Archive: May, 2010
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
First off, thanks for all the congratulations comments in my last post. Now, who can tell me where in the Philadelphia area I can tie the knot without breaking the bank?
C'mon people. I need you here.
And second of all, Happy Memorial Day, especially to those who have served - or are serving - this country. I love hearing from those of you serving overseas in our Eagles and Phillies chats.
As for the post, let's talk about LeSean McCoy. And particularly, McCoy as a receiver.
When the Birds drafted him out of Pitt in 2009, we heard plenty about how much they liked McCoy as a pass-catcher. And we heard a lot about how he was an unknown as a blocker.
Today, I examine the first part.
McCoy caught 40 balls for 308 yards as a rookie, averaging 7.7 yards per catch. He had two receptions of 20 yards or more.
He was tied for 17th among running backs in terms of receptions, and 17th in yards. Here's a chart with the backs who had better numbers:
| Receptions | Yards | Yards per catch | Catches of 20+ | |
| Ray Rice | 78 | 702 | 9.0 | 7 |
| Tim Hightower | 63 | 428 | 6.8 | 2 |
| Matt Forte | 57 | 471 | 8.3 | 6 |
| Maurice Jones-Drew | 53 | 374 | 7.1 | 0 |
| Frank Gore | 52 | 406 | 7.8 | 3 |
| Joseph Addai | 51 | 336 | 6.6 | 1 |
| Steven Jackson | 51 | 322 | 6.3 | 3 |
| Chris Johnson | 50 | 503 | 10.1 | 3 |
| Reggie Bush | 47 | 335 | 7.1 | 3 |
| Fred Jackson | 46 | 371 | 8.1 | 1 |
| Darren Sproles | 45 | 497 | 11.0 | 7 |
| Steve Slaton | 44 | 417 | 9.5 | 5 |
| Chester Taylor | 44 | 389 | 8.8 | 5 |
| Adrian Peterson | 43 | 436 | 10.1 | 5 |
| Justin Forsett | 41 | 350 | 8.5 | 2 |
| Kevin Smith | 41 | 415 | 10.1 | 3 |
| Jamaal Charles | 40 | 297 | 7.4 | 3 |
| LeSean McCoy | 40 | 308 | 7.7 | 2 |
Some notes on the numbers:
* Several, although not all, names on the above list saw more action than McCoy, who shared the workload with Brian Westbrook and Leonard Weaver last season.
* McCoy is the only rookie on the list. In other words, he led all rookie running backs in receptions and yards last season.
* Those last two columns are probably more important than the first two when talking about McCoy. It's huge for the Eagles to have a running back who can catch a screen or dump-off from Kevin Kolb and turn it into a big play, especially considering the talent this team has at its other skill positions.
* Of the 18 players on the list, only six averaged fewer yards per reception thatn McCoy. The average yards per reception was 8.91. McCoy was at 7.7.
* Brian Westbrook really set the bar high with his performance as a receiver from 2004-2007. Check out the chart below, and pay special attention to the last two columns.
| Catches | Yards | Yds./catch | 20+ | |
| 2004 | 73 | 703 | 9.6 | 7 |
| 2005 | 61 | 616 | 10.1 | 6 |
| 2006 | 77 | 699 | 9.1 | 9 |
| 2007 | 90 | 771 | 8.6 | 7 |
That number in 2006 of nine catches of 20 yards or more is pretty incredible. Think about if you could count on your back to have a big play in the passing game like that in more than half your games. Huge weapon.
Westbrook's yards per catch dropped to 7.4 and 7.2 in his final two seasons here, and he had a total of five catches of 20 yards or more in 2008 and 2009.
I firmly believe that McCoy's success as a receiver will be a big part of how successful he is overall. It'll be interesting to see how much he can improve in the passing game in his second year.
There are several factors at play. Part of it is continuing to get adjusted to the NFL game. Another part is understanding when to go out in his routes and when to stay in to block. Plus there's the issue of how Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg use him - split out wide as a receiver, etc. And finally, how he works with the offensive line, how those guys perform blocking at the next level, and how the wide receivers and tight ends perform as blockers downfield.
Just another thing to keep an eye on at OTAs, at Lehigh and during next season.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Not a lot going on this Saturday, but as you know, I don't like to go a day without posting. It's a strange case of blogger's guilt, or something like that I guess.
So I'm taking a thankful break from looking at potential wedding venues (that's right, there will officially be a Mrs. MTC in spring of 2011) to give you some links.
The first is from Adam Schein of FoxSports.com. Schein ranks every NFL organization from 1 to 32. The Eagles come in at No. 6:
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Some links and notes to pass along on this Friday:
* Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has a list out with the most underrated and overrated player on every NFL roster.
For the Eagles, he calls Asante Samuel overrated:
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles have signed safety Ryan Hamilton, the team announced today.
The Saints signed Hamilton (6-2, 210) as an undrafted free agent in April but released him earlier this week. He was a four-year starter at Vanderbilt, but only played in two games as a senior because of a torn pectoral muscle. Hamilton finished his career with five INTs, two sacks and three forced fumbles.
He's a local product from Wycombe and attended Council Rock North High School, where yours truly played multiple tennis tournaments in high school.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles acquired defensive end Darryl Tapp from the Seahawks in the offseason and then proceeded to focus pretty much their entire draft on the pass rush.
Tapp is one of the select veterans participating in this week's OTAs. He's learning the system and trying to figure out what role he'll play, given the dramatic turnover of personnel on defense.
I caught up with him for a short Q&A yesterday:
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
As pointed out by Adam Caplan of Scout.com, according to the Eagles' Web site, the team has hired Daniel Jeremiah as a College Area Scout.
If Jeremiah's name sounds familiar, it's because he's been all over the internet in the past year, running the site movethesticks.com (no relation).
Prior to running his own Web site, Jeremiah served as a scout for the Ravens and Browns.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Update: The Super Bowl in Jersey in 2014 is a done deal.
Just a couple quick links today:
* The big national story today is that owners are expected to vote on New Jersey as the site of the 2014 Super Bowl. So what does this have to do with Philadelphia? Well, check out this passage from Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback on SI.com:
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Jeremy Maclin had a standout rookie season, catching 56 balls for 773 yards.
But what's in store for him in 2010?
In order to better form an educated guess at how Maclin might perform next season, I took a look at how his rookie numbers compared to other first-year receivers since 2004.
I focused on receiving yards as the criteria for selecting this group, but also included their other stats. The following chart shows the 10 receivers whose yardage totals during their rookie seasons most resembled Maclin's total of 773:
| Player | Catches | Yds. | TDs | YPC | Rookie Year |
| Jeremy Maclin | 56 | 773 | 4 | 13.8 | 2009 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 58 | 780 | 8 | 13.4 | 2004 |
| Calvin Johnson | 48 | 756 | 4 | 15.8 | 2007 |
| Keary Colbert | 47 | 754 | 5 | 16.0 | 2004 |
| Roy Williams | 54 | 817 | 8 | 15.1 | 2004 |
| Santonio Holmes | 49 | 824 | 2 | 16.8 | 2006 |
| Lee Evans | 48 | 843 | 9 | 17.6 | 2004 |
| Donnie Avery | 53 | 674 | 3 | 12.7 | 2008 |
| DeSean Jackson | 62 | 912 | 2 | 14.7 | 2008 |
| Greg Jennings | 45 | 632 | 3 | 14.0 | 2006 |
| Anthony Gonzalez | 37 | 576 | 3 | 15.6 | 2007 |
Not bad company, huh?
And here's how those 10 players performed in Year 2:
| Player | Catches | Yds. | TDs | YPC |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 103 | 1,409 | 10 | 13.7 |
| Calvin Johnson | 78 | 1,331 | 12 | 17.1 |
| Keary Colbert | 25 | 282 | 2 | 11.3 |
| Roy Williams | 45 | 687 | 8 | 15.3 |
| Santonio Holmes | 52 | 942 | 8 | 18.1 |
| Lee Evans | 48 | 743 | 7 | 15.5 |
| Donnie Avery | 47 | 589 | 5 | 12.5 |
| DeSean Jackson | 63 | 1,167 | 9 | 18.5 |
| Greg Jennings | 53 | 920 | 12 | 17.4 |
| Anthony Gonzalez | 57 | 664 | 4 | 11.6 |
And finally, differential from Year 1 to Year 2:
| Player | Catches | Yds. | TDs | YPC |
| Larry Fitzgerald | +45 | +629 | +2 | -0.3 |
| Calvin Johnson | +30 | +575 | +8 | +1.3 |
| Keary Colbert | -22 | -472 | -3 | -4.7 |
| Roy Williams | -9 | -130 | 0 | +0.2 |
| Santonio Holmes | +3 | +118 | +3 | +1.3 |
| Lee Evans | 0 | -100 | -2 | -2.1 |
| Donnie Avery | -6 | -85 | +2 | -0.2 |
| DeSean Jackson | +1 | +255 | +7 | +3.8 |
| Greg Jennings | +8 | +288 | +9 | +3.4 |
| Anthony Gonzalez | +20 | +88 | +1 | -4.0 |
| Totals: | +70 | +1,166 | +30 | -1.3 |
| Averages: | +7.0 | +116.6 | +3 | -0.13 |
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
I had Sportscenter on in the backgrond this morning when I noticed Donovan McNabb's name get mentioned.
Naturally, I turned the volume up just in time to hear ESPN's Rick Reilly criticize Eagles fans for their treatment of the former Birds' quarterback.
I looked for a video clip online, but couldn't find it. If anyone's got a link, please pass it along.
- Poll: Do Eagles fans owe McNabb an apology? (1402 votes)
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles have made the playoffs in eight of the last 10 seasons.
But will they be on the outside looking in as the Kevin Kolb era begins?
Pat Kirwan of NFL.com takes a look at the 12 teams that made the playoffs in 2009 and ranks them based on which are most likely to not get back this season. He has the Eagles third on that list. According to Kirwan, only the Cardinals and Patriots are more likely to miss the postseason:
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