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Sorry for the lack of activity. I took a short vacation and actually was away from the computer more than I had planned. I hope everyone enjoyed their July 4th weekend.
Kevin Curtis is a tough subject. His numbers look pretty good initially. We have to focus on TDs and clutch plays to really see the differences in productive players and very good players.
Kevin has 8 TDs as an Eagle.
* 3 came in a blowout win over the Lions
* 1 came on a missed tackle that turned into a 75-yd play vs the Jets
* 1 came in a loss to SEA
* 1 came in a comfortable win over the Saints, a lousy pass defense
* 1 came in a blowout win over Cleveland
* 1 came in a close loss to the Giants
In 10 division games he has 1 TD catch. The Lions game sounds great, but you have to keep that in context. That was one of the worst defensive performances I've seen in the last 5 to 10 years. They were beyond dreadful. The Jets TD was huge. We might not win that game without it. Kevin had good speed to take advantage of the sloppy tackle. Still, it was a missed tackle.
I guess my question is this...is Kevin the kind of player who beats defenses or is he the guy who takes advantage of of certain situations? Does that make sense?
I know he can make some clutch plays. He's come up big on some 3rd downs. He made a terrific catch in the late season win over the Giants that broke open the game. I'm not trying to discount that stuff. But I also can't overlook the 4th down drop vs the Redskins early in 2007 or the 4th down play vs Arizona in the NFC-CG. Those were plays where the game was on the line. Neither pass was ideal, but isn't that when you need a big time receiver to help out the QB?
Remember, the question isn't whether Curtis is talented. He is. He's a good player. The question I've been trying to get at is "how good"? We're making a serious run at the Super Bowl this year. You need guys to step up in those years. I fully expect DeSean to improve, but we'd also benefit greatly from Kevin coming up big. Think about how clutch the Steelers and Cardinals receivers were. I'm obviously not directly comparing our guys to Larry Fitzgerald. What he did was freakish last January/February. We do need our guys to be clutch and to make key plays.
RE: Future at WR
I didn't bring up the subject of KC because Jeremy Maclin is on pace to start ahead of him or anything like that. The only reason to compare those two is when thinking of the future. Assuming Kevin is fully healthy, I'm expecting him to start this year. How he plays in 2009 will determine the future. If he catches 75 passes and has 10 TDs the team will have a difficult decision. If he catches 45 and 4...get ready for the Jeremy Maclin show in 2010.
I do hear the team is very excited about Maclin, but as we've discussed he has a tougher transition to the Pro Game than DeSean did. Think of him as a talented role player for the time being. We'll see how this summer goes. If he shows he can handle the pro game the team won't be afraid to mix him in. I'm curious to see what he does at Lehigh and in the preseason.
Reggie Brown is the X-factor in all of this. How nuts would it be if he actually outplayed Curtis and won the starting X-receiver job? My sources haven't told me squat about Brown. Dave Spadaro has said a lot of good things about Reggie this Spring, but that could be a PR stunt to boost his trade value just as easily as it could be legit praise. We don't know. I'm certainly not expecting Reggie to do much, but sometimes oddball guys like him play a role in a title run. Just think about the Steelers makeshift OL.
RE: LeSean McCoy
I'll write out some more thoughts on him in a later post. I need to do some checking to get more info.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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4 comments:
Personally, Ive always thought that they wanted Curtis for the slot.
He was a very good slot receiver with the Rams.
Unfortunately, once in an Eagles uniform, the other WR's didnt develop and they had to move him out of the slot to put the best team on the field?
Then again, Im no expert. Would be interesting to get an opinion on this take though.
Some Questions on the Passing Game.
The rap against Curtis was that he was not a true number one. He is probably better than a number two- so lets say he is a one and a half. But now with the emergence of DeSean Jackson as a true number one (Is that really the case?) the Eagles are better off than just having a one and a two aren't they? Its really the total package of receivers that will determine their effectiveness. How many extra touchdowns and receptions will Curtis have because defenses have to deal (double team, roll the coverage, or otherwise scheme to defend) Jackson.
How much does Curtis compete with Avant for playing time if they are both supposed to be making moves to get underneath for those short to medium passes in the middle of the field?
What would it take for Hank Basket to become a more consistent threat? He is already in rare territory with some record for long pass plays and seems to have a rare combination of size, speed and talent. But he seems to only really show up on a sporadic basis.
Good news for Eagles fans. Jim Zorn, coach of the Washington Red Skins, just made a huge blunder. He is allowing veterans to spend the nights away from training camp an in their homes.
Having training camps and other business meetings in remote locations (away from the trappings of participants normal lives) has been shown to have two major benefits:
1. It allows the team members now thrown together for a period of time to develop a camaraderie, and
2. It allows the participants to get away from their normal lives in a way which allows them to be open to new ways to thinking and to learn better.
While NFL coaches may not all be aware of the studies that show this I'm sure that most (all but Zorn) believe in point one and that a majority intuitively understand point two.
I wouldl bet that Washington makes a significant number of mental errors during the season because of Zorn's decision.
@Hakan, they never intended for KC to play the slot. they paid him starter money.
KC's only competition, IMO, is Reggie. actually, Reggie is challenging everybody for their spot, except for Desean...that's if the FO is actually considering keeping him around and not just trying to raise his trade value.
WR position battles as i see them:
#2 - KC vs Brown
#3 - Avant vs Maclin vs Brown
#4 - Baskett vs Maclin vs Brown vs Gibson
i'm actually a supporter of Brown. i think he's talented and can be productive, as he once was. imagine if he's playing to his capacity along with Desean, KC, and Maclin...ouch! the injuries really hurt his play and seemingly his prospect in the eyes of the coaching staff.
if Maclin develops accordingly we have our starting wideouts for a number of years to come, but they may look to draft another WR in the 3rd or 4th rd next yr to solidify the position for the future. this looks to be the last year for Mr. Kendra Wilkinson, so we'll need to replenish the back end.
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