26 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

The Covid situation doesn’t help and the Eagles put themselves in a bad position even before Covid hit they were going to have to do a lot of restructuring or trading guys a way to clear cap space. 

however this isn’t a surprise that this team wasn’t going to be very good as constructed this offseason. They badly needed an infusion of young talent going forward. @4for4EaglesNest, @bpac55 and I had a discussion on the old board back in March/April that this team was being overrated by the fans and the end of the era was closer then a super bowl was. Even if the Eagles hit on all their draft picks in the 2020 draft picks, to me that wasn’t enough to overcome the deficiencies in the other drafts to make the transition from the end of this era to the next era just go over smoothly.

The team is worse this year because:

• Offensive coaching staff isn't finding ways to maximize their talent.
• QB regressed (we can debate the reason(s) but its true nonetheless)
• OL has been a shambles - RG gets hurt in offseason, RT misses first weeks due to ankle surgery, LT gets hurt in TC, LG gets hurt early in Week 1 or 2.  Backups have missed games as well.
• Bad in game decision making during games, poor game management.

The defense is what we thought they were.  Good front bad everywhere else.  And 1 CB can't fix that.  The offense has been terrible since about midway through the 2nd quarter of Week 1.

18 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

The team is worse this year because:

• Offensive coaching staff isn't finding ways to maximize their talent.
• QB regressed (we can debate the reason(s) but its true nonetheless)
• OL has been a shambles - RG gets hurt in offseason, RT misses first weeks due to ankle surgery, LT gets hurt in TC, LG gets hurt early in Week 1 or 2.  Backups have missed games as well.
• Bad in game decision making during games, poor game management.

The defense is what we thought they were.  Good front bad everywhere else.  And 1 CB can't fix that.  The offense has been terrible since about midway through the 2nd quarter of Week 1.

I don’t disagree with some of that assessment. However we had people on here thinking they were 11 or 12 win team and super bowl contenders for this year and even next year if they were relatively healthy. Even if better health and wentz playing solid good football this team is not talented enough to be an 11 or 12 win team due to roster construction and coaching. Having to play the ravens, rams, Steelers, Seahawks, saints and packers. Only team i think healthy we are relatively better than is the rams. Even healthy i think we likely struggle to beat the cardinals. And i don’t think they go 6-0 in the division. To Me the ceiling of this team if they had Brooks, dillard and lane healthy all year and wentz playing well was 10 wins. And more realistically an 9. With injuries added tk the equation i thought 8 win team. 

1 hour ago, Alphagrand said:

I like this breakdown.  I chuckled thinking that this was the 4th one I read and NONE of them had Gerry with a starting spot in 2021.  That in itself is contingent on Schwartz not being here next season — so I assume the other three agree with you that he won’t be retained.

Gerry isn’t signed and cap hell next year. I always figure Taylor was drafted to replace And upgrade Gerry. 

1 hour ago, Asg 15 said:

The SB gave him a get out of jail free card.

Until that card expires the fans are screwed.

I think we will see this offseason.  

5 hours ago, eagle45 said:

Alright, change of pace...predict the starting lineup for 2021.  Not what you want...what you expect.

QB1 - Wentz

RB1 - Sanders

RB2 - Rookie

WR1 - Fulgham

WR2 - Reagor

WR3 - Watkins

TE1 - Ertz

TE2 - Goedert

LT - Mailata

LG - Seumalo

C - Rookie/FA

RG - Brooks

RT - Johnson

 

DE - Barnett

DE - Graham

DT - Cox

DT - Hargrave

OLB - Rookie/FA

MLB - Singleton

OLB - Edwards

S - McLeod

S - Wallace

CB1 - Slay

CB2 - FA

 

P - Johnston

K - Elliot 

1 minute ago, Westbrook#36 said:

QB1 - Wentz

RB1 - Sanders

RB2 - Rookie

WR1 - Fulgham

WR2 - Reagor

WR3 - Watkins

TE1 - Ertz

TE2 - Goedert

LT - Mailata

LG - Seumalo

C - Rookie/FA

RG - Brooks

RT - Johnson

 

DE - Barnett

DE - Graham

DT - Cox

DT - Hargrave

OLB - Rookie/FA

MLB - Singleton

OLB - Edwards

S - McLeod

S - Maddox

CB1 - Slay

CB2 - FA

 

P - Johnston

K - Elliot 

This has some interesting ones.  Is this what you want or what you think the coaches will do?

I can't see Schwartz starting Maddox at safety.  

Nothing would surprise me with their decision-making on the OL (or anywhere else), but starting a rookie at center might come close.  It would take a first round pick.  I think they'd much rather slide Seumalo to center and trust a rookie at LG.  Of course, a rookie next to Mailata or Dillard at LT, who have zero experience, is asking for trouble too.

Watkins would need to look like Jerry Rice in camp to break through.  If he can't play over Hightower and Ward now, then he's got a loooooong way to go to become the #3 WR.  I'd like to project him as the #3 WR myself, mostly because it's obvious that Ward and Hightower suck and at least Watkins is unknown to us.

What I'd *like* to see...again, this is not the best 22 possible, just a repositioning 22:

QB: Wentz

RB: Sanders

LT: Dillard LG: Driscoll OC: Seumalo RG: Brooks RT: Lane (Mailata after trade deadline, yup, I went there)

WR: Reagor/Fulgham/high draft pick

TE: Goedert

DE (rotation): Sweat/high draft pick/vet FA or Barnett on the cheap

DT (rotation): Hargrave, mid-round pick, cheap vet FA (Yup, trade the big guy).

Yes, I blew up the DL.  Better to do it this offseason while they are the perceived strength of the team and get some value.  They are criminally overpaid and it will get worse with each passing year.  

LB: Edwards/Taylor/Bradley.  Fish or cut bait on these young draft picks.

CB: Slay/draft pick/LeBlanc

S: McLeod/Wallace

 

Not a good starting lineup, not at all.  But they face the music with their young players and they'll know what they have (or don't have in them).  With the way they run things now, we'll be entering 2022 not knowing what we have in Mailata, Wallace, or Taylor.

It still gives Wentz enough stability on the OL and another weapon at WR to prove himself.  So despite the youth movement, it doesn't hang him out to dry in his make or break year.  

 

13 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

This has some interesting ones.  Is this what you want or what you think the coaches will do?

I can't see Schwartz starting Maddox at safety.  

Nothing would surprise me with their decision-making on the OL (or anywhere else), but starting a rookie at center might come close.  It would take a first round pick.  I think they'd much rather slide Seumalo to center and trust a rookie at LG.  Of course, a rookie next to Mailata or Dillard at LT, who have zero experience, is asking for trouble too.

Watkins would need to look like Jerry Rice in camp to break through.  If he can't play over Hightower and Ward now, then he's got a loooooong way to go to become the #3 WR.  I'd like to project him as the #3 WR myself, mostly because it's obvious that Ward and Hightower suck and at least Watkins is unknown to us.

Much is what I expect this staff to do.

I agree about Maddox, mostly because it seems like what is common sense to us would not be the path the team takes. Sub Wallace for Maddox.

I think, like most, Kelce retires at season's end. Again, the logical move is Seumalo to C--which is exactly why I don't think it will happen. We'll draft a late round guy and I expect he becomes the starter.

Similar story at WR. I really wanted to put Ward at #3 because my heart tells me that's where he'll be. But I thought I'd spice things up and have Watkins a surprise bright spot in the offseason.

 

4 minutes ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

 

Cutting edge offense we have.

12 minutes ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

 

Retro vintage is in nowadays lol 

3 hours ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I'm not blaming him for the pandemic.. I'm blaming him for kicking things down the road, constantly, with the assumption that the cap would go up indefinitely and that 'unforeseen circumstances' couldn't interrupt that cash flow.   That's why kicking things down the road is dangerous, because no one knows the future.   

Extend Jeffery - stupid.
Huge contract to Brooks after 1 Achilles injury - high risk.
Trade for and then extend Desean - stupid.
Push more of Cox's money into the future - stupid.
Big money for Malik Jackson, another aging former star - stupid.
Keep Peters around 3 years after his best years - stupid.
Pay Peters more money to play LT after he'd already been on the market and got no sniff elsewhere - stupid.

 

Kicking things into the future constantly is a risky game.  Howie got burned.  Eagles fans are going to be the ones to pay for it.  

I agree with all of this.

What's the worst that could happen?  I don't really care who we lose.  Graham, Ertz, Barnett, Malik Jackson, Alshon, Desean, Cox, Brooks.  I don't care if we have to move on from any of them.  Those contracts all need to wash out anyway.  

The real worst case scenario is restructuring several of those deals to offload 2021's cap problems into 2022 and 2023.  And that's exactly what they are going to do.

They WILL get under the cap.  The question is how much they have to destroy future flexibility in the process.  My concern is that it will be a lot.

But again, it's not like we have any guys on rookie contracts worth worrying about extending anyway.  So some of the cap hell concerns are overblown.  Cap space is for selectively adding young vets with long-term potential (can't afford right now) or overpaying for need to put your team over the top (we are years from that).  So a couple years of cap hell don't affect us that much.  That's my horrible effort at an optimistic take on the cap.

27 minutes ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

 

And we're a passing offense, in a passing league. In 1973 the Bills had OJ Simpson in his prime. He rushed for over 2000 yards in 14 games that year.

🤦‍♂️

Cox and Lane aren't going anywhere. 0.1% chance either gets traded. Same goes for Graham.

Ertz is gone. Alshon and DeSean are obviously gone. Peters is gone for real this time. Schwartz is gone, which probably means Mills and Gerry are gone. Barring a massive offensive turnaround this season, Doug will not retain playcalling. Those are the things I'm 90% sure about.

I have no idea what they're going to do with Derek Barnett. Do they extend Goedert, Sweat, and Mailata, and if so, what do those contracts look like? Malik Jackson's contract is still uncuttable I believe, so what does that DL look like with a new DC? Multiple fronts perhaps? 

14 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

Cox and Lane aren't going anywhere. 0.1% chance either gets traded. Same goes for Graham.

Ertz is gone. Alshon and DeSean are obviously gone. Peters is gone for real this time. Schwartz is gone, which probably means Mills and Gerry are gone. Barring a massive offensive turnaround this season, Doug will not retain playcalling. Those are the things I'm 90% sure about.

I have no idea what they're going to do with Derek Barnett. Do they extend Goedert, Sweat, and Mailata, and if so, what do those contracts look like? Malik Jackson's contract is still uncuttable I believe, so what does that DL look like with a new DC? Multiple fronts perhaps? 

Alshon is the only one I think is definitely gone. Wouldn’t be shocked at all if Desean is released then brought back on a real low contract. He’s made of glass but if he doesn’t get touched or falls down he’s great. 

10 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

All i know is i think the eagles do a bad job at adjusting their offense to the personnel they have with their strengths and if they do it takes way too long into the season to do so. 

Yeah I think that's fair. It's probably why they had such success with Foles? Foles was more in the mould of what the offensive scheme wanted? I know in 2017 Wentz was brilliant too but was a lot of that his athletic brilliance?

9 hours ago, wtfcares said:

If had kept the exact same playbook yesterday but fed Sanders who was averaging 5.7 ypc 25-30 times instead of 15, don’t you think we likely win the game? Aside from the extra 1st downs he would have gotten himself, it would have also put the offense in much more manageable 3rd and shorts throughout the game than the horrible pass plays we were seeing. 

Umm it is very hard to say. We may have done but we may not. We may have been in better positions on third down and therefore we may have converted a few of them instead of zero but we don't know that. 

The weirdest part of this season is that outside of LB the Eagles "fixed" most of their perceived major needs going into the season.

1. Speed at WR -- Hightower and Reagor both have stretched defenses this year. Speed hasn't been an issue.

2. Big pass plays on defense/getting a #1 CB -- Slay has been excellent. Hardly any X plays over the top.

3. Edge rush improvement -- Graham, Barnett, and Sweat are all having the best years of their career. No issues with that unit at all.

Really goes to show how deep the Wentz and coaching issues really are.

And the LBs, my goodness. Rodney McLeod was asked a question today about the Giants purposely running a bunch of 12 personnel to keep the Eagles in base, and he tried so hard not to throw that unit under the bus lol. 

1 hour ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Yeah I think that's fair. It's probably why they had such success with Foles? Foles was more in the mould of what the offensive scheme wanted? I know in 2017 Wentz was brilliant too but was a lot of that his athletic brilliance?

They really didnt have much more success with Foles, but they had success with Foles because they did adjust there scheme for him. They ran the ball more under Foles and changed to the RPO scheme that Foles had success with. Honestly Wentz best scheme was RPO as well but for some reason Doug never uses it and for some reason wants to throw 70% of the game when Wentz is in the game. Its almost like Doug is trying to force Wentz into success by giving him more attempts instead of just letting it come naturally and putting him in the best position for him. I also think Doug is just trying to be bull headed and try to prove the media/fans wrong that his way works when it clearly doesnt. As many say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Doug has pasted by that and needs a straitjacket. 

I still keep seeing people talk about the cap. I think at this point we have to think the Eagles are just going to take the penalties for being over the cap. We know there is no way teams like the Eagles and Saints are going to get under the cap next year "IF" the league drops the cap to the lowest possible number. Now I dont think the league will go that low. I think they will work with the owners and come up with a number that all the teams can reach. The other teams wont mind cause they will get more cap to spend. However if somehow they get screwed they will just take the consequences of being over the cap with loss of draft pick(s) and a fine. 

5 hours ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

Alshon is the only one I think is definitely gone. Wouldn’t be shocked at all if Desean is released then brought back on a real low contract. He’s made of glass but if he doesn’t get touched or falls down he’s great. 

He was really only great in his first game back for us against the Redskins. Since then, he’s done nothing of significance in the games he has played. Best to cut ties and not even think of bringing him back. 

8 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I don’t disagree with some of that assessment. However we had people on here thinking they were 11 or 12 win team and super bowl contenders for this year and even next year if they were relatively healthy. Even if better health and wentz playing solid good football this team is not talented enough to be an 11 or 12 win team due to roster construction and coaching. Having to play the ravens, rams, Steelers, Seahawks, saints and packers. Only team i think healthy we are relatively better than is the rams. Even healthy i think we likely struggle to beat the cardinals. And i don’t think they go 6-0 in the division. To Me the ceiling of this team if they had Brooks, dillard and lane healthy all year and wentz playing well was 10 wins. And more realistically an 9. With injuries added tk the equation i thought 8 win team. 

I was one of those people, but my expectations weren’t that they would win 11 or 12 games & be a Super Bowl contender. It was more that I thought it was a realistic ceiling for this team, and there was a plausible scenario for that to happen. I felt it was similar to the 2017 season, where if so many things could go right that postseason success could happen. I still thought it was a talented team & Super Bowl window wasn’t closed. I saw plenty of winnable games, and the ability to match up to better opponents like GB, LAR, DAL, and Pit. BAL, SF, SEA, and NO were the games I expected to lose. 

First they had to be healthy. I expected normal level of play across from most starters. 

Then the biggest question marks on the team, where their performance would be the biggest contributor to how far the team could go or how fast it could stink, and there wasn’t enough certainty for them yet. Most important ones to me was Slay and his impact in the secondary and what the WR group looks like. After that: Could Dillard hold down the LT spot, will Barnett step up at DE this year, can Reagor be the true speed threat to unlock the offense, how does Mills hold up at SS, will Seumalo become consistent at LG, how does Maddox fare as CB2. 
 

realistically I figured we’d go 9-7/10-6 also, but I wouldn’t of been that surprised if we had been a 11+ win team. I didn’t expect injuries to be this bad & I definitely didn’t expect the Wentz we’ve seen in 9 games now. 

6 hours ago, Saltpeter said:

Cox and Lane aren't going anywhere. 0.1% chance either gets traded. Same goes for Graham.

Ertz is gone. Alshon and DeSean are obviously gone. Peters is gone for real this time. Schwartz is gone, which probably means Mills and Gerry are gone. Barring a massive offensive turnaround this season, Doug will not retain playcalling. Those are the things I'm 90% sure about.

I have no idea what they're going to do with Derek Barnett. Do they extend Goedert, Sweat, and Mailata, and if so, what do those contracts look like? Malik Jackson's contract is still uncuttable I believe, so what does that DL look like with a new DC? Multiple fronts perhaps? 

Agree with everything here, although not 100% sure about Ertz

9 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I don’t disagree with some of that assessment. However we had people on here thinking they were 11 or 12 win team and super bowl contenders for this year and even next year if they were relatively healthy. Even if better health and wentz playing solid good football this team is not talented enough to be an 11 or 12 win team due to roster construction and coaching. Having to play the ravens, rams, Steelers, Seahawks, saints and packers. Only team i think healthy we are relatively better than is the rams. Even healthy i think we likely struggle to beat the cardinals. And i don’t think they go 6-0 in the division. To Me the ceiling of this team if they had Brooks, dillard and lane healthy all year and wentz playing well was 10 wins. And more realistically an 9. With injuries added tk the equation i thought 8 win team. 

My prediction was an 7 or 8 win team as soon as Doug Pederson said he was staying the offensive coordinator. Also the fact they kept Jim as the defensive coordinator. I was one that called for Jim Schwartz's head and Doug Pederson to give up the OC role since 2018. Everyone called me crazy. Funny how it turned out. However I was still wrong. They may only Win 4 games maybe 5

It does not matter what I thought in 2018 or what everyone thinks now. The fact is they have to make both those moves this year otherwise they're never going to change direction. We pretty much know Jim is gone so the other big move is Doug and what happens with him and the offensive coordinator role

4 hours ago, Saltpeter said:

The weirdest part of this season is that outside of LB the Eagles "fixed" most of their perceived major needs going into the season.

1. Speed at WR -- Hightower and Reagor both have stretched defenses this year. Speed hasn't been an issue.

2. Big pass plays on defense/getting a #1 CB -- Slay has been excellent. Hardly any X plays over the top.

3. Edge rush improvement -- Graham, Barnett, and Sweat are all having the best years of their career. No issues with that unit at all.

Really goes to show how deep the Wentz and coaching issues really are.

And the LBs, my goodness. Rodney McLeod was asked a question today about the Giants purposely running a bunch of 12 personnel to keep the Eagles in base, and he tried so hard not to throw that unit under the bus lol. 

and yet its a revolving door at Oline, its been shuffling the oline evwry game, we have not started the same 5 lineman in 2 games, let alone in a row all season.

 

and the wra you mention are rookies, we depended on old oft injured players, alshon and djax and rookies. And your top rookie wr gets hurt twice....