1 hour ago, ToastJenkins said:

Nah

Ghost is far better

Certainly a more consistent one.

49 minutes ago, just relax said:

You mistake athleticism for skill at the position.

JMHO

Well said.

23 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Just something I wanted to put out there on Hurts. It took some time, but I think the FO, coaching staff at large, Siri, and Hurts himself figured out how to use Hurts last year.

It was an uncomfortable settling process. Hurts is not a traditional NFL qb. (Duh). But that’s not because he’s not Peyton Manning. The benchmark for traditional has moved. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are now traditional NFL QBs. Flickable arm talent, athleticism primarily aimed at generating improvisational off balance throws that elude the edge rush….and, this part like Peyton/Brady….often dropping back and using that talent to throw the ball 35-40 times per game.

That simply isn’t Jalen Hurts. We all tried to force that square peg through that round hole in 2021, did so with some degree of success in 2022, then again with more modest results in 2023, and then again with poor results in the first few games of 2024. When you utilize him in that fashion, he turns the ball over too much, makes uncomfortable and poor decisions, and generally doesn’t make the most of his opportunities in the passing offense.

What Hurts thrives with…a vintage Hurts game:

• 40-60 yards of physical north-south running against fronts that drop into coverage leaving a soft middle, almost all runs going for first downs

• Multiple tush push conversions

• Conservative, low volume, turnover free short range passing.

• 1-2 effective, accurate deep rainbows for the back breaker.

  That’s his game. He can be the engineer of an elite offense in doing that. He and the team proved they can win a SB with that. I don’t think that works in back and forth shootouts or big deficits for come-from-behind victories…but he’s paired with a defense that didn’t allow that to happen anyway.

  It takes some discipline and a little irreverence for convention to manage your QB and run your offense that way. It took them a little while to figure out that’s how they had to do it. It does lean on the defense to avoid putting them in positions that force them to depart from that, but it’s working. That’s a big credit to Sirianni…it may not take a genius or an AR/Mcvay type mind to run this offense, but it does take a unique blend of insight, flexibility, and steadfast commitment (something those coaches may not have) to pull it off.

I think the above sells Jalen short, a bit, although I am pretty sure that wasn't your intention. Another thing that Hurts is very good at, is pre-snap reads and adjustments.

Seems like a lot of Saquon's big runs came from Hurts calling them at the LOS. Same with AJ's deep catches.

1 hour ago, Freshmilk said:

Eh, like I said, I think it's close. And I don't think either of them sniff the top 10 safeties in the league. Good, solid safeties that have flaws but don't hurt the back end terribly.

FWIW PFF released their Safety ratings and had CJGJ 13th with Blakenship 15th so you both are kind of in agreement

On 6/2/2025 at 7:41 AM, just relax said:

If you go to Igglesblitz.com today you’ll see a piece by Tommy about Nolan Smith, with clips. In every one of them the Eagles line up in the wide-9. In one of them, Smith is even lined up outside Mitchell, who’s covering a wide receiver.

Correction: there is one play where Smith lines up off the LOS and covers the TE on a wheel route. That one was not a wide-9 alignment.

Yup I remember Nolan rushing from like wide 11😁

Would be interesting to see the numbers on how often Vic had his edges in a wide 9 and if it was just one edge out at 9 or both?

1 hour ago, mattwill said:

Well said.

But incorrect.

He is going to be good

So, y

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

FWIW PFF released their Safety ratings and had CJGJ 13th with Blakenship 15th so you both are kind of in agreement

So, should we prepare to welcome Isaah Simmons into the fold soon?

4 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Lawrence Taylor, Terrell Owens, Ray Lewis

You send out the no name players so they can see just how good bad NFL players are.

On 5/31/2025 at 4:48 PM, Mike030270 said:

I'm late. Didn't know about the domestic violence. That sucks. He was a monster to watch

Is that hoodie for sale?

I can't be the only one that doesn't care about the implications and is just happy Huff is gone finally

I'm biased as hell but I don't think there's really anyone in the NFC to challenge us and the AFC will have to beat each other up to get to the SB

It looks like the hoodie from two years ago, but one site lists it as this upcoming year's

https://www.dhgate.com/goods/917137312.html

https://gasow.org/?g=474161823

43 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

But incorrect.

Care to elaborate?

8 hours ago, Freshmilk said:

If GJGJ was only owed $3.5 million for 2025 like Blankenship he'd still be here. He was let go because they value Carter, Smith, and Baun more than CJGJ and Blankenship.

I think there's more to it than that. He's proven twice now that he's just not a stable individual when he leaves this team. How many other free agents act like him when they sign elsewhere? I think he brought something they needed, which is that edge... but a player that has that kind of edge can be abrasive to both his own teammates and the opposition. This team doesn't need him to bring that edge anymore. The young pups grew up quick... and collectively, they have the swagger they need to be able to play with the utmost confidence. The cost was just a really convenient excuse. It allows him to save face (if he wants to take that route) and can move on gracefully. Of course, he has yet to do that.

7 hours ago, eagle45 said:

It takes some discipline and a little irreverence for convention to manage your QB and run your offense that way. It took them a little while to figure out that’s how they had to do it. It does lean on the defense to avoid putting them in positions that force them to depart from that, but it’s working. That’s a big credit to Sirianni…it may not take a genius or an AR/Mcvay type mind to run this offense, but it does take a unique blend of insight, flexibility, and steadfast commitment (something those coaches may not have) to pull it off.

That was pretty much the game 40 years ago... with the exception of the QB runs. (Replace the QB runs with dumpoffs to the backs, and there you have the passing stats of the 80s and early 90s... basically Troy Aikman level passing.) And frankly, I'm all about it. What that style really does is really emphasize the strength of this team, which is the massive and talented OL, which is likely the best unit with the largest discrepancy against their opponents league wide. So, they let the big fellas play downhill, let them beat up their opponent, shorten the game and make the opponent say "uncle". When you have the biggest and baddest OL, you can use them as the primary weapon. Then you put a stud like Barkley behind them... and you have true magic on the football field that we saw last year. We won't see another 2k season this year... but I think 1500+ is very attainable.

The real question I have is... how long will the WRs remain content with that style? Winning is the great deodorant. If they come out of the gate slow, or they stumble in the early season, will we get another flair up like last season when the passing game was a bit stagnant?

7 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

FWIW PFF released their Safety ratings and had CJGJ 13th with Blakenship 15th so you both are kind of in agreement

Not worth the paper to actually put it into print. 💩

Whether Blankenship or CJ are "better" is kind of irrelevant. It's about which is better for Vic and his system. Vic values technicians who know and play their roles to perfection, don't get out of position, and aren't afraid to do dirty work. IMO that sounds much more like Blankenship than CJ.

13 hours ago, DEagle7 said:

Oooo good question. I'd say current players and retired are both fair game

I'm surprised that Julian Vandervelde hasn't been mentioned. He's the prime NFL JAG (sorry dude if you are reading this). Or even Reno Mahe or Nate Ilooa....

10 hours ago, eagle45 said:

CJGJ always has been an ups and downs kind of guy. Highlight reel hits, INTs, blown coverages, blown tackles, taunting issues, etc.

Blankenship is the exact opposite. Isn’t blowing people up, isn’t making highlight reel grabs (although he actually does have a nose for the ball and for INTs), will get beat when isolated, but is a very steady player who won’t blow an assignment. That’s a coach’s best friend. And it’s especially useful when you are turning over 2 adjacent positions.

So I’d say that the coaches definitely valued Blankenship over CJGJ, regardless of the unique cap implications of each. Both are nice safeties though.

Ghost kind of reminds me of oft forgotten about, pretty close to great, safety Quintin Mikell. I said it right after the trade and stand by it, CJ was one of the least important cogs in the defense last year. Combine being a complete head case into there and I’m ok with him leaving. Did it leave a void? Yes…but there is pieces there to replace him (in theory).

Fangio seemed to have something to do with CJ being traded. He was "fine with it”… yeah if Fangio wanted him to stay, they would have made it work.

21 minutes ago, UK Eagle said:

I'm surprised that Julian Vandervelde hasn't been mentioned. He's the prime NFL JAG (sorry dude if you are reading this). Or even Reno Mahe or Nate Ilooa....

Vandervelde seems too nice though. "Scared Straight" was a show back in the day where they sent bad kids to prison with criminals and harassed the crap out of them to scare them into getting their crap together. So to get that same vibe you need a bit of a psychopath scaring these players/parents.

I think a Marshawn Lynch/Ray Lewis combo would be 👌

7 hours ago, mattwill said:

Care to elaborate?

I don't base it on athleticism. Never even spoke about athleticism. Just Relax threw that out there based on nothing but his own opinion on what he thought I was thinking. He was not accurate.

CJGJ had moments last season where he gave up some TDs but one thing he did was he always seemed to find the ball. What did he have 13 INTs in two seasons here? That will be hard to replace. I think Mukuba has that kind of CF ball hawking ability though, we'll see if he can bring turnover production here from Texas.

26 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

I don't base it on athleticism. Never even spoke about athleticism. Just Relax threw that out there based on nothing but his own opinion on what he thought I was thinking. He was not accurate.

He didn’t say you base it on athleticism. However, you are correct that it was his opinion that your thought process, whether consciously or unconsciously was seeing athleticism and believing it was skill. Skill requires discipline. Athleticism does not.

11 hours ago, just relax said:

You mistake athleticism for skill at the position.

JMHO

14 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

CJGJ had moments last season where he gave up some TDs but one thing he did was he always seemed to find the ball. What did he have 13 INTs in two seasons here? That will be hard to replace. I think Mukuba has that kind of CF ball hawking ability though, we'll see if he can bring turnover production here from Texas.

That is an excellent description of CJGJ and frames well the trade offs associated with his style of play. Do the big ups of the splash plays (6 interceptions out of 908 snaps) offset the discipline breakdowns spread across the rest of the 908 snaps.

8 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

So, y

So, should we prepare to welcome Isaah Simmons into the fold soon?

Unlikely. Howie drafts against the future. I believe Brown was drafted to eventually replace CJGJ. While Fangio plays two high safeties to start off (not unlike how Saban and Belicheck a long time ago would play their version of Cover 1, where frequently depending on what the offense showed, resulted in the S facing the strong side to drop down into the flat (but not always). I believe CJGJ would see more plays (because of his lining up on the right side of the offense) where he would drop to a SS role, while more often Reed plays the high or free (frequently weak side) safety. I believe Mukuba, who has similar communication skills to Blankenship is as much insurance against Reed and the Eagles not being able to agree on an extension as anything. Howie usually drafts a replacement the year before.

I think Brown’s injury threw a roadblock into his development. They were a bit lucky with McCollum. I believe Tristan was a targeted signing. The Eagles do that a lot with poaching from other teams PS and cuts. (Booker, Henry, Gray, Cine are examples, so is AJ Woods). Now there are a number of posters that want McCollum gone. Probably based on prevent defense playing. But McCollum was active for 25% of snaps last year. Watch him in the All 22 not in prevent and he’s solid. Note the Eagles dropped the DB designation for him and Sam. Like Reed, they are listed now as Ss. Meanwhile, Mukuba, Cine, Hook, Castro-Fields, competition for S positions in TC, are still listed as DBs. Some may point to Coop being listed still as a DB, but that’s partly because he is still in play as a S or OCB in base.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the four Ss on the 53 are Reed, Brown, Mukuba and McCollum. But it’s going to be a good battle in TC and the preseason games.