3 minutes ago, TEW said:

Here is an excerpt from a really good article on the impact of a punter:

https://www.fieldgulls.com/platform/amp/2018/5/7/17327282/punt-wins-above-average
 

In a sport with only 17 regular season games and at most 4 playoff games, 1 extra win is significant. 

Sure... but the article says that the BEST punting performances account for AT MOST, one win.

Just now, Iggles_Phan said:

Sure... but the article says that the BEST punting performance account for AT MOST, one win.

Performances… plural.

Basically if you have an all-pro punter you win about 1 extra game. That’s the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs for a lot of teams. 

25 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Charlie Smith was about as loved by Eagles fans during his career as Todd Pinkston was during his. Basically, fans pretty much thought he sucked. He was okay, I guess. But I find it funny to see his pairing with Carmichael as being particularly noteworthy.

One pair that I didn't go far enough back that was pretty good together was Ben Hawkins and Harold Jackson in the early 70s.

I didn't want to go that far back because it's just so hard to compare today's games with the game back then since teams ran so much and they pass so much now  gling back to 80 was pushing it but i didnt want to exclude Carmichael.

 Hawkins and Jackson  had a season together where they both had 600+ yards receiving 

Harold Jackson would go onto to put up some good seasons for the rams and Hawkins had one really good year on a really bad eagles team☹️

 

6 hours ago, Utebird said:

Yup remember there being a little bit of talk about this guy on the board during draft time.

Howie put all his eggs in the oft injured cheap guys 

Maybe Spears didn't have enough of an injury history for Howie🤷‍♂️

VanSumeren has them crazy measurables for a Michigan Fullback.  Much better than Spears.  And it cost what a udfa cost. 

1 minute ago, TEW said:

Performances… plural.

Basically if you have an all-pro punter you win about 1 extra game. That’s the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs for a lot of teams. 

Yeah.. I added the 's' later.   

 

I think that what they are trying to do is admirable, but the final statement qualifies it.. "at most" which means it may not actually equate to that as well.  Regardless... our punting situation isn't great... but I'm also not sure that Araiza improves it by a full game.  

Jayson Tatum reminds me of the Russell Wilson of basketball. There’s something so robotic and unamiable about him

4 hours ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Is it wrong that I am rooting for Covey hamstring to keep him out and it gets him cut. 

of course

3 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Yeah.. I added the 's' later.   

 

I think that what they are trying to do is admirable, but the final statement qualifies it.. "at most" which means it may not actually equate to that as well.  Regardless... our punting situation isn't great... but I'm also not sure that Araiza improves it by a full game.  

For our team I think it’s absolutely worth the risk. We want to maximize our chances of winning the Super Bowl. An all-pro level punter would be worth 5% of your wins in an undefeated Super Bowl season. Each regulars season loss makes his share of wins greater.

Using a thought experiment, imagine a reasonably likely scenario of Hurts missing 3 games due to injury. Mariota is the starter, so we go with a run based offense, ball control, etc. In this scenario, a top 5 type punter is likely to be the difference in one game. And that one game is likely to be the difference in us having HFA or not. And HFA is likely the difference between going back to the Super Bowl.

9 minutes ago, Random Reglar said:

VanSumeren has them crazy measurables for a Michigan Fullback.  Much better than Spears.  And it cost what a udfa cost. 

Except VanSumeren wasn't drafted to play RB... 

Now if he was ,then I'd say why the heck are the eagles drafting a FB???

And before you go onto say well he has better measurables than a RB that was drafted remember that a college team first saw him as a FB not a RB then another college team saw him as a LB not a RB and then he was signed as a LB not a RB 

I know you get all slobbery over your freakbeasts thing but just because Vansumeren has better athletic testing numbers than a RB Doesn't mean he can or should Play RB 

Having said that we'll see if he even makes the team 

I like the kid gonna be a number crunch at LB we'll see 

I imagine they'll cut him and chance they can get him back on the PS.

 

Who woulda thought Steve Keim would spend so much time on the EMB Blog

44 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Well, since we are discussing pairings... he gets the benefit of riding Carmichael's coattails.    

 

But, since you are here... who would you put as the No.2 pairing?

Tough one. Quick and Carter I guess despite the obvious caveats. They were both HOF caliber players.

2 hours ago, Utebird said:

Not sure I'd lump quez in with the aforementioned, dude was a late round pick, scraped and clawed his way onto the roster and made some big plays the year before last .

I think the decrease in snaps and touches really messed with him, I look for him to have a bounce back year this year.

But yeah I agree, intangibles can be underrated and pure physical tools overrated, then again those physical tools are easier to measure where as intangibles aren't 

I was thinking of the OG from Baylor, who wanted to be a fireman.

15 minutes ago, Utebird said:

Except VanSumeren wasn't drafted to play RB... 

Now if he was ,then I'd say why the heck are the eagles drafting a FB???

And before you go onto say well he has better measurables than a RB that was drafted remember that a college team first saw him as a FB not a RB then another college team saw him as a LB not a RB and then he was signed as a LB not a RB 

I know you get all slobbery over your freakbeasts thing but just because Vansumeren has better athletic testing numbers than a RB Doesn't mean he can or should Play RB 

Having said that we'll see if he even makes the team 

I like the kid gonna be a number crunch at LB we'll see 

I imagine they'll cut him and chance they can get him back on the PS.

 

Depends on STs, they probably won't want Dean on Sts, Bradley is injured, and not sure Cunningham or Morrow excel there.

If he shines on Sts, he could win a job on that basis.

36 minutes ago, Texas Eagle said:

Couldn’t start on the Texans. This is pure rationalizing.

Didn't want to pay him 14M/Y. It's not the same thing as he can't play.

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

It seems weird that teams would be hinging on this civil suit. The burden of proof for criminal and civil cases is very different. The process is different. If he's found liable in the civil case, but the DA decided there wasn't enough(or strong enough) evidence against him, they'd value the result of the civil process but not the criminal process it seems weird.

Say he is found liable. Then what, no one offers him a job? That doesn't mean guilt, civil cases are more subjective than criminal cases. In a criminal case, it needs to be beyond a reasonable doubt, so if a jury does their civic duty, it should be very hard to convict based on the burden of proof. In civil cases, it's a preponderance of evidence. Meaning that there needs to be a sum of evidence. In civil cases, the decision is more "What is most likely?" The burden of proof is a lot less. You can be found liable in a civil case and not have committed the act.

There has to be some standard when it comes what to value in the NFL, and I think it should begin and end based on if a player is criminally responsible. Once you bring civil cases into it, you're getting into a lot murkier waters.

If you’re that concerned about a punter, you should be pushing for the Eagles to bring in Michael Turk before the Colts game.  He also kicks it far (not sure about high) and spends much less time in court for raping people 

29 minutes ago, Utebird said:

One pair that I didn't go far enough back that was pretty good together was Ben Hawkins and Harold Jackson in the early 70s.

I didn't want to go that far back because it's just so hard to compare today's games with the game back then since teams ran so much and they pass so much now  gling back to 80 was pushing it but i didnt want to exclude Carmichael.

 Hawkins and Jackson  had a season together where they both had 600+ yards receiving 

Harold Jackson would go onto to put up some good seasons for the rams and Hawkins had one really good year on a really bad eagles team☹️

 

I was only a kid at the time, but I was a big Harold Jackson fan.  I kinda sorta remember arguing with my sister (bizarre because none of my sisters followed sports and were only aware of the Eagles because my father would sometimes drag them to games with us) who was better, Jackson or Hawkins. I preferred Jackson. She preferred Hawkins. They were both good but I think hindsight would agree with me.

I believe Jackson was dealt to the Rams in the hilariously one sided deal for a virtually washed up Roman Gabriel. It’s a shame that most Eagles fans today don’t have the disdain for Mike McCormack that he deserved. They were bad when he took over, but he wrecked the future of the franchise. I guess Pete Retzlaff might have had his share of involvement too. Damn, the seventies sucked. From the time I started following football in the third grade until the time I graduated high school, the Eagles never had a winning record. Thankfully college was a lot better. 

14 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

If you’re that concerned about a punter, you should be pushing for the Eagles to bring in Michael Turk before the Colts game.  He also kicks it far (not sure about high) and spends much less time in court for raping people 

I don't care if they bring in the trash guy from the movie to punt as long as they find a better one

Good. Good. 

 

4 hours ago, Texas Eagle said:

They’re going to trade for someone

the ILBs look good to me.  Last year, the Eagles had 6 ILBs.   2,  Edwards and White, played almost all the snaps,  100 Edwards 75 White.  And then there were 4 ILBs who played a lot of special teams.  Dean, Elliss, Bradley, K Johnson.  Dean won't be playing special teams much this year.  Bradley is hurt.  Assuming that Elliss and K Johnson make the 53,  there are 2 spots needed to be filled for special teams and 1 spot for starter, to get to 6.  People seem to like Cunningham,  let's call him starter, or run stopper starter in a platoon. 2 spots for special teams or platoon.  VanSumeren looked good at special teams and overall and I'd be surprised if they put him as ILB starter,  so I'd say special teams for him.  One spot left.  Is Morrow going to do special teams well?  He is more of a coverage linebacker, so he could platoon with Cunningham.  If they went Morrow, they'd have to find another special teams player.

They could not fill that 6th spot.  They can find LB and ST snaps from players like Nolan Smith or Sydney Brown.   OLB has Reddick getting 75% of the snaps and P Johnson getting 25% last year.  Now throw Nolan Smith into the mix.  Where is he going to get his snaps from.  Riddick is excellent and do the Eagles want to give him fewer snaps?  Do they want to give P Johnson fewer snaps?  That might happen,  but maybe it would be better if Nolan Smith played some snaps at LB.  And also  ST.  Similar to Sydney Brown.  Brown is 211,  5 pounds lighter than Morrow.  Morrow was coverage linebacker.  Can Brown play coverage LB, despite  being a SS?  Does Brown have a clear path to snaps at SS? Brown will be playing special teams. 

To me, there are enough good players in the mix to not worry about it.  Dean and Cunningham.  Others who might get snaps at the Cunningham spot.  Elliss, Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown,  VanSumeren, K Johnson, P Johnson, Morrow.  I'm looking at these names and I'm thinking "is Morrow a 53 guy or a practice squad guy?"  I'm thinking that between Elliss, Smith, Brown (interesting, Smith and Brown are also Eagles WRs) VanSumeren, K and P Johnson,   the snaps that Cunningham isn't playing will be covered adequately.   The Eagles could just say "wow, look how amazingly good Nolan Smith looks, let's just give Nolan Smith the other LB spot next to Dean".   That sounds good to me.  Whatever they do, there isn't a problem.  However if Nolan Smith is playing all the time on defense,  he isn't playing Special Teams. 

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

I think that sucks and is terrible for the players. If the prosecutor comes out and says unequivocally: "Evidence shows Matt Araiza was not at the house at the time of the rape." This isn't even a case of "We think he did it, but we didn't believe we had strong enough evidence to take it to trial." They flat out said ostensibly that the evidence shows he had nothing to do with it. Yet teams might be willing to not touch a player based on what a civil case "finds."

Anyone can sue anybody for anything. Lawsuits happen all the time. Often for reasons that are total BS. I think it absolutely sucks for players that all it takes is someone to be sued by someone and they become unhirable. To me, that sets a bad precedent. What if it's found in his favor? Then he basically just lost over a year of his playing career over nothing. That doesn't sit well with me.

I don't believe the civil case would be a distraction. They don't carry the spotlight like criminal cases. Whenever he winds up in a court room, it'll likely happen without anyone knowing until it hits the headlines.

I still think they should bring him in. Can always cut him later and re-sign Siposs if the worst came to absolute worst. No one's going to sign Siposs, he'll remain on the FA market if cut.

You are going to an awful extreme to defend/rationalize for this alleged rapist…

3 minutes ago, Random Reglar said:

the ILBs look good to me.  Last year, the Eagles had 6 ILBs.   2,  Edwards and White, played almost all the snaps,  100 Edwards 75 White.  And then there were 4 ILBs who played a lot of special teams.  Dean, Elliss, Bradley, K Johnson.  Dean won't be playing special teams much this year.  Bradley is hurt.  Assuming that Elliss and K Johnson make the 53,  there are 2 spots needed to be filled for special teams and 1 spot for starter, to get to 6.  People seem to like Cunningham,  let's call him starter, or run stopper starter in a platoon. 2 spots for special teams or platoon.  VanSumeren looked good at special teams and overall and I'd be surprised if they put him as ILB starter,  so I'd say special teams for him.  One spot left.  Is Morrow going to do special teams well?  He is more of a coverage linebacker, so he could platoon with Cunningham.  If they went Morrow, they'd have to find another special teams player.

They could not fill that 6th spot.  They can find LB and ST snaps from players like Nolan Smith or Sydney Brown.   OLB has Reddick getting 75% of the snaps and P Johnson getting 25% last year.  Now throw Nolan Smith into the mix.  Where is he going to get his snaps from.  Riddick is excellent and do the Eagles want to give him fewer snaps?  Do they want to give P Johnson fewer snaps?  That might happen,  but maybe it would be better if Nolan Smith played some snaps at LB.  And also  ST.  Similar to Sydney Brown.  Brown is 211,  5 pounds lighter than Morrow.  Morrow was coverage linebacker.  Can Brown play coverage LB, despite  being a SS?  Does Brown have a clear path to snaps at SS? Brown will be playing special teams. 

To me, there are enough good players in the mix to not worry about it.  Dean and Cunningham.  Others who might get snaps at the Cunningham spot.  Elliss, Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown,  VanSumeren, K Johnson, P Johnson, Morrow.  I'm looking at these names and I'm thinking "is Morrow a 53 guy or a practice squad guy?"  I'm thinking that between Elliss, Smith, Brown (interesting, Smith and Brown are also Eagles WRs) VanSumeren, K and P Johnson,   the snaps that Cunningham isn't playing will be covered adequately.   The Eagles could just say "wow, look how amazingly good Nolan Smith looks, let's just give Nolan Smith the other LB spot next to Dean".   That sounds good to me.  Whatever they do, there isn't a problem.  However if Nolan Smith is playing all the time on defense,  he isn't playing Special Teams. 

So you are good with a 2nd year unproven guy and someone on the street nobody else wanted. Smart plan if you want to fail.

10 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Good. Good. 

 

Listened to a portion of that game on Turds Radio.  They might have lost Overshown from their LB to a bad knee injury.  Sham was just livid that the coaches still had Damone Clark out there late in the 3rd quarter after already losing Overshown early.

Bad coaching is still a thing in the NFL 

2 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Listened to a portion of that game on Turds Radio.  They might have lost Overshown from their LB to a bad knee injury.  Sham was just livid that the coaches still had Damone Clark out there late in the 3rd quarter after already losing Overshown early.

Bad coaching is still a thing in the NFL 

Yeah, I saw that overshown Blakely likely has a torn ACL. Waiting for the MRI to come back today according to reports. Feel bad for the kid

8 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

You are going to an awful extreme to defend/rationalize for this alleged rapist…

I am. I believe very strongly in not punishing those who've not been criminally charged and convicted of criminal acts. Especially when there is next to no evidence that I'm aware of that he's done anything wrong. He's been tarred and feathered and I've not seen any evidence anywhere that he's done anything wrong. This bothers me a lot.

I think as a society we are bloodthirsty to make people pay whenever there is a mere utterance that they have done something wrong. And if and when said accused individual is exonerated, usually nobody cares. Nobody apologizes or feels bad. They kinda shrug their shoulders and move on with their lives. But the ones who've had their lived Fed up don't get the damage done erased.

This is a general principle I will stand by. And I'll do it again if the same thing happens to another player who is never criminally charged with anything and there is no evidence of wrongdoing.

It just happened the other day with Michael Oher. He makes an unsubstantiated claim, it spreads like wildfire, and you have the entire internet calling his adopted family scumbag frauds when Michael Oher didn't prove an ounce of what he alleged. Then the family came out and denied the allegations. Now, I don't know whether or not Michael Oher is lying or telling the truth, but I don't like seeing people piled on and eviscerated just based on mere allegations. I think it's wrong. A major pet peeve of mine.

10 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

I am. I believe very strongly in not punishing those who've not been criminally charged and convicted of criminal acts. Especially when there is next to no evidence that I'm aware of that he's done anything wrong. He's been tarred and feathered and I've not seen any evidence anywhere that he's done anything wrong. This bothers me a lot.

I think as a society we are bloodthirsty to make people pay whenever there is a mere utterance that they have done something wrong. And if and when said accused individual is exonerated, usually nobody cares. Nobody apologizes or feels bad. They kinda shrug their shoulders and move on with their lives. But the ones who've had their lived Fed up don't get the damage done erased.

This is a general principle I will stand by. And I'll do it again if the same thing happens to another player who is never criminally charged with anything and there is no evidence of wrongdoing.

It just happened the other day with Michael Oher. He makes an unsubstantiated claim, it spreads like wildfire, and you have the entire internet calling his adopted family scumbag frauds when Michael Oher didn't prove an ounce of what he alleged. Then the family came out and denied the allegations. Now, I don't know whether or not Michael Oher is lying or telling the truth, but I don't like seeing people piled on and eviscerated just based on mere allegations. I think it's wrong. A major pet peeve of mine.

I kinda suspect he's telling the truth.  If he got no money from that movie he'd definitely been taken advantage of.

 

The crazy thing to me is this who went after Sandra Bullock dating she should give back her Emmy. Talk about people just looking for anyone to blame and pay a price...