State of the Roster: Which Players Do You Consider to be "Building Blocks"

[eagle45]

First, define building block.  

Someone who is young, talented, and hopefully projects to being good one day...but really isn't yet?  Reagor, Mailata (both premium positions).

Someone who is a good starter and is young? Sanders, Goedert (neither plays a premium position, neither with much time left on rookie deals).

Someone who you want to build around as a reason your team will be a perennial contender?  No one.

 

[Captain F]

I have been thinking about this.  We have garbage for building blocks right now.  However,  if Howie didn't Howie, our building blocks SHOULD BE.....

Alejandro Villanueva

DK Metcalf 

And...... Carson Wentz

But no.  They got rid of Villanuva which added to the beatings that Wentz took,  while also not taking Metcalf , which Wentz could have been throwing to.  

[wyote]

1 hour ago, What The F said:

I have been thinking about this.  We have garbage for building blocks right now.  However,  if Howie didn't Howie, our building blocks SHOULD BE.....

Alejandro Villanueva

DK Metcalf 

And...... Carson Wentz

But no.  They got rid of Villanuva which added to the beatings that Wentz took,  while also not taking Metcalf , which Wentz could have been throwing to.  

They could've drafted Tom Brady. 

But no. 

[Infam]

5 hours ago, eagle45 said:

Hurts and Reagor qualify as studs?  Amazing

It's not official yet. But I know they will rock.

[Bwestbrook36]

3 hours ago, What The F said:

They got rid of Villanuva which added to the beatings that Wentz took

Kind of difficult to protect Wentz playing defensive end.. 

[Random Reglar]

On 2/25/2021 at 9:03 AM, Swoop said:

Not sure I'd call any player on this team a "building block".

Mailata perhaps, depending how he progresses.

I like Mailata for the rugby and the 6'8 350 pounds.

He could be the starting Left Tackle this year.  In theory the Eagles could draft a Left Tackle in the 4th round and he'd be a good Left Tackle for years.  The Eagles had Villanueva in camp as a DL.  Udfa.  The Steelers got him after the Eagles cut him and he's had 5 straight years of PFFs in the 75-80 range.  Mailata was a 7th rounder. 

I'd want to see everything that Mailata could possibly do.  There are things that he can do, hypothetically, that no one else can.   His rugby background has nothing to do with what the Eagles have him doing now.  But he's a great athlete, with excellent size for the Left Tackle position.  But he also has excellent size for pretty much any of the oline positions,  for the dline positions, and for blocking TE or FB.  His background in rugby, professional rugby,  includes a lot of running,  like a running back might do or a fullback,  or even a quarterback,  if you wanted to do some innovations with that quarterback part of the field,  right behind the line.  Pretty much anywhere except coverage is a position that Mailata could be    That's how I see him.  Someone who should be signed as quickly as possible, and as much piled on his back as soon as possible.   It's possible he becomes a Fridge like star,  except with more just pure domination.  It's definitely possible he doesn't,  but he's shown enough to be a swing tackle, without really improving at all from here, and a possible starting LT with improvement.  But I want to see where else he could be truly dominant.   There's a good chance he could be a NT who gets double teamed yet can block passes.  And that QB stuff,  Mailata goes into motion, stops under the center and runs behind him.   It's not clear,  lacking evidence,  how well that would work, but I'd want to see all those things, and if they don't work, or aren't providing enough value,  move him to LT or swing tackle or another place on the oline.  

He's definitely a building block I'd say,  in a number of potentially different ways.

You have Hurts there, standing where he usually does, let's say shotgun,  Mailata goes in motion, perhaps he's normally lined up  behind and to the right or the RT or back left of LT,  he goes in motion from one side to the other.  Sometimes he stops under center, sometime he might stop under guard.  Perhaps he sets the edge, perhaps he helps double team an OL,  perhaps he chips an OL (probably more effectively than a TE or FB weighing 100 pounds less, and out for a short route,.  Perhaps he's in the backfield as a pass protector or outlet receiver.    You really don't know exactly how hard it would be to tackle him.  The rugby players on the youtube seem to have difficulty with that.  Determine his specific attributes regarding his running.  Perhaps it's somewhat easy to stop him, but difficult to tackle him.  You can see on the youtube plenty of plays where Mailata pitches the ball to another player,  when he's being tackled,  not too different from when a QB does the triple option and pitches.  In fact, try Mailata running the triple option.  He runs and pitches and catches pitches as a rugby player.   he can drag players 10 yards then pitch to Hurts.  who runs for another 10+ yards.  When you get the ball into the hands of a player who is competent to pitch,  and who is impossible to bring down by a single player,  you have a numbers advantage.  You have 1)  Mailata  2) some number,  like 2,3,4 players trying to tackle Mailata,   which means that you could have 9 blockers and 1 ball carrier ready to take a pitch,  and they would have 7,8,9 trying to tackle your 1, with 9 blockers.    Hat on a hat and whatever.     There's potentially quite a lot you could do with him, and he could be a well known star doing this various stuff, sell a lot of jerseys, that kind of thing. 

 

[Bwestbrook36]

Christ sakes stop with the use mailata to run the ball blah blah. He isn't going to be a freaking running back or run triple options. 

[Random Reglar]

11 hours ago, What The F said:

I have been thinking about this.  We have garbage for building blocks right now.  However,  if Howie didn't Howie, our building blocks SHOULD BE.....

Alejandro Villanueva

DK Metcalf 

And...... Carson Wentz

But no.  They got rid of Villanuva which added to the beatings that Wentz took,  while also not taking Metcalf , which Wentz could have been throwing to.  

Well, the Eagles had Villanueva as a DL,  so if they kept him him, he wouldn't have been preventing Wentz from getting sacked.   Villanueva was a Wide Receiver at Army.    So it really wasn't clear which position he was going to play after he was in the military.    Steelers concluded LT.  Swing tackle  + blocking TE would've worked.  6'9 320. 

[jsb235]

I am curious to know what people think of the other teams in the division. How many building blocks does Dallas, WFT and the Giants have compared to us?

I have us at around 5, and the other three teams at 7 or 8. So we are behind them, but not appreciably.   

[Random Reglar]

30 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Christ sakes stop with the use mailata to run the ball blah blah. He isn't going to be a freaking running back or run triple options. 

Probably not,   but what I'm doing is offering possibilities for innovations.   You're right, this is the NFL, and generally, the NFL, overall, isn't trying  to expand the number and types of plays and increase the roles and functions of specific players.  Yet, I still want that.  The NFL isn't pushing it, yet I still want it,  it's not going to naturally appear without some push from somewhere. 

Listen, I'm new here,  I come here because I'm interested in these running QBs the Eagles have, the possibility that the Eagles might try to rival the Ravens for best running team, and try to build ultimate run first offense with running QBs, and other interesting innovation pieces like Mailata.   But just because I'm new here doesn't mean that I haven't been typing versions of the same story with slightly different players,  running QBs,  innovation pieces,  high sparq players, outlier sizes like giants,  with versatility in their backgrounds.   That's what I want to see.  I've been typing things like "well this might sound weird to you, but I think Logan Thomas should be converted to a TE,  and then he gets picked up as a QB again,  and then he's converted to a TE about a year later."  and "I think Taysom Hill has the size and speed and overall sparq to play all the positions, including special teams."  And then the team I wanted to draft him didn't , the Packers got him as udfa,  cut him and then the Saints got him and started using him as special teams.   So,  I'm used to saying stuff that some people say is crazy and have it come true eventually, often with a lot of similarities.   I was over at the Ravens board telling them to get Tyree and Khalil for the run first offense with the running QBs.  And they didn't.  But the Eagles did, and that's pretty much why I'm here.  The Eagles have a lot of pieces in place to build a  pretty dynamic offense with a lot of running QBs playing a diverse assortment of positions,  adding the ability to throw.    It really isn't all that different from single wing days when you really wouldn't be sure who the snap would go to.   The Tailback typically took the snap, but it was not at all uncommon for the Fullback to take the snap, and if you look at a box score of a game,  you'll see multiple players with runs, catches and passes,   And back then, all players played both ways.  If you have a massive giant, bigger than anyone else, and fast,  he'd be playing on both sides of the ball, and he'd be dominating on both.   QB Taysom Hill can be a RB, WR, TE, FB.  I don't see that Mailata can't do something similar.    I'm not betting this is going to happen.   The Eagles did have success with Greg Ward Jr, and I guess it's too soon to tell about Tyree and Khalil,  so it's not unusual to think players can have positional versatility.   It's not really all that uncommon to see a FB come from a DT, the Ravens pro bowl FB,  Patrick Ricard, was a DT and only a DT until he came to the Ravens.  The Ravens have had him carry the ball, with no experience at it, except the expectation that a 6'4 300 pound FB might be an effective runner.  And we all know how common it is for Offensive Lineman to be on the field as a 6th OL, typically as a blocking TE, but sometimes in the backfield, so it wouldn't be unorthodox at all to use Olineman Mailata as a 6th OL / TE.  And it's not unorthodox for that 6th OL / TE / Tackle to catch passes.  It's usually commented upon  but it's not something that people haven't seen.   Using an ol or dl as a runner is less common, and giving him a wide variety of work, making him a big part of the offense is unusual.  But look at Ricard.  The Ravens run game is certainly improved by having Ricard in there doing mostly blocking.  But he catches passes as well.   If Mailata was to do what Ricard has done,  what Mailata would be doing would be closer to his own professional rugby experience than Ricard to his DT experience in college.  It a bigger stretch to go from DT to FB than from Rugby/OL to FB.    We don't really have extensive video of Ricard, pre Ravens doing anything like running the ball, pitching or catching,  but we have lots of that footage of Mailata doing those things in rugby.   I'm not going out and saying that I think the Eagles will actually do that,  but I'm coming up with the ideas about the potential versatility of certain players and talking about that.  I will be doing this a lot.  Expect to hear about what high sparq DEs did in high school.  Genard Avery was a running back in high school, scored 5 TDs.  There are a good number of players who have good combine / pro day numbers and positional versatility.     I tend to talk about them.  I haven't gone through systematically and picked out all the players who did something different in high school or played basketball.  Could happen though.

[QBhunter58]

 

1 hour ago, Random Reglar said:

Probably not,   but what I'm doing is offering possibilities for innovations.   You're right, this is the NFL, and generally, the NFL, overall, isn't trying  to expand the number and types of plays and increase the roles and functions of specific players.  Yet, I still want that.  The NFL isn't pushing it, yet I still want it,  it's not going to naturally appear without some push from somewhere. 
 

I appreciate your passion, you keep doing you and dont let anyone tell you different. Who knows, for every 50 crazy ideas you throw at the wall one might hit. I have personally always wanted to see designed lateral plays used sparingly (imagine a receiver catches the ball downfield and then laterals it by design to another skill player who may even be crossing in a totally different direction). However, please understand that I will be taking a "skimming to understand" approach to your posts. Also, to me Mailata is hopefully the future at tackle for this team, period. No need to get gimmicky. But feel free to keep the discourse alive for however long you stay here, I welcome all perspectives. 

[dsryan24]

Honestly right now not much is solidified.

Sanders and Goedert will want extensions after this year, they are definite building blocks.  

QB- Hurts?

RB- Sanders

WR- Reagor, Fulgham?

TE- Goedert

OL- Mailata, Seumalo, Driscoll

DL- Sweat, Barnett?, Hargrave?

LB- Singleton, Edwards?

CB- NONE

FS- NONE

SS- NONE

[Random Reglar]

24 minutes ago, QBhunter58 said:

 

I appreciate your passion, you keep doing you and dont let anyone tell you different. Who knows, for every 50 crazy ideas you throw at the wall one might hit. I have personally always wanted to see designed lateral plays used sparingly (imagine a receiver catches the ball downfield and then laterals it by design to another skill player who may even be crossing in a totally different direction). However, please understand that I will be taking a "skimming to understand" approach to your posts. Also, to me Mailata is hopefully the future at tackle for this team, period. No need to get gimmicky. But feel free to keep the discourse alive for however long you stay here, I welcome all perspectives. 

No, I don't know what I said in each post,  but in one of the posts I pointed out that my hit rate is amazingly good.  

I come up with convert Logan Thomas to TE in 2015.  And on and off practice squads,  and years, and he's catching 72 passes with Washington.  I don't want to type the same thing again.

If you come up with a million ideas that are each 1 in a million,  you'd expect to hit on 1.  But if you come up with 10, and 7 hit,  that's much different. 

I'm used to my crazy stuff coming true.  That's why I act this way. 

Like with Mailata.  I'm pretty confident that Mailata could do dominant stuff at a lot of different positions.   I'm not predicting that will happen,  just that, because I've gotten so much right, I'm confident that it would go well, to a greater or lesser degree.   Not that it will happen, but that it would work.  I was talking about Greg Ward plenty, not here, but on the list of good running QBs in college to get,  and then players to lift off the Eagles practice squad back in 2017 or 2018 or whatever the case was.  Ward was available to everyone for quite some time.  The Eagles had Braxton Miller for a bit too, the Eagles are one of the teams that work on conversions and innovation more than most. 

Regarding laterals,  it seems like back in the old days they were just chucking it around without a care.  Much of the the 1930s era NFL was actually not all that great.  The players weren't particularly good at football.  The ball was rounder and harder to throw.   Pockets didn't come around all that soon,  A lot of backpedaling involved and QBs jumping.   But they did like laterals,  it seems like the normal offense was not quite potent enough to score a lot of points,  so laterals, defense would do laterals on Ints.   The way I see laterals working,  one way,  is the give and go, like basketball.   Hurts runs right a bit,  Mailata at Right Tight End,  chip blocks and runs a very short and easy route, and starts to run roughly toward the pylon.  Defense converges,   Hurts runs up the sideline,  same sideline Mailata is running toward,  and Mailata throws backward a bit, toward Hurts running up the sideline.  If it's a bad pitch,  it's bad, it's a fumble,  but no loss of possession for throwing the ball out of bounds.  It's a bit like speed option,  but instead of A running up and then throwing back to B, it's A passing up to B, B running, and B throwing back to A.   

But yours would work.   Certainly.   You could design any number of different routes for the pitchman to take.  You could take the running QBs,  players who spent a certain amount of time pitching, and have them work together,  quick pitching and catching, so that they're good at it.  You could draw up plays or just have guidelines,  general rule to throw to the sidelines unless theres a specific route being run.

About Mailata,  what about Dillard?  Theoretically, he should be good,   Had a good sparq and was the top OT that year.  You would want him to be good.  Spent a 1st,   good high sparq,  go be that guy.  I'm not suggesting that Mailata might be now or might be soon, flat out better.  However,  he's 350 pounds,  and what they might say about 350 pound OTs is something like "lacks the lateral quickness to take on the fastest speed rushers."   I don't know if that's true or not,   but you would expect people to say that about 350 pound LTs.  Then they might say "might have to kick inside to guard" or "right tackle only".     I don't doubt that he would be a good LT, RT or IOL but to me that's wasting potentially special talents. 

If they would do this stuff, it really won't take long to figure out if it's worth it to keep Mailata off the starting oline, and have him as something close to Ricard.   So there really aren't big opportunity costs.  "oops,  Mailata wasn't as dominant as short yardage rusher as we thought, not as capable of taking the snap, jumping forward over the Center, sticking his arms out to get a yard"   No harm no foul,  he continues to do what he was doing.

There are still innovative ways to use Mailata even if he's one of the 7 oliners,    2 who are allowed to catch forward passes.    Put Mailata in at LT.  Then, sometimes,  put Dillard in at LT, and push Mailata to LE.  Then you have 6 OL.  Well, that's somewhat normal,  you might do that in a run situation, and you could use 6 in pass protection.   You could also pull one of the oliners.   Oliners can run and throw and catch laterals,  can't catch forward passes., that's about it.  You could even put a QB, like Tyree Jackson at LT.  Mailata just moves a little bit to the left,  Tyree gets in there, and then pulls down behind Hurts.  Tyree then becomes a QB,  Hurts becomes a WR, and Mailata, having moved from LT to LTE, also becomes a WR.  you get the idea.

There are

[time2rock]

3 hours ago, Random Reglar said:

Probably not,   but what I'm doing is offering possibilities for innovations.   You're right, this is the NFL, and generally, the NFL, overall, isn't trying  to expand the number and types of plays and increase the roles and functions of specific players.  Yet, I still want that.  The NFL isn't pushing it, yet I still want it,  it's not going to naturally appear without some push from somewhere. 

Listen, I'm new here,  I come here because I'm interested in these running QBs the Eagles have, the possibility that the Eagles might try to rival the Ravens for best running team, and try to build ultimate run first offense with running QBs, and other interesting innovation pieces like Mailata.   But just because I'm new here doesn't mean that I haven't been typing versions of the same story with slightly different players,  running QBs,  innovation pieces,  high sparq players, outlier sizes like giants,  with versatility in their backgrounds.   That's what I want to see.  I've been typing things like "well this might sound weird to you, but I think Logan Thomas should be converted to a TE,  and then he gets picked up as a QB again,  and then he's converted to a TE about a year later."  and "I think Taysom Hill has the size and speed and overall sparq to play all the positions, including special teams."  And then the team I wanted to draft him didn't , the Packers got him as udfa,  cut him and then the Saints got him and started using him as special teams.   So,  I'm used to saying stuff that some people say is crazy and have it come true eventually, often with a lot of similarities.   I was over at the Ravens board telling them to get Tyree and Khalil for the run first offense with the running QBs.  And they didn't.  But the Eagles did, and that's pretty much why I'm here.  The Eagles have a lot of pieces in place to build a  pretty dynamic offense with a lot of running QBs playing a diverse assortment of positions,  adding the ability to throw.    It really isn't all that different from single wing days when you really wouldn't be sure who the snap would go to.   The Tailback typically took the snap, but it was not at all uncommon for the Fullback to take the snap, and if you look at a box score of a game,  you'll see multiple players with runs, catches and passes,   And back then, all players played both ways.  If you have a massive giant, bigger than anyone else, and fast,  he'd be playing on both sides of the ball, and he'd be dominating on both.   QB Taysom Hill can be a RB, WR, TE, FB.  I don't see that Mailata can't do something similar.    I'm not betting this is going to happen.   The Eagles did have success with Greg Ward Jr, and I guess it's too soon to tell about Tyree and Khalil,  so it's not unusual to think players can have positional versatility.   It's not really all that uncommon to see a FB come from a DT, the Ravens pro bowl FB,  Patrick Ricard, was a DT and only a DT until he came to the Ravens.  The Ravens have had him carry the ball, with no experience at it, except the expectation that a 6'4 300 pound FB might be an effective runner.  And we all know how common it is for Offensive Lineman to be on the field as a 6th OL, typically as a blocking TE, but sometimes in the backfield, so it wouldn't be unorthodox at all to use Olineman Mailata as a 6th OL / TE.  And it's not unorthodox for that 6th OL / TE / Tackle to catch passes.  It's usually commented upon  but it's not something that people haven't seen.   Using an ol or dl as a runner is less common, and giving him a wide variety of work, making him a big part of the offense is unusual.  But look at Ricard.  The Ravens run game is certainly improved by having Ricard in there doing mostly blocking.  But he catches passes as well.   If Mailata was to do what Ricard has done,  what Mailata would be doing would be closer to his own professional rugby experience than Ricard to his DT experience in college.  It a bigger stretch to go from DT to FB than from Rugby/OL to FB.    We don't really have extensive video of Ricard, pre Ravens doing anything like running the ball, pitching or catching,  but we have lots of that footage of Mailata doing those things in rugby.   I'm not going out and saying that I think the Eagles will actually do that,  but I'm coming up with the ideas about the potential versatility of certain players and talking about that.  I will be doing this a lot.  Expect to hear about what high sparq DEs did in high school.  Genard Avery was a running back in high school, scored 5 TDs.  There are a good number of players who have good combine / pro day numbers and positional versatility.     I tend to talk about them.  I haven't gone through systematically and picked out all the players who did something different in high school or played basketball.  Could happen though.

Holy wall of text Batman!  

 

[Bwestbrook36]

33 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Holy wall of text Batman!  

 

I might actually have to ignore someone because I can't stand the long post anymore lol. Also almost all of the posts have running QBs in there somewhere . 

[QBhunter58]

2 hours ago, Random Reglar said:

No, I don't know what I said in each post,  but in one of the posts I pointed out that my hit rate is amazingly good.  

I come up with convert Logan Thomas to TE in 2015.  And on and off practice squads,  and years, and he's catching 72 passes with Washington.  I don't want to type the same thing again.

If you come up with a million ideas that are each 1 in a million,  you'd expect to hit on 1.  But if you come up with 10, and 7 hit,  that's much different. 

I'm used to my crazy stuff coming true.  That's why I act this way. 

Like with Mailata.  I'm pretty confident that Mailata could do dominant stuff at a lot of different positions.   I'm not predicting that will happen,  just that, because I've gotten so much right, I'm confident that it would go well, to a greater or lesser degree.   Not that it will happen, but that it would work.  I was talking about Greg Ward plenty, not here, but on the list of good running QBs in college to get,  and then players to lift off the Eagles practice squad back in 2017 or 2018 or whatever the case was.  Ward was available to everyone for quite some time.  The Eagles had Braxton Miller for a bit too, the Eagles are one of the teams that work on conversions and innovation more than most. 

Regarding laterals,  it seems like back in the old days they were just chucking it around without a care.  Much of the the 1930s era NFL was actually not all that great.  The players weren't particularly good at football.  The ball was rounder and harder to throw.   Pockets didn't come around all that soon,  A lot of backpedaling involved and QBs jumping.   But they did like laterals,  it seems like the normal offense was not quite potent enough to score a lot of points,  so laterals, defense would do laterals on Ints.   The way I see laterals working,  one way,  is the give and go, like basketball.   Hurts runs right a bit,  Mailata at Right Tight End,  chip blocks and runs a very short and easy route, and starts to run roughly toward the pylon.  Defense converges,   Hurts runs up the sideline,  same sideline Mailata is running toward,  and Mailata throws backward a bit, toward Hurts running up the sideline.  If it's a bad pitch,  it's bad, it's a fumble,  but no loss of possession for throwing the ball out of bounds.  It's a bit like speed option,  but instead of A running up and then throwing back to B, it's A passing up to B, B running, and B throwing back to A.   

But yours would work.   Certainly.   You could design any number of different routes for the pitchman to take.  You could take the running QBs,  players who spent a certain amount of time pitching, and have them work together,  quick pitching and catching, so that they're good at it.  You could draw up plays or just have guidelines,  general rule to throw to the sidelines unless theres a specific route being run.

About Mailata,  what about Dillard?  Theoretically, he should be good,   Had a good sparq and was the top OT that year.  You would want him to be good.  Spent a 1st,   good high sparq,  go be that guy.  I'm not suggesting that Mailata might be now or might be soon, flat out better.  However,  he's 350 pounds,  and what they might say about 350 pound OTs is something like "lacks the lateral quickness to take on the fastest speed rushers."   I don't know if that's true or not,   but you would expect people to say that about 350 pound LTs.  Then they might say "might have to kick inside to guard" or "right tackle only".     I don't doubt that he would be a good LT, RT or IOL but to me that's wasting potentially special talents. 

If they would do this stuff, it really won't take long to figure out if it's worth it to keep Mailata off the starting oline, and have him as something close to Ricard.   So there really aren't big opportunity costs.  "oops,  Mailata wasn't as dominant as short yardage rusher as we thought, not as capable of taking the snap, jumping forward over the Center, sticking his arms out to get a yard"   No harm no foul,  he continues to do what he was doing.

There are still innovative ways to use Mailata even if he's one of the 7 oliners,    2 who are allowed to catch forward passes.    Put Mailata in at LT.  Then, sometimes,  put Dillard in at LT, and push Mailata to LE.  Then you have 6 OL.  Well, that's somewhat normal,  you might do that in a run situation, and you could use 6 in pass protection.   You could also pull one of the oliners.   Oliners can run and throw and catch laterals,  can't catch forward passes., that's about it.  You could even put a QB, like Tyree Jackson at LT.  Mailata just moves a little bit to the left,  Tyree gets in there, and then pulls down behind Hurts.  Tyree then becomes a QB,  Hurts becomes a WR, and Mailata, having moved from LT to LTE, also becomes a WR.  you get the idea.

There are

bro I was trying to give you props but sometimes you are giving yourself waaay to much credit. Every person on the planet knew Logan Thomas was going to be a TE. He was a receiver (TE/WR) early in high school, and everyone projected that he would return to that position to make an NFL roster. He had all the athletic tools to make a nice NFL tight end, he just needed to learn the position at a high level. I am an armchair scout too (many of us here are) and my track record is pretty damn good as well, some in this forum here are really good (its kinda what Eagles fans do, we know football). But we dont let everybody and there brother know about our record, it speaks for itself. You give 2-3 examples of your theories working out and claim that it typically equates to about 7/10 accuracy of you being right. 

Also, you dont project that the Mailata situation will actually happen, but if it did you would be right. That is the ultimate politician answer (no way to disprove it). Mailata ain't playing TE... although short yardage specialist isn't out of the realm of possibility, and would be interesting to see. However, if he proves himself a cornerstone of our O-line he will never line up in any other role, you dont put guys like that at risk for injury. Just because Lane Johson was a QB, doesn't mean he will ever line up behind center 😆

As for the laterals, I really like your idea about the former QBs handling any pitches, it just makes sense. I would much rather have Ward, Tate, or Jackson responsible for a pitch than another receiver. On your last point about Dillard, I was also a fan of him as the pick he projected well athletically and had good film in pass pro. But one thing that doesn't show up on the charts is heart, work ethic, and mentality. I think Dillard will be fine going forward, but the last time I saw him he was missing that edge (he wasn't mean enough, he didn't want it). Last season must have been humbling, it will serve him well. 

I hope you dont feel like I am hating on you, because I really enjoy the discussion. But in the future, maybe break up your ideas into multiple posts. Otherwise the only way we can respond is brief dismissiveness or in lengthy format, point for point (like this post). Whew, done 😉

[EagleJoe8]

2 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I might actually have to ignore someone because I can't stand the long post anymore lol. Also almost all of the posts have running QBs in there somewhere . 

I know nothing about his views. I just see that much text and my eyes glaze over. 

[CheesesteakNBeer]

6 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I might actually have to ignore someone because I can't stand the long post anymore lol. Also almost all of the posts have running QBs in there somewhere . 

My legs fall asleep on the toilet long before i finish reading this guys posts. I just can't anymore.. 

[Random Reglar]

23 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I might actually have to ignore someone because I can't stand the long post anymore lol. Also almost all of the posts have running QBs in there somewhere . 

Well, the Eagles have a running QB.  So,  discussion of running QBs is on point.

[Random Reglar]

21 hours ago, QBhunter58 said:

bro I was trying to give you props but sometimes you are giving yourself waaay to much credit. Every person on the planet knew Logan Thomas was going to be a TE. He was a receiver (TE/WR) early in high school, and everyone projected that he would return to that position to make an NFL roster. He had all the athletic tools to make a nice NFL tight end, he just needed to learn the position at a high level. I am an armchair scout too (many of us here are) and my track record is pretty damn good as well, some in this forum here are really good (its kinda what Eagles fans do, we know football). But we dont let everybody and there brother know about our record, it speaks for itself. You give 2-3 examples of your theories working out and claim that it typically equates to about 7/10 accuracy of you being right. 

Also, you dont project that the Mailata situation will actually happen, but if it did you would be right. That is the ultimate politician answer (no way to disprove it). Mailata ain't playing TE... although short yardage specialist isn't out of the realm of possibility, and would be interesting to see. However, if he proves himself a cornerstone of our O-line he will never line up in any other role, you dont put guys like that at risk for injury. Just because Lane Johson was a QB, doesn't mean he will ever line up behind center 😆

As for the laterals, I really like your idea about the former QBs handling any pitches, it just makes sense. I would much rather have Ward, Tate, or Jackson responsible for a pitch than another receiver. On your last point about Dillard, I was also a fan of him as the pick he projected well athletically and had good film in pass pro. But one thing that doesn't show up on the charts is heart, work ethic, and mentality. I think Dillard will be fine going forward, but the last time I saw him he was missing that edge (he wasn't mean enough, he didn't want it). Last season must have been humbling, it will serve him well. 

I hope you dont feel like I am hating on you, because I really enjoy the discussion. But in the future, maybe break up your ideas into multiple posts. Otherwise the only way we can respond is brief dismissiveness or in lengthy format, point for point (like this post). Whew, done 😉

I'll say this.  I've been over at the SBNation Eagles section.  And then I came over here, recently, after I found this.  And the people on this message board do seem a lot better than the people on the SBNation board.

Were people here posting about how they wanted the Eagles to get Logan Thomas? 

It's one thing to be able to say, after the fact,  that it was obvious that player X would do thing Y,  but usually you don't see people actually typing that stuff out.    On the other hand,  like I've said,  it does seem like the Eagles fans here are, I dunno, smarter, than the Eagles fans on SBNation.   What I've found,  being on a lot of different message boards over the years,  is that most people are simply repeating what is on TV. 

About Mailata.   I can't at all predict what the Eagles are going to do regarding Mailata and putting him at a position outside of Oline.  The NFL, overall, is not at all innovative.  So, the likelihood of innovation with the average NFL team is pretty low.  On the other hand, the Eagles are a team that does more than the aver
age amount of innovation.  Greg Ward was successful.  And they have more in the pipeline.    There isn't a way to disprove it, yeah, but I wouldn't call that a politician answer.  What can I do?   Oh, and about Lane,  I'd say that his age might prevent him from being used in innovative ways,  I'd ordinarily say yes to using Lane innovatively.  I'm not sure why a 300+ pound guy is in greater danger of injury playing a skill position instead of oline.   Oliners do get hurt playing oline.     I know that JJ Watt caught TD passes despite being a DE. 

I do agree that if Mailata is the starting LT or RT, it's more likely they'll just keep him doing that.  At this point,  you'd think that Dillard would naturally be the starting LT and Lane the starting RT,  which frees up Mailata to do a bunch of different things.

About laterals,  leaving aside the thing about throwing to Mailata and him pitching back to the QB,  what seems somewhat standard is   Ward, Tate or Jackson taking a pitch/lateral from Hurts, then run outside,  but also possibly throwing.  What I'm liking about Hurts is that he seems to do that,  run right, throw or run.  Ward Tate or Jackson could do something similar.  It's not extremely creative or innovative.    Watching the Florida Gators, there's a lot of good stuff there.  A lot of good stuff with Toney.

About Dillard,  I don't know.  I'm thinking that a first round draft pick LT going into his 3rd year should be able to be the starter.  Which would free up Mailata for a bunch of innovative stuff.

What you're saying about "posts are too long" is generally correct. 

[Outlaw]

On 2/26/2021 at 11:01 AM, NOTW said:

Young building blocks?  Goedert? Mailata maybe?  If Hurts becomes the long-term starter?  Barnett?  

But honestly, there's not a single player who is irreplaceable at this point, after veterans like Kelce, Cox, Graham there are no young franchise difference makers.  Howie is that bad at drafting and their best players were drafted by Reid or signed as free agents.  The cupboard is quite bare.

And the guys who are going to rebuild the roster are an Accountant fantasy football nerd playing GM with Lurie's money, and a young green Head Coach who has never even called plays before.

Reid was a green Head Coach who had never even called plays before. As was Doug. 

[QBhunter58]

17 hours ago, Random Reglar said:

I'll say this.  I've been over at the SBNation Eagles section.  And then I came over here, recently, after I found this.  And the people on this message board do seem a lot better than the people on the SBNation board.

Were people here posting about how they wanted the Eagles to get Logan Thomas?  (1)

It's one thing to be able to say, after the fact,  that it was obvious that player X would do thing Y,  but usually you don't see people actually typing that stuff out.    On the other hand,  like I've said,  it does seem like the Eagles fans here are, I dunno, smarter, than the Eagles fans on SBNation.   What I've found,  being on a lot of different message boards over the years,  is that most people are simply repeating what is on TV.  (2)

About Mailata.   I can't at all predict what the Eagles are going to do regarding Mailata and putting him at a position outside of Oline.  The NFL, overall, is not at all innovative. (3) So, the likelihood of innovation with the average NFL team is pretty low.  On the other hand, the Eagles are a team that does more than the aver
age amount of innovation.  Greg Ward was successful.  And they have more in the pipeline.    There isn't a way to disprove it, yeah, but I wouldn't call that a politician answer.  What can I do?   Oh, and about Lane,  I'd say that his age might prevent him from being used in innovative ways,  I'd ordinarily say yes to using Lane innovatively.  I'm not sure why a 300+ pound guy is in greater danger of injury playing a skill position instead of oline.   Oliners do get hurt playing oline.     I know that JJ Watt caught TD passes despite being a DE. 

I do agree that if Mailata is the starting LT or RT, it's more likely they'll just keep him doing that.  At this point,  you'd think that Dillard would naturally be the starting LT and Lane the starting RT,  which frees up Mailata to do a bunch of different things.

About laterals,  leaving aside the thing about throwing to Mailata and him pitching back to the QB,  what seems somewhat standard is   Ward, Tate or Jackson taking a pitch/lateral from Hurts, then run outside,  but also possibly throwing.  What I'm liking about Hurts is that he seems to do that,  run right, throw or run.  Ward Tate or Jackson could do something similar.  It's not extremely creative or innovative.    Watching the Florida Gators, there's a lot of good stuff there.  A lot of good stuff with Toney.

About Dillard,  I don't know.  I'm thinking that a first round draft pick LT going into his 3rd year should be able to be the starter.  Which would free up Mailata for a bunch of innovative stuff.

What you're saying about "posts are too long" is generally correct. (4)

1) I wish I could go back to the old boards and find the posts. I started a topic for "I want the eagles to get" Logan Thomas (TE/QB) for the draft (maybe someone knows how to get back in?). 

2) appreciate it. A agree, those morons on TV know nothing. 

3) couldn't agree more, huge trickle up effect with the NFL. Yeah and Lane is kind of set in his position LOL.

4) Its cool, just means you are passionate. Formatting helps a lot (this post was much easier on the eyes)

[NOTW]

13 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Reid was a green Head Coach who had never even called plays before. As was Doug. 

Right, but Reid didn't have control over personnel at first he had Modrak and others.  Doug had Howie and Joe Douglas/Andy Weidl...and the drafts were bad.

 

[Random Reglar]

14 hours ago, QBhunter58 said:

1) I wish I could go back to the old boards and find the posts. I started a topic for "I want the eagles to get" Logan Thomas (TE/QB) for the draft (maybe someone knows how to get back in?). 

2) appreciate it. A agree, those morons on TV know nothing. 

3) couldn't agree more, huge trickle up effect with the NFL. Yeah and Lane is kind of set in his position LOL.

4) Its cool, just means you are passionate. Formatting helps a lot (this post was much easier on the eyes)

Great formatting.   That bold + footnote = great stuff.

3)  I'd say with Lane, or any LT or RT,  the easiest way to get them involved with innovation is to stick an extra player in the oline,  and on the right side,  then the RT becomes a Tight End.  Lane really doesn't have to much different,  except he becomes a TE.  And his combine numbers were crazy,  4.72 at 303.  His numbers are solid TE numbers but he's 50 pounds heavier.  So, he has great speed, quickness and explosiveness for a RT, and great size for a TE, and he was a QB.  I'm not saying "weaken this position of strength"   He's not all that old, he not Tom Brady, he was drafted in 2013, not long ago.  Not saying he's going to play 10 more years,  but he is coming from a base of extremely good athleticism.  Some other RT loses a step, it might be an issue,  it seems like Lane has steps to spare.   Presumably these oliners find increases in savvy, knowledge, intelligence, and their athleticism is likely to drop some over time,  and Lane should have spare athleticism allowing him to play quite a few years.

[DeathByEagle]

At the last home game I was able to attend in 2020 vs the Cowgirls we had a ball boy who was very consistent in catching every practice punt. Dude was solid. I can see us building him up to be a future star.