Eagles News: Nelson Agholor was a top 10 wide receiver in “WR rating” in 2017

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Metrics that Matter: The best and worst receivers by WR Rating - PFF
Shout out to Nelson Agholor on his hyper-efficient 2017 season, which was also one of the most impressive turnarounds by a young wide receiver in recent memory. He was our single-worst-graded wide receiver in both 2015 and 2016, but finished 24thh-best last season. He finished ninth-best in WR Rating last year after finishing ninth-worst (of 89-qualifying) in 2016. What changed? Mainly, Agholor reverted back to his more natural position in the slot. Agholor ran 52.3 percent of his routes from the slot in his final year of college (2014) and 86 percent last year, but just 20.5 percent during his first two years in the league. I’m confident this positive trend will continue in 2018.

NFL Draft 2018: Day 3 Tight Ends the Eagles Should Target - BGN
The Philadelphia Eagles have a clear need for tight end depth, one that the signing of former Green Bay Packer Richard Rodgers does not help assuage. The same can be said for TE Billy Brown, who is a raw project that needs a leap in development before he can make meaningful contributions. Thus, the Eagles are doing their homework on this crop of tight ends coming out in the 2018 NFL Draft. Beyond the big names we all know like Penn State’s Mike Gesicki, South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert, and South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst, there exists a cluster of prospects that the Eagles could target in Day 3 of the draft. There are complete three-down and heavily specialized prospects that could fill a variety of roles for the Eagles. Here are six names that could be targeted.

Hints? - Iggles Blitz
High? That usually means a 1st or 2nd round pick. Maybe an early pick in the 3rd round. The Eagles only “high” pick is #32. Could the Eagles go for a RB there? That wouldn’t shock me. The team has shown interest in LSU star Derrius Guice. Sony Michel from Georgia would be really interesting. Ronald Jones is a RB that some people love. Many of you will groan at the idea of a RB in the 1st round, but what if they took the runner at 33 or 35? Those are 2nd round picks, but not far away from 32 at all. If the team has a RB they love and wants to pair with Carson Wentz for the next several years, then I can live with taking one at 32. It would have to be a player the team loves. With Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement already in place, just drafting a RB at 32 means this is a player you feel is just too good to pass up. This has to be a difference-maker.

Here are all of new Eagles TE Richard Rodgers’ targets in 2016, with analysis - PhillyVoice
The Eagles needed to fill two holes at tight end, and this was very clearly a Band-Aid signing, though Rodgers does at least bring 63 games of regular season experience, and seven games of playoff experience. In my view, he is not guaranteed a spot on the roster in 2018, and the Eagles will likely not feel like they have definitively plugged a hole at tight end with Rodgers’ arrival. I would still very much look for them to be in the tight end market in the 2018 NFL Draft, with Rodgers serving as an experienced fallback if they are unable to find better options.

Will Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz alter his aggressive style? Should he? - Inquirer
The Eagles drafted Wentz in part because of his competitive fire. It would have been uncharacteristic for someone who threw a touchdown pass on a torn ACL, as Wentz did against the Rams, to accept his limitations — both publicly and privately. Former NFL head coach Bruce Arians said that such a concession would be worrisome. “I don’t want a guy that’s hurt saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be real careful now.’ That’s not the guy who’s leading your team,” Arians said during a recent telephone interview. “You got Superman, and you want him to think he’s still Superman.” But quarterbacks must also be Clark Kent sensible. Andy Reid has had more than his share of mobile quarterbacks, and the former Eagles coach has had varying results in getting them to resist certain Darwinian urges. Donovan McNabb became more disciplined as his career progressed. Michael Vick less so. Reid, now with the Chiefs, said that Wentz’s Popeye-esque decree shouldn’t be taken literally.

Will Eagles’ Michael Bennett’s court hearing be delayed? Lawyer: ‘the entire thing is ludicrous’ - NJ.com
In a phone interview with NJ Advance Media, Hardin -- who in the past has defended prominent professional athletes, including Roger Clemens and Adrian Peterson -- struck the same tone and continued to express disappointment in the information-gathering that led to Bennett’s indictment. ”There was no fighting, there was no pushing,” Hardin said. “The entire thing is ludicrous. That’s what I think we’ll find when it’s all over.” The felony charge of injury to the elderly is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A court hearing is scheduled for April 23, but Hardin said “don’t be surprised if I try to get that moved just because we’re trying to gather information.”

Richard Rodgers drawn to ‘exciting’ Philadelphia Eagles by ‘chemistry’ during Super Bowl run - PennLive
“Honestly, watching the Eagles play on TV last year, I felt like I just enjoyed that the most,” Rodgers said at his introductory news conference in South Philly on Friday. “They had an exciting fan base, exciting players, celebrations. They were doing a lot of fun stuff, and it’s hard to beat a team that has that kind of chemistry, so I felt like I wanted to be a part of that.”

Meet The Prospect: Shaquem Griffin - PE.com
Fran Duffy breaks down one of the most inspiring stories in the NFL Draft in Central Florida linebacker Shaquem Griffin in this film evaluation.

Rams and Broncos Exploiting the NFL’s Newest Market Inefficiency - Sports Illustrated
Of course, this isn’t a new trend (nor am I the first to point it out). The Eagles just rode a loud locker room to a surprise title. Before them, it was the Seahawks who proved opinionated players could also be champions. New England has time and again leaned on The Patriot Way to get value out of players who caused headaches elsewhere. Yet, a large chunk of the league still seems uninterested in managing distinctive people. Why?

If Giants take a QB at No. 2, which one should it be? - Big Blue View
This will end up being a look at the pros and cons of taking any of the top four quarterbacks with the No. 2 overall pick. Vote in the poll at the end of the post to let us know which quarterback you would prefer. Our premise here isn’t whether or not the Giants should select a quarterback in the first round. Our premise is to determine which quarterback you believe it should be if they do.

Trade! Redskins acquire another quarterback from Browns - Hogs Haven
Browns give Redskins Kevin Hogan and move up 17 spots in the 6th round.

Darious Williams is a top-prospect out of UAB that nobody is talking about - SB Nation
NFL talent evaluators will continue to ignore the University of Alabama-Birmingham at their own risk. One season into its return to Conference USA following a two-year program shutdown, UAB had zero players invited to the NFL combine, or even listed as potential draft picks on the official NFL site. Those scouts who attended UAB’s pro day in March saw one major reason to keep paying attention: Cornerback Darious Williams.

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