Eagles News: Wide receiver still listed as Philadelphia’s biggest weakness

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Eagles News: Wide receiver still listed as Philadelphia’s biggest weakness

 

Every NFC Team’s Biggest Weakness Going Into 2020 - Sports Illustrated
Eagles. WIDE RECEIVER: Jalen Reagor and Carson Wentz have been working out together and could formulate the basis of a quarterback-receiver combination that Eagles fans have been pining for. There is little question that Philadelphia struggled with depth at the position, though, which is perhaps why they ran a majority of their offensive plays out of a 12-personnel grouping in 2019 (one running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers). They were one of four teams in 2019 that did not utilize a three wide receiver set in more than 50% of their plays. Meanwhile, the league is expanding. The Cardinals were using four wide receiver sets on 31% of their plays and seven teams used four-wide sets on more than 5% of their snaps.

Eagles Question of the Day: Who is your favorite player on the current roster? - BGN
Today’s Eagles Question of the Day asks you to identify your favorite player on the current roster. Narrowing it down to a single pick might be challenging for some but not for me. It’s easily Brandon Graham. Also known as Brandon Lee Graham.

Eagles new player (or current player with new role) series: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside edition - PhillyVoice
With Alshon Jeffery’s future with the team uncertain, the Eagles would love to see the light go on for Arcega-Whiteside and become a competent "X” receiver for them in 2020. That spot is there for the taking. While I do believe that Arcega-Whiteside’s issues were mostly mental, a common occurrence for young receivers, he’s still going to have find ways to win significantly more on contested catch opportunities than he did as a rookie while he continues to learn the subtleties of playing receiver in the NFL.

Finding 2020’s breakout wide receiver: JJ Arcega-Whiteside - PFF
The production range for Arcega-Whiteside’s comps is poor, and another discouragement, at least in the short-term, is the depth chart. It’s weird to think that a rookie who saw a lot of the field could be pushed out the next season, but Arcega-Whiteside is, at best, third on the receiver depth chart. When you consider the draft capital the Philadelphia Eagles spent on Jalen Reagor and the flier they took on Marquise Goodwin, Arcega-Whiteside could realistically be fourth or fifth in the wide receiver rotation.

Derek Barnett - Iggles Blitz
Schwartz explains in this video how he and Washburn came up with the Wide 9 attack. One of the things he emphasizes is that DEs aren’t just running around. They have very specific landmarks. Washburn can teach details like that to Barnett and help him to get to the QB more often. I’m sure Chris Wilson and Philip Daniels taught the same ideas the past few years, but Washburn is a guru. He helped create the system and then coached it for a decade. He can teach that in his sleep. Barnett shows real flashes. He just needs to put it all together and play at a high level on a consistent basis.

Agent’s Take: Todd Gurley, J.J. Watt and eight other players at a crossroads heading into 2020 - CBS Sports
There have been numerous reports of a strained relationship with quarterback Carson Wentz. Alshon Jeffery’s contract and his December surgery for a Lisfranc foot injury may be the only things keeping on the Eagles’ roster. The injury kills his trade value, and cutting him is cost prohibitive because a 2019 contract restructure fully guaranteed his $9.91 million 2020 base salary. Although the Eagles would have $15,396,500 and 10,609,500 salary cap charges in 2020 and 2021 by releasing Jeffery, skepticism about him being in Philadelphia this season exists. Assuming Jeffery can put the foot injury behind him and is still with the team, it remains to be seen what type of opportunity he’ll get with a healthy DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor being selected in the first round and Marquise Goodwin’s acquisition via trade.

Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson headline Eagles’ virtual guest list of stars - ESPN
Jackson is one of several star speakers who have addressed the Eagles during their virtual offseason. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and six-time All-Star pitcher CC Sabathia have also made appearances. All are former champions. The latest guest appearance was by Los Angeles Angels star outfielder and Eagles fan Mike Trout, who addressed the team on Thursday. "It gave our guys a different voice to hear from,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "They all have had great careers, and felt that it would be a good idea for our guys to learn from some of the greats in their sport.”

Marquand Manuel returns to the sidelines with a renewed focus after a year of introspection and soul searching - PE.com
According to Marquand Manuel, life is 10 percent of what happens to you and the other 90 percent is how you react. That 10 percent may seem small, but for Manuel, it has encompassed a lot. The 10 percent includes growing up in poverty in a family of 18 children, becoming a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, waiting until the sixth round to be chosen in the NFL Draft, playing for six NFL teams, being hired as an NFL coach, getting fired as an NFL coach, and more.

Guest: Michael MacCambridge On Perils Of A 17-Game NFL Season - FMIA
I would love to see the Philadelphia Eagles return to the gleaming kelly green throwback uniforms that they wore in the Michael Vick years.

L

Cowboys added CeeDee Lamb to one of 2019’s best wide receiver duos in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup - Blogging The Boys
Production with the ball matters, but obviously everything is important for context. That being said, we have established objectively - beyond the obvious wow factors - that Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup are one of the best wide receiver pairs in the NFL. That’s cool. You know what’s even cooler, though? The Buccaneers may have added Tom Brady to their offense, Rob Gronkowski will sure be interesting, but the Dallas Cowboys literally added to their wide receiver group when they drafted CeeDee Lamb... one of the best route runners to enter the NFL in some time.

Doctor: If NFL starts season, it probably won’t finish. Here’s why football is in danger - NJ.com
"I think it’s not necessarily because of the NFL,” Baker said. "I think it’s because of the number of cases we’re going to see with the uptick in the United States. We were expecting a second wave to start in October, November. But with things going the way they are, this wave we’re in right now may not end. So you’re talking about a long-term consequence of what could happen if we don’t, as a country, get everything under control.”

30 Moments of Pride: Michael Sam records first NFL sack against Packers - Outsports
It’s fair to say Michael Sam entered Rams training camp with a bit more fanfare than normal seventh-round picks. The SEC Defensive Player of the Year came out prior to the 2014 NFL Draft, leading to a full-on media firestorm. When the Rams selected Sam with the No. 249 overall pick, he kissed his boyfriend on live television. It was one of the most powerful sports moments of the year. Sam’s first and only training camp with the Rams was incident free, outside of a shoddy and unnecessary ESPN report about his showering habits. Chris Long came to Sam’s defense, telling ESPN "everybody” was over his sexuality except them.

"Black Lives Matter” has become a global rallying cry against racism and police brutality - Vox
Thousands of protesters marched against police brutality and racism in Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday. The demonstration was about George Floyd, the black man killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. But the protest was also about Belgium: its colonial history, its current inequities. Demonstrators scaled a statue of King Leopold II, the Belgian ruler who killed millions of Congolese people, and hoisted the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo below it.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2020/6/15/21291299/eagles-news-wide-receiver-philadelphia-biggest-weakness-wr-jj-arcega-whiteside-nfl-football-nfc

I think there's certainly a case to say that WR is still our biggest weakness. It's the position we addressed most in the off season but it still comes with major question marks. 

Can Desean stay healthy? Can Alshon still produce once he gets healthy? Can Reagor have significant production as a rookie? Can Goodwin stay healthy and contribute? And what about the late round picks Hightower and Watkins?

[time2rock]

I don't know about biggest weakness (LB comes to mind) but it is still up there.  Sure they added some new pieces but mostly with draft picks - those inexperienced rookies have a lot to prove.  And obviously DJax needs to stay healthy, which has been difficult for him for most of his career.  

[ManchesterEagle]

7 hours ago, time2rock said:

I don't know about biggest weakness (LB comes to mind) but it is still up there.  Sure they added some new pieces but mostly with draft picks - those inexperienced rookies have a lot to prove.  And obviously DJax needs to stay healthy, which has been difficult for him for most of his career.  

For me it's clearly not the biggest weakness of this team.

It does however have the biggest range of possible outcomes in that there is scope for us to be stacked at WR (Jeffery and Jackson are effective coming back from injuries and stay healthy, JJAW develops, Reagor is a first round stud and immediate contributor, Ward continues to play well etc etc), or for everything to go wrong like it did last year. I think the likely outcome is somewhere in between (We get 20 effective healthy games between Jeffery and Jackson, Reagor puts up 500 - 700 yards, Ward puts up a solid year).

And the most likely in between result will make it a clearly stronger unit than our linebackers, where just matching up player by player:

1 Gerry - solid but limited low round draft pick veteran (I would take a combination of Jackson and Jeffery over him)

2 TJ Edwards - an undrafted rookie who played well in limited snaps (Similar to Ward, but I think Ward played and showed more)

3 Davion Taylor - an end of 3rd round LB who needs development (Reagor as a more polished player and first rounder is far more likely to be effective in his first year).

I think WR, in the in between outcome, is also likely better than the Safety position for the Eagles as well. 

It's just everybody gets emotional about WR, whereas people are far more relaxed about LB and safety (at least until Mills gets beat a couple of times deep early in the season or misses some assignments).

[UK_EaglesFan89]

2 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

For me it's clearly not the biggest weakness of this team.

I wouldn't agree that it's clear. 

I would agree though that overall there are other positions of major concern as well as WR. I think a case can be made for any of them. 

[DeathByEagle]

WR is the biggest question mark still on this team for me. We have no clue what we have till mid season and seeing how these rookies turn out and if they can scheme in Whiteside correctly. LB is not as bad as people think, esp since we dont use many LB sets. I think people are forgetting about Brown as well at LB. He is a nice player they added cheap. 

[time2rock]

2 hours ago, DeathByEagle said:

WR is the biggest question mark still on this team for me. We have no clue what we have till mid season and seeing how these rookies turn out and if they can scheme in Whiteside correctly. LB is not as bad as people think, esp since we dont use many LB sets. I think people are forgetting about Brown as well at LB. He is a nice player they added cheap. 

I think the same thought process that applies to Hargrave and Slay (the question marks around vets needing to prove themselves in Schwartz's system) apply to Brown as well.  There are so many ifs.  IF Gerry continues developing into a decent starter and IF Edwards takes that huge step forward expected of a player in his 2nd year and IF Brown (or one of the others) steps in and plays solid ball, then you are right ... LB isn't much of a concern.  Is it a concern now (before they get a chance to prove themselves)?  Absolutely.  In wait-and-see mode here (ditto on WR).   

Anyway, S also a concern.  Mills replacing Jenkins?  How will Parks adjust to playing in this scheme?  

[DeathByEagle]

2 hours ago, time2rock said:

I think the same thought process that applies to Hargrave and Slay (the question marks around vets needing to prove themselves in Schwartz's system) apply to Brown as well.  There are so many ifs.  IF Gerry continues developing into a decent starter and IF Edwards takes that huge step forward expected of a player in his 2nd year and IF Brown (or one of the others) steps in and plays solid ball, then you are right ... LB isn't much of a concern.  Is it a concern now (before they get a chance to prove themselves)?  Absolutely.  In wait-and-see mode here (ditto on WR).   

Anyway, S also a concern.  Mills replacing Jenkins?  How will Parks adjust to playing in this scheme?  

I agree, as many know Im not a Jim fan and hate his scheme. He sets the LBs and CBs up to fail. There success is fully on the dline getting instant pressure every play. if not the offense knows the back end coverage every play. I dont see Slay dominating  like he did in Detroit. He only played one year with Jim and it was not impressive. He began his pro bowl career after Jim left. Im just waiting for 2021 and a new DC since Jims contract will be up. If the FO wanted him back they would have extended him by now. They dont wait till the final year when they want to keep someone. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

4 hours ago, DeathByEagle said:

There success is fully on the dline getting instant pressure every play

Good job we have a really good DL then! And should get more pressure with Jackson back and Hargrave added.