Eagles Blog

ILB Jake Knott had a great career at Iowa State. He was undrafted due to some medical concerns (shoulder injuries), but the Eagles are high on him and he even got snaps with the #2 defense in the recent OTAs.

If you watch these videos from Iowa State, you’ll be convinced Knott is pretty much the best person in history. One teammate says playing with Knott was “magical”. No one ever said that about Dawk. Or me.

Jake does have NFL ability. He must work on shedding blocks. He also can be a sloppy tackler at times. He’ll grab and use his hands instead of wrapping up and using his whole body. Real interested to see how he does at Training Camp.

Oh…and bring back the Mohawk!!!

Here is a game to check out if you haven’t seen him in action

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Albert Breer of NFL.com takes a look at the 4 NFC East teams and their power structure. Who is really calling the shots?

Part of the Eagles write-up:

The Eagles have been very secretive when it comes to the structure beyond that. Roseman has taken on many of Reid’s old responsibilities, in running free agency and the draft, but it’s clear that Kelly has a strong voice. In fact, two sources say Kelly has final say on the 53-man roster. Also, his staff delivered very detailed presentations to the scouting side on the measureables and traits that Kelly will look for at every position. When former president Joe Banner left in 2012, contracts and the cap fell to Roseman, who has concentrated on this area over the course of his 14 total years with the club.

Good read, although not much in the way of new info for any of the teams.

The Eagles traded for Arrelious Benn back in March. I loved the move, since the team needed more size and toughness at the position. Benn has been a disappointment in the NFL, but he is a good fit for this offense.

Chris McPherson wrote a good piece on him for PE.com.

The funny thing is that we’ve gotten so caught up in talking about Ifeanyi Momah, Damaris Johnson and Russell Shepard as “guys to watch” that we’ve forgotten about Benn. I do think Benn can be a good role player, if not more. He and Riley Cooper are the best blockers. Benn is the most physical of the receivers and has good RAC skills. It is easy for some guys to look good in shorts. I think Benn will shine when there is live hitting.

The Eagles announced they’ll be making some upgrades to Lincoln Financial Field.

Upon completion prior to the start of the 2014 season, the stadium will have improved amenities for all fans including new HD video boards, Wi-Fi installation, and bridges that will connect both sides of the upper concourse. In addition, the stadium will expand by 1,600 seats to accommodate nearly 70,000 fans.

This is cool, although I’ve got mixed feelings on the Wi-Fi part of it. People now live and die with their cellphones. At a football game, you’d like fans to focus on the game itself and not be checking their phones.

The Eagles are just listening to the fans and this is something they want.

Former Eagles Troy Vincent and James Thrash were high character players during their NFL careers. They are now working to help other former players adjust to life after football, something that is far trickier than most people realize.

This article from the Boston Globe talks about the efforts of each man.

I know some fans like to talk about James “Trash” and rip the guy, but that’s not fair at all. He is a former D-2 player that made a nice career for himself. The fact Andy Reid tried to make him the lead receiver in a pass-happy attack isn’t Thrash’s fault. He was a solid NFL player, but not meant for that role.

h/t to Sam Lynch for the article.

Since we only got to see a bit of Jeff Stoutland in action during Eagles practices, I thought it might be interesting to go back and watch some Bama practice clips. Stoutland is a typical OL coach. He is fiery and demanding. I think you’ll see from the clips that he likes “Feet!” and “violent hands”.

Always fun to watch OL coaches in action.

Jeff McLane wrote an article about the defensive line. He wrote about the individual players, but also the change in philosophy. You may recall that Jim Washburn focused on getting to the QB.  Things will be very different under Bill Davis.

“We’re not too worried about the pass rush,” Thornton said Wednesday, a day before minicamp ended. “I think that’s going to happen with blitzes that we’re going to call. Basically, we’re gaining more weight for the run game.”

The theory is that you shut down the run and force the offense into known passing situations, then you blitz. It will be interesting to see how well the defense plays the run this year. That was a major weakness in the Wide-9.

Les Bowen has a good write-up on the QB competition.

In spring work, Vick has been the most effortless thrower, Foles probably the most accurate. And Barkley is the only QB drafted by Kelly. Kelly hinted yesterday that he doesn’t want to just see the QBs throwing in pads – they don’t take hits in training camp, after all – he wants to see them in preseason games before he makes his decision. Vick clearly is not looking to wait that long; in a Comcast SportsNet interview yesterday, he said he was hoping Kelly would pick a starter before camp.

Vick may be frustrated, but Chip Kelly isn’t going to rush this decision. This is way too important to be casual about.

Les Carpenter covers the NFL for Yahoo. He got his first taste of a Chip Kelly practice and came away very impressed.

Even if Chip Kelly never wins a game and the Philadelphia Eagles dump his visor and multipage practice plans into the Delaware River, he will have been good for the NFL. For in two months the Eagles’ new coach has done something hundreds of his predecessors in professional football have failed to do.

He has made practice interesting.

Carpenter isn’t just an Eagles guy. He goes to lots of different practices. Offers a good perspective on just how differently Kelly does things.

Jordan Raanan of NJ.com posted his guess at the depth chart after minicamp concluded.  This isn’t a guess at the final 53, but just a look at what he thinks the depth chart is.

Who was his QB? Michael Vick.

No major complaints from me. He didn’t have Bennie Logan listed since the depth chart was just 2-deep. Fitting all the guys in is tough when you try to do just that.