Eagles News: Doug Pederson on the hot seat?

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NFC East Q&A: Who is on hottest seat in division? - ESPN
Tim McManus, Philadelphia Eagles reporter: Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. There were a few factors working against Pederson last season. It was his first year as a head coach in the NFL. He was tasked with implementing a new system and building a new culture, all while breaking in a rookie quarterback in Carson Wentz, who leaped from third-stringer to starter when Sam Bradford was traded to Minnesota a week before the start of the regular season. With a year of experience under his (and his quarterback’s) belt and with more offensive weapons at his disposal, it should be easier sledding for Pederson in Year 2. That’s good, because the expectations are up. Owner Jeffrey Lurie believes he has a special quarterback in Wentz, and while he’s publicly preaching patience, he also is itching to return his franchise to prominence. With a potential franchise QB in place, a rare window of opportunity could be opening. Pederson needs to show that he is the right man to take advantage of it. Another 7-9 season just won’t do.

Carson Wentz isn’t one of the 32 best foundation players in the NFL, according to PFF - BGN
There’s always a chance Wentz doesn’t turn out to be as good as the Eagles think and hope he’s going to be. He’s not flawless. His accuracy needs to improve, for example. And maybe it never does. Maybe he turns into the next Blake Bortles and his critics are justified. BUT ... if that doesn’t happen, and Wentz actually turns out to be really good, well, Eagles fans will never let his critics hear the end of it. If we can have a #RetweetArmageddon for all the bad Sixers takes, we will certainly have some kind of activity to point out all the Wentz doubters.

Eagles training camp preview: Tight end - PhillyVoice
While Ertz's production was less meaningful to Eagles teams that were already out of the playoff hunt, and something of a tease, he has shown that he can be a major weapon in the Eagles' offense if he can stay healthy. There's also the argument that Ertz has not had quarterback consistency over the course of his career. In 2013, he had Mike Vick and Nick Foles. In 2014, he had Foles and Mark Sanchez. In 2015, he had Sam Bradford. And finally, in 2016, he had Carson Wentz.

Evaluating Ertz - Iggles Blitz
Zach Ertz makes for a tough discussion. He is one of the few players who is legitimately underrated and overrated at the same time. I referred to him in a previous post as a “complementary player”. Some readers nodded their head, while others said “huh?” Ertz has the potential to be an outstanding player, possibly even a star TE. The problem is that Ertz doesn’t always play to his potential and he’s been prone to some big mistakes. There is no question of talent. He simply must become a more consistently physical player. The size, skill and athleticism are there. He is lacking in toughness and physicality, although there are times when he shows flashes in those areas.

Carson Wentz Not Satisfied With Rookie Year - PE.com
"We have high expectations around there. I hope and expect we're playing into January and then we'll see what happens," Wentz said on SportsRadio 94WIP Thursday morning. "Our goal is to win the NFC East. We believe we have the guys to do it. We now just have to go put the work in, and go make things happen." Wentz is in Fargo, North Dakota where he hosted teammates for some pre-Training Camp on-field work. The players also took the time to develop chemistry away from football as well. Wentz joked that a golf outing was a "disaster" because it took 4 1/2 hours to do nine holes even playing a best-ball format. But Wentz is pleased with the end result of the trip.

Eagles center Jason Kelce says LeGarrette Blount will make his job easier - PFT
“Having a guy like LeGarrette Blount behind me is only going to make my job easier,” Kelce said in an interview with Angelo Cataldi on WIP. “There aren’t going to be any of these one-armed tackles, where he’s reaching out while I’m still blocking the guy and somehow he drags them down. It’s going to take everything you got to bring that guy down.”

Is this the worst period in Philly sports history? - Inquirer
We all know it's been rough around here lately, but as it turns out, we've actually seen worse from the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers.

Imagining every NFL team as a 'Game of Thrones' character - CBS Sports
Philadelphia Eagles: Podrick Payne: The Eagles are in a growth phase on offense after choosing Division II star Carson Wentz as their franchise quarterback, knowing he faced a steep learning curve. But he's caught on quickly, and the future seems bright. Young Pod has come leaps and bounds as a fighter already, killing one of Ramsay's men once he and Brienne caught up with Sansa. The best is likely yet to come for both Pod and the Eagles.

NFL Nostalgia: Ranking History's Most Clutch Quarterbacks - B/R
Nearly a decade later, Norm Van Brocklin was supposed to be the Eagles' veteran mentor for Sonny Jurgensen. Instead, he became the starting quarterback and de facto offensive coordinator for a team of destiny. Van Brocklin led six fourth-quarter comebacks for the 1960 Eagles. He led back-to-back comebacks against the Giants in November to propel the Eagles into the NFL Championship Game. The Eagles came back in the fourth quarter to beat the Packers, 17-13, for the NFL title. It would be thrilling to report that another 73-yard touchdown by the Dutchman made the difference. Actually, a long kickoff return by Ted Dean sparked the final Eagles drive, which ended with a Dean touchdown; Van Brocklin threw just one pass in the comeback effort, which was followed by some legendary defensive heroics by Chuck Bednarik.

2016 Play-Action Offense - Football Outsiders
We continue our pre-FOA 2017-launch statistics bonanza with a look at how offenses used play-action passing in 2016. In 2015, the rate of play-action usage dipped to just under 19 percent after holding steady around 21 percent in the previous three seasons. That rate actually dropped a little bit more in 2016. It's down to just 18.5 percent now, the lowest since 2010. This is not exactly the most precipitous drop-off in the world, but it is consistent, and it brings us back to the sort of environment we saw in the '00s (the 2000s? The naughts? The Ottos? Whatever we're calling that decade now). After a three-year blip, we seem to be back to "normal" now.

Guaranteed Salaries and the NFL - Over The Cap
I actually wrote this up a few weeks ago when Tom Brady’s wife mentioned him playing with concussions and there was talk on the prospect of players hiding injuries because contracts are not guaranteed. I’m not sure why I never got around to publishing it, but it kind of fell by the wayside. With the NBA free agent deals in the news guarantees have become a hot topic so I figured I could post this now and just give some thoughts as to why the guaranteed system won’t really work in the NFL. The major issue at play is the basic lifecycle of the NFL player. For even the best players at most positons the cycle is pretty similar- development year or two on a rookie contract, peak in years 3-5, begin noticeable decline in year 7, keep fighting for a job until no teams want you anymore.

Jordan Hicks is the best NFL player nobody’s talking about. That’s about to change. - SB Nation
Jordan Hicks may not be a household name, but he’s come up big for the Philadelphia Eagles in his short career. Hicks has become an interception magnet — he led the team with five in 2016 — and in his third year, he should be an even bigger contributor, on and off the field. At the middle linebacker position, Hicks is responsible for identifying formations and putting his teammates in a position to make stops. He’s grown to be the more vocal and confident leader that comes with the experience of a full regular season under his belt. But more importantly, he should also have a clean bill of health.

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