1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

You think Wicks and Lemon on the field together won’t create a congestion issue?

Everyone thought Jeffery and JJAW would be great together too.

No to the first.

Not true to the second.

Before Howie even added anyone, when you have Devanta take over as WR1 and Dotson get dropped as WR3 you are already on the right track, so Howie's job was to just fill in some spots with competent NFL WRs (Wicks, Moore & Brown) and he has done so. And restocked the cupboard with Lemon & Stowers. This dude is almost acing this offseason after shidding the bed last offseason. The guy learns from his mistakes. Seems to know how to reload on the run with a leaking roster, rather than managing an ubertalented Superbowl roster the following season. Again, the fatal flaw on this team is Safety (and possibly Kicker, but can probably solve easier in midseason after Jake bites the dust). I believe he will solve Safety in a post June 1st trade. Would be more than happy with Justin Reid, as he tried to sign him last offseason. One note to monitor, Boutte is from Louisiana and went to LSU...

Also, why do we keep bringing up JJAW? He's also a completely different player than Lemon.

19 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Because the blog falls into the trap of listing every single offensive skill position on the roster as if the defense has to simultaneously cover all of them. Hurts can barely see more than 2 of them in the first place. We forget why this offense was so top heavy.

Smith, Wicks, Lemon, Hollywood Brown, Goedert, and Stowers are 6 players. They aren't all going on the field together. Hollywood Brown, as much as I liked him as a draft prospect, will almost never play. If Stowers is on the field, it means that vaunted WR depth becomes irrelevant, because it'll only be a very not scary and not field stretching Smith/Lemon on the field, so dealing with Stowers' speed isn't all that difficult then. And with Stowers' blocking, 12 personnel with those WRs really just because 11 personnel with Stowers as the slot.

I do think it is most likely that the offense struggles next season. But mainly due to Hurts. Also because of the seismic adjustment every player has to make to a new system. I think an elite QB could be just fine with the current weapons. Assuming Lemon and Stowers can play. They could be busts for all we know. But I don't believe Hurts is a precision spread the ball around QB. Brown is the most important player on the offense, mainly because of who the QB is. We've seen the offense without him, Devonta, and pre-Barkley over the years. The one guy the offense struggled the most without was Brown and it isn't even close. That may not be as drastic if he has lost a bit of a step and I'm not sure he has btw, people have just assumed that because of last season, I think that's premature. But we've seen with Hurts that without elite talent he's just not a very good QB. With elite talent he can look very good and even then it'll be rough at times(see 2024 where they had elite talent but the passing offense was still mediocre through much of the season). Start stripping away pieces here and there for slight downgrades bit by bit and I think you will really see his flaws as a QB.

AJ Brown is so elite. That's why this offense looked like doo doo last year. Guy can't separate anymore and lacks focus. There's a better chance he turns into late stage Jeffery than prime 2022-2023 AJ going forward.

11 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Also, why do we keep bringing up JJAW? He's also a completely different player than Lemon.

To make a specious argument

5 minutes ago, jojodancer said:

AJ Brown is so elite. That's why this offense looked like doo doo last year. Guy can't separate anymore and lacks focus. There's a better chance he turns into late stage Jeffery than prime 2022-2023 AJ going forward.

Yeah, the AJ drops and Jalen's dropoff in accuracy was a tough combination - maybe less wind this season, and a more focused group.

In terms of WR speed, more is better and I generally think a number in the 4.4s is enough to be a deep threat. Wicks, Lemon and Stowers (if treated like a big WR) are all 4.5 guys so we might be dabbling on the slow side if verts/hitches are still our hallmark.

48 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Best video I have seen for Lemon.

QB almost got him killed with a hospital ball in that

ESPN's analytics had AJ Brown as the 9th best WR at getting open in the NFL. Devonta was 106th.

3 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

ESPN's analytics had AJ Brown as the 9th best WR at getting open in the NFL. Devonta was 106th.

Can you send the link?

Just now, twilo73 said:

Can you send the link?

NFL Receiver Scores - ESPN Analytics

NFL Receiver Scores - ESPN Analytics

Models and data visualization from ESPN Analytics. NBA & NFL Draft, schedule analysis, receiver scores and more.

Ranks NFL pass catchers on a few categories and then overall.

8 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

Yeah, the AJ drops and Jalen's dropoff in accuracy was a tough combination - maybe less wind this season, and a more focused group.

In terms of WR speed, more is better and I generally think a number in the 4.4s is enough to be a deep threat. Wicks, Lemon and Stowers (if treated like a big WR) are all 4.5 guys so we might be dabbling on the slow side if verts/hitches are still our hallmark.

I don't think it's all about speed in this offense. You need tacticians in route running and being able to go horizontal and prosper with YAC. But really all these guys can catch deep balls and are good in jump ball situations if separation is not always there. Which AJ lost on that front last year. Lacked in tracking, jumping, stretching out and just fighting for the ball (bad at drawing PI calls). All good traits to have at WR.

8 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

ESPN's analytics had AJ Brown as the 9th best WR at getting open in the NFL. Devonta was 106th.

While AJ is 'always open', I can see why Smitty is hamstrung by the limited routes we were using last season.

9 minutes ago, twilo73 said:

Can you send the link?

He might be the 9th best when he tries. Therein is the problem. Move on to reliable gamers even if they don't have his freakish talent

8 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

NFL Receiver Scores - ESPN Analytics

NFL Receiver Scores - ESPN Analytics

Models and data visualization from ESPN Analytics. NBA & NFL Draft, schedule analysis, receiver scores and more.

Ranks NFL pass catchers on a few categories and then overall.

Boutte 34

Wicks 66

35 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Because the blog falls into the trap of listing every single offensive skill position on the roster as if the defense has to simultaneously cover all of them.

Smith, Wicks, Lemon, Hollywood Brown, Goedert, and Stowers are 6 players. They aren't all going on the field together. Hollywood Brown, as much as I liked him as a draft prospect, will almost never play. If Stowers is on the field, it means that vaunted WR depth becomes irrelevant, because it'll only be a very not scary and not field stretching Smith/Lemon on the field, so dealing with Stowers' speed isn't all that difficult then. And with Stowers' blocking, 12 personnel with those WRs really just because 11 personnel with Stowers as the slot.

I think part of the idea of moving to a Shanahan style offense is that the offense is less match up dependent. It's not about beating one on one coverage. It's about using play-action, misdirection and motion and leverage to get players open. For example, a throw back to the TE is a common Shanahan play. The play isn't about athletic TE's as much as getting the defense going in the opposite direction of the throw. Also, I don't think the TE is asked to block one on one nearly as much in the run scheme. It's usually about setting the edged with the OT and moving upfield in outside zone. So it's not like you will see Stowers used like Calcaterra as a lead blocker (or whiffer) as much.

32 minutes ago, just relax said:

To make a specious argument

Because you disagree with it.

According to Next Gen Stats in November 2025, A.J. Brown ranked 78th out of 79 qualified NFL receivers in average separation per target (1.8 yards). Other data sources, such as PlayerProfiler, placed his separation ranking at 78th or as low as 135th in some analyses.

• Comparison: This ranking represents a continued trend for Brown, who was 83rd out of 84 receivers in the same category in 2024, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

So looks my eyes did not deceive me here.

15 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

NFL Receiver Scores - ESPN Analytics

NFL Receiver Scores - ESPN Analytics

Models and data visualization from ESPN Analytics. NBA & NFL Draft, schedule analysis, receiver scores and more.

Ranks NFL pass catchers on a few categories and then overall.

They'll say espn sucks

We aren't going to have hear all offseason why the Eagles should sign Justin Simmons

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

Because the blog falls into the trap of listing every single offensive skill position on the roster as if the defense has to simultaneously cover all of them. Hurts can barely see more than 2 of them in the first place. We forget why this offense was so top heavy.

Smith, Wicks, Lemon, Hollywood Brown, Goedert, and Stowers are 6 players. They aren't all going on the field together. Hollywood Brown, as much as I liked him as a draft prospect, will almost never play. If Stowers is on the field, it means that vaunted WR depth becomes irrelevant, because it'll only be a very not scary and not field stretching Smith/Lemon on the field, so dealing with Stowers' speed isn't all that difficult then. And with Stowers' blocking, 12 personnel with those WRs really just because 11 personnel with Stowers as the slot.

Ok but you still left out any TE or RB in the scenario. Defenses have to also account for them.

Just now, LeanMeanGM said:

We aren't going to have hear all offseason why the Eagles should sign Justin Simmons

You know there will still be people saying to sign him, bring him out of retirement. That always works well for us.

6 minutes ago, jojodancer said:

According to Next Gen Stats in November 2025, A.J. Brown ranked 78th out of 79 qualified NFL receivers in average separation per target (1.8 yards). Other data sources, such as PlayerProfiler, placed his separation ranking at 78th or as low as 135th in some analyses.

• Comparison: This ranking represents a continued trend for Brown, who was 83rd out of 84 receivers in the same category in 2024, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

So looks my eyes did not deceive me here.

Why are you trying to kill his trade value. What if @HazletonEagle is Dianna Russini or her husband?

1 minute ago, NOTW said:

Ok but you still left out any TE or RB in the scenario. Defenses have to also account for them.

Are we the only team in the NFL allowed to have those positions on the field? I just fail to grasp how our complement of weapons is suddenly special when it sure as hell wasn't scaring anyone last year.

1 minute ago, NCiggles said:

Why are you trying to kill his trade value. What if @HazletonEagle is Dianna Russini or her husband?

Definitely Russini.