:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66598006/877242554.jpg.0.jpg)
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...
Catching up with BG: Big things in store for D-line? - NBCSP
“I’m excited, man. I really do believe we going to be back and we going to be ready to go. And, advantage us, because we the ones with the same coach in our division. So it’s tough on a lot of people right now.” [BLG Note: The coronavirus pandemic leading to cancelled offseason workouts could give the Eagles an edge since, unlike their division rivals, they won’t be implementing entirely new coaching regimes.]
Jim Schwartz’s influence on the Eagles’ offseason is apparent - BGN
Even more notably, the Eagles fired former defensive line coach Phillip Daniels just one year after promoting him to that title. It’s not even like that unit struggled in 2019. And yet the Eagles replaced Daniels with former Schwartz assistant Matt Burke, who joined the team as a defensive special assistant in 2019 before being promoted to [defensive] run game coordinator/defensive line coach this offseason. Burke has never coached a defensive line group since starting his coaching career in 1998. Another Schwartz ally received a promotion in the front office. After only joining the Eagles as an advanced projects coordinator in 2019, Jeremiah Washburn (Jim’s son) was elevated to an unusual combined title: director of player personnel/senior defensive assistant. Washburn is now second in command to Andy Weidl, who took over as the Eagles’ vice president of player personnel when Joe Douglas was hired away as the New York Jets’ general manager. Washburn, who served as Schwartz’s offensive line coach in Detroit from 2009 through 2013, is the new Weidl in addition to helping out the Eagles’ coaching staff in some capacity.
Roster reset: Position-by-position analysis of where Eagles stand ahead of draft - The Athletic
As Sheil Kapadia documented, it’s risky to expect major contributions from rookie wide receivers. The 39 wide receivers selected in the first or second rounds since 2015 have averaged 459 receiving yards. So if the Eagles expect Justin Jefferson to be the remedy next season, it would make sense to at least have insurance. That said, the market is relatively bare. (We’ll have more on this topic in the coming days.) They could make a trade or wait for a cap casualty. Roseman likes to point out that they’ve previously found ways to upgrade positions after the first week of free agency and the draft. No matter how it comes, the Eagles are far from finished at wide receiver.
Draft Talk - Iggles Blitz
Justin Jefferson is a hot name these days. He would make a lot of sense for the Eagles from the perspective that he is a polished player who knows how to get open and he catches the ball. He played in a pro-style offense. He should be more NFL ready than other guys. The criticism made by me and some others is that he is at his best in the slot. Do the Eagles want to spend a high pick on a player for that role? We might just find out in three weeks. What about Aiyuk? He has solid size and is an explosive playmaker. But is he really the 21st best player in the draft? Is he worth the pick? These are complicated questions. We have to talk about particular skills. We have to talk about fit. We can only guess what the Eagles are looking for. They might want a receiver with terrific hands and route-running ability. I tend to think they would prefer more of a playmaker, but that’s just a guess.
Agent’s Take: Inside the financials behind 2020 NFL free agency’s biggest deals - CBS Sports
Darius Slay, CB, Eagles — Slay quickly replaced Bryon Jones as the league’s highest-paid cornerback by average salary when he received a new deal as a part of his trade from the Lions. Jones remains the benchmark in the other more important contract metrics. Slay will be vulnerable in 2022 when his salary cap number is $19.75 million unless he continues to be a Pro Bowl caliber cornerback. He’ll be 31 at that time.
CB Darius Slay: ‘It feels great to be an Eagle’ - PE.com
It happened so fast, a full two weeks ago, and in that time, Darius Slay has allowed it to all sink in. ”I’m a Philadelphia Eagle and it feels great!” After seven seasons in Detroit, Slay has his arms full around the idea that he’s bringing his Pro Bowl cornerback game to Philadelphia. ”I’m a very humble guy, grateful for everything that I have, but I’m also confident as a football player and I think this is going to be a great fit,” Slay said on Thursday. “You aren’t going to win every time out there. You’re going to get beat. But you have to just come back and keep fighting, and that’s what I do.”
Jordan Hicks: Cardinals On “Eerily Similar” Path To Super Bowl-Winning Eagles - AZCardinals.com
Jordan Hicks played for the Eagles when they went from a seven-win team in 2016 to Super Bowl champions the next. It would take tremendous strides for the Cardinals to have a similar turnaround in 2020, but the veteran inside linebacker is not discounting that possibility. ”It’s eerily similar of a situation that we’re going into,” Hicks said. “The year before I won the Super Bowl in Philadelphia, we had a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback in Carson (Wentz) and Doug Pederson. We had our highs and our lows, and as a defense we didn’t know what our identity was. But we got better as the season went along — very similar to what you saw with us this past season — and then something hit.”
Important Update - Eagles Autism Challenge
With the health and safety of our communities as a priority, and in accordance with guidance from local, state and federal authorities, the Eagles Autism Foundation has announced that the 3rd annual Eagles Autism Challenge presented by Lincoln Financial Group – originally scheduled for Saturday, May 16 – has been postponed.
Report: Sammy Watkins signs a new one-year deal with the Chiefs, taking paycut - Arrowhead Pride
It’s official; the Chiefs are keeping the band together. After months of speculation about his future, Sammy Watkins is staying in Kansas City, according to friend-of-the-site Terez Paylor of Yahoo! Sports. Paylor broke the news in the early hours of this morning (seriously go to bed, Terez) that Watkins signed a new one-year deal that will pay the receiver $9M million this year, a figure that could increase to $16M after incentive. [BLG Note: There’s yet another veteran WR off the board for the Eagles.]
Answering A Complex Question: Can They Play On The Outside? - The Draft Network
We’ll start with Jefferson. In the NFL, just as in college, Jefferson will be most valuable in the slot. His best trait is his hand strength, which allows him to win in contested catches in the intermediate areas while getting accosted by safeties and linebackers. Beyond that, his quicks, various gears and instincts as a route-runner all translate best to maximizing the two-way go afforded by the slot. But is he completely versatile? Can he play out wide? At this point, Jefferson likely can’t be trusted to get off of press coverage in Year 1. He was an inconsistent player in 2018 off of press, and in 2019, continued to show high peaks and low valleys when challenged on the line of scrimmage. A team shouldn’t ask him to play an X-receiver role early. The funny thing about this is how concerned it makes people about Jefferson when Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy has similar concerns.
Meet Jerry Jeudy: Verb, Highlight Reel, and the NFL Draft’s Most Unique Talent - MMQB
From the kids in football-crazed Southeast Florida to the best of the NFL present and past, Jeudy has captured the attention of great receivers. A closer look at the best wide receiver in the 2020 NFL draft, from his introduction to football, to his mastery of it at Alabama, to the real story behind his Star of David necklace.
CeeDee Lamb NFL draft profile and fantasy projection - DraftKings Nation
If you watched Oklahoma any of the last three seasons, the superb wide receiver wearing No. 2 probably jumped out at you at some point. CeeDee Lamb has the skills, route-running ability, and overall polish to be an impact NFL player for a very long time. With 173 receptions for 3,292 yards in three years of college, his average of 19.0 yards per catch shows his big-play ability. His punt return skills are also a bonus.
Aldon Smith’s new NFL contract comes with major questions - PFT
A player who was poised to become one of the best pass rushers in league history had his career interrupted in a way that had seemed permanent. Even though he has a new deal with the Cowboys, the interruption may still be permanent — for three reasons. First, despite the dramatic relaxation of most aspects of the substance-abuse policy, the reinstatement procedures for players indefinitely suspended under the policy have not changed. At all. The Commissioner still has exclusive discretion to determine who gets back in. The Commissioner still has no deadline for making a decision. The player, when reinstated, still faces another indefinite ban for any violation of the substance-abuse policy.
Thor’s Tackle Rankings - Rotoworld
Ben Bartch has gained 89 pounds since he arrived at St. John’s and has the frame to add more, a fact he acknowledged (if you know the recipe of the shake he drinks to gain that weight, you’d know how dedicated the kid is). He wins with length, movement and brains, and proved at the Senior Bowl that he wasn’t a small-school fluke, posting one of the highest win-rates of any offensive linemen in attendance in practice drills. Bartch is about to make the biggest leap in competition you can, from D-III to the NFL. Guys like Ali Marpet have shown it can be done, and Bartch, going back to his headiness, has been in contact with Marpet since the fall. I wouldn’t bet against the kid. After the sure things in the tackle class, he’s first in line of the developmental guys I’d target.
A conversation with Myron Rolle, former NFL player turned neurosurgeon, on the fight against Covid-19 - SB Nation
Former Florida State and Tennessee Titans defensive back Myron Rolle is witnessing firsthand the fight against Covid-19. As a neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, his hospital has been on the frontlines of the coronavirus that’s been ravaging the United States and countries around the world. Rolle first made headlines in college when he awarded a Rhodes Scholarship during his junior season at FSU. Instead of playing his senior year, he accepted the scholarship, and studied at Oxford University in 2009. After a year in London, Rolle entered the 2010 NFL Draft.
Why it can be so hard to tell if you have Covid-19 - Vox
What are the signs you have been infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus? That’s become a surprisingly tricky question to answer, and it’s hampering the fight against the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the main symptoms of the illness are fever, coughing, and shortness of breath, appearing between two and 14 days after exposure. However, some patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, have experienced completely different symptoms, like vomiting and loss of taste and smell. Some people’s Covid-19 symptoms overlap with those of other illnesses like influenza, making these infections hard to distinguish without testing. And some infected patients have reported no symptoms at all.
...
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