Before we get started, I just wanted to throw out a quick plug for my fantasy football rankings: Fantasy Links .INFO. Definitely visiting that site before you start your draft.
The Eagles cut 12 players:
Kyle Arrington (CB), Bam Childress (WR), Jed Collins (FB), Jason Davis(FB), Therrian Fontenot (CB), Michael Gasperson (WR), Nick Graham (CB), Jamal Jones (WR), Mike Marquardt (DT), Shaheer McBride (WR), Jerome McDougle (DE), Ryan Moats (RB), Marcus Paschal (S), Montae Reagor (DT), Justin Roland (LB), Andy Studebaker (LB), Pago Togafau (LB), Kris Wilson (TE), Scott Young (G)
Jerome McDougle -- Most of Eagles Nation was surprised/disappointed to see Jerome McDougle let go. In the past few seasons he's been getting a lot of heat for not living up to the expectations of a 15th overall pick; however, it was not his fault for an unfulfilling career. He's had a series of unfortunate injuries and was shot. This season, on the other hand, it looked like McDougle might be able to revive his career. McDougle registered 2.5 sacks in 4 preseason games and it seemed that he had his motor and burst off the line back. The Eagles decided to cut him though and it seems like the Giants will be eager to add him to their roster after losing Umenyiora for the season. I think this was a poor move by the Eagles. The Eagles could have placed Abiamiri, who recently received surgery on his hand, on the IR or they could have placed Bryan Smith on the practice squad. Instead, the Eagles have a plethora of undersized DEs, which leaves Juqua Parker as the only viable option opposite of Trent Cole (until Abiamiri is back). I don't see the point of carrying both Chris Clemons and Bryan Smith -- they will both have pretty much the same role on defense. It will take weeks before Abiamiri is able to return. I just don't see the logic in this move. My only hope is that the Eagles are pretty certain that Abiamiri's hand has healed well and that it will be only a few weeks until he can get onto the field.
Tony Hunt -- Hunt landed the starting FB role. Jason Davis got cut. Hopefully, Hunt will be able to pick up things at FB pretty quick. He's never played the position before and during an interview, he didn't seem too pleased about transitioning to FB, but that's what it is going to take to make the roster, so he should be pleased with that. He performed well during the preseason, but still remains the #4 RB on the depth chart. I think Hunt will do well at the position.
Kris Wilson -- I expected Schobel to be cut and Wilson to be the Eagles 3rd TE, but the Eagles opted for Schobel. Not a huge deal, but something most of us expected to go the other way.
Andy Studebaker -- I was surprised they let him go. I figured he would be placed on the practice squad. I was impressed with what I saw from him, but I guess the Eagles didn't think he could be anything more than a special teamer.
Joe Mays -- Joe Mays made the active roster and he was very deserving of the roster spot. The guy was a total tackling machine this preseason. The guy had 30 tackles in 4 preseason games including 13 tackles (9 solo) in the preseason finale against the Jets. The Eagles hit the nail on the head with this draft pick. The guy gets to the ball fast and makes great tackles. The one aspect of his game that will have to improve is shredding blockers.
Quintin Demps -- Another phenomenal draft pick by the Eagles. I get excited every time I'm about to see Demps return a kickoff. The guy can go from 1st gear to 5th gear in a heartbeat. He runs over kickers. He's great. He had a kickoff return for a touchdown against the Patriots and had several excellent kickoff returns against the Jets. In the game against the Jets, Demps had 4 kickoff returns for 137 yards (34.3 yard average and his longest return was 51 yards).
Over the next two weeks most of you will be completing your fantasy football drafts. If you want a convenient cheat sheet, check out this website that I put together: Fantasy Football Rankings. It's an index where I've ranked players and linked their names to their NFL.com pages so you can go back and forth to check their stats if you're torn between two players. This will really give you an edge during your draft. It also contains blog articles to fantasy football articles and links to stat leaders. It's everything you can possibly want when conducting your draft on one single page.
We're in the final days of summer and I've been spending it down at the beach, which is why there hasn't been too much posted lately. I'm sure a few of you missed the preseason game against the Patriots, but here are the highlights. Our special teams woes look like they've ended. In this game we not only had a kickoff return from Quitin Demps (who gave the kicker a serious stiff arm, which was great), but also a punt return from DeSean Jackson. #5 also looked sharp (13/17, 180 yards, 1 TD) , which was great to see after a less than stellar performance against the Panthers. Jerome McDougle kept the sack streak alive. 27-17 was the final score.
DeSean Jackson Tracker: 1 Punt Return TD, 4 receptions for 67 yards.
It has been reported on many media outlets, including Comcast Sports Net and 610WIP, that former Sixers bigman Theo Ratliff has been offered a veteran's contract by the 76ers. Although Ratliff has been approached by many other teams, including some who can pay him more money, it seems as though the Sixers are the frontrunners. With Jason Smith likely out for the year with a knee injury, Ed Stefanski and the Sixers must make a push for an additional bigman. I believe Theo Ratliff will be a perfect fit in Philadelphia due to his 13 years of basketball savvy, his presence on the defensive end, and his overall calm demeanor on the court. His role will probably be the same as it was in Detroit last season where Theo played about 15 minutes averaging about 4pts, 3 boards, and a block or two. Let's hope this deal gets done.
Some commentary on the rookie speedster: "One Eagle that I can't wait to see more of tonight is DeSean Jackson." "He's just a special player." "He does not play the game like a rookie."
Those statements cannot be more true. DeSean Jackson continues to impress. He had 7 receptions for 71 yards last night and a nice punt return to boot, but it was then fumbled after a defender knocked it out from behind (the Eagles did recover though). He is going to have a big year. He was clearly McNabb's go-to guy on 3rd down last night: he converted 2 first downs from McNabb when it was 3rd & 3 and 3rd & 5.
In fact, the whole 2008 draft class is going to have a big year. I like what I see from Trevor Laws, Bryan Smith, Andy Studebaker, and Joe Mays.
Note: As Chad King points out in the comments section of the Eagles/Panthers review, the INT thrown by Kolb was not DeSean's fault. The ball was tipped. I must have missed that. Apologies to DeSean for placing the brunt of the blame on him.
If you missed my review of the game, here are my game notes.
The Eagles played preseason game #2 and here are some game notes. I missed the 1st half, but what a game it turned out to be in the 2nd half: a come from behind win -- 24 unanswered points -- 24-13. From what I saw from the 1st half highlights, it was uneventful, except for a botched field goal attempt by the Eagles that ended up in 7 for the Panthers. Carolina was up at halftime 10-0. The Eagles made a 2nd half comeback with Kolb leading the way to a 17-13 lead. The Eagles then tipped a QB pass in the final minute of the game and it was picked it off by Justin Roland for a TD. Here are some notes from the 2nd half:
-- Kevin Kolb: I love the guy. His stats don't really "woo" you, but here's what I saw. Scratch that, he ended up with 155 yards and a TD in one half. The guy throws darts on the field. He has a great command of the offense, he plays fired up, he plays with passion -- he's a winner. He has great awareness in the pocket, he steps up at the right time, and he makes the right throw -- on a bullet. He had an INT, but it wasn't his fault: he threw a bullet to DeSean Jackson and it went through his hands, and ended up in the hands of the defender behind him. More on DeSean Jackson next. To reaffirm what I said about Kolb: he just threw a beautiful deep pass to Greg Lewis in the left corner of the end zone -- touchdown, 7-13 -- just text book.
-- DeSean Jackson: He was definitely the #1 target with the second team. 2 mistakes from the rookie: he had a fumble and gave up and INT by not getting his hands on the ball. Hopefully, we get those mistakes out of the way early. He has the great ability of catching short passes and turning them up field for big yards: he just caught a short ball and turned it into 9 and he ended up with 4 catches for 32 yards the last time I saw the stat tracker. He looks good out there, except for giving up the INT, but as mentioned before, that pass was a bullet. As I write this, another short pass to DeSean for a first down: 7 catches 70 yards -- that's 3 catches and 28 more yards in a matter of about 3 minutes: this guys is going to be good. He will have to put on weight though, and that will come.
-- Jerome McDougle: McDougle started out with a sick sack in the 3rd quarter: the first and only (as of now). The guy has his motor back. He is clearly playing for his job and it shows. If he keeps playing at this pace, I wouldn't be surprised if he overtakes Juqua Parker for the starting job.
-- Lorenzo Booker: Booker got a few touches. He got gobbled up a couple times, but he was able to break a really nice run for 17 yards.
-- Hank Baskett: Baskett had a chance to convert on a deep ball from Kolb but he was forced out of bounds by a defender and couldn't secure the ball before being run out of bounds. I'm a big Baskett fan: I think he's the best #4 receiver in the NFL. Baskett and Kolb hooked up deep later towards the end of the 4th quarter to make a push to win the game.
-- Sav Rocca: Beautiful punts from the Aussie. I want see him start hitting some people.
-- Lito Sheppard: He got a pick. Is a healthy season too much to ask?
-- Tony Hunt: I love the way he runs: he's straight down hill. 3:00 minutes left in the game and he takes it 50+ yards to the house for the 17-13 lead!!!
-- Andy Studebaker: After the Eagles scored 24 unanswered points (led by Kevin Kolb), I saw Studebaker with a beastly tackle on special teams at the end of the game. Great draft pick by the Eagles. Great draft pick.
-- Bryan Smith: The "smallish" small school DE that the Eagles drafted in the 3rd round seems to be worthy of the selection. He had 4 tackles in the game and looked good on certain plays. He doesn't look incredibly small on the field. He reminds me of Trent Cole. Another brilliant draft pick by the Eagles.
Here we go again Sixers fans, the horrible trend continues. In an infuriating Billy Kingesque manner, the 76ers management has once again overpaid a non-deserving player and as a result set themselves up for future financial troubles. League sources told ESPN late last night that the 76ers had "agreed to terms" with restricted free agent Andre Iguodala to, in my mind, a ridiculous 6 year deal worth an even more ridiculous $80mil. I had thought for all intensive purposes, that Billy King had been fired and thrown out of Philadelphia (and the tri-state area for that matter) last December after making a plethora of bonehead decisions that undoubtingly screwed this franchise. These decisions included, but are not limited to, signing such un-phenomenal non-superstars such as Kenny “K9” Thomas and Brian “The Winner” Skinner to long-term lucrative contracts as well as trading away our beloved franchise player, “The Answer” Allen Iverson (I’m still very salty on this one…I hate you Billy King!)
When Ed Stefanski took King’s throne as the 76ers president and general manager, we as Sixers fans rejoiced since there was a new face at the helms of basketball operations in Philadelphia. What I’ve seen with this restructuring of Andre Iguodala’s contract, however, is much of the same antics that have ruined our team since the glorious 2001 NBA Finals run. Let me preface the next portion of my rant by saying that I love watching Andre Iguodala in a 76ers uniform and playing ball. In each of his first four seasons as a Sixer this young, exciting, and athletic 6’6 forward out of Arizona has not only graced the courts of the NBA with his myriad of high flying spectacular dunks, but has also improved his scoring average annually. The Sixers therefore did have a responsibility to compensate Iggy, but I don’t think that $80mil over 6 years was justified. It is my opinion that Andre Iguodala is in no shape or form a $15mil per year player. This opinion can be proven in one statement. It goes like this…The guy cannot shoot, at all! This was very evident in the first round of last year’s NBA Playoffs against the Detroit Pistons. Iguodala shot a dismal 33% from the field and embarrassingly turned the ball over more than four times a game. A $15mil per year player in this league does not and cannot perform in this fashion. Some of you may be thinking, “But Jay, he was being guarded by Tayshaun Prince”. That rebuttal, which many of you think is smart and witty, is not smart and witty and I completely discard it. Look, Tayshaun Prince does play for an Eastern Conference team we play many times a season and is a great defender, but so are many other players in the NBA (i.e. Bruce Bowen, Chris Paul, Raja Bell, Ron Artest, etc.). By paying Andre Iguodala more money he isn't going to miraculously transform him into an offensive juggernaut. If you are a realistic Sixers fan, you can come to grips with the fact that Iggy is nothing more than a great above the rim player in this league. In the long run, being that type of player does not, and will not win you the big games. Therefore in essence, I believe that that Stefanski and the Sixers paid Andre Iguodala, seemingly to just dunk the basketball a couple times a year, $3-5mil more than what I would have categorized as sufficient and justified.
The last thing I want to do is come across as a “hater” on Andre Iguodala and/or Sixers Management. In fact, I am so stoked and elated that Stefanski and the front office were able to land a big time name like Elton Brand here in Philadelphia. I am simply “hating” on the way that the Sixers do business with disgruntled players; they cave and they pay. As a result of overpaying this year, and in years past the Sixers are sure to find themselves in financial problems in the coming years. The 76ers current roster is full of young players with great potential. Louis Williams (who recently got a deal) and Thaddeus Young are the core of these emerging stars not only on this team, but in the NBA itself. My question to you fans who think I’m making too much of all this is, what happens theoretically when these young guys on our roster play exceptionally well in the next season or two and thereby demand big(ger) money to remain with the team the following season? The answer is simple. They won’t remain with the team and opt out of their contracts, since we overpaid players such as Andre Iguodala too graciously in the years past. This my friends is a crying shame for a team destined for success in the Eastern Conference for years to come and as a loyal, die-hard Sixers fan it sickens me.
DeSean Jackson is looking good, he's looking real good. He catches the ball well, he hangs onto it, and he can take a hit. He's going to need to add another 15 pounds though -- get him over to Pat's more often. With some DEs banged up, it's also good to see Jerome McDougle look impressive -- we all thought he was going to be cut, but it looks like he'll be making a push for some playing time this year.
Although the Eagles lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-10 in last night’s meaningless preseason opener, there were still many positives that the Birds could walk away with from the contest. For starters, our franchise quarterback, Donovan McNabb looked stellar in his limited action throwing for 97 yards on 10-13 passing. We all know that #5 throws a great deep ball, but I must say that I was much more impressed by his accuracy on the shorter routes. As a result of Donovan’s confidence in himself and his receivers, the Eagles offense scored 10 points in their first two drives downfield (28 yd FG-David Akers, 3-yd TD Jason Davis).
Another plus was the superb play of the Eagles first-round draft pick DeSean Jackson. Jackson had 5 catches for 51 yards, his longest catch being a 19 yd reception, including the phenomenal grab shown in the video below this story. DeSean also saw limited action on special teams where he returned 3 punts for a dismal 3 yards. I look to see more from the rookie out of California in the return game in the second preseason game at Carolina on August 14th.
Coming into the game I was looking at four important components that the Eagles needed to impress me on in order for them to regain the NFC East dominance which we are all used to just two seasons ago.
1) QB Play
2) RB Play (besides B-West)
3) Special Teams play
4) Lineman Play (in protection and rush)
In all four of these categories, the Eagles did not disappoint.
-- Although AJ Feeley had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds when he overthrew an open Kris Wilson in the end-zone, the overall QB play of all three QBs was satisfactory [McNabb 10-13 (97yds), Kolb 12-21 (81yds), Feeley 6-14 (51 yds)].
-- As it was reported here by my colleague Zach Zawarski, Brian Westbrook got his lucrative new deal. The details listed in this 52-page draft were so intricate however, that B-West was sidelined the first two quarters so that he had a chance to look over and understand the entire contract alongside Joe Banner. This gave Eagles fans the chance to watch Correll Buckhalter, Lorenzo Booker, Tony Hunt, and Ryan Moats in action. Buckhalter and Booker looked impressive and seem to be great compliments to the best running back and possibly best player in the league, Brian Westbrook. Tony Hunt proved he can be relied on to gain 1 or 2 yards in the trenches when called upon. Ryan Moats, who is trying very hard to make this Eagles team, played well and with a lot of heart. Reluctantly, I must say that I just don’t see Moats making this year’s team. His play on the field was more of an audition to showcase to other NFL teams scouts his ability to play, rather than for Eagles coaches and management. I wish Ryan well, but I stand behind my opinion that there just is no room for him on this year’s roster.
-- Special Teams dropped only one ball (L. Booker still gained positive yards) during returns yesterday, but atleast didn’t turn the ball over to the Steelers. This in itself is definitely an improvement from last year when the Eagles were plagued by turnovers in the return game. In addition, David “Moneyfoot” Akers should no signs of an ailing hamstring and looked to be in Pro-Bowl form. Also, Sav Rocca punted the ball well.
--The lineman on both sides of the ball looked great. In addition to Trent Cole, I was impressed by Jerome McDougle. He seemed aggressive and made his presence felt at Heinz Field. RG Max Jean-Gilles subbed in for Pro-Bowl G Shawn Andrews and also played very well.
If you missed last night's opening preseason game, here are some highlights. DeSean Jackson really impressed in his debut. He had 5 receptions for 51 yards and one spectacular catch from McNabb, which you can see in the highlight package. Steelers won 16-10.
Before we get started, I just wanted to throw out a quick plug for my fantasy football rankings: Fantasy Links .INFO. Definitely visiting that site before you start your draft.
We're in the final days of summer and I've been spending it down at the beach, which is why there hasn't been too much posted lately. I'm sure a few of you missed the preseason game against the Patriots, but here are the highlights. Our special teams woes look like they've ended. In this game we not only had a kickoff return from Quitin Demps (who gave the kicker a serious stiff arm, which was great), but also a punt return from DeSean Jackson. #5 also looked sharp (13/17, 180 yards, 1 TD) , which was great to see after a less than stellar performance against the Panthers. Jerome McDougle kept the sack streak alive. 
It has been reported on many media outlets, including Comcast Sports Net and 610WIP, that former Sixers bigman Theo Ratliff has been offered a veteran's contract by the 76ers. Although Ratliff has been approached by many other teams, including some who can pay him more money, it seems as though the Sixers are the frontrunners. With Jason Smith likely out for the year with a knee injury, Ed Stefanski and the Sixers must make a push for an additional bigman. I believe Theo Ratliff will be a perfect fit in Philadelphia due to his 13 years of basketball savvy, his presence on the defensive end, and his overall calm demeanor on the court. His role will probably be the same as it was in Detroit last season where Theo played about 15 minutes averaging about 4pts, 3 boards, and a block or two. Let's hope this deal gets done.
The Eagles played preseason game #2 and here are some game notes. I missed the 1st half, but what a game it turned out to be in the 2nd half: a come from behind win -- 24 unanswered points -- 
Here we go again Sixers fans, the horrible trend continues. In an infuriating Billy Kingesque manner, the 76ers management has once again overpaid a non-deserving player and as a result set themselves up for future financial troubles. League sources told ESPN late last night that the 76ers had "agreed to terms" with restricted free agent Andre Iguodala to, in my mind, a ridiculous 6 year deal worth an even more ridiculous $80mil. I had thought for all intensive purposes, that Billy King had been fired and thrown out of Philadelphia (and the tri-state area for that matter) last December after making a plethora of bonehead decisions that undoubtingly screwed this franchise. These decisions included, but are not limited to, signing such un-phenomenal non-superstars such as Kenny “K9” Thomas and Brian “The Winner” Skinner to long-term lucrative contracts as well as trading away our beloved franchise player, “The Answer” Allen Iverson (I’m still very salty on this one…I hate you Billy King!)
Although the Eagles lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-10 in last night’s meaningless preseason opener, there were still many positives that the Birds could walk away with from the contest. For starters, our franchise quarterback, Donovan McNabb looked stellar in his limited action throwing for 97 yards on 10-13 passing. We all know that #5 throws a great deep ball, but I must say that I was much more impressed by his accuracy on the shorter routes. As a result of Donovan’s confidence in himself and his receivers, the Eagles offense scored 10 points in their first two drives downfield (28 yd FG-David Akers, 3-yd TD Jason Davis). 
