Drop LJ, Start Brent

by jaws1385 on Sep 24, 2008 11:58 AM EDT Comment 14 comments

If the Eagles are to have a legitimate shot of reaching the playoffs and advancing once they get there, they need to make sure of three things:

1) Brian Westbrook remains healthy (after his ankle injury)

2) Donovan McNabb remains healthy

3) Thier red zone offense flourishes...this means production from the tight end position.

As we fans are well aware, the Eagles' inability to score TDs in the red zone last year was a primary factor in their .500 finish and absence from the playoffs. At first, we thought that not having LJ Smith in the lineup due to injury was the reason why. Now that he's back, the Eagles' offense is better...but it's not because of him. It's not that LJ is a bad tight end; he isn't, but he is also not the playmaker that Jason Witten and Chris Cooley are. LJ simply drops too many passes, fumbles way too much, and disappears in tight coverage. He scored the Eagles' first touchdown of the season, but since then he's been nowhere to be found. He wasn't much of a factor in the loss to the Cowboys, and I don't think I heard his name called once during the Steelers game. And now it seems that he's injured again.

He's currently on a one-year franchise tag, but I think that at the end of the season, we should part ways with him. Brent Celek has shown a lot of promise when he's given the ball, such as the ability to get open and make tough catches. I think it's time to move on and explore new options, as LJ has not proven that he is worth being given a new lucrative contract. If LJ continues to struggle this season, Andy should seriously consider giving Brent the nod. If the Cowboys and Redskins have proven anything, it's that a tight end can be a strong, fast-moving cog in a high-powered offensive machine. You'd think Andy would have realized that after he saw Witten or Cooley burn our coverage schemes for the umpteenth time. Whatever LJ Smith was going to do in Philly, he's already done it. It's time to roll the dice and shake things up, Andy. You might need more options in the passing game now that the running game is slowed by Westbrook's injury. A win over the Steelers was good, but we only scored 15 after B-West went down...we need production from elsewhere.

0 recs | Comment 14 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Typo

Yeah, sorry bout the intro paragraph gibberish…my keyboard froze and I was testing it.

jaws

by jaws1385 on Sep 24, 2008 12:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know why… but Celek has yet to impress me.

Bleeding Green Nation - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Sep 24, 2008 2:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But...

…it’s surprising he hasn’t played more considering the way he ended the season last year: that big catch at Dallas, the touchdown against Buffalo. I thought I saw something there.

by ajay on Sep 24, 2008 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i agree

they guy has the talent and altheticism to make plays, and the best thing… HE CATCHES THE DAMN BALL!

Homo is Romo

by anuj on Sep 24, 2008 9:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

come on, anuj

it’s kinda offensive to compare the gays to that crappy Dallas qb!

by abeaugh on Sep 25, 2008 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Although I think LJ has been a victim of McNabb’s ankle passes, I like Celek as well. I think Andy should at least give LJ some motivation by starting Celek ahead of him.

by pvtpyle69 on Sep 24, 2008 2:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

it’s so tough though. everyone wants the same kind of te on their team. unfortunately, there are only a few players that contain the skill set that teams drool over. i know it sucks to say it, but we all want jason witten, and it’s just not going to happen. smith has his flaws, and yes he gets some ankle passes, but how many of them are because he runs poor routes and gets no seperation and that’s the only place mcnabb can put the ball without it getting picked? i think the case is simply smith isn’t as good as some people think he is, nor is he as bad as other people think he is. he’s just an average all around te, but our system needs something better. i haven’t gotten enough celek to make up my mind one way or another with him. it seems he may have better route abilities, but blocking not-so-much. toss up right now.

by foos05 on Sep 24, 2008 2:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i will add that if by week 6 or 7, we come to the conclusion that LJ won’t be here next year, then I would start using Celek more to get an idea regarding his future and our needs at that position. honestly, at this point i don’t think there’s a ton of difference between Smith and Celek’s overall value, they just have different strengths and weaknesses, and IMO it’s easier to teach someone that runs routes and has the hands to block than the other way around… so i would go that way and see how far he can progress and how quickly.

by foos05 on Sep 24, 2008 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I havn’t really seen anything out of Celek either. He catches the ball all right, but I can’t see him doing what Witten does (I pray that I am a naysayer). I think that was a major reason they franchised LJ rather then just go with Celek. I am telling you, I see a TE being drafted next year.

by Clyde Simmons on Sep 24, 2008 3:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I dropped LJ from my fantasy team...

…so expect a break out week!

I bleed green and I piss silver and blue

by oldasquick on Sep 24, 2008 4:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i think that this is an incredibly uncanny situation to what the giants had. a decent tight end (even though Shockey’s a lot better than LJ) that is injury prone and has a very young back up who started to show us some stuff at the end of last year…. Boss and Celek are very similar, both were 5th round picks in last year’s draft, and they both have emerged at the end of last year…. i liked Celek a lot at the end of last year, i’m not sure if you guys remember, but i think it was the cowboys game where mcnabb was contemplating whether to run for the first down and all of the sudden he throws to celek who was WIDE open and celek runs like 20 yards for the first and then some… i’m not saying we should start Celek over LJ just because of this play, but because he always seems to make those kinds of catches in “clutch” situations (even though we were already out of playoff contention by that time).. and i don’t know if i can name when LJ made this kind of a play recently

by Remis on Sep 24, 2008 4:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs