27 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Per Adam Caplan.  

 

Thanks for sharing.  Will be interesting to see how they line up that's for sure.

4 hours ago, austinfan said:

Let's wait and see. Hurts is an elite runner, he doesn't have the breakaway speed of some running QBs, but he's built like a RB with RB open field moves (elusive and powerful).

So he doesn't have to be a great pocket QB, if he's merely "good" he'll be a top ten QB.

 

Not sure if it's 3-4 or more going back to Jimmy Johnson, who took Emmons from the Steeler 3-4 and turned him into a first rate SLB who could play 3 downs.

A lot of 4-3 teams will line the SLB on the LOS at times in what is almost a 5-2, have him jam the TE.

3 hours ago, Bacarty2 said:

Toronto Eagle is a troll and it's not even close

I consider him an excellent poster, to be honest. I rarely disagree with anything he says.

2 minutes ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Would have been done by now if that were the case.  

Yeah i truly believe if those two obstacles weren’t in the eagles path that they’d make that move. 

35 minutes ago, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles said:

OK.  Essentially, it will be hard for Hurts to bust because there is little or no real expectations versus the opposite for Tua.  I guess that is fair, but it is hard to make a comparison with such drastic differences.  However, most analysts see it that way as one was clearly defined as a 1st round franchise talent and the other one wasn't.  I

Yeah i think cause expectations were so high for tua and was the 5th overall pick (plus dealing with Herbert who went the pick right after) it’s much more to live up to then hurts. If you believe the eagles at face value and what caplan has stated they viewed hurts as a backup QB then if he winds up being that then he met the expectations the eagles and many had for him. To me tua has to be a good starter to be worthy of that draft slot he went

2 hours ago, bpac55 said:

I was team Smith being overrated the entire draft process.  I wanted nothing to do with him.  I just didn't know what he was and I thought there were better options available.  I still think that.  I also think trading down still could have been the best decision but here we are.  Smith is our guy.  I've watched countless tapes of his now just trying to figure him out.  I no longer care about his size.  He just gets it done.  

When you try to figure out how he does what he does at 166 I think it's important to notice his wingspan and hand size.  They are freakish for a 6' guy.  His wingspan is 78".  Kyle Pitts wingspan at 6-6 is 83".  He can reach and make unreal catches.  He uses every bit of his wingspan whether it's coming back to the ball with his hands extended on a curl or a slant, or making ridiculous catches like the one against LSU.  

I still can't describe what makes him so good, he just is.

Go try to find one elite athletic quality with Wayne Gretzky. A bit undersized, good but not great skater, good shot, good hands.

Bobby Clarke was probably one of the least impressive looking athletes I can remember, all he did was win.

Tom Brady was a skinny kid with an average arm and below average athleticism.

Some athletes are just better than the sum of their parts, maybe due to unmeasurables like body control, spatial awareness, instincts, work ethic, competitiveness, etc.

Smith seems to be one of those guys, not going to run a 4.3, undersized, but all he does is get open and catch the ball. Big guys can't press him, fast guys can't keep up with him, athletic guys can't out jump him.

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Yea, and i'm terrified seeing Taylor playing any snaps unless he makes a big leap

Why?

a clear answer is valuable even if the answer is that they cant play

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I don't think all this roster needed was 1 DeVonta Smith to be conference contenders. There's just simply too many unknowns right now to say the Eagles will be better in 2021 than they were in 2020. IF Hurts can play at a top level, and IF the O-line can stay healthy, and IF Sirianni is a good rookie coach and has a good scheme and IF he can call plays and IF Gannon can make chicken salad out of chicken ish, then we can contend. Every teams has some sort of projection yea, but it's a lot easier to presume if Dak is healthy he will improve Dallas vs if Hurts can actually play at all. Just my opinion, I can't believe it until I see it.

I didn't say the Eagles chances were better than Dallas.  I just said that the Eagles had improved and it's not like any other team in the division doesn't have big question marks.  

38 minutes ago, greendestiny27 said:

That's now 4 OLB's that fit best in a 3-4 type outside rusher position. Maybe Gannon has a few 3-4 wrinkles in store. 

I think its more they know he has no shot as a DE now. Hail mary pass

Worst division in football last year. Nobody wanted to win it, except the Giants. Eff the Giants!

1 minute ago, CouchKing said:

Worst division in football last year. Nobody wanted to win it, except the Giants. Eff the Giants!

 

3 hours ago, greend said:

Such an overused term "unstoppable" and every year defenses figure out how to stop "unstoppable" offenses. 

Tell Jeff Lurie.   Lol

2 hours ago, eagle45 said:

I'm all for throwing everything against a wall to see what sticks on defense until they figure out a QB/OL/weapons...since that's what takes real time to build and mold.

So that's fine, but most likely...disaster.  You can't just have a positionless sludge of a back 7.  What sounds like great flexibility turns into a reverse matchup nightmare where offenses just pick you apart.  You end up with no one up front who can shed a block or tackle and no one deep in the secondary who can hang with a WR.

One player like Stevens who transitions between two levels of the defense is fine.  But that means we don't need more of them.

Wallace is a defensive back.  He better be able to cover WRs...otherwise he's a liability.  Milton Williams, a favorite of mine, needs to develop into a terror rushing the QB.  Otherwise, he's useless too.  In this passing NFL, no one needs a 285lb run stopping DE, nor does anyone need a light in the pants 285lb DT unless he's a relentless interior pass rush presence.  Johnson is like Avery...DE turned LB.  If they can't diagnose a play and take a good angle, then they are useless too.

Versatility is nice for seldom used backups, but at some point, you need people who can fill a role and play.  Someone has to reliably pressure the QB, someone has to hang with WRs on every play, someone has to take angles to the play and make tackles around the LOS.  Too many tweeners leaves you with 0 players who can do any of those things.

There's an in-between. You have core starters like Cox, who are the position. Then you have "package" players, I mean nickel backs are specialist "tweeners,"

Stevens will not be a 3 down starter at LB as a tweener, he'll have to show he can handle both run down responsibilities and pass coverage - but he may play in a package where he's a hybrid 3rd safety/LB who moves around and creates issues for a QB trying to read a pass defense. Williams can backup at LDE (reducing Graham's run down snaps) and be a pass rush specialist at DT while he gets stronger and improves his technique. Avery, Johnson and Ostman may be used in blitz packages, but they won't start at SLB unless they can read plays and be at least respectable in coverage against TEs. And so on.

Tweener packages give the coaches a chance to put deep backups on the field in certain situations, as well as playing them on special teams. If they learn and grow, they get more responsibilities, if they are exceptional tweeners the defense gets tweaked to give them a bigger "tweener" role.

Today's defenses probably run their base defense less than 50%, the rest are packages, some to matchup against offensive formations, some to dictate to the offense (crap, who is the free safety in this formation? Where's my read?).

13 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

I think its more they know he has no shot as a DE now. Hail mary pass

Probably reflects Gannon's preferences for bigger DEs than Schwartz.

34 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I didn't say the Eagles chances were better than Dallas.  I just said that the Eagles had improved and it's not like any other team in the division doesn't have big question marks.  

Didn't say you did. I disagree, I don't see improvement. Every other team doesn’t have as a big or glaring question marks as the Eagles, imo. We'll just agree to disagree. 

Over under on wins for Giants and Eagles is 7. Redskins 8. Cowboys 9.5. Who’s got the Eagles over 7 wins?

Eagles 80:1 odds to win SuperBowl. Bet $125 for a $10k payout? Who’s in on that action?

4 minutes ago, CouchKing said:

Over under on wins for Giants and Eagles is 7. Redskins 8. Cowboys 9.5. Who’s got the Eagles over 7 wins?

Eagles 80:1 odds to win SuperBowl. Bet $125 for a $10k payout? Who’s in on that action?

Degenerate gamblers. 

 

38 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

Why?

a clear answer is valuable even if the answer is that they cant play

Simple. If he doesn’t take a big leap he can’t play. It’s a clear answer whether he takes a snap or not.

 

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2021/adjusted-interceptions-2020

Just now, D-Shiznit said:

 

Let me tell you about the discussions you missed earlier this morning  

My top questions for the 2021 season for which I am hopeful about the answers:

1. Can Smith translate his SEC dominance to the NFL?

2. Can Reagor show us the explosion he had in college and be a dangerous deep threat as the #2 WR?

3.  Can Dillard/Mailata prove that was are set at OL and be the bookends of the future?

4.  Can Milton Williams play to his unique talent, be a pass rushing presence, and show that he is a young building block on a DL desperately in need of a young puzzle piece?

5.  Can another WR (Watkins, I’m looking at you) step up and earn a disruptive role as the #3 so we can stop overusing Ward?

6.  While there will be a rough road ahead in the immediate future, can we find some long-term pieces out of our unique melting pot of UDFA LBs, DEs turned LBs, safeties turned LBs, and athletic LBs still learning to play football?

 

Key questions to which I am not hopeful about the answers:

1. Can Jalen Hurts be a high end passer in the NFL?

2. Can the vets on our OL stay healthy?

3. Will a young player in our secondary step up as a long term piece to the puzzle?

4. Can Howie be fired?

Eagles will be 7-10 and finish 3rd in the NFCE.  Who will be behind them?  Probably the Giants, possibly WFT if Fitz fizzles, and yes — possibly even DAL.  Dak played every game in 2019, led the NFL in passing, and they still finished 8-8.   Dak being back doesn’t move the needle for them as much as some think.

From a personnel standpoint I’m not sure the Eagles have improved, although I do think there’s an uptick in culture being rid of Jeffery, Desean, and Peters.