Eagles Blog

The Raiders cut ILB Rolando McClain the other day.  He finally passed through waivers, with no claims being put in.  McClain is a free agent.

Should the Eagles be interested?  Will they?

McClain is very talented.  No one questions that.  He is a troubled person.  Reportedly he warned the Raiders before the draft that living that far from Alabama would be a problem for him.  That doesn’t sound like a guy you want to spend a Top 10 pick on and build around.  We do know for a fact that McClain was involved in a gun incident back in his home of Alabama.  That’s a player you should be scared of, no matter what.

McClain started 29 of his first 32 games and showed serious ability.  In 2011 he had 5 sacks and 14 PDs, along with 99 total tackles.  Last year McClain didn’t work as well with the new coaches and only started 9 games.

The argument for McClain is that he’s young and still talented.  He turns 24 in July.  McClain jumped out at me while watching tape of free agent Desmond Bryant.  He is 250 pounds and runs well.  Can play the run, can blitz, and has some coverage ability.  The Eagles would likely only be interested in him on a cheap deal.  They could bring McClain in as competition at ILB and to develop for the future.  With DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks in place, it isn’t likely that McClain would be a starter.  Chip Kelly does believe in competition, though, and McClain would be given a fair shot.  I just think the Eagles would see McClain as a player to take it slowly with.  If you could get his head on right and put him in the right system, he could be a very good player.

I wouldn’t bet the Eagles will sign him, but I’d be shocked if they didn’t at least call his agent to see what the asking price is and what McClain is thinking right now.  Is he only interested in a starting gig or is he willing to spend time as a backup and work his way up the depth chart?

The Eagles have met with OL Justin Pugh quite a bit.  They saw him at the Senior Bowl.  They had an interview with him at the Combine.  They had a workout with him up at Syracuse.

Pugh is a very interesting prospect.  He played LT for 3 years.  He has the footwork to be a good pass protector, but also has the nasty streak to be a good run blocker.  The big knock on Pugh is his arm length.  You ideally want OL to have arms that are 33 to 35 inches long.  He’s just under 32.  That may not sound like a big deal, but sometimes the difference in a defender beating a blocker is a matter of inches.

The short arms have made some teams consider Pugh a possibility at RT, OG, and apparently even C.  This is very interesting.  The Eagles have Jason Kelce at C, but he’s coming off a torn ACL.  We’re hearing all the right things about Kelce, but the Eagles do need to be comfortable with another option at C in case anything happens to Kelce.

Dallas Reynolds struggled early in 2012, but got better as the season wore on.  The problem is that he’s limited athletically and Chip Kelly loves athletic OL.  Does Reynolds fit in?  Matt Tennant is also in the mix, but there is no sure thing, so to speak.

The Eagles worked out USC Center Khaled Holmes recently.  He can play C and G.  The team must have some interest in adding someone that could help at C if needed.  Pugh is of interest because of his versatility.  He could literally play anywhere on the OL.  The Eagles don’t know if Danny Watkins or Todd Herremans will be the RG.  They don’t know if Herremans or Dennis Kelly will be the RT.  They love Peters and Kelce, but both are coming off serious injuries.  Maybe the smart play would be to add a versatile player and keep your options open.

Pugh should be a 2nd round target.

PE.com has a video up of DeMeco Ryans talking to the media.  The talk goes on for about 13 minutes.  Ryans doesn’t offer any groundbreaking news, but does have a few interesting things to say.

Ryans said that the coaches haven’t talked much about scheme yet.  Chip Kelly seems to be focusing on getting the players indoctrinated to the new style of working out and just some general changes.  I can see the wisdom in not trying to do too much too soon.  Still, it will be nice when they get to schematic stuff so that the players can share some info with the media and fans.

Ryans said he’s comfortable playing in the 3-4 or 4-3.  He said all he needs to know is what his assignment is.  He can handle anything.  I  think there is a lot of truth in this.  The Texans let him go becasue they had an impact ILB in Brian Cushing and wanted to save some money.  Ryans wasn’t dead weight the team wanted to get rid of.

There were lots of questions about leadership.  This is a strength of Ryans’.  I think he’ll be a major asset this year in being a leader on the defense.  There are quite a few new faces.  Those players will look to someone.  Expect that to be Ryans.

Could the Dolphins be a potential trade-back partner for the Eagles?  I touched on that over at Iggles Blitz today and then Jimmy Bama took it a step farther, adding in more research and details.

I would love for the Eagles to make a deal with the Dolphins.  Dropping back to pick #12 and adding a 2nd rounder or maybe a pair of 3rd rounders would be great.  That would give the Eagles extra picks in an area where the draft is full of quality prospects.

There would be plenty of good targets at #12.  You would have to think the Eagles would be very tempted by WR/RB/RS Tavon Austin at that spot, assuming he’s not been snatched up already.

Brent over at Eagles Rewind offered up his thoughts on some Eagles draft prospects.

He and I aren’t completely on the same page, but he’s got good logic behind his opinions so they are worth checking out.

One key item he brings up is that not enough people are talking about Howie Roseman.  We’re all focused on Chip Kelly.

“We already know Howie has the final say on draft matters.  Obviously Kelly has a huge amount of input, but Howie very recently experienced what happens when a GM bows too easily to a coach’s wishes (Jarrett definitely, maybe Watkins as well).  I doubt he’ll let that happen again so soon, especially with a coach who’s never done this before.

Therefore, “what is Howie thinking?” should be a question more people are asking.”

Good point.

Mel Kiper did a conference call to talk about the draft.  He offered some thoughts on the Eagles and Sheil Kapadia offered his thoughts on Kiper’s thoughts.

My thoughts?  Nothing too groundbreaking.  Melvin is still noteworthy part of the NFL Draft, but his insight and relevance have diminished greatly over the years.  It isn’t that he’s dumb…the rest of the world has just gotten a lot smarter.

Still, it can be fun to read his thoughts and Sheil does a good job of putting them into the proper context.

From draft guru Russ Lande:

“Contrary to reports that Chiefs are looking at 4 players with #1 pick, my sources say KC only looking at E. Fisher, L. Joeckel & D. Jordan.”

It won’t shock me if they take Fisher.  I’ve said for a while that I could see Andy Reid loving him.  Jordan makes no sense.  The Chiefs have Tamba Hali and Justin Houston.  My bet is that the Chiefs are leaking that name in hopes that the Jaguars or Eagles love him and deal up.  KC would love to get back another pick.  They won’t land the 2nd that they dealt for Alex Smith, but anything else will help them continue to rebuild.

Per Tony Pauline:

“Another TE note for E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!….TE coach Ted Williams worked out Zach Ertz/Stanford..some believe Ertz #1 TE on their board..”

The Eagles hosted TE Gavin Escobar today.  Both he and Ertz are good downfield receivers.  Seems like Chip Kelly wants a tall TE that can stretch the field or an H-back type that can do a variety of things.  Both Ertz and Escobar are 2nd round type prospects.

Derek Landri signed a 2-year deal with the Bucs. Any regular reader knows I loved Landri, especially in 2011.  He was a great role player that year.  2012 was a different story and I’m not sure why.

The Eagles had no interest in keeping Landri because he just doesn’t fit the new scheme.  Whether the team goes 3-4 or 4-3 Under, there isn’t a natural spot for a 6-2, 290 player.  He doesn’t have the size or agility for DE.  He’s not a great fit at the 3-tech.

Landri is made to be a 1-gap NT.  He’s meant to play in the 4-3.  Tampa is a perfect fit.  They like their DL to shoot gaps.  That is Landri at his best.  NT Roy Miller left in FA so Landri will have a chance to fight for a good role.  The Bucs used a rotation last year and would likely do the same thing this year.  Landri excels when he’s kept fresh and able to play all-out.

I’m happy for him.  Good fit for his skills.  And he didn’t go to an NFC East rival.  I can still pull for him when I watch the occasional Tampa game.

* * *

Kevin Kolb signed with the Bills.  He agreed to a 2-year, $12M deal.

I have liked Kolb since his days at Houston.  I’d love to see him pan out in the NFL so I’ll be pulling for him.  I do think the Bills offer him a legit chance to succeed.  They have a solid OL.  They have good RBs.  Coach Doug Marrone helped run a good offense in New Orleans and then did good things up in Syracuse.

Marrone will tailor the offense to take advantage of Kolb’s strengths.  They’ll throw the ball quickly and mix in play-action passes. Kolb was off to a solid start last year before getting hurt.  It’s now or never for him.

The Eagles signed former Boston College Eagle WR Ifeanyi Momah to a 3-year deal today.

Momah is an interesting guy.  He’s 6-7, 239.  He tore his ACL in the 2011 season opener, but had already racked up 8 catches for 157 yards.  I saw the game and was very impressed by his size and potential.

His background is odd.  He was a pure WR for his first 2 years at BC.  He then sat out the 2009 season as a redshirt.  In 2010 they used him as both a pass rushing DE and a receiver.  In 2011 he was set to be a full-time WR.  He had the game of his life, only to have it ruined by the ACL injury.  Amazingly, he tore the ACL on the 7th catch.  He remained in the game and caught another pass.

Momah is healthy and hungry.  He has the size that Chip Kelly loves.  I’m sure LBs coach Bill McGovern, who was at BC during Momah’s career, can vouch for his character.  Momah is a camp body for now, but he can change that with his play.  We’ll see what happens.