I think naming Michael Vick the starting QB for the Eagles was the right move. Most people think he was named the starting QB just because he had a very strong performance against the Packers and followed that up with another great performance against the Lions. While Vick’s play in both of those games was phenomenal and was definitely a factor in the Eagles decision, I think there’s more to this decision than what meets the eye.
There are three additional factors that I think contributed to this decision.
First, the Eagles offensive line. The Eagles offensive line has been riddled with injuries this season. Not only have the Eagles lost their starting fullback Leonard Weaver and center Jamaal Jackson, but Jason Peters, Nick Cole, and Todd Herremans are all playing banged up. Green Bay was able to bring pressure on virtually every down whether they were bringing just 4 men or 6 men. Andy Reid knows that with all the injuries to his offensive line, he needs a mobile quarterback so his team doesn’t give up 5-6 sacks per game. Michael Vick’s ability to avoid a 10 yards loss and pick up a 10 yard gain is uncanny. He does it multiple times in a game. I think it’s quite clear that the Eagles offensive line was the #1 motivating factor for this move.
Kevin Kolb is/was supposed to be the Eagles franchise quarterback. I don’t think they would just bench him for just one poor half of football unless there were other factors present. Another reason for the move is DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin standing behind Vick and voicing their wishes to Andy Reid that they want Vick as their QB. I don’t know if anyone else picked this up, but both Maclin and Jackson gave their TD balls to Vick after they scored in the Lions game.
Lastly, Andy Reid took a lot of heat for keeping Stewart Bradley in the Packers game after he suffered a concussion. Andy can now say that he’s making this move to protect his players.
What do you think were the motives behind the decision?
There is a ton of speculation surrounding whether McNabb will be traded this offseason. The Eagles have a decision to make and they cannot keep delaying the inevitable. Do they stick with #5 or do they move in a new direction and hand over the reigns to the quarterback that they surprisingly drafted with the 36th pick in the 2007 NFL draft? I say the Eagles should go with Kevin Kolb and here’s why.
I’ve always been critical of Donovan McNabb. He simply strikes a nerve with me. It’s for all the obvious reasons: he has never won a Super Bowl after having several legitimate chances to do so, he has been injured way too many times, he doesn’t take the game seriously enough, and he is terribly inaccurate. What bothers me the most is when he throws the ball straight into the ground or 10 feet over the receivers head on 3rd down and smiles and laughs about it. That drives me absolutely nuts.
McNabb is far from a consistently accurate QB. McNabb supporters will point to his interception to passing attempt ratio being amongst the best in the league. That is a great characteristic of McNabb. He rarely turns the ball over. That’s because he rarely gives the opposing team to opportunity intercept him because the majority of his passes are over- or under-thrown. I would rather focus on his completion percentage.
In 2009, McNabb was 20th in the league — not even in the top half! Alex Smith, Jay Cutler, David Garrard, and Jason Campbell all had better completion percentages then McNabb. That is unacceptable! This wasn’t just one isolated year. In 2008, McNabb was ranked 18th in completion percentage. Jason Campbell, Shaun Hill, Trent Edwards, and Jeff Garcia all ousted McNabb in the category. McNabb beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick by a mere 0.8%. In 2007, McNabb was ranked 20th. Beaten by Joey Harrington, Brian Griese, Jon Kitna, Sage Rosenfels and Vince Young. In 2006, McNabb was ranked 23rd. Again beaten by Joey Harrington and others such as Damon Huard, J.P. Losman, and Mark Brunell. I could go on, but I think I made my point. For the last 4 season, McNabb hasn’t even cracked the top 50% in completion percentage and his completion percentage was worse than Joey Harrington during 2 seasons.
I’ve made my case about McNabb. Now what do I like about Kevin Kolb? Everything. I like Kolb’s work ethic, attitude, and most importantly his skills on the football field. Kolb has the attitude of a winner. You can see that he takes the game very seriously when he plays. He plays the game with a passion that cannot be met by McNabb. Kolb throws a beautiful football. It’s usually a tight spiral delivered right on the money. He rarely over and under-throws receivers like McNabb. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen enough meaningful games from Kolb to have a perfect picture of his capabilities. We have the previous season’s Ravens debacle and two games this past season against the Saints and Chiefs to judge him.
I don’t put any weight into the Ravens game. If McNabb was playing awful against the Ravens on a full week of preparation, what makes anyone think that Kolb would do any better against the Ravens without any preparation? Kolb at least was able to move the football and pick up first downs. He just made a few stupid rookie mistakes against a pretty good safety by the name of Ed Reed. A more telling story of Kolb is how he played against the Saints and Chiefs. In both games, Kolb threw over 300 yards and had 2 TDs.
Another reason that I feel that the Eagles should choose Kolb as their starting QB next season and trade McNabb is because the Eagles have a young football team at the skill positions. With DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek, and LeSean McCoy all 25 years or younger, I think it’s better to have a young QB to grow and develop with them. I think Kolb has a better rapport with those players. Just look at how well the offense played together with Kolb against the Chiefs. Granted, it was the Chiefs, but we got a glimpse of what the future offense would look like with Kolb and these great young players. Bleeding Green Nation has reported that when the young players have a question about the offense, they tend to go to Kolb instead of McNabb.
I think it’s time for a new era in Philadelphia and that Kevin Kolb should be the Eagles starting quarterback next season. Trade McNabb for a 2nd-round and a 5th-round pick. Pick up an offensive lineman in the first round and then focus on building up the defense in round 2 and 3. It’s the Eagles blue print for success.
Jay should be making his case for why McNabb should return to the Eagles shortly.
One player that I’ve grown to love is Jordan Shipley. I know we’ve exhausted the WR argument. With DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and up-and-commer Brandon Gibson, the Eagles are stacked at the position. This past offseason, the Eagles had too many receivers, they had a hard time figuring out who to cut and who to keep.
However, with Kevin Curtis constantly ailing, it has me thinking whether the Eagles should depart with White Lightning and turn to White Lightning 2.0 in the upcoming draft. Texas’s Jordan Shipley is an elite NCAA WR. He’s had three straight games with double-digit receptions and has eclipsed the 100 yard mark 3 times in 5 games this season.
Shipley is currently the 7th ranked receiver on NFL Draft Countdown’s WR rankings. There’s a solid chance that he’ll be available in round 4 and possibly round 5. My question to you is whether you say happy trails to Kevin Curtis and his bum knee and draft his replacement in Jordan Shipley?
The Eagles roster has been set. A.J. Feeley was released this morning. Fenuki Tupouhas been placed on IR.
The loss of Stewart Bradley now becomes glaring on the depth chart with a few new names at the LB position. Here’s a good read on rookie LB Moise Fokuo, Fokou who? Word is also going around that Macho Harris may have the starting FS role over Quintin Demps.
It’s also good to know that Danny Amendola and Jack Ikegwuonu have been added to the practice squad. The practice squad also includes guards Paul Fanaika and Mike Gibson.
Quarterbacks (3) – Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick
Running Backs (3) – Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, Eldra Buckley
Fullback (1) – Leonard Weaver
Wide Receivers (7) – DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Reggie Brown, Hank Baskett, Brandon Gibson
Tight Ends (2) - Brent Celek, Tony Curtis
Offensive Lineman (10) - Jason Peters, Todd Herremans, Jamaal Jackson, Stacy Andrews, Shawn Andrews, Nick Cole, Max Jean-Gilles, Winston Justice, Mike McGlynn, King Dunlap
Defensive Lineman (9) – Trent Cole, Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, Victor Abiamiri, Chris Clemons, Juqau Parker, Jason Babin, Darren Howard, Trevor Laws
Linebackers (6) – Chris Gocong, Omar Gaither, Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays, Moise Fokou, Tracy White
The Eagles axed 4 players from the 2008 draft: Bryan Smith (DE), Jack Ikegqwuono (CB), Lorenzo Booker (RB), and Mike Gibson (OG). Jason Babin, who is a former 1st-round pick, is essentially replacing Bryan Smith. You can say that Jack was bumped by the acquisition of Ellis Hobbs. Lorenzo Booker has been replaced by Eldra Buckley. I hate to see 3 draft picks wasted, especially the 3rd-rounder used on Bryan Smith, but the players the Eagles kept are much better than the players cut.
Danny Amendola (WR) was unfortunately cut, but he might stand a chance to make the practice squad if he can make it through waivers. The Eagles have thus far kept 7 wide receivers and Brandon Gibson has not been cut, which indicates he’ll likely make the final roster, which means that Hank Baskett or Reggie Brown will be the odd man out since the Eagles will need to get down to 6 WRs. Neither Baskett or Brown has been formally cut as of yet. The Eagles have DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, Brandon Gibson, Hank Basket, and Reggie Brown on the roster. Not so thin at receiver anymore, right?
Matt Schobel (TE), Dan Klecko (DT), and Kyle Eckel (FB) are other mentionable cuts.
As of now, A.J. Feeley is still on the Eagles roster since Michael Vick is exempted from the 53 man roster until he is eligible to play in week 3. It’s safe to assume that the Eagles are likely talking to the Patriots about sending Feeley to the Patriots for draft considerations. Since Matt Cassel was traded to the Chiefs, the Patriots are without a quality backup for Brady.
We’ll post the full 53 man roster once it’s finalized.
This article is an interesting read. We obviously all thought of the wildcat formation when we first heard of the Vick signing, but we also wonder about what other role he could serve on the team. We even hoped that Vick could play a little TE after the injuries the Eagles have suffered. Here are some other ways the Eagles could use Vick:
Maybe a few snaps at RB or in the slot.
Surprisingly, I don’t ever recall Vick taking the snap as a placement holder for field goals. Add fake field goals into the list of possible ways to use Michael Vick. If teams see Vick coming out for a field goal, they’ll have to burn a timeout to adjust their package as well.
Look for more two-point conversions with Michael Vick. With Michael Vick, I’m sure you convert the majority, if not 90%, of your two-point attempts. Just two yards, are you kidding me? Do you know how much speed we have at QB, RB, and WR now?
Expect Vick to have an 8- to 10-play package. Every hour defense coordinators have to prepare for Vick, an hour less that they get to prepare for DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Brian Westrbook, LeSean McCoy, Kevin Curtis, Donovan McNabb. You get the picture.
OUTCOME: EAGLES LOSE 27-25 AFTER AKERS MISSES GAME-WINNING FG FROM 43 YARDS.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: ELDRA BUCKLEY
8 CARRIES, 23 YARDS, 1 TD; 6 RECEPTIONS, 56 YARDS, 1 TD
GAME NOTES:
– Jeremy Maclin must have had some jitters early on. He fumbled his first punt return, which the Eagles recovered, but he shined later in the game. He had a couple nice catches and great returns later in the game.
– DeSean had a tremendous game. He made a great play on an end-around, as well as some very nice catches. LeSean McCoy was also outstanding. If Westbrook was out for the whole season, I would not be worried a single bit with McCoy taking every snap for the Eagles this season. With DeSean, McCoy, Maclin, and now Vick, the Eagles could have the fastest offense in the history of ever.
– Lorenzo Booker made a nice 30+ yard grab right by the sidelines from Feeley. He displayed his nice set of hands and showed why he deserves to beat out Buckley for that RB spot. Buckley one-upped him just a few plays later with a nice 6-yard TD run. I still like Buckley over Booker. He can block and he runs the ball hard. Buckley also had a nice 4th down reception form the 3 the next drive for a TD. I like this guy!
– WR Brandon Gibson, the Eagles 6th-round draft pick, received many praises. He caught everything that came his way and laid a sick block to help Eldra Buckley gain some extra yards on a reception. The Eagles have a lot of wide receivers. This guy is worthy of making the team, but how many WR’s can the Eagles keep? DeSean, Maclin, Curtis, Avant, and Baskett should be locks. Do the Eagles take a 6th WR and keep Gibson. Is Reggie Brown the odd man out? This should be interesting.
– Joe Mays played well. I would give his performance a B. He’s definitely no Stewart Bradley. That’s a huge loss, but if all 11 players on defense play well together, they should be able to overcome that loss. He has the skills. With more time with the 1st team, he can step up into that role.
– Brent Celek left the game with a sprained shoulder. Let’s hope it’s not serious. The last thing we need is another injury.
– Jason Peters didn’t look to good in his first preseason game. He’s missed a lot of time this preseason, so let’s hope he just has to get his timing down.
– Macho Harris looked good and was great at getting pressure on the QB. I love the Macho Man.
I couldn’t believe the news when I first heard it. The Eagles have officially signed Michael Vick to a two-year deal. Most people are disgusted by the move. I am not. It’s just business. I’m not going to say the front office sunk to a new low. They want to win. The man did his time, has been remorseful, and as a forgiving person, I’ll give him a second chance. When I heard about the signing, all I could think of is the wildcat formation. Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson in the backfield. Are you serious? The options for their offense is limitless.
This is the fastest offense in the history of ever. . .
DEASEAN JACKSON, JEREMY MACLIN, LESEAN MCCOY, BRIAN WESTRBOOK, KEVIN CURTIS, AND MICHAEL VICK.
SIX… 6 WEAPONS… IS THAT ENOUGH “WEAPONS” FOR MCNABB? I GUESS WE NEVER HAVE TO HEAR THAT SORRY EXCUSE FROM MCNABB THIS YEAR.
..and that’s without even getting to their all-star Offensive Line (on paper and injury free). Let’s just hope that they all get healthy in a hurry and can gel quickly.
It’s official, Steward Bradley officially has a torn ACL and will be out for the season. What a loss that is to a defense that has already lost you know who. I’m confident Joe Mays or Omar Gaither will step up, but Bradley was due for a Pro-Bowl season this year.
In a Jeremy Maclin update, he is still unsigned, but the Broncos have inked their 1st-round draft pick, Robert Ayers. Ayers was selected 18th, just a pick ahead of Maclin, so the Maclin deal should be coming soon.
It’s the end of July and almost August and that means the Eagles start training camp. Rookies and selected vets reported Sunday, the rest of the team reports tomorrow, contact starts on Friday.
The big story is the absence of Jeremy Maclin. It may be a while until we see him in camp as 27 other first-rounders have not yet signed deals with their teams. The uncapped 2010 season has agents overeager and this could end up in a messy situation for most teams.
CB/S Macho Harris and TE Cornelius Ingram are looking solid and have been getting rave reviews. Jack Ikegwuono was also impressive. It looks like the Eagles have drafted very well in the secondary in the last two years with Macho Harris, Jack Ikegwuono, and Quintin Demps.
Westbrook’s knee looks like it is recovery well. Westbrook was seen sprinting, looked good in lateral drills, and was working out without a brace.
I think naming Michael Vick the starting QB for the Eagles was the right move. Most people think he was named the starting QB just because he had a very strong performance against the Packers and followed that up with another great performance against the Lions. While Vick’s play in both of those games was phenomenal and was definitely a factor in the Eagles decision, I think there’s more to this decision than what meets the eye.
There is a ton of speculation surrounding whether McNabb will be traded this offseason. The Eagles have a decision to make and they cannot keep delaying the inevitable. Do they stick with #5 or do they move in a new direction and hand over the reigns to the quarterback that they surprisingly drafted with the 36th pick in the 2007 NFL draft? I say the Eagles should go with Kevin Kolb and here’s why.
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