12 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Howie obviously reworked the scouting department, because since that draft, he's got one of the best draft records in the NFL.

2021: D Smith (10), Dickerson (37), Williams (73), Gainwell (150), P Johnson (234)

2022: Davis (13), Jurgens (51), Dean (83), Calcaterra (198)

2023: Carter (9), N Smith (30), Steen (65) S Brown (66), McKee (188), Ojomo (249)

2024: Mitchell (22), Cooper (40), Hunt (94), Shipley (127), Trotter (155), Wilson (185)

FYP

1 hour ago, austinfan said:

This is how Howie extends the PS, it means a few extra paychecks for guys on the edge, gets them some time practicing with the team, so they can step right back in when an opening appears (injuries, signings by other teams).

I think some of the churn is deliberate.

There is no question that the churn is deliberate. The churn lets Howie get weekly paychecks to more than 17 Practice Squad players. So far there have been 24 different players getting one or more of those weekly checks. Money builds loyalty.

12 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Who plays an angrier game on Sunday, Jalen Carter or AJ Brown? Excited to see both of these guys come out on fire.

I missed it. Why would Brown play angrier?

RIP Montrell Johnson 9/8/25 -9/9/25

RIP Eli Ricks 9/9/25 - 9/10/25

RIP Jacob Sykes 9/10/25 - 9/11/25

2 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

I missed it. Why would Brown play angrier?

Just because he is AJ. He almost always plays angrier the week after a low targets game.

20 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Howie obviously reworked the scouting department, because since that draft, he's got one of the best draft records in the NFL.

2021: D Smith (10), Dickerson (37), Williams (73), Gainwell (150), P Johnson (234)

2022: Davis (13), Jurgens (51), Dean (83), Calcaterra (198)

2023: Carter (9), N Smith (30), Steen (65) S Brown (66), McKee (188), Ojomo (249)

2024: Mitchell (22), Cooper (40), Hunt (94), Shipley (127), Trotter (155), Wilson (185)

Yup. If they hit on the JJ pick, would the team have transformed themselves to do the above? Unlikely, I'd think, as there was no reason to change. And the above is a great example of why Howie has a rich persons issue with trying to extend the draft picks and keep that under the cap.

6 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

RIP Montrell Johnson 9/8/25 -9/9/25

RIP Eli Ricks 9/9/25 - 9/10/25

RIP Jacob Sykes 9/10/25 - 9/11/25

Howie is making sure these guys get paid by turnstiling the PS. From AI...

Daily Pay Calculation

• Practice squad salaries are based on weekly rates, but the NFL calculates pay per day on the practice squad.

• If a player is signed, released, or re-signed mid-week, they get paid only for the days they were officially under contract.

Example:

• Weekly rate = $12,500

• Daily rate = $12,500 ÷ 7 ≈ $1,785.71 per day

• If a player is on the practice squad for 4 days that week, they earn:
  4 × $1,785.71 = $7,142.84

---

Important Points

• If a player is promoted to the active roster, they are paid at the NFL minimum salary for active players for those days — even if just for one game.

• If they are cut on Monday and re-signed on Thursday, they’re only paid for the Thursday-to-Sunday portion.

• Players do not earn pay for days when they are not under contract, even if they practiced earlier in the week without a deal in place.

29 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

I'm not a hater. You are!

HatertonEagle or HateHurtsatonEagle I'm not sure yet. Which do you like the best? I think I like the second one but just has too many syllables

15 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Howie is making sure these guys get paid by turnstiling the PS. From AI...

Daily Pay Calculation

• Practice squad salaries are based on weekly rates, but the NFL calculates pay per day on the practice squad.

• If a player is signed, released, or re-signed mid-week, they get paid only for the days they were officially under contract.

Example:

• Weekly rate = $12,500

• Daily rate = $12,500 ÷ 7 ≈ $1,785.71 per day

• If a player is on the practice squad for 4 days that week, they earn:
  4 × $1,785.71 = $7,142.84

---

Important Points

• If a player is promoted to the active roster, they are paid at the NFL minimum salary for active players for those days — even if just for one game.

• If they are cut on Monday and re-signed on Thursday, they’re only paid for the Thursday-to-Sunday portion.

• Players do not earn pay for days when they are not under contract, even if they practiced earlier in the week without a deal in place.

I was thinking about it the other day and I wonder at what point a guy like Ricks gets tired of being jerked around like this. Credit to Howie for finding ways to get them paid but it’s gotta be hard as a person to do this roster dance every week and have even less stability in an already unstable profession.

Then again if no other team wants them, it’s all a moot point.

I imagine NFL players get killer benefits too. This day in age that's not nothing. No idea how that applies to PS players.

Question for the Blog. Is Fangio’s base Defense a 4-2-5 or a 2-4-5?

36 minutes ago, mattwill said:

There is no question that the churn is deliberate. The churn lets Howie get weekly paychecks to more than 17 Practice Squad players. So far there have been 24 different players getting one or more of those weekly checks. Money builds loyalty.

It goes ever further than that. If a player is on the 53-man roster in season for even one day he gets a minimum of three weeks of active salary. Gabe Hall gets three weeks salary, for example.

3 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Question for the Blog. Is Fangio’s base Defense a 4-2-5 or a 2-4-5?

2-4-5 or 3-4-4

5 minutes ago, just relax said:

It goes ever further than that. If a player is on the 53-man roster in season for even one day he gets a minimum of three weeks of active salary. Gabe Hall gets three weeks salary, for example.

Is the cash-strapped Lurie even aware of Howie's nefarious scheme to spend the owner's money?!?!?!

13 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Who plays an angrier game on Sunday, Jalen Carter or AJ Brown? Excited to see both of these guys come out on fire.

7 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Question for the Blog. Is Fangio’s base Defense a 4-2-5 or a 2-4-5?

Only going on Week 1 snaps, they show the following:

DT -- Ojomo 90%, Davis 87%

EDGE -- N.Smith 85%, Hunt 64%

LB -- Baun 100%, Campbell 92%

CB -- Mitchell 100%, Jackson 69%

NCB -- DeJean 100%

S -- Blankenship 100%, Mukuba 84%

For those 11 players Hunt is the lowest at 64%, meaning roughly 2/3 of the time this is the base defense. There would need to be a more nuanced discussion around how often Smith and Hunt dropped into coverage, but I would "label" both of them as edge rushers and call it a 4-2-5.

12 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Is the cash-strapped Lurie even aware of Howie's nefarious scheme to spend the owner's money?!?!?!

They made it up by charging the office workers for kitchen snacks

5 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Only going on Week 1 snaps, they show the following:

DT -- Ojomo 90%, Davis 87%

EDGE -- N.Smith 85%, Hunt 64%

LB -- Baun 100%, Campbell 92%

CB -- Mitchell 100%, Jackson 69%

NCB -- DeJean 100%

S -- Blankenship 100%, Mukuba 84%

For those 11 players Hunt is the lowest at 64%, meaning roughly 2/3 of the time this is the base defense. There would need to be a more nuanced discussion around how often Smith and Hunt dropped into coverage, but I would "label" both of them as edge rushers and call it a 4-2-5.

Here are two consecutive plays against the Turds:

The first is a 2-4-5 or, if you prefer, a 4-2-5. I opt for the former because the outside guys do not line up in a 3-point stance.

The second is, I would argue, a 3-4-4 or, if you prefer a 5-2-4. Again, the two outside guys are in 2-point stances.

Again, I didn't mind Patullo's game plan as much as some in here did. The Eagles scored TDs on 3 early possessions so what they were doing was working, IMO. This illustrates how the Eagles relied on the short passing game other than the one deep throw to Dotson. It doesn't resemble any other passing chart from Week 1.

It will be interesting to compare their strategy used against the Chiefs defense this weekend:

12 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Only going on Week 1 snaps, they show the following:

DT -- Ojomo 90%, Davis 87%

EDGE -- N.Smith 85%, Hunt 64%

LB -- Baun 100%, Campbell 92%

CB -- Mitchell 100%, Jackson 69%

NCB -- DeJean 100%

S -- Blankenship 100%, Mukuba 84%

For those 11 players Hunt is the lowest at 64%, meaning roughly 2/3 of the time this is the base defense. There would need to be a more nuanced discussion around how often Smith and Hunt dropped into coverage, but I would "label" both of them as edge rushers and call it a 4-2-5.

I love Nolan Smith, but I think he will be more explosive and effective if that number drops a bit. Hunt is probably where he belongs...and it will be even easier to keep him in that range with Za'Darius Smith on board.

I noticed a few snaps with Blankenship, Mukuba, and Sydney Brown on the field at the same time...probably finding ways to get Jackson off the field.

This has been dismissed before, but I really think we will see more of Campbell rushing the passer once Nakobe Dean gets healthy. Vic and Howie are going to want their best players on the field. And a healthy Nakobe on the bench while we have no edge rush isn't going to make either one of them happy. Dean getting healthy will also coincide with when they feel a little more prepared to open the book of responsibilities for Campbell.

4 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Again, I didn't mind Patullo's game plan as much as some in here did. The Eagles scored TDs on 3 early possessions so what they were doing was working, IMO. This illustrates how the Eagles relied on the short passing game other than the one deep throw to Dotson. It doesn't resemble any other passing chart from Week 1.

It will be interesting to compare their strategy used against the Chiefs defense this weekend:

IMO, if Dallas had rush-lane discipline, like they did in the second half, Hurt's drive-sustaining scrambles wouldn't have been available. We would be having a very different conversation.

We were fortunate to have a QB like Hurts to take advantage of their mistakes.

1 minute ago, Alphagrand said:

Again, I didn't mind Patullo's game plan as much as some in here did. The Eagles scored TDs on 3 early possessions so what they were doing was working, IMO. This illustrates how the Eagles relied on the short passing game other than the one deep throw to Dotson. It doesn't resemble any other passing chart from Week 1.

It will be interesting to compare their strategy used against the Chiefs defense this weekend:

I do think was more their "game response" than their "game plan."

The game started off with our defense being a disaster...for the entire first half. Dallas was sitting back in coverage to neutralize Smith and Brown. If the Eagles didn't start that game off with several looooong sustained drives, they might have gotten blown out of the building early. If the short passing and running game weren't effective, I'd bash them for not adjusting and throwing the ball like a normal offense. But Dallas was consistently letting up moderate, repeatable chunks with the screen passing game and Goedert underneath...and with the legs of Barkley and Hurts.

So Hurts, Petullo, and Siri slowed the game down (and sped up the clock) to keep our flailing defense off the field and were patient and disciplined enough to just keep scoring with a high bore factor and low style points. I actually think it was more of a hats off and applaud situation for how they handled the play calling than something to second guess. Again, if it wasn't working, then it's bad...but it took discipline to stick with it.

The offense went off the rails in the second half because of OL issues. Not sure Hurts or the playcalling could have done much about that. Fortunately the defense figured it out by then, the weather cooled off both offenses, and the rest is history.

Eagles - Jets

Seahawks - Raiders

What do all of these teams have in common

I didn't watch the preseason...I assume Ringo must have been really, really bad.

IMO, he's played pretty well in spot duty over the years. It sounds like camp was bad this year for him.

But the body of evidence that Adoree Jackson cannot do this job is vast, sustained over the years, and irrefutable. There is no upside even to acceptable mediocrity.

Ringo is 23(!!). There are rookie CB's in the NFL right now that are his age. Is it that unfathomable to throw him back out there? He really cannot be that much worse than what we are getting from CB2 already.