2 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

Afan, its a goddamn discussion board. We're going to discuss the most important position till we're blue in the face. I don't know what you don't understand about that. 

The topic is not pillar approved.

12 minutes ago, austinfan said:

That covers the controversy. And explains why all the hand wringing around here is a waste of time.

Howie will let the season play out, then make his decision, he has the ammo to make changes, but Hurts determines his own fate.

Dude, this entire message board is effectively a waste of time.

4 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

Afan, its a goddamn discussion board. We're going to discuss the most important position till we're blue in the face. I don't know what you don't understand about that. 

15 minutes ago, austinfan said:

That covers the controversy. And explains why all the hand wringing around here is a waste of time.

Howie will let the season play out, then make his decision, he has the ammo to make changes, but Hurts determines his own fate.

Howie threw money at restructuring Jeffery when it was clearly wrong to do so.  

Howie brought Desean Jackson back to steal money and live in the infirmary

Howie picked up an extra year of Agholor when it was obvious he stunk

Howie brought Jalen Mills back to play safety when it was obvious he stunk.

 

Very few people have the blind unwavering confidence in Howie's decisions that you have.  Can't make this type of mistake at QB (again). 

3 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

A bunch of Oscars and Emmys right there.

Jack Warden, the juror in the hat, went on to play George Halas in Brian's Song.

1 minute ago, Alphagrand said:

Howie threw money at restructuring Jeffery when it was clearly wrong to do so.  

Howie brought Desean Jackson back to steal money and live in the infirmary

Howie picked up an extra year of Agholor when it was obvious he stunk

Howie brought Jalen Mills back to play safety when it was obvious he stunk.

 

Very few people have the blind unwavering confidence in Howie's decisions that you have.  Can't make this type of mistake at QB (again). 

This was all documented as Chips fault, nice try. 

3 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

A bunch of Oscars and Emmys right there.

Jack Warden, the juror in the hat, went on to play George Halas in Brian's Song.

Almost every one of Lee J. Cobb's lines in that film are gif-worthy.  He was also fantastic in On The Waterfront with Brando:

6 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

This was all documented as Chips fault, nice try. 

I blame McNabb.

3 minutes ago, downundermike said:

I blame McNabb.

 

30 minutes ago, TorontoEagle said:

Afan, its a goddamn discussion board. We're going to discuss the most important position till we're blue in the face. I don't know what you don't understand about that. 

I know, for me, my concern is that Howie and Nick think they see something that really isn't there.  Lots of talk about Hurts' intangibles, but there have to be tangibles there to succeed.

I don't think the defense is going to be good enough to carry the load most weeks; the 2nd string guys haven't been very good as a unit in the preseason games, so depth will be a concern -- especially in the secondary.  My guess is they will be a middle of the pack unit.  If the team is going to win 11+ games I think the offense will need to lead, which means some games will need to be won 34-28 and 35-31.  

1 minute ago, Alphagrand said:

I know, for me, my concern is that Howie and Nick think they see something that really isn't there.  Lots of talk about Hurts' intangibles, but there have to be tangibles there to succeed.

I don't think the defense is going to be good enough to carry the load most weeks; the 2nd string guys haven't been very good as a unit in the preseason games, so depth will be a concern -- especially in the secondary.  My guess is they will be a middle of the pack unit.  If the team is going to win 11+ games I think the offense will need to lead, which means some games will need to be won 34-28 and 35-31.  

I'm actually less concerned about Howie/Jeff. I think they know they're moving on this year, unless Hurts blows the roof off. 

Nick...I'm still not sure how to evaluate him. He does a lot of stuff that bothers me, but the players do seem to like him. What looks like an easy start to the season schedule wise may help him solidify his standing, but it'll be interesting to see how the team responds if we go into a prolonged slump. 

How are we supposed to win another bloody super bowl without JJAW as TE#4 ?

Answer THAT, geniuses !

We may discover some things about last year’s offense this year.  Could Reagor’s lazy route running and Quez’s learning routes impacted the play calling?  Could the combined greenness of Mailata and Dickerson have caused the Eagles to go run heavy and favor the right side for passing (with a nod to the greenness of Hurts as QB and his tendency to favor the right side)?  Two "pass catchers”, JJAW and Stoll, didn’t last year.   

Another year more experienced for Quez.  You could really see improvement in his route running as the year went on.  Supposedly, Reagor is being more consistent this summer but we saw a couple of incidents this past game that leaned towards past bad tendencies. A poor sell on a run (pointed out by @justrelax) and the stick and not move towards the throw on the Minshew short hop.  But Reagor is #5 WR this year not the #2 then #3.  JJAW is gone, replaced by Pascal, a better route runner and pretty equal as a blocker.  Brown and Pascal are going to help this team take a step forward in the passing game.  (Hopefully Stoll steps further forward as a receiver too but then again, Calcaterra may be an option too.  People forget that trading Ertz changed the offense too.)

Dickerson and Mailata grew as the year went on.  They have another year together too as opposed to gelling as the season went on.  Seumalo at RG should help too.  

Hurts has also got another year.  Hurts isn’t dumb.  He’s aware that rehabilitating Carson was the first choice last year.  He’s heard the rumblings that the Eagles were interested in Zach Wilson.  He’s heard the rumblings that the Eagles were interested in Russell Wilson and may have even inquired about Watson.  He saw the meme of the Tampa coach saying he can’t read.  Some encouraging signs in TC and the first PS game.  A bit more pocket presence although the running tendency lingers.  Threw on the run keeping his eyes downfield.  Has thrown over the middle.  Even conversation by the Beats of a slant pattern to Brown becoming a staple.  Thrown to his left.  One of the things that impressed me this past practice with the Browns was commentary that he was throwing tight into contested ball territory. The better QBs have a little gunslinger in their game.

There is a broad tendency to think the offensive change last year was solely on Hurts.  That ignores the trade of Ertz.  That ignores that suddenly the second TE was more of a run blocker than a receiver.  Stoll wasn’t the smoothest route runner at Nebraska.  It ignores that Reagor was lazy and Quez had a limited route tree. It ignores the revolving door at G, including how green Dickerson (and to some degree, Mailata) was and Driscoll’s at RG, Herbig’s and Opeta’s limitations as pass blockers.  It also ignores that Sanders took a step back in pass protection and Gainwell wasn’t good at it.  Finally, it ignores how thrashed the defense was and that running was producing more extended drives.  Sisposs sucked at distance punts but was actually near the top in punts inside the twenty, and running helped that some.  

The season will tell if the entire offense takes a step further.

Officially out for Week 3

Chase Young to start the season on PUP, which means he misses the Eagles game.

9 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Chase Young to start the season on PUP, which means he misses the Eagles game.

A big deal. Their front 4 is still good: Sweat/Payne/Allen, but Young makes it scary. Is Casey Toohill really going to play that many snaps?

I am leaning towards Jack Anderson making the team.  I could actually see Anderson and Driscoll being the active OL during games, with Dillard, Jurgens and Opeta (if not on the PS) relegated to the inactive. That doesn’t mean that Anderson is better than Jurgens or even Opeta, although as to the latter, it looks pretty close. It doesn’t mean that Driscoll is better than Dillard or even Opeta although as to the latter, I think he is. Nope, I think it goes down to versatility.  Sure, Seumalo and Dickerson can play C, but you don’t want to move OL around mid game.  Jurgens, while looking great at C, hasn’t got any snaps at G.  Anderson has seen snaps at every IOL position.  Opeta is strictly a G.  Driscoll has seen snaps at G and both OT positions. Heaven forbid either LT or C go down.  Who plays reserve during a game doesn’t have to be the best replacement, just a player who can fill in for the remainder of a game.  If a full game absence, Dillard or Jurgens are the obvious choices.  But as to reserve players, Anderson and Driscoll seem the better option.  That way they can go seven active OL instead of 8. @justrelax, is that out on a limb too far?

 

1 minute ago, mattwill said:

 

What are the Vegas odds. May be worth a bet.  

3 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

I am leaning towards Jack Anderson making the team.  I could actually see Anderson and Driscoll being the active OL during games, with Dillard, Jurgens and Opeta (if not on the PS) relegated to the inactive. That doesn’t mean that Anderson is better than Jurgens or even Opeta, although as to the latter, it looks pretty close. It doesn’t mean that Driscoll is better than Dillard or even Opeta although as to the latter, I think he is. Nope, I think it goes down to versatility.  Sure, Seumalo and Dickerson can play C, but you don’t want to move OL around mid game.  Jurgens, while looking great at C, hasn’t got any snaps at G.  Anderson has seen snaps at every IOL position.  Opeta is strictly a G.  Driscoll has seen snaps at G and both OT positions. Heaven forbid either LT or C go down.  Who plays reserve during a game doesn’t have to be the best replacement, just a player who can fill in for the remainder of a game.  If a full game absence, Dillard or Jurgens are the obvious choices.  But as to reserve players, Anderson and Driscoll seem the better option.  That way they can go seven active OL instead of 8. @justrelax, is that out on a limb too far?

I think Dillard stays active. Apparently Driscoll just took some snaps for the the first time ever at LT at the Browns joint practice so not sure he's ready to handle the swing T role.

 

Interesting that teams are moving players to the Reserve/PUP for the 80 man cutdown.  Frankly, given when their injuries occurred, that makes sense for both Toth and Jackson.  

2 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I think Dillard stays active. Apparently Driscoll just took some snaps for the the first time ever at LT at the Browns joint practice so not sure he's ready to handle the swing T role.

That would almost guarantee that Jurgens is inactive then, wouldn’t it?  Or do they risk Dillard at RT if Driscoll is needed at a G spot?  Do they risk Jurgens, untested, at a G spot?

4 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

 

Makes sense.  He was just a Gainwell/Scott fill in when they weren’t practicing. Kid has some scoot so they may keep his number.  Not sure Huntley looked any better.  

25 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Officially out for Week 3

Nooo!

I don't want any excuses when we play them.  Wins mean soooo much more when you play a team that's at full strength.

Because Brandon Cooks didn't finish the game, I've never really accepted the SB victory.