I have criticized Howie a lot for his drafting (who hasn't?)...but I actually think he has done a really, really good job with mid/late round picks and has been really bad in rounds 1-2.  

I think he panics with the early picks.  Danny Watkins and Marcus Smith were bizarrely rationalized reaches.  Jordan Matthews and JJAW were low upside cinderblock footed WRs who fit the narrow checkboxes they were looking for.  Reagor was a panic departure from Jeffery/JJAW when they missed out on the explosive athlete the year before.  There's more, but there are just a graveyard of 1st and 2nd round picks with very few success stories.  And the success stories were obvious.  Devonta Smith sitting there with his background.  Lane Johnson nearly dictated to them with how the top 5 broke in 2011.  

I think he flat out drafts more talented players in the later rounds because there is less fear of swinging and missing...which not only results in more talent but also results in fewer swings and misses.  Kelce over Danny Watkins.  Quez Watkins over Reagor.  Mailata over Dillard.

They generally find more explosive athletes with less of a fixed ceiling later in the draft than what they somehow rationalize settling for early on.

28 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

Can someone smarter than I am explain the rationale for not involving Gainwell more in uptempo? With Gainwell and Goedert's multiple skill sets, you could run a whole bunch of formations in the hurry-up. Puts pressure on the defense, takes some off Hurts. Allows you to establish an actual rhythm in the passing game. Am I crazy?

I could, but then I would have to kill you.

1 minute ago, Bacarty2 said:

Heres my thought process(troll edition) on the Eagles draft...

We have a ton of bad teams in front of, who always make bad decisions and they also need QB's, 

I truly believe Pickett, Malik and Corral will be drafted in front of us. 

That pushes down some talent that shouldnt* be there. 

If Linderbaum is there with our first pick you have to take him. You'd basically have your C/LT/LG for the next 7 - 10 years all built through the draft

I think Nakob Dean will be there, we dont like to draft LB's but he starts day 1 and I think it's a no brainer. I also think Howie changes his ways

Then with the last pick of the 3 I believe you spend a long time looking at Carson Strong or go after the Cornerbacks left. I'd rather have the kid from Florida over Mcduffie

I think the Wildcard everyone is forgeting is we have a mid pack 2nd rounder that should be a starter on defense with how many holes we need to fill. 

I think an OL fixture, a rock solid addition to the defense, and Carson Strong would be a great 1st round.

13 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I think it’s too early to say that, just as it’s too early to call people busts.

You all call me negative…and I’m not saying this will happen…but with poor qb play, Smith could just amount to a thin, highly polished, quality route running WR, who was already maxed out as a rookie and never takes the next step.  Dickerson could succumb to injuries.  And the rest of the draft class could turn into nothing.

That is very much a possibility at this point.  Of course, so it is Smith turning into Marvin Harrison, Dickerson a perennial all-pro, Williams a stud DL, and one of the later guys emerging as a quality starter.  And then that’s the kind of draft class that wins you a super bowl from the war room in April.

There's a reason for that

10 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I have criticized Howie a lot for his drafting (who hasn't?)...but I actually think he has done a really, really good job with mid/late round picks and has been really bad in rounds 1-2.  

I think he panics with the early picks.  Danny Watkins and Marcus Smith were bizarrely rationalized reaches.  Jordan Matthews and JJAW were low upside cinderblock footed WRs who fit the narrow checkboxes they were looking for.  Reagor was a panic departure from Jeffery/JJAW when they missed out on the explosive athlete the year before.  There's more, but there are just a graveyard of 1st and 2nd round picks with very few success stories.  And the success stories were obvious.  Devonta Smith sitting there with his background.  Lane Johnson nearly dictated to them with how the top 5 broke in 2011.  

I think he flat out drafts more talented players in the later rounds because there is less fear of swinging and missing...which not only results in more talent but also results in fewer swings and misses.  Kelce over Danny Watkins.  Quez Watkins over Reagor.  Mailata over Dillard.

They generally find more explosive athletes with less of a fixed ceiling later in the draft than what they somehow rationalize settling for early on.

Which is why I have some confidence in the 2022 draft.  Multiple first round picks may remove the tension that would normally surround a sole first round pick.

3 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

If we go Linderbaum, Linebacker, Strong and a Dback int he 2nd we win the draft. IMO. 

Sounds good to me, although I'm not committed to linebacker.  Like the Eagles, normally I'd want to avoid LB round 1 (with the type of defense we have played over the years).  

But the NFL is changing and so too is defense.  It used to be that CB and edge rusher gave you the best/only opportunity for a game wrecking player.  Now, defense is more about surviving shootouts and timely stops/turnovers.  And LB is as instrumental in that as the other positions.  So I'd just be happy with best defensive player available in that spot...which certainly could be a LB.

21 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

Heres my thought process(troll edition) on the Eagles draft...

We have a ton of bad teams in front of, who always make bad decisions and they also need QB's, 

I truly believe Pickett, Malik and Corral will be drafted in front of us. 

That pushes down some talent that shouldnt* be there. 

If Linderbaum is there with our first pick you have to take him. You'd basically have your C/LT/LG for the next 7 - 10 years all built through the draft

I think Nakob Dean will be there, we dont like to draft LB's but he starts day 1 and I think it's a no brainer. I also think Howie changes his ways

Then with the last pick of the 3 I believe you spend a long time looking at Carson Strong or go after the Cornerbacks left. I'd rather have the kid from Florida over Mcduffie

I think the Wildcard everyone is forgeting is we have a mid pack 2nd rounder that should be a starter on defense with how many holes we need to fill. 

I don't think Linderbaum will be there when we pick, but I hope he is.  I also think we trade one of the picks for a 2023 1st and a 2nd or 3rd day pick on 2022.  If we only use 2 of the picks I hope they are 2 of this group:

Leal, Ojabo, Lloyd, Dean, Elam, McCreary, Gardner, Brisker.

 

18 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

But then you notice even further that only 1 of Scott's and none of Howard's TDs were scored when Sanders was available. 

Also, show me a Gainwell TD that wasn't perfectly blocked.

Sanders isn't flawless, but this isn't the argument to be made.

That's fair. But 12:0 is a pretty big disparity no matter how you slice it. Sanders has been the top back for a big chunk of the year.

The OL wasn't blocking well for Sanders?

I should rephrase -- I would not re-sign Sanders for what I anticipate his market value would be (around what Kamara got but not much below, I'd guess). A Kenyon Drake like contract? Sure, why not.

I don't think Sanders will get anything remotely close to Kamara, but I guess you never know.

11 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

Heres my thought process(troll edition) on the Eagles draft...

We have a ton of bad teams in front of, who always make bad decisions and they also need QB's, 

I truly believe Pickett, Malik and Corral will be drafted in front of us. 

That pushes down some talent that shouldnt* be there. 

If Linderbaum is there with our first pick you have to take him. You'd basically have your C/LT/LG for the next 7 - 10 years all built through the draft

I think Nakob Dean will be there, we dont like to draft LB's but he starts day 1 and I think it's a no brainer. I also think Howie changes his ways

Then with the last pick of the 3 I believe you spend a long time looking at Carson Strong or go after the Cornerbacks left. I'd rather have the kid from Florida over Mcduffie

I think the Wildcard everyone is forgeting is we have a mid pack 2nd rounder that should be a starter on defense with how many holes we need to fill. 

Linderbaum is a luxury pick.  We recently won with our #5 and #6 OGs playing.  Seumalo is coming back and is better than you folks realize.  

This squad is in desperate need of an impact edge rusher.  Can't leave the draft without one.

2 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Linderbaum is a luxury pick.  We recently won with our #5 and #6 OGs playing.  Seumalo is coming back and is better than you folks realize.  

This squad is in desperate need of an impact edge rusher.  Can't leave the draft without one.

Pass rusher is the most important position to be addressed this offseason. 

2 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I don't think Sanders will get anything remotely close to Kamara, but I guess you never know.

I'd rather not give him a 2nd contract, unless it's extremely team friendly and tied to him staying healthy. I doubt he would go for it. I'd much rather just move on, and draft another RB in rounds 3-4, and/or bring in another RB, like D'Ernest Johnson. 

6 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

That's fair. But 12:0 is a pretty big disparity no matter how you slice it. Sanders has been the top back for a big chunk of the year.

The OL wasn't blocking well for Sanders?

I should rephrase -- I would not re-sign Sanders for what I anticipate his market value would be (around what Kamara got but not much below, I'd guess). A Kenyon Drake like contract? Sure, why not.

Something incentive-laden would be fine.

3 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Linderbaum is a luxury pick.  We recently won with our #5 and #6 OGs playing.  Seumalo is coming back and is better than you folks realize.  

This squad is in desperate need of an impact edge rusher.  Can't leave the draft without one.

My concerns with edge rushers are that they are very expensive, there are very few true dangerous sack masters in the league, and they have very little correlation with overall team success.  Great OLs, great QBs...lots of high end teams.  Those solitary edge rushers with big names who rack up sacks...half of them are on terrible teams.

I'd be happy to draft a great edge rusher if they are there.  But I don't want to draft another Barnett in round 1 just because we need to fill a spot and be happy that we got a serviceable starter.

Free Agent RBs to be

Looking at this list, there's not a lot of good options for a good price. I'd take a swing on D. Johnson as noted above, as well as Justin Jackson, Chase Edmonds, Ronald Jones, James Conner, Marlon Mack, and even Sony Michel, price dependent. I think all could be had reasonably cheap, the oldest of them is Michel and Conner at 27. 

3 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

I'd rather not give him a 2nd contract, unless it's extremely team friendly and tied to him staying healthy. I doubt he would go for it. I'd much rather just move on, and draft another RB in rounds 3-4, and/or bring in another RB, like D'Ernest Johnson. 

Unless he wants a Gus Edwards contract (3Y/12M), no thanks. Let someone else pay him.

4 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Neal, Ojabo, Lloyd, Dean, Elam, McCreary, Gardner, Brisker.

 

That’s a good list, Neal may be a pipe dream - I hope Ojabo is within reach (he might even stay in school), as we don’t have much at DE. Sweat has his moments, BG is on his last legs, the rookie might be good depth… for position group that is already weak, I’d be surprised if it isn’t addressed early in the draft (not sure what the FA options are, or if our cap situation even makes us competitive).

Just now, RLC said:

Unless he wants a Gus Edwards contract (3Y/12M), no thanks. Let someone else pay him.

Frankly even that's too much. He's injury prone, fumble prone, and a dummy as far as football IQ. He's a great home run threat, has good speed and moves, but the negatives far outweigh his positives, IMO. 

3 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

I'd rather not give him a 2nd contract, unless it's extremely team friendly and tied to him staying healthy. I doubt he would go for it. I'd much rather just move on, and draft another RB in rounds 3-4, and/or bring in another RB, like D'Ernest Johnson. 

Sanders, be it from us or someone else, probably will have to sign a 1 year prove-it deal.  He has major durability issues despite never shouldering a heavy load.  He has regressed as a receiver every year he's been in the league.  And most importantly, Siri has made it very clear through his actions that he's never going to just pound the ball with one back.  So despite this stud OL, Sanders won't have the opportunity in 2022 to ring up contract-year stats.  It's going to be another 800 yard/150 receiving low TD total kind of year for him.

So I'd expect Sanders to take the prove-it deal that gives him the best opportunity to showcase himself.  I'd be OK with the Eagles being one of the teams that offers that prove-it deal...running behind this OL again is the sweetener, but his usage won't satisfy him.

 

 

29 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

Frankly even that's too much. He's injury prone, fumble prone, and a dummy as far as football IQ. He's a great home run threat, has good speed and moves, but the negatives far outweigh his positives, IMO. 

4M for a starting caliber RB is pretty fair. That type of contract is also easy to get out of.

The good news is that I don't see a big bidding war for him due to his durability.

15 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I don't think Sanders will get anything remotely close to Kamara, but I guess you never know.

Basing that off a 2022 16 or 17-game season (a big ask for Sanders, perhaps) at his career rushing average. Would be 3 years from the Kamara deal, so market would theoretically be up.

Another injury plagued season, and I'd imagine he'd have to settle for a relatively modest contract loaded with incentives.

14 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Linderbaum is a luxury pick.  We recently won with our #5 and #6 OGs playing.  Seumalo is coming back and is better than you folks realize.  

This squad is in desperate need of an impact edge rusher.  Can't leave the draft without one.

Not disagreeing at all on the points above.  Let's say if our first pick is at #19 and Thibodeaux, Hutchinson, Karlaftis are gone -- then the Eagles could hope to have these guys on the board at their pick:

David Ojabo -- Michigan

Jermaine Johnson -- Florida State

Kingsley Enagbare -- South Carolina

Myjai Sanders -- Cincinnati

Drake Jackson -- USC

 

Outside of those guys I think the prospects are later Day 2 guys.  Personally I like Enagbare and Johnson from what I've seen, but I have doubts they can be impact edge rushers.

9 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

Running Backs grow on trees and theres no reason to draft them early, nor resign them. Pass. 

Not to mention Sanders isnt great at catching, isnt great as pass blocking and loves to get hurt. 

Guys with his big play ability/burst don't grow on trees. The problem is how to use him properly and how much is that skill by itself worth.

Not going to disagree with your second sentence.

6 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

I think thats a common misconception and folklore of Miles Sanders.  I looked at it a couple weeks back

In the past 2 seasons he's had zero runs over 40 yards. 

In the same time frame he's barely in the top 10 of runs over 20 yards. 

IIRC his long in the last 2 years is 35ish yards

I'm not trying to poo-poo on him, he's a good back, but i have zero issues when he walks. 

I am pretty sure he broke some long runs in 2020. I remember one against the Saints I think

EDIT: Look at long run per game. 82 against the Saints. 74 against BAL and PIT

https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/4045163/type/nfl/year/2020