EMB Blog: 2021 Training Camp / Preseason

[Dwide Schrude]

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I actually liked the sirianni hire especially cause it wasn’t mcdaniels. but also i think he’s going to be a good teacher for young players. I’m pretty sure it was a huge point in their hiring of him (besides also very young and still can control behind the scenes on some things). I don’t know if it works because i don’t know if the eagles will provide him enough talent or if Hurts is capable of being better than a top 15 QB (if that—believe that’s his ceiling) to reach where the eagles want  

the only thing that bothers me with him is some of the things he’s said in pressers. I have to imagine he gets better at it as time goes on. I do expect growing pains over the next year and maybe even next year. 

I’m so intrigued by how well him & Gannon does at developing players because that’s something that has been lacking in Eagles organization in many years

[Dwide Schrude]

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Normally I’d say a organization would know he’s not gonna play there. But i could totally see the Texans believing they can convince him to still want to be there.  

And maybe the case has him rethinking the trade request 

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

4 minutes ago, Dwide Schrude said:

And maybe the case has him rethinking the trade request 

I kind of doubt it. If that were the case i don’t think he’d have been playing safety. I think they would’ve had him at QB and i think he’d be at practice.  

[Dwide Schrude]

I wonder if Eagles will go with 4 RB on the roster this year. Sanders and Scott are locks, and I assume Gainwell has a spot secured. But I’ve read many great things about Kerryon Johnson as well as Huntley’s speed, assume one of those two will get a roster spot.

[devpool]

3 hours ago, MillerTime said:

I believe if we drafted Jefferson he would have had a bad year. I believe if Reagor went to the vikings he would have killed it. Howie should be fired but our old coaching staff was terrible at developing talent.

I believe this as well, and everyone would be bishing that we passed on reagor to draft jefferson. Not saying reagor will become all pro but the constant complaining is absolutely ridiculous.

[LeanMeanGM]

22 minutes ago, Dwide Schrude said:

I wonder if Eagles will go with 4 RB on the roster this year. Sanders and Scott are locks, and I assume Gainwell has a spot secured. But I’ve read many great things about Kerryon Johnson as well as Huntley’s speed, assume one of those two will get a roster spot.

I don’t think they have went with less than 4 since McCoy. 

[WentzFan11]

Didn’t see this posted earlier. 

 

[EazyEaglez]

13 minutes ago, WentzFan11 said:

Didn’t see this posted earlier. 

 

That catch by Reagor was pretty darn nice. We need to see more of that from him.

[greend]

14 hours ago, ManuManu said:

 

Soooo about zero chance

[greend]

4 hours ago, Dwide Schrude said:

I wonder if Eagles will go with 4 RB on the roster this year. Sanders and Scott are locks, and I assume Gainwell has a spot secured. But I’ve read many great things about Kerryon Johnson as well as Huntley’s speed, assume one of those two will get a roster spot.

Not so sure that Scott is a lock

[BigEFly]

19 minutes ago, greend said:

Not so sure that Scott is a lock

He has taken almost as many practice snaps with the ones as Sanders and is very involved in the passing game. Pretty sure he sticks. Sanders led the team in drops last year. I believe Scott had none and had more passing yards than Sanders. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

5 hours ago, devpool said:

I believe this as well, and everyone would be bishing that we passed on reagor to draft jefferson. Not saying reagor will become all pro but the constant complaining is absolutely ridiculous.

Nobody would have ****ed that we didn't take Reagor.  Higgins, Pittman, Aiyuk or Shenault possibly, but Reagor always looked a reach in the class, Jefferson was the consensus #4 WR prospect in the draft, Howie picking Reagor was like when Al Davis picked Heyward-Bey as WR1 (almost exactly actually because Heyward Bey was a speedster who excused his lack of college production citing 'bad QB play').

If Jefferson had put up Reagor numbers on the Eagles, it would've been forgivable as the pick was the pick that everyone thought we should make, he could point at pretty much every scouting report there was and Jefferson was the pick, it would've been like the Dillard pick, a legit prospect who isn't panning out yet, but to take Reagor ahead of a guy who's ranked by everyone as the WR pick you should make who then goes on to have a historic rookie season, there isn't a fanbase in the NFL that wouldn't rag their front office to kingdom come for that, and those front offices don't have the recent history of misfires and bad picks the Eagles have.

[Swoop]

5 hours ago, devpool said:

I believe this as well, and everyone would be bishing that we passed on reagor to draft jefferson. Not saying reagor will become all pro but the constant complaining is absolutely ridiculous.

I don't agree with this. He likely doesn't have as big a year, but his hands, health, route running, effort and mentality were vastly better than what we got from Reagor. 

Was easily the smarter choice and naturally we made the wrong one.

[Utebird]

1 hour ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Nobody would have ****ed that we didn't take Reagor.  Higgins, Pittman, Aiyuk or Shenault possibly, but Reagor always looked a reach in the class, Jefferson was the consensus #4 WR prospect in the draft, Howie picking Reagor was like when Al Davis picked Heyward-Bey as WR1 (almost exactly actually because Heyward Bey was a speedster who excused his lack of college production citing 'bad QB play').

If Jefferson had put up Reagor numbers on the Eagles, it would've been forgivable as the pick was the pick that everyone thought we should make, he could point at pretty much every scouting report there was and Jefferson was the pick, it would've been like the Dillard pick, a legit prospect who isn't panning out yet, but to take Reagor ahead of a guy who's ranked by everyone as the WR pick you should make who then goes on to have a historic rookie season, there isn't a fanbase in the NFL that wouldn't rag their front office to kingdom come for that, and those front offices don't have the recent history of misfires and bad picks the Eagles have.

Yet none of that is reagors doing or fault.

Want to whine about the pick ok, want to whine about Howie ok and I agree whining incessantly about reagor himself is tired.

[ManuManu]

 

[RLC]

The players are retiring because they realize they're not classy enough to play for the Giants. 

[Alphagrand]

1 hour ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Nobody would have ****ed that we didn't take Reagor.  Higgins, Pittman, Aiyuk or Shenault possibly, but Reagor always looked a reach in the class, Jefferson was the consensus #4 WR prospect in the draft, Howie picking Reagor was like when Al Davis picked Heyward-Bey as WR1 (almost exactly actually because Heyward Bey was a speedster who excused his lack of college production citing 'bad QB play').

If Jefferson had put up Reagor numbers on the Eagles, it would've been forgivable as the pick was the pick that everyone thought we should make, he could point at pretty much every scouting report there was and Jefferson was the pick, it would've been like the Dillard pick, a legit prospect who isn't panning out yet, but to take Reagor ahead of a guy who's ranked by everyone as the WR pick you should make who then goes on to have a historic rookie season, there isn't a fanbase in the NFL that wouldn't rag their front office to kingdom come for that, and those front offices don't have the recent history of misfires and bad picks the Eagles have.

The bolded is simply not true.  Looking through pre-draft rankings from the days before the draft, and the highest I’ve seen Jefferson ranked is 5th, other sites had him 7th or 8th, right around the same range as Reagor.  Walter football is closest to your assertion; they had Jefferson 5th and Reagor 8th — but most draft sites had them ranked similarly.

If anything, Jefferson was a consensus 2nd round prospect on boards until he ran at the combine, then when scouts saw him run low 4.4s he shot up draft boards into the 1st round as a prospect.  Prior to that he was labelled solely as a slot WR.

Jefferson was always going to be graded as the volume target who would amass a lot of receptions; very few scouts saw him as an explosive player.  Reagor was always graded as a lower volume but higher big-play WR prospect.  Howie chose to select the player with more big-play ability because the Eagles offense outside of Desean was terribly slow.

[bpac55]

7 hours ago, Dwide Schrude said:

I wonder if Eagles will go with 4 RB on the roster this year. Sanders and Scott are locks, and I assume Gainwell has a spot secured. But I’ve read many great things about Kerryon Johnson as well as Huntley’s speed, assume one of those two will get a roster spot.

The RB competition really is intriguing but the question isn't if they keep 4, it's if they keep 5 IMO.

Miles Sanders- 24 y/o, hopefully your bell cow despite RB rotation.  100% lock

Boston Scott- 26 y/o, ideally he's a 3rd down back.  99.9% lock

Kenny Gainwell- 22 y/o, 5th round pick.  Reports are he's flashing as a receiver but not much as a runner right now.  Sanders still struggles catching the ball so this is where he makes the team. 95% lock

Jordan Howard- 26 y/o, journeyman.  Hard to believe he's just 26.  Knees have been beat up pretty bad, 3 teams with multiple stops in Philly in 6 years.  Does he have anything left in the tank?  Based off the minimal reports we get, he looks pretty good.  He played a total of 7 games last year.  Can you give him a role on offense and depend on him to be healthy to fill it?

Kerryon Johnson- 24 y/o, former 2nd round pick.  Injuries have taken their toll on him as well.  RB who could do it all before knee issues.  I honestly haven't heard much about him so far.  If healthy, he's a great #2 behind Sanders.

Jason Huntley- 23 y/o, speedster/returner.  Every day we see reports that Huntley's speed is on display.  Speed shines when you're just helmets however.  Reports are he's improved his pass blocking.  Any time a player brings an element of game changing speed, he has to be looked at.  Helps that he has potential as KO returner.  

Elijah Holyfield- 23 y/o, PS RB.  Haven't heard much of a peep about him, easy to forget he's on the team.  I did see his name pop up on the KO and KOR depth charts.  He can be stashed on the PS.

It's a very young RB room, all under 26.  

If you keep only 4, I think it's Sanders, Scott, Gainwell and one of Howard/Johnson. One of Ho-Jo SHOULD be RB2 to take the load off of Sanders.  That shouldn't be Scott's role.  

I think Huntley's TC and KR ability make you keep 5 with the question still being which of Ho-Jo do you keep?

 

 

[NCiggles]

14 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

 

I guess he didn't like the wind sprints or push ups. 

[greend]

40 minutes ago, Utebird said:

Yet none of that is reagors doing or fault.

Want to whine about the pick ok, want to whine about Howie ok and I agree whining incessantly about reagor himself is tired.

Reagor controls how he plays and the amount of effort he puts forth. Siri having to yell at him to run fast is his own fault

[greend]

13 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I guess he didn't like the wind sprints or push ups. 

Pay me a couple of million I'll do it!!!!

[NCiggles]

3 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

The RB competition really is intriguing but the question isn't if they keep 4, it's if they keep 5 IMO.

Miles Sanders- 24 y/o, hopefully your bell cow despite RB rotation.  100% lock

Boston Scott- 26 y/o, ideally he's a 3rd down back.  99.9% lock

Kenny Gainwell- 22 y/o, 5th round pick.  Reports are he's flashing as a receiver but not much as a runner right now.  Sanders still struggles catching the ball so this is where he makes the team. 95% lock

Jordan Howard- 26 y/o, journeyman.  Hard to believe he's just 26.  Knees have been beat up pretty bad, 3 teams with multiple stops in Philly in 6 years.  Does he have anything left in the tank?  Based off the minimal reports we get, he looks pretty good.  He played a total of 7 games last year.  Can you give him a role on offense and depend on him to be healthy to fill it?

Kerryon Johnson- 24 y/o, former 2nd round pick.  Injuries have taken their toll on him as well.  RB who could do it all before knee issues.  I honestly haven't heard much about him so far.  If healthy, he's a great #2 behind Sanders.

Jason Huntley- 23 y/o, speedster/returner.  Every day we see reports that Huntley's speed is on display.  Speed shines when you're just helmets however.  Reports are he's improved his pass blocking.  Any time a player brings an element of game changing speed, he has to be looked at.  Helps that he has potential as KO returner.  

Elijah Holyfield- 23 y/o, PS RB.  Haven't heard much of a peep about him, easy to forget he's on the team.  I did see his name pop up on the KO and KOR depth charts.  He can be stashed on the PS.

It's a very young RB room, all under 26.  

If you keep only 4, I think it's Sanders, Scott, Gainwell and one of Howard/Johnson. One of Ho-Jo SHOULD be RB2 to take the load off of Sanders.  That shouldn't be Scott's role.  

I think Huntley's TC and KR ability make you keep 5 with the question still being which of Ho-Jo do you keep?

 

 

There's a fair amount of camp to go and all of the pre-season games but I think the top 4 based on what I have read are: Sanders, Scott, Gainwell and Howard.  I agree if Johnson starts looking better than Howard that they don't keep them both.  The battle for a 5th spot is really a question of whether a player like Huntley adds more value on ST than Hightower or JJAW.  I think that's where he may stick.  Huntley can return kicks and had a some snaps on special teams as a kick returner.  Hightower did not.  JJAW had fewer ST snaps than I thought and I think he was a gunner on the punt teams.  

[BigEFly]

1 hour ago, Swoop said:

I don't agree with this. He likely doesn't have as big a year, but his hands, health, route running, effort and mentality were vastly better than what we got from Reagor. 

Was easily the smarter choice and naturally we made the wrong one.

Not directed at you but rather a reply to some of the reactions regarding Reagor.  Because of the decision to draft JJAW over Metcalf, the mood for many was "why can’t the Eagles connect on a fastball swinging for the fences instead of mediocre safe picks”.   I remember in response to a poster that wasn’t impressed with Jefferson’s speed and wanted Hamler, whose drop rate was off the charts bad at PSU (the Tyrek Hill effect), that after Jeudy, Jefferson was the most pro ready in the draft.  @Iggles_Phan and I countered all the Jefferson was not impressive outside the prior year and he is just a slot talk.  We heard a lot of high floor/low ceiling talk about Jefferson.  Guess he hit that low ceiling last year.  Reagor (and Ayuik) were considered as high ceiling types.   Now a year later, we are faced with Reagor is a bust because after his first year in the NFL (with no OTAs and injured twice not helping his results last year).   A little patience is need to see if he can hit that high ceiling.

Now, I am not completely sold on Reagor.  He needs to make some effort to get better and not just at team led activities.   This offseason Ward and Watkins were working out with Hurts. There were some reports that Smith did some too.  Now Ward and Watkins are bubble players, never sure of a roster spot.  But even some of the beats that dislike Ward as much as a couple of posters in here have commented positively on his play.  A number of reporters have commented on Watkins breaks and moves.  They got better.  Where were JJAW (reflecting isn’t working), Hightower (inconsistent in camp per reports), Fulgham (still double clutching and dropping balls that should be caught) and Reagor.  They need to work at their craft, not just during team activities.  Reagor needs to be ridden. "At least run fast” isn’t a hallmark of coaching each drill as one reporter put it yesterday.  It sure sounds like a coach pushing against dogging it.  Sure, interpret that as encouragement to use his speed like a reporter did.  I hear it more as damnit use your damned speed.  "At least” is never a good prefixed instruction in my mind.  I have patience but any lack of effort will wear mine thin.

[eagle45]

29 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

The RB competition really is intriguing but the question isn't if they keep 4, it's if they keep 5 IMO.

Miles Sanders- 24 y/o, hopefully your bell cow despite RB rotation.  100% lock

Boston Scott- 26 y/o, ideally he's a 3rd down back.  99.9% lock

Kenny Gainwell- 22 y/o, 5th round pick.  Reports are he's flashing as a receiver but not much as a runner right now.  Sanders still struggles catching the ball so this is where he makes the team. 95% lock

Jordan Howard- 26 y/o, journeyman.  Hard to believe he's just 26.  Knees have been beat up pretty bad, 3 teams with multiple stops in Philly in 6 years.  Does he have anything left in the tank?  Based off the minimal reports we get, he looks pretty good.  He played a total of 7 games last year.  Can you give him a role on offense and depend on him to be healthy to fill it?

Kerryon Johnson- 24 y/o, former 2nd round pick.  Injuries have taken their toll on him as well.  RB who could do it all before knee issues.  I honestly haven't heard much about him so far.  If healthy, he's a great #2 behind Sanders.

Jason Huntley- 23 y/o, speedster/returner.  Every day we see reports that Huntley's speed is on display.  Speed shines when you're just helmets however.  Reports are he's improved his pass blocking.  Any time a player brings an element of game changing speed, he has to be looked at.  Helps that he has potential as KO returner.  

Elijah Holyfield- 23 y/o, PS RB.  Haven't heard much of a peep about him, easy to forget he's on the team.  I did see his name pop up on the KO and KOR depth charts.  He can be stashed on the PS.

It's a very young RB room, all under 26.  

If you keep only 4, I think it's Sanders, Scott, Gainwell and one of Howard/Johnson. One of Ho-Jo SHOULD be RB2 to take the load off of Sanders.  That shouldn't be Scott's role.  

I think Huntley's TC and KR ability make you keep 5 with the question still being which of Ho-Jo do you keep?

 

 

Not sure there are very many old rb rooms anywhere in the nfl anymore.  I wouldn’t want any expensive rb contract years after 27.

[bpac55]

2 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

There's a fair amount of camp to go and all of the pre-season games but I think the top 4 based on what I have read are: Sanders, Scott, Gainwell and Howard.  I agree if Johnson starts looking better than Howard that they don't keep them both.  The battle for a 5th spot is really a question of whether a player like Huntley adds more value on ST than Hightower or JJAW.  I think that's where he may stick.  Huntley can return kicks and had a some snaps on special teams as a kick returner.  Hightower did not.  JJAW had fewer ST snaps than I thought and I think he was a gunner on the punt teams.  

You also have to consider of the guys you cut, who is more likely to get claimed and who can be on their speed dial if an injury occurs.

No one is claiming Jordan Howard.  I'm guessing he could be a last minute cut and then signed after week 1 so his contract isn't guaranteed.  Same goes for Johnson but he might be more intriguing to a team than Johnson.

If Huntley shows speed in the pre-season, someone will take a chance on him a la Raheem Mostert.  Keep in mind, the Eagles claimed him last year based on practice alone, there were no pre-season games to see how he did against other teams.  You're right about ST.  I think 5 WR and 5 RB is going to make the most sense for the initial roster.

Smith, Reagor, Fulgham, Ward, and one of Watkins/Hightower/JJAW.  

Sanders, Scott, Gainwell, Huntley, one of Howard/Johnson.

Boston Scott is a fun story.  Seems to be a super likeable guy but he's 100% replaceable.  I'd like to see Gainwell take his spot as I think they are both fighting to be RB3.