort.   Without Mitchell and Dejean being added Davis forcing teams to beat us through the air would just be a faster way to lose.  Davis can't impact the game from the sidelines.  So, is it Davis that makes the difference, or having two young studs at DB that makes passing the ball much much harder?   Players who can only do one thing are less valuable than players who can do multiple things, even if the one thing they do is very good.    For example, Carter is a more valuable piece, because he's effective against both the run and the pass, and he plays in both situations, and at a very high level.  Davis is a less valuable piece, and more easily replaced, because he's only showing acute abilities in one phase of the game, and is by and large ineffective in the other phase.  

Davis' run stuffing ability was pretty worthless for this team down the stretch last year as team after team would just throw the ball down the field with impunity.  Sort of makes him a complete non-factor without the players on the back end that can shut down the passing game.

If If If ... your points are good, both conceptually and with respect to last year, specifically.  I'm much more inclined to look at our situation actually with Mitchell, DeJean, Rodgers, Ghost, and CJGJ than hypothetically without them.  Chocolate and Vanilla. 

18 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

None of them were long term fits, so Hamilton was definitely an option, IF they were willing to spend a first on a safety.

Fair enough.

1 minute ago, mattwill said:

If If If ... your points are good, both conceptually and with respect to last year, specifically.  I'm much more inclined to look at our situation actually with Mitchell, DeJean, Rodgers, Ghost, and CJGJ than hypothetically without them.  Chocolate and Vanilla. 

Yes.  But, we are measuring individual value.   Value of the back end > value of run clogging NT.  Value of DT that can stop the run and rush the passer > value of run clogging NT.

In other words, of the list of players mentioned (not CJGJ) Davis is at the end of that list.  Carter, Mitchell, DeJean, even Ghost and Rodgers are higher value players than Davis.  That is not to say that what he provides isn't valuable, it is.  But it is lower value than the others mentioned, and that's why he wasn't worth the pick they used on him over players like McDuffie and Hamilton.  It is what it is now, but again, replacing what he provides is easier to find than what the others provide.   So, they can't overvalue him again moving forward and overpay for a one dimensional part time player.   When drafted, I had the hope that he could be both a run stuffer and a guy to collapse the pocket.  He's proven that he's only one part of that, not both.  

18 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Seems like it's been trendy for fans to hate on Slay, but even at his age, he's still a solid CB and his performance this year is a testament to how a good scheme fit is just as important to a CB's play as their own talent. Also helps that he's been relatively healthy so far (knock on wood.)

Feels like it’s been trendy for fans since we traded for him. So many people hated giving up a 3 for him.

15 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Wait till you see the insurance payout he is going to receive for James bradberry.

I completely forgot he existed. 

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

True.  But he was also always behind Duce and then Westbrook.  That's what you want in your backup RB... a guy who you find in the mid-rounds and can push for a starting spot later.

Loved Buck in college and his potential but his fragility made him a spotty back up. 

 

1 minute ago, ManuManu said:

I completely forgot he existed. 

I actually thought about this last night, I bet in the locker room he is super helpful to some of the young guys playing the position. He seems Like the type of guy that is willing to help out the team and put his pride aside. He might not be contributing on the field and it sucks that we’re paying him, but his experience and helping young guys out might be more valuable going forward for those guys 

3 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Loved Buck in college and his potential but his fragility made him a spotty back up. 

Most definitely.  But, when he was healthy... he was a legit weapon.

Game is on