Michael Vick Named Starting Quarterback
Chip Kelly put an end to the quarterback controversy this week, naming Michael Vick the starter for Week 1 against the Washington Redskins.
The decision comes as no surprise. When Kelly opted to bring back Vick, it was clear that it was his job to lose. Chip wants the best chance to win right now, and the former Pro Bowl quarterback clearly represents the team’s best chance to win.
Vick has had his best preseason in years, and he’s earned the job. He’s been nearly flawless in the preseason so far; he’s made no mistakes and he’s looked sharp running this offense.
I don’t buy the idea that Vick is going to be much better than he’s been in the last two seasons. I think he’s going to be what he’s been throughout his career: a tease. We’ll see him have his moments, but we’re also going to see his flaws exposed over time as they’ve been in the past.
But we’ve gone through the debate for/against Vick being here countless times, and there’s not much use in reopening it at this point. The fact of the matter is that he’s here and he’s going to be the quarterback for at least another year. Let’s just watch, see what happens, and praise/criticize as its warranted.
There is one thing I really want to give Vick credit for, and it doesn’t have anything to do with his play. Its the fact that he’s kept his mouth shut during training camp. He hasn’t wasted his breath running around claiming that this team is going to be the start of a dynasty like he did a year ago. He hasn’t been whining to the media that Chip Kelly should be naming a starter right like he did during mini-camp.
Instead of getting caught up in all of that nonsense and drawing unneeded attention to himself, Vick has kept quiet and stayed focused on what really counts: his play on the field. Over the last month, he’s been focused on winning this competition and proving that he’s the guy that gives this team the best chance to win.
Well done, Michael. Keep up the good work.
Which Eagle Has Improved The Most?
We’ve seen some young Eagles really step up and perform well so far during Training Camp.
Chris Polk has done a really nice job so far, and he’s gone from a guy on the bubble to a near-lock to make the roster.
Cedric Thornton has had some really nice moments, and he’s come a long way from a guy who barely made the roster back in 2011 to a starting defensive end in the new 3-4 scheme.
Brandon Boykin looks like he’s made some strides.
But the guy I think that I’ve been most impressed with out of any member on this team has been wide receiver Damaris Johnson.
When we first saw Johnson last year, we saw a guy who had some nice speed, but was still very raw. This year, Johnson looks much more comfortable. He seems to understand his role and what he’s supposed to do much better than he did a year ago. It’s only been two games, but I’ve seen a lot of growth from him.
Right now, Johnson has been so explosive and dynamic on punt returns, that I’d have no problem if the team went with him over DeSean Jackson.
Most Disappointing Eagle?
When there’s good news on one hand, there’s usually bad news on the other.
While some Eagles have been improving, others have been disappointing.
I think by far the most disappointing Eagle to this point has got to be Kenny Phillips.
Phillips was one of the team’s major signings in free agency, and the hope was that he would be able to come in and dramatically improve one of the safety positions, providing the team with a defensive leader and a playmaker. Instead, the former Giant has been unable to get on the field, constantly dealing with injury issues. He’s been unable to make an impact to this point, and he’s in danger of not even making the team.
There’s still time for Phillips to turn things around, but its got to happen soon.
Quick Thoughts
- The offensive line has looked really good so far, and that’s without Jason Peters taking a single snap. Give a lot of credit to new offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland for the job he’s done so far.
- Brandon Graham would be a pretty solid runner-up for most disappointing Eagle. Graham got some people excited when he picked up a couple of sacks at the end of last season, but he’s been invisible so far. Well, he hasn’t been completely invisible. His sorry effort on LeGarrette Blount’s touchdown run in the New England game stood out.
- Is anyone else a little worried about DeMeco Ryans? He hasn’t looked comfortable in the new defense so far, and one of the reasons the Houston Texans let him go was because he didn’t fit in their 3-4 scheme.
- I really like how organized the Eagles’ offense has looked. After 14 years of watching the Eagles move at a snail’s pace and barely get to the line of scrimmage with 10 seconds left on the play clock (sometimes forcing Andy to burn a timeout), the focus and attention that has been put on the no-huddle is really refreshing.
- I don’t think Isaac Sopoaga is going to last the whole year as the starting nose tackle. At some point this year, a guy like Bennie Logan or Damian Square is going to emerge as a better option.
Denny Basens is the editor of GCobb.com. Email him at dbasens@ycp.edu, or follow him on Twitter.
So Denny was Vick a good boy? He kept his mouth shut for you.lol. Im sure he appreciates your approval.
In all seriousness, its a very welcome and refreshing change to see him just focus on football. The best way to quiet your critics is to shut up and let your play do the talking.
Congrats to Vick, He’s earned the Dtartibg Job in an Open Competition
As Coach Kelky said he would have and seems to be a great fit for this up-tempo Offense the Eagles will now emply..
Foles gave it a good shot and will be a solid Back-Up so the Eagles are pretty Solid at the most important position on the field
Players looking Good on Offense
Vick. Foles, McCoy, Polk, Harbor,Ertz,
OL Barbre, Johnson,Mathis, Tennant
WR’s D-Jax, Avant & Danarus Johnson & G Sakas
Not so Good on Offense
RB F Jones, Guard Herremans & Watkins
TE Celek and WR’s Cooper, Momah & Sheppard
Players looking Good on Defense
DL Curry,Thornton, Swausre & Logan
LB Barwin, Kendrick’s, McCoy, Knott & Acho
(P Hunt was looking good until Injury)
Secondary – P Chung, Boykin and E Wolffe
Looking Bad on Defense
A Dixon, D Ryans, J Cheney, N Allen,
J Poyer, K Phillips
Looking average but expecting and needing more
Graham, Cole, Fletcher & C Williams
K Coleman, I Soapaga
Cole has looked better than graham in coverage though wouldn’t you agree?
Yes, Cole has looked better in Pass Coverage than Graham (which is not saying much for either Player)
But Graham has looked better in Pass-Rushing than Cole in both games so far and whichever player is on the field (Cole or Graham) is really out there to be a Pass-Rusher and not a Coverage OLB
Give me the better Pass-Rusher of the Two
paul….you can add Cox to that last group. I always thought Soapaga was a waste of money but we didn’t know what the draft would bring so we needed someone. I don’t know that I would agree that Cooper is struggling. He looks like his usual average self. Cole and Graham really do not have much use here. I see their contribution being starters in the nickel. Left to right will be Graham, Curry, Cox, Cole. I would like to see Curry be able to step up and be a starter next year. He needs another ten pounds. I think Logan may be a nice surprise as a very good starting NG. He is not going to be Vince Wilfork but I see him as one of those guys that makes the All-Joes team several times that us fans appreciate more then the PB voters. The big issues to address in the off-season are going to be FS/OLB. CB is not as important as it once was. On offense it is going to be the QB, the continuing aging of the line, and what to do about Jackson/ Maclin. By the way, don’t be shocked if Barbre is starting at LG by Halloween. Herremans is either spent or lost his passion for the game. He looks pretty finished to me.
Barbre at RG not LG. Sorry about that
Cox has been by far the most disappointing player so far. He is actually graded as the worst 3-4 DE in preseason to date… im reading “he looks completely lost”
I agree 100% about F Cox and failed to list him as a “Disappointment” thus far and appears to be struggling in this 3-4 Scheme.. He definitely needs to Step it up for this Front 7 to have a big impact but it appears early on that he’s better in a 4-3 and lining-up 1 on 1 and taking his man on as opposed to playing more gap control and taking 2 blockers on many snaps..
Disappointment — every 2013 Howie Roseman free agent signing except Chung
Impressed — Jason Avant ( I thought he was toast with all these TE additions and his poor season last year but Avant has been the best Eagle this preseason); DJax, Lane Johnson, McCoy, Mathis, Thornton
What do you guys think happens with Maclin/Jackson in the off-season. I think Chip is smart enough to know that D Jack is not the kind of guy you keep around after a pay cut. But I think he has to have a 1200 yard, 8 TD season not to have his pay cut or be released. 1000 yards and 4 TDs is nowhere near enough for ten million bucks. Maclin is getting a prove it contract anywhere he goes. My feeling is he would rather be in St Louis if that’s the case. All that being said, I still would prefer not to use the first round pick on Marqise Lee when we so desperatel need a stud FS. Anyone know if this safety class is going to be decent this year according to early projections? Would there be a stud available at pick 10-15?
Maclin will test Free-Agency, but due to his injury, I like his chances to return better now than I did pre-injury..
I would never take a WR in 1st Round, they are a dime a dozen, but it take’s 2-3 Years for them to adjust to the style, route adjustments & Hot Reads and Audibles that happen at the NFL Level..
This Years (2014) Safety Class is rated average per most Scouting Sources.. Last Years (2013) was one of best and deepest Safety Classes
Again jumping way ahead. Would you pay Anthony Spencer a ridiculous contract when he will be thirty next year? Pass rushing OLBs are such a crap shoot in the draft I feel like you have to go the FA route. Plus I don’t think the Eagles have three years to wait on development. Things move way faster these days and I think you have to be planning on the title in 2015 as opposed to 2016-2017 like you would ten years ago. If he is all that Chip should be in position to win a SB by 2015.
Andy was not even a great coach and he had a shot by his third year and should have done it in his fourth. He didn’t have the horses and the FO came up small for him until the players started aging two years later. What if you kept Trott, got yourself a WR and maybe let B West play a little as a rookie. Who knows what could have been? Anyway that was 14 years ago with a worse team. So I am expecting 2015 to be the opening of the window.
@JBird…I think Maclin will be resigned with a 1 year contract…He won’t have much weight in contract negotiations because of his injury…I think he’ll need that year to prove he’s back to full strength, after that season I’m not sure…Jackson will remain an Eagle, there is now way he goes anywhere…Especially after the year I foresee him having…We haven’t seen half of how Jackson will be utilized by Kelly yet…
Real…hope you are right. But would you agree with the above statements that 60/1000/4 is not going to keep him at the $10M contract he currently has? And I think if you get that again its obviously his ceiling. I agree that he is capable of much more under Kelly. Reid was so predictable with how he used him. He also killed McNabb/Vick with his pass adiction. I wonder if Jamal Charles is a smart fantasy pick with Reid as his coach? AT least we know one thing. He will run him into the ground like he did B West so he won’t have to share touches. Lol
I kind of agree JBird, but I don’t see the Eagles trying to restructure his contract if he puts up the stats you mention this season…Jackson would be due 6.75 mil after this season, I believe….stats of 60/1000/4 with that contract isn’t bad in my opinion….I don’t think anything will be decided until after the 2014 season in regards to DJAX contract…I think the Eagles will pay him the 10mil for that season…. But I still see him having better numbers than 60/1000/4 this season…I think he’ll be a little underpaid for his production he’ll have this season.
some free agent WR got crazy money like Garcon, Rice, DJax and Wallace while Jennings and Welker went cheap —
Outside WR Threats always get the Top $$$ while SLot, more possession type of WR’s get good $$$ but not Top $$$
Watch for Nicks,Bryant, Brandon Marshall types get big Deals
I think if we have learned anything about Free-Agency, is that many times, you are dealing with players that have health or locker room issues which is why their previous Teams leam them walk to begin with.. I say Stay away from Big-Name Free-Agents and stock-pile Draft PIcks,but then you have to do your homework and nail it come Draft Time.. The Current State of the Eagles Franchise is looking back at the last 3-4 Drafts, from 2010 thru 2012 Draft the Eagles had some 35 Orgiinal Draft picks befire their trade downs, trade ups, etc,etc and many of these were within the first 4 Rounds (The Top #100-125 Players) and the Eagles collectively “F” it up big time to be honest with you.. There should be a good 10 Starters by now in 2013 with all the PIcks that they had and instead, there are only 4 (Kelce,F Cox, Kendricks, Allen)
Free-Agency is good to establish your Depth and Competition, but the corps of your Staters should be Players you Draft, Coach and Groom
Look at the 49ers, Patriots,Packers,Seahawks,Giants,Falcons,Steelers,Ravens, Texans
Do any of these Teams typically add High-Profile Free-Agents to their Rosters.. Not too often, their formula is to build thru Draft and to Develop Talent that best fits their Scheme’s/Systems, Teams Culture..
Eagles need to get back to this formula, I believe they have a Solid Coaching Staff to begin doing this, but it will take a good 2 years to update the Talent that best fits this Scheme
Paul….agreed. But when you get close you have to go get that last piece or two and be smart about. Cowboys with Haley and Novacek. Niners with Deon and Norton. NE with Moss. Very few teams can just draft everyone like Pitt and NYG who always find nobodies from nowhere. I was just saying the other day how if the Eagles want to be a great organization they have to find guys like D Johnson and Jake Knott and have them become stars. Look at Pitt. LC Greenwood was a 10th round pick. Donnie SHell was an UDFA. You can’t build a team of first round picks.
I agree JBird when you get close to the Championship Level, problem is that Eagles need to do a better Jon developing, coaching and drafting to get back to Playoff Contention first.. You can’t add 8-10 Free Agents a year and then Add 10 Drafts a year and expect 20 new Pkayers to mesh, learn and pkay as a unit.. It takes time..
Paulman, no doubt the eagles current misfortunes are 100 % the result of those poor drafts.
I like the Lane Johnson pick a lot — we will get to see Luke Joeckel this weekend to compare.( might be similar to the birds getting a better Mike Quick even though Vermeil really liked Perry Tuttle who was fortunately already off the board )
eagles…..the crazy money went to speed over production.
Real…..what numbers do you see for D Jack? I would be thrilled with 1200/8. I don’t care if its fifty catches. Shady will run wild with the safeties hanging out at Citizens Bank because the D coordinators are so scared.
DJax has a better chance hitting the 1200 yards than the 8 TD’s. The closer to the goal line the ball gets DJax option number slides down the reads progression sequence.
JBird…thats what I see…I think DJAX catches will increase, close to 80 catches…75+ catches 1200/8…I see about 4/5 catches a game as being his minimum this season…DJAX can get the ball on a hitch route in man coverage 90% of the time…I think we’ll see 2 completions or so a game on that route alone…I’m not too concerned with how many TD’s he gets, he can have less in my opinion…as long as he helps the team get in the redzone…those TD’s can go to McCoy…I think you have to consider those kinds of circumstances when evaluating WR play…
I think that you are high on catches there. I don’t think that he is durable enough to get 80 catches especially if he dares the middle of the field. He is also the only threat on the outside added to the fact that Kelly wants to run the ball. Talking about 20 catches over his highest total for a guy that is going to draw a lot of coverage from opposing defenses. If anything, I think that you will see career highs for the other WRs and TEs, but I think that D-Jax will be in the 60s. Kelly wants to get him isolated, but we will see what the defense allows.
I may be Bugs…just what I’m hoping for, really based on what I expect from this offense…Also gotta keep in mind Eagles may run 10-20 more plays a game than they did a year ago (but also dependent on how quickly the defense gets off the field)… I do believe DJAX will get more touches in the system…quick outs, hitches….are some routes I think we’ll see more of in regards to DJAX…if called at the right time they are automatic catches for him.
True, but I think that he can be very effective if he catches 65 balls this year too. One other thing to think about is that while Kelly will undoubtedly try to feature him, he won’t try to force it either. Watching Oregon games and now the pre-season, you get the feeling that if he sees a weakness, he is gonna exploit it. Whether that is a match-up for DJax, the TEs, McCoy.
That is what has me so jacked up about the offense. Gonna be fun.
can’t disagree with you there….agree 100%
And I don’t care about his red zone touches. That is where he will get crunched, so I would rather see him wreaking havoc in the middle of the field where he has space to run.
On this day in 1985 the Eagles traded Wilbert Montgomery to the Lions for Garry Cobb!
***Eagles/Sixers News***
Eagles HC Chip Kelly announces his Reitrement from Football and will leave the Eagles effectively and take the 76ers Job after new Coach Brent Brown met with Current 76ers Roster and said, “What the Hell am I doing here” and has decided to resign and catch the next Plane to Austraila to Coach their National Team again…
Kelly Stated “I think I have accomplish all my goals and desires Coaching Football and with the Philadelphia Eagles and want to like Howie Roseman adn Owner Jeff Lurie for the Opportunity, but as of now, I feel there is a bigger Challenge and Upside taking the 76ers Position” …
Roseman, in a state of shock, has reached out with Lovie Smith to take over as the Eagles HC…. Details at 11pm..
Hmm…Everybody’s getting pretty excited because it seems the Birds can now get to the line of scrimmage and run a play without taking a time out or getting a delay of game penalty.
The eagles are doomed……again…..here’s why
But first, think about what lesean McCoy recently stated, upon hearing the news that his boy idol Vick was named the starter, the eagles’ offense will be “unstoppable”. Two years ago, from the mouth of Vince young, “dream team”. Last year, from the idol himself, “dynasty”.
The constant here is the team’s leader mike Vick, who after saying all the right things before being named the starter, has now leaked similar unfounded arrogance and stupidity, “yeah I kind of expected it”.
This team believes the same hype the meda has foisted on us, that Vick is a good nfl quarterback, that despite the coaching of reeves, mora, and the supposed quarterback guru, Reid, under all of whom Vick played very inconsistently, now miraculously, after more than a decade of mediocrity, turnovers, bad decisions, slow release, etc that the miracle worker chip Kelly will turn this guy around, he will now make good decisions, protect the ball, learn to slide, all fom a college coach that has not won a single regular season game. What’s more dumfounding, all this optimism is based on roughly four series of preseason football, against vanilla defensive packages, no blitzing, no game planning against his apparent and obvious weaknesses.
Something else to consider: take away two plays by foles,the so-called fumble(it wasn’t) and the interception in the end zone, foles and Vick, from a statistical perspective, would have been at a dead heat. Also, the offense had more rythym and speed with foles under center and had a nauseating déjà vu feeling of the past improvisational Vick led offense under Reid.
There never really was a quarterback competition. Any forward thinking coach would have cut ties with this albatross of a quarterback problem in Vick. Once the decision was made to keep him, absent a disaster in the preseason by Vick, the decision was preordained, the players wanted him, foolishly believing in their hero , the owner wants him and the coach has tied his hands and now his neck to a rope with a five hundred pound rock in the enigma of mike Vick
The old….. Owner wants him bit…. We blew this out of the water a year ago. Jake, Spin it any way you want…. There was an open comp and Vick won it. That’s it.thats all there is to it. That said….. I agree with you, Dcar about the hype around this team. This d is going to be a mess again. Simply…. They didn’t add enough talent.
I’m excited that we have a new coach and a new system… I’m excited to see that. My guess is that this will lead to somewhere between 6-8 wins.
The problem I see is that they will need to add some serious talent next year both in FA and draft and that seems like a steep hill. I don’t get why they didn’t make a FS splash to get the ball rolling.
It’s amazing to me, that some people are getting all pumped up, for a team coming off of a 4-12 season, that made ZERO upgrades on DF, with the same failure of a starting QB, & no good legit #1 WR’s, all because we have an up tempo OF & different coach! It’s all smoke & mirrors! When the real games start, & we start getting hit in the mouth, & the OF starts going 3 & outs, you’ll see the reality. What kind of drugs are you people smoking?!? This team will be lucky if they win 4-6 games. Get your heads out of your arses, & come back to reality. This team still has major holes & the same ???? as last year. PERIOD!
It is not just an up tempo offense and you know it. It is the prospect of having an actual gameplan and trying to create mismatches by having different match-ups on the field. And you don’t think that a coach can make a difference in the NFL? You don’t think that some coaches can get more out of their players and know how to run an offense suited to their talent?
I have no illusions that this team is going to win a bunch of games this year. I think that they will probably win 7-8, but that is better than last year and they are moving in the right direction. They do have major holes on defense, but what did you expect when they are changing coordinators and systems? Did you think that it would all be worked out after one season?
Seems like you want them to fail so bad, because you didn’t want Chip Kelly or Michael Vick who may not even be the answer going forward, but just the best QB on the roster right now.
you think losing 4 of the starting linemen contributed to the 4 win season?
What about the dysfunction from the head defensive coordinator?
You think the pathetic secondary play had anything to do with the losing season?
People are pumped because Reid is gone and we will finally see an NFL running game.
People are pumped because no longer will the opposing defense know our plays or will there be former players like (Kolb) calling every offensive play to the defense before the ball is snapped.
We’re pumped knowing there will be timeouts now that we have a coach to get the play in before there’s 3 seconds left to snap the ball.
We’re pumped because a running game limits the errors that comes with throwing the ball 70-80 percent of the time.
We’re pumped because now there’s a coach now who will develop a game plan around the talent he have instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
We’re pumped because we’ll no longer hear “I got to do a better job” after a game thrown away by poor game time management.
You should be pumped!
Go EAGLES !!!
A few thoughts…..
1. It’s a shame we didn’t do more in the secondary because I think this d could have sped up the process by getting some real talent in back there.
2. Djax isn’t going anywhere next year. His speed is what Kelly is looking for.
3. Guys like herm and cole will prolly be gone after this year.
Thanks Songs
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