2 hours ago, just relax said:

See my prior post.

Frankly, I respect your opinion of OL over just about anything Baldy says.  Dickerson is a beast (he’s Runyan at LG) but I like what I see from Becton. What I like about both Dickerson (as he acclimated to G) and Becton is despite playing too tall at times, their brute strength negates the potential negative there.  But Steen and Keegan also impress.  Keegan is so refined.  Different than Dickerson, for sure.  

So if Lane is out, who plays RT, Fred (yeah the double Johnsons brought that on), Becton with Steen at RG or Steen. Frankly I go with Fred with Kinnard as our active OL with Gates and Steen.  Thought Kinnard played better than I expected in PS.

2 hours ago, eglz1 said:

Certainly. Showers aren't exactly unheard of in Florida. But right now it doesn't look like there'll be any effects from Helene; by 8 P.M. Saturday what's left of Helene is forecast to be over west central Tennessee. If there are games, either football or baseball scheduled in Atlanta or Nashville they could be wet. Or Knoxville - Tennessee college game if there's one scheduled.

Damage? Flooding?

2 hours ago, DaEagles4Life said:

No way Travon Walker becomes available if the Jags continue to fall apart? 

Nah, a new GM/Coach will build the DL around him. 

2 hours ago, Wentz_Era said:

What do you mean by this?  I’m not going to argue against him…but that Ohtani guy is approaching the same air.

Ohtani is approaching rare air.

Please stop it with Ohtani.  He is having an exceptional season.  His last four seasons as a batter have been outstanding.  He is also an outstanding pitcher.

But...

He has only hit over .300 twice.  Aside from this season, his batting accomplishments hadn't really differentiated himself from the other great hitters in the league.  What did differentiate him was his ability to pitch at a high level.  But he isn't pitching this season.  So we are watching an amazing offensive performance. 50-50 is impressive.  Acuna Jr. did 40-70 last season.  Both equate the same WAR value.

Babe Ruth has a .342 career batting average.  He had a 14 season stretch were he led the AL in home runs 12 times, OPS 12 times, and WAR 11 times.  And Ohtani's four season pitching for the Angles is a wash at best to the 6 seasons Ruth pitched for the Red Sox.

12 months ago no one was seriously putting Ohtani ahead of Ruth.  One exceptional season as a batter only shouldn't change that.

 

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ohtansh01.shtml

Matt Stairs will always be my GOAT

5 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Matt Stairs will always be my GOAT

His HR against the dodgers might be the greatest thing I’ve seen in person as a fan. Literally that place got dead silent except for all the Phillies fans who were cheering. Was an unbelievable game 

Watched the all 22 with a focus on the defense. Here's some things I saw.

1. Zack Baun had one of the greatest pass rushing moves I have ever seen. He lined up against the left tackle and gave him an outside/inside move that was so nasty the tackle ended up flat on his face while never getting a hand on Baun. I am sure that was a favorite in the film room. He was on the LOS a lot and looked the part. It seemed to throw the Saints off their game.

2. Thomas Booker needs more snaps. He had a huge play where he walked the guard back into Carr and prevented a deep shot by getting his arm up and forcing him out of the pocket. Milton Williams was okay, and Davis had a few moments, but none of the other DTs generated much pressure outside of Carter wrecking almost every play. Booker played 10 snaps and made every one of them count.

3. Nolan Smith obviously had a terrible rep on the punt block, but looked okay when he was on the field against the run. It was much better than last year when he looked lost. He did get sucked inside on one run, but bounced back and blew up a run a few plays later. He also dropped into coverage once and did a decent job. Our pass rush from the DEs/edge players/OLBs was pretty non-existent, especially compared to what Carter was doing, but Carr was mainly dumping off passes and generally not taking chances. The way our offense was avoiding scoring, he really didn't need to press until the very end, and that's when he turned the ball over. 

4. Our corners were really solid in coverage. There was one busted coverage that Carr missed, but overall it was much more organized than in previous weeks. The late TD drive exposed Ringo and CJGJ, but, hey, the other guys get paid as well.

Overall, we had a few guys really stand out against an offense that was pretty dominant the first two weeks. Carter, Mitchell, Blankenship and Baun were consistently making plays. Other guys flashed, but it would be nice to see more consistency. Davis had some really good plays, but other times he was invisible, especially compared to Carter, who was all over the place. Huff is a disaster so far, but maybe he was find his stride.

We were a lot more creative on defense. There were more 5- and 6-man fronts. I would like to see more times when guys like Smith and Huff drop into coverage and we rush Dean and Baun, but maybe that will come with time.

 

 

3 hours ago, RLC said:

If Becton is as good as you say, and I don't even disagree, why wouldn't he make at least 15M/Y in free agency?

Injury history. 

2 hours ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Please stop it with Ohtani.  He is having an exceptional season.  His last four seasons as a batter have been outstanding.  He is also an outstanding pitcher.

But...

He has only hit over .300 twice.  Aside from this season, his batting accomplishments hadn't really differentiated himself from the other great hitters in the league.  What did differentiate him was his ability to pitch at a high level.  But he isn't pitching this season.  So we are watching an amazing offensive performance. 50-50 is impressive.  Acuna Jr. did 40-70 last season.  Both equate the same WAR value.

Babe Ruth has a .342 career batting average.  He had a 14 season stretch were he led the AL in home runs 12 times, OPS 12 times, and WAR 11 times.  And Ohtani's four season pitching for the Angles is a wash at best to the 6 seasons Ruth pitched for the Red Sox.

12 months ago no one was seriously putting Ohtani ahead of Ruth.  One exceptional season as a batter only shouldn't change that.

 

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ohtansh01.shtml

It’s not Ruth or Ohtani. It’s AND. It’s Nolan Ryan and Christy Mathewson. Why should we rank one ahead of the other. That’s like Barry Sanders v Jim Brown v Earl Campbell etc.. That’s not an "or”. That’s a thank you for letting me watch you run the ball. (Thinking Saquon may soon join them in that way of thinking.  That TD last week was so awesome.). 
 

Ohtani, Judge are having a season like few others.

18 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

It’s not Ruth or Ohtani. It’s AND. It’s Nolan Ryan and Christy Mathewson. Why should we rank one ahead of the other. That’s like Barry Sanders v Jim Brown v Earl Campbell etc.. That’s not an "or”. That’s a thank you for letting me watch you run the ball. (Thinking Saquon may soon join them in that way of thinking.  That TD last week was so awesome.). 
 

Ohtani, Judge are having a season like few others.

I do a good bit of offshore fishing and on some days it just happens. Like 2 50+ lb bull mahi on one trip. And then you fall into thinking that this will happen all the time. After years of it not happening again, you realize how special that day was. Eagles fans need to see this with Barkley. He is unusual, exceptional, and not to be taken for granted. Enjoy the ride while it is here. 

3 hours ago, BigEFly said:

Injury history. 

Becton was a turnstyle at OT for the Jets.  You don't want him out there.  Plus he missed two full seasons out of four.  You have to see how this year plays out and see if he can stay healthy..  Already he has missed 1/2 of one game and only three have been played.  Any team signing Becton should only give him an incentive laden contract for games played and percentage of snaps.  The fact that he was a former first round pick means nothing.  Nobody is paying him for that otherwise Reagor would have a multi-million dollar contract.

11 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I generally don't like to be insulting on here, but do you even watch the games? Graham has been, BY FAR, the Eagles most productive defensive end through three games. Granted, he's only getting limited playing time, but he's definitely been playing well.

I think he's actually getting the most snaps of the edges... maybe second to Sweat.  But you are correct.  He's been the best out there so far, by a lot.

8 hours ago, just relax said:

Yep. As someone said whom I can’t remember, Babe Ruth never saw a slider..

By the same token no modern player has ever faced a ball thrown with a 7 innings old ball that's got no rebound left in it so it's harder to hit for distance, cut with emery boards and covered in vaseline on one side so it moves about in the air, all while it's harder to see because all the whites been worn off it.

10 hours ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Babe Ruth was hitting more home runs than entire teams. Look at baseball reference and look at all the dark black numbers (led lg), it’s incredible.

Ohtani is awesome no doubt. What Ruth was doing compared to contemporaries is hard to match.

Personally i think the discussion of Ruth vs Ohtani is much closer than Jordan vs Lebron for GOATs.  I will not argue with anyone who thinks Ruth is clearly ahead though as there’s some validity to it.

9 hours ago, just relax said:

I wonder about this lateral myth. It’s unsupported to my eyes. And Becton has better feet than Steen, despite the opinion voiced earlier. He’s bigger, stronger, longer, faster, and quicker. There’s a reason he was a high first and Steen was a third. Steen can be a very good OL.  Benton can be a better one.

Becton is quite nimble for his size, not JP level, but lets say a dancing cub?

5 hours ago, BigEFly said:

It’s not Ruth or Ohtani. It’s AND. It’s Nolan Ryan and Christy Mathewson. Why should we rank one ahead of the other. That’s like Barry Sanders v Jim Brown v Earl Campbell etc.. That’s not an "or”. That’s a thank you for letting me watch you run the ball. (Thinking Saquon may soon join them in that way of thinking.  That TD last week was so awesome.). 
 

Ohtani, Judge are having a season like few others.

Good way of thinking here. I should amend my posts lol.

9 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Yep. There’s way too many advancements in recent years in medicine/training/technology that current athletes will always have a leg up and the ones from the past are at a disadvantage. 

Modern players also smoke way fewer unfiltered cigarettes each inning, which probably helps. 

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I think he's actually getting the most snaps of the edges... maybe second to Sweat.  But you are correct.  He's been the best out there so far, by a lot.

If the grey beard wants back next year, fine, but IIRC this started with talk of resigning him?  Nothing should be expected from Graham at this point and he still delivers.

3 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Modern players also smoke way fewer unfiltered cigarettes each inning, which probably helps. 

IDK about that, the modern world is what it is because of Lucky Strike and Camel unfiltered cigs lol.  

Side note and funny story…my last deployment in Syria during all my key leader engagements with local leaders we would get offered cigs, chai, food and various cultural things.  These guys would sit and chain smoke a pack during an hour meeting.  After my 2nd or 3rd, before i left they handed me 2 cartons of their Syrian cigarettes…which in that culture it’s very hard to say no to gifts.  So I had my mom send me a carton of lucky strikes.  After I gave them to them, the next meeting they were all smoking them but taping filters to them lol.

7 hours ago, jsb235 said:

Our pass rush from the DEs/edge players/OLBs was pretty non-existent, especially compared to what Carter was doing, but Carr was mainly dumping off passes and generally not taking chances.

Carr's time to throw was 2.64 seconds. That was the quickest we have faced so far this season.

11 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

Personally i think the discussion of Ruth vs Ohtani is much closer than Jordan vs Lebron for GOATs.  I will not argue with anyone who thinks Ruth is clearly ahead though as there’s some validity to it.

The fact that there can even be a discussion about it is an absolutely amazing turn of events.  5 or 10 years ago I don't think anyone would have ever dreamed of saying that there was even a candidate to put up against Ruth.  

There are points to be made on both sides and I can see both sides.   Ruth was a poor outfielder, let's be honest about that.  He was a big guy who couldn't cover a ton of ground in the outfield.  Ruth was also not an asset on the bases.  He had 123 stolen bases in his entire career, Ohtani has already passed that number by a wide margin.  Ohtani has 50+ this year alone.  Granted, there's this new rule, but even before then, Ohtani was more of a base stealer than Ruth.   This year, since he wasn't pitching at all, he really made base stealing a priority and it shows. 

 

Now, there would be some that would point to the fact that Ohtani isn't pitching this year, so his pitching shouldn't be considered in this season's stats.  Ruth had to play in the outfield, Ohtani DHs instead.   There is a little more wear and tear on the body when one is fielding rather than just hitting.   But, the difference is minor.    The amazing thing for me to see when looking at Ruth's stats (and he led the league in so many categories), is that he only won the MVP award ONCE.     How is that possible?!    I wonder how many years the vote for MVP was split amongst Ruth and Gehrig, as Gehrig only won the award once as well while they were both playing together.  His second MVP came after Ruth retired. 

 

I can't take a side, and frankly, I don't want to.   I am just enjoying what I am seeing, and I look forward to next year when Ohtani goes back to pitching again (if he does!).  Ruth stopped pitching by the age of 26.  Ohtani will be 30 years old, and coming off Tommy John surgery.  We'll see if he can regain his previous form, or if the Dodgers will even bother to try.   Given his contract, you'd think that was factored into the equation though in signing him to that big of a deal.   And they knew about the Tommy John when they signed him.

2 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Carr's time to throw was 2.64 seconds. That was the quickest we have faced so far this season.

Interesting, a lot of credit needs to go to the coverage schemes then.  On the flip side, I thought Carr looked really uncomfortable a lot of the game.  The pressure might not have hit home but it seemed like they did a great job collapsing and containing.  Which is helps that Carr isn’t exactly a gazelle.

10 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

If the grey beard wants back next year, fine, but IIRC this started with talk of resigning him?  Nothing should be expected from Graham at this point and he still delivers.

Correct.  He's surprising though.   And his style of play has greatly changed.  I don't think we'll see him try to turn the corner as he did more in the past, but really just focus on his bullish strength and try to manhandle the guy opposite him.   But, frankly, there's no EDGE on this team that can set the edge like him.

25 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

Becton is quite nimble for his size, not JP level, but lets say a dancing cub?

Oh he's no cub.  He's a slightly less nimble dancing bear.