6 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

My list is mostly the same as last year except for Woods who was named DC for the Browns, and additions of Parker and Rapone:

Kris Richard

Teryl Austin

John Butler

Jerry Gray

Nick Rapone

Kris Kocurek

Phil Parker

Mike Tressel

I like Richard and Austin.  The rest, I don't really know enough about to have an opinion.

1 minute ago, Bacarty2 said:

One of the worst narratives in all sports that "wentz gets hurt frequently. 

Think you misspelled FACTS. Last year wasnt a playoff game winning team. this year isnt a playoff game winning team. So options are draft 18ish or draft 8ish 

I bet the players who earned that spot would disagree that it was meaningless

Losing leads to losing.  Theres a reason some franchises are perennial losers and some are perennial winners-- pride and mentality mean something in sports.  Its how the Eagles won a SB with a bunch of backups

2 minutes ago, Mike31mt said:

Honestly, how can anyone root for Dallas to be in the playoffs?

Honestly, I get more joy out of them making the playoffs and getting bounced in the first round.  It gives their fans more false hope and they are usually more upset than just missing the playoffs altogether.

While yes you have the option to select higher end players earlier in the draft, but if you can't draft and evaluate talent well, it doesn't matter where you are in the draft. You need a good talent evaluation group and good draft room.

Look at teams like the Patriots and Steelers. Neither team has finished below .500 since the early 2000's yet they are able to find talent in the back end of the rounds.  

I think ending the season on a "good note" is overrated.  If you are 4-8 and then win 4 in a row to end the season 8-8, so what?  What momentum is carried over?  You start the next year fresh.  How the younger players are performing in those last few garbage games is much more important than winning a few meaningless games and losing draft slotting.

3 minutes ago, Mike31mt said:

Loser mentality

I agree.  

 

I'm looking for silver linings... right now, I've found that I still believe in Wentz.  He's struggled at times, and fell into the trap of 'hero ball' a bit early, and seems to be coming out of that.  Having a WR that he trusts in Fulgham clearly helps.  When throwing to Fulgham these last two games he's looked decisive, accurate and confident.  When throwing to most of the other WRs, especially recently, he's looked indecisive, confused or uncertain.  So, let's consider the other WRs:

Hightower: Wentz's throw before the half to Hightower is one that a guy like Hightower HAS to catch, that's his skill set.  Get behind the defense and high point the ball.  Frankly, that ball couldn't have been placed much better, but Hightower never adjusted to get his hands on it, and tried to body catch it... with the ball slipping between his forearm and bicep.  If he turns his body and gets his hands around, that ball hits both hands and should be caught.  AND... the game Sunday is totally different if they go into the half up 4, instead of down 3.  That play was a major swing.  Hightower isn't the guy.  His hands are terrible, his mental part of the game is also lacking.  By staying inbounds during that 2 minute drill as well, forced them to use a timeout that they needed later, and he got no significant yards.  Catch and turn to the boundary to get out of bounds, and again... its a different game.  He's not ready... and he seems to lack the instincts of being a 'snatch it' guy.

Fulgham: Fulgham repeatedly showed nice strong hands going up and catching the ball.  That said... he's not a stud, but he's the closest thing we have to an NFL caliber WR.  He beat up the Steelers' nickelback, I think mostly.  When they put Haden on him late, he wasn't open.  I think that Fulgham has a future on this team.  I don't think he's a '#1' though.

Ward: Nice player.  Good in the slot.  He's a #4 WR for most legit teams.  He can be serviceable... and right now that is huge.  (And Wentz trusts him too, it seems.)  

Watkins: Incomplete.

Reagor: Promising, but not having him out there hurts everything.  We need him healthy.

Jackson: not worth discussing.  He's the past, not the future.  

 

I'd discuss the outlook on the OL or the back 7, but its too depressing right now.  Maybe later.

I'm not for "tanking" and I won't root for losing. We have talent on offense that will grow with Wentz every year now. What we need is less injuries, someone figure that one out. Some guys need to go Alshon, D-Jax, Peters, and now I'm climbing on the bye Ertz bandwagon. But Wentz,  Reagor, Goedert, Sanders, and a couple of the new offensive linemen and receivers will be fine.

On defense another c.b. and a line backer or two will make all the difference. Not as bleak as it looks right now. 

13 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

You're allowed to take a step... OR 2 back to take a giant leap forward. 

We were 7-9 before winning the SB but now everyone is freaking out if we finish 6-9-1

35 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I am going to sound like a negative nancy and like one of those that are only interested in 'winning' the draft or whatever... but I see this season as one that will set the team back a significant amount, much more than it should given that there's a dearth of talent on the roster.   

 

Given the state of the division, this team is now the odds-on favorite to win the division, but at likely as few as 7 wins.  Maybe even 6.  And if they manage to win the division at 6-9-1, they will have proven themselves to not just be 'not a playoff team', but 'a bad team'.  And a bad team that desperately needs an infusion of talent.  BUT.... because of the draft structure for playoff teams, they would end up picking 21st in the draft in each round, rather than 9th-12th.  That's going to cost the Eagles talent in EVERY round, and that sucks.  I'm never one to root against the chance to make the playoffs, because the chance to make the playoffs and 'have a shot' at the Super Bowl is always exciting, even if its a pipe dream.  BUT... this year, that dream seems so far out of reach that it's laughable.  And they would actually suffer a PENALTY for making the playoffs this year.  How depressing.

Nothing negative about it at all.  It's just the depressing state of the team and basically the Eagles luck when they are this bad, the rest of the East is just as bad if not worse.  WTF, Dallas and NYG will all be in prime position for a Jamar Chase, Jaylen Waddle or even possibly Trevor Lawrence and the Eagles will be trying to figure out who the 3rd best DE in round 1 is.

10 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

You mean with 4th overall Lane Johnson and 2nd overall Carson wentz leading the way just 2 short years from one of the worst couple years of franchise history. Sure man. 

Winning breeds winning, which is why we were always the bridesmaid with Andy lol. 

Ok youre the one holding this "win the SB and anything else is meaningless" attitude

So why dont you look at the last 10, 20 SB winners and tell me what the trends are.  Youre not going to see a ton of 1 hit wonders who bounce between SBs and losing records every year

4 minutes ago, greend said:

I'm not for "tanking" and I won't root for losing. We have talent on offense that will grow with Wentz every year now. What we need is less injuries, someone figure that one out. Some guys need to go Alshon, D-Jax, Peters, and now I'm climbing on the bye Ertz bandwagon. But Wentz,  Reagor, Goedert, Sanders, and a couple of the new offensive linemen and receivers will be fine.

On defense another c.b. and a line backer or two will make all the difference. Not as bleak as it looks right now. 

This would be good to have happen.

18 minutes ago, Mike31mt said:

I dont think thats necessarily true

Teams still have their draft evaluations of him. And by seasons end will likely have some semi-decent NFL tape, enough to know hes not a total bust and belongs in the NFL somewhere

If you just thought of it as drafting him like a rookie, knowing his floor is somewhere at low level fill-in starter, that's a pretty good bet to make

Yup, and 'new out of the box' he was late 2nd or early 3rd round grade.  I don't think there's any meaningful draft value at less than a 2nd round pick, and he's not going to bring back better than that as a QB who touches the ball even 6-10 times per game, unless he's showing something spectacular.

Making the playoffs at 6-9-1 would be a very bad thing for this franchise. We’d be much better off picking 6-8 spots higher in reach round. Making the playoffs also puts us one week behind in hiring new assistants. 

 

I'm all for playing the younger guys and getting them experience. Get them playing and see what they have so you have a better idea of the needs heading into the draft. You play to win the games. You start playing to lose because of draft slots you lose the locker room and culture and you're going to turn into the Jags, Giants, Jets, etc. 

Many teams are able to find talent in the back end of the rounds and deeper in the draft. Pats, Steelers, Packers, etc. It's all about talent evaluation, and if you can't do it well it doesn't matter where you are drafting.

Shut up, Ben. The Eagles don’t have any nifty play designs. 

Watching Mailata run-block is just as fun as watching Peters run-block in his prime. Just moves people in space.

I'm half and half on wanting to tank 🤷‍♂️

I like seeing Wentz and the receivers score TDs and the defense making stops

I also want Howie gone

So I've just been caring less if they lose and being happy to see players like Fulgham have good games

2 minutes ago, RLC said:

Watching Mailata run-block is just as fun as watching Peters run-block in his prime. Just moves people in space.

He has some nice highlights, but I don’t think he’s a particularly good run blocker at this point. He was much better hitting a moving target this week though. Good to see the progress. 

10 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Shut up, Ben. The Eagles don’t have any nifty play designs. 

Well, I will say this... throwing a 'flanker' screen to Sanders out wide makes me much happier than throwing to Alshon out there, or JJAW or even Greg Ward.   Those plays always seem to go no where.

5 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

He has some nice highlights, but I don’t think he’s a particularly good run blocker at this point. He was much better hitting a moving target this week though. Good to see the progress. 

He's very much a work in progress, but he's still very much climbing on the learning curve.  Its STEEP.  He's 'holding his own'.  Trouble is... with a backup at LG, RG and RT as well, its hard for them to give him much help, so he's very much on an island a lot of the time.  AND, given that, he's played very well.  He's not an All-Pro or anything of the sort yet, but he's not hurting them much.  Yes, he gets beat from time to time, but all LTs do.  But, its not happening at a Winston Justice level or anything close to it.  

 

BUT... when might any OL be healthy to step back in?  Is Seumalo out for the year?  I'd like to flip Herbig back to RG and get Pryor back on the bench.

11 hours ago, ManuManu said:

That’s a ridiculous statement. 

It was obviously heavy with sarcasm.

Name a good corner since he’s been here? 

One 5-win season isn't going to bring in a stockpile of young talent.  Teams like the Niners stunk for 4-5 straight seasons to build up the young talent they have, as did JAX when they built up a strong defense (which they mismanaged into dust).  CLE finally has a decent team and it took them many years of drafting at the top.  I have no interest in losing for 4-5 seasons.  I'd rather make the playoffs, keep draft picks and acquire more, and get better at coaching and developing players to stay near the top.  That is the formula which works for NE, BAL, PIT, NO and others. 

Teams like the Jets, Giants, and Dolphins have drafted early for years and haven't gotten any better because they lack the coaching to develop players.

 

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I am going to sound like a negative nancy and like one of those that are only interested in 'winning' the draft or whatever... but I see this season as one that will set the team back a significant amount, much more than it should given that there's a dearth of talent on the roster.   

 

Given the state of the division, this team is now the odds-on favorite to win the division, but at likely as few as 7 wins.  Maybe even 6.  And if they manage to win the division at 6-9-1, they will have proven themselves to not just be 'not a playoff team', but 'a bad team'.  And a bad team that desperately needs an infusion of talent.  BUT.... because of the draft structure for playoff teams, they would end up picking 21st in the draft in each round, rather than 9th-12th.  That's going to cost the Eagles talent in EVERY round, and that sucks.  I'm never one to root against the chance to make the playoffs, because the chance to make the playoffs and 'have a shot' at the Super Bowl is always exciting, even if its a pipe dream.  BUT... this year, that dream seems so far out of reach that it's laughable.  And they would actually suffer a PENALTY for making the playoffs this year.  How depressing.

Look on the bright side, it would be 19th pick this year not 21st!

@In2football

Ravens 38, Eagles 20

Some pretty bad personnel matchups in this one.  I don't think the Eagles have a player on defense who can stop Lamar Jackson from running any time he needs to.  Mark Andrews will abuse the Eagles in coverage; I expect him to have a game similar to George Kittle vs the Eagles.  I'd prefer see Wallace matched up on him than a LB -- it would be good development and learning for K'Von; we already know Gerry just stinks.  If Slay doesn't play it will be very difficult to stop Hollywood Brown from scoring a long TD or two.

Hopefully we will see another solid game from Fulgham; excited to see an Eagles WR step up when given a chance and produce.  An offense with Fulgham, Reagor, Goedert, and Sanders as primary targets actually doesn't look too bad right now -- if they ever get/stay healthy.  Add in another WR in the first or second round next season and we might have something.

I'm still hopeful Zach Ertz gets on board and fights to get open -- it would be nice to see him go about 7 catches for 80 yards this week against a strong Ravens defense, although I'm not counting on it.

53 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I agree.  

 

I'm looking for silver linings... right now, I've found that I still believe in Wentz.  He's struggled at times, and fell into the trap of 'hero ball' a bit early, and seems to be coming out of that.  Having a WR that he trusts in Fulgham clearly helps.  When throwing to Fulgham these last two games he's looked decisive, accurate and confident.  When throwing to most of the other WRs, especially recently, he's looked indecisive, confused or uncertain.  So, let's consider the other WRs:

Hightower: Wentz's throw before the half to Hightower is one that a guy like Hightower HAS to catch, that's his skill set.  Get behind the defense and high point the ball.  Frankly, that ball couldn't have been placed much better, but Hightower never adjusted to get his hands on it, and tried to body catch it... with the ball slipping between his forearm and bicep.  If he turns his body and gets his hands around, that ball hits both hands and should be caught.  AND... the game Sunday is totally different if they go into the half up 4, instead of down 3.  That play was a major swing.  Hightower isn't the guy.  His hands are terrible, his mental part of the game is also lacking.  By staying inbounds during that 2 minute drill as well, forced them to use a timeout that they needed later, and he got no significant yards.  Catch and turn to the boundary to get out of bounds, and again... its a different game.  He's not ready... and he seems to lack the instincts of being a 'snatch it' guy.

Fulgham: Fulgham repeatedly showed nice strong hands going up and catching the ball.  That said... he's not a stud, but he's the closest thing we have to an NFL caliber WR.  He beat up the Steelers' nickelback, I think mostly.  When they put Haden on him late, he wasn't open.  I think that Fulgham has a future on this team.  I don't think he's a '#1' though.

Ward: Nice player.  Good in the slot.  He's a #4 WR for most legit teams.  He can be serviceable... and right now that is huge.  (And Wentz trusts him too, it seems.)  

Watkins: Incomplete.

Reagor: Promising, but not having him out there hurts everything.  We need him healthy.

Jackson: not worth discussing.  He's the past, not the future.  

 

I'd discuss the outlook on the OL or the back 7, but its too depressing right now.  Maybe later.

I'm a glass half-full, and I'll speak to the OL. Other than Kelce and Brooks, our oldest OL is Seumalo at 26.

At the skill positions, Goedert, Scott, and Ward are 25, Hightower is 24, Sanders is 23, Hurts is 22, Reagor is 21, and Wentz is the old man at 27.

That's a lot of youth.