Eagles News: Sam Bradford is boom or bust

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Eagles rookie NFL player comparisons: Randall Evans edition - PhillyVoice
As we continue on with our Eagles rookie NFL player comparisons, we'll now turn to the Eagles' other sixth-round CB, Randall Evans of Kansas State. Evans reminds me of Bills CB Corey Graham, who also played for the Ravens and Bears.

Best Ball Plays: NFC - Rotoworld
Bradford playing for coach Chip Kelly is the platonic ideal of the "boom-or-bust" concept. On the one hand is a quarterback capable of making any throw. On the other is a player who has torn his ACL twice in two years, and gone over 630 days without making a start. Kelly has spun Mark Sanchez and Nick Freakin’ Foles into fantasy gold, but Bradford might actually be his toughest challenge yet. Already skittish in the pocket, why should we believe Bradford will be any bolder after nearly two seasons away from the game? Any quarterback’s ceiling is sky high in Kelly’s offense, but success is far from assured for Bradford. That doom makes Bradford a wasted pick waiting to happen in standard leagues, but the potential boom keeps him intriguing in best-ball formats.

Mailbag: Bradford/Foles, Carroll And the Rookies - Birds 24/7
Sam Bradford has a better arm, could be a better decision-maker (his 2.2 INT rate is third-best among active QBs who have thrown at least 1,500 passes) and matches Foles in the intangible categories (toughness, leadership, character, etc.). Clearly, Chip Kelly felt like what he can get out of Bradford at 100 percent will be better than what he got out of Foles. Having said all that, your question is perfectly valid. If we were to lay out the details of the trade to a neutral party who had expertise in statistical analysis or economic analysis, he/she would conclude that the Rams got the better of this deal. Foles has a better NFL resume, is slightly younger and is cheaper for 2015. The Eagles, meanwhile, were the team that gave up the second-round pick.

Looking for Mr. Right (and Tall) - Iggles Blitz
Kelly isn’t being frivolous in his pursuit of big DEs. He wants them for a reason. That build helps the player be a successful 2-gap DE. Long arms are crucial to 2-gapping. Kelly likes to say that "long levers are strong levers". When a DE extends his arms into the blocker, he keeps that guy off his body. Then the DE has to see the ball, shed the block and move in the direction of the ball. If the OL gets into the DE’s body, that changes everything. The big frame helps the DE to keep from getting engulfed by the blocker. Jon Runyan is just going to overwhelm Brandon Graham if they go against each other (how’s that for Michigan on Michigan). If Runyan faces someone that is 6-6, 280, that is a very different battle.

Chip Kelly Update: More Defensive Turnovers - Fishduck
At Oregon, though, Kelly’s teams gained a reputation for a "bend-but-don’t-break" defense — not because they were happy to give up first downs — but because the big yardage opponents inevitably gain against a tempo offense due to having more drives. They were also offset by serious playmaking, including a lot of interceptions from the linebackers, as well as some stellar play from DBs Cliff Harris, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Jairus Byrd, T.J. Ward, etc. In Chip’s four years of coaching the Ducks, they grabbed 77 interceptions while giving up only 32. In 2012, his last year, they picked off 25 passes, including four by Kiko Alonso and two by another linebacker, Boseko Lokombo.

Chip Kelly, Virtue Ethics, and the Off-Season Moves - Gridiron Savant
The second strategy of interpreting Chip’s roster moves is to read a through line between them, some overarching philosophical approach guiding his decision on who to keep and who to get rid of. These philosophies can extend from ideas about how a player should conduct himself inside the locker room and out, to how a player should approach a single play. It speaks to a larger issue with the player, but does not exclude the kind of Xs and Os shortcomings that the other arguments exhibit. It is, in short, all-encompassing, and for that matter, all-damning. But what is this philosophy? What is it based on? What is it guided by? Ethics, my friends.

Eagles Better or Worse 2015: Interior Linebacker - The 700 Level
The only question is how do the Eagles make it work? Generally speaking, a maximum of two interior linebackers are on the field at the same time. Philadelphia has three good ones. There’s some talk that Alonso or Kendricks could line up outside from time to time as a way to get all three out there, but I don’t see the sense to that. That means taking Connor Barwin or Brandon Graham off the field, for one, which is something you would want to do as little as possible. I’m not sure how 240-pound interior players are going to hold up coming off the edge against 300-plus-pound offensive tackles, either.

Season Preview: McCoy's Return To LFF - PE.com
McCoy obviously adds a huge spark to Buffalo’s backfield, but the real question for the Bills may lie at the quarterback position. Kyle Orton, who threw for over 3,000 yards in 2014, has retired, and former first-round pick E.J. Manuel has not panned out the way the Bills have hoped. Veteran Matt Cassel was acquired from the Vikings to give the position a lift, though he’s started just nine games over the past two seasons. The good news for Buffalo is that no matter who is playing quarterback, he’ll be able to hand the ball to McCoy or spread it around to targets like Sammy Watkins, Percy Harvin, Charles Clay and Robert Woods.

Popping Tags: Why It’s Time to Do Away With the Franchise Designation - Grantland
In a league with so many rules in place to put players in positions of weakness at the negotiating table, the franchise tag has far outlived its original purpose. If a team in 2015 — square in the middle of a CBA that was considered a resounding victory for the owners — can’t re-sign a Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas without holding them financially hostage, they don’t deserve to keep them.

The next wave of NFL mega deals - SB Nation
A.J. Green of the Bengals and Julio Jones of the Falcons are scheduled to be free agents next year. They won't get that far because if we learned anything from the Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas deals, it's that teams just don't let top flight receivers walk. Green, for now, wants to avoid drama. Jones has been quiet about contracts too, for a guy who can demand as much as $15 million per year.

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