Sports

[yellowrose]

Stephen Jones has said Cowboys will be drafting defense - there's even been

a few names thrown around.  The names don't mean anything to me, they

are just names that I don't know.  But why would Stephen give out tha info

unless he's bluffing.  All the Jones's drive me CRAZY....well, just the males.

Happy 41st birthday Tony Romo.

Love those dimples. 

[teganslaw]

So whatever the Eagles say at their press conference, it means the opposite? I will be so glad when the draft finally arrives. These mock drafts are getting out of hand, but I guess they have to report on something. 

Happy birthday to Tony Romo! 

[Spurt]

---

@yellowrose wrote:

Stephen Jones has said Cowboys will be drafting defense - there's even been

a few names thrown around.  The names don't mean anything to me, they

are just names that I don't know.  But why would Stephen give out tha info

unless he's bluffing.  All the Jones's drive me CRAZY....well, just the males.

Happy 41st birthday Tony Romo.

Love those dimples. 

---

@yellowrose 

Hey YELLOWROSE,,,,,good to "see: you......those in the NFC East just LOVE LOVE LOVE the Jones's.....

Well I will wish Tony Romo a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! He's one darn good NFL analyst....😉

[Spurt]

@gardenman @yellowBeetle @teganslaw @yellowrose 

And the Eagles revealed the "secret" to their drafting success...A unique and interesting approach .....who would have thought......

At a Wednesday press conference, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and General Manager Howie Roseman discussed what the Eagles did in order to get a better gauge of the competitiveness of players. Roseman called it a “unique” approach that included coaches playing games with them and Sirianni shared which game he prefers to use.

“If you guys are wondering, we didn’t go earth shattering at these games,” Sirianni said. “I played a couple of ‘em at rock paper scissors. It was as easy as that. Let’s see how competitive you are. I’m competitive, I’m gonna be talking trash to them. Did you talk trash back to me?”

Sirianni also mentioned playing Jeopardy and said other assistants got “a little more creative at times” during the pre-draft process. Sirianni said he believes in the approach because competitive players are “gonna go at you no matter what game you’re playing” and the information gleaned from those situations will be part of the package that the Eagles consider next week.

Here are a couple replies from Eagle fans---

This make sense for the Eagles. They arrange their draft board using the one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish method.

The Gold Standard, ladies and gents…

Sigh, A depressed Eagles fan

So if anybody wonders why the Eagles have a lousy draft, now you know. 

Looking at their roster construction this doesn’t surprise me at all. Doug is sitting in his lazy boy thanking his lucky stars he is out of that mess.

[teganslaw]

That's an interesting way to determine draft picks. I guess every team has their own style.

Justin Fields has admitted to the NFL that he has epilepsy which is managed by medication. I'm wondering if it will affect his status, although it really shouldn't. As long as he's taking his medicine, he has no problems. 

On a personal note, I've had epilepsy most of my life, and did fine with a certain medication. This diagnosis doesn't have to change your life. I have outgrown my epilepsy, and there is a good chance that Fields will do the same. Wishing him well in the draft.

[yellowBeetle]

---

@Spurt wrote:

@gardenman @yellowBeetle @teganslaw @yellowrose 

And the Eagles revealed the "secret" to their drafting success...A unique and interesting approach .....who would have thought......

At a Wednesday press conference, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and General Manager Howie Roseman discussed what the Eagles did in order to get a better gauge of the competitiveness of players. Roseman called it a “unique” approach that included coaches playing games with them and Sirianni shared which game he prefers to use.

“If you guys are wondering, we didn’t go earth shattering at these games,” Sirianni said. “I played a couple of ‘em at rock paper scissors. It was as easy as that. Let’s see how competitive you are. I’m competitive, I’m gonna be talking trash to them. Did you talk trash back to me?”

Sirianni also mentioned playing Jeopardy and said other assistants got “a little more creative at times” during the pre-draft process. Sirianni said he believes in the approach because competitive players are “gonna go at you no matter what game you’re playing” and the information gleaned from those situations will be part of the package that the Eagles consider next week.

Here are a couple replies from Eagle fans---

This make sense for the Eagles. They arrange their draft board using the one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish method.

The Gold Standard, ladies and gents…

Sigh, A depressed Eagles fan

So if anybody wonders why the Eagles have a lousy draft, now you know. 

Looking at their roster construction this doesn’t surprise me at all. Doug is sitting in his lazy boy thanking his lucky stars he is out of that mess.

---

@Spurt 

Well, I just saw the press conference on YouTube. I did not come away with a warm and fuzzy feeling...😉😉

It is painfully obvious that Howie Roseman is running things. He sat in the middle, took total command, and spoke about 80 to 90% of the time. Frankly, he just rubs me the wrong way.  

Nick Sirianni seems enthusiastic and eager. But somehow with the rock, paper, and scissors talk, it was a bit bizarre and goofy.

When pressed, neither Howie nor Nick would commit to Jalen Hurts being the starter.

I was not impressed, to say the least. 

[gardenman]

I like Nick Sirianni and his games. It's an interesting way to test a guy's competitive nature. He trash-talks them and waits to see if they talk back. He goads them and wants to get a feel for how competitive they truly are. In an odd quirk, the Alabama receivers played Rock, Paper, Scissors, on occasion last year to see who would get to run the deep routes. I suspect Nick likes that. People who know him say never play a game with him. Chess, checkers, backgammon, or anything. He has to win. He's extremely competitive.

College players are so schooled and conditioned by their agents and prep people that you don't ever really see the real guy in the meetings. They become the Stepford Wives as football players.  They're trained/programmed to say and do the right thing all of the time. You have high school kids going to the various football camps where they're trained how to act, behave, and present themselves to both get a college scholarship and then get drafted high. Once they're in college and show some potential they're being guided by their coaches, their off-season trainers, and recent graduates on how to conduct themselves. Breaking through all of that conditioning to find out who a guy really is can be challenging.

Nick is pretty neat. He says he's learned a lot by being a head coach now. In the past, he would only look at the film on offensive players to prepare for the draft. Now he's watching offense and defense both and it's helping him get a better handle on things. One thing's for sure, Nick doesn't lack for energy. 

A few interesting tidbits came out. Howie said that if they trade back in any round it'll mean that they don't have anyone of a suitable value left in that round. If you see the Eagles moving back in the first round again it'll mean the guys they valued were gone. You also got the impression they've got possible moves up already in place if need be.

Howie looked pretty unhappy being there. Andy Weidl seemed more to tolerate the press. It looked like no one would even talk to Nick for the first half of the presser, then they couldn't stop him once he started talking. Nick is a very passionate football coach.

People are making a big deal of no one saying that Jalen Hurts is the starter. Nick says it's a competition. I'd be very surprised if they gave Joe Flacco a legit shot at starting. I still suspect they're hoping to draft Trask in the second round or trade back up into the end of the first round to get him. They probably know him better than any other team since his former OC is now the Eagles QB coach. Trask is one of those still rising guys. Each year since high school he's gotten better and better. He doesn't appear to have plateaued just yet. His former coach likely has some idea of how much better he can get.

[yellowBeetle]

I watched a few shows on ESPN and the NFL Network after the Eagles press conference and every single analyst I saw said it was a really dumb thing for Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni to not say that Jalen Hurts is the starter...because all of these analysts think that it is creating a needless controversy. They said it is yet another example of the dysfunction within the organization. Some called it a "rookie mistake" by Sirianni. But that does not excuse Howie! They do not think they will be drafting another QB. Some think it was more that Sirianni wants there to be competition in other positions but he felt he had to say it applied to the QB too.

Whatever it was, it was not a stellar performance by either Howie or Nick! Cringeworthy would be a better description!!😉

[gardenman]

@yellowBeetle 

I can pretty much guarantee you that the Eagles will be drafting a QB and also likely signing an undrafted free-agent kid QB. Why? Because you typically go into camp with four QBs and we have two. (Well, maybe two and a half if Khalil Tate is now a QB and not a WR, but he's still officially listed as a WR even though his number changed to nine.) The question is where do we draft one?

I kind of suspect we'll look to climb back into the bottom of the first round and pick up a kid QB there. You get the fifth-year option on the kid by taking him in the first round. QB salaries will likely be $40+ million in five years so the fifth year option will save the team around $20 million. Kyle Trask or Davis Mills would seem the most likely picks. Trask because his old college OC is now the Eagles QB coach and he's been improving each year. Mills is a possibility as Howie loves guys from Stanford. Scouts say if Mills fails as an NFL QB he could immediately become a coach as he's that smart. 

Jalen Hurts was drafted last year to be a long-term backup. I'm not sure the Eagles brass doesn't still view him as a backup instead of a starter. When they drafted Hurts they thought Wentz would be the starter for the foreseeable future and Hurts gave them a competent backup. Signing Flacco makes sense if they truly view Hurts as the backup. Draft a kid and make him the third in line. Flacco starts, Hurts is his backup, then later in the season rotate the rookie in and shove everyone else back a slot. Next year Flacco is gone, the kid's the starter, and Hurts is still the backup. 

Teams tend to slot guys into certain roles and I'm not sure the Eagles don't have Hurts slotted in as the backup QB. That's what they drafted him to be and that may be where they still envision him being. We'll know more in a week or so. If the Eagles make a move for one of the upper-tier kid QB's, it'll be a sign that they still view Hurts as the backup. If they draft a Mills, Mond, or Trask, they're drafting him to take over the QB job.

I'd rather see Hurts be given the starting role this year and them not to have signed a Flacco but to have gone with a less threatening backup like a Nate Sudfeld. Invest in lots of help for Hurts (good WRs, another running back, etc.) and see what happens. Bring in a lower-tier kid or two but no one to threaten Hurts. Flacco is a threat to Hurts. He's likely to look good in training camp. He may look better than Hurts in training camp. If it truly is a competition, he could win it.

We'll see what happens in the draft but my suspicion is that many in the Eagles organization still see Hurts as a backup QB and not "the guy." 

[yellowBeetle]

---

@gardenman wrote:

@yellowBeetle 

I can pretty much guarantee you that the Eagles will be drafting a QB and also likely signing an undrafted free-agent kid QB. Why? Because you typically go into camp with four QBs and we have two. (Well, maybe two and a half if Khalil Tate is now a QB and not a WR, but he's still officially listed as a WR even though his number changed to nine.) The question is where do we draft one?

I kind of suspect we'll look to climb back into the bottom of the first round and pick up a kid QB there. You get the fifth-year option on the kid by taking him in the first round. QB salaries will likely be $40+ million in five years so the fifth year option will save the team around $20 million. Kyle Trask or Davis Mills would seem the most likely picks. Trask because his old college OC is now the Eagles QB coach and he's been improving each year. Mills is a possibility as Howie loves guys from Stanford. Scouts say if Mills fails as an NFL QB he could immediately become a coach as he's that smart. 

Jalen Hurts was drafted last year to be a long-term backup. I'm not sure the Eagles brass doesn't still view him as a backup instead of a starter. When they drafted Hurts they thought Wentz would be the starter for the foreseeable future and Hurts gave them a competent backup. Signing Flacco makes sense if they truly view Hurts as the backup. Draft a kid and make him the third in line. Flacco starts, Hurts is his backup, then later in the season rotate the rookie in and shove everyone else back a slot. Next year Flacco is gone, the kid's the starter, and Hurts is still the backup. 

Teams tend to slot guys into certain roles and I'm not sure the Eagles don't have Hurts slotted in as the backup QB. That's what they drafted him to be and that may be where they still envision him being. We'll know more in a week or so. If the Eagles make a move for one of the upper-tier kid QB's, it'll be a sign that they still view Hurts as the backup. If they draft a Mills, Mond, or Trask, they're drafting him to take over the QB job.

I'd rather see Hurts be given the starting role this year and them not to have signed a Flacco but to have gone with a less threatening backup like a Nate Sudfeld. Invest in lots of help for Hurts (good WRs, another running back, etc.) and see what happens. Bring in a lower-tier kid or two but no one to threaten Hurts. Flacco is a threat to Hurts. He's likely to look good in training camp. He may look better than Hurts in training camp. If it truly is a competition, he could win it.

We'll see what happens in the draft but my suspicion is that many in the Eagles organization still see Hurts as a backup QB and not "the guy." 

---

@gardenman 

Well, we will just have to agree to disagree about this!😊

I think if the Eagles did not think that Jalen Hurts had the potential to be the franchise QB, then they surely would have stayed at the #6 pick where they would have been almost 100% guaranteed to have gotten one of the top five elite QBs.

And Jeffrey Lurie has said he wants the team to be built around Jalen Hurts!😊

The locker room absolutely loves Hurts. The two players who reportedly leaked the dysfunction with Wentz to the Philadelphia Inquirer...Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce...have both said glowing things about Hurts. They say he is a natural-born leader who has taken total command and has earned the respect of the team. 

So Hurts will, imo, be the starter this year. Joe Flacco who is a wonderful QB, will be a terrific mentor and a reliable backup if something happens to Hurts. And yes, they will very likely get someone to replace Nate Sudfeld. And maybe a fourth QB too.

Now it will of course be up to Hurts to do well enough to earn the QB job on a long-term basis. My hope and belief is that he will be able to do it. But only time will tell.

I am not alone in my faith in Hurts. Poll after poll shows between 80 and 90% of Eagles fans want Hurts to be the QB of the Eagles this season. And I think it is because fans saw a spark the moment Hurts replaced Wentz. The team came to life! Look what happened when they played NO, who was at the time the #1 ranked team in the NFC! And Hurts continued to show that spark! 

Now if your scenario plays out and Flacco starts and they draft someone new who ultimately becomes the long-term QB, then so be it. I will be disappointed as will the 80 to 90% of fans who have said they want Hurts to be the Eagles new QB. But with Howie Roseman on the scene, I guess anything is possible! Maybe he will try and get Deshaun Watson and trade Hurts to Houston. 

I sincerely hope that Hurts is given a chance to show what he can do. And if he does well as I hope and expect he will do, then I think he will become the franchise QB for the Eagles. But again, time will tell!😊