EMB Blog: 2021 Offseason

[bpac55]

11 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

You can’t make Bradberry sign here. It’s not that simple. And Cephus is a JAG. Who cares?

I know that but we also don't know if the Eagles would have tried to sign him had they not traded for Slay and gave him $50 million.

If Cephus is JAG then so are Hightower, Watkins and JJAW.

Cephus was taken 2 spots ahead of Hightower and doubled his production as well as having 2 TDs to Hightower's 0.  350 yards and 2 Tds as a rookie 5th round pick is tremendous value.  

Let me take that one step further.  Cephus played 13 games while Jalen Reagor played 11.  While Reagor had 10 more catches, Cephus averaged 5 yards more per catch at 17.5

Reagor- 31 catches 396 yards 1 TD

Cephus- 20 catches 349 yards 2 TD

If Cephus is JAG, what does that say about Reagor?

9 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Let’s be honest, if Howie drafted a safety who was coming off a torn ACL in round 3, people would have crushed him. 

Howie just drafted a G/C who coming off his 2nd torn ACL and never finished a college season healthy....in the 2nd round.

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

15 minutes ago, Utebird said:

If Maddox didn't go to Pitt I think fans would be more realistic about what he is, which is an oft injured not very good corner 

Pitt isn't anywhere close to being a "local" team around here. No one really gives a damn about Pitt players.

[Desertbirds]

I have not been this apathetic about the start of a new Eagles season in years.

[Iggles_Phan]

12 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Let’s be honest, if Howie drafted a safety who was coming off a torn ACL in round 3, people would have crushed him. 

Better than a CB in Round 2 coming off an Achilles.   Or a Center/Guard at the top of Round 2 coming off an ACL, and an injury history longer than most 10 year NFL veterans.

[Iggles_Phan]

11 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Pitt isn't anywhere close to being a "local" team around here. No one really gives a damn about Pitt players.

On the contrary, there used to be a very big rivalry between Pitt and PSU... and PSU isn't even 'local' to Philly. 

Rutgers and Maryland are actually much more 'local' (by miles) than either Pitt or PSU...

and University of Virginia is actually closer than Pitt.   West Virginia University is basically as 'local' as Pitt is to Philly.

[Swoop]

12 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

I know that but we also don't know if the Eagles would have tried to sign him had they not traded for Slay and gave him $50 million.

If Cephus is JAG then so are Hightower, Watkins and JJAW.

Cephus was taken 2 spots ahead of Hightower and doubled his production as well as having 2 TDs to Hightower's 0.  350 yards and 2 Tds as a rookie 5th round pick is tremendous value.  

Let me take that one step further.  Cephus played 13 games while Jalen Reagor played 11.  While Reagor had 10 more catches, Cephus averaged 5 yards more per catch at 17.5

Reagor- 31 catches 396 yards 1 TD

Cephus- 20 catches 349 yards 2 TD

If Cephus is JAG, what does that say about Reagor?

Reagor sucks.

[Utebird]

https://247sports.com/college/kansas/Article/Shak-Taylor-hoping-KU-football-pro-day-helps-with-NFL-Draft-130761083/

maybe there is something to this guy, he's listed a 6ft at his pro day was 5'11 and a half but has long arms, 

He ran and jumped well and had a good senior season then went undrafted then played 5 games for colts under gannon.

He'll have a chance in camp to compete for CB2 as of right now there's not much ahead of him.

Guess we'll see.

[greend]

12 minutes ago, Desertbirds said:

I have not been this apathetic about the start of a new Eagles season in years.

I agree, but for me 1 little change at a certain position and I could get semi excited about it.

[Guest justrelax]

11 hours ago, Vortex said:

Brine chicken. It’s lame without it

Marinades must contain an acid like lime juice or lemon juice to allow the seasoning in the marinade to impact the fibers of the meat. Even then it’s only superficial unless injected. 

Brining poultry can mean a couple of things. Traditional brines - salt and water - do two things: they oversalt the bird and they add water, which has no intrinsic taste. You think it's juicier but it's not; it just has added water. And all that salt makes the pan drippings unusable. Your gravy thus is over salted or store-bought. Another thing: the brine does not penetrate the skin and when you remove the bird from the brine and pat it dry (which you better do or the skin won't get crispy) all the salt and flavors just fall away. You and @BigEFly inject, which is more effective but you're still oversalting and adding water, not flavor.- At least you're getting past the skin.

Dry brining, OTOH, is quite useful and, as I mentioned in my post, I put it under the skin. It's barely a brine at all, really just seasoning.. Most people would call it a rub. I do not use an acid.

The one concession I make to brining is for fried chicken, which I soak in buttermilk (buttermilk is an acid). This does impart flavor as the skin is not washed and patted dry after brining but instead is dipped in an egg wash and rolled in seasoned panko breadcrumbs before frying.

[Iggles_Phan]

Just now, greend said:

I agree, but for me 1 little change at a certain position and I could get semi excited about it.

Yup.   Fresh eyes, fresh vision, new direction... 

[austinfan]

46 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Good for them.   They weren't first round QBs anyway.  

But, if you are settled at QB, you don't look to move up to #2 to grab a QB.   They aren't settled at QB by a long shot.   Hurts will get his opportunity and the issue will likely be settled as a result of this season... one way or the other.

You are never settled unless you have a pro bowl caliber player under contract in his prime years.

There's a reason it's called the "Not For Long" league.

So a good GM is always kicking the tires, seeing if there's a bargain to be made.

I think they like Hurts, I doubt they're "sold" on Hurts. He'll get his shot but I'm sure Howie is looking at alternatives if plan A doesn't work out.

The good thing is he isn't making panic moves.

[Iggles_Phan]

1 minute ago, austinfan said:

You are never settled unless you have a pro bowl caliber player under contract in his prime years.

There's a reason it's called the "Not For Long" league.

So a good GM is always kicking the tires, seeing if there's a bargain to be made.

I think they like Hurts, I doubt they're "sold" on Hurts. He'll get his shot but I'm sure Howie is looking at alternatives if plan A doesn't work out.

The good thing is he isn't making panic moves.

Howie hasn't really been about panic moves until recently, but has always been about splash moves.  

 

Hurts is hardly a plan 'A'.  If he was a plan A, he'd have been a first round pick.  He was sitting there in round 2, because no team, including the Eagles, saw him as a plan A.

[Desertbirds]

18 minutes ago, greend said:

I agree, but for me 1 little change at a certain position and I could get semi excited about it.

QB or GM?

[austinfan]

1 hour ago, bpac55 said:

I know, I'm just being a grump as of late with some of this stuff.  It's the spin machine in full force.  The Eagles aren't practicing, instead they're learning...this is a good thing we're told!

ManuManu is lining up at CB2 next year but don't worry, they traded for ANOTHER slot corner! 

To make matters worse, the NFCE not only has loaded offensive weapons but every NFCE team addressed CB better than the Eagles this year and every one of them was already in a better position than the Eagles to start.

Dallas needed a CB and took Kelvin Joseph in the 2nd, Nahshon Wright in the 3rd and Israel Mukuamu in the 6th.  Joseph some concerns but I think a lot of us were OK with drafting him in our mock drafts leading up to it.  He's a day 1 starter.  Mukuamu is versatile and very solid addition.

Washington added the top CB in FA in William Jackson and just recently signed Bobby McCain, a safety who would have been a starter here the minute he signed his contract.  In the draft they added Benjamin St-Juste who would be CB2 here and Darrick Forrest at safety, another player who would be in line to potentially start here.

NYG added Adoree Jackson in FA to an already loaded defensive backfield.  They then added Aaron Robinson in round 3, thanks to our trade back and Rodarius Williams in round 6.  Robinson was a player many thought would be a great fit here.

The Eagles added Zech McPherson in the 4th, traded for Josiah Scott, signed Andrew Adams and Anthony Harris at safety.  Harris is a nice piece but it's hard to get excited about a soon to be 30 year old safety who's coming off a 0 INT season. 

If you look at my one post yesterday which shows the entire Eagles defensive backfield and the investment made it's just sad.  Outside of Slay, who was a 2nd round pick, our entire secondary is a few 4th rounders and 6th rounders with 10 UDFA.  Scott may very well be a ST/CB4 but in the grand scheme of things it just continues the trend of taking minimal action to address CB/S.

Eagles only had so many draft picks, Williams to me at #73 was the BPA compared to any CB available, he may not work out, but he has a high upside as a pass rushing DT, which will do more for your pass defense than any second tier marginal starting CB.

We don't know how Gannon feels about the CBs on the roster, given that he was a DB coach before he became a DC, you'd think he'd have a sense of who might fit what he wants to do, though I think this year will be auditions, next year they go fill the remaining holes on defense.

Indy secondary last season: 

Rhodes (rehab project), Ya-Sin (#34), Moore (UDFA), Willis S (#109), Blackmon S (#89), TJ Carrie (#219), Smith (SFA, #196 KC), Rodgers (#211), T Wilson S (30), Odum S (UDFA).

Gee, doesn't that look familiar?

[greend]

1 minute ago, Desertbirds said:

QB or GM?

Okay

[austinfan]

10 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Howie hasn't really been about panic moves until recently, but has always been about splash moves. 

Hurts is hardly a plan 'A'.  If he was a plan A, he'd have been a first round pick.  He was sitting there in round 2, because no team, including the Eagles, saw him as a plan A.

Once a player is drafted, his draft position should be irrelevant, or the Eagles should have replaced Kelce a long time ago.

Eagles should be comparing Hurts, the player they've had for a year with other options, not Hurts the 2019 draft pick.

[BigEFly]

1 hour ago, austinfan said:

Repeat after me, Kenny Moore. Who was the DB coach for Indy?

My suspicion is Gannon looked at film on Maddox, decided he was too soft for that role, and gave Howie a list of potential acquisitions who might be better fits.

Indy used Moore like a 3rd safety as much as a nickel CB.

https://horseshoeheroes.com/2020/12/16/colts-kenny-moore-former-patriots-undrafted-free-agent/

https://www.stampedeblue.com/2020/6/30/21307358/film-room-kenny-moore-ii-is-the-perfect-star-cb-for-this-colts-team

https://www.pff.com/news/pro-kenny-moores-read-and-react-ability-earns-multi-year-extension-with-the-colts

I'd point out that Maddox played outside in college, and has played FS and outside CB here, he may not be suited to how Gannon uses his NB.

Repeat after me, K’von Wallace.  Clemson played him in the slot some.  He is best as a strong S.  Has nickel skills. I think he thrives under Gannon.  I think we see more nickel S than slot CB.  So it is interesting they grabbed a CB with S like skills.  

[E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles]

34 minutes ago, Desertbirds said:

I have not been this apathetic about the start of a new Eagles season in years.

I'm going in assuming that any excitement here will be long gone by mid-October and we will be in groundhog day grumbling about Hurts' ability (or lack thereof), when to start tanking, why Howie is still here, and why Sirianni is the HC....all while we make a strong push for 5 wins.

[bpac55]

11 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Eagles only had so many draft picks, Williams to me at #73 was the BPA compared to any CB available, he may not work out, but he has a high upside as a pass rushing DT, which will do more for your pass defense than any second tier marginal starting CB.

We don't know how Gannon feels about the CBs on the roster, given that he was a DB coach before he became a DC, you'd think he'd have a sense of who might fit what he wants to do, though I think this year will be auditions, next year they go fill the remaining holes on defense.

Indy secondary last season: 

Rhodes (rehab project), Ya-Sin (#34), Moore (UDFA), Willis S (#109), Blackmon S (#89), TJ Carrie (#219), Smith (SFA, #196 KC), Rodgers (#211), T Wilson S (30), Odum S (UDFA).

Gee, doesn't that look familiar?

And the Colts pass defense was basically middle of the road.  Sorry, I want better than that.

[Utebird]

25 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Eagles only had so many draft picks, Williams to me at #73 was the BPA compared to any CB available, he may not work out, but he has a high upside as a pass rushing DT, which will do more for your pass defense than any second tier marginal starting CB.

We don't know how Gannon feels about the CBs on the roster, given that he was a DB coach before he became a DC, you'd think he'd have a sense of who might fit what he wants to do, though I think this year will be auditions, next year they go fill the remaining holes on defense.

Indy secondary last season: 

Rhodes (rehab project), Ya-Sin (#34), Moore (UDFA), Willis S (#109), Blackmon S (#89), TJ Carrie (#219), Smith (SFA, #196 KC), Rodgers (#211), T Wilson S (30), Odum S (UDFA).

Gee, doesn't that look familiar?

I'm going to maintain what I said pre draft 

Corner is an over rated position, 2017 eagles had the least amount of money allocated to CB.

Mills was a 7th rounder, Robinson a FA who was almost cut in camp making vet minimum 

Darby was a 2nd round pick on his rookie contract that was traded for.

Douglas was a rookie 3rd rounder.

Meanwhile McLeod and Jenkins were in the upper echelon salary for safeties.

One doesn't need elite corners to win the super bowl.

KC won with pretty mediocre corners

None of Tampa bay's starting corners were 1st rounders or big ticket FAs, and they were helped immensely by a fierce pass rush and one of the top cover lbs in the league.

Having said that I'd like to see the eagles put a little more towards CB2 than they have.

[WentzFan11]

 

Disrespecting DeSean. 

[TorontoEagle]

12 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

And the Colts pass defense was basically middle of the road.  Sorry, I want better than that.

Are you sure you wouldn't be happier cheering for the Cowboys/Giants/Team? You seem to really fawn over their roster building, yet you constantly ignore the fact that their on field results are actually putrid. 

Not to say the Eagles don't have issues, we certainly do, but I cannot for the life of me understand this obsession you have with the other NFC East teams and how they're run. For the better part of 30 years now they've been mostly horrible, with the Giants being an exception. 

[TorontoEagle]

Just now, WentzFan11 said:

 

Disrespecting DeSean. 

Not really. Desean was a great player, absolutely. Hill already has 3 seasons that eclipse Desean's best season. I think Hill is a far better WR than Desean was, actually. 

[Iggles_Phan]

23 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Once a player is drafted, his draft position should be irrelevant, or the Eagles should have replaced Kelce a long time ago.

Eagles should be comparing Hurts, the player they've had for a year with other options, not Hurts the 2019 draft pick.

Of course... and the new coaching staff on offense hasn't had him for a year.   And when they look at the film, they will likely see what a lot of others saw.  A player that opposing DCs were able to shut down completely in the second half.

[ManuManu]

1 hour ago, bpac55 said:

I know that but we also don't know if the Eagles would have tried to sign him had they not traded for Slay and gave him $50 million.

If Cephus is JAG then so are Hightower, Watkins and JJAW.

Cephus was taken 2 spots ahead of Hightower and doubled his production as well as having 2 TDs to Hightower's 0.  350 yards and 2 Tds as a rookie 5th round pick is tremendous value.  

Let me take that one step further.  Cephus played 13 games while Jalen Reagor played 11.  While Reagor had 10 more catches, Cephus averaged 5 yards more per catch at 17.5

Reagor- 31 catches 396 yards 1 TD

Cephus- 20 catches 349 yards 2 TD

If Cephus is JAG, what does that say about Reagor?

Howie just drafted a G/C who coming off his 2nd torn ACL and never finished a college season healthy....in the 2nd round.

Oh cripes. Box score scouting. Who is saying Hightower or Watkins aren’t JAGs too?

How much did Howie get killed in here for drafting Dickerson?