How could some teams pass on this guy TWICE?!?

Who’s ready for the Saints?

Oh wait, there’s more.

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.

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.

I spent Saturday afternoon at the Eagles training camp.  I have some pictures downloaded, which you can view here: http://www.allphiladelphiasports.com/images/eagles-camp/

Here are some of my impressions from the Eagles camp:

– Kevin Curtis looks 100%.  Whatever his injury was (a thigh contusion I believe) did not slow him down one bit during practice.

– DeSean Jackson caught two very nice deep bombs from McNabb during practice.  They also practiced the wild-cat formation with DeSean taking the snap, which picked up some nice yardage.

– Ikeguono had a very nice pass breakup.  He’s aggressive and flys to the ball.  If there’s one position the Eagles are stacked at, it’s got to be CB.

– Leonard Weaver has a nice set of hands for a FB.  Expect to see McNabb dump the ball to him on flat routes if the WRs get jamped up in coverage.  With DeSean, Maclin, White Lightning, and Celek, I don’t know how that will be possible, but the #5 go-to-guy will be Weaver out wide.

– I’m looking forward to seeing how King Dunlap plays during the pre-season.  He is an absolute monster.  He just towers over every O-lineman.

– I’m pulling for Eldra Buckley to win the 3rd RB spot over Booker.  Booker is a one-trick pony.  All he can do is run the screen play and maybe a stretch play.  He can’t run inside and he can’t block.  Buckley runs hard and looks like he has a lot of heart.  His style reminds me a lot of Ricky Williams when he was good, but that may just be the dreads-effect.

I’ve been busy over the last few days moving, so I haven’t been able to get into much Day 2 draft coverage, but I just wanted to post up some quick thoughts on it.

Another great day for the Eagles.  As I was awaiting NFL Draft updates on the NFL Channel on Sirius Sattelite Radio, I was getting rather upset when the Eagles kept trading down in round 3 and then eventually out of it.  I wanted them to grab their TE, but they kept passing.  Jared Cook was the best available TE and the Eagles passed on him to trade their pick to the Giants.  The Titans ended up taking Cook a few picks later.  I wasn’t worried since I thought the Eagles were really going after Chase Coffman. The Eagles then traded out of the third round when Coffman was available, so it didn’t look like the Eagles wanted him.  Coffman then went to the Bengals. I wasn’t going to be upset as long as the Birds landed Cook, Coffman, or Ingram and we landed Ingram in round 5.  When the Eagles kept trading down, I started getting an inkling that the Eagles wanted Cornelius Ingram, but there’s no way I thought he would fall to the Eagles by the time they were on the clock again.  Look at this guy, what a beast!  It looks like the knee injury kept enough teams away from him.  I expected Ingram to go in the 2nd round.  It’s a miracle he was taken by the Eagles in the 5th round.  I don’t know how they pulled that off after getting Maclin, McCoy, and Hobbs.  Great job by the Birds with their draft maneuvers that will add 2010 3rd-round pick and 5th-round pick.

What were the Pats thinking getting rid of Ellis Hobbs for a mere two 5th-round picks?  I don’t think this move has much to do with the Sheldon situation either.  Sheldon will report to camp, he will not make much of a fuss about his contract, and he’ll play.  I agree with Andy — you can never have enough good CBs in this league.

For all the fools who still don’t like the Maclin pick, I don’t know what their logic is: saying he’s nothing but another DeSean Jackson, still obsessing about trading the 21st pick pick for Anquan instead, who knows.  I like Maclin in the Eagles lineup even better than Boldin.  He’s faster and I think he’s a better fit for this offense.  Take it from this guy.  Our receivers have a ridiculous amount of speed.  Plus, if the Eagles hadn’t traded up to 19.  Guess who would have gotten him at 20?  No, not the Lions, but the Giants, who worked out a trade with the Lions contingent on Maclin being available at 20.  The Giants even rated Maclin above Crabtree as the best WR in the draft.  In fact, 18 teams had Maclin as the highest rated receiver (yes, even over Crabtree).  This guy is going to be amazing.  I’m extremely excited about what this offense will be capable of with him in the lineup.

Oh, and if you missed Donovan’s McNabb blog, you can read that here.  Looks like the “I have to wait to see what the Eagles do before I consider re-signing” won’t be an issue anymore after this offseason’s moves. Here is what McNabb had to say:

You’ll notice that I am ready to move forward. I’m the first to admit that you must learn from your failures, I also believe that you cannot change the past. It’s time to focus on the future.

As with every minicamp since I’ve been in the league, I’m excited about meeting my new teammates, getting to know them and working together on the field. We now have a lot of new, young skill position players and it will be exciting and interesting to see how they become acclimated to what we do here. If they can come in here and take their game to the next level, they will be productive pros and we can achieve great successes together. I want to welcome the new rookies and am excited to get to work with them.

I haven’t taken the time yet to welcome some of the veteran free agents to the team. I’m looking forward to working with a new set of bookends on the o-line. Stacey Andrews and Jason Peters are young, athletic and physical. They will help in both the passing and running game. The same can be said for fullback Leonard Weaver. As for the additions on defense – Ellis Hobbs, Rashad Baker, and Sean Jones – I can’t wait to see how Jim Johnson uses all the talent he has at his disposal.

I want to congratulate all the newcomers and let them know that I am excited to be working with them and taking the first step towards moving forward and getting something accomplished.

I love the way the first day of the draft went. I was very surprised. I wanted Knowshon Moreno. I was pissed when he went to the Broncos. In my opinion, the Broncos should have focused on their defense, which was ranked in about the bottom 4 last year. No worries though, the Eagles got a true game-changer in Jeremy Maclin. He should have been a top 15 pick, so I’ll gladly take him at 19. Can you imagine the Redskins, Cowboys, and Giants trying to defend a 3 WR set of DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Kevin Curtis?  If McNabb can’t find one of those guys open with THIS line, he has serious problems.  I don’t want to hear another complaint out of #5’s mouth.  It’s time to get it done McNabb.

Some people were upset with the Eagles pick in Maclin. Yeah, most of us wanted Moreno; he was gone, too bad, what the hell are you gonna do? Maclin will be a stud in this league! He is just like DeSean Jackson but bigger and more physical. He puts the Eagles receiving corp over the top.

To make things even better, we get a RB in round 2 and it’s none other than LeSean McCoy: a guy who easily could have been a late first, early second-round pick. I’ve graded Knowshon Moreno an A prospect and LeSean McCoy a B+ prospect, but there’s not much difference between the two. We have a RB that is elusive, quick, can make things happen with the screen play, and fits in perfectly with the Eagles system. Everyone was so obsessed with a RB in this year’s draft, it seems like we all forgot that we still have Brian Westbrook. Yes, Westbrook is coming off a knee injury and is 30-years-old, but he is still the #1 guy and I expect him to rebound this season to his 2007 form. We didn’t need a starting runningback, we just needed a #2 RB on our depth chart.  Anyone who is comparing LeSean McCoy to Ryan Moats is crazy.  McCoy will be much better than Moats.

Our defense has 10 starters returning, the 11th guy need not be named.  There’s no need to worry about going offense/offense with the first two picks.  The defense has plenty of bodies.

No more knocking the front office. They are not cheap and they know what the hell they’re doing. Trading down in the last two years has paid dividends and I am relentlessly optimistic about the 2009 season. McNabb must be thrilled with Stacy Andrews, Jason Peters, Leonard Weaver, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean McCoy. Yes, I’m still pissed about them letting Brian Dawkins go, but it’s Dawkins who decided to leave for greener pastures. This team is ready for a Super Bowl.  Let’s make it happen!

NFC East Roundup: No first day picks for the Cowboys.  Ha!  The Redskins got a gift with Brian Orakpo falling to them. The Giants had a pretty good draft too: WR Hakeem Nicks, LB Clint Sintim, and OT William Beatty on day one.

Knowshon Moreno went much higher than anticipated. He went #12 to the Broncos. Eagles had to come up with Plan B. They obviously wanted to boost the offense. They’re not sold on Beanie Wells (thank goodness), it was too early to take Donald Brown or LeSean McCoy, so why not add another playmaker to the receiving corp?

Brandon Pettigrew was on the board, but I’m not sold on him as the Eagles pick: he’s more of a premier blocker than a premier receiver and the Eagles like their TEs to be receivers and I still think the Eagles want Jared Cook or Chase Coffman in round 2. The Eagles traded up from 21 to 19 to take Maclin, so they must have been sold on him. I don’t know what the Eagles had to throw in: maybe a 5th or 6th rounder? We have four 5th rounders, so they might as well spend them.

I expected Maclin to be taken between 10 and 15. I rated him much higher than Darrius Heyward-Bey, who the Raiders foolishly drafted at 7, so I love the pick. Why the hell wouldn’t the Raiders trade down? That’s why they are a terrible organization. Plus, Maclin in the return game is a huge boost to our special teams. Maclin returning kickoffs, DeSean returning punts, and Quintin Demps as our alternate, that’s tremendous!

RB Plans: Wells is still on the board, so that’s another RB that should go soon, and luckily gone before the Eagles are tempted to take him. I don’t see Donald Brown falling that far — he’ll go by mid-2nd round at the latest. LeSean McCoy is an option for the Eagles in round 2. I wouldn’t be upset with Andre Brown in round 2 (I love his upside). I don’t want Shonn Greene. I’ll gladly take Mike Goodson in round 3 and if he’s gone, I wouldn’t be upset with Javon Ringer either. We have options. RB is deep.

Let’s take a look at what we’re getting with Maclin. DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, and Jeremy Maclin in 3 WR sets — they may be a bit undersized, but that’s a ridiculous amount of speed — I like it:

All the speculation of whether the Eagles will trade into the top 10 to grab Jason Smith, Eugene Monroe, or Andre Smith is over.  The Eagles have solidified their offensive line with Bills Pro Bowl LT Jason Peters.  The Eagles gave up the 28th pick, a second-day pick (presumed to be a 4th-round pick), and a 2010 late-round pick to acquire Peters.

I’m extremely happy about the move.  They’ll have to end up paying Peters whatever money they would had to have spent on a rookie LT like Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe so it makes sense to trade for the 27-year-old with experience and still get to hang onto the 21st pick, which many think will now be used on a RB.  Knowshon Moreno, if he slides that far, would be a dream come true and I wouldn’t have any complaints with Donald Brown either.  I’m not bummed out about losing out on the chance of getting Anquan Boldin.  I’m confident going into the season with a healthy Kevin Curtis and DeSean Jackson, especially with that all-star line with the Andrews Brothers and Peters.  Maybe Reggie Brown can even return to his 2006-2007 form after letting the hammy recover.  The Eagles will likely add TE phenomenon Chase Coffman in the second round.  It’s all coming together for the Eagles in 2009.  The secondary is set, the linebackers are set, and defensive line is set.  The offensive line is fixed.  Now let’s get us some weapons in the draft.  Hopefully those weapons come in the form of Knowshon Moreno and Chase Coffman.  My Plan B if the Eagles don’t take a RB at 21 and opt for a defensive player like Robert Ayers or Vontae Davis, Mike Goodson in round 3.

With Tra Thomas’s departure to Jacksonville, the Eagles have a huge need to address at the left tackle spot.  We already know the Eagles have stockpiled draft picks.  The Eagles have 12 picks in this year’s draft and they don’t intent to keep them all.  The Eagles traded Lito Sheppard and Greg Lewis to acquire more draft picks that they can deal to either move up in the draft or use a combination of picks to go after Bills LT Jason Peters.  Peters is a 6′4″, 340 lbs., 27-year-old LT with 6 years of experience.  He would be a much needed addition if the Bills are willing to deal him.

Adding a veteran tackle like Orlando Pace is another idea.  Pace was just released by the Rams.  With all the recent injuries, I’m wondering if he’s serviceable at all, but if the Eagles have to draft a tackle, they will want to add a veteran as some “insurance.”

We know that the Eagles wanted a tackle in last year’s draft.  Chris Williams was their guy.  His stock skyrocketted in the days leading up to the draft and the Bears took him with their 14th pick.  The next guy on the Eagles radar was Brandon Albert, but the Chiefs traded up to grab him before the Eagles could make their move to get him.  This prompted the Eagles to trade out of the first round and they still got another guy that they wanted: DeSean Jackson.

Last year was much deeper at tackle than this year’s draft, so I’m wondering what the Eagles thoughts are this year on drafting a tackle.  Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe should be locks to go in the top 10, so they are way out of the range for the Eagles to trade up.  Andre Smith would be another top-10 lock if it wasn’t for his breakdown at the combine.  Perhaps an impressive Pro Day will put him back at the top of the board and a team like Cincinnati could jump on him with their 6th pick.  That would put Michael Oher as a potential guy the Eagles could target, but would have to trade up for.

We also know the Eagles want to get their hands on Brandon Pettigrew to fill the TE spot left by the departure of L.J. Smith.  With the Eagles drafting at 21 and 28, I expect the Eagles to package some of their late-round picks with each of their first rounders to move up a few spots to secure Michael Oher and Brandon Pettigrew.

If the Eagles don’t find a trading partner and have to stay put and the top tackles are off the board, what do the Eagles do?  Do they draft another position of need (RB) or do they go with the next best tackle?  Who knows.  William Beatty and Eben Britton are the consensus next-best tackles.  The Eagles would also have their choice of Beanie Wells, Knowshon Moreno, or LeSean McCoy at pick 28, but the Eagles never draft a RB in the first round and RB is deep in this year’s draft.  I wouldn’t be opposed to waiting until round 2 or 3 to grab a RB.  There are great options in the later rounds.  Iowa’s Shonne Green and NC State’s Andre Brown are good options in round 2, but I think the Eagles will have their eyes set on Texas A&M’s Mike Goodson as a 2nd or 3rd-round target.  If the Eagles go OT/TE with their first two picks, I would definitely jump on taking Goodson with a 2nd-round pick.  Goodson posted a 4.54 40-yard-dash at the Combine, but improved that to a 4.43 at his Pro Day.  Plus, his skills at catching the ball out of the backfield have been praised, which is a prerequisite to be an Eagles RB.

Watching Material (Remind you of Brian Westbrook at all?)

Other good news: FB Leonard Weaver may sign with the Eagles!

As I read articles like this one from Les Bowen as well as watch clips of NFL Live on ESPN, I’m tired off this meeting between McNabb and Banner/Reid being blown way out of proportion.  Everyone is reading way too much into this.

Here is what’s going on in my opinion: McNabb has two years left on his current contract, McNabb has stated that he wants to retire an Eagle, McNabb would like an extension that would pay him nicely and keep him in Philadelphia for the remainder of his career.  The Eagles are possibly using his age/injury history as leverage to give McNabb less money.  McNabb, upset with the way the front office is playing ball, decides to return the ball back to the front office’s court and uses his latest statements to give him the leverage in the contract negotiation.  McNabb is saying before he considers signing an extension, he wants to see how the Eagles improve the team.  If the Eagles don’t improve the team, McNabb will either demand a trade or not sign the extension and wait until he is a free agent in two years.

What I’m sick of is this “poor McNabb hasn’t gotten any weapons from the Eagles front office.”  Did the Eagles attempt to acquire Randy Moss last year?  Yes, but Moss took less money to stay with Brady.  Did the Eagles attempt to trade for Tony Gonzalez last year?  Yes.  They didn’t get him because the Chiefs would not listen to any offers.  Did the Eagles not draft DeSean Jackson, arguably the best rookie wide receiver out of the class of 2008?  Yes, he is amazing.  Why is he not being mentioned as a weapon for McNabb and why is the front office not getting any credit for drafting him?  Could the Eagles do more for the offense and McNabb?  Sure they can.  Last year, there were no premier WR free agents.  This year, they have a shot at acquiring T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  If that doesn’t work, they could attempt to trade one of their first-round picks for Anquan Boldin, but I’m sure the Cardinals would balk at any offer.  They would be stupid to trade Boldin when he’s locked into the best offense in the league for two more years.  As a last resort, the Eagles could get Marvin Harrison on the cheap to please McNabb, but I wouldn’t expect more than 40 receptions, 500 yards, and 4 TDs from the veteran.   At least it’s a band-aide solution for one to two years.

Bottom Line: Start recognizing the genious of the front office to go out and draft the best wide receiver in the 2008 draft class, DeSean Jackson!