What they're saying about the Eagles
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What they're saying about the Eagles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Before I get to the roundup, here's my take on DeSean Jackson from Thursday night, in case you missed it.
Now, on to what the national media are saying about the Eagles this week:
Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com writes that the Eagles aren't sure they can trust Jackson long-term:
Several NFL sources said there is a debate within the Eagles hierarchy about whether or not the team can truly trust Jackson with a long-term deal. The Eagles, one league source explained, are also open to a trade for Jackson. In other words, the Eagles wouldn't mind if some sucker, er, team, took Jackson off their hands for a nice piece of draft compensation.
In his post-combine mock draft, Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com has the Eagles taking Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly at No. 15:
There were questions about his speed heading into the combine, but he put those questions to rest with a blazing 4.5 40-yard dash. He’s been compared to Sean Lee, without the durability and injury issues. Kuechly’s considered a first-day NFL starter. Slate him into that Philly defense and watch out.
Pro Football Weekly has a list out of the top 100 free agents. Keep in mind this was posted before the Eagles used the franchise tag, but they had DeSean Jackson at No. 9 overall. The only receivers ahead of him were Vincent Jackson and Mike Wallace, who is restricted. They've got Evan Mathis at No. 66 overall.
Speaking of Mathis, he wrote a piece about O-line play for Pro Football Focus:
The offensive line is a unit and an adjustment made by the left tackle can affect the right tackle’s responsibility. Before making an assumption about who was supposed to block the linebacker that came free and leveled the quarterback, try to see what everybody else did during the play.
Clark Judge of CBSSports.com thinks franchising Jackson was the right move:
Of course, it's inside the locker room where some critics worry about the guy. But people close to the Eagles believe that Jackson is not a character risk; that he can be the complete player -- the team player -- he was before 2011. That's because they believe that what happened last year was the inevitable consequence of the Eagles passing out millions to unrestricted free agents from other clubs -- with players who had experience with the Eagles, like Jackson, wondering why they weren't getting a piece of the pie.
Judge also writes that the Eagles should stay away from Plaxico Burress:
I mean, we all saw what happened when the Eagles brought in Terrell Owens -- and he was more of a playmaker than Burress. Plus, he stayed out of trouble with the law. But he was a disruptive influence in the locker room, and I guess what I'm suggesting is that Burress can be one, too. So why take the risk when there's such little reward?
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- I think you're giving Donovan short-shrift a bit, and how's TO doing these days? (Hint: check the roster for the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League).
— Zaknafein - I see alot of McNabb bashing goin on.. I for one thought he did alot with so little at times. Yeah, T.O. did his thang here for awhile, but as usaul he is a cancer. McNabb by all accounts was the best QB we have had in this city!! Was accurate nope, a leader nope, but he did get us where the following QB's didn't, Bobby Hoying, Doug Pederson, Rodney Peete, oh know one remembers those guys huh? I wonder why? Live or Die I roll with 5!!!— HonestJ
- DJax Maclin Avant Burress Celek and McCoy. Vick will be able to get rid of the ball quick and deliver completions to this group and stay healthy all year. A healthy QB helps to win Super Bowls. Sign Burress to a performance based contract and get LB help and DT help and lets watch the parade in Feb— VegasEagleFan
- Hey Zeru, great post.— watsonmr
- @Zeru.....nothing could be more true! Thanks!— Mark1npt
- They didn't never put the talent like they haver now around McNabb. As long as they had McNabb they never went all in and made a splash for the players we have. They never splashed for a great DT like Cullen and never splashed for an Elite CB in Nnamdi. They never put the talent we have now around McNabb. McNabb would say the same. They only made a splash on a loud mouth receiver.— Titanic
- They didn't never put the talent like they haver now around McNabb. As long as they had McNabb they never went all in and made a splash for the players we have. They never splashed for a great DT like Cullen and never splashed for an Elite CB in Nnamdi. They never put the talent we have now around McNabb. McNabb would say the same. They only made a splash on a loud mouth receiver.— Titanic
- I'd call it sarcasm, Leagles ...— petergou
- Glad to see pro-T.O. posts from knowledgeable eagles fans. The bias press keeps telling us how he "blew up the team" yeah blew it up right to the super bowl. Then next year mcslab sulked because TO called him out and the whole country knew about the super vomiting. Yeah, TO sulked about his contract but what pro player who is underpaid relative to his peers doesn't? We see now 7 years later how Mcslab stinks and is out of shape (see redskins and vikings) and broccoli rabe reid wouldn't know qb talent if it showed up on his pass happy chart.— dval
- Plex would help make the offense that much better. If the offensive line continues to improve, the Eagles offense will be humming. Shady is still so young - he will be even better next season!
...It is the defense that needs to be addressed. Castillo will be average at best - takes him about 3-5 games to adjust when it should take nothing more than a half-time - defense simply does not come naturally enough to him - that's one huge problem. And they need at least two new linebackers that have size and speed - a tall order. Coleman is a good hitter and seems to do well against the run - but they need safties that can help in coverage (Coleman clearly is overmatched there). The defense is what should be on everyone's mind this offseason. But there is little reason to expect Reid to soemhow become intelligent in 2012 - he has plenty of upsides, but he's as stubborn as they come - consistently shows that he has little ability to learn from his mistakes.— EagleWatcher - Yes, trade Jackson and sign Wallace. Wallace is a more productive player with a much better attitude than Jackson.— MUADDIB
- There isn't much evidence Burress was anything but a pro last year with the Jets. At some price hes valuable. There is too much value at DT if the Eagles stay around 15. DT is much more valuable than LB, and there are guys that went nuts at the combine AND apparently looked good on film (according to Tommy Lawlor especially). Can we finally, ever, put to rest the notion the Eagles select undersized linemen? Graham is 6'1 and 3/4, 270 lbs listed on draft day. This is within the range of the average size of the better DEs in the league. But yeah, god forbid the Eagles select a DT that is around 300lb and plays the 2 technique -- the most passionate, knowledgable fan base will go nuts wondering where those 30 lbs this guy should have went?— Murrayman
- high motor— brock
- Desean was an exciting and productive player with one down season in Phila. It's time the Eagles and DeSean cut ties. DeSean is a talented 25 year old. He's in the prime of his career. The Eagles believe he's not worth his asking price. If DeSean wants a productive stress free career he needs to move on away from the Eagles. Everyone could be happy starting over fresh. The Eagles can bring in another Talent, DeSean can find financial Security some place else.
If DeSean stays in Phila he will eventually end like Terrell Owens and Cory Simons. It's best for both to part ways now the 9 million isn't the Security DeSean and his Agent are seeking.
— Dexter - idiots still talking about Mcnabb dont know the game he was one of the most turnover free qb's to ever play the game took us to 4 championship games 1 superbowl what else hv we had before of after him ? oh yeah name one pro bowl wr we had playing with him he utilized his TE and running back ..owens was great for a moment but he was a cancer for every team he ever played on and he didnt get us over the hump (dont say momentum because we sat the starters in the end)he played great in the superbowl but we didnt win yes Mcnabb had 3 turnovers but our interior defense failed again like it has in most of our playoff losses ...see kirkland etc— positive eagle
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