Eagles News: Darren Sproles seems to be preparing to play in 2019

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Former Eagles RB Darren Sproles working out with Saints’ Drew Brees, Bears’ Chase Daniel - NJ.com
Darren Sproles has been preparing for the upcoming season with help from some notable former teammates. The former Philadelphia Eagles running back recently shared videos on Instagram that showed him working out with New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Chicago Bears backup Chase Daniel. The videos, which were originally posted on Tuesday by San Diego-based strength and conditioning coach Todd Durkin, show Sproles, 36, catching passes from Brees and Daniel. Another shared video featured Eagles running back Donnel Pumphrey’s Instagram handle. Pumphrey shared the video on his own Instagram page.

Eagles Question of the Day: How many TDs will Carson Wentz throw this season? - BGN
All of these numbers will do little in predicting what the fourth-year QB might do in 2019, but he’s got ample wide receivers and tight ends to throw to. Plus, you have to imagine that while Wentz should be more confident in his own running ability with a fully-healed knee, he’ll probably be a bit more pass-happy to limit exposure. So, if I had to put something down before seeing what this offense can do together, I’m going to say Carson Wentz will throw 45 touchdowns in 2019 — 27 to WRs, 12 to TEs, and 6 to RBs.

Fireside Chats #12: Sports Info Solutions On the Eagles - BGN Radio
Michael Kist is joined by special guests Matt Manocherian and Bryce Rossler of Sports Info Solutions! Plenty of Eagles data to discuss including:- Reactive playcalling- Play-action under center vs shotgun- Blitz tendencies/efficiency - AND MUCH MORE!Want to break into the sports world with Sports Info Solutions? Visit their website to apply as a fall intern! Presented by SB Nation & Bleeding Green Nation!

10 reasons the Giants will be a dumpster fire this season - PhillyVoice
The Giants could have released Manning this offseason and saved $17 million on the salary cap, but instead opted to pay him a $5 million roster bonus, thus all but guaranteeing his roster spot. I’m not sure if the Giants actually believe themselves when they say he’s still a good quarterback, or if it’s just an irrational loyalty they feel they owe him, but whatever it is, his $23,200,000 on the 2019 salary cap is an awful use a resources for a team that is going nowhere.

Some Jason Peters Love - Iggles Blitz
Peters wanted a new contract, but he was coming off a down season in 2008. Believe it or not, Peters was credited with allowing 11.5 sacks for the year. How on earth did that happen? There were a mixture of issues. First, Peters held out in the spring and summer of 2008. He didn’t report until just before the season began. Peters wasn’t ready for the season and it showed. He gave up five sacks in the first four games. He settled down and played better after that, but still wasn’t up to his previous level of play. The other issue is that not all of the 11.5 sacks were entirely on Peters. Still, even if you take out some of them, he didn’t have the kind of season you want to when you’re looking for a big raise. Luckily, the Eagles weren’t scared by the 2008 showing. They saw a player with special ability and someone who played the second most important position to QB. The Eagles traded for Peters and gave him the contract he wanted.

(Mostly) Eagles mailbag: Cornerback trade market, the Chip Kelly ‘what if’ and more - The Athletic
Finally, there’s the timeline which the Eagles hire Bruce Arians. He gets crushed in the media for saying Chip Kelly’s Browns will be a flash in the pan because of their “college offense.” Two years later, he leads a parade down Broad Street, not because of a Super Bowl victory, just to celebrate Kelly’s firing from Cleveland. Over the course of five seasons, the Eagles win three NFC East titles but never make it beyond the NFC Championship Game. After the 2017 season, Arians retires and is replaced by Sean McVay. Expectations rise following McVay’s debut season with Arians-pupil Logan Thomas under center in 2018. But McVay’s tenure comes to a crashing halt when he is unceremoniously fired in a post-game Lurie press conference for punting on 4th and 2 inside Giants’ territory with three minutes remaining. “I’ll never hire a coward again,” Lurie declares. In January 2019, the Eagles hire Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson.

Redrafting the 2011 NFL Draft - The Draft Network
12. Minnesota Vikings: Jason Kelce, iOL, Cincinnati (Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State) — Kelce was a sixth-round pick of the Eagles in 2011, but the perennial Pro Bowler and back-to-back All-Pro center could have easily been a Top-10 player off the board, had we known then what we know now. Everything about the Vikings offensive line was either old or bad (or both!) in 2011, though Vikings fans likely would have disliked Kelce for the same reasons they wanted to run John Sullivan out of town.

Are the 2019 Eagles better or worse at linebacker? - NBCSP
Last summer, the battle for the Eagles’ third linebacker job was between Kamu Grugier-Hill and Nate Gerry, neither of whom played much up to that point, and Corey Nelson, who didn’t even make the team. Grugier-Hill and Gerry are still in the mix here, though the competition for spots two through seven behind Nigel Bradham will be much stiffer. Jordan Hicks’ departure does create another hole in the starting lineup, one likely to be filled by either L.J. Fort, Zach Brown or Grugier-Hill. But that trio all bring experience to the table — Brown has been to a Pro Bowl — plus Paul Worrilow returns from a torn ACL, offering another veteran presence. Gerry got some opportunities last year, and even he’ll be pushed by CFL star Alex Singleton and undrafted rookie/ All-American T.J. Edwards. How much deeper is this group? In 2018, the guys behind LB4 Gerry were all exclusively special teamers.

Sam Bradford’s second knee injury derailed the final era of the St. Louis Rams. But what if it didn’t? - Turf Show Times
What if that hit (or the hit before, possibly) hadn’t re-torn Bradford’s knee? What if he had simply been sacked, gotten up and headed back to the huddle? What if the Rams still had their main man on offense heading into 2014? The Rams were able to put together a 6-10 season in Bradford’s absence with Hill and then Davis and then Hill holding down the most important position in the sport. They started out 1-4 before working their way back to a 6-7 record only to lose the last three games. This was a team close to breaking through that despite finishing 16th in points allowed and 17th in yards allowed an offseason later would have Andy Benoit then of SI’s MMQB suggesting the Rams’ defense was primed to be the NFL’s best (spoiler: it wasn’t). So as we consider, “What if,” consider these quotes from after that fateful game.

What if the Giants drafted Sam Darnold instead of Saquon Barkley? - Big Blue View
The 2018 NFL Draft created a quandary for the New York Giants. With the second overall pick, the Giants were faced with the dilemma of drafting Sam Darnold as the heir apparent to longtime franchise quarterback Eli Manning or Saquon Barkley who was one of the most dynamic running back prospects in the past decade. We obviously know who the Giants chose, and that pick turned into the Offensive Rookie of the Year. However, since that pick fans, analysts, and writers have debated endlessly about what the right decision was. At the moment, what was the right decision is up to speculation after only seeing one season of play from both youngsters.

Cowboys can’t continue relying on winning close games to succeed - Blogging The Boys
2018 was a thrilling season as Dallas came back to take the NFC East after a 3-5 start. But they did so by slim margins, and that is not sustainable.

2019 Opponent Preview #9 - NFC East Opponent Part Three - Bears Talk Underground
This week on The Bears Talk Underground!! The city of brotherly love is the home of our next NFC East Opponent, it is none other than our most recent playoff foe in the Philadephia Eagles!! Can the Eagles perform their magic without Nick Foles? Or did the magic leave with the magician? Brandon Lee Gowton from SB Nation’s Bleeding Green Nation joins us for this NFC East Preview episode of The Bears Talk Underground!!

How Bobby Wagner’s Contract Dispute Reflects the Shifting Value of Inside Linebackers - The Ringer
Seattle’s perennial All-Pro is up for what should be a market-resetting extension. He’ll almost certainly get it, but his price tag is about more than just his outsized impact on the field: As NFL offenses exploit the middle of the field more and more, the defenders tasked with that area should see their value rise.

Top-15 2020 NFL Draft RB Rankings - Rotoworld
1. Travis Etienne (Clemson) | 5’10/215. Travis Etienne’s emergence as a legitimate superstar and potential Round 1 prospect snuck up on me. Two years ago, heading into the 2017 season, I only had eyes for Tavien Feaster, a top-30 overall recruit entering his sophomore season who I expected to have his national coming out party. Coming out of the prep ranks, Feaster ran a 4.34 forty at 220 pounds for a historically absurd speed score for his age of 124.02. Etienne had a much quieter arrival on campus. He was a top-150 national recruit in 2017, but on the lower-end of that list. With multiple experienced runners above him vying for Wayne Gallman’s vacated post, it made sense that Clemson would redshirt Etienne.

The 6 NFL teams that would look much different if the Eli Manning-Philip Rivers trade never happened - SB Nation
The 2004 NFL Draft began with the Chargers taking Eli Manning with the No. 1 pick, despite the quarterback’s objection to playing in San Diego. A few picks later, the Giants took Philip Rivers and the players were swapped in a blockbuster trade. It took a delicate negotiation between executives A.J. Smith and Ernie Accorsi to get the deal done — and it could’ve easily fallen apart if not for some clever subterfuge and brokering. Had the trade not happened, the NFL would look much different today. That’s even the case for the Steelers, who sat tight at No. 11 overall and landed the third passer off the board, Ben Roethlisberger. Accorsi, who was the Giants general manager at the time, says he wouldn’t have picked Rivers if he didn’t already know a trade with the Chargers was about to go down. He would’ve drafted Roethlisberger instead.

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