Eagles News: ESPN makes the case for drafting Carson Wentz in fantasy football

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Love/Hate for 2019 season: Thoughts from a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent - ESPN
Carson Wentz, Eagles: Since the start of 2017, Wentz has been the fifth-best quarterback in fantasy on a points-per-game basis. Yes, points per game. No full-season stats here, and that’s the rub, isn’t it? We don’t question the talent, just whether he can stay on the field to maximize it. The fact that the Eagles’ front office, which I assure you knows a lot more about Wentz’s health than you or I, thought he was worth $107 million guaranteed says something. If you won’t trust in Wentz’s health, will you trust in Doug Pederson’s offense? Since he took over, the Birds are sixth in pass attempts, fifth in percentage of goal-to-go yards that come via the pass and 13th or better in passing touchdowns, passing yards and QB fantasy points. Kids, Pederson is a former NFL QB himself who loves to throw and has a fantasy-friendly offense. An offense that, by the way, added DeSean Jackson in the offseason. Don’t underestimate what that will bring to the offense. Over the past two years, Wentz has been top 10 in the NFL in air yards per pass attempt, deep touchdown passes and deep touchdown percentage. Adding D-Jax will only help those numbers. So listen, Johnny Naysayer, if Howie Roseman trusts Wentz’s health enough to give him a deal that could be worth $144 million, I’m pretty sure you can swing a 10th-round pick for your fake football team.

Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Carson Wentz looks sharp in the red zone - BGN
A pretty sharp day from No. 11. Wentz’s most impressive throw was a perfectly placed fade touchdown ball to DeSean Jackson. Avonte Maddox had tight coverage but the pass went just above his outstretched finger tips and into Jackson’s hands for the score. Beauty. That throw drew cheers from the Eagles fans in attendance. Another great red zone throw came on a play where Wentz threw to Zach Ertz in the back middle of the end zone. Ertz was covered by Wentz put the ball high enough to only where the tight end could get it. Ertz just managed to get two taps in before going out of boudns. Cory Undlin vehemently argued it wasn’t a touchdown but it looked good to me from where I was standing. Yet another Wentz red zone throw that stood out was on a slant to Nelson Agholor. Rasul Douglas was trailing and Wentz put the ball high and out in front so Agholor could make a leaping catch. The Wentz to Alshon Jeffery connection was clicking once again with the quarterback hitting the wide receiver for a first down on an out route. Wentz then rolled right and found a crossing Jeffery for another intermediate gain.

At the Podium: Coach Triple-Decker & Updates - BGN Radio
Roster news, rival contracts, programming notes at the top followed by three new press conferences from Doug Pederson, Jim Schwartz and Mike Groh! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Emergency post! Will Golden Tate’s suspension affect the Eagles’ compensatory pick haul? - PhillyVoice
In other words, rather than Hicks being canceled out by L.J. Fort, Tate would be instead, and the Eagles would still be projected to receive a fourth-round pick for the loss of Hicks anyway. Still with me? Great. The only way Tate’s suspension could possibly bite the Eagles is if they were to release Fort or Andrew Sendejo, which would eliminate them from the comp pick formula, and as a result, would no longer cancel out Tate. In that event, it’s possible that the comp pick value in return could go from a fourth-round pick to something lower. Nick Korte, however, believes that the decrease in Tate’s contract value would be nominal, and might still be valued at the fourth-round level.

PS Game Review – TEN 27, PHI 10 - Iggles Blitz
Daeshon Hall — Strong game. Played mostly LDE. Showed get-off, bend and power. Extended his hand into the OT and moved him back on several plays. Hit the QB multiple times. Got regular pressure. Used his hands to shed the RT and get to the RB in the backfield. Used hard inside move to beat TE and drew a holding call. Had strip sack on 3rd/long in the 2nd half. Good speed on that play. TFL vs run when he was unblocked. Almost had another sack. QB held the ball too long and then just got rid of it as Hall was about to hit him. Just missed another sack late in the game. I loved the fact that Hall was playing just as hard late as he did in the 1st half. Hurt his shoulder and left the game for a bit, but came back in and played through it. Love that kind of toughness. Really good showing for Hall. Legit candidate to be your #4 DE right now. [...] Josh Sweat — Good motor. Chased down quick screen and made tackle. Created TFL by driving blocker backward. Still came off the ball slow on the play. Just that strong. Had real good pass rush late in the half. Fired off the ball and pressured the QB. Got solid shot on the QB in the early 3rd. Got great pressure on 3rd down play where Hall had his strip sack. Had moments where he looked really good. Too many plays where he doesn’t. Huge potential.

Move Over, Rookies: Midlevel Veterans Are Having a Moment - The Ringer
The most valuable piece when building an NFL roster continues to be a great young player who is cost-controlled through the first five years of his career. Until there’s a dramatic change to how players are paid, this will remain true. By now, we know the reasons for this trend—I’ve written about them plenty of times—but we’re beginning to see how smart teams have reacted to it. Great teams like the Patriots and the Eagles have already learned a valuable lesson: Veteran players on manageable second contracts are underrated assets in an increasingly young era. [...] An obsession with cheap, young players defines this modern era of the NFL, but Football Outsiders’ data contains a strange revelation: The teams that win the Super Bowl are old. All but one Super Bowl winner since the 2011 CBA has been ranked in the top 10 of the league’s oldest teams, according to snap-weighted age. Only the 2013 Legion of Boom Seahawks won a Super Bowl while fielding a roster ranked in the youngest half of the league. Last year’s Super Bowl participants, the Patriots and Rams, ranked last and next-to-last, respectively, in the amount of snaps taken by rookies, according to Pro Football Focus.

Fletcher Cox updates his lingering injury situation - NBCSP
“I’m in a good position,” the all-pro defensive tackle said. “Following the plan, man. We came up with a plan months ago to get me where I need to be and right now everything is playing out good. No setbacks. I’m feeling pretty good.”

Why Zach Ertz is turning to Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley for help - Inquirer
The one and only statistic that sullied his incredibly productive season was his average of 3.2 yards after the catch. It ranked 32nd in the league among tight ends targeted at least 30 times. While he knows catching 116 passes again this season probably is a long shot, he is determined to improve that yards-after-the-catch number. For the last couple of weeks, Ertz has been working with Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley after practice, trying to improve his post-catch production. “It’s not something that comes super natural to me,’’ Ertz said. “So I’ve been working with Duce a little bit because that [running with the football] is what running backs do for a living.’’

QB Cody Kessler readies for a big moment at Jaguars - PE.com
“It’s been everything I hoped it would be,” Kessler said. “Nick painted an accurate picture. This is a great organization and a city that loves its team. I feel like things have gone well for me and these last couple of days, the last week, I’ve gotten more reps and played well. Even before that, it was coming together for me as I learned more about the offense. I’m excited to go out there and execute the offense, get the ball out fast and in the right spots to the receivers. This is another chance for me to prove myself to the coaching staff.”

Former Penn State WR DeAndre Thompkins reflects on ‘constant every-day battle’ of Philadelphia Eagles training camp - PennLive
“I’m learning a lot of football really fast, and just being able to constantly work with some of the best guys at my position every day, being challenged by the defense that we go against every day,” Thompkins said Tuesday. “It’s been just a constant every-day battle, trying to get better every day, trying to get smarter at football and just be a competitor every day.”

Jadeveon Clowney trade won’t be easy to pull off - PFT
With Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney still holding out, but still likely to show up in time to get the first weekly installment of his unsigned (to date) franchise tender, some have suggested that Clowney could be traded. And he indeed could be. However, it would be hard to pull it off. Anyone trading for Clowney would be getting his services for one year, with no ability to sign him to an extension until after the regular season ends. At that point, Clowney would have the leverage of a 20-percent raise over his 2019 salary, whether it’s $15.967 million or, if his grievance regarding his alleged status as a defensive end is successful, $17.128 million. That equates to either $19.16 million or $20.55 million for 2020, either of which becomes the starting point for negotiations on a long-term deal.

Golden Tate loses appeal, suspension will be upheld - Big Blue View
The New York Giants will be without wide receiver Golden Tate for the first four games of the 2019 season. The ruling from the independent arbitrator has finally come down, and Tate’s appeal of his four-game suspension for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance. Tate will be eligible to play in the three remaining preseason games but will not be able to play or practice with the team until after their Week 4 game against the Washington Redskins. While the length of time it took for the arbitrator to hand down his decision is notable, the fact that Tate lost his appeal was expected.

Report: The Redskins have 3 teams trying to trade for Trent Williams including the Patriots - Hogs Haven
Bruce Allen handles trades for the Redskins. This is going to be a painful end to a once great relationship between player and team. Now it’s only a matter of what Washington can salvage from this mess.

Ranking which of last year’s playoff teams are most at risk of missing out on the postseason this year - The Athletic
3. Cowboys. Path to disappointment: The organization’s plan to create a sense of urgency by going into 2019 with the head coach, quarterback and No. 1 receiver on the final years of their contracts (along with the running back’s dissatisfaction with his deal) backfires. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore brings a much-needed set of new ideas to the offense, but it takes the players a while to adjust, and Dak Prescott still struggles to make plays downfield. An offensive line that allowed sacks or QB hits on 26.14 percent (27th in the league) of Prescott’s dropbacks last year has issues again in pass pro and begins getting hit with the “overrated” label. Jason Garrett struggles to give Dallas an edge, and the team can’t match its 8-2 record from last season in games decided by seven points or fewer. Hoping to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007, they instead end 2019 in disappointment, bringing about an offseason of major change.

Traina Thoughts: Chris Long Has Thoughts On Tom Brady, Jimmy G, Antonio Brown, Overtime Rules and More - MMQB
1. While many middle-aged men are reaching for the Extenze, Tom Brady signed a multi-million dollar extension this past week. Adding insult to injury for onlooking 40-something-year-old dads, he also promptly put his modest $39.5 million dollar (or one year of Dak Prescott’s requested salary) Brookline, Mass., home on the market. And there’s one more little detail that people are reading into. Tom’s new deal gives him an out the first day of the 2020 league year. That’s right -- when free agency hits next year, for a few weeks you can even act like you never hated him at all before he makes it apparent that he doesn’t want to join your sh*tty team.

What NFL teams are REALLY doing in the first 2 weeks of the preseason - SB Nation
Every preseason, there’s one lesson worth remembering. As NFL Network analyst, and former scout, Daniel Jeremiah tweeted out, “Preseason is a liar. It’s fooled many over the years. Be careful.” This is accurate and not debatable. While it might dampen your excitement for the action you’re watching over the next month, there are important reasons why this is the case. NFL training camp practices are planned out months in advance. The coaches have designed each day to maximize the install of plays and the reps in practice and walkthrough. Installs are scheduled out in advance and in reasonable quantities. The first day, teams put in their base runs, protections, and pass concepts and build from there. The following day, a few more runs, protections, and pass concepts go in. Then there’s a short-yardage day, a goal-line day, a third-down install day, and so on.

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