Eagles News: NFL coaches and executives weigh in on what’s wrong with Carson Wentz

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

How Dez Bryant’s COVID-19 Situation Played Out and Why Ravens-Cowboys Went On - MMQB
What’s wrong with Carson Wentz? To find out, I went to a bunch of different scouts and coaches who’ve evaluated and gone against him in 2020. A lot of stuff matched up from one guy to the next. So here’s a sampling of what came back … Defensive coordinator 1: “I see a guy that’s indecisive and doesn’t trust his protection.” ... NFC exec 1: “Not good man, erratic, inconsistent, bad decisions. Bad O-line and no commitment to the run game but he also holds the ball too long and makes it hard on them.” ... NFC exec 2: “They don’t appear to have a plan or identity offensively, and he is struggling, obviously, with decision-making. They don’t have any weapons at WR. Two leading receivers can’t separate. Two good TEs but they have only played four games together. Think they have played with 20 different OL combinations. With all that said, they have had some success running the ball, but they don’t run the ball much. The old adage is the QB’s best friend is the running game. Wentz looks like his confidence is shot and his teammates can see it, so you wonder how much buy-in he gets from teammates. Still believe in him as a QB but they have to get more talent around him and buy into the running game. He is pressing and if he doesn’t make the plays they have no shot winning.”

Eagles vs. Saints Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the enemy - BGN
Massively, and for that, I thank you. I know how you guys feel; he was one of the Saints I was most upset we let get away. In the first few games of this season, the safety group was one of our biggest liabilities, mainly for their inability to cover tight ends, and a lot of that fell on Jenkins. I think their unit started to improve around the Chicago matchup, but they really achieved an elite playing level in the Bucs game; Malcolm Jenkins happened to be exquisite in that game covering Rob Gronkowski and tackling in space. I think Jenkins’ best assets are in the intangibles. Mainly, his veteran leadership that’s shaped our safety group this season. I think you see his value not so much in his own play – though it’s been incredibly strong – but in the play of his counterparts, Marcus Williams and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Marcus Williams has been under fire for several years for his missed tackles – I don’t think I need to name the particularly infamous example. This season, as pointed out by one of our editors, Andrew Bell, he’s only missed two tackles this season through Week 12, and PFF had him at 4th out of 66 qualifying safeties in tackling efficiency. And C.J. Gardner-Johnson has just been a terror on blitz (and in the minds of opposing defenders, rent free apparently). Vonn Bell was a great safety, but the three younger players, together, were just too inconsistent. I think their improved play is highly attributed to Jenkins.

Is Carson Wentz Salvageable? - BGN Radio
Jimmy Kempski and Brandon Lee Gowton analyze all the angles and possibilities of the Eagles main players (Wentz, Pederson, Howie), make their NFC East Picks and preview the Eagles-Saints! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Failure - Iggles Blitz
The season is over. You know it. I know it. Jason knows it. But he is still going to give everything he’s got and do everything he can to win. That’s the kind of attitude you want, even in a disastrous season. You do not want bad habits setting in. You don’t want players quitting. It is important that the players and organization take ownership of this season. Offering excuses, even valid ones, isn’t the way to go. That’s not how problems get solved. Hoping things get better isn’t a plan. This season has been a failure. A group failure. Jeffrey Lurie needs to keep that in mind when he tries to figure out how to get things fixed in the offseason.

Agent’s Take: Are Carson Wentz’s Eagles days numbered? A closer examination of his contract tells the story - CBS Sports
The most logical destination is the Colts. Familiarity can bring comfort in the NFL. Colts head coach Frank Reich was Wentz’s offensive coordinator for Wentz’s first two years in the NFL, 2016 and 2017. Colts starting quarterback Philip Rivers, who just turned 39, is on a fully guaranteed one-year deal for $25 million. He is taking his career one year at a time. Rivers is playing through a toe injury that will likely require surgery after the season. Bringing Rivers back for his 18th NFL season will probably require a similar financial commitment as this year. The Colts are projected to have approximately $57.5 million of 2021 cap space with the top 51 players assuming the salary cap is set at the $175 million floor. An acquiring team would have Wentz under contract for $98.4 million over four years averaging $24.6 million per year. That would be pretty cost effective provided Wentz could resurrect his career. It would really only be a two-year commitment for $47.4 million because of the guarantees. After 2022, the acquiring team could exit the deal without any dead money or residual cap charges.

Jalen Hurts won’t be Philly’s savior, but he’ll make the Eagles harder to defend - For The Win
One of the biggest knocks on Hurts before the draft was his eagerness to take off running when his first read wasn’t open. But that could be a good thing for an Eagles offense that has, at times, been sabotaged by Wentz’s hero ball. When Hurts decides to scramble, he’s running the ball. Wentz, to his own detriment, will try to salvage a broken pass play and, far too often, it has led to disaster. In 2020 alone, he’s thrown four interceptions on 31 attempts outside of the pocket and leads the league in interception rate. His 36 undesigned forrays outside of the pocket (that didn’t result in a scramble) have resulted in a loss of 21.9 expected points, per Sports Info Solutions. Hurts will not be a savior for a completely broken offense, and Wentz is almost certainly the better quarterback at this point in their respective careers, but the rookie’s skill set could be exactly what the Eagles offense needs right now.

Former QB explains one big concern with Jalen Hurts’ play - NBCSP
“But, yeah, the throwing is still a concern. There are still throws where I just go, ‘That doesn’t look good.’ It’s a very slow, deliberate delivery. Even on the interception ... the ball took so long to gather and throw the ball. The guy was open. He should’ve gotten rid of it before he got hit. [...] “If you’re watching Aaron Rodgers or [Patrick] Mahomes, or any really great thrower, the upper body and lower body, they all work together to be a powerful thrower, to be a consistent thrower. ... If you do everything right with your body, your arm will slot itself in the right spot. With Jalen Hurts, he kind of sits there, no movement with [his body], and it’s kind of all just in the arm. There’s no shoulder movement, there’s nothing else like that.”

NFL Picks: Predicting Week 14 against the spread - The Athletic
Saints at Eagles (+6.5). Jalen Hurts makes his first career start for the Eagles. What should we expect? A QB-inclusive run game with a heavy dose of zone read and designed runs, designed rollouts and shots downfield. Hurts was accurate with his downfield passing in college and hit Jalen Reagor on a nice deep ball last week. As for the Saints, they are an incredible 8-0 against the spread over the last two seasons without Drew Brees. I know that streak will end at some point, but with how well their defense is playing, I’m taking New Orleans against a rookie quarterback. The pick: Saints (-6.5).

Week 14 NFL Preview: How the Saints running game stacks up against the Eagles rushing defense - Canal Street Chronicles
On defense, the player to pick up is Alex Singleton, who has been decent when he’s been healthy. The Saints will undoubtedly try to have someone on the second level, as no one up front really gives the Eagles a push. On the offensive line, Ryan Ramczyk is battling an elbow injury that forced him to leave practice on Wednesday. Otherwise, however, the Saints are in decent shape up front. The reality is, the Saints have tipped their hand. With Hill at QB, they will live and die by the run. So far it hasn’t hurt them, and the Eagles are a good team to continue that against due to their abysmal run defense so far this year. Don’t expect to see much different this week — It should be a lot of read options and speed plays. The Eagles haven’t been able to defend this all season, so expect to see the Saints stick to what they’ve been doing the past few weeks.

Rodney McLeod: Man of the People - PE.com
2020 was rough for all of us, but I am optimistic for better times in the year ahead. Why? Over the summer, while I marched in the protests in Philadelphia, I witnessed people from so many different backgrounds unite for one common goal and that’s justice and equality. The world is so diverse and that’s what makes us so special. I think when you see people from different religious backgrounds and ethnicities all join together, it’s powerful. That sends a message that we can do this and this is what the world should look like. Unfortunately, it took a pandemic to provide the time and attention to fully grasp what was happening in society. We had no distractions. The world was so still that we had to endure all of it. People started to take a deeper dive into understanding why the Black community was so frustrated.

Roast & Ghost: Top starts & sits for Week 14 fantasy football - Fake Teams
Ghost: Miles Sanders vs New Orleans Saints. This is just your straight up, run of the mill, basic ass sit. Sit Miles Sanders this week. In fact, drop Miles Sanders this week. Sanders has managed to post over 15 PPR points twice this season, back in Weeks 2 and 5. Since then, it’s been a whole bunch of nothing, including his wildly disappointing outing last week against the Packers—who are giving up the 3rd most fantasy points to backs this season—in which he managed just 31 yards on 10 carries. Yikes. Gross. No thank you. Honestly, I would’ve had Miles Sanders on this list regardless of his opponent but it makes matters only worse when he’s facing off against the best run defense in fantasy this year. The Saints have allowed only 16.2 PPR points to running backs this season and have given up only three rushing touchdowns, fewest in the NFL. I have exactly zero expectations for Sanders this week.

Week 14 Fantasy Football Rankings: QB - Rotoworld
Jalen Hurts’ first start could scarcely be coming in a tougher situation. He gets top 20 benefit of the doubt because he is a real deal dual-threat, one who will process his 1-2 reads much faster than Carson Wentz.

Fantasy football Week 14 picks, sleepers, busts and rankings: Matthew Berry loves and hates these QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs - ESPN+
Pass-catchers I hate in Week 14 — Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles, vs. Saints. Since Week 7, the Saints are giving up a league-low 3.8 fantasy points per game to tight ends, including zero touchdowns allowed to the position. Some of that is a result of who they’ve played, but they have faced Hayden Hurst twice as well as Rob Gronkowski in that stretch, so it’s not entirely without merit. It’s hard to know exactly what the Eagles’ offense will look like with Jalen Hurts, but it’s easy to avoid any tight end facing the Saints. You might still have to start Goedert just based on the nature of the position, but I wouldn’t be expecting the same production we’ve seen from him the past few weeks, especially with Zach Ertz back and getting healthier.

Evans: Fantasy Football Passing Report ahead of NFL Week 14 - PFF
The Eagles have a brand-new starting quarterback in Jalen Hurts, which should hopefully breathe some life into arguably the worst offense in the entire NFL. Dallas Goedert is the only Eagles player who intrigues me for DFS this week. His 28% target share and 23% air-yard share is strong for a tight end, and his 65% route rate dropped only marginally with the return of Zach Ertz.

Edge of Philly Sports Show 12.9.2020 - Edge of Philly Sports
***Brandon Lee Gowton is BACK on EoP and the timing couldn’t be any better!*** Well, things really hit the fan in Philly. Jalen Hurts is now the Eagles starting quarterback. James Harden rumors are sizzling for the 76ers. Middleton denies rumors of looking to trade Zack Wheeler. Flyers hockey maybe starting mid-January.

Dorktown: The 1986 Philadelphia Eagles were sacked into oblivion - SB Nation
The 1986 Philadelphia Eagles are pretty well-known for having been by far the most sacked team ever. They allowed 6.5 per game when no one else since 1970’s AFL-NFL merger has even allowed five.

Giants coach Joe Judge: “I don’t have an answer” on Daniel Jones - Big Blue View
Daniel Jones “looked good moving around” during a post-walk thru workout with trainers on Wednesday, according to New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The Giants, though, continued to express uncertainty over whether Jones, who missed last week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks with a hamstring injury, would be available this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. “We put him through some basic agility, short-space stuff,” said head coach Joe Judge. “He’s throwing the ball well, but there’s a lot of stuff we still have to see.” As he has consistently, Judge said Thursday “our biggest concern is how he can protect himself on the field.”

2020 Cowboys rookie report: CeeDee Lamb once again has all eyes on him - Blogging The Boys
After having such a poor performance against the Washington Football Team last week, CeeDee Lamb bounced back with another game wherein he showed how reliable he can be. Lamb caught six passes for 46 yards and three of those catches went for a first down, while a fourth was one yard short. Lamb’s two most memorable plays from Tuesday night were the catches he didn’t make. First there was the blatant pass interference that wasn’t called, which would have put the Cowboys in position for a field goal right before halftime. Then there was the following play, a Hail Mary that slipped through Lamb’s hands in the endzone.

FDA advisers recommend the first Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the US - Vox
An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration has voted 17 to 4, with 1 abstention, to recommend emergency use authorization to the first vaccine for Covid-19 in the United States. The highly anticipated vote means health workers facing high exposure to the disease and residents of long-term care facilities could start receiving the first doses of the two-dose vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, within days. The first 6.4 million doses could be ready to ship as soon as Friday.

...

Social Media Information:

BGN Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen

BGN Instagram: Follow @BleedingGreenInsta

BGN Manager: Brandon Lee Gowton: Follow @BrandonGowton

BGN Radio Twitter: Follow @BGN_Radio

BGN Cameo: Click here for a personalized video message