Three thoughts on the Eagles
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Three thoughts on the Eagles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here's my take on a few newsy items that have surfaced in the past 24 to 48 hours:
1. I was surprised to see the reports out of Novacare yesterday that Jason Kelce will get all the first-team reps this week at center, leading up to the Browns game Thursday night. Jamaal Jackson played with the first team against the Steelers, but apparently, the competition is very much on.
Here's the case for Jackson: He's a veteran with 72 starts under his belt. The Eagles have no clue who they're starting at right tackle (more on that below), and they will be going with a rookie, Danny Watkins, at right guard. It's clear that opposing defenses are going to throw all kinds of different looks and different blitzes at Michael Vick this year. Wouldn't it be wise to go with a center who already has the trust of his fellow linemen and will know what he's looking at right away? It's not just experience though. Jackson has been playing well. I thought he was very good on Thursday night and seems poised for a healthy and productive season.
As for Kelce, he's played well too, although probably not as well as Jackson. The argument is he fits what Howard Mudd is looking for in a center. But do the Eagles really want two-fifths of their offensive line made up of two guys who have never played an NFL snap before? Especially considering the shortened offseason and reduced practice time? We'll find out the answer soon enough.
2. Sticking with the offensive line, guess who's back? Reggie Wells, ladies and gentlemen! Let's review here for a moment. Before the start of the 2010 season, the Birds acquired Wells from Arizona for a sixth-round pick. He played in one game (39 snaps) if you don't count Week 17 against Dallas. Here's what I wrote about Wells in Man Up after his Week 3 appearance vs. Jacksonville:
I'm not buying the argument that protection sured up when he was in the game. Wells was probably the Eagles' worst lineman after he entered. In fairness to him, Wells hasn't been here long and will probably need some time to get acclimated. He was beat by Kampman during the Eagles' final drive of the first half. And Knighton went right around Wells as another defender sacked Vick in the third. Knighton also went around Wells on a third down in the fourth. And he was driven back by rookie Tyson Alualu in the fourth on a McCoy run that went for no gain. Wells was also whistled for a holding penalty.
Apparently, the Eagles felt the same way because they rotated Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles in at right guard the rest of the season. Wells was inactive seven times.
And now he's going to get a shot at right tackle? Where he's had 12 career starts?
My initial thought was that Evan Mathis was going to get a serious look at tackle, and the Eagles wanted a body for depth at guard. Dallas Reynolds was running with the second team at left guard Thursday night, and Mike McGlynn's days appear to be numbered (he didn't play until the fourth quarter vs. the Steelers). I'm still not ready to rule out that possibility, but if Wells was really brought in to compete at right tackle, this move is a complete head-scratcher.
3. Moving to wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald got his huge payday yesterday. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's a monster, 8-year, $120M deal with $50M guaranteed.
Think DeSean Jackson took notice? Here's what he Tweeted:
Congrats to my Big bro @LarryFitzgerald!! Well deserved.. Wideouts ballin!!
Jackson is not Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has caught 90 or more balls five times and 100+ twice. He has five seasons of 1,000+ yards and three seasons of 1,400+. He's a five-time Pro Bowler, arguably the best receiver in the game and has a unique skill set. In other words, he set the highest of bars in the wide receiver market.
But there are now multiple contracts that have been handed out to big-time receivers in the past two years:
Miles Austin: 7 years, $57M ($18M guaranteed)
Santonio Holmes: 5 years, $50M ($24M guaranteed)
Larry Fitzgerald: 8 years, $120M ($50M guaranteed)
So the question is: What will Jackson want?
Contract length is a very interesting one here. Austin was 26 when he signed his deal. Holmes was 27. And Fitzgerald is 27 too.
Jackson is only 24. Do the Eagles want to make sure they lock him up through the prime of his career? Or do they prefer something slightly shorter and less risky?
Does Jackson want to be tied to the Eagles into his 30s? Or does he want another shot at a monster contract before he reaches that point?
Length and guaranteed money are the things to keep an eye on in negotiations.
While Jackson is not going to get Fitzgerald money, I made the argument a couple weeks ago that he can certainly push for a contract in the ballpark of Austin and Holmes.
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A contract similar to Santonio Holmes is starting to look reasonable.— cletisvandam- this continues to make me laugh. Reid, a former offensive lineman, cannot evaluate talent at that position.— coloradoeagle
Comment removed.- Mcglynn was terrible last year.. Terrible. I know he was playing out of position but for anyone to say he played well last year would be mistaken. Now maybe he's a lot better at guard, but he was part of the main reason Vick was running for his life last year. King played decent last yr and has the size to be a good blind side protector.. If Vick is able to thrown over him
- Quixote, I have addressed McGlynn. I think we all assumed that because he was adequate at center, he'd be adequate at guard. That has not been the case. He has really struggled, and it doesn't appear Howard Mudd has confidence in him. -SK— skapadia
- Fitzgerald makes $15 million per season....Steve Smith makes $11 million per season....Santonio Holmes makes $10 million per season.
Eagles need to pay Desean at least the same $10 million as Santonio Holmes...period
— frank105 - Reid cannot evaluate talent at any position - and worse than his inability to draft or sign talent like Giants or Packers or Steelers etc etc is his NFL-worst in-game adjustments and decisions and game management etc etc etc -- waiting for Eagles to go 4-12 and get new coach— warbiscuit
- Amen brother! Worst game time coach in the history of football! Based on the amount of playoff games lost and especially "big" game loses. No adjustments, no clock management,no clue how to counter another teams style. He sticks to the same old game plan no matter what happens. He always get's out-coached in big games. You give any other big name coach the amount of playoff and nfc championship games we were in, and I'm sure we would of had two or three superbowls already. When will people stop drinking the coolaid? 13 years and counting!! — kchaz
- You guys are speaking my language. Keep your heart out of it as long as FF is at the helm and you wont be disappointed. There is no way we are winning the SB under Reid and ConVick mark it down.
- You guys are idiots.. Reid is the best coach this organization has ever had. He has more wins, playoffs appearances, and playoff wins in his 11 yrs as coach then the eagles had in the past 60 yrs. Do I need to remind you of kotyte??? He deserve more respect. I agree his game time decisions aren't the best, but his game planning is impeccable. And he does tend to struggle in the higher picks, but he does draft really well in later rounds to find talent to plug in to his system. The eagles the last 10 yrs have been in the class of the steelers and patriots, just not the big game to prove it. They will though.. Soon
- Your logic is flawless LAdelphia, just flawless. The best you can come up with is Reid is better than other AWFUL coaches the Eagles had. Its like saying Angela Merkel is the best leader of Germany EVER, just look at Hitler. How bout you just judge Reid for Reid? If you do that you come to one and only one conclusion, its time to move on. Especially since as you put it so well, "...in the same class as the Steelers and Patriots, just not the big game too prove it" Unfortunately there never will be "the big game to prove it" the guy ("Coach" Reid) just isnt capable enough!!! — Eagle GREEN Mt State
- If you're going to bring back Wells you may as well bring back Cole, Jean-Gilles and the Andrews Sisters. What the h$LL are they thinking?— dasher
- Ok now, Jackson coming off injuries, and more importantly, age 31 and a bigger contract or Kelce, a 6th rounder this year, playing okay, with potential and most likely, cheaper. And take it that Wells will be filling in for Justice, injured, another bigger contract, and rebounding slowly from the off season as Reid suggested previously, because of his union work, which Justice denied. Always a bad sign when the big man throws some unfavorable remarks out for the news media. The Eagles revolving door will continue.— watsonmr
- This dream-boat sure has a lot of leaks.— auntesther
- It's pre-season they should try everything. If Mudd thinks he can get Wells to perform, it's worth a try. A player only makes the team on performance and has to play to show it. Same w/Kelce. If Jackson gets hurt again, who fills in? We know what McGlynn can do but not Kelce. As for DJax, he deserves what he can get. 5 or 10 years at the market rate for a star is not too much. We know he puts his career on the line on every crossing pattern. Pay the man.
— jjthree - Man it's getting hilarious reading you guys respond to every single swing, day to day. I use to read these comments to see what others think, now it's for pure laughs at the arm-chair Head Coaches and Monday morning QB's who know oh so much. Maybe you should all stop reading the daily headlines, and save your blood pressure.— Bleue
- For me the Eagles are purely entertainment and fun to follow along. There was a time when it mattered to me personally but came to an end right about the time Joe Jurevicius went across the middle, turned the corner and flew down the sideline at the Vet.
Choosing to express ourselves in the comments the truth doesn't mean we suffer from Hypertension. - The revolving door at right tackle tells me the coaching staff does not like what they have seen there thus far. Worrisome.
- Sheil, it will be Howard Mudd's decision. He has a lot of experience. If he thinks Kelce is the best guy for his system than I'll trust his decision. I'm sure Andy Reid has given Mudd and Washburn full reigns over their lines.— soulman386
- Reid is no dummy. He set up Sean McD to take the fall for last year's failures, and now he's doing the same thing to Mudd. Howard will retire after this year's failure, and Reid will remain largely untouched. I believe that's called having a straw-man to blame.— mccloudmj
- Forget Reid's ability at evaluating player talent...the big nightmare is his inability to evaluate Defensive Coordinator talent. Please, God, can we have Jim Johnson back again????— kelprod2
- MWhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha./
You posters are frikkin hilarious. Crawl up out of momma's basement and get outside for a bit. The dark musty air has addled your brains!— Tozmanian - Reid will never will a superbowl no matter what he does.— greenflyer
- Andy can show us how much smarter he is if he would go after Allen Iverson and place him at defensive end. He has a football background and Andy would love his speed and jumping ability. Also that would be one less guy he would have to watch at practice.— amcbeth
- Let's be fair. Look at all the all-pros on the team that Andy has drafted.— amcbeth
- A lot of people in "don't panic, it's preseason" mode. While I generally agree with this POV, getting whupped like we did, even in preseason, is a REAL bad sign. The lack of consistent run D and Mike's 3 picks are a huge concern. I already posted that I think they may have misplaced someof the money they spent in FA. Tulloch at LB and Clabo or Free at ROT would look much better than Jenkins and Brown right now, or maybe no Asomugha instead and go with Asante and DRC. But now it's too late. Kirk Morrison and Tatupu are still availableat MLB, Michael Otto and Chris Patrick at OT. If they DO decide to do something, the only way to get quality would probably be through a trade of Asante. OUr only other hope is that these guys get coached up real good and gel sometime by mid-season, which has happened with young teams before. Like I said, I don't like to panic becuase of pre-season games, but that one was SO bad. I know Reid is an evaluating pre-season coach, and some coaches like to win in pre-season, usually because they want to instill a winning mentality in their team, but even with Reid'a evaluating approach I don't believe he expects to get beat in every facet of the gane like that.— EagleEye61
- Andy will never say it, but he put Juan in over his head and he can't get out of it. He better get a vet MLB or this defense is toast.— greenflyer
- Dream team? More like Nightmare on Broad Street. That Pittsburg game open a lot of eyes. Go Phils....best chance at a parade...just sayin'....— Phillyfan666
- If Kelce starts at center, maybe they can move Herremans to RT and Jackson at LG.— ej610
- Jackson is not the light quick type that Mudd likes. Has he ever played guard?— Eagle_1960
- Guys, look at the bright side: We win some games, reach the playoffs, and get blown out by Arizona or Green Bay. That spells the end of the Andy Reid era. Yippee!!— rad205
- I agree, if Andy Reid does not win the Super Bowl with this
DREAM TEAM this season it will be 14 consecutive years for Reid without a Super Bowl win..... Reid will be run out of town.— frank105 - I agree, if Andy Reid does not win the Super Bowl with this DREAM TEAM this season it will be 14 consecutive years for Reid without a Super Bowl win..... Reid will be run out of town. (HTML deleted)— frank105
- We're the dream team!
Lose one pre-season game. We stink.
Pre-season means nothing.
Indy 0-4 won SB
GB 1-3 won SB
pre-season is about staying healthy and finding out who wants to compete.— sikofit - Six years, 60 million, with 26 million guaranteed.— hallux
- Jackson's earned a $30 Million guarantee bonus, and $12 Million a year over 5 years. As for the offensive line, aside from the left side, The Eagles line has sucked for years.
All that's required to play the line is intelligence, footwork and Ballz. Frankly, I've not seen these attributes on the right side of the Eagles offensive line since the Big Tackle retired.
I don't think the Eagles can do any wrong with the Rookie Guard Watkins and the Center Kelce as compared to what's been filling in at those positions the last couple years, to include JJ.
Aside from Peterson the Linemen have been playing like they have painted finger nails. I just don't see the toughness and nasty attitude that Runyan brought to the game every week. Runyan understood that the guys lining up on the other side of the ball was intent on kicking his arse if he allowed on their way to the Quarterback and he withstood the challenge. I don't see that from this group other than Peterson from time to time.
— Dexter - PS, I would love to see the Eagles Offensive Linemen at least once during the season pick up a foul for unnecessary roughness or a left hook to the face mask.... Being from the "ole skool", I respect the Conrad Dobler and Art Shell kind of Offensive Linemen. Whip his arse and take his mind out of the game.— Dexter
- The Eagles will pick up a Veteran RT that Mudd is familiar with on cut down day. He will be your starting RT for Game 1 against the Rams. Justice to IR. Book it!— younged
- I agree, Sheil. Wells coming back is a head scratcher.— armchairGM
- I think Jackson should start at center because they need the stability on the o-line, something they haven't had in a while. However, I'm fine with Kelce getting the work this week. He needs the experience in case Jackson goes down again.— vipers53
- Just don't let King Dunlap on the field.— p-diddy
- Okay, let me see if I understand this. Reid is a terrible talent evaluator, worst game day coach ever, and makes the team hit too much in practice. McNabb is the worst QB in team history. Banner is cheap and only cares about the bottom line.
But the Eagles are continually playing important football games in January. It's like magic.— shadow22
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