Future of the Eagles

These are some starters that are supposed to be long term fixtures at the positions (or are now).
QB - Kevin Kolb
WR - DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin
RB - LeSean McCoy
FS - Macho Harris
RT - Winston Justice

I want to start off the article by saying that McNabb's job is NOT in any form of jeapordy. But Kevin Kolb played pretty damn well. He is the first QB in the NFL to throw for 300+ yards in his first two starts. He and Jackson clearly have a chemistry going. He hit Maclin several times for decent gains. He is giving Brent Celek the opportunities necessary to become the pass-catching TE in the NFL (he has the most receiving yards for the NFL so far). He even ran for a touchdown! He is moving the ball up and down the field. While he may not be starting when the Eagles play Tampa Bay (McNabb should be back by then) he has shown that we can trust him to be the Quarterback of the Future for the Eagles.

LeSean McCoy played an outstanding game. While Westbrook will remain the starter for the remainder of the season, McCoy clearly is the long term solution. He showed great vision, and was able to hit the holes quickly. Had McCoy juked slightly harder on one play, he could have had a 30 yard TD run. Eldra Buckley is a nice back up, but McCoy showed that he can carry the ball as often as necessary.

DeSean Jackson- Need I really address this? The past two weeks he has 71, and 64 yard TDs. The week before he returned a punt 85 yards for a TD. The kid has the penchant for the big play. He is the best receiver since the Eagles had Terrell Owens, and he's only a sophomore.

Jeremy Maclin - He played well. He had 4 receptions for 33 yards. What's important to remember is that that could've been 5 and a TD had Kobb throw the ball slightly in front of Maclin. Maclin and Jackson should be tearing up opponent's secondaries for years to come.

Macho Harris - You want to know what makes me happy? The fact that Brian Dawkins, by far and away one of the greatest players to ever don the Eagles uniform and a seven time Pro-Bowler, left town and we're not worrying about his rookie replacement. Harris is making tackles when he needs to, and has not given up the big play yet. Eventually he will make a mistake or two, but he looks leaps and bounds better than Demps ever looked last year.

Winston Justice - The kid has simply played. No one expected him to come in and make a Pro-Bowl, but he is playing for his life. He is simply dominating while run and pass blocking. I'm glad that Andrews got hurt early on, so Justice could improve vastly during the preseason. He is only going to get better as the season goes on.

Notice I said nothing about Vick. He played well, didn't turn the ball over, but nothing that memorable. Simply not turning the ball over does not win you a salary in the NFL, and definitely with the Eagles. While I'm glad the Eagles made the move, until I see a payoff in the regular season I'm not going to fully understand the move.

The Eagles go into the bye 2-1, and the Buccaneers, Raiders, and Redskins (they looked terrible today) the Eagles could realistically start 5-1. Much better than last years 3-3. Today was just a brief glimpse of what the Eagles will be in the future, and it looked pretty good, even if it was just against the Chiefs.

What To Make of the 53 Man Roster.

The Eagles Waived-
B Trae Williams, CB Jack Ikegwuonu, DE Bryan Smith, DE Josh Gaines, LB Tank Daniels, FS Reshard Langford, WR Danny Amendola, RB Lorenzo Booker, C Dallas Reynolds, G Paul Fanaika, G Mike Gibson, TE Rob Myers, FB Marcus Mailei and FB Kyle Eckel. These players are now subject to waivers.

Ikegwuonu simply hasn't recovered from that knee injury which allowed him to slip to the 4th Round in 2008. He lacks the speed necessary to play CB with the Eagles, and he continuously got beat during the preseason, against second string WR's.

Bryan Smith was a project. The Eagle's failed at turning him into a successful player.

Danny Amendola was a favorite of mine going into the preseason. I loved seeing him make plays in the receiving game and return game. But we are already holding 7 WR's on the roster (will get to that later). I hope that he gets signed to the Practice Squad, but he may get picked up by another team first.

Booker has been on his way out of town for a while.

Myers and Bright were projects. Unfortunately neither could show any talent at the TE position.

I loved Kyle Eckel last year. There was simply no space for him on this year's roster though. The addition of FB Weaver almost sealed his fate.

The Eagles Cut-
DT Dan Klecko, LB Matt Wilhelm and TE Matt Schobel. These players are now unrestricted free agents.

Wilhem was simply a Training Camp Body. Schobel hasn't really done anything for this offense in recent history. And Klecko was the reason that a jet's rookie running back accumulated so many yards.

Important Retentions
Quarterback- McNabb, Kolb, Feeley.
Vick is on the commissioner's exempt list. Right now the Eagles are keeping Feeley on the roster so they don't lose anything they could gain out of a trade. If he isn't traded within a few days expect him to be cut. There are also rumors of Kolb getting traded, but I don't see that happening.

Running Back - Westbrook, McCoy, Buckley
No surprises here, except maybe for Buckley. Buckley absolutely played his way onto this team though.

Full Back - Weaver
No surprise.

Tight Eend - Celek, Curtis
Celek is the obvious starter. Curtis has proved he can block in Dallas. He also proved in the Jet's game that he has the ability to catch. Look for the Eagles to maybe add a third TE early on.

Wide Receiver - Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Hank Baskett, Reggie Brown, Brandon Gibson
The Eagles cannot keep seven WRs. Eventually either Basket or Brown will be cut or traded. Gibson has played his way onto the squad.

Offensive Line - Jason Peters, Todd Herremans, Jamaal Jackson, Stacy Andrews, Shawn Andrews, Max Jean-Gilles, Nick Cole, Mike McGlynn, Winston Justice, King Dunlap
While the Eagle's like to have lots of linemen, don't expect everyone to stay. I just don't know who the Eagles will give the boot to.


Defensive End - Victor Abiamiri, Jason Babin, Chris Clemons, Trent Cole, Darren Howard, Juqua Parker
I'm not sure if all 6 will stay in Philadelphia. While they are quality ends, unless Trent Cole is going to be switched out a lot more often than last year I can't see them all getting field time.
Note on Babin: Great Preseason, man absolutely played his way onto the team. Hopefully returning to his rightful position will allow him to excel.

Defensive Tackle - Brodrick Bunkley, Trevor Laws, Mike Patterson
I expect them to add one more sometime soon. Only three DT's is concerning. Especially if Bunkley or Patterson goes down for the season (or even worse both)

Linebacker - Moise Fokou, Omar Gaither, Chris Gocong, Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays, Tracy White
We all knew this was going to be the lineup. Tracy White and Moise Fokou played their way onto the squad. I can't really envision this changing. The backups pretty much have the ability to play any of the three positions.

Cornerback - Sheldon Brown, Joselio Hanson, Ellis Hobbs, Dimitri Patterson, Asante Samuel
No surprises. Dimitri Patterson is the gunner on special teams so that really helped his case for making the team.

Safety - Quintin Demps, Macho Harris, Sean Jones, Quintin Mikell
No surprises again. Jones and Demps are still battling it out. Harris' play has caused some rumors that he may even be in the mix now. I doubt it. I envision Sean Jones starting the season at Free Safety.

Specialists (3) - David Akers, Jon Dorenbos, Sav Rocca
Reliable

Again this roster is ANYTHING from final. There will be lots of changes in the upcoming days.

Is Andy Reid Coming Back?

Tonight the preseason ends (FINALLY!) In a little over 1 week the games start counting and the pressure begins mounting.

We all know the bio. Reid and McNabb are entering their 11th season as coach and QB of the Eagles. Until recently the off-season headlines have focused on the question of McNabb's future with the Eagles. Will the team give #5 an extension? Would the team explore the possibility of a trade? Is it 2 more years and done for McNabb in Philadelphia? All good questions...time will tell.

With all the McNabb (and Vick) talk this off-season Reid's future has gone a bit under discussed. It shouldn't if you look at Reid's current deal. Just 2 years remaining. So with 2 years remaining it is logical to think that this upcoming season would be a show me the money or show me the door season.

A coach of Reid's stature doesn't deserve to go into the 2010 season clinging to a 1 year deal. The question at some point this season will be are the Eagles going to again extend Reid's contract?

Bashers of the Eagles' front office will be quick to say that Reid is the puppet running the Banner and Lurie show. Reid will be here as long as he keeps Lurie a billionaire (the latest report has the Eagles valued at $1.123 billion). But to continue to make money you need to put a winning product on the field (otherwise the Phillies will continue to steal all the Philly fan's love and money).

Sure the Eagles made the NFC Championship Game last season.. But they also needed an Oakland Miracle to simply qualify for the post season after a 9-6-1 record. 9-6-1 equals slightly above average. The past 4 seasons under Reid the Eagles have gone 33-30-1 in the regular season. Again, slightly above average.

Does average warrant a new extension? Will an 11th season without a title finally be enough to convince ownership that Reid can't deliver a title? At some point even the most loyal owners need to realize a change may be necessary.

The 2009 season is a big one for the big guy. The seat may not be hot now, but each loss is sure to crank up that temperature on Reid.

The Beard is Back - Well It Should Be

The beard I am growing has nothing to do with the fall weather that we are currently experiencing. Nope, it has everything to do with the current state of the Eagles.

The Andy Reid beard brought us fans so much good fortune last season (well until that NFC Championship Game, but the beard can't be blamed for that one, the Eagles almost always seems to crumble in the NFC Championship game).

So with so many questions already surrounding the 2009-'10 Eagles I thought it's time to start growing the beard. OL, Safety, MLB...the beard has us covered.

McNabb has a problem with Vick...talk to the beard. I can already picture the beard staring in the next Shawn Andrews You Tube video. And if come December the Eagles are tanking, well the Reid beard should have that Santa Claus look and we Philly fans love to show our appreciation to Santa (sorry, couldn't resist and, yes, only kidding!).

I know Andy doesn't read Eagles Fever (though he should) but this fan is hoping for a return of the beard. The success of our season is depending on your facial hair Andy.

Bye, Bye Booker

Second chances. It's been a theme during the Eagles 2009 off-season. I'll spare you another Vick post and instead focus on another Eagle who was given a second chance. Hopefully Vick has better luck then Lorenzo Booker with his second chance.

Chance one was being selected in the 3rd round by the Miami Dolphins. This chance was wasted when he couldn't manage to crack the starting line-up or contribute significantly to a 1-15 Dolphins team. But one man's garbage is another man's 4th round draft pick.

Chance two was being traded to the Eagles for a 4th round draft pick. Chance two was wasted when Booker managed only 53 yards rushing and 11 yards receiving during the 2008 season. Oh yeah, the guy was also benched for 6 games and made Winston Justice look like an All-Pro with his turnstile blocking in the backfield.

I remember attending the Eagles game last Thanksgiving and being so excited with the performance of Kyle Eckel. With each strong carry I dreamed of the permanent deactivation of Booker. Evidently my turkey had too much tryptophan and I was delusional. Booker would unfortunately be returning for the 2009 season.

Insert off-season pick-up Eldra Buckley. See a strong preseason rushing the ball by Buckley. See a strong preseason on special teams by Buckley. See Thursday night, September 3, 2009 being the last game that Booker plays for the Eagles.

It's a guarantee that the Eagles are only keeping 3 RBs on the roster. The versatility of Weaver eliminates any need for a 4th RB. This should all equal Booker being cut when the Eagles trim their roster to 53 players next week.

Bye, bye Booker. Make sure the door hits you hard on the way out. I hear Reno is looking for a business partner out in Utah. And I know a couple hundred thousand fans that would willingly drive you to the airport for the first plane out of Philadelphia!