“Physically, he looks different”, Eagles Pro Bowl outside linebacker Connor Barwin said to Comcast Sportsnet about second-year outside linebacker Marcus Smith. “He gained 15 pounds, he put on a lot of muscle, He’s one of the stronger guys on our defense now. He took the offseason and did what he needed to do, which was get bigger, stronger.”
There’s a reason Barwin is observing the second year OLB Marcus Smith. He knows that with Trent Cole gone and Brandon Graham being promoted to the starting lineup, the Birds desperately need some depth at the position. They need somebody who is going to push Graham and be able to come off the bench and get to the quarterback from the OLB spot, which is the number one pass rush position in the three-four defense.
Smith could help with pass rush pressure, if the light gets turned on. As a linebacker, he’s supposed to be an enforcer on the football field whenever he takes the field whether it be on defense or special teams.
The fact that they wouldn’t use him last year on special teams is an indictment of his heart. It’s an insult. I’ve never heard of a team not wanting to use a backup linebacker on Special Teams. It’s unheard of.
I think it inadvertently got nearly the entire scouting department fired. Seeing a heartless linebacker be drafted in the first round stained everybody involved. You can bet it didn’t helped Howie Roseman. Smith made a lot of impressions that he must change.
The fact that former Eagles Pro Bowl tackle and assistant coach Tra Thomas said he’s got the body of a high schooler, should have made Smith so mad that they had to run him out of the weight room. He had all those tattoo’s on this boney arms.
The light needs to come on this year with Smith, so that he understands that he should build a reputation around the Nova Care Complex that he’s going to be a warrior from now on. He needs to learn what is expected of a outside linebacker.
As a first round pick, Smith is supposed to be driven to be great. He is supposed to be pushing his body in this time of year in the weight room. He should be physically imposing because he will be asked to outmuscle and out quick monstrous offensive tackles around the NFL.
Barwin, who doesn’t have to tell anybody he’s an NFL linebacker, when he walks into a room, took notice that Smith is starting to at least look the part, but that’s not all that will be asked of the second-year linebacker. That’s just the start.
“Now we’re just excited to see what happens when we put the pads on”, Barwin added to his initial comment.
Barwin is simply saying, the muscles are one thing, but the heart and drive are another. There’s got to be a burning desire within Smith to kick butt when he steps on the field in the summer. He’s got to refuse to take anything from anybody.
Smith will need to first earn his respect from his teammates. He didn’t do that a year ago. He was what we used to call “A THIEF”. He was stealing money last year from the Eagles. We used to use the term “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, when we caught guys not giving a full effort.
Whether Smith likes it or not, all his teammates are monitoring him. They want to see if he becomes a teammate they can count on.
Smith and Travis Long will battle for the back-up LB position. Tra Thomas noted the need for Smith to add strength and size last season, so if Barwin is to be believed, at least he is taking steps in the off season to put the effort in and make the improvement. Next it will need to show up with his play on the field. From all that I read they are finished with the ILB experiment, so he should be able to singularly focus on OLB. Let’s hope that he has matured both physically and mentally and if he can contribute it will only strengthen an already strong defensive front seven.
I sure hope so greenfan. It will be another huge disappointment if this kid doesn’t pan out to be a solid contributor. We have seen too many times before where the front office will REACH on a player assuming they have found a diamond in the rough. I like the rest of Eagles nation want to see this guy play and be a factor this year. Cause I sure as hell DO NOT want to call him another 1st round bust..
I got him getting 6 1/2 sacks this yr
It’s a good sign, MSII getting bigger does not mean hes a better football player but for him to put on 15lbs and work on his deficiencies is a sign of maturity, drive and commitment to improve so the mental signs are there for MSII
Lets see what he has..
It is a sign Paul. But, it’s one that I believe says, he gets the point that if he doesn’t come in next season, and make a significant contribution to the Defense, he IS, in fact a bust, and the Eagles made a huge mistake drafting him.
If he want to stay on this team gaining 15 lbs, and getting bigger isn’t going to help him, if he still can’t play…..Football is 50% mental, 50% physical….We’ll see if he, and our scouting department get it.
On another note. A few drafts ago, many wanted the Eagles to draft EJ Manuel, and I stated that, he was going to be crap as a NFL QB.
Those same individuals will tend to exaggerate a game, or a season by EJ Manuel, and others they have overvalued as good prospects, but sometimes you just have to wait long enough for the prospect to prove you were always right about them….
EJ Manuel reportedly in danger of getting cut by the Bills
By Des Bieler May 18 at 9:58 PM
Bills quarterback EJ Manuel reportedly needs to show major improvement, and soon. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)
The Bills surprised many when they made Florida State’s EJ Manuel the first quarterback taken, at 16th overall, in the 2013 NFL draft. According to a report Monday, we shouldn’t be terribly surprised if Buffalo cuts Manuel before his third season begins.
West Virginia’s Geno Smith was widely considered the top quarterback prospect in a weak class two years ago, but the Bills opted for Manuel, who led the ACC in completion percentage and total yards per play during his senior season in Tallahassee. However, Manuel’s accuracy (58.6) has been sub-standard over his two NFL seasons, a deficiency compounded by an apparent unwillingness to challenge secondaries deep.
Joe Buscaglia of Buffalo’s WKBW wrote that, with a new regime in charge, the quarterback is now on thin ice. From Buscaglia’s report:
If former first-round pick and quarterback EJ Manuel doesn’t show some serious progress this spring and summer at [offseason training activities], minicamp and training camp, he very well may be enjoying his final few months in Buffalo as a member of the organization. …
Slowly, but surely, his playing style has increasingly become one that’s meek and fearful of mistakes, rather than one inspired by confidence and bravado. He doesn’t try to fit a ball into tight windows, he doesn’t take off and run when advantageous, and had a playbook built around him that essentially neutered him as a quarterback.
The Bills are now coached by Rex Ryan, so a lack of “confidence and bravado” simply won’t fly. In addition, Ryan has likely looked back on his experience with the Jets and concluded that he stood by a struggling Mark Sanchez for too long.
Even before Ryan arrived, the Bills signaled their displeasure with Manuel. Just before his second season, the team gave Kyle Orton a hefty contract to come out of retirement, and eventually Orton took over as the starting signal-caller before retiring again at the end of the year.
In March, Buffalo General Manager Doug Whaley traded for another veteran quarterback, Matt Cassel, in an exchange of late-round draft picks with the Vikings. Two days after that, Whaley signed Tyrod Taylor, who had been Joe Flacco’s backup in Baltimore for four seasons.
That doesn’t necessarily sound like a dynamite depth chart, and the Bills are surely hoping that, either through extra motivation or simply third-year progress, Manuel looks much improved in workouts and stakes a claim to the starting job. But if he falters again, there’s a possibility that the team won’t simply bench him, as they did last year — Manuel might find himself looking for a new home.
For those that wanted him, you had no ide what you were talking about.
You fell in love with his measurables, his speed, and his combine performance, but you couldn’t see the most important trait of all……He wasn’t an NFL QB, and never will be……Hate to tell you I told you so, but……..LMBO!!!!!!!!
That also goes the Same for those that wanted Marcus Mariota this year…….
Cliff all that means is that Rex Ryan didn’t draft him and isn’t tied to him, same thing happened here with Kelly/Foles nothing more nothing less, if he doesn’t make it in Buffalo somebody else will give him a shot.
Word up in Buffalo ever since QB Manuel was Drafted was that he was too slow to pick-up Playbook and that former HC Doug Marrone really hated his way too laid back attitude, personality and lack of competitiveness … I believe HC Rex Ryan had a similar situation with
Geno Smith and Sanchez in the same regard and doesn’t want to repeat going thru a similar situation in Buffalo as he did in NY…
Manuel is a goner from Buffalo..
That may be exactly the case Biggie, but I think he was just one of those overhyped QB’s with measurables in the limelight going into the draft, and out of the combine some just completely overvalued.
I say he will be a journeyman QB throughout his career, and nothing more
Cliff he wasn’t overhyped Buffalo pulled the trigger too soon, going back to the draft build up he was looked at as a late second possibly third round kid,for some reason Buffalo panicked and grabbed him in round 1. That’s all on Marrone.
That is true Biggie. I remember that clearly.
But this is just my opinion good brother. I didn’t think he was going to be a successful QB, regardless of where he was drafted. I didn’t see anything in his game that said he had it…..unique, or special potential.
I felt he was just an average College QB. Like I stated, that is just my opinion.
Cliff I actually thought he had NFL skill level, I was always disappointed in how he shriveled up in big moments at FSU and didn’t know if that’s something he’d be able to overcome. Now his unwillingness to throw downfield that’s something that was unexpected and probably cannot be coached which is why I want no parts of Bradford.
If the Eagles had drafted him, it would have been a train wreck. He gives us even less of a chance than Mark Sanchez does to win meaningful games.
I heard Chip Kelly has an interest in him, if he is cut. I really feel that Chip still doesn’t know the difference between College Talent, and NFL Professional Talent, because Manuel is just an average College Quarterback.
So is anyone else like “Yay! 2 point conversions!”
No?
Just me…
O.o
Yep!
I’d go for 2 after every score, something else that 15 yard kick does is make the defenders choose, if they sell out its easier to run a fake, so in essence you have to sit back and let teams kick.
It’s Tim Tebow time for the 2 Pt Conversions…
JINX!!!!!
Tebow becomes real useful in this new format.
He’s the perfect QB to use for these 2pt conversions.