1 minute ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

But will there be a CB in press across from him every play?

I get it.  Route concepts are based on a X/Y/Z foundation.  But with all the variations we see, I am not sure they are exclusive roles to which a player is confined.

Obviously it’s not exclusive, but we need WRs that have the ability to beat physical press coverage. I don’t think we’re going to ignore that. 

I wouldn’t want to guess at the percentage of plays out X faces press because it would be total BS. 

There are lots of ways to avoid it — bunches, right sets to give all receivers a two way go, moving receivers around the formation. We do all of that already, but there’s a reason we signed Alshon and drafted why we thought was his eventual replacement in round 2.

Any way, I just wanted to get that out there. There may be some in the Blog who don’t necessarily get the distinction. 

1 minute ago, T-1000 said:

Speaking of where these receivers can line up, Howie brought up that they see Hightower as a guy who can play both inside and outside.

To me, if you can play outside you can play inside. It doesn’t necessarily work the other way. 

13 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

We’re going to have a WR on the LOS almost every play so someone has to do it. 

Well... with 12 personnel, it could be the TEs on either side of the line... 

 

But, I think the ultimate goal is... they are going to mix up who lines up where as they get deeper in to the year.  Lots of moving parts... and most of those parts will be very very fast.  Not sure what it will look like, but it should be more entertaining than last year.

Legend has it Quez was timed at 4.31 in college. 

 

As has been reported for a while...

2 hours ago, RLC said:

Really like the values of CEH and Akers. #1 RBs on good offenses will put up good stats.

If CeeDee Lamb is OROY, then Cooper got hurt.  If Lamical Perine is OROY, then Bell suffers a serious injury early. 

1 hour ago, ToastJenkins said:

on my board? late round 4 at the earliest. 5th or 6th rd fine but i do not think he has the necessary traits to even be an adequate starter. time will tell.

 

Gotcha.   That helps explain at least some of your strong feelings toward the pick.

I was certain he was going to get drafted somewhere in the 3rd round.   With his great character and Alabama background I figured the Patriots (or another team) would end up drafting him somewhere between #65 to #95.

Obviously I did not expect the Eagles to draft him.    I thought he was a legit 3rd round pick and I was still initially in shock from the selection.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Rhinoddd50 said:

Gotcha.   That helps explain at least some of your strong feelings toward the pick.

I was certain he was going to get drafted somewhere in the 3rd round.   With his great character and Alabama background I figured the Patriots (or another team) would end up drafting him somewhere between #65 to #95.

Obviously I did not expect the Eagles to draft him.    I thought he was a legit 3rd round pick and I was still initially in shock from the selection.

 

 

The Pats said they wanted to draft a guy so either it was one of the top 3 QBs and they couldn’t move up or Hurts as they made four picks in between Hurts going and the next QB.

It’s completely possible they thought the guy they wanted would go a lot later and got sniped. 

No bye-weeks a possibility either. Yikes. 

34 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

I like their two tackle choices. I love that the got a G and Dallas got a C that suck at pass protection.  

Exactly right. I wondered why we traded with Dallas until I saw who they picked. He must be as good as Frederick, right? After all, he went to Wisconsin. I'm sure Howie figured out whom Dallas was going to pick and said, Sure, we'll help them with that. Heh, heh, heh.

The Giants got two good tackles. Thomas was my favorite OL in the draft and I made no secret of that, called him a top-5 pick back in October. Pearl needs quite a bit of work and strengthening but he'll be pretty good, I think. Those arms go on forever. Lemieux I saw only in the Rose Bowl so my impression of his is shallow. Didn't look very agile, sturdy but not powerful. I doubt he'll start anytime soon but provides decent depth. His ceiling is maybe Wisniewski - the son, not the father. Good value in a fifth-round pick.

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Where did Rambo actually sign? I liked him coming out. He was fast but undersized (weight not height) I wouldn’t have been upset if they would’ve taken him 7 or signed him udfa (say that cause when this started in January the mock draft sites had him on there to select late)

He is still a Sooner.   Size wise he is Hightower.  Seems just as fast.  More of a hand snatcher. High points really well.  Quick and seems to make nice cuts.  He is an X.

1 minute ago, BigEFly said:

He is still a Sooner.   Size wise he is Hightower.  Seems just as fast.  More of a hand snatcher. High points really well.  Quick and seems to make nice cuts.  He is an X.

I kind of agree. I think Hightower could play X, Z, or Y. I think Reagor could probably play all three but is more of a Z. Watkins is a Z and probably the most limited in terms of versatility positionally and from a route tree perspective.

2 hours ago, Alphagrand said:

How about how early Van Jefferson went?  I liked him as a 3rd round guy at #103 before I heard about his foot injury; figured he'd be a good pick at #127.

Rams took him at #57

I meant Justin not Van.  Not surprised about Van. Great route runner and good hands.  Should be a solid slot. 

Van Jefferson was a massive reach. He's Tyler Johnson or Donovan Peoples-Jones and look at where they went. As much as I dislike Hurts pick I would have been far more pissed had they taken Jefferson.

49 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Is that Schwartz’s job? Or is is it more the position coach?

Did Doug Pederson develop Seumalo or Goedert? Of course not. His job is to scheme with what he has and to put them in the best position to succeed in conjunction with the rest of the unit. 

This is absolutely true, but doesn't the way he uses them contribute to their development? This has always been his biggest weakness in my mind - he LOVES certain guys (Mills, Maddox) but doesn't always put them in a position to succeed. Take Maddox - he was all over the field as a rookie but did anyone really think he was at his best as an outside corner? I would argue he was worst there and much better playing safety or in the slot. He was below average last year playing on the outside but now he's (seemingly) the starter on the other side of Slay. Jones shows flashes at the end of the year when he actually gets playing time and then doesn't play in the playoff game and Schwartz doesn't even mention him as battling for the job with Avonte (not that Jones has done much, but he's not Jim's guy so he doesn't merit the opportunity). 

Maybe with all these positionless guys they're bringing in something changes, but it's probably more likely that he picks one or two guys he loves and they get the reps no matter what, maybe to the detriment of the other guys on the roster.

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Not only that I don’t even like the fit with the Rams as you have Cooper Kupp who is playing the same role and i think is more explosive. . Unless the rams are willing to let Cooper Kupp go which  in my mind doesn’t seem to make much sense

Kupp got hurt and that probably contributed to the Rams losing the Super Bowl.  Good route runners that catch the ball fit Goff better than Cooks did.  

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Can he come in and fill that Chris Long role? 

easily, I would think. just a question of $$ i imagine

3 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Kupp got hurt and that probably contributed to the Rams losing the Super Bowl.  Good route runners that catch the ball fit Goff better than Cooks did.  

Akers was a great pick for them

9 minutes ago, justrelax said:

Exactly right. I wondered why we traded with Dallas until I saw who they picked. He must be as good as Frederick, right? After all, he went to Wisconsin. I'm sure Howie figured out whom Dallas was going to pick and said, Sure, we'll help them with that. Heh, heh, heh.

The Biadasz thing kills me. I've seen a bunch of places where he was mentioned as a steal, and also how we helped our division rival. Ridiculous narrative based on the fact that he wins plays for the same school and wins a trophy. Cox and Hargrave are going to eat if he's on the field.

Looking at KR and PR options added on draft weekend.

Killins returned kicks, but not punts.

Warren II returned kicks as a freshman. 

Quez returned kicks and punts. Best PR average in 3 years was 9.9

Hightower returned kicks only.

Reagor returned punts extremely well and very few kicks. 

Grayland Arnold returned punts. 

Elijah Riley returned 3 punts

Manasseh Bailey returned 3 punts and 17 kicks

Dont know about Prince Smith.

 

Id love to see Killins do both. 

It looks like Reagor had by far the best PR average. A disgusting 20 yards per PR. Hightower had the best KR average with over 23 yards for his career and a season over 24. Killins did have 1 season of 25 per KR but a lower career average than Hightower.

We have so many options it wont even be possible to try them all in just 4 pre-season games. 

 

 

Notable items in Brugler’s predraft guide:

Hightower spent three years at JuCo and didn’t make the team there his first season. That’s why he’s almost 24. 

Quez Watkins was briefly suspended from Southern Miss and had to get his grades up to return to the team. 

50 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Noted Blog reader. 

Typically will happen with any move a team makes. If the Sixers cut Embiid today, the fan base would be outraged and then 24 hours later a contingent would be like "Ya know, after sleeping on it... I kinda get it..."

Never got the "I can't control it, so I just have to accept it." I mean, fans can't control any move their teams make, doesn't mean you have to ever be on board with them. Hurts seems like a good dude though.

10 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Looking at KR and PR options added on draft weekend.

Killins returned kicks, but not punts.

Warren II returned kicks as a freshman. 

Quez returned kicks and punts. Best PR average in 3 years was 9.9

Hightower returned kicks only.

Reagor returned punts extremely well and very few kicks. 

Grayland Arnold returned punts. 

Elijah Riley returned 3 punts

Manasseh Bailey returned 3 punts and 17 kicks

Dont know about Prince Smith.

 

Id love to see Killins do both. 

It looks like Reagor had by far the best PR average. A disgusting 20 yards per PR. Hightower had the best KR average with over 23 yards for his career and a season over 24. Killins did have 1 season of 25 per KR but a lower career average than Hightower.

We have so many options it wont even be possible to try them all in just 4 pre-season games. 

 

 

I would put Reagor at PR and Hightower and/or Watkins at KR. Wouldn't be totally shocked though to see Killins make the team as a RS with the two extra roster spots.

One of the scripted plays you might see the Eagles run with Hurts in the game with Wentz as QB to see what the defense does.  The guy understandably is not too kind to Flacco here

 

1 minute ago, Alphagrand said:

One of the scripted plays you might see the Eagles run with Hurts in the game with Wentz as QB to see what the defense does.  The guy understandably is not too kind to Flacco here

 

Who are you taking off the field to put in Hurts? Have to remove one of Sanders/Jackson/Reagor/Ertz/Goedert. 

2 hours ago, ManuManu said:

What would make Hightower a better X than Z?

Because I think the traditional X and Z profiles are going out the window in today’s no touch NFL.  We got so used to big X WRs over the last few years but remember, Maclin was an X. 

1 minute ago, RLC said:

Who are you taking off the field to put in Hurts? Have to remove one of Sanders/Jackson/Reagor/Ertz/Goedert. 

That will be up to Doug — but they will have a small package of plays for Hurts (2-3 per game) he won’t always be holding the clipboard