EMB Blog: 2021 Offseason

[LeanMeanGM]

5 minutes ago, beto_eagles said:

Because if you don't restructure, you'll probably get cut, receive all the guaranteed money they owe you, become a FA and make more money. You only restructure if you want to stay with the team long term. 

None of these guys restructuring were threats to get cut and most already received all their guaranteed money. They are now getting more guaranteed money. Unless there is a player like Watson whose dead set on getting out, there's really no reason for them not to. I wouldn't read into todays news as anything more than the players know they are stuck here, the GM knows they are stuck here, so the players took more upfront money. Just my opinion on it.

[Guest justrelax]

5 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Can change draft strategy depending on how Stout views mid round prospects.  If they see a mid rounder that needs work that they think has potential to be a good starter, they may target those players instead of spending early.  That’s what I see in a Spencer Brown.  Real athletic and shows good traits.  Rusty because Northern Iowa didn’t play last fall.  So the may target a player like him instead of going early.  

They did that with Juriga last year.  Frankly, I expected him at the Toohill pick.  Short arms don’t hurt as much with a C. Raw but showed talent at second level blocking in college, so stuff to build on. Playing the sixth OL at the end of the season suggests he made some progress.

 Herbig the year before, actually some nifty footwork at the combine but his size and slowness made him a FA.  You see a dancing bear in the G drills.  Good movement in the mirror drill.  But then late every time on the slide drill.  Now most Gs don’t excel at the slide drill but it accented his slowness.  Actually good technique at first but then would flip to chasing the "defender” They focused on getting his body in shape and he improved his sophomore year here.  Not sure he has reached his ceiling.  Coaches mentioned him as a workout warrior last offseason.

 Contrast that with Pryor.  Has some good technique but is not progressing in conditioning at all.  We wondered where he was at the start of the season.  On the bench for being a sloth.

 Now some projects work out and some don’t.  Opeta was a bull in the bag drills but his footwork has not progressed.  Probably his last shot.  Eagles like the potential in Toth and wanted to keep and develop him on the PS but he was grabbed on waivers   Didn’t really see any progress in pass pro.  May be the last year for him, Opeta and Pryor.  So there will be slots on the OL this year.  

This is a decent crop of Cs this year so I would not be surprised if they grab one in the mid rounds.  Kind of depends how they feel about Driscoll.  He may have been drafted as a swing T but I really thought he was drafted to be depth at G with a future starting there. Kind of a Todd Herremans. 

I think the Eagles take a BPA approach as to OL this year in the draft.  Of course, they have a better idea about Brooks and Johnson’s progress than we do.

I became less and less impressed with Driscoll as the year went on. Not very strong, to put it bluntly. He has good technique but if he's not perfect he's beaten. The only position I think he can handle well is C.

[eagle45]

So how much money will we be eating on Lane, BG, and Slay in 2024 while they all sit on IR?

[ToastJenkins]

5 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Why do you assume Mailata starts over Dillard?  Why would a team offer good value for Dillard in a trade?

BPA should be the target and defensive secondary deserves attention in this draft.  

i agree, the secondary needs to be a focus. problem for me is after the second round i feel like safety falls off a cliff.

[eagle45]

34 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Assuming Mailata is the starter at LT.  We now know the 2021 O-Line.   Mailata Seumalo Kelce Brooks Johnson

 

 

Aka Mailata/Seumalo/Kelce/Herbig/Pryor after Brooks/Lane/Driscoll go down.

Ideally the trend changes, but Driscoll got hurt every time he took extended snaps last year.  Lane and Brooks will both be out of the lineup by week 10.

[LeanMeanGM]

1 minute ago, eagle45 said:

So how much money will we be eating on Lane, BG, and Slay in 2024 while they all sit on IR?

Slay won't even be here as is in 2024 but will still be eating $4.5M

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

1 minute ago, ToastJenkins said:

i agree, the secondary needs to be a focus. problem for me is after the second round i feel like safety falls off a cliff.

Tbh i just don’t see the eagles taking a safety high. I could see them trying to sign someone like hooker. Go with mcleod, hooker and wallace and take one in the middle rounds. 

[Alphagrand]

15 minutes ago, beto_eagles said:

Seeing these veteran players committed to the Eagles encourages me for the next season. Maybe Howie is not as bad as we think if they still want to play here.

Considering the circus that we've been through over the past few months, I really thought some of them would refuse to restructure and it felt like Kelce's retirement was imminent. Now, it seems like most leaders will stay to play for a new coach. 

Maybe they knew there was something wrong with Carson? Maybe they felt it was also better for Doug to move on? Maybe they see potential in Hurts? Sirianni? Or maybe they just don't want to go to another city late in their careers 😅

Who knows? But it's at least encouraging.

I’ve always said I think Kelce wants to play in front of fans again before he retires; it’s also quite possible Brooks and Johnson are working hard to rehab and asked him to give it one more season.  I’m sure some of these veteran guys are motivated by the fact much of the media and some of the fan base have given up on them, and they know they’re a better team than what they showed last season.

[LeanMeanGM]

2 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

I’ve always said I think Kelce wants to play in front of fans again before he retires; it’s also quite possible Brooks and Johnson are working hard to rehab and asked him to give it one more season.  I’m sure some of these veteran guys are motivated by the fact much of the media and some of the fan base have given up on them, and they know they’re a better team than what they showed last season.

Kelce also got a very nice pay increase, so there's that too.

[ToastJenkins]

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

Tbh i just don’t see the eagles taking a safety high. I could see them trying to sign someone like hooker. Go with mcleod, hooker and wallace and take one in the middle rounds. 

we need a long term solution at FS...badly

[LeanMeanGM]

Just now, ToastJenkins said:

we need a long term solution at FS...badly

Going on a full decade of everyone saying this.

[greendestiny27]

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

Tbh i just don’t see the eagles taking a safety high. I could see them trying to sign someone like hooker. Go with mcleod, hooker and wallace and take one in the middle rounds. 

I think they need a S in rounds 2 or 3. Maybe even double up. Rodney is coming off a late season serious injury and there's nothing behind him. 

[ToastJenkins]

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Going on a full decade of everyone saying this.

and if we are going to play alot more Cover 2, we need rangy safeties and an LB that can drop

[ToastJenkins]

1 minute ago, greendestiny27 said:

I think they need a S in rounds 2 or 3. Maybe even double up. Rodney is coming off a late season serious injury and there's nothing behind him. 

i'm willing to give Kvon a shot. McLeod is hurt and old. i'd like them try try Maddox back there

[aptosbird]

1 minute ago, ToastJenkins said:

and if we are going to play alot more Cover 2, we need rangy safeties and an LB that can drop

yup...I am sticking with my same "wish list" for the past 4 years going into the draft: IOL, S, 3-down ILB, "between the tackles" RB and I am adding CB and WR...not in any particular order...BPA by need/value please

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

7 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

we need a long term solution at FS...badly

Don’t disagree. I’ve been saying that for years. However wallace is an unknown and should get playing time to see if he’s that solution. Hooker is only 24. If he comes off that injury and plays well you might actually have your solution at safety long term. 

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

8 minutes ago, greendestiny27 said:

I think they need a S in rounds 2 or 3. Maybe even double up. Rodney is coming off a late season serious injury and there's nothing behind him. 

Wouldn’t disagree with the premise but the eagles basically knew this for a couple years now and didn’t spend high draft capital. I feel they draft a safety. If you sign hooker, draft one in round 3-5, have wallace you potentially could be set for years. Hooker is 24. It’s a matter if he comes back to what he was. And I’m guessing we’ll be interested in him due to scheme and Gannon being our DC

[Alphagrand]

5 minutes ago, aptosbird said:

yup...I am sticking with my same "wish list" for the past 4 years going into the draft: IOL, S, 3-down ILB, "between the tackles" RB and I am adding CB and WR...not in any particular order...BPA by need/value please

 

[Mike030270]

1 hour ago, TorontoEagle said:

How come the one poster I have on ignore, his posts continue to pop up anyway? Anybody else have this problem?

I only notice it happen if I post while the ignored person posts or if I click on the black box that can pop up that says view more posts

[ToastJenkins]

ok here is how you rebuild the defense....perhaps it is better to wait on a WR...

• 14.
  Micah Parsons

  LB Penn State
  
• 40.
  Richie Grant

  S UCF
  
• 50.
  Greg Newsome II

  CB Northwestern
  
• 70.
  Aaron Robinson

  CB UCF
   
• 72.
  Dylan Moses

  LB Alabama
  
• 84.
  Tylan Wallace

  WR Oklahoma State
   
• 114.
  Trey Sermon

  RB Ohio State
  
• 191.
  Trevon Grimes

  WR Florida
   
• 220.
  Chris Rumph II

  EDGE Duke
   
• 232.
  Greg Eiland

  OG Mississippi State
   
• 2022 LAC 2nd
• 2022 MIN 2nd
• 2022 MIA 3rd

 

[austinfan]

24 minutes ago, justrelax said:

I became less and less impressed with Driscoll as the year went on. Not very strong, to put it bluntly. He has good technique but if he's not perfect he's beaten. The only position I think he can handle well is C.

Meh, Driscoll has short arms, doesn't belong at OT. Did well given he was a rookie with physical limitations. Big upgrade from Pryor and Toth.

I think he'll play all three inside spots this year with Dillard back. Emergency "break glass" OT if they don't develop an alternative (not Pryor).

[RLC]

This might be a hot take, but this team should not use a top 100 pick on an OL in the draft.

[uncphillyfan]

3 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

ok here is how you rebuild the defense....perhaps it is better to wait on a WR...

 

 

Love it

[BigEFly]

19 minutes ago, justrelax said:

I became less and less impressed with Driscoll as the year went on. Not very strong, to put it bluntly. He has good technique but if he's not perfect he's beaten. The only position I think he can handle well is C.

Thing that worries me about Driscoll is his lower body strength and whether his body is built to add junk in the trunk to play inside. Takes the musculature to add with the squats. But the Eagles have better sports science guys than me so I imagine they may know better.  I do expect that Driscoll returns stronger after this offseason and Herbig is in even better shape too.  I could be wrong.  I believe we get strength and conditioning contact this month and that rehab contact is already occurring.  One thing about Driscoll is I don’t doubt his intelligence and being able to learn.  I am always hesitant to grade out OL after their freshman year.  Even in big programs like Auburn, there is a limit on what they can do to build athletes that is passed when the athletes become professionals under professional guidance, both inside and out of the building. 

[aptosbird]

2 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

ok here is how you rebuild the defense....perhaps it is better to wait on a WR...

 

 

I don't think Parsons will be there at 14, but I agree on most! I am still holding out on BPA at 6, but why take the second or third best at any position (WR,QB) with the #6 when the Eagles can slide back a couple and get the best at another value position.