Eagles sign LBs Myles Jack & Zach Cunningham

[pgcd3]

 

 

[NJWolverEagle11]

25 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

 

 

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[Utebird]

I don't get the Cunningham signing, he's been a backup the last few years and I'm not sure how much he offers on special teams or how willing he is in teams.

Where as Jack should push for playing time at off ball or OLB as well.

The Cunningham signing just seems odd to me.

[astrofed]

considering who we have currently, these two after definitely now 3rd and 4th on the LB depth chart behind Dean and Morrow, and maybe even 2nd and 4th, as I would definitely but Jack above Morrow.

[time2rock]

We're basically 2 weeks into TC now ... they must not like what they've been seeing.  I thought maybe they'd wait until later in the summer ... once we've seen them in a couple pre season games to really get a good feel for where they are before making any moves.  Been hearing nothing but positive reports on Elliss - the rest, not so much.  

[Procus]

8 minutes ago, time2rock said:

We're basically 2 weeks into TC now ... they must not like what they've been seeing.  I thought maybe they'd wait until later in the summer ... once we've seen them in a couple pre season games to really get a good feel for where they are before making any moves.  Been hearing nothing but positive reports on Elliss - the rest, not so much.  

The other variable is Nakobe Dean and if he can withstand the beating the body takes during the season

[judunno]

26 minutes ago, Utebird said:

I don't get the Cunningham signing, he's been a backup the last few years and I'm not sure how much he offers on special teams or how willing he is in teams.

Where as Jack should push for playing time at off ball or OLB as well.

The Cunningham signing just seems odd to me.

Need bodies

[judunno]

11 minutes ago, time2rock said:

We're basically 2 weeks into TC now ... they must not like what they've been seeing.  I thought maybe they'd wait until later in the summer ... once we've seen them in a couple pre season games to really get a good feel for where they are before making any moves.  Been hearing nothing but positive reports on Elliss - the rest, not so much.  

Dean got banged up... not surprised they bring someone in. Just expedited the process.

[Procus]

Did the same thing last year when JD went down bringing in Suh and Joseph pretty much at the same time.

[kiwieagle]

Eagles are clearly concerned about LB and OL depth on the roster.

At LB: We don't have a clear starter opposite Dean. Neither Morrow or Ellis seem to have been making a lot of plays in TC so they are just throwing more bodies into the competition hoping 1 or 2 guys emerge to give us a clear starter and some depth. I like Jack but he didn't have exactly have a great year at Pitt last season.

Ar OL: signings of Kelly and Andrews point to a clear indication of not being happy with depth. Dillard and Seumalo (which in turn removes Jurgens from a depth OL role) are having an impact. We don't have much quality depth inside by the way of injury cover for the interior positions as all reports are the 2nd team OL has been struggling. Steen seems more comfortable at tackle than guard. Toth's move to centre hasn't been a disaster. Driscoll is playing outside. Opeta and the other young OL all seem to not be up to it.

[time2rock]

54 minutes ago, Procus said:

The other variable is Nakobe Dean and if he can withstand the beating the body takes during the season

Reportedly the injury isn’t that serious no?  If true then why spend a fairly high pick on a player if you aren’t going to give him a chance unless size is a concern (which goes back to … why spend the pick on him)?

[Southparkeagles]

I figured they bring in some LBs and a S at some point. I don’t think we should make too much of it, but Morrow working with the twos and Dean nursing an injury does justify bringing up some questions/concerns. They are thin there though, so we did need some bodies. Jack was a sound p/u imo. Dunno about Cunningham. I don’t think Morrow is making the team. 

[pgcd3]

20 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Reportedly the injury isn’t that serious no?  If true then why spend a fairly high pick on a player if you aren’t going to give him a chance unless size is a concern (which goes back to … why spend the pick on him)?

No it's not serious but he had an injury in college too so remains to be seen if he's a good pro and if he can stay healthy.  Getting someone else who can play was a must.  We'll see if either of these guys has anything left.  I like the idea of playing the odds in signing both

[astrofed]

1 minute ago, pgcd3 said:

No it's not serious but he had an injury in college too so remains to be seen if he's a good pro and if he can stay healthy.  Getting someone else who can play was a must.  We'll see if either of these guys has anything left.  I like the idea of playing the odds in signing both

completely agree with that, if Dean gets injured, which sadly based on his history is a higher probability than most others, we definitely needs capable backups who can start, and both these guys fit that.

[Rob331]

No word on who they cut to make room. My guess it'll be one of the Johnsons (2 OL- Roderick and Fred and 2 LB/Edge - Patrick and Kyron) or one of the FA ot's - Reid or Okorafor. 

[Penn7980]

1 hour ago, kiwieagle said:

Eagles are clearly concerned about LB and OL depth on the roster.

At LB: We don't have a clear starter opposite Dean. Neither Morrow or Ellis seem to have been making a lot of plays in TC so they are just throwing more bodies into the competition hoping 1 or 2 guys emerge to give us a clear starter and some depth. I like Jack but he didn't have exactly have a great year at Pitt last season.

Ar OL: signings of Kelly and Andrews point to a clear indication of not being happy with depth. Dillard and Seumalo (which in turn removes Jurgens from a depth OL role) are having an impact. We don't have much quality depth inside by the way of injury cover for the interior positions as all reports are the 2nd team OL has been struggling. Steen seems more comfortable at tackle than guard. Toth's move to centre hasn't been a disaster. Driscoll is playing outside. Opeta and the other young OL all seem to not be up to it.

Sills is back with the team.  He must be rusty, but another OL to look at for depth.  

[eggs]

2 hours ago, Procus said:

The other variable is Nakobe Dean and if he can withstand the beating the body takes during the season

Or even training camp as he was injured last week and is the only blur chip LB. 

[EazyEaglez]

Well it’s obvious the Eagles are not a fan of their current linebacker production in TC, but I don’t think this is enough. We shall see. 

[brkmsn]

They did release Taylor, so that was one guy they weren't impressed with for sure.  With Dean being out, Bradley was probably the only guy that projects as a Mike. Both Jack and Cunningham bring ILB experience. Elliss has been a pleasant surprise so far in camp getting a lot of reps with the 1s at Will. 

So reading into these signings, I think there are a few factors involved. I think both guys bring a lot of experience to a group where only Morrow had any real experience to talk of. The young players can learn a few things from experienced vets. It gives the team a chance to limit the work they give to the starters in preseason. An additional benefit to having a competent player playing a position on the 2nd and/or 3rd team is that it will make evaluating the other positions easier. Finally, even after releasing Taylor, we have 1 more body at a position we began camp extremely light at. 

In the end, I see them only keeping 4 full-time off ball LBs on the final 53. I believe Dean and Elliss are locks at this point. Morrow is still probably the best coverage LB (even though he had some struggles last season) of the remaining group. Bradley has versatility and ST value.  VanSumeren is a likely PS project. So it appears to me that Jack, Cunningham, Morrow and Bradley are competing for the final 2 spots. 

I haven't really heard much about contract details, but I doubt the Eagles are on the hook for much if today's signings don't make the final cut. As Eazy pointed out a couple days ago, I think the Eagles want to have some guys to get through the preseason games which they don't really value 

[NOTW]

You guys overreact to every signing & read too much into it. Howie is always adding players all through the year to see what works out. Depth, camp bodies, looking to see if a former starter can find a way to contribute, whatever the reason. 

He also often makes trades during preseason swapping roster bubble players to see how they do. 

[EazyEaglez]

56 minutes ago, NOTW said:

You guys overreact to every signing & read too much into it. Howie is always adding players all through the year to see what works out. Depth, camp bodies, looking to see if a former starter can find a way to contribute, whatever the reason. 

He also often makes trades during preseason swapping roster bubble players to see how they do. 

If Howie signed some UDFA guys or some PS guys I would tend to agree more with your stance. Why bring in vets to do that then they already basically know what they can provide? If Morrow was impressing in camp then why bring in more vets? Frankly if I were them I’d rather see what VanSumeren has to offer than use vets Howie is paying 2 plus mil for to be camp bodies. I just don’t buy it’s for just camp bodies when they cut a camp body in Taylor to bring them in. 

[EazyEaglez]

7 hours ago, Procus said:

The other variable is Nakobe Dean and if he can withstand the beating the body takes during the season

I don’t think Dean’s injury is a major issue now, but I do think that when he went down they came to a realization that there wasn’t much else to work with at the position. Morrow wasn’t even getting the reps when he went down. Smith and Ellis were. 

[EazyEaglez]

7 hours ago, Procus said:

Did the same thing last year when JD went down bringing in Suh and Joseph pretty much at the same time.

I think this is far closer to the truth than these guys are simply camp bodies. Howie is throwing as much as he can at a problem and is hoping it sticks. After Jordan Davis got injured last year his production fell off. Howie is trying to be somewhat proactive here while still being frugal. Overall this year it doesn’t seem like any of Howie’s FA signings are standing out at all. 

[EazyEaglez]

8 hours ago, Utebird said:

I don't get the Cunningham signing, he's been a backup the last few years and I'm not sure how much he offers on special teams or how willing he is in teams.

Where as Jack should push for playing time at off ball or OLB as well.

The Cunningham signing just seems odd to me.

Cunningham has been hurt a lot. That’s right in Howie’s wheelhouse. 

[astrofed]

1 hour ago, NOTW said:

You guys overreact to every signing & read too much into it. Howie is always adding players all through the year to see what works out. Depth, camp bodies, looking to see if a former starter can find a way to contribute, whatever the reason. 

He also often makes trades during preseason swapping roster bubble players to see how they do. 

It is an over reaction if they just signed one of the two, but signing 2 people who play the each same position on the said day, kind of leads itself to that reaction, and therefore not an over reaction.