EMB Blog: 2021 Offseason

[Desertbirds]

1 hour ago, KINGnabb said:

I get Gmen fans are disappointed but the entitlement is what I have a problem with.   With all the teams resting starters please stop talking about "Integrity of the game".  I think people knew once Suds was put in it was probably over.  Jalen was still putting up points on the ground.  He could of very well scored again who knows.   The Giants should not have rested their hopes on a 4-10-1 team.   Again the NFL is at fault, the game should not have been flexed.  But all this "Integrity" talk is B.S.   Miami would of loved for Pittsburg Starters to be playing and now their home from the Playoffs with 10 wins.   

He put up zero points in the third quarter. That goes with his 7,6, and 0 counts in the second half of games.

[Ace Nova]

8 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

This is my recollection of events as well. There was a few people pounding the table for JJ, chief amongst them @Iggles_Phan, but most were upset about Lamb, and happy enough with Reagor and what we thought was some speed added to our plodding offense. This BS about 90% wanting JJ is just hindsight. 

Thank you. 

[John_C]

1 minute ago, TorontoEagle said:

This is my recollection of events as well. There was a few people pounding the table for JJ, chief amongst them @Iggles_Phan, but most were upset about Lamb, and happy enough with Reagor and what we thought was some speed added to our plodding offense. This BS about 90% wanting JJ is just hindsight. 

I was 100% about taking Justin Jefferson, and could not believe they passed on him.  

I hope some of these "reporters" have some courage to ask real questions on this press conference.  Like about Jefferson, maybe about every draft over the last six years, maybe make this dope defend his record, I'm sure that would result in more nonsensical justifications and wannabe scout-speak clichés.  

The real press conference has to be with Jeff Lurie.  It is an absolute travesty that you are running this idiot back out there.  You have an obligation to your fan base to do what is best for the team.  There is no possible justification for retaining the GM.  He has failed in every sense imaginable.  If this is your choice, you must face the questions and scrutiny that are warranted.  You have chosen to engage in nepotism and ignore your obligations.  You are transitioning from trusted steward of the franchise, doing the best he can and mostly getting the benefit of the doubt, along with not a little admiration, into a petty tyrant playing with his expensive toys as he sees fit, damn everyone else.  Hope you like your choice.  Sell the team!

[Iggles_Phan]

1 minute ago, BigEFly said:

I didn’t say that Boston Scott is a #2 RB, I said he is a solid rotation RB as skatback. The Darren Sproles role in a three man rotation.  What Westbrook was in the Buck, Duce rotation (no, I don’t think Scott develops into a Westbrook).  He is getting better at pass pro and he runs with a low center of gravity. Further, he can tackle Chase Young.  He’s the kind of player you want in that third RB role.  I think he is better than a JAG.  Not every player needs to be a HOF level.  

I tend to be an optimist.  There are players that played last night that have no place on an active roster, IMO.  Scott isn’t one of those.

And, hey, Ward actually returned some punts. I think the Eagles return game is based on analytics.   Don’t set up the return because blocking results in penalties.  Fair catch it if you have a good angle.  At certain points on the field, let it bounce.  NFL doesn’t like kickoffs and punts. Look at how many blocks in the back and holds get called on receiving teams.  I think until last night, the team was governed by stats.  

I think the Slay trade was good use of draft capital.  Especially when paired with Surtain next year.  Hargrave was expensive but he was dominating a pro bowl G last night. 

Meh.  I want a player that can actually fill a role on ST in the 3rd RB spot.  That's not Scott.  He goes back for KOR duties, which is a dying position in the NFL, but he can't play any other ST role, because he's just too small.  I'm not asking for HOF level player at every position.  But Boston Scott is not the guy that this team thinks he is.  He's not Darren Sproles.  And they made the decision to go with him as the #2 RB...they elevated him beyond his talent level.  Same thing they did with Greg Ward.  Ward is a #4/#5 WR at best.  But, they've elevated him to the WR that gets the most snaps on the team.  

And yet, some how there are people on this board who don't see Howie as the primary issue with this team.  (Doug is a very close #2.)  His mismanagement of the roster is beyond incompetent.  

 

And the Slay/Hargrave thing is about priorities.  They prioritized the defense in FA, which makes sense... if they had any clue how to address the offense in the draft.   The defense, for all its failings... has been an average defense in just about every category... whereas, even last year, the offense was putrid because they had no weapons.  They relied down the stretch on Boston Scott and Greg Ward... and fooled themselves into thinking that they were somehow a greater part of the solution than they were.  They were parts that would be easily replaceable by a middling NFL GM.  But, they have been miscast as the #2 RB and most reliable WR.  They stand as a testament to the roster mismanagement, through no fault of their own, and I don't dislike them as people.  But, watching this team be forced continually to rely on them is gross negligence on the part of the front office, and misusing them in improper roles as well, falls squarely on the coaching staff.   I won't feel better about this team until Howie and Doug are given their pink slips and then maybe this team can have 53 NFL quality players on the roster, instead of about 35-40.

[Iggles_Phan]

7 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

The campus is aged a bit now, but they're currently remodeling the Chapel.  Overall the scenery is quite breath taking though.  Even from the outside looking in.  You've got the stadium nestled into the mountain side, the way the rest of the base is built into the hills.  Job wise it's a nightmare for me adjusting to though.  I can't complain that I'll wind down my career in this area though.  So much to do (once I get off nights).

Well... I was there 24 years ago.  lol   So, I guess I am a bit aged now too.  

[bpac55]

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Once upon a time, I felt bad for Jaylon Smith.   That was a LONG time ago.

I was thinking the same thing.  For a guy who had a horrific injury that really impacted his draft status, then had to work his tail off to get back just to play the game you would think he would have a little more respect for not being a huge d-bag on the field.  I remember sports media shoving Jaylon Smith stories about him and his mom down our throats, all the typical Tom Rinaldi stuff.  Now, he just looks like a buffoon out there.

[TorontoEagle]

2 minutes ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Agreed.  I was meh on Jefferson.  I was all in on Lamb.  But there were a ton of people (loyalist) who were all in on Reagor when he was the guy and celebrated it.  Calling me out for hating the pick.  A good portion of the board.  It was just over shadowed by the 2nd round reach and then the 3rd round reach. But Reagor in the 1st at that spot for the Eagles was a Panic REACH!!!  Anyone who wouldn't admit it then should be forced to publicly admit it now and then say "YOU WERE RIGHT 4for4....AGAIN"!!   Or something like that.  

I'll admit I was happy with the Reagor pick. I thought he would take over for Desean when he got hurt and finally fill that role of Torrey Smith/Mike Wallace. He still might work out....but oof, not a good first year. 

 

[Swoop]

36 minutes ago, Ipiggles said:

This just infuriates me to no end. We all wanted Jefferson.  History is on the fans side here. 

 

 

No no, don't start the "we all wanted him" BS. There were plenty of Reagor fanboys that wanted him and many that argued Jefferson was only a slot guy.

[austinfan]

2 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

I doubt that.  I think Carson was benched for his own protection. The OL was in shambles and he was getting hit and sacked too much.  Add in his yips and it was a wise move.  The whole Carson wants to be traded is a complete misread by the media.  Howie is undoubtedly talking restructuring his contract and this is an agent move for leverage.  Wentz will restructure, return as starting QB, Hurts gained experience and will be a quality back up.  Hopefully next year the OL woes will be behind us.  Ertz, on the other hand is gone.  He overplayed his hand in contract negotiations for an extension.

It makes no sense to trade Wentz for anything less than a top 20 pick.

We saw enough from Hurts to know two things, he has NFL starter talent (has the arm strength, a nice intermediate ball and is a top runner, what he lacks in speed he makes up in his ability to avoid and break tackles and take hits with his FB body) and he's at least a year away in terms of reading defenses, etc.

So we're better trying to fix Wentz behind a much better OL and WRs with a year of coaching than giving him away, eating a year of his new deal, and seeing how far Hurts has progressed. Then next spring they can trade Wentz for peanuts if it doesn't work out at a lower cap hit to the team, why trade him for cashews this offseason?

[Ipiggles]

 

[Wentz_Era]

Reagor was the consensus #3 WR in the draft till the typical combine media spin and his numbers weren't as many thought.  Ruggs became the darling of the crowd then, a few joined the Jefferson bandwagon after his combine as well.  Somewhere in there a lot forgot about Reagor as the general thought was pre-combine he possibly wouldn't be available.  There was actually a pretty decent chunk on the Shenault bandwagon.

[Ipiggles]

1 minute ago, Swoop said:

No no, don't start the "we all wanted him" BS. There were plenty of Reagor fanboys that wanted him and many that argued Jefferson was only a slot guy.

Sorry I dont recall that, what I recall was after pick was made some were OK with the Reagor pick, after they were talked into it. At least in the blog. I cant say it was that way elsewhere during the draft, but here in the blog. 

 

 

[Swoop]

2 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

Reagor was the consensus #3 WR in the draft till the typical combine media spin and his numbers weren't as many thought.  Ruggs became the darling of the crowd then, a few joined the Jefferson bandwagon after his combine as well.  Somewhere in there a lot forgot about Reagor as the general thought was pre-combine he possibly wouldn't be available.  There was actually a pretty decent chunk on the Shenault bandwagon.

When was Reagor the consensus number 3?

Even before the combine, people were talking Lamb, Jeudy, Ruggs and Jefferson.

[Wentz_Era]

6 minutes ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Agreed.  I was meh on Jefferson.  I was all in on Lamb.  But there were a ton of people (loyalist) who were all in on Reagor when he was the guy and celebrated it.  Calling me out for hating the pick.  A good portion of the board.  It was just over shadowed by the 2nd round reach and then the 3rd round reach. But Reagor in the 1st at that spot for the Eagles was a Panic REACH!!!  Anyone who wouldn't admit it then should be forced to publicly admit it now and then say "YOU WERE RIGHT 4for4....AGAIN"!!   Or something like that.  

I loved the pick.  I saw him as the second best WR in the draft after Juedy. I thought he was a Steve Smith (Carolina one) clone.  I still think he has a lot of potential, but I'm wondering if he truly has any grey matter in his skull in the back of my head currently.  There's a lot of not good signs if you disregard how badly coached this team is as a whole.

[Desertbirds]

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

I find it somewhat surprising and amusing how outraged the city is that Hurts didn’t get the full game.  Suddenly the city is so attached to this guy.

People are just completely glossing over the fact that Hurts is a horrible passer.  I think the city gets what they want...Hurts in 2021.  And we are going to have it shoved down our throat how bad the passing offense will be with Hurts under center.

The Eagles will be boring and outright painful to watch.

[austinfan]

How did Ruggs do this year? Playing with a QB who threw for 4000+ yards and was only sacked 26 times.

With a top TE in Waller (#204-2015 by BAL, waived in 2018), in an offense where Agholor gained 896 yards.

Drafting WRs is not an exact science.

[Wentz_Era]

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Well... I was there 24 years ago.  lol   So, I guess I am a bit aged now too.  

Back then it must have been state of the art architecture!  It's still nice from the outside...inside, whoa Nelly.

[Iggles_Phan]

Just now, Wentz_Era said:

I loved the pick.  I saw him as the second best WR in the draft after Juedy. I thought he was a Steve Smith (Carolina one) clone.  I still think he has a lot of potential, but I'm wondering if he truly has any grey matter in his skull in the back of my head currently.  There's a lot of not good signs if you disregard how badly coached this team is as a whole.

I wonder if when they get rid of all this pile of burning poo, if they could bring in Terry Robiskie?   What's he doing these days?

Just now, Desertbirds said:

The Eagles will be boring and outright painful to watch.

As opposed to what we just suffered through...  

[Ace Nova]

13 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

I'll admit I was happy with the Reagor pick. I thought he would take over for Desean when he got hurt and finally fill that role of Torrey Smith/Mike Wallace. He still might work out....but oof, not a good first year. 

 

I think Reagor will be fine.  He was likely going to take longer than guys like Jefferson/Lamb/Jeudy to transition to the NFL....everyone knew that when he was drafted. 

There was no-preseason and he missed 5 3/4 games...so obviously that skewed both his numbers and his development.

 

[Wentz_Era]

6 minutes ago, Swoop said:

When was Reagor the consensus number 3?

Even before the combine, people were talking Lamb, Jeudy, Ruggs and Jefferson.

Before Ruggs balled out at the end of the year and LSU cemented themselves as one of the best teams around the same time and people started looking deeper than Burrow and Chase.  Reagor was very highly thought of by many. 

[Giddyunc]

Question for the draft people out there... outside of Lawrence and Fields, how does this QB class stack up to past years? 

[austinfan]

Actually the Eagles could be a lot of fun next year, depending on how the draft goes and whether they find coaches who can coach.

For the first time since they had a healthy DeSean, they actually have speed at WR, speed at RB, if they can replace Ertz with a fast H-back (JJAW may lack explosion at WR, but he ran a 4.50 at 225 lbs (Butler 4.48 at 220 lbs) even more speed on the field. With an OL that can actually pass block, I could see a lot of shoot outs next year b/c I'm not sure our defense will stop anyone unless we draft Surtain.

[Khani1]

14 minutes ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Agreed.  I was meh on Jefferson.  I was all in on Lamb.  But there were a ton of people (loyalist) who were all in on Reagor when he was the guy and celebrated it.  Calling me out for hating the pick.  A good portion of the board.  It was just over shadowed by the 2nd round reach and then the 3rd round reach. But Reagor in the 1st at that spot for the Eagles was a Panic REACH!!!  Anyone who wouldn't admit it then should be forced to publicly admit it now and then say "YOU WERE RIGHT 4for4....AGAIN"!!   Or something like that.  

I was one of them.  I was wrong, you were right.  I am still holding out hope that he can become something in year 2.  However, I am definitely concerned at this point because of his injuries and lack of focus/determination.

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, Desertbirds said:

He put up zero points in the third quarter. That goes with his 7,6, and 0 counts in the second half of games.

Scored on 2 of 21 second half drives since he became the starter.

[Ace Nova]

1 minute ago, Wentz_Era said:

Before Ruggs balled out at the end of the year and LSU cemented themselves as one of the best teams around the same time and people started looking deeper than Burrow and Chase.  Reagor was very highly thought of by many. 

Yep. Had he run closer to his "true/in game speed" at the combine (in the 4.3 - 4.35 range) there would have been little-to-no debate of him being ranked top 3-5.