Eagles cracks showing

[FRPLG]

So does anyone think the Eagles' personell strategy is in general showing it cracks? I mean they are reverred by everyone for not over paying for players and developing prospects but honestly what prospect have they developed besides the defensive side of the ball? Johnson (the DC) is clearly a monster. But apparently they can't generate any success in developing a WR (they had to go get head case TO) and the RB situation is clearly overrated. They haven't had a true quality tailback in years. Westbrook, while extremely talented, is a short and stocky WR playing tailback. They do seem to have some success at TE but really the only offensive weapon is McNabb who you can't say they "developed", he is just straight up good. All of sudden their practice of not paying guys what they deserve isn't working so great. They have holdouts and generally it seems players are getting more disgruntled every day. How long until this hits the Patriots? Or is this just my wishful thinking?

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Mario and Luigi's are...

[FRPLG]

I knew I'd crack (no pun intended...maybe) about the title.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Patriots are still taking home Lombardi's...

[Davnpurt]

It does seem though that every spring the Eagles are dealing w/ a contract dispute: Vincent, Hughes, Trotter, Simon, Ho. Thomas, Burgess, Tra Thomas, & now Owens.

[PSUSkinsFan21]

Actually, I would say they've done a good job of developing almost their entire offense. They've developed two good TEs (L.J. Smith and Chad Lewis), Duce Staley was a great back for his size and talent level when he was in Philly, Westbrook is a playmaker and has excelled because of the offensive system they run (west-coast), McNabb started out terribly for the first couple years, but has gotten better consistently each year, their O-line is consistently strong and many of those players are lifetime Eagles (in fact 4 of their 5 starters are lifetime Eagles.....Thomas, Hicks, Andrews, Fraley). Agreed, they've done nothing to develope any WRs, but overall I think they've done a great job of getting 100% out of almost every player that has come through their system.

[Riggo44]

Way to prop up the igles PSUSkinsfan21! :vomit-smi Are you a spy??

[SeasonTicketHolder]

The key to stopping the eagles is stopping Brian Westbrook, not T.O. Whenever Westbrook is on the field, good things happen for the Eagles. I wish we would treat Portis more like Westbrook, having him catch screens and all that. That alone would make the offense much better.

[JWsleep]

I hate the iggles--but they are good at all phases of the game, and they have been for a few years now. I'm psyched if there's team turmoil, and they are not as good without TO, but they're the team to beat, mainly becuase of McNabb and their D. THey've had a stable coaching staff for a long time, and it shows. And McNabb has gotten better and better--and he makes big plays to win games. ANd Reid is good as well--he's won with feeley in there, without TO, without RBs, etc.

Still, every little bit helps here! A little distraction here, a loss of focus there, and in the NFL, someone passes you by. Man, am I going to be happy when we beat them down.

[Daseal]

the only offensive weapon is McNabb who you can't say they "developed", he is just straight up good.

I'm curious to see how "good" McNabb is when TO isn't around scooping passes off the ground. He's a decent playmaker with his feet, but he's far from accurate. The Eagles offense relies so much on the passing game and big plays (they passed 12% more on first down than the 2nd ranked team) that without TO and Pinkston (as bad as he is) I don't think they can continue.

Here's what I wonder about the Eagles front office. TO isn't the first player to make accusations to say that the front office says don't worry about it, after the season we'll give you x, y, and z. Then come back and don't fulfill their promises. I wouldn't be suprised if they said we'll pay you but let's just get this deal done so you can get into camp. Which is why he completely ignored the NFL PA, etc. I think we can all admit that coming out of SF he DIDN'T get fair market value for a WR of his ability. Now, this fiasco with the Eagles has certainly dropped what he's worth, but I question if the Eagles FO doesn't like to make verbal deals then say NU UH.

That said, I'm not defending TOs actions at all, the way he's gone about this has been abominable. I just think the Eagles FO is more to blame than we're being lead to believe.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I'm curious to see how "good" McNabb is when TO isn't around scooping passes off the ground. He's a decent playmaker with his feet, but he's far from accurate.

Actually I agree 100% with you and probably tend to think he is one of the more overrated guys in the league. I simply made that statment rather than listen to everyone pipe in about McNabb. I realize many people think he is great so I was just going along really.
In my opinion McNabb is a top 10 QB but only because he makes better than average decisions and can make some plays with his feet. Without a stud WR I can list 8 or 9 QBs straight up that I'd take before him. I know it is not a popular position but good ole stupid Limbaugh was right when he said McNabb was overrated and probably got a little of his rub from being black. The guy is a quality athlete and a role model for other athletes in his classy demeanor and determination but he is not a great QB.

[Daseal]

He's very classy and marketable. Just like LaVar is very marketable. However, people often like to confuse marketable with superstar. While you may see their face they aren't necessarily a great player. I think a lot of the "star" players throughout the NFL wouldn't be stars if they weren't put into a great system and didn't have quality around them. How well would Peyton Manning do without Harrison, Wayne, Pollard (last year) and that running game with Edge. He'd be a good QB, but wouldn't be breaking any records, that's for sure.

What limbaugh said I agree in the premise, however there's a right way to dictate your thoughts and a wrong way. He picked the wrong way and made it sound like his opinion was based more on race than on skill. Race, especially in this country, is an extremely touchy subject.

[jamf]

Its not fair to judge mcnabb by one season where he could be missing the top 3 wr's from last year. there isnt one player in the nfl that could win on their own.

also, there isnt a crack in the eagles system. they've been to 4 straight nfc championship games and have a solid shot at it this year.
when you are so good for so long, all your draft picks are late rounders so the talent pool is less than lets say the redskins who have been picking in the top ten for too damn long. so basicly the redskins have 2 picks in the top 50 and the eagles have 1 and over the years it adds up.

the same will happen to the patriots, they wont be able to draft a ty law or another blue chip prospect while they are winning. so their stars get old and leave/retire.

the two basic rules of "the system":
draft well(thats why the pats and eagles are good)
and dont mortgage your future for a superstar of yesterday.(redskins do that every year)

[mooby]

jamf did the redskins do that this year?

[JWsleep]

Originally Posted by jamf

the two basic rules of "the system":
draft well(thats why the pats and eagles are good)
and dont mortgage your future for a superstar of yesterday.(redskins do that every year)

While I agree with some of your thoughts on the iggles, I don't agree that the skins are still in the "mortgage the future" mode--that is certainly beginning to change under GIbbs.

I guess I'm unsure why you guys think McNabb isn't a top-10 QB. Getting to the NFC championship 4 times running is pretty good evidence to me--and we're not talking about a ravens type deal here--we've all seen McNabb make amazing plays to win games. As someone said: he makes good decisions, and he makes plays with his legs--exactly. He's a top-notch QB.

I hate the whole organization, but it's not that they're not good. We're going to have to earn it to take the NFC east from them. We are not there yet, I'm afraid.