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Mike Mayock appeared on Daily News Live yesterday and said some interesting things. He spoke at length about how Donovan can win a Super Bowl. He said that McNabb is still a good QB. Mayock put him in the second tier of QBs (with guys like Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, and Tony Romo). That sounds about right to me. Mayock said that Donovan still has a strong reputation around the league. He says fans are being too hard on McNabb and that we lost to Dallas because of poor line play and problems in the secondary as much as anything.
I respect Mike as much as any football analyst there is. I still disagree. He says personnel people around the league feel strongly that Donovan can win a Super Bowl. Fine. Do they feel he can win one in the Reid/Mornhinweg offense? That is the key point so many people overlook. I used to believe Donovan could win us a title, but his streaky play now has me feeling otherwise.
I also think Mayock is in a fantasy world when he suggests that we should sign Kolb to an extension and keep McNabb at least one more year. That theory is great on paper. There are 2 main problems with that: the Philly media and the locker room. Every time McNabb throws a bad pass or we lose a game the press will be all over the place asking if Kolb should start. That leads to a dangerous atmosphere in the locker room. I can tell you now that not all 53 guys want McNabb over Kolb at this moment. If there is a stretch where Donnie is struggling or the offense goes in a funk that situation could boil over. You cannot ignore the human factor in this decision. I think keeping Kevin and Donovan would be playing with fire. And as someone who has seen Backdraft a lot I can tell you that's a bad idea.
Mayock says you tell Kolb he's your guy in the future and you pay him good money. I think Mike is overlooking the fact that Kevin is dying to get on the field. Guys only have so many years of prime ability. Kevin is in his mid-20s. He needs to get on the field ASAP. Kevin started for all of HS and college. This is not a guy used to sitting on the bench. One of his best qualities is his competitive nature. Sitting is absolutely killing him.
I am glad to hear Mayock's point of view. Our QB situation isn't a no-brainer. We take a big chance no matter what we do.
GOCONG
Steve Steiner wrote about moving Chris Gocong to DE. I'm not fully on board with that, but again it is good to hear other points of view. Here's the piece.
-Link-
QB REPORTS
SalPal says the Eagles are telling teams that neither McNabb nor Kolb is available in trade. Even Sal knows, if true, that this is just posturing. The value of an item goes down when someone puts it out for sale. Have people come to you and the market goes up. You can bet the Eagles will be a very popular team at the Scouting Combine in 2 weeks. That is when trade talks really get going. The Feeley deal was done at the Combine back in 2004.
GCobb is reporting that the Eagles have offered an extension to Kolb. He's right more than Sal, but still isn't deadly accurate with news.
ANSWERS
RE: DE/LB tweeners
I do my draft rankings based on 4-3 values. I only list guys at LB that I think essentially "must" play there. If a guy is a tweener with realistic DE potential I leave him at DE.
As for the Eagles and tweeners...mixed results. Trent Cole was a tweener coming out of Cincy. He weighed 243 pounds at the Combine. The Eagles believed in his ability to add bulk and rush the passer. Bryan Smith was a favorite player of former DL coach Pete Jenkins. That move failed. No team has great results with tweeners. There are going to be some guys who adjust well and some who don't. The Ravens do a very good job with most defensive players, but even they miss on some guys.
The draft is a crapshoot for all teams, all styles, and all schemes. There are a ton of variables that go into success/failure. We're generally among the league leaders in sacks. We generally have a good defense. I'd say we're getting more right than wrong.
RE: class of DEs/DBs
If you want pass rushers you better get them early. If the Eagles want a big LDE they can wait til the 2nd or 3rd round. There will be good CBs and Safeties in the first 3 rounds and maybe more. Good year for DBs. I wrote about a couple of Texas defenders on ScoutsNotebook. Earl Thomas's tackling is an issue. Here's the --LINK-- for those interested.
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Friday, February 12, 2010
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5 comments:
What's interesting about the Mayock thing on Daily News Live is that in an NFL.com/videos "Playbook" segment I watched in which he and the other coaches dissected the Dallas loss, he pointed out situations in which McNabb clearly failed to make proper reads and missed wide open receivers, and then said something to the effect of "I think Donovan's had enough time in this league to see this play - it's not a complicated route and he misses it" Here's the link (@ 1:15): http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-playoffs/09000d5d815b0b2d/Playbook-Eagles-vs-Cowboys-recap
So it struck me as odd that he would not hold McNabb culpable at all for the Dallas losses during the DNL segment. I mean, he doesn't even criticize him once on TV, yet makes it a priority to point out critical misreads during the NFL.com segment.
Also - another weird thing about the Mayock appearance on DNL was the segment in which he was talking about potential draft targets for the Eagles. He brings up Jason Pierre-Paul as a top DE prospect - but instead of mentioning specific football-related reasons as to why he's worthy of a first-round pick, he asks the guys on DNL to find a youtube video of the guy doing ... backflips. Very weird. Personally, I think JPP will be a bust in the NFL. His game film exposes a ton of weaknesses, and about his only strength right now is his height/size/speed combination, i.e. his physical measurements.
Sal Palantonio is a guy who goes to the Novacare complex, spends all day there and tells you nothing more than you knew three days ago. If he predicts anything he might get lucky but when he says he knows this or that in terms of what the Eagles are going to do he is just making it up. He has no sources except what the Eagles intentionally leak to him.
G Cobb is worse. His web site it a complete regurgitation of stuff that is available on other sites. He must of had half of a source once. But he totally makes stuff up. He is nothing like a journalist and deserves no credibility.
I was going to ask if you envisioned Sergio Kindle as a 4-3 DE and you just answered it. If he's sitting there at 24, don't you have to take him over Jerry? Also, what about Odrick's ability to play DE? Could he be someone to consider if you wanted someone with size?
I wouldn't take him over Hughes. As Tommy explained in an earlier post, Hughes has the ideal technique for our system.
I'd take Sergio over Hughes as a SAM but Hughes over Sergio as a DE. If the Eagles have a good plan for DE i'd definitely take Sergio in the first, he could inject some serious ability and playmaking potential at SAM.
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