EMB Blog: 2023 Camps and Preseason - NO POLITICS

[Wentz_Era]

4 hours ago, TEW said:

I agree with this, but I think it makes a better case for Jackson than Calcaterra. If we view Goedert as the #1 "do everything” TE, then we have Stoll as the backup "in-line” TE, AO as the backup "receiving” TE, and then we have the choice of Jackson or Calcaterra. Both are receiving TE’s. Who is more likely to consistently get open and make a play? I would say Jackson.

You’re splitting hairs on a guy with 3 career catches over a guy with 2?

[mattwill]

14 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

Not at all correct. Thats working backwards not forward. 

You can’t work forward until you understand the "framing” of the issue you are wrestling with.  Failing to know that "foundation” means there is a good chance you will "build the house you look forward to living in” on sand.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a poem about working forward.  George Zimmerman made the news by looking forward.

[Sack that QB]

If the punters they workout don't wow them, they'll probably stick with Siposs. They seem to have an affinity for him for whatever reason.

[Wentz_Era]

2 hours ago, NYEagle said:

I will say, I didn't know what all the hype was about but......Ted Lasso might be the greatest sports show/movie/etc. ever.  I was blown away by how good it actually was.

First season…yes.  Funny, quirky, intelligent, masterfully written .

After that, season 2 was too dark and not funny.  After the first few episodes, the rest of the season was a chore to watch.  This bumps the overall quality of the show down a few pegs for me.  That season was a complete 180 from the first.  It wasn’t even recognizable.

Season 3 kind of picked up and the show ended on the up swing.

[Wentz_Era]

2 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I heard the third season wasn't as good as the first two. Is this correct?

I've only ever seen the first two episodes of the series, which I enjoyed, so I have very little knowledge. Friends have raved though.

I addressed this in my comment above.  The 2nd season was just a sad pitiful, dark, never ending train wreck IMO.

[Wentz_Era]

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

The disrespect to rookie of the year. Not only a solid baseball movie but his last out came against the Mets. And that’s worth something.

HOT ICE!

[Alphagrand]

37 minutes ago, mattwill said:

We can fair catch all the kicks.  What else does he do on STs?

Maybe it's only my perception, but it seems like the NFL refs have thrown a ton of flags on the kickoff return teams the past few years.  I would seriously consider fair catching kicks to eliminate the risk of being backed way up by a holding or blocking penalty.

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

2 hours ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

1. A League of Their Own

2. Moneyball

3. Major League

4. Bull Durham

5. Field of Dreams

In addition to its overall hokiness, Field of Dreams has one error which completely ruined the movie for me. Joe Jackson was a lefthanded hitter. Having him bat righthanded in the movie was unforgivable. It'd be like making a movie about Babe Ruth and having him bat righthanded. Or in the future making a movie about Mike Schmidt and having him bat from the left side.

I honestly could never fathom how they could allow that to happen. Obviously it was intentional but what the hell?

[bpac55]

54 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Also reading the tea leaves… Ringo being given 22 suggests the Eagles will move on from Sermon once healthy, right?

That's my assumption using the same thought process. 

[bpac55]

50 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Have him watch Eastbound and Down if he wants to see what "real baseball" is all about.

Well he does love Myrtle Beach.

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

 

[bpac55]

 

[jojodancer]

41 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

 

 

Have studied all these punters in the last week. The best of the lot is Gillikin. Punted very well vs. Eagles in 2 tilts in last 2 years. Strong leg as well. Has had an 82 yarder. But they may like Mann, as he's an elite holder, elite kickoff specialist. Strongest leg, but most raw of bunch.  Rooting for Gillikin here.

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

2 hours ago, BigEFly said:

@FranklinFldEBUpper

A few STs questions for you.  Any chance at some point we see OZ as the returner?  I know you liked where Covey was going last year but OZ didn’t look bad when we saw him catching punts.

If Covey isn’t the returner, could you see them activating Kyron Johnson, Allen or VanSumeren for coverage teams at some point?

Who do you see as the gunners?  Is Ringo a possibility?  How about Brown?  He was dynamic in smart blocking on that long return by Allen.  

Frankly, I see how they play in the up man position and in blocking on returns as a huge piece of whether it is Calcaterra or Albert O that is an inactive.  

Eagles lost a lot of STs players this offseason from a group that wasn’t particularly strong last year. So that may not be a bad thing.  McPhearson, Bradley, Wallace are gone.  Jurgens is a starter as are Dean and Blakenship.  Overlooked sometimes is that Clay is the last one to get his starters with 10 days to prepare.  Whoever aren’t starters but active are candidates for STs.  Any new players you project on teams as potential upgrades based on PS? (Mine is Brown.)

Do you think the new kickoff rule will have much of an impact?

Appreciate an insight or thoughts you may have.

I think you're giving me too much credit for expertise I don't really have. When it comes to ST, I'm primarily a stats guy/facts guy. If you want to know how far or high a ball was kicked or punted, I can give the answer. If you want to know how accurate kickers are from various distances, I can provide that too. But I'll give it a go.

I doubt OZ is used unless there were an in-game injury to Covey. The only other punt returner we're likely to see is DeVonta, but only in situations where the other team is backed up and he's likely to field the ball around midfield.

Gunners? I'm guessing Jobe and Ringo with maybe Brown and Evans mixed in.

I think Calcaterra is active regardless of ST. I've been a believer in his receiving ability since the day he was drafted. He's smooth and he can high point a football. It means nothing to me that his stats weren't anything special in the preseason. Mariota sailed everything his way when he was open.

I still think Blankenship will play a lot on ST. Of the new guys, perhaps Cunningham and Edmunds, as well as the aforementioned Ringo and Evans. And Ricks or Goodrich if they dress. Certainly Sydney Brown will be a cornerstone. I also wouldn't be surprised if Penny runs down on punts. Also, I was not as big a fan of Wallace and Bradley as you were. I agree that McPhearson will be missed. But I like the idea of Elliss being here the whole year rather than only a handful of games at the end last year. He can be special.

I think the new rule will have very little impact. Teams will routinely try to kick the ball out of the endzone and willingly cede the ball at the 25. There might be an uptick in intentional line drives short of the goal line. I don't believe we'll see nearly as many fair catches as most fans seemed to think when the rule was conceived and enacted.

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

1 hour ago, ManuManu said:

Also reading the tea leaves… Ringo being given 22 suggests the Eagles will move on from Sermon once healthy, right?

Or maybe he simply is forced to use 34 again if they re-sign him.

But probably you're right.

[ToastJenkins]

31 minutes ago, mattwill said:

You can’t work forward until you understand the "framing” of the issue you are wrestling with.  Failing to know that "foundation” means there is a good chance you will "build the house you look forward to living in” on sand.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a poem about working forward.  George Zimmerman made the news by looking forward.

Youve lost if invoking Zimmerman

otherwise thats empty word salad

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

The feel good story of the day. Made possible by the fair weather fans of the Phillies 

 

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

50 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Yeah, that's unfortunately how a lot of movies are I loved when I was young.

I remember seeing the Poseidon Adventure at the theater with my friends when it came out and thinking it was the most amazing dramatic move I'd ever seen. I think I was fourteen years old at the time.

When I watched it as an adult, I immediately realized how cornball a lot of it was. And I laughed at my former self a bit.

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

46 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

@FranklinFldEBUpper
Do we root for any of the three?

I'm rooting for Siposs. But of the names you mentioned, I guess Gillikin. But I should probably downvote him since he was a Penn State guy and I'm a devout hater of everything Nittany Lion.

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

25 minutes ago, jojodancer said:

Have studied all these punters in the last week. The best of the lot is Gillikin. Punted very well vs. Eagles in 2 tilts in last 2 years. Strong leg as well. Has had an 82 yarder. But they may like Mann, as he's an elite holder, elite kickoff specialist. Strongest leg, but most raw of bunch.  Rooting for Gillikin here.

Gillikin punted six times last year against the Eagles. None of his six punts had a hangtime of greater than 4.5 seconds. He averaged about 4.14 hangtime. For comparison purposes, Siposs averaged 4.33 hangtime throughout the entire season.

It's a HUGE stretch to say he "punted very well" against the Eagles last year. But he's tied for the league lead in being "not Siposs" so he's got that going for him, I guess.

[jojodancer]

13 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Gillikin punted six times last year against the Eagles. None of his six punts had a hangtime of greater than 4.5 seconds. He averaged about 4.14 hangtime. For comparison purposes, Siposs averaged 4.33 hangtime throughout the entire season.

It's a HUGE stretch to say he "punted very well" against the Eagles last year. But he's tied for the league lead in being "not Siposs" so he's got that going for him, I guess.

You are going  by vanilla facts on a sheet, like usual. And hang time?! Lol. Did you watch that game? Looks like I am gonna to have to take you to school once again. He pinned them in constantly in that game. His best game of the year! Yeah, Siposs had a better game!!! 🤣 

[Sack that QB]

Bet the Eagles in week 1. Heavily.

[mattwill]

23 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

Youve lost if invoking Zimmerman

otherwise thats empty word salad

Zimmerman either (1) didn’t think before he acted or (2) didn’t acurately or thoroughly assess the situation before his actions.  As a result his actions produced a very different outcome for him than he had anticipated.  Bottom-line, George didn’t use critical thinking.

Do you really try and move forward without assessing the situation you are in?

[FranklinFldEBUpper]

10 minutes ago, jojodancer said:

You are going  by vanilla facts on a sheet, like usual. And hang time?! Lol. Did you watch that game? Looks like I am gonna to have to take you to school once again. He pinned them in constantly in that game. His best game of the year! Yeah, Siposs had a better game!!! 🤣

I think you unintentionally revealed something with this comment. You mentioned Siposs in regard to that game when in fact the Eagles punter that game was Brett Kern. As I've said all along, Siposs routinely gets blamed for the pathetic punting by Kern.

As evidenced here.

[jojodancer]

9 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I think you unintentionally revealed something with this comment. You mentioned Siposs in regard to that game when in fact the Eagles punter that game was Brett Kern. As I've said all along, Siposs routinely gets blamed for the pathetic punting by Kern.

As evidenced here.

You are great at mentioning the extraneous points in all of your arguments. Point being, Gilliken punted amazing and your stats can mean doo doo at times. The good old fashioned eye test, especially for punters is important. And again Siposs just blows, when it matters. Gilliken was actually clutch in that game. You won't know that from a stat sheet.  Kern was abysmal. And Siposs wasn't quite abysmal. Okay, let's keep him.