Every year the NFL Network has players vote on who the Top 100 players are. Shady McCoy’s ranking was revealed last night. He came in at #45. That’s okay since he didn’t have a great season in 2012 (OL issues, injuries).
The Shady highlights are good, but the real star for me is Ike Taylor. I could watch him talk for a week…which is good since that’s about how long it would take him to finish a long sentence.
The guys over at Blogging the Boys managed to use pictures of Jerry Jones from the Dallas war room to put together the team’s draft board. You must take a look at this. Amazing work.
As far as Eagles go…
Lane Johnson – 1st Rd grade – 7th overall
Zach Ertz – 2nd Rd grade – 27th overall
Bennie Logan – 3rd Rd grade – 51st overall
Matt Barkley – 2nd Rd grade – 31st overall
They did not have Earl Wolff, Joe Kruger, Jordan Poyer or David King listed on their board.
From the Dallas perspective, they had DT Shariff Floyd rated as the #5 overall player, but decided not to take him at pick 18 and instead traded down. They took Travis Frederick (early 2nd Rd grade) at that spot. Dumb.
If you rate Floyd that high, take him. If you don’t like Floyd that much…then why is he 5th on your board?
Jerry Jones is crazy for posing for pics in the war room. This kind of info will help other teams next spring when they start trying to figure out what Dallas is going to do. There is a reason the Eagles, and 30 other teams, are so secretive.
The most interesting Eagle of them all is OL Nic Purcell. He’s from New Zealand. He’s making the transition from junior college to the NFL. And he’s still pretty raw as a football player. He makes Danny Watkins look like George Blanda.
Reuben Frank did a good article on Purcell.
“The reality is I’ve never played before a couple hundred people. There’s probably more people at practice now than at our games. But hopefully I get an opportunity to play in the preseason. Do what I know how to do, do it fast and do it hard and see what happens.”
It would be cool if Purcell could show enough to spend the year on the practice squad. If things don’t work out, at least he got a chance to see the NFL up close and personal.
OT Dennis Kelly started 10 games last year for the Eagles, playing both RG and RT. He had his ups and downs, but is hoping the experience will help him this year. Since the Eagles spent the #4 overall pick on Lane Johnson, Kelly knows that playing RT is probably not going to happen.
Kelly does have the right attitude and is doing whatever he can to help his cause. Per Domo:
The 6-8 Kelly was a Pillsbury Doughboy-soft 320 pounds at the end of last season. He’s down to 315 now, and is leaner, stronger and quicker.
“I definitely felt I was a little sloppy by the end of the year,” he said. “This weight is a lot better for me. During OTAs last year, I felt I had to pack on weight and got up to 330, but felt too slow. Now, I feel leaner and healthier. I feel I can move better at this weight and still have plenty of power.”
Kelly got to play LT in Tuesday’s practice. If he can show promise there, that will definitely help his bid to earn playing time this season.
The Eagles have the biggest coaching staff in the NFL, with 24 members. This data comes from an ESPN report. Jason over at BGN broke it down and offers some good analysis.
Things like this are what make me shake my head when some angry fans accuse Jeff Lurie of being cheap. He spends money wisely, not just to spend it. You are better off to spend on a scouting staff and coaching staff than to throw huge money at free agents.
DBs coach John Lovett was interviewed by Dave Spadaro last week. Lovett didn’t offer much in the way of great insight, but he did stress the importance of communication. That was music to my ears. The 2012 secondary had talent, but played as lost individuals. The 2013 unit won’t have as much talent at CB, but could be better simply because they communicate and play as a group. That’s incredibly important on the back end of a defense.
PE.com put up an article on the secondary, after talking to Lovett and FS Nate Allen. One other thing that has me optimistic about the DBs is the fact that guys like Allen and Kurt Coleman aren’t in fantasy land. Both players will tell you that 2012 was a bad year and they must play better this year to keep their jobs. So often players look for excuses and don’t want to accept responsibility. Was 2012 all their fault? Heck no. The players had scheme and coaching issues that hurt them, but part was on them. By acknowledging that, it gives them a better chance to bounce back this year and save their careers.
Nate Allen can be a solid starting FS. Kurt Coleman can be a good role player and spot starter. The Eagles will be a better team if both guys respond the right way on the field.
Jerry Jones isn’t famous for being beautiful, but I’d have never guessed he was Yoda’s twin.
Sure looks like that’s the case.
Great job by Mauricio Gonzalez.
DE Damion Square had a good career at Alabama, but was undrafted and then signed by the Eagles. Geoff Mosher spoke to a scout who thought this was a great move by the Eagles.
“I’ll tell you what, when I looked at the Eagles’ rookie free-agent acquisitions, the first guy I saw was Damion Square,” the scout said, “and I said that’s a great priority free-agent signing.”
The case for Square is that he played 3-4 DE at Bama and for a pro style coach. Square should be more NFL ready than most rookies.
The case against Square is that he lacks ideal size (6-2, 293) and is only a limited athlete. While he might have been effective in college, can he get the job done in the NFL?
Here is a short highlight video. Notice how on most of the plays he is cleaning up after someone else has gotten penetration or been the primary disruptive force.
I hope the scout is right, but I think Square is a long shot to make the roster. We’ll get a better feel for him in Training Camp. Right now he’s just getting the best of some trash cans.
Isn’t that the name of a cheesy TV show? It also is a possible nickname for Bill Davis. Just listen to him.
Joking aside, Davis is a good communicator. Part of being a coach isn’t just having good ideas, but being able to communicate them to your players. Davis certainly has the presence to make it seem like he’s got the answers. Here is an interesting blurb on him from an article on his hiring in SF.
“Even though (Mike) Nolan has followed Davis’ career for some time, it was a recommendation from Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis that swayed Nolan.
Lewis, who competed with Nolan for the 49ers’ coaching vacancy, said that Davis commanded the room whenever he spoke to players.
Lewis also told Nolan that Davis compiled the blitz packages, along with other duties typically handled by the defensive coordinator.”
Commanded the room. I like the sound of that.
Juan Castillo did a good job with his OL. That was 10 guys in a room and only 5 on the field. Running a room with 25 guys and 20 of them expected to play is a whole different deal. Juan wasn’t a good communicator at that level. Speaking to a large group is different than talking to a couple of guys.
Davis doesn’t have ideal results from his DC days, but he sure makes you feel like he will do a much better job of running the show and getting everyone on the same page. If he does fail with the Eagles, maybe he can get a job narrating for NFL Films. He’s got the voice.
Chris McPherson of PE.com put up a nice piece with quotes from the coaches on the rookies. Here is one I liked:
QB Matt Barkley – Fourth Round, No. 98 Overall
“I’m not keeping track, but I would guess most days Matt is the first person in the building. He’s excited to be here. He’s excited to be in the NFL. I believe that he’s learned a work ethic as far as what it’s going to take to be successful at quarterback in this league and he’s working his tail off to meet that expectation,” said quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor. “He’s a fun guy to be around because he wants it. He’s willing to do what it takes. He’s accurate.
“From the very first day we stepped on the field, he’s shown that he’s accurate. He can throw on the run really well. He makes good decisions. He can, for the first time being in an NFL pocket, make decisions. He looks like he’s done it before. It doesn’t look like it’s his first time and he carries himself the way you want a quarterback to carry himself. He’s probably had great teachers to teach him that and there’s something in him that’s probably innate, that when he walks on the field and tells the players what’s going to happen they believe him.”
“You try to project what he did in college to our game. He was a guy who threw for over 10,000 yards. He helped his team win many, many games. He really did all of the things playing quarterback that you need to see at this level. You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Why not?'” Shurmur said. “He’s taken to our training extremely well, the way we communicate is very different than the way he did in college. But he’s been able to do very nicely here in the first few weeks.
“It doesn’t really matter what level you’re playing quarterback. Number one, once you have the general skill set necessary – you’ve got to be an outstanding decision-maker, you’ve got to have a sense of timing and then you have to be an accurate passer. We felt like he had all of those traits. It’s just a matter of him learning how we call things, how we function and then put all of those traits to work.”
I guess you could say Bill Lazor likes Barkley.
I do think Barkley can win the starting QB job, but he’ll have to play really well to do that. It won’t be given to him. One thing that complicates matters is that he is a mid-round pick battling 2 other QBs for the job.
RG3 and Andrew Luck were going to start as long as they showed anything. Ryan Tannehill basically needed to not suck to get the job in Miami. He played reasonably well in the preseason and did win the job. Brandon Weeden really only had to beat out Colt McCoy, who the Browns were clearly down on. Russell Wilson only had to beat out Matt Flynn.
Barkley certainly has the right attitude. He expects to compete for the job and has the confidence that he can win the battle and play well. We’ll see.
