Browns are going to ruin the QB market again lol

Saw a desean Jackson highlight reel on Facebook today, man I miss having deadly speed on offense. And someone mentioned the MM/AR shovels and screens, another really fun offense.

I get that Desean was a unicorn, the only other player in the league since him with that speed has been tyreek. But there's no reason that with this OL and the RBs we have that we aren't running shovels and screens.

14 minutes ago, devpool said:

Saw a desean Jackson highlight reel on Facebook today, man I miss having deadly speed on offense. And someone mentioned the MM/AR shovels and screens, another really fun offense.

I get that Desean was a unicorn, the only other player in the league since him with that speed has been tyreek. But there's no reason that with this OL and the RBs we have that we aren't running shovels and screens.

One downside of the current group of receivers is we lack a diversity is skill sets at the top of the depth chart.

Wicks isn’t really that big and strong, he’s not super fast, but a good route runner.

Smith is small, not super fast, great route runner and hands.

Lemon is short, not super fast, good route runner…

Yes, it’s great to have excellent route running, but we lack the AJ Brown/Terrell Owens big bodied bully who can run after the catch, but despite being a very small group there isn’t much speed between them.

If I’m the Eagles, I think they need to look at drafting someone who is big with speed. DK Metcalf would be the type of guy I’d want. Give up some rawness in route running for size and speed, because currently our receivers are small with mediocre speed.

27 minutes ago, TEW said:

One downside of the current group of receivers is we lack a diversity is skill sets at the top of the depth chart.

Wicks isn’t really that big and strong, he’s not super fast, but a good route runner.

Smith is small, not super fast, great route runner and hands.

Lemon is short, not super fast, good route runner…

Yes, it’s great to have excellent route running, but we lack the AJ Brown/Terrell Owens big bodied bully who can run after the catch, but despite being a very small group there isn’t much speed between them.

If I’m the Eagles, I think they need to look at drafting someone who is big with speed. DK Metcalf would be the type of guy I’d want. Give up some rawness in route running for size and speed, because currently our receivers are small with mediocre speed.

I'd even settle for small and fast. They just need someone who's gonna take the top off the defense so these route runners can work underneath. Maybe Hollywood can still do that for a year, and they look for one in the next draft.

2 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Not trying to join the negative train but I’m still skeptical about Mannion. So many people seem to be caught up in the "at least he’s not Patullo, can’t be any worse” train of thought. I hope I’m wrong but to me this feels a lot like when the Eagles wanted to run a Fangio style defense and went with Sean Desai who worked under him in a limited role but never ran it himself.

That’s a fair concern. I am still not sure how much of the issues with that team were on Desai. There was a big talent deficit from LB to DBs.

47 minutes ago, TEW said:

One downside of the current group of receivers is we lack a diversity is skill sets at the top of the depth chart.

Wicks isn’t really that big and strong, he’s not super fast, but a good route runner.

Smith is small, not super fast, great route runner and hands.

Lemon is short, not super fast, good route runner…

Yes, it’s great to have excellent route running, but we lack the AJ Brown/Terrell Owens big bodied bully who can run after the catch, but despite being a very small group there isn’t much speed between them.

If I’m the Eagles, I think they need to look at drafting someone who is big with speed. DK Metcalf would be the type of guy I’d want. Give up some rawness in route running for size and speed, because currently our receivers are small with mediocre speed.

I agree. I think that’s what Brown is supposed to be for this unit but he is not ideal for that role.

1 minute ago, NCiggles said:

That’s a fair concern. I am still not sure how much of the issues with that team were on Desai. There was a big talent deficit from LB to DBs.

Yeah... the eagles were still searching for their true NT which is necessary in the system. And didnt have the LB play needed either.

Its almost like they stuck with their old ways of devaluing certain positions until they got Fangio who they respected enough to change for.

It would be interesting if you could somehow see how Desai or even Gannon would do with the current talent. Not that Id ever risk hiring those guys back. If you could somehow simulate it or something...

2 hours ago, devpool said:

I'd even settle for small and fast. They just need someone who's gonna take the top off the defense so these route runners can work underneath. Maybe Hollywood can still do that for a year, and they look for one in the next draft.

The reason I say big and fast is that Wicks, long term, is going to be the odd man out among Smith and Lemon, assuming Lemon isn’t a bust.

So if his spot is how we are getting more speed on the field, I don’t also want to get smaller.

If you put Smith, Lemon and then a DeSean or Tyreek type of player all on the field, that would be a TINY group of players. It would make the running game weak on the edges, it would make jump balls and red zone matchups more difficult.

I want balance. Having one small player is fine. Having 2 is less than ideal, but can be compensated with strengths in other areas. Having 3 is just deliberately creating a structural weakness in your lineup.

Having a 4th guy who is a speed specialist is fine, but we have got to have at least one player in the starting 3 with some size.

1 hour ago, NCiggles said:

I agree. I think that’s what Brown is supposed to be for this unit but he is not ideal for that role.

Right. Brown gives us speed but no size. As a stop gap solution for a season or two, I can live with it.

But of a team’s starting 3 players, you really want at least one bigger guy and one fast guy, and since Smith and Lemon are neither big nor fast, that all has to come from one player.

In 2027, the guys that seem to fit this mold in my early research (outside of the top 10 type prospects) are Ryan Wingo from Texas (6’3” 215, 4.39 forty and 10.55 in the 100 meter) and Nyckoles Harbor from South Carolina (6’5” 235, 4.2 forty and US Olympic track team invite… he’s a freak).

The problem is both of these guys had issues. Wingo had major problems with drops, otherwise he’d be perfect, and Harbor is a 3 route receiver with mediocre production who doesn’t play to his size… and if either of these guys actually fix their issues to a significant extent, you have to think they’d be top 20 prospects given how enormously talented they are.

Johnny Wilson has the size. He should never be in the Top 3 WR corp of this team though.

9 hours ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Fired on his day off

Ty Robinson just moved up the depth chart.

Isn’t it odd that Willie Lampkin never gets a mention whatsoever? You’d think a guy the Rams were pissed about losing on final cuts would be a viable prospect for us somehow.

9 hours ago, devpool said:

Saw a desean Jackson highlight reel on Facebook today, man I miss having deadly speed on offense. And someone mentioned the MM/AR shovels and screens, another really fun offense.

I get that Desean was a unicorn, the only other player in the league since him with that speed has been tyreek. But there's no reason that with this OL and the RBs we have that we aren't running shovels and screens.

We ran some shovels early last year, Goedert caught a couple for TD's IIRC, that was before we started forcing it to Brown though.

Having a screen game that isn't so obvious even my non football watching wife can go "They're running a screen" would certainly be a welcome new wrinkle though.

5 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Isn’t it odd that Willie Lampkin never gets a mention whatsoever? You’d think a guy the Rams were pissed about losing on final cuts would be a viable prospect for us somehow.

Sure I read someone's camp report that said he been playing Center for the 2's and 3's, so he's at least competing for back up Center, given they mostly preferred Toth over Kendall to back up Jurgens despite Kendall being C#2 on the depth chart I wonder who wins that battle. They were high enough on Lampkin to take him off waivers despite an injury, so I guess it comes down to where he is in his recovery from the knee injury that didn't improve enough to activate him last year.

6 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Isn’t it odd that Willie Lampkin never gets a mention whatsoever? You’d think a guy the Rams were pissed about losing on final cuts would be a viable prospect for us somehow.

I think he's one that will start to standout in pre-season games.

9 hours ago, HazletonEagle said:

Yeah... the eagles were still searching for their true NT which is necessary in the system. And didnt have the LB play needed either.

Its almost like they stuck with their old ways of devaluing certain positions until they got Fangio who they respected enough to change for.

It would be interesting if you could somehow see how Desai or even Gannon would do with the current talent. Not that Id ever risk hiring those guys back. If you could somehow simulate it or something...

Or Schwartz with this secondary

7 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Or Schwartz with this secondary

If Fangio retires after this season, he's someone I would like to see them potentially bring back. I also wouldn't be opposed to them bringing in Sean McDermott.

11 hours ago, TEW said:

One downside of the current group of receivers is we lack a diversity is skill sets at the top of the depth chart.

Wicks isn’t really that big and strong, he’s not super fast, but a good route runner.

Smith is small, not super fast, great route runner and hands.

Lemon is short, not super fast, good route runner…

Yes, it’s great to have excellent route running, but we lack the AJ Brown/Terrell Owens big bodied bully who can run after the catch, but despite being a very small group there isn’t much speed between them.

If I’m the Eagles, I think they need to look at drafting someone who is big with speed. DK Metcalf would be the type of guy I’d want. Give up some rawness in route running for size and speed, because currently our receivers are small with mediocre speed.

We both love those types, but they just aren't on the Eagles radar.

From a speed (and certainly not size) standpoint, across multiple coaches and OC's, they usually have a Hollywood Brown on the roster. Torrey Smith, Mike Wallace, Desean Jackson 2.0, Quez Watkins, and now Hollywood Brown (John Ross was another who never actually stuck on the roster). (2023-2026 sort of bypassed this because AJ/Devonta represented all the diversity of personnel and looks they felt the need to put out there). But that list of WRs is a very clean lineage with an unmistakable common denominator in investment and utilization. They were all bargain bin acquisitions who almost never got targeted and occasionally got on the field for the perceived value of softening the defense due to their vertical threat. It's interesting that they consistently want that token fast guy on the roster but exclusively under-invest in guys for that role...guys that, frankly, arent any good.

We'll hardly ever hear Hollywood Brown's name this year, but that's exactly how he'll be utilized.

5 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

We both love those types, but they just aren't on the Eagles radar.

From a speed (and certainly not size) standpoint, across multiple coaches and OC's, they usually have a Hollywood Brown on the roster. Torrey Smith, Mike Wallace, Desean Jackson 2.0, Quez Watkins, and now Hollywood Brown (John Ross was another who never actually stuck on the roster). (2023-2026 sort of bypassed this because AJ/Devonta represented all the diversity of personnel and looks they felt the need to put out there). But that list of WRs is a very clean lineage with an unmistakable common denominator in investment and utilization. They were all bargain bin acquisitions who almost never got targeted and occasionally got on the field for the perceived value of softening the defense due to their vertical threat. It's interesting that they consistently want that token fast guy on the roster but exclusively under-invest in guys for that role...guys that, frankly, arent any good.

We'll hardly ever hear Hollywood Brown's name this year, but that's exactly how he'll be utilized.

Unfortunately, guys that fast who are also big and can actually play are rare. Most of the time the eagles arent picking high enough in the 1st round to get one. A list consisting of fast, big guys isnt going to look much better/more productive.

The Valdez-Scantlings of the world get bounced around the league because they just arent good enough.

9 hours ago, devpool said:

Saw a desean Jackson highlight reel on Facebook today, man I miss having deadly speed on offense. And someone mentioned the MM/AR shovels and screens, another really fun offense.

I get that Desean was a unicorn, the only other player in the league since him with that speed has been tyreek. But there's no reason that with this OL and the RBs we have that we aren't running shovels and screens.

What made DJax so formidable was his route running and speed adjustment (quickness and burst) more so than just his speed. Eagles have three WRs with 4.3 speed on the roster, one of whom, Hollywood Brown, is likely to stick. (The other two are Danny Gray and Quez Watkins, one of which may well stick on the PS). Speed is overrated unless a player knows how to use it. Dotson, for example.

One of the things I look for in the combine is the position drills. How many steps to turn? How many steps to stop? You could see pretty quickly that JJAW took two steps to stop and couldn’t turn without rounding unless he stopped. Those matter as much as the stopwatch on a forty taken from a track stance. In fact, footedness matters too. Can the player start on either foot equally? Turn equally? Jeremy Maclin and his turns after stopping were almost always the same direction and multiple steps thus tackled 90% of the time.

Same is true for DBs. Straight line fast, like Ringo and Woolen, is at risk because both are a bit stiff in turns and body control. (Better body control and height help Woolen offset his stiffness).

11 hours ago, TEW said:

One downside of the current group of receivers is we lack a diversity is skill sets at the top of the depth chart.

Wicks isn’t really that big and strong, he’s not super fast, but a good route runner.

Smith is small, not super fast, great route runner and hands.

Lemon is short, not super fast, good route runner…

Yes, it’s great to have excellent route running, but we lack the AJ Brown/Terrell Owens big bodied bully who can run after the catch, but despite being a very small group there isn’t much speed between them.

If I’m the Eagles, I think they need to look at drafting someone who is big with speed. DK Metcalf would be the type of guy I’d want. Give up some rawness in route running for size and speed, because currently our receivers are small with mediocre speed.

Thing about Wicks is he is very good at stops and turns. So are Lemon, Devonta and Hollywood. Donovan looks good at getting separation. Hollywood has speed but not size. Big bodied but can run after the catch is Stowers. Doubt Brown at this age is any faster than Stowers.

BREAKING: The Philadelphia Phillies are acquiring second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, sources tell ESPN

8 hours ago, brkmsn said:

Ty Robinson just moved up the depth chart.

I think Robinson is going to have to play well in the pre-season games to stay on the roster.

6 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

What made DJax so formidable was his route running and speed adjustment (quickness and burst) more so than just his speed. Eagles have three WRs with 4.3 speed on the roster, one of whom, Hollywood Brown, is likely to stick. (The other two are Danny Gray and Quez Watkins, one of which may well stick on the PS). Speed is overrated unless a player knows how to use it. Dotson, for example.

One of the things I look for in the combine is the position drills. How many steps to turn? How many steps to stop? You could see pretty quickly that JJAW took two steps to stop and couldn’t turn without rounding unless he stopped. Those matter as much as the stopwatch on a forty taken from a track stance. In fact, footedness matters too. Can the player start on either foot equally? Turn equally? Jeremy Maclin and his turns after stopping were almost always the same direction and multiple steps thus tackled 90% of the time.

Same is true for DBs. Straight line fast, like Ringo and Woolen, is at risk because both are a bit stiff in turns and body control. (Better body control and height help Woolen offset his stiffness).

I think the money they gave Brown makes him almost a sure thing for the roster. I think he's likely an upgrade over Dotson in terms of his skillset. I don't think Dotson ever played that fast. He and Reagor are similar receivers. They were both overdrafted and they both struggled to get open in the NFL. Notably, Dotson had a 7.28 s 3-cone and Reagor had a 7.31. JJAW ran a 7.23. They all are stiff route runners.

I think Woolen is probably a slightly more flexible athlete than Ringo. He has played inside in the nickel position. He also is a smarter football player. He is able to break on routes to create turnovers.

18 hours ago, NOTW said:

Will Levis be like:

54 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Unfortunately, guys that fast who are also big and can actually play are rare. Most of the time the eagles arent picking high enough in the 1st round to get one. A list consisting of fast, big guys isnt going to look much better/more productive.

The Valdez-Scantlings of the world get bounced around the league because they just arent good enough.

I really wanted Dezhaun Stribling this past draft, big enough-fast enough, good hands, ascending player, but the 9ers seem to jump on these guys early (pretty Ricky is another example).