Eagles Player Ratings

[RedZoneD25]

Quote: Originally Posted by stopper654

Just read my sig GO EAGLES!!!

Man, that's just not true....and I'm hardcore into the Eagles. Though I'm confident that in the next 2-3 years, as Romo/Sheli/and McNabb sink further into the age pit, Kolb will rise up and take over.

[angels eclipse7]

Quote: Originally Posted by cam780

Okay I'll feed the monster. If you look at the NFC, who do you know is better than the Skins? I'd give you the Saints but other than that? The NFC east is the biggest enigma in football. Any of those teams could be 7-9 or 13-3. The NFC north is basically Green Bay or Minnesota and GB has been really good but they have a tendency to lay eggs when it counts. If there's no Favre in Minny, they're not going anywhere. Bears improved a lot but I don't think Cutler will excel with Martz until a year or two in the system. The NFC south? See the NFC east. Each team has taken turns being dominant in a given year. The NFC west? Lets not kid ourselves ... So in my book, the skins have just as good a shot as the other 16 teams. Really can't say yay or nay on the side of the NFL.

Nice post. I agree with a lot of it. But the Seahawks might come back pretty strong. Not only do they have Pete coaching them, Hassleback is back and the Seahawks play surprisingly well with him at quarterback. Aaron Curry is a little more experienced and may be in stock for a breakout year.

49ers have a lot of promise this year. I really think they will surprise people. Could be anywhere from 8-8 to 11-5. I think the Rams will step up because I think Bradford will play great for a rookie. They could win as many as 7 games. And the cardinals still have a very solid roster despite their losses. I think Leinert will play okay. If they play to their best, they could be a 10-6 team as well.

Without looking at a schedule, I see the NFC looking like:
49ers: 10-6
Cardinals: 9-7
Seahawks: 7-9
Rams: 6-10

NFC south:
Saints: 11-5
Falcons: 10-6
Panthers: 6-10
Buccanears: 4-12

NFC North:
Packers: 11-5
Vikings: 11-5
Bears: 8-8
Lions: 5-11

NFC East:
Cowboys: 12-4
Redskins: 8-8
Giants: 7-9
Eagles: 7-9

[RedZoneD25]

Curious how you see Eagles at only seven wins. They traded experience for accuracy and youth at QB. The entire rest of the offensive starters are essentially the same. The defense was completely recast this past offseason, but not really any BAD moves this year.

They FINALLY have what appears to be a capable LE in Brandon Graham (which will open up the door for Trent Cole even more), they have Ernie Sims mixed in with a healthy Stewart Bradley and Akeem Jordan/Moise Fokou. Then on the secondary the only part that makes me somewhat concerned is RCB, which currently holds Ellis Hobbs as the starter. The Eagles can avoid the dreaded "rebuilding" phase thanks to years of slowly doing that. From here on, it's simply gathering team experience and chemistry on defense. I do not believe the Eagles will channel 2003 or 2004, but to say that they finish below .500 (something they only did ONE time since 1999) is a little harsh. I predict 8-9 wins, just missing playoffs but still feeling excited about the coming years.

I'm not concerned with the Skins only because they have been the Paper Champions for what, 5-6 years straight? Shanahan will help, but I don't believe all of the sudden things have magically changed. Keep in mind, when the Skins play the Eagles, that not only does he know their defense, but the Eagles know McNabb much better. I expect to split the series.

[angels eclipse7]

Okay Eagles:

QB: young and inexperienced. I don't think he will be bad but I don't think he will be good either. At least not yet. Although I am hearing some tremendous things about Vick in camp. I even have a hunch he could be better than ever before, but won't matter if Kolb is taking 95% of snaps.
grade: C


HB: Westrbook is gone. Doesn't matter to much since he was always hurt but I don't know if McCoy will ever be on the same level. Weaver is a beast. IMO the best FB in the league today.
grade: B-

WR/TE: Jackson and Maclin are very good but over rated. Jackson gets all the hype of being one of the best in the league but he is not even one of the better starting receivers in the league. He is a phenomenal play maker and a really good reciever, but again over rated. Maclin is over rated too, but I think he may have a big breakout year. We will have to see. Oh and Celek is slightly over rated too, but he is still a very solid threat.
grade: B

O-line. I honestly don't know enough about the eagles o-line to comment on them.

D-Line: This is a huge strength for the eagles. Every player at this spot is solid.
grade: B+

Linebackers: Sims is a beast. Bradley may be a beast if he plays like he did two years ago. Gaither is average at best. Jordan is okay but not really an ideal linebacker for a great defense.
Grade: C+

Defensive backs: Samuel is a top 5 corner in the game but who starts on the other side? Hanson and Hobbs are both okay, but both will be seen as areas to attack from passing teams. At safety, Mikell is okay. But can Macho Harris get the job done on the other side? Nobody really knows for sure.
Grade: B-

So I see the Eagles as actually a very good team, but I don't see them really any better than last year's team. There is always so much competition in the game today that even good teams get snubbed at 7-9. I could definitely see the Eagles go 9-7 and get a wild card spot or maybe even 10-6 if they really bring their A game. I just think it may take another year for Harris, Graham, Kolb, McCoy, Maclin, etc to all grow into their dominant forms.



As for the skins, i've never really bought into their hype. Shanahan looks to be getting things together, but they still have problems with bad attitude haynesworth. Without him playing hard, those DE's and OLB's won't get the kind of sacks they did a year ago. So already looks like they might be weaker on defense then in the past. Yeah they brought in a lot of running backs, but Portis is still the best back there so hard to say they improved the position. Congratz on great RB depth I guess but that is it. The biggest difference to me is that now they finally have a QB who I feel is capable of taking them to the playoffs and winning playoff games. Plus you know he will play his heart out against Philly.

[RedZoneD25]

I agree with your entire post. I'm glad you were able to see I wasn't picking fights, and I respect the analysis. Thanks for the refreshing decent conversation on here, haha.

The only other thing I'd like to point out is that the Redskins should PRAY last year wasn't a fluke with Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas showing they can be players. If nobody shows up, it's like McNabb time traveled to the 2003 NFCCG vs. Carolina. NO WRs.

As I said though, GO EAGLES and good luck McNabb.

[iBlievN5]

I'm an Eagles fan, but the team is deficient on back seven talent on D and questions abound at RB, QB, and O-Line.

S: Quinten Mikell and a rookie... rookies typically don't fare well at S, so let's hope Nate Allen is rare.

CB: Asante Samuel and... right, no one. Ellis Hobbs is 5-8 and mediocre, Hanson is slow, Lindley is a rookie.

LB: Stew Brad can hopefully be fully recovered but ACL's are notoriously finicky, if Ernie Sims was TRULY that good, would he have been traded for a 5th rounder? and he was on a team with the smallest amount of defensive talent in the league, shouldn't they want to keep their "good" players?

QB: KK could be awesome, or terrible. or just middling, no one knows. we do suppose that season will be a learning one.

RB: yes, McCoy had a decent season, for a rookie, however, we faced some pretty weak teams last year and i just don't know if he's truly ready for prime time. L-Weav is amazing. 'nuff said.

O-Line: LT Peters was dominant versus good pass rushers last season, but played hurt most of it, will he be 07 good again? Herremans has a foot injury, JJ is out with an ACL and the reason McNabb was fired, the terrible Nick Cole starts at C, RG hopefully Stacy Andrews can be something and that RT hopefully Justice can continue his good play.

In short, this team could be anywhere from 5-11 to 8-8, but there are questions. I could do the Skins too but eh.

[RedZoneD25]

As far as rookie safeties go, I can name a few that made some serious impact. I'll agree, they aren't entirely common, but they are becoming more increasingly so.

First and foremost, Jairus Byrd (BUF). LaRon Landry (WSH) was pretty good his first year, but has tailed off a bit since. Dawan Landry has been serviceable in his time in BAL, as well as Donte Whitner had a good first season. Kenny Phillips as well.

It's not so much a problem having a good first year, but capitalizing on it and sustaining it in the future. I don't believe the FS position for the Eagles will be a big problem, and if history is any indication there was a 2nd round pick in 1996, a fresh kid out of Clemson named Brian Dawkins. He turned out to be an alright guy (MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT) so I'm willing to give Allen his fair chance.

I believe McCoy/Bell/Scott and Weaver will be a huge force this year. However, as history states, Reid will pass the ball a lot. A LOT. So of course the stats will not be there for the RBs. Celek is really coming into his own, and I am hoping for a Pro Bowl season. I believe the defense will be fine. Not superstar, but acceptable. Sure, I expect mistakes and being out of position, a few big burns, but what Eagles season would it be without those WTF moments?

[angels eclipse7]

Quote: Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ

I agree with your entire post. I'm glad you were able to see I wasn't picking fights, and I respect the analysis. Thanks for the refreshing decent conversation on here, haha. The only other thing I'd like to point out is that the Redskins should PRAY last year wasn't a fluke with Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas showing they can be players. If nobody shows up, it's like McNabb time traveled to the 2003 NFCCG vs. Carolina. NO WRs. As I said though, GO EAGLES and good luck McNabb.

Yeah, the skins wide receivers have potential but nobody knows if they will ever truly be a good group. As for Fred Davis, yeah he was great, but Cooley is the man and I don't see Davis playing over Cooley.

and no problem i love good NFL conversations no matter what the team is, and I try to be unbiased