Eagles 2014 Draft

[ice grillin you]

If Smith can develop into something similar to Carlos Emmons, that'd be fine with me.  The fact that we're talking about Carlos Emmons (7th round) being the ceiling for the 26th pick in the draft still infuriates me though.

He was drafted to rush the passer first and foremost

i dont believe this to be true...because if it is then it makes the pick exponentially worse as there were much better edge rushers available...also chip and howie have mentioned numerous times that they like his versatility and length and versatility have become the hallmark of all chips acquisitions...i dont think chip would draft a guy to just to rush the passer...his multiple dimensions are what made him so attractive to chip imo...theres so many examples of it...

lane johnson - super athletic guy he can split out if he wants
barwin - tweener type able to do a little bit of everything
marlon jenkins - can play safety or slot corner...chip said he chose him over jarius byrd because of what he could do and how he fits
jaylon watkins - ditto
bennie - can play 3 or 5 technique
sproles - multi dimensional toy
james casey - h back
jason phillips - special teams linebacker
jordan matthews - can run from the x y or z spots...good blocker....the further we get away from the pimp release the more I tend to think he was released as much for his one dimensionality of just being a go route stretch the field type guy and less because he was a trouble maker


chip on smith: "Maybe a similar situation to Lane [Johnson] in terms of you're getting a guy that is a huge upside because he hasn't played the position that long. They played multiple defenses there. He's played with his hand on the ground, he's played standing up. He can drop into coverage, he can rush the quarterback."

[SD]

Both Chip and Howie said they wanted to add a pass rusher. What does he do best? Rush the passer in different schemes. Davis loves to bring pressure from different spots. He wasn't brought in because he's good in coverage. Yes they like the versatility and that he's interchangeable but just like Lane Johnson was brought in to block Smith was brought in to put pressure on the qb.

[ice grillin you]

lane johnson can block but chip would never draft a road grater at OT....just like marcus smith will get some sacks but chip wants him to do a whole lot more or else he would have drafted a pass rusher

gowton made an interesting observation today that perhaps you see smith inside on passing downs for demeco next year...that's something I hadnt considered

Role

Heavy rotational linebacker and key backup. With Connor Barwin and Trent Cole as the starters on the outside, Smith will find playing time coming off the bench. Smith could play backup at either position (ROLB or LOLB) but I imagine they will try to rotate him with Cole. Perhaps Cole could be more effective as a pass rusher with less snaps. Another thing to watch with Smith is if the Eagles will line him up on the inside. DeMeco Ryans played almost the entirety of the Eagles defensive snaps last year. He's still a very good force against the run but he just doesn't have the ideal speed in coverage. Smith could come in on third downs in place of Ryans since he can both rush and cover. Just something to think about. In any case, I imagine the Eagles will want to be creative with Smith.

[hbionic]

....the further we get away from the pimp release the more I tend to think he was released as much for his one dimensionality of just being a go route stretch the field type guy and less because he was a trouble maker

Well, there's one theory that I'm willing to consider. It is supported by the types of athletes on the roster as you stated. Having a team full of those gives Chip exponential options. I still miss the 'lil guy (not MDS) but if your theory has any weight, then I can see how he's getting rid of the pieces that don't fit his plan.

I'm curious to see how this team looks and plays as soon as he has all the pieces he wants in place. Maybe that's why he stuck with Foles because of how successful he was with less than one season of his offense under his belt and if he's trying to piece this team together, then Foles is going to be that much more fluid with another season or two under his belt.

I love looking through these rose colored goggles.

[Eagaholic]

I have the opposite view of IGY. The further away we get from the DeSean release the more I'm convinced it had little to do with football. He was the most versatile player on the team. He could line up in the slot, X,Z, in the backfield, motion out of any of the above, and take a punt, pitch, or reverse end around to the house as well as take the top off the D and open Shady's game up like nobody else else on the team has a prayer to.

He had personality conflicts with Chip, coaches (especially WR coach Bob Bicknell) and players, and Chip has decided to be a my way or the highway guy.

Chip and the FO all lined up to sing the same tune about the release being a football  decision to avoid complications and union grievances. If they said yeah, we're worried about his attitude and handing out with murders and gangsters and rapping on the side they could be open to a suit from 10, so just let a paper tell that story instead.

Word is, they wanted Cooks who is the closest player in the draft to Jackson (though admittedly Cooks will go over the middle more willingly), so it doesn't make sense to release 10 for fb reasons just to replace him with the most similar player.

I think it was 20 percent pure football and 80% the other stuff that got him booted.

Btw, interesting point by Alex Marvez (pretty reliable guy) on Sirius during the draft when commenting on Louis Nixs' big drop. He said teams are now developing social media scouts to monitor players and Nix had things posted with people that seemed pretty iffy. Very believable to me. A lot easier than going back and finding the high school position coach's cousin's friend who used to drive to school with him. Got the impression it will become as integral a draft element as the medical reports, player interviews etc. that they compile. And you can bet the Eagles are one of the teams at the forefront.

[ice grillin you]

theres no question he was released more for his off the field stuff...but pimp is 100% not a chip kind of player either...i also dont believe for a second they would have taken brandon cooks in the first round...chip definitely likes quick twitch wr's and they have a place in his offense but hes all about size length and height...we will see as the years go by but i would be shocked if he ever took a small shifty wr in the first round...josh huff in the 3th round is one thing...altho even there hes over 200 lbs and tough as nails

all im sayin is that if pimp had jordan matthews' size and on field characteristics his leash would have been a lot longer and would maybe still be on the team

[Eagaholic]

I wouldn't go so far as to say he may well still be on the team if he was bigger but I doubt we'll ever know. If he was the same guy in a 6-5 body which would be truly exceptional, then yeah I could see Chip trying to work it out. I've never heard anything about Chip having a sit down with DeSean to address his problems with him, don't know if he ever tried that route. I wish Vinny Cerrato was still around, the Eagles would have gotten a 2nd for him.

[Seabiscuit36]

I'm really surprised at the reviews that Taylor Hart is getting.  Pretty much boner's all over about the guy. 

[ice grillin you]

if chip kelly picked him then hes basically in the HOF already

[SD]

I'm really surprised at the reviews that Taylor Hart is getting.  Pretty much boner's all over about the guy. 

Won't surprise me if he makes the team, aside from Cox their DE's are really average.

[Zanshin]

SD loves Cox.

[PhillyPhreak54]

It's a lock he makes the team.

[Chameleon]

It's a lock he makes the team.

+

[BigEd76]

Interesting stuff from McManus today about the intelligence stuff Chip looks for:

"They actually wrote up a couple of their defenses on the white board and I wasn't allowed to take notes. Then they put on a cut-up and I had to regurgitate it back to them just from memory," Beau Allen explained. "I think I did well, I don't think I messed up a single play, and I think that's a good gauge of how you learn in a football setting from a white board and then apply it to video.

"No other team that I visited didn't let me take notes. I thought that was kind of cool because you had to be on top of your game."

The experience was similar for first-round pick Marcus Smith.

"They wanted to see if I could learn it fast," said Smith. "They put [a play] on the board, erased it and put it back to me.

"The other teams put it on the board and would just talk you through it, just want to see if you can comprehend what they are putting on the board. But you see the Eagles, they put it on the board, took it off and started talking to me and started throwing stuff at you to see if you can comprehend it and [explain it] back to them. That's the difference."

One of Kelly's sayings is, "Dumb people do dumb things and smart people rarely do dumb things." He puts a heavy emphasis on football intelligence during the evaluation process.

"There's a very cerebral part to this game that I don't know if people give enough credit to," he said following last year's draft. "It's about making good decisions."

After selecting Jordan Matthews in the second round, Kelly noted that the receiver demonstrated amazing recall during his visit to Philly, and was able to rattle off the exact situation in the game and even the route he ran the moment it came up on film. Safe to say he performed well in that meeting room. Allen did, too. The same likely applies to the rest of the eventual Eagles' draft picks that visited the facility.

Chip was also using a remote control car to demonstrate motions to the players since they aren't allowed to physically do them during OTAs

[PhillyPhreak54]

Remote control cars and smoothies!