Loved James Smith out of college. Really wanted the Eagles to pursue him.  I hope they consider him as a replacement punter this week.

UC’s all-time leading punter and a four-time all-conference player, earned First-Team All-AAC recognition in 2017 and 2018 and second-team plaudits in 2019 and 2020 ... became UC’s all-time leader in punting yardage during the Houston game ... kicked 235 times for 10,245 yards and just three touchbacks and was a 2018 All-America selection and finalist for the Ray Guy Award as one of the nation’s best punters ... looking at the UC record book, Smith also sits No. 2 in punting average (43.6) and tied for third in punts (235).

Punted in the CFL last year.

14 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

We were talking about the future at RB earlier today and I stumbled onto Pitt running back Israel Abanikanda. I don’t recall seeing his name in here. He looks pretty good for a guy so assume is no better than a day 3 guy. He’s got some juice. 

If they don't land my dude Zach Charbonnet, he's definitely someone I hope they take a look at it. Quick and breaks alot of tackles. Mocks have him going late RD3-early RD4

 

3 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

I really had no idea about any of it. I didn’t know if it was like a block party that you pay to enter or what. I think I’d rather go to the block party event than sit in the auditorium. 

From everyone I talked to it was awesome just walking around doing the fan experience stuff. I regret not going actually. At the time I wasn’t sure what there was besides the auditorium part so thought I wouldn’t be missing much.

39 minutes ago, Original Sin said:

 Spears from Tulane is another back I really like

Electric, but light - wish he had some PR experience.

1 hour ago, schuy7 said:

I feel like the draft is wayyy better at home. 

It used to be awesome in person back in the days where you’d just show up at the hotel, wait in line for a couple of hours, and be taken to the balcony of the ballroom and watch the all day proceedings from above. You’d strike up some great conversations with fans of other teams who had taken a day off of work.

But nowadays, hell no, I wouldn’t want to be there. I think it started to lose its enjoyment around the same time they started inviting players to attend.

1 hour ago, ManuManu said:

We were talking about the future at RB earlier today and I stumbled onto Pitt running back Israel Abanikanda. I don’t recall seeing his name in here. He looks pretty good for a guy I assume is no better than a day 3 guy. He’s got some juice. 

DraftTek has him rated as the #5 RB and #72 overall … a likely Day 2 pick.

39 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

Electric, but light - wish he had some PR experience.

He was 205 rushing yards of electric in the Cotton Bowl win over USC.

On 1/17/2023 at 7:21 AM, time2rock said:

A Big Difference

Posted: January 16th, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

There are plenty of similarities between the 2017 Eagles and the current team, from coaches to players to style to how the season played out. It is hard to look at this season and not think back to the group that won the Super Bowl and had such a great year.

Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni are both offensive head coaches. They use RPOs and creative calls on offense. Both guys are very aggressive and embrace going for it on 4th downs. They see that as a weapon, not a risk.

Both teams were really good on the line of scrimmage. Heck, there are a lot of key linemen who were on both teams (Kelce, Johnson, Seumalo, Cox, Graham).

Both teams started 10-1. QB injuries hurt both teams down the stretch. The 2017 team finished 13-3 and this team went 14-3. Both were the #1 seed in the NFC, but entered the playoffs with some questions that had experts thinking they wouldn’t make the Super Bowl. We know how 2017 turned out. This year is still a mystery.

Both teams had a QB who was on the way to being NFL MVP prior to getting hurt. Carson Wentz was lost for the season. Fortunately Jalen Hurts only missed a couple of games and will have a chance to show what he can do in the playoffs.

There is one big difference.

Star power.

The 2017 team did things more as a group. No runner ran for more than 4 TDs. No receiver had more than 9 TD catches. No pass rusher had double-digits in sacks. That team relied on starters and role players to get the job done. Depth was crucial.

LeGarrette Blount was the leading rusher, with 766 yards. Three RBs ran for more than 300 yards. Five guys had 174 or more yards.

Zach Ertz led the team with 74 catches and 824 yards. Ten players caught 10 or more passes.

No pass rusher had 20 QB hits. Vinny Curry and Chris Long tied for the team lead with 18 each. Long was a backup and still tied for that lead. Brandon Graham led the team in sacks and TFLs. Long led the team with 4 FFs.

No defender had more than 4 INTs. Seven players had 2 or more. Nickelback Patrick Robinson led the team in PDs with 18.

Think about how different the 2022 team is. Jalen Hurts ran for 13 TDs. Miles Sanders ran for 1,269 yards and 11 TDs. Those were the workhorse runners. Sanders was the only RB to go for more than 240 yards.

DeVonta Smith set an Eagles record for most catches in a season by a wide receiver with 95. AJ Brown set the franchise record for receiving yards with 1,496. Smith had 1,196 of his own. Brown led the team with 11 TD catches. There isn’t a lot of spreading the ball around. The Eagles feed their stud receivers.

The defense also featured stars. Haason Reddick led the team with 16 sacks, 26 QB hits, 5 FFs and 3 FRs. Josh Sweat led the team in TFLs and was second in sacks and QB hits. There were a lot of good pass rushers this season, but Reddick and Sweat were the stars.

CJ Gardner-Johnson led the NFL with 6 INTs. CBs Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Josiah Scott all had 2 or more. No other player had more than one.

This isn’t an agrument for one way or the other, just a noticeable difference in the two teams. There is no magic formula in football. You need to do what you do well. The 2017 did a great job of getting the most out of everyone. The Eagles won the Super Bowl with their backup QB. Rookie RB Corey Clement had the game of his life on the biggest stage of his career. Rookie Derek Barnett had the fumble recovery that helped to get the Eagles their final points. Third string TE Trey Burton threw the Philly Special TD pass.

This Eagles team features top end talent. The 2017 team had 2 first team All Pro selections (Kelce, Johnson) and 2 backups (Cox, Wentz). The current team had 2 first teamers (Kelce, Johnson) and 4 backups (Hurts, Brown, Reddick, Bradberry). The 2017 team had 6 Pro Bowl selections (4 starters, 2 backups). The current team led the league with 8 Pro Bowl selections.

The 2017 team performed at a high level in the postseason. Pederson and his staff pushed the right buttons to get that group to play smart, aggressive, physical football. Anyone who has watched a lot of Eagles playoff action over the years has seen teams that came up small. The moment got too big for them. That didn’t happen in 2017. If anything, they rose to the moment.

That team was helped by being considered underdogs. After the Wentz injury, the Super Bowl expectations went away. There wasn’t pressure to win. They were stuck with Nick Foles at QB and there was no way he was going to lead them to a title. Right?

This team will have Hurts on Saturday. He’s not 100 percent, but it seems like pain management is the biggest issue for him at this point. This shouldn’t be like a knee or ankle that significantly hampers his performance. Still, with his injury and some sloppy games late in the season, most analysts seem to think SF is the team to beat in the NFC. That could be a favor to the Eagles, who would gladly embrace the underdog role once again. NFL coaches and players will do anything for an edge, no matter how silly it may seem.

It will be interesting to see how this team does. They had a special season. Can they top it off with a special postseason?

*****

I like Eli a lot more on TV than I did as an opponent. He’s actually kinda funny.

If Daniel Jones wants to honor Eli, he’ll need to throw a pick or two.

http://igglesblitz.com/2023/01/a-big-difference-2/

What are "double birds”?

6 minutes ago, mattwill said:

What are "double birds”?

 

6 hours ago, mattwill said:

DraftTek has him rated as the #5 RB and #72 overall … a likely Day 2 pick.

Homerun speed, can run through arm tackles, more of a one cut runner that stays N/S - he broke Tony Dorsett’s Pitt single game rushing record earlier this year (320yds, 6TDs) against VaTech. While some of the runs come out of the mesh, many are out of the I or he’s winding up from 7yds behind the LOS - wish we did more of that stuff. Hands seems OK, but mostly just leaking out the backfield stuff - I figured he’d go in the area of our 3rd round pick.

6 hours ago, mattwill said:

He was 205 rushing yards of electric in the Cotton Bowl win over USC.

He has exceptional stop/start/cutting ability with a nice burst and good long speed, isn’t going to run anybody over but a real headache in space - very smooth athlete. Made some nice catches, but not really used too much that way at Tulane so kind of a projection there in terms route running/pass blocking and return ability. Due to his size you worry about durability and how he can push through traffic/blitz pickup, but has nice vision to exploit creases. Mid-round pick, 4th-5th (if we had one)?

9 hours ago, BigEFly said:

Loved James Smith out of college. Really wanted the Eagles to pursue him.  I hope they consider him as a replacement punter this week.

UC’s all-time leading punter and a four-time all-conference player, earned First-Team All-AAC recognition in 2017 and 2018 and second-team plaudits in 2019 and 2020 ... became UC’s all-time leader in punting yardage during the Houston game ... kicked 235 times for 10,245 yards and just three touchbacks and was a 2018 All-America selection and finalist for the Ray Guy Award as one of the nation’s best punters ... looking at the UC record book, Smith also sits No. 2 in punting average (43.6) and tied for third in punts (235).

Punted in the CFL last year.

What's remarkable is that he did that in one game...

2 hours ago, Waiting4Someday said:

Homerun speed, can run through arm tackles, more of a one cut runner that stays N/S - he broke Tony Dorsett’s Pitt single game rushing record earlier this year (320yds, 6TDs) against VaTech. While some of the runs come out of the mesh, many are out of the I or he’s winding up from 7yds behind the LOS - wish we did more of that stuff. Hands seems OK, but mostly just leaking out the backfield stuff - I figured he’d go in the area of our 3rd round pick.

I’m surprised he’s expected to go that high. I haven’t read or heard any buzz about him, plus it’s an insanely deep RB class. 

11 hours ago, HazletonEagle said:

Theres no reason to think it was something different than SC. Those can, and often do linger for a very long time.  A month and a half is nothing.

Also, if he had a broken clavicle he would have surgery so he could return sooner, with the strength of the steel plate. And, we wouldnt have to worry about long term soreness like we now have to worry with an SC. A clavicle fracture would be better, not more severe. 

Gotcha 

Very much appreciate the national media hyping up the Giants.

Oh yeah I've been hearing it all over the morning national talk radio - lots of people think we're in trouble 

12 minutes ago, mikemack8 said:

Oh yeah I've been hearing it all over the morning national talk radio - lots of people think we're in trouble 

I don’t see how we can even compete, especially after we got beat by their backups.

Wunderbar!

Man this place is dead.  Lead-up to a divisional round of playoffs and hardly any activity.  Guess that's what happens when you just start banning people all the time over BS. 

5 hours ago, rrfierce said:

 

That's a good fit for them.  

3 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Wunderbar!

I’d rather play the Chiefs there than in Kansas City.

4 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I’d rather play the Chiefs there than in Kansas City.

Was thinking the same thing…hope it works out that way

13 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Man this place is dead.  Lead-up to a divisional round of playoffs and hardly any activity.  Guess that's what happens when you just start banning people all the time over BS. 

Who was banned besides Bacarty?

21 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Man this place is dead.  Lead-up to a divisional round of playoffs and hardly any activity.  Guess that's what happens when you just start banning people all the time over BS. 

banning people for trying to get someone else banned by forcing him to use a swastika as their avatar is BS?… you know what was really nice when you weren’t here and bacarty was not here? much less fighting and no one having to deal with your guys’ constant bs narratives like we are doomed cause our punter got hurt in a game. So if you wanna leave it any point in time because you’re irritated that somebody got banned for forcing somebody else to use a swastika as an avatar you go right ahead.