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Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week 15 of the 2019 NFL Regular Season!!!

Tom Coughlin was an old school kind of football guy. If you were fifteen minutes early for a meeting, you were on time. If you were ten minutes early, he'd consider you five minutes late. He requires a level of discipline that's just not normal in the NFL these days. Things ran on Coughlin standard time wherever he went and that always means you have to show up well ahead of the time you're supposed to show up to be on time. 

 

The Jags did some odd stuff on his watch. They extended Blake Bortles, then cut him loose. They arguably overpaid for Nick Foles and then weren't prepared for what they got. Nick's a highly variable QB. When he's hot, he's great. When he's cold, he's horrible. You have to be willing to ride out the cold streaks with a QB like Foles and carry him through it. Help him get through the cold streaks and then reinforce him on the hot streaks.

 

Consistency is not what you get with a Nick Foles. You quite literally don't know if you're getting the guy who can stand toe-to-toe with Tom Brady in a Super Bowl shootout or the guy who can only complete thirty percent of his passes against air. It can even change within a game. When he's hot, he's hot. When he's not, he's not. The Jags got too frustrated too fast with him when he wasn't hot. You want to work with him. Find what he's comfortable with. Tailor the offense to what he's comfy with when he's cold. When he's hot, you can open up the playbook, but not when he's cold.

 

It looks like there will be lots of job opportunities in the NFL this black Monday. (The Monday after week seventeen.) Two head coaches are already out. Up to ten more could be fired. I never really trust the votes of confidence some teams put out this time of year. Let the team lose those last two games and that confidence can be gone.

 

Teams that could (emphasis on could) be looking for a new head coach include the Jets, Dolphins (probably not since they crippled their new head coach with no personnel this year), Browns, Bengals, Jags, Chargers, Cowboys, Giants, Redskins, Lions, Falcons, and Panthers. That could be a whole lot of turnover if many/most/all of them get canned. 

 

If you're the owner of one of those teams and looking to draft a kid QB, fire the coach. Replace him with someone to build the kid QB. You want a guy you can live with for four or five years who will be dedicated to getting the most possible out of whatever kid you draft. The worst thing you can do is draft a kid then change the staff a year or two in. The Bengals are in an interesting spot. Their head coach is former QB Zac Taylor, who could be ideal as a tutor for Joe Burrow. But is he really an NFL head coach? He's a young guy who was under Sean McVay, but is he a guy you want coaching the team for the next four or five years?

 

The Redskins likely hurt Dwayne Haskins and slowed his development this year by firing Gruden. He'll have a new coach next year with a new system and start learning to play NFL quarterback all over again. The Giants could have the same issue with Daniel Jones if they fire Shurmur. If you're spending the draft capital to get a new QB, you need stability around the kid for at least the first three years. You want the head coach, offensive coordinator, and QB coach, locked in for those first three years or longer. If you have any doubt about any of those guys, fire them before you draft the kid QB.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week 15 of the 2019 NFL Regular Season!!!

The Eagles started the week with three healthy wide receivers on the depth chart, draft pick JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and the two practice squad guys, Greg Ward and Robert Davis. And now there are two. JJ Arcega-Whiteside somehow hurt his foot in practice. No word if he'll be able to play or not. We may see a third practice squad guy activated for the game. Heck, reports are that Nelson Agholor's knee is still badly swollen so he and Arcega-Whiteside might both end up on the DL and we'll bring up two more practice squad guys.

 

When you have a passing league and most of your wide receivers need to wear a "Hello my name is..." tag for the quarterback to know who they are, it's not ideal. All those reps with the starters and backups in OTA's, mini-camps, and training camp are now gone as the guys Wentz was throwing the ball to no longer exist. It's a great opportunity for the guys coming up. They just need to perform and be where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there. Sadly, that's not always so easy. We have Marken Michel, Deontay Burnett, and Marcus Green on the practice squad, so one or two of those guys could be moving on up.

 

Deontay Burnett is an interesting guy. He started one game for the Jets and played in five in 2018. He had ten catches averaging 14.3 yards per catch. He ran a 4.7 forty with a hamstring that was at 80%. Reportedly he plays faster than that.

 

Marcus Green was a sixth-round pick of the Falcons this year. Runs a 4.39 forty. Is raw as heck, but fast and explosive. Tends not to be where he's supposed to be as he's a bit undisciplined as a route runner. (Or was coming out of training camp with the Falcons. Maybe he's better now.)

 

Marken Michel is a guy who was with the Vikings in 2016. Went to Canada after that. Signed with the Eagles last January. Looked good in training camp and preseason, but got cut in the final cut.

 

One of those three may end up being on the field in a must-win game for the Eagles come Sunday. It's a heck of an opportunity for them. Wide receiver will be a bit of an off-season priority for the Eagles with Agholor leaving in free agency and Jeffery likely out until the start of next season, at the earliest. The Eagles need to get young and fast at wide receiver and those guys are young and fast, so the door's open for one of them to take a step forward.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!