Burress, RGIII and McNabb
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Burress, RGIII and McNabb
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Plaxico Burress is at it again.
Last year, after he was released from prison, Burress made it clear that he'd enjoy playing with Michael Vick as a member of the Eagles.
He ended up signing a one-year deal with the Jets and is now once again a free agent. Joining Harry Mayes and Brian Baldinger on 97.5 The Fanatic Monday afternoon, he again expressed interest in coming to Philadelphia.
But would he be a good fit?
Before last year, I was of the opinion that signing Burress made little sense for the Eagles, considering he was 34 and hadn't played in an NFL game since 2008. But despite limited practice time, Burress posted respectable numbers in his return - 45 catches for 612 yards and eight touchdowns.
Most importantly, seven of those eight touchdowns came in the red zone. Burress had 10 catches in the red zone, tied for sixth-most among wide receivers. The Eagles finished 14th in red-zone offense, converting touchdowns 51.52 percent of the time.
The Jets kept Burress on the field quite a bit too. He played 78.8 percent of the team's offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
It'd be tough to figure out a way to get Burress on the field that much with the Eagles, assuming DeSean Jackson is still here. If Jackson is gone, the Eagles need to do better than Burress to replace him.
With Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant healthy, Burress could be used as a fourth wide receiver over Riley Cooper. But four-receiver sets mean either Brent Celek or LeSean McCoy is coming off the field. The Eagles could also possibly experiment with Maclin in the slot (although he hasn't been used in that role much) and use Burress in three-receiver sets, taking Avant off the field.
In the red zone, Burress could replace Jackson, but even with all those things, we're not talking about nearly as many snaps as he played last year. He would add depth and could be a spot starter for Jackson or Maclin. If that's a role Burress would be happy with, and if his asking price is reasonable, I'd consider adding him if I were the Eagles. But he may be able to find an expanded role elsewhere.
MYSTERY TEAM FOR RGIII?
The Robert Griffin III rumors will fly for the next two months leading up to April's draft. In this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, Peter King writes that Cleveland, Washington and Miami are the most likely suitors, but a source tells him that a team "you would never expect" has already put a feeler in to the Rams.
Meanwhile, per Evan Silva of Rotoworld.com, Greg Cosell of NFL Films described Griffin as a "more physically talented version of [Donovan] McNabb."
MCNABB NOT RETIRING...YET
Speaking of McNabb, while he failed to catch on with another team after being released by the Vikings last season, he says he is still preparing to play in the league next season.
"Well you know what man, right now I still have my mind on focused on football," McNabb told KILT in Houston. "All I have been doing is just working out and just staying abreast with things. I have been doing some TV stuff in the meantime just to polish that up for future endeavors that I may step into when I am done, but the most important thing for me is to just stay involved and continue to perfect my craft and get better and better as I continue on."
McNabb also said questions about his work ethic in the past couple years were "garbage." Click here for the full radio transcript of the McNabb interview on SportsRadioInterviews.com.
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While admittedly not getting a whole lot of opportunity, Riley Cooper has, nonetheless, not shown much at all. He certainly hasn't made it difficult for Reid to keep him on the bench.
Burress would likely be an improvement.— FishFryFrank- Donovan McNabb - the gift that keeps on giving.— dontavoidtheobvious
- The birds do not need to use a first rounder on a wideout the need a linebacker that can get people on the ground at the point of attack.— DAVID DOSTER
- What say you Doo Doo Fresh?— escapedcamden4monterey
- McNabb can teach the younger Eagle players how to play the air guitar and laugh at the most inappropriate time.— zeke128
- Too bad most of you stupid a**holes don't remember who won all of those games from '99 to '09. I guess you still think Ricky Williams would have been the better draft choice. The Beagles' will never win a SB with so-called "fans" like you!— lalaw9833
- What's McNabb going to teach a young QB - bad passing mechanics and a lack of clock management skills?— Boru
- I liked when McNabb talked about himself and Peyton Manning as equals. Vintage McNabb.— dontavoidtheobvious
- my jaw dropped when i heard him say that- if washington wasnt willing to change their offense for him (mcnabb), they wont change it for peyton manning. L.M.A.O. — bloodymess
- Man, ya'll are some haters on here. For all of McNabb's shortcomings, the dude was one of the best quarterbacks this franchise has ever had. He may not be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning but he was certainly a hell of a lot better than 80% of the quarterbacks out there. Guys like him aren't a dime a dozen.— Controlled Chaos
- Jwatson- amazing post- thank you!!— friedmozzarela
- Sign Plax? Sure. If he knows going into the season that he'd just be a situational player.— MrMiles1
- I doubt Burress would be willing to come here as a part timer and remain a happy camper. He'd be complaining about playing time by week 5.— p-diddy
- mcnabb was a media generated star. he was politically correct. he came along when the nfl needed or wanted a black qb.duante culpepper and bryan leftwich were way better qbs .they both knew how read defenses ,were more accurate,2 things he still cant do.he just played in a bigger market and his teams won more.teams did not fear him as a passer,thus when he stopped running he was just an averaqe qb.they call andy reid a qb guru but he stuck with a qb who couldnt run the west coast offense because of accuracy issues,couldnt throw the short pass with touch, slow processing skills,and read couldnt read defenses.this is why they were unable to the superbowl.reid stuck with someone who was ill equipped to run the west coast and had mechanics.he just needs to fade away..— swgaston49
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