Sheldon and Pro Bowl; Examining McNabb, New Eagles
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Sheldon and Pro Bowl; Examining McNabb, New Eagles
Daily News staff and Les Bowen
The Eagles have seven players scheduled to play in the Pro Bowl in Miami, with quarterback Donovan McNabb yet to be officially added. That seems like a lot for a team that was eliminated in the wild-card round, and it is the most since they had 10 in the year in which they went to the Super Bowl.
And there could be more. The next candidate on the list is cornerback Sheldon Brown, whose initial omission from the NFC roster was met with criticism.
Brown was the second alternate, but has been bumped up to first alternate because first alternate Terence Newman, from the Cowboys, was added yesterday to replace the injured Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, of Arizona.
The starters at corner are the Eagles' Asante Samuel and Green Bay's Charles Woodson, with Newman as the lone backup. Presumably, one of the starters would have to pull out for Brown to get his chance.
The other alternates from the Eagles are: tight end Brent Celek is a second alternate, safety Quintin Mikell is a third alternate, and defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley and guard Todd Herremans are fourth alternates.
Obviously, the new Pro Bowl setup has resulted in a sort of "Pro Bowl inflation," in much the same way that rules changes over the past several years have inflated some offensive stats. Good take on that situation today from the National Football Post's Matt Bowen. That would be the former NFL safety, not the college-student son of your Eagletarian with the same name, who spends every minute he's not in class lounging around playing video games, eating us out of house and home, and still hasn't found a &%$*** job. But I digress.
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Thoughtful exploration of the Donovan McNabb-Kevin Kolb dilemma from The Scouts Notebook and analyst Tommy Lawlor. Lawlor's conclusion is that it's time to move on, and he marshals a compelling argument. I don't agree with every bit of it, particularly the inference in the "quality of wins" section that if the defense played well in a game, that somehow makes moot the fact that McNabb might have played well (an impressive performance can only take place when your defense struggles?) But again, there is a lot here worth pondering.
He's particularly right about how it's easy to be misled by stats that say 2009 was Donovan's second-best full (or nearly full) season.
"On the surface those numbers look pretty impressive," Lawlor writes, referring to a chart you'll see if you click the above link. "What you have to factor in is that the game of football has changed. The rules constantly are being shifted to aid the offense. Receivers are more advanced. Coaches are more aggressive with the passing game. There are quite a few really good QBs. Donovan just had the 3rd highest rating of his career this season. It wasn't good enough to crack the Top 10 in the league, though.
"The old benchmarks are gone. You wanna be special now you need to have a rating of 100. Or throw for 4,000 yards. Or 30 TDs. Or complete 65 percent of your passes. 8 yards per pass attempt used to be really good. This year that was only 7th best in the league."
One of Lawlor's conclusions is that McNabb ranked just outside the NFL's Top 10 QBs this season. I would put him in that group, just barely. Given the o-line and the running game Tony Romo benefited from, I would rank Romo and McNabb pretty evenly. But the real question is, in 2010, will Kevin Kolb be as good or better?
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New Eagles running back Martell Mallett would have been fine playing out the final year of his 2-year contract with the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League, but then the NFL came calling. Mallett was named the Most Outstanding Rookie in the CFL and put up strong numbers as both a runner and receiver.
“It’s a great feeling. I’m just happy to be in the NFL,” he told his hometown newspaper, the Pine Bluff Commercial in Arkansas. “It’s a dream come true. I always wanted to be in the NFL, now I am.
“I just wanted to play football. I knew if I played hard and continued to play well like I should that I would get a shot in the NFL. I didn’t know if it would be this year, or next year, it was kind of a surprise.”
As to why he picked the Eagles, Mallett said, “(The Eagles) have a great foundation. And [Brian] Westbrook, he’s had concussions and he doesn’t know if he’s going to retire. There’s really no solid third guy. I think that (could) be a good fit for me.”
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Another player who hopes to get a chance with the Eagles is center A.Q. Shipley, a Penn State product. Shipley, named the coutry's best center as a senior, spent his rookie season with his hometown Steelers on their practice squad after being selected in the seventh round.
Now, he moves across the state to join the Eagles, with whom he recently signed a 3-year contract.
"It looks like a better opportunity for me to go in there and compete," Shipley told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I made a decision, and I'm really looking forward to it. Now I just have to take advantage of an opportunity if it presents itself."
Shipley was in town earlier this week doing some apartment hunting after living at home with his parents during his rookie season.
"My parents, I'm sure, enjoy it, and it's been good this first year living at home, being able to save some money and being comfortable with everything around here," Shipley said.
Crohn, is that the guy that played baseball for them last year in the College World Series? He is huge and a great athlete. My only concern is that players from LSU tend to blow goats in the NFL. Blow goats is a technical term, by the way.— The Reddgie
Comment removed.- Don't know if Shipley is quite good enough for the NFL, but the Eagles will find out in the summer. Mallett sounds interesting. I suspect he's good enough. Don't know if he'll fit with the Eagles.— tacklinjoe
Yeah, Les. Time for your son to get off the couch!— gho_matt- Free agency is not like it used to be because of the cap. Teams keep their best FAs. The best way to improve is through the draft or trades or a combination of both. Remember, two of the last big FA didn't pan out that well, Haynesworth and our own Asante Samuels. How about Kearse?— EL Zorro
- phila215 - you're not getting it. This guy is a total non-factor. But from his agent's perspective, you go to a team where you have a chance to earn a roster spot. Dallas, for example, has at least two RB spots filled next year. Do the Eagles? And don't say the FB.— dragoon6
I think they should move Brown to safety, he is the best tackler of all the Eagles DB's. Shipley is going to be a starter, laugh if you want to, but lots of good O-lineman are low picks or free agents. Shipley is a way better option than Cole at center right now. The guy from the CFL? Who knows, but the Eagles don't have many RB's so he is right about an opportunity to make the roster.- Andy Reid uses his RBs very poorly. Brian Westbrook was a terrific play-maker in his heyday. Reid was determined to run him between the tackles like a mack-truck and all the other game day touches too boot. Westy's career has suffered. Ditto- Duce Staley. RBs have better careers if there is some kind of rotation-most teams figured this out a few seasons back with various 'headed monsters' as RB by committee. Andy would NEVER choose a between the tackles pile driver like Shonn Green, because what he really wants is a Jason Avant lined up as the RB with TE blocking skills. Mallett is probably a great kid--but SERIOUSLY--who'd consider Philly a running offense.— Smashmouth
- Okay here's the skinny over the last 11yrs Reid and McNabb have given us a 108-67 record. Good for 4th best in the league over that span. They are 44-35, 28-19, and 20-11 Over the last 5, 3, and 2 years respectively. The trend shows their win percentage rising again at 550, 583, and 625. My guess is the trnd will continue up. So, the verdict is we keep them, go with the trnde and will be back to the SB within the next 2 years. Yea, that's right I said it and yes I have bashed them in the past but I take it back now and believe they should both stay........— The Manager
- Anybody know the physical stats on this new RB? Been looking to find out Height and weight since they got him, and have not seen anything.— TBear
- Comment removed.
- dragoon6- Oh, I get it- it has nothing to do with roster construction though, because through free agency and the draft this team will have at least 2 RBs better then him, not including Weaver if he re-signs. He signed because most likely the eagles were the 1st team to offer him a deal. Simple as that- if you are reading more into in then that, then I'll say it again, you need to get out more. Its 50/50 hes even on the camp roster.— phila215
TBear, I've seen conflicting numbers but 6'0", 210 seems about right.— tpizza- That loser Mcdumb doesn't belong in the Pro Bowl. He can't play for anything. I'm so glad he lost both games to the Cowboys! Makes all you fans shut up!— MRD
- sore richard, I started pondering whether the Eagles will ever win it in my lifetime about 7-8 years ago, right after one of those NFC championship losses to Tampa or Carolina. I'm 53 now and I really figure I'm running out of time. Knowing my luck, I'll either be gone or worse, still knocking around with Alzheimer's, and unaware if/when they finally do it. Technically, they have won in my lifetime, but since I was only 4 in 1960, I have to admit the details are a little fuzzy!!— Lightning
