32 minutes ago, Nickwonderfole said:

Is Don coming to the forum? 

He said not, but I did lay out a M&M trail for him to follow... so, its just a matter of time.

I hope killins and some of the later round draft picks can become the return guy on special teams. Gives us speed on the return and keeps starters out if that role to hopefully keep guys healthy this year

15 minutes ago, Han Solo said:

We are in position to just bring waves of speed to throw at the defense.

Reagor is going to be our Tyreek.

One of Hightower and Watkins is going to be our McLaurin.

Imagine lining up 4 wide with Jackson, Reagor, Watkins and Hightower.  They all run deep and we slip Sanders out of the backfield.

If we can just get the defense to respect the deep ball, then the middle opens up for Ertz, Goedert and Sanders to exploit linebackers at will.

Ive been wondering this morning with all these WRs if we see us going back to a rotation at WR like Chip used to do. Didnt like it much back then because I dont think we had enough good ones, but man, right now, Id hate to see any of these deep threats wasting away on our bench. I want them all to play.

I was just about to post this vid before I saw your post and responded. It kinda adds to this discussion now when figuring where all these guys are going to play. Whos X, who is Z, who is Y. Duffy notes that at the shrine game Hightower was excellent in the red zone, and getting off press coverage. Also doesnt really see him as a jet sweep guy, or screen guy much. Seems like a candidate to learn X. 

 

The biggest story to come out of this draft is the quietly emerging sense and acknowledgement from coaches and GM's league wide that they've been doing the draft all wrong.

You never want to ignore and dismiss available information.  At some point, you cross a line into a territory of subatomic paralysis by analysis that causes you to miss the big picture and alter your draft board based on wrist circumference and character references from a prospect's best friend's cleaning lady's chiropractor's uber driver.

A creative, insightful fan with insight into a team, a laptop, and access to google search could pull off a draft that grades fine and has good value.  That's not to say the job is easy, but I think the pro personnel guys are whispering that they have been missing the forrest for the trees.

 

28 minutes ago, Miami said:

Wentz is a real competitor so this Hurts pick should fire him up.  Hoping he plays with a chip on his shoulder now and comes out firing like the Wentz of a few years ago.

Wentz played really well last year - especially in light of what he had to work with.

13 minutes ago, TEW said:

Not sure I agree it’s a direct competition between Scott and Killins. Scott is a true RB for the rotation. If you have an injury, he can shoulder an increased work load.

Killins is more of a gadget guy. If, God forbid. Sanders missed extended time, Killins should not be expected to pick up much of the slack.

I like Killins as a gadget guy.  

I'd be careful with him as a receiving asset though.  I have NO problem with small receivers, but there is a limit to everything.  Once someone dips below 5'9" with short arms, the catch radius becomes too small to be a target beyond the LOS.  We saw that problem with Sproles here.  At 5'9" there are precedents for making it work.  5'7" crosses a line.

That doesn't mean Killins and our mobile OL can't murder teams in the screen game though.  Killins will get lost behind the LOS.  Get him the ball after the play develops and he's 10 years downfield before anyone finds him.

Wentz is going to have to be even more discerning with additional speed to throw to.  Ideal world... more people are open.  But he still has to learn the fine line between when to extend and when to throw it away if he's going to have longevity.

2 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

The biggest story to come out of this draft is the quietly emerging sense and acknowledge from coaches and GM's league wide that they've been doing the draft all wrong.

You never want to ignore and dismiss available information.  At some point, you cross a line into a territory of subatomic paralysis by analysis that causes you to miss the big picture and alter your draft board based on wrist circumference and character references from a prospect's best friend's cleaning lady's chiropractor's uber driver.

A creative, insightful fan with insight into a team, a laptop, and access to google search could pull off a draft that grades fine and has good value.  That's not to say the job is easy, but I think the pro personnel guys are whispering that they have been missing the forrest for the trees.

 

I weirdly think that being in the league, and having played, can kind of hurt your perspective. People talk about "he’s just a football player” when looking at film, and because they’re so close to the sport it sort of taints you’re ability to project player transitions. You’ll look at a guy who runs great routes in college, for example, who gets open all the time and love the kid. Then you’re surprised when he can’t get open in the NFL when then the athletic tests showed he just wasn’t that fast or quick.

Its the job of the coaches to convert upside into productive players. If they consistently can’t do it, they’re probably not a very good coach.

2 hours ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Cause I think it was a desperate reach.  Having an opinion and not flip flopping on it cause I’m reserved to love everything Eagles is being consistent.  Call it digging in my heels.  So be it.  Everyone is so butt hurt and defends everything this team does.   But when this draft class pans out like all the others Howie has been involved in.  You all will still be blasting Howie.  

But when given loads of contrary evidence by people who are professionals in the field... You know what, doesn't matter, you do you.

 

Just now, TEW said:

I weirdly think that being in the league, and having played, can kind of hurt your perspective. People talk about "he’s just a football player” when looking at film, and because they’re so close to the sport it sort of taints you’re ability to project player transitions. You’ll look at a guy who runs great routes in college, for example, who gets open all the time and love the kid. Then you’re surprised when he can’t get open in the NFL when then the athletic tests showed he just wasn’t that fast or quick.

Its the job of the coaches to convert upside into productive players. If they consistently can’t do it, they’re probably not a very good coach.

100% agreed.  We've been on the same page for this for years.

You need a balance of both.  Sometimes we all need to be pushed a bit and handed challenges.  Half the point of having good positional coaches is turning explosive superior athletes into football players.  If you lean too far towards drafting those "he's just a football player" types, then it reflects a lack of confidence in your coaching staff.  

2 hours ago, obedt said:

Random thoughts-

Pederson mentioned Ward as one of the guys to lean on since we have a irregular preseason. I wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s s lock of course, but wouldn’t be surprised to see him stick. 
 

I still don’t trust Jones. Would expect Maddox to win the job and be serviceable. Can see a scenario where we ask Mills to shift back to outside CB if either Maddox or Slay get hurt. I think he’d do fine opposite Slay with more safety help. 
 

JJAW is likely to make the team but not a lock imo. It felt to me his head was spinning too much that it hindered him. He has enough athleticism to be average on the outside, but needs to have his routes clear, playbook down, clean up his footwork and then hopefully play with urgency. If he’s still lost out there I would strongly consider moving on.

Here’s my take.  I think the Eagles really like Ward’s football IQ.  We learned from JJAW that not every receiver can learn every position and every route.   Settle JJAW into the X and have him play there exclusively. The world will stop spinning. Ward’s background as a QB has him used to learning all the routes and he has three years with the Eagles.  In a way, he is the vet in the room with DJax, especially if Jeffery is on PUP like expected.  I hope they learned a bit when they had to play Davis, Burnett and Perkins.  They simplified what routes they ran.  Bring the rookies up to speed more slowly.  Have them focus on one position. Coach A-Mo (love the nickname) needs a new approach from the past.  I would not be surprised if the starters at the beginning of the season are JJAW, Ward and DJax with a healthy dose of Reagor that increases with each game.  Use Hightower as a return man initially. Watkins is raw.  Goodwin is a wild card.  If healthy throw him into the slot.  

I am very encouraged that Jones is working with a CB guru this offseason.  Gunn and Kaye reported last month that Jones is working with Ronnie Braxton. Parks worked with Braxton. He has a reputation of fixing CBs.  That should help get his confidence back.  Hopefully that will help with his tackling some.   He is a great cover corner when he is on.  Not too good at stopping the run.   I expect Bobby Taylor not Sheldon Brown from him.  I suspect Jenkins leadership style may not have worked with him.

Slay makes every other cornerback, even Douglas, better because you can trust him one on one.  That frees up McLeod to cheat to the other side for help.  Eagles have a boatload of CBs and Ss.  At CB they have a lot with starting experience. Note the UDFAs include some that project to S as well.  

2 hours ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Cause I think it was a desperate reach.  Having an opinion and not flip flopping on it cause I’m reserved to love everything Eagles is being consistent.  Call it digging in my heels.  So be it.  Everyone is so butt hurt and defends everything this team does.   But when this draft class pans out like all the others Howie has been involved in.  You all will still be blasting Howie.  

Not that i agree with you but you aren’t the only person who didn’t like the reagor pick. Not that it matters what that GM thinks but still not everyone in the league liked that pick. Can be differences of opinion  

During Bleacher Report's live draft show Thursday night, NFL insider Matt Miller received a text message from an NFL general manager after the Eagles picked Reagor, and it wasn't kind to the front office:

I got a text from a general manager, who said this is the worst pick of the draft. Like, worse than Damon Arnette, which we trashed pretty hard.

 

 

Aside from the Hurts fiasco, Wallace is the only pick that I need someone to convince me will be OK.

I'm not familiar enough with him, but every report cites coverage as a problem. 

I don't care that Schwartz likes one safety getting his nose into it at the LOS.  Jenkins (and we can admit this now that he's gone) has been responsible for SO many deep 6 coverage nightmares in recent years. 

Look at the draft this year.  Look at what we did.  Look at what KC is.  Look at what everyone else did.  Every DB on the field should excel in coverage.

We don't blitz much.  Our DL stops the run.  Nothing should matter more in our safeties than pass coverage.

What can we reasonably expect from Wallace on that front?

Driscoll has an MBA?

 

13 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Ive been wondering this morning with all these WRs if we see us going back to a rotation at WR like Chip used to do. Didnt like it much back then because I dont think we had enough good ones, but man, right now, Id hate to see any of these deep threats wasting away on our bench. I want them all to play.

I was just about to post this vid before I saw your post and responded. It kinda adds to this discussion now when figuring where all these guys are going to play. Whos X, who is Z, who is Y. Duffy notes that at the shrine game Hightower was excellent in the red zone, and getting off press coverage. Also doesnt really see him as a jet sweep guy, or screen guy much. Seems like a candidate to learn X. 

 

I think there are tons of contingencies in place, but I think the plan is a situational approach. The following would be my way too early projection to make the roster: DeSean, Reagor, JJAW, Ward, and 2 out of 3 from Hightower, Goodwn and Watkins (thinking the 1st two with Watkins on PS). 

In this approach, I'd want Reagor to learn all 3 positions and him with DeSean becoming the top 2 options. In 3 receiver red zone and possession situations, JJAW at the X makes sense. Ward would get opportunities there in the slot. In other situations it would make sense to have Hightower at the X. He's definitely an outside receiver. But I do think that other than Reagor and maybe DeSean, I think we're going to be rotating a lot. 

 

My main concern is the offseason limiting how much Reagor can take in and be able to contribute. He's the one I can see the team being extremely creative with

1 hour ago, BigEFly said:

Think the Pats want Herbert or thought they could get Hurts later. Fact they traded down suggests no love for Love.

Would you rather have Winston for one year, where you are looking again the following year, quite possibly for two QBs (with a possibility of no college football this year) at what cost or Hurt for four years at rookie scale.  If, and that is a big if because I am not a huge fan of Hurts, he pans out to be a serviceable backup, then it makes Howie look pretty smart trusting his analytics. 

 

Technical question: is there a way to delete tweets from a post you are responding to.  Every time I try it just opens Twitter for me.  

Think the Saints are all in this year b/c Brees is near the end (I think his arm is close to gone, watching him last year), apres Brees, les deluge.

So they can blow their cap to hell, knowing they're gonna tear the team apart for a couple seasons.

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

Not that i agree with you but you aren’t the only person who didn’t like the reagor pick. Not that it matters what that GM thinks but still not everyone in the league liked that pick. Can be differences of opinion  

During Bleacher Report's live draft show Thursday night, NFL insider Matt Miller received a text message from an NFL general manager after the Eagles picked Reagor, and it wasn't kind to the front office:

I got a text from a general manager, who said this is the worst pick of the draft. Like, worse than Damon Arnette, which we trashed pretty hard.

 

 

Thank God I didn't watch these clowns.

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

Not that i agree with you but you aren’t the only person who didn’t like the reagor pick. Not that it matters what that GM thinks but still not everyone in the league liked that pick. Can be differences of opinion  

During Bleacher Report's live draft show Thursday night, NFL insider Matt Miller received a text message from an NFL general manager after the Eagles picked Reagor, and it wasn't kind to the front office:

I got a text from a general manager, who said this is the worst pick of the draft. Like, worse than Damon Arnette, which we trashed pretty hard.

 

 

Fwiw, I think Reagor would have been picked next by the Vikings. Think he's better equipped to fill the void left by Diggs. Jefferson and Thielen give them 2 great options from the slot

Just now, austinfan said:

Think the Saints are all in this year b/c Brees is near the end (I think his arm is close to gone, watching him last year), apres Brees, les deluge.

So they can blow their cap to hell, knowing they're gonna tear the team apart for a couple seasons.

You think? What moves make you think that?

2 hours ago, Rhinoddd50 said:

I actually don't understand how he fell that far.   When you look at his frame, his athleticism, his production, and the level he played at (SEC) that says Top 85 pick in almost every draft.   So I really have to wonder how bad his knee injury is.   Has the pandemic really prevented teams from getting accurate medical diagnosis?    I kind of find that hard to believe.

I hope the Eagles can get him back to full health.  If they do he could be their 3rd best OT easily.   And as you said, he definitely has starting potential (if healthy). 

Scoped. Recently so lack of medical follow up.   Andrews office.  Risk but doesn’t sound like a huge one.

love the feet and not a waste bender.  Technique can be taught and we have one of the best teachers in the business. 

10 minutes ago, obedt said:

Fwiw, I think Reagor would have been picked next by the Vikings. Think he's better equipped to fill the void left by Diggs. Jefferson and Thielen give them 2 great options from the slot

Yeah that’s what Don and I talked about when the pick happened. I don’t think he would get past minnesota at 22 if you moved back. You’d have to go after aiyuk Or jefferson at that point depending on how far back you went. Might have lost out on both of those guys depending on how much of a trade back you went. I think the niners really wanted Aiyuk. There was shanahan or a niners source that said if kinlaw wasn’t there they’d have gone aiyuk at 13/14. So you might have walked away with an extra 3rd (value chart) but not a WR you liked. 

Time to start scouting edge rushers for the 2021 draft now.  That's our first round pick next year.

Just now, eagle45 said:

Time to start scouting edge rushers for the 2021 draft now.  That's our first round pick next year.

No need to scout... 😁

3 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

You think? What moves make you think that?

"The Saints will have to get creative, as usual, to make room for Winston financially, since they have only about $4 million in salary-cap space and still need to make room for their draft picks and a possible long-term extension with running back Alvin Kamara, among others."

In other words, they're maxed out and will have to load up on dead money to fill out their roster this year.

One reason is these signings on top of the contracts they already gave out:

Brees, 2yr/$50M

Peat 5yr/$57M ($33M guaranteed)

Onyemata 3yr/$33M

Jenkins 4yr/$32M ($16M guaranteed)