Wellness

[gardenman]

I think we'll find out a lot more about the plan for Tim Tebow in the next couple of weeks. If (and this is a big if) the Eagles can get Marcus Mariota as their "quarterback of the future" then they'll need to tailor the offense to his skill set. Right now the Eagles have five quarterbacks on the roster, three are your standard NFL pocket passers (Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley) and two guys who are similar to Mariota in terms of mobility in Tebow and GJ Kinne. I could foresee a situation where Mariota is the starter and Tebow is the backup who could come in without changing up the offense. If Tim Tebow showed enough in training camp and Mariota struggled to adapt to the NFL then Tebow could even be the early starter.

I've never really understood the venom some have towards Tebow. While his overall numbers aren't great, in the last five minutes of games I believe he holds the NFL record for the best quarterback rating. That's kind of a good time for a quarterback to come up big.

To get Mariota it's likely we'd have to trade Bradford away. (There have been persistent rumors since January that the teams at the top of the draft would prefer Bradford over Winston or Mariota.) Matt Barkley is reportedly available to anyone willing to part with any draft pick. That leaves Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow and GJ Kinne as your quarterbacks. Which one of those is not like the rest? Yeah, Mark Sanchez. Do the Eagles install two offenses, one for their mobile quarterbacks and then another for Sanchez? I doubt it. I have a suspicion Sanchez will be gone in that scenario. Tebow would then be either the starter while Mariota adapts to the NFL or the backup in case something happens to Mariota with GJ Kinne (and or possibly a draft pick/rookie free agent) waiting in the wings.

If the Eagles don't get Mariota then Tebow still has a shot at life as the Eagles have been pretty awful in the red zone which is an area where Tebow excels. Add in the possibility of the new two point conversion location this year, and Tebow could get a fair amount of playing time.

I think the Eagles have done a nice job of covering their bases and have a good quarterback situation no matter what happens. Sam Bradford (if he can stay healthy) is an upgrade over Foles and Sanchez.) If he helps you get Mariota then all the better. If not then he's a better option than what we've had and he gets a chance to show what he can do. If the Eagles get Mariota then they have two good guys with similar skill sets backing him up and ready to take over if he falters.

[Krissie2]

Gardenman, you know your stuff! When Tebow was here they tailored the offense to his strengths. I don't know how he'll do in a different situation, like the way the Jets used him. I hope they brought him in to be serious about him, and not as a gimmick, and that he gets a fair chance.

What are the odds that he would be on the same team as Mark Sanchez. There's an irony for you.

Do you really think Tebow would be given a chance to start? The Eagles do have some good options, so it will be interesting to see. Wish we got more of their games here.

[gardenman]

Krissie2. Chip Kelly is very serious about the best players playing. He constantly tells everyone the Eagles are a meritocracy where you earn your playing time. He's been true to that so far too. High draft picks who don't show enough ride the bench. A guy off the street who shows a lot gets a chance to play.

For the quarterbacks, most of the drills are done with every quarterback on the field at the same time making the same throw. All four/five of them are lined up side by side in every practice. This makes it very easy for the best quarterback to shine and for the coaches to evaluate them. If Tim Tebow is the best in practice then he'll earn the starting job. Now, a healthy Sam Bradford (if he's still here) will be hard to beat out as the starter, but those second and third string spots could be in reach. If Tebow does beat out Bradford then Tebow would be the starter, I just don't know if he's that far along just yet.

I love the measurables on Tim Tebow. There aren't a lot of 6' 4", 245 lb guys who can run a 4.6 forty yard dash. He's tough, strong, smart, disciplined, and loves to play the game. The QB guru he's worked with has said that Tebow has now made over 10,000 throws using the correct technique and that's now become his default throwing motion. He claims it takes 10,000 throws to make it automatic and Tebow has now achieved that. We'll see what happens. Between now and the first exhibition game he's likely to get a few thousand more throws in to further ingrain the new motion, so when the real bullets start to fly in that first exhibition game and Tebow is facing pressure we'll see if the changes hold up. I'm hoping they do. I'd love to see him silence his critics.

[gardenman]

And the draft is now charging down upon us! Thursday is draft day! Yeah!

I have a suspicion the Eagles will be bold leading up to the draft and in the draft. The "experts" are all focused on the Eagles getting a bundle of draft picks to trade for Mariota. I'm thinking the Eagles may trade players for Mariota instead. If you're Tampa or Tennesee and you want a QB then the Eagles have a nice selection to choose from with Sam Bradford being the biggest draw. In addition to Bradford the Eagles could add in Mychal Kendricks (all-pro inside linebacker) and Fletcher Cox (current all-pro and potential hall of fame caliber defensive end.) If that's still not enough we're rumored to have Brandon Boykin (slot cornerback,) Matt Barkley (QB,) Evan Mathis (OG.) and other guys available.

Why would they take a player or players instead of draft picks? Draft picks have a failure rate of about 50%. If the Eagles somehow cobbled together four draft picks to get Mariota chances are only two of them would be good players for whichever team traded their pick to the Eagles. By taking established, but still young players, they could get three or four known good players still in the prime of their careers. Take Bradford and you get an NFL ready quarterback who's ready to step in and play right away with no learning curve. Fletcher Cox is a dominant defensive end/pass rusher who will likely be better than any of the kids available in the draft.

Why would the Eagles be willing to trade these guys? Chip loves Mariota and most of those players don't fit his ideals for players. We've got great depth on the defensive line so we can afford to lose a guy or two there. We've got too many inside linebackers so we can afford to lose one of them too.

Tampa Bay now has something like $28 million in cap space so they could absorb salaries with no trouble. Tennessee has something like $24 million in cap space, so they could also do it with no real trouble. Maybe I'm missing something here, but trading a group of all-pro caliber players to get Mariota directly from Tampa or Tennessee seems more likely and smarter for everyone involved than dealing in draft picks that are anything but certain.

If I'm right the trade will likely go down a day or two before the draft so physicals can be done and the trade finalized with time to spare. If I'm Tampa and I'm looking at getting Jameis Winston, who may or may not pan out, and who has a lot of character issues, or getting Sam Bradford, Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks (all good to great players and good people besides) I'm likely taking the three over the one. We'll have to see what happens, but I'm thinking this is how things might play out. The Eagles keep pick twenty, pick up Mariota, and don't mortgage the future to get him. Tampa/Tennessee gets three proven starters of all pro caliber. It's largely a win for everyone.

[teganslaw]

Washington has picked up the fifth year option on RG111 for 16 million. However, the money is guaranteed in case of injury, not performance. So, if RG111 doesn't do well this season, he could be waived as long as he's not injured.It seems that management feels that he should be given another chance to prove himself. It won't affect what the Redskins do during the draft. This could be a very interesting time in Washington.

To no one's surprise, Carolina picked up the fifth year option on Luke Kuechly. That was a given.

[gardenman]

That fifth year option for RGIII is going to be interesting to watch. We'll know how the Redskins feel about RGIII as the season goes on. I believe the $16 million he's due next year under the option is guaranteed in case of injury, so they'll owe him $16 million next year if he gets injured this year. If they don't want him back then they'll bench and deactivate him, maybe even cut him, or send him home to prevent him getting injured and them being liable for the $16 million. The scary thing for the Redskins is to have him earn that $16 million by getting injured. (And he's not exactly robust.) If he's playing week one and tears his ACL then there goes $16 million out of next year's cap to pay RGIII. They're going to have to make a big decision pretty early in the year regarding his future. I wouldn't be shocked to see him not make the final cut coming out of camp if they have serious doubts about him.

[gardenman]

And it's draft day!!!! (Finally!) The general consensus is that Jameis Winston will be picked first overall then all heck will break loose. I'm still of the belief that the Eagles have a package of players (Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks, Brandon Boykin, Evan Mathis, Sam Bradford, Matt Barkley, Mark Sanchez, and others) that they're making available to the top two teams in the draft for a shot at Marcus Mariota. They may be offering any three or four (maybe five) of those guys for the chance to pick Mariota. I wouldn't be shocked to see the Eagles jump up to first overall in a trade with the Bucs. I could see the Bucs taking both Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez from the Eagles. The Bucs current quarterbacks are Mike Glennon (who they've been shopping) and Seth Lobato. Add in Fletcher Cox and the Bucs would get QBs who were the first and fifth overall picks and a defensive lineman who was the twelfth overall pick.

Three of the teams at the top of the draft (Tampa, Tennessee, Jacksonville) have a ton of open cap space available to them which would make trading for vets feasible. With free agency spending pretty much in the past and teams only needing five to seven million for rookie contracts, those teams are holding a lot of free money for some reason.

We've heard rumors since January that the teams at the top of the draft (presumably Tampa and Tennessee) liked Sam Bradford more than the QBs coming out in the draft. If that's the case then we could see Bradford move to one of them and Marcus Mariota come to Philly. If not, then the Eagles have still upgraded at QB with Bradford over Foles/Sanchez.

It's going to be an interesting draft night.

[Spurt]

On 4/28/2015 gardenman said:

That fifth year option for RGIII is going to be interesting to watch. We'll know how the Redskins feel about RGIII as the season goes on. I believe the $16 million he's due next year under the option is guaranteed in case of injury, so they'll owe him $16 million next year if he gets injured this year. If they don't want him back then they'll bench and deactivate him, maybe even cut him, or send him home to prevent him getting injured and them being liable for the $16 million. The scary thing for the Redskins is to have him earn that $16 million by getting injured. (And he's not exactly robust.) If he's playing week one and tears his ACL then there goes $16 million out of next year's cap to pay RGIII. They're going to have to make a big decision pretty early in the year regarding his future. I wouldn't be shocked to see him not make the final cut coming out of camp if they have serious doubts about him.

Hey GARDEMAN---I was certainly NOT a fan of picking up his option!!! And there is certainly the possibility of RGIII getting hurt the FIRST game of the season.....the Redskins play the Dolphins Week 1---hello Mr. SUH!!!! Guaranteeing the contract if he gets hurt doesn't make sense, but at least they can still cut him. Only one bit of silver lining if he gets hurt, at least we can bring in McCoy along with a chance to at least win a few games!!!

[Spurt]

On 4/30/2015 gardenman said:

And it's draft day!!!! (Finally!) The general consensus is that Jameis Winston will be picked first overall then all heck will break loose. I'm still of the belief that the Eagles have a package of players (Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks, Brandon Boykin, Evan Mathis, Sam Bradford, Matt Barkley, Mark Sanchez, and others) that they're making available to the top two teams in the draft for a shot at Marcus Mariota. They may be offering any three or four (maybe five) of those guys for the chance to pick Mariota. I wouldn't be shocked to see the Eagles jump up to first overall in a trade with the Bucs. I could see the Bucs taking both Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez from the Eagles. The Bucs current quarterbacks are Mike Glennon (who they've been shopping) and Seth Lobato. Add in Fletcher Cox and the Bucs would get QBs who were the first and fifth overall picks and a defensive lineman who was the twelfth overall pick.

Three of the teams at the top of the draft (Tampa, Tennessee, Jacksonville) have a ton of open cap space available to them which would make trading for vets feasible. With free agency spending pretty much in the past and teams only needing five to seven million for rookie contracts, those teams are holding a lot of free money for some reason.

We've heard rumors since January that the teams at the top of the draft (presumably Tampa and Tennessee) liked Sam Bradford more than the QBs coming out in the draft. If that's the case then we could see Bradford move to one of them and Marcus Mariota come to Philly. If not, then the Eagles have still upgraded at QB with Bradford over Foles/Sanchez.

It's going to be an interesting draft night.

GARDENMAN---On Mike & Mike, Mort said Chip barricades himself in his office so know one really knows what he plans to do....but Chip's a sly one and he could be thinking of a way to land Mariota....I think picks #2 and #3 of this draft will be most interesting and set the tone.......

The Jags pick is going to determine what the Redskins will do....speculation is that if neither Fowler nor Williams is there we could trade down (but they are projecting not very far so we can still land a very good player and maybe pick up an extra pick).....If either Fowler or Williams is available at #5 we will take then pcik, then speculation is we will go OL in the second round......

Should be an interesting night in Chi town....GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

[Spurt]

On 4/28/2015 teganslaw said:

Washington has picked up the fifth year option on RG111 for 16 million. However, the money is guaranteed in case of injury, not performance. So, if RG111 doesn't do well this season, he could be waived as long as he's not injured.It seems that management feels that he should be given another chance to prove himself. It won't affect what the Redskins do during the draft. This could be a very interesting time in Washington.

To no one's surprise, Carolina picked up the fifth year option on Luke Kuechly. That was a given.

Hey TEGAN---so who are the Colts looking at or what position?