Saturday, February 28, 2009

Couple of Thoughts

* Shawn Andrews

PE.com has an interview with Shawn that is good to listen to. Go to the Eagles Live archive for Saturday and fast forward to about the 3/4 mark. Shawn is part of a conference call with reporters.

I've talked about some of his issues on here. If Shawn is excited by the presence of Stacy, as he sounds like in the interview, that is a great thing. He is a Pro Bowl RG. He could play RT while Stacy recovers. Shawn also indicated in the interview that he's been taking some reps as a LT and feels comfortable there.

No matter where Shawn plays, he gives the Eagles a huge boost with his presence up front. He joked about him and Stacy being the "Great Wall of Philadelphia". I love the attitude. I hope...I pray that Shawn comes back to the team and is 100% in '09.


* Cover LB

Someone asked about the need for a cover LB. He mentioned the importance of Ike Reese in the past. Cover LBs are few and far between. They aren't like 3rd down backs or something like that. Not every team has a true cover 'backer.

Akeem Jordan has shown good cover ability. He understands the importance of hitting a receiver early in the route to throw the guy off his path. Jordan is quick and fast enough to cover a good amount of ground. I don't have a good feel yet for his instincts and ability to play the ball in the air. We'll have to see how that comes.

As you look over draft prospects, check out the number of INTs and PDs (passes defensed). Those numbers can help you to see which players make coverage plays. Obviously they don't account for how often a guy blitzes or covers so well that the ball doesn't come to his area.

In a recent mock draft I had the Eagles take LB Mortty Ivy in the 7th round as a SAM LB. He had 3 INTs and 6 PDs this year. He's also 6'1, 248.


* Salaries

Dealing with the ever changing world of NFL salaries is tricky. Joselio Hanson is due to make more in 2009 than Sheldon Brown. However, Brown signed a better deal than Hanson and Sheldon did that several years ago. Trying to balance keeping everyone under contract and everyone happy is tricky. It requires flexibility while also the ability to be cold and business like. You can't upgrade every player's salary every year. Someone is always going to feel underpaid based on the new market.

Shawn Andrews made some noise about wanting more money last year. His brother is now earning probably close to twice what he does. Shawn is the better player. Stacy just happened to make it to FA. Shawn made more in his first 4 years than Stacy did.

The Eagles might be willing to redo Shawn's deal, but that will only happen if he comes back to the team and there are no issues. If they feel that he's trying to take advantage of them, they will not give him an extra nickel. The Eagles are brutally tough negotiators...for better or worse.

If Shawn were to take over the LT spot, the team would be able to give him a raise and not feel bad about it. That could be a really interesting development. Stay tuned.

* Slow Start to the Offseason

Zack is concerned that the team lost the RT, LT, FS, and some key backups while only adding an injured RT. That is one way to look at things.

Tra played poorly in the NFC-CG. I was ready to send him to the South Pole when I re-watched that game. He really pissed me off. Runyan was playing on one good leg in the last couple of months. He was a shell of his old self. Dawk was a very good player for 6 weeks, an inconsistent guy for the first 10 games.

We didn't lose Trent Cole or Westy or DeSean or Asante. Herremans is the best OL. McNabb is still here. You can argue that Mikell was the better Safety over the course of the year. The DTs and LBs were terrific for most of the year.

The core of the Eagles is in place. We do need to add some players, but don't mistake past glory for current ability.

A couple of solid FA additions and a good draft class will have this team back in the hunt for the NFC title.
_____

5 comments:

Sattymike said...

In FA I was only interested in sorting out the OL. I felt we would need a vet and now we have the Great Wall of Andrews which I'm happy for.

I'd like to see a young vet FS to compete with Demps for the starting spot. Maybe the Pat's Sanders. Possibly a vet blocking TE to replace Schobel I was looking at Quinn S. from Balt. That's it for FA for me. Upgrade WR if it comes available.

The Draft I could see TE, RB and SS in rounds 1 and 2. Filling out the remainder 3rd WR, 4th OG, 5th and later comp for 4th CB and 4th DT, depth LB, depth WR.

The only spot untouched would be an upgrade at LDE which we have a a crew of servicable DE's, just no-one great enough to properly offset Cole the way I'd like. Interesting off-season!

orangecrush007 said...

Would the eagles trade mcnabb for cutler straight up?

Great writingm. You are right about the core of this team. Our defense is sick. I think they go wr then) in the draft. I like the guy from rutgers.

ZackISM said...

Tommy,

I think the problem with your philosophy is your looking at the Eagles as a NFC title contender, rather than a team that was 11-7-1..And that's with a great finish.

We may have a good core of players in place, but not a great one. If your goal (the front office's) is to be good, not great, sure, sit on your hands, and hope for a great draft...But the draft is a crap shoot just like free agency, and as it stands we have more holes on this team than we did during the NFC-CG.

Maybe you differ in opinion, but I think we need:
LT (LG - if Herremans is moved)
RT (RG, until Andrews is healthy)
TE (Brent Celek, and a loser)
WR (Okay, could be improved)
RB
FB (Awful play last year)
FS
SS

What's left in free agency is essentailly garbage...There may be a player or two who can help, but not much. So the Eagles who we about a .600 winning team, needs to fill 8 needs through the draft, I guess we better hope they trade down not up.

T_S_O_P said...

I like Mortty but prefer Williams from the mock draft prior, PDs and FFs

T_S_O_P said...

Zack, you missed a hole. With Demps now starting at FS we might be looking for a KOR, in fact we'd do well to look for one that could do both as to let Peanut concentrate on WR. Maybe that possible 2nd RB choice should have some KR experience or Booker should step up (unlikely)