11 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

So, here's my attempt at an objective look at where we stand vs. the 2023 team.

QB: Obviously, this is based off limited videos and reports from camp, but Hurts just looks better and healthier. All year last year he seemed to be playing hurt and not have his top end acceleration and speed. His YPC dropped below 4, and he simply wasn't nearly the dynamic threat with his legs. Seeing that video of him racing Goedert -- he looks like 2022 Hurts again health wise. Of all the issues we talked about last year, the lack of big off schedule plays was a huge difference from 2022 -- think about the TD rush against the Vikings in 2022. Moreover, Hurts main issue last year was the turnovers -- 19 total turnovers vs. 6 in 2022. I think Hurts gets back to closer to the 2022 form, so we should be nicely improved. SOLID UPGRADE

RB: Deandre Swift is a nice back, but he's no Barkley. I wasn't the biggest fan of giving Barkley that contract, but he's here and he should be a massive upgrade. I look at what happened to Sanders when he left Philly -- without our line and the threat of Hurts' legs, he was a waste in Carolina. Barkley was running behind the worst line in the league with no other weapons on offense. If he stays healthy, the YPC could be very high. LARGE UPGRADE

WR/TE: The only real change here is Dotson for Quez/Zaccheus. AJ, Smitty, Goedert, Calcaterra and Stoll are all back. SMALL UPGRADE

OL: Here's the first potential downgrade. I think Jurgens will be a quality center, but he won't be an all-pro this year. The question to me is RG -- I could see Becton being a lot better than Jurgens (undersized for guard), but it's a projection. I do think Mailata and Dickerson continue to get better, while Lane continues to age. SMALL DOWNGRADE

DT: This will be really interesting. Losing Cox is a blow, but I expect Carter/Davis/Williams/Ojomo to all improve as young players. I really think JC has a chance to be an all-pro caliber guy this year. Still, being honest -- DOWNGRADE

DE/Edge: I wouldn't have given Reddick the contract he seemingly wants, so bringing in Huff to replace him is probably the best we could do. The advanced stats all look good, but need to see him produce -- it's a downgrade for now. Sweat is hopefully better, and the wildcard here is Nolan. DOWNGRADE

LB: Yes, the bar is VERY low. STUPID low. But we are better here with Dean, Baun, Burks and White as opposed to Morrow (who somehow might be starting in Buffalo), Cunningham (unsigned) and Leonard (unsigned). BVS should be better than last year, and Trotter Jr. flashed some in camp/preseason. They still aren't good, but...LARGE UPGRADE

CB: This is where I think we are lightyears better than last year. Slay wasn't healthy, Bradberry was trash, Maddox wasn't healthy, and we were running Bradley Roby out there FFS. Slay, Rodgers and Q is a massive upgrade over Slay, Bradberry and Roby. Add in having Ringo and DeJean on the bench (Ricks is back as well), and Maddox and CJGJ who can play the slot if needed. MASSIVE UPGRADE

S: CJGJ is simply better than Terrell Edmunds/Kevin Byard. I think he's overrated because of the picks in 2022, but he's a clear upgrade. I'd feel better if Brown were healthy, but still UPGRADE

 

So 6 units upgraded, most notably the CBs. 3 are downgraded, all along the lines where we are counting on younger players. It feels like Howie finally decided to switch up his philosophy a little and not focus exclusively on the trenches. All in all, I am optimistic going into the season.

OC - Upgrade...how big is yet to be seen...

10 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

So, here's my attempt at an objective look at where we stand vs. the 2023 team.

QB: Obviously, this is based off limited videos and reports from camp, but Hurts just looks better and healthier. All year last year he seemed to be playing hurt and not have his top end acceleration and speed. His YPC dropped below 4, and he simply wasn't nearly the dynamic threat with his legs. Seeing that video of him racing Goedert -- he looks like 2022 Hurts again health wise. Of all the issues we talked about last year, the lack of big off schedule plays was a huge difference from 2022 -- think about the TD rush against the Vikings in 2022. Moreover, Hurts main issue last year was the turnovers -- 19 total turnovers vs. 6 in 2022. I think Hurts gets back to closer to the 2022 form, so we should be nicely improved. SOLID UPGRADE

RB: Deandre Swift is a nice back, but he's no Barkley. I wasn't the biggest fan of giving Barkley that contract, but he's here and he should be a massive upgrade. I look at what happened to Sanders when he left Philly -- without our line and the threat of Hurts' legs, he was a waste in Carolina. Barkley was running behind the worst line in the league with no other weapons on offense. If he stays healthy, the YPC could be very high. LARGE UPGRADE

WR/TE: The only real change here is Dotson for Quez/Zaccheus. AJ, Smitty, Goedert, Calcaterra and Stoll are all back. SMALL UPGRADE

OL: Here's the first potential downgrade. I think Jurgens will be a quality center, but he won't be an all-pro this year. The question to me is RG -- I could see Becton being a lot better than Jurgens (undersized for guard), but it's a projection. I do think Mailata and Dickerson continue to get better, while Lane continues to age. SMALL DOWNGRADE

DT: This will be really interesting. Losing Cox is a blow, but I expect Carter/Davis/Williams/Ojomo to all improve as young players. I really think JC has a chance to be an all-pro caliber guy this year. Still, being honest -- DOWNGRADE

DE/Edge: I wouldn't have given Reddick the contract he seemingly wants, so bringing in Huff to replace him is probably the best we could do. The advanced stats all look good, but need to see him produce -- it's a downgrade for now. Sweat is hopefully better, and the wildcard here is Nolan. DOWNGRADE

LB: Yes, the bar is VERY low. STUPID low. But we are better here with Dean, Baun, Burks and White as opposed to Morrow (who somehow might be starting in Buffalo), Cunningham (unsigned) and Leonard (unsigned). BVS should be better than last year, and Trotter Jr. flashed some in camp/preseason. They still aren't good, but...LARGE UPGRADE

CB: This is where I think we are lightyears better than last year. Slay wasn't healthy, Bradberry was trash, Maddox wasn't healthy, and we were running Bradley Roby out there FFS. Slay, Rodgers and Q is a massive upgrade over Slay, Bradberry and Roby. Add in having Ringo and DeJean on the bench (Ricks is back as well), and Maddox and CJGJ who can play the slot if needed. MASSIVE UPGRADE

S: CJGJ is simply better than Terrell Edmunds/Kevin Byard. I think he's overrated because of the picks in 2022, but he's a clear upgrade. I'd feel better if Brown were healthy, but still UPGRADE

 

So 6 units upgraded, most notably the CBs. 3 are downgraded, all along the lines where we are counting on younger players. It feels like Howie finally decided to switch up his philosophy a little and not focus exclusively on the trenches. All in all, I am optimistic going into the season.

Good analysis.  DE is biggest cause for concern imo.  I think there's a reasonable argument that Carter's projected development could more than offset Cox but from a player for player comp to last year the DTs are worse because of Booker vs Cox.

1 minute ago, Joe Ball said:

OC - Upgrade...how big is yet to be seen...

I stuck to players only. I think the upgrade at OC and DC is huge. I've said getting Fangio might be the biggest addition of the offseason (would have been here last year if not for Gannon and the Cardinals being dishonest). 

Just now, pgcd3 said:

Good analysis.  DE is biggest cause for concern imo.  I think there's a reasonable argument that Carter's projected development could more than offset Cox but from a player for player comp to last year the DTs are worse because of Booker vs Cox.

I tried to stay away too much projection beyond young players should get better. Carter is the guy I am most excited to see Friday. He could wreck GB's interior.

8 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

That's why I chose my profile pic 👀

Would the ones here flip out if she was shown with an Eagles jersey instead?

6 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I stuck to players only. I think the upgrade at OC and DC is huge. I've said getting Fangio might be the biggest addition of the offseason (would have been here last year if not for Gannon and the Cardinals being dishonest). 

I tried to stay away too much projection beyond young players should get better. Carter is the guy I am most excited to see Friday. He could wreck GB's interior.

Carter on defense and Barkley on offense have to be big difference makers this year.

I think there is legitimate reasons to be excited about Carter but for me, I also need to see it over the course of the season. I think it's a little bit ominous what Fangio has said about his and Davis conditioning the other day. Fangio also doesn't rotate D-linemen as much as Eagles typically do, which is something to watch for. For comparison, under Fangio last year Christian Wilkins played 894 defensive snaps and 190 ST's snaps. Jalen Carter last year played 563 defensive snaps and 58 ST's snaps and still faded down the second half of the season. I don't expect him to play as many snaps as Wilkins but he's absolutely in-line for an increase and he needs to show he can handle the workload. 

24 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

So, here's my attempt at an objective look at where we stand vs. the 2023 team.

QB: Obviously, this is based off limited videos and reports from camp, but Hurts just looks better and healthier. All year last year he seemed to be playing hurt and not have his top end acceleration and speed. His YPC dropped below 4, and he simply wasn't nearly the dynamic threat with his legs. Seeing that video of him racing Goedert -- he looks like 2022 Hurts again health wise. Of all the issues we talked about last year, the lack of big off schedule plays was a huge difference from 2022 -- think about the TD rush against the Vikings in 2022. Moreover, Hurts main issue last year was the turnovers -- 19 total turnovers vs. 6 in 2022. I think Hurts gets back to closer to the 2022 form, so we should be nicely improved. SOLID UPGRADE

RB: Deandre Swift is a nice back, but he's no Barkley. I wasn't the biggest fan of giving Barkley that contract, but he's here and he should be a massive upgrade. I look at what happened to Sanders when he left Philly -- without our line and the threat of Hurts' legs, he was a waste in Carolina. Barkley was running behind the worst line in the league with no other weapons on offense. If he stays healthy, the YPC could be very high. LARGE UPGRADE

WR/TE: The only real change here is Dotson for Quez/Zaccheus. AJ, Smitty, Goedert, Calcaterra and Stoll are all back. SMALL UPGRADE

OL: Here's the first potential downgrade. I think Jurgens will be a quality center, but he won't be an all-pro this year. The question to me is RG -- I could see Becton being a lot better than Jurgens (undersized for guard), but it's a projection. I do think Mailata and Dickerson continue to get better, while Lane continues to age. SMALL DOWNGRADE

DT: This will be really interesting. Losing Cox is a blow, but I expect Carter/Davis/Williams/Ojomo to all improve as young players. I really think JC has a chance to be an all-pro caliber guy this year. Still, being honest -- DOWNGRADE

DE/Edge: I wouldn't have given Reddick the contract he seemingly wants, so bringing in Huff to replace him is probably the best we could do. The advanced stats all look good, but need to see him produce -- it's a downgrade for now. Sweat is hopefully better, and the wildcard here is Nolan. DOWNGRADE

LB: Yes, the bar is VERY low. STUPID low. But we are better here with Dean, Baun, Burks and White as opposed to Morrow (who somehow might be starting in Buffalo), Cunningham (unsigned) and Leonard (unsigned). BVS should be better than last year, and Trotter Jr. flashed some in camp/preseason. They still aren't good, but...LARGE UPGRADE

CB: This is where I think we are lightyears better than last year. Slay wasn't healthy, Bradberry was trash, Maddox wasn't healthy, and we were running Bradley Roby out there FFS. Slay, Rodgers and Q is a massive upgrade over Slay, Bradberry and Roby. Add in having Ringo and DeJean on the bench (Ricks is back as well), and Maddox and CJGJ who can play the slot if needed. MASSIVE UPGRADE

S: CJGJ is simply better than Terrell Edmunds/Kevin Byard. I think he's overrated because of the picks in 2022, but he's a clear upgrade. I'd feel better if Brown were healthy, but still UPGRADE

 

So 6 units upgraded, most notably the CBs. 3 are downgraded, all along the lines where we are counting on younger players. It feels like Howie finally decided to switch up his philosophy a little and not focus exclusively on the trenches. All in all, I am optimistic going into the season.

I pretty much agree with everything you say here. You missed what I think is a HUGE upgrade: the coordinators.

38 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

My son and I drove down to Florida this summer.  We stopped at Bucees on the way down and Wawa on the way back up.  Wawa's subs are better than most anything you can get in NC.  Bucees is overrated.  Their brisket was mediocre and the sauce was subpar. Tastykakes aren't as good as they once were but they're still a ton better than any other snack cake.  

Have a Bucee's a mile from my house...and I agree completely with regards to their brisket, a good piece of smoked beef should not need sauce, if it's good the meat will stand on it's own. I am a bit of a smoked meats snob. Primary reason I go to Bucee's is for a really good array of beef jerky flavors (although pricy), lowest prices around on fuel, and lowest prices for domestic beer, which I drink little of these days.

My most recent brisket cook on the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro (has the integrated smoke box for better/more smoke flavor than a typical pellet smoker):

 

19 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

OC - Upgrade...how big is yet to be seen...

Honestly, the only way it could have been a downgrade is if they hired me.

1 minute ago, paco said:

Honestly, the only way it could have been a downgrade is if they hired me.

😆, don't sell yourself short!

6 minutes ago, just relax said:

I pretty much agree with everything you say here. You missed what I think is a HUGE upgrade: the coordinators.

Yeah, I was doing the roster only. I honestly think Fangio was the biggest addition of the offseason. Desai and Patricia were a clown show. Moore was the guy I wanted most for OC based on what he did in Dallas.

That video of Kelce talking about the blitz calls was interesting. He implied that since Hurts wasn't making the blitz calls, he wasn't necessarily identifying the hit route options. I wonder if now that Hurts will be doing that he will also be making hot route adjustments. 

30 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

My son and I drove down to Florida this summer.  We stopped at Bucees on the way down and Wawa on the way back up.  Wawa's subs are better than most anything you can get in NC.  Bucees is overrated.  Their brisket was mediocre and the sauce was subpar. Tastykakes aren't as good as they once were but they're still a ton better than any other snack cake.  

Everyone knows you stop at Bucee’s for the bathrooms. 

1 minute ago, BigEFly said:

Everyone knows you stop at Bucee’s for the bathrooms. 

Yep, they keep those things OCD clean…

3 hours ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

It's clearly an organizational philosophy that has been present since Doug.  Howie clearly has a lot of say in things like this as later revealed by Doug.

Yeah, that could well be. Either way, one of my pet peeves with the Eagles are the soft ass camps. Buddy Ryan, Dick Vermeil, and Andy Reid.... TOUGH, HARD camps- and they had winners on their hands.

44 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

Have a Bucee's a mile from my house...and I agree completely with regards to their brisket, a good piece of smoked beef should not need sauce, if it's good the meat will stand on it's own. I am a bit of a smoked meats snob. Primary reason I go to Bucee's is for a really good array of beef jerky flavors (although pricy), lowest prices around on fuel, and lowest prices for domestic beer, which I drink little of these days.

My most recent brisket cook on the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro (has the integrated smoke box for better/more smoke flavor than a typical pellet smoker):

 

 

Well, you're in TX, so brisket is a religion. I lived a few years there (Austin for 2 and San Angelo for 1) and I got the best brisket of my life from a side of the road food truck. If you've got a good rub and great smoke, you definitely don't need sauce, though I still will use it to accentuate flavors sometimes just sparingly. 

I don't know if Carter tailed off last year because of conditioning. You'd figure during the season you'd play yourself into shape and conditioning would be a per game thing opposed to a per season thing. The entire defense collapsed, I'm assuming he was just part of that toxicity that seemed all encompassing. And if there was a thing with his body I'd guess it had more to do with nagging ailments than a cardio and weight thing.

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

 

I had 97.5 on the radio, I think it was Tyrone carrying on. The way he was talking they were going to Somalia or The Sudan.

Carter's splits before/after his ankle injury are pretty stark. 

1 hour ago, Joe Ball said:

Have a Bucee's a mile from my house...and I agree completely with regards to their brisket, a good piece of smoked beef should not need sauce, if it's good the meat will stand on it's own. I am a bit of a smoked meats snob. Primary reason I go to Bucee's is for a really good array of beef jerky flavors (although pricy), lowest prices around on fuel, and lowest prices for domestic beer, which I drink little of these days.

My most recent brisket cook on the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro (has the integrated smoke box for better/more smoke flavor than a typical pellet smoker):

 

Looks good.  Growing up in Houston, I feel the same way. I won’t eat brisket at a place that doesn’t smell like smoke.  My favorite, Dozier’s in Fulshear closed but I still have some of their rub.  Never tasted and won’t ever taste the Bucee’s "BBQ”.  Probably makes Dickey’s seem good.  

But I am a thick jerky from a smokehouse fan. (Or from my smoker.) Didn’t really like the Bucee’s jerky but I did try it.  If it wasn’t dark at some point in the smoking, I conclude it probably isn’t as good.  Low and slow.  Do you wrap in butcher paper at the stall?  For Jerky, I tend to use flank steak, cut in one inch thick strips. One inch square.  Pepper, some salt and slow smoke on a mix of Oak and Pecan with a few smaller chunks of hickory and mesquite. The pecan and mesquite offset the heavier oak and hickory flavors. (BTW, I use pecan for my ancho, chipotle peppers.)  I start smoking in the afternoon and keep the temperature low, at about midnight I feed the fire one last time and go to bed.  Fire (coals) dies out a little before the sun comes up.  The smoke is all the flavor I need.

BTW, one thing I can say for Bucee’s, I like the bag of post oak you can get there.  (Good gas prices but they really need windshield squeegees.  Every time I am in Texas, it seems like half the bugs in the state commit suicide on my windshield.)

Think the Bucee’s I stop at the most is either the one outside Crossville, TN or the one on I30 east of Dallas. Every time we go to my wife’s hometown of Galveston, it seems like we stop at the one on 45 near the outlets).  Regularly filled up at the one at 302 and 35 in New Braunsfels as that was my sister’s exit (she passed).  They have a restaurant across the way that serves up a good chicken fried steak and Gruene is right across 35. Plus they have a Spec’s there too and a super H.E.B., which has even better gas prices.  Kind of exit off the freeway I like.  (I am sure the UH and Eagles stickers on my car confuse most Dallas fans.) 

Kyle Phillips is pretty clone like to Ainias Smith. 

13 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Kyle Phillips is pretty clone like to Ainias Smith. 

Looks like a covey clone 

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Would the ones here flip out if she was shown with an Eagles jersey instead?

It's certainly notable that she dates him and was at games. Given her popularity, of course the NFL is going to utilize that. I think the "issue" people might have is that in that 30 second promo for the league, she appeared like 5 times. Dolly Parton was in there too, but once. There are also other celebrities that don't get the same attention.

For example, Simone Biles is a record breaking and accomplished gymnast, considered the best of all time. She's married to an NFL player but doesn't get the same attention as Swift. Other sports show celebrities like basketball courtside and all that. But the attention on Swift was over the top last year. CBS even put up a graphic during a game broadcast of Travis Kelce's stats since dating Swift, which is ridiculous. 

But imagine Bradley Cooper or Miles Teller being shown on screen and in promos that much, people would be like ok that's cool but why are they in so many shots?

5 minutes ago, rrfierce said:

Looks like a covey clone 

If Covey and Ainias had a kid it would be Philips 

12 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Looks good.  Growing up in Houston, I feel the same way. I won’t eat brisket at a place that doesn’t smell like smoke.  My favorite, Dozier’s in Fulshear closed but I still have some of their rub.  Never tasted and won’t ever taste the Bucee’s "BBQ”.  Probably makes Dickey’s seem good.  

But I am a thick jerky from a smokehouse fan. (Or from my smoker.) Didn’t really like the Bucee’s jerky but I did try it.  If it wasn’t dark at some point in the smoking, I conclude it probably isn’t as good.  Low and slow.  Do you wrap in butcher paper at the stall?  For Jerky, I tend to use flank steak, cut in one inch thick strips. One inch square.  Pepper, some salt and slow smoke on a mix of Oak and Pecan with a few smaller chunks of hickory and mesquite. The pecan and mesquite offset the heavier oak and hickory flavors. (BTW, I use pecan for my ancho, chipotle peppers.)  I start smoking in the afternoon and keep the temperature low, at about midnight I feed the fire one last time and go to bed.  Fire (coals) dies out a little before the sun comes up.  The smoke is all the flavor I need.

BTW, one thing I can say for Bucee’s, I like the bag of post oak you can get there.  (Good gas prices but they really need windshield squeegees.  Every time I am in Texas, it seems like half the bugs in the state commit suicide on my windshield.)

Think the Bucee’s I stop at the most is either the one outside Crossville, TN or the one on I30 east of Dallas. Every time we go to my wife’s hometown of Galveston, it seems like we stop at the one on 45 near the outlets).  Regularly filled up at the one at 302 and 35 in New Braunsfels as that was my sister’s exit (she passed).  They have a restaurant across the way that serves up a good chicken fried steak and Gruene is right across 35. Plus they have a Spec’s there too and a super ****, which has even better gas prices.  Kind of exit off the freeway I like.  (I am sure the UH and Eagles stickers on my car confuse most Dallas fans.) 

First of all, I am sorry for the loss of your sister, I hope it wasn't sudden. Hopefully you had a chance to say your goodbye's and attempt to prepare yourself mentally for a loss like that.

The Dickey's comment made me laugh...trash...even the sides are trash. My favorite place for smoked meat is easily Lockhart but I don't get down there as often as I used to, Smitty's, Black's, and Kreuz are all outstanding. I really want to get to Lexington to try Snows.

I don't make jerky, at least not yet. I stick to chicken, pork shoulder, ribs, brisket, and short ribs. I am going to try doing a chuck roast this year since I picked up a half side of beef this year. 

I used to wrap brisket with foil, I switched to butcher paper a couple of years ago. After reading quite a bit and watching some guys use this Camp Chef I plan on trying the foil boat method this year also. I only use salt and pepper seasoning and post oak wood, true Central Texas BBQ style. I will use fruit woods (apple/cherry) on chicken and ribs.

I drove through Crossville and stopped at Bucee's to fill up this May when we drove to/from Pigeon Forge for vacation. I live right near the Bucee's you are talking about east of Dallas on I-30.

I am sure a Cougar decal and an Eagle decal would be confusing to many down here...