Stock Rising
Vinny Curry: There’s been a great deal of speculation about whether or not Curry would be a fit in a 3-4 scheme, but the former second-round pick made a good first impression against New England. Curry played hard, and was disruptive. He finished with two tackles and a half a sack. He was the team’s best defensive lineman, and if he continues to play this well he could even find himself with a chance to become a starter before long.
Casey Matthews: Before leaving the game with an injury, Matthews was having an active night. He broke up a pass to a running back, and was in on several tackles. Those tackles weren’t Matthews chasing anyone down the field either, they were situations in which the linebacker made his way to the football, and stopped the ball carrier after a short gain. The Eagles have a lot of question marks concerning their linebacker depth, but Matthews made a good case for himself on Friday.
Greg Salas: Salas led all Eagles receivers with three catches for 53-yards and a touchdown. Salas made some nice moves on his touchdown reception to avoid two tacklers on his way to the endzone, and then finished his night with a spectacular one-handed reception for 35 yards in the fourth quarter. He looked comfortable, and played with confidence that some of the other young receivers lack. With the lack of depth that the Eagles currently have at receiver, Salas has a shot to make it. He’s got to continue his production from the receiver position, and some contributions on special teams could help as well.
Jake Knott: The undrafted rookie looked pretty comfortable, and was always around the football, finishing with four tackles and half a sack. Coaches spoke very fondly of him after the game, stating that this is the way he’s been throughout camp. He’s gotten the team’s attention in a good way, and has three more games to make that impression even stronger.
Clay Harbor: Harbor is going to make it difficult for the Eagles to release him. He made three receptions for 47 yards. He’s an athletic tight end that I’m sure the coaching staff would love to find a way to keep around.
Stock Falling
Felix Jones: Jones did have a couple of nice runs, but those two drops he had were brutal. He’s clearly behind Bryce Brown and Chris Polk right now, and even Matthew Tucker outshined the former first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys. He’s going to need to show a lot in the next three weeks to have any shot of making it.
Jamar Chaney: Chaney was only in the game briefly, but he looked terrible. Chaney was beat in coverage by running back Zack Sudfeld, and then he missed the tackle, springing the running back for a 22-yard gain. That’s not the level of play that a coaching staff should see from a linebacker who has been in the league for three years. Chaney had already fallen out of favor with the previous regime, and with other young linebackers stepping up looking for playing time, his chances of being here after the final preseason game are dwindling.
Russell Shepard/Ifeanyi Momah: Neither of these two wideouts were able to do much to convince anyone that they’re worthy of a roster spot. Shepard was pushed around by his defenders, and also drew a flag for offensive interference. Momah hasn’t shown that he can catch a ball yet.
Danny Watkins: Its not a good sign when you’re a former first-round pick, and the team has you playing out in the fourth quarter of the preseason against the opposition’s third and fourth team defenders.
Were you watching the same Matthews I was? He looked slow and out of position a lot.
Honestly bugsy, I thought it was the best I’ve ever seen Matthews look as an Eagle. And don’t mistake this as though I’m saying he looked great or anything…but he looked ok to me, like a guy who could actually be a competent backup. He was around the ball, and I didn’t see him trailing a play or missing tackles like he had done so badly in the past.
He did play for Kelly at Oregon, so maybe he’s in a much more comfortable position now than he was in his first two years.
Thought celek had alligator arms again. Watkins should be alright. Vick was good but foles is keeping the pressure on. Next week game will hopefully settle it ne way or the other….wasting time alternating. I would prefer Vick to get the nod and either sink or swim.
Harbor looked great the other night. I really hope the Eagles find a way to keep him on this team. Can’t wait to see Mccoy and Peters back at it. Will have a solid rotation at RB this yr. I think our D will be fine against the run this season. I’m not going to start panicking over one game. But our secondary scares me..a lot! This organization should have done more in free agency to address this problem. Us Eagles fans could see it..but not the front office? Give me a break
thought square looked pretty good !
I thought Square & B Logan looked real good along the DL
LT A Barbre looked pretty good as well
Maybe Harbor will be used more as that Split WR
And natch up with smaller DB’s that he can out-muscle..
I think of him more as a 4th WR option rather than a TE
Put in him motion, split him wide, etc, etc and he will cause some real match-up problems..
Paulman bet me $10 that chase wouldn’t sign for more than $10 million a year with the loser sending the proceeds to the charity of the winners choice. Then 2 hours after chase signed for $27 million over 2 years said that he was not paying and basically said fuck you to cancer and Children charities.
And for that you are a classless, poor, piece of shit lowlife Squelchers who has no integrity. I truely feel bad for every single parent, teacher, sibling and family member who had a hand in raising such an asshole. You should change your name from Paulman to Paulscumbag as you certainly have no manly qualities.
I would love nothing more then to spit in your face in real life, but since I cant the above will be my spit all day every day.
What’s up Denny Went to the game Vick who you don’t like looked good Nate Allen and the rest of the secondary was horrible. Nate Allen should be cut from the team
No doubt Vick played very well and made some really nice throws and quick effective decisions…its clearly his job to lose right now. Now, I wouldn’t get overexcited about five pass attempts, but you certainly couldn’t ask him for anything more than what he did on Friday. He looked very good, and he deserves praise for that.
And yes, its going to be hard to watch another year of Nate Allen. Kenny Phillips’ knee just isn’t right, and its hard to imagine the Eagles getting much out of him which means the team is going to be stuck with another year of switching Allen and Kurt Coleman in and out of the lineup, unless someone like Earl Wolff is able to step and prove he’s a better option than the others.
Or they find someone else to replace either Allen or Coleman. I’m sure there will be a few available safeties once teams trim down. I really wish the Eagles would have addressed this glaring issue way before. So disappointed
Quick question Denny, what are the chances Howie Roseman returns next yr if the Eagles fall flat on their face? I’m gonna say 50/50
I think Howie is safe this year…this is a year that Roseman and Kelly don’t really have to worry about. No one is expecting the Eagles to come anywhere near the playoffs this season, and if the team managed to even go 7-9 I think that would even surpass most peoples’ expectations.
The organization knows that if the Chip Kelly thing is going work out, its going to take time. He needs at least another off-season to add and develop talent, so I think Howie is safe regardless of what happens in 2013.
That makes sense
Plus he’s (Rosenan) is under Contract thru 2015 and we all know how loyal Pener Jeff Laurie is to his Coaches and Front Office Personnel
Plus we also know that Jeff Lurie does not buy out Contracts and pay penployees of his not to work.. It goes against everything that Lurie “Value’s” as a Boss.. & Owner..
Rosenan is going nowhere..
Paulman bet me $10 that chase wouldn’t sign for more than $10 million a year with the loser sending the proceeds to the charity of the winners choice. Then 2 hours after chase signed for $27 million over 2 years said that he was not paying and basically said fuck you to cancer and Children charities.
And for that you are a classless, poor, piece of shit lowlife Squelchers who has no integrity. I truely feel bad for every single parent, teacher, sibling and family member who had a hand in raising such an asshole. You should change your name from Paulman to Paulscumbag as you certainly have no manly qualities.
I would love nothing more then to spit in your face in real life, but since I cant the above will be my spit all day every day.
Your blog name and the content of your posts says it all about you and leaves nothing to the imagination.
Let me see everyone already thinks this team is far away from going to the playoffs or having a good record so can someone explain to me what’s the point of starting Vick? Second thing why not start Foles too see if he can be the future QB maybe his confidence will be sky high and will emerge as a real nice starting QB. Third thing we need all our draft picks for the next few seasons to be on defense because it’s terrible.
Mathews looked a lot more comfortable but did get beat to the edge on a play he should have not let the back outside of him. He was initially in good position, but let the RB bounce it bc he took a bad closing angle he made the tackle 7 yards down field. I also liked OLB Chris McCoy he looks more like the type of player needed for this new scheme.
I see Eagles Defense ending up:
DE: Cox, Curry, Thornton, Square, King. Kruger Practice squad
DT: Isaac, Logan (also playing some DE), Dixon
OLB: Barwin, McCoy, Graham, Hunt. (Cole cut/traded)
ILB: Kendricks, Ryans, Knott, Mathews
Secondary I’m unsure. Phillips made some good plays against the run. Chung looked aggressive. Boykins wasn’t too impressive but he is a good football player. Coleman will be cut, Nate Allen can cover but can’t tackle and will be a situational player. the corners are in trouble is Carry Williams can’t be some sort of stabilizing force. Colt Anderson is a special teams demon and should stay.