Eagles News: Colin Cowherd argues Carson Wentz is the new Russell Wilson

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“I always, with quarterbacks, take out the rookie year. Don’t count the rookie year. Start with the second year. In the last three years, 81 touchdowns [and] 21 picks. That’s a four to one ratio. 64 and a half completion percentage. Passer rating at 98. And in one of those years, he was throwing to deck chairs and lawn furniture. What is — and I said this, I take pride in spotting quarterback talent early. I did it with Russell Wilson three and four years ago. I said, ‘Folks, stop it. It’s not the Seahawks defense. It’s not Pete Carroll, it’s not Marshawn Lynch. Russell Wilson is the secret sauce to this near dynasty. I don’t get the Carson Wentz pushback. ‘Well, he’s been hurt!’ He’s missed eight regular season games in four seasons. Not that hurt. Is it because he played for a college we didn’t watch on TV? Is it because Nick Foles won and we think if Nick Foles can win, anybody can win with your talent? He is the player in the league now — because I think people have come around, I think people eventually came around on Andrew Luck, I think they’ve come around on Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson now has not just me but dozen of backers. Wentz is the new Russell Wilson. He’s good, stop it. He’s the only guy in this league, you watch Patrick Mahomes and you can see Wentz. Arm, angles, talent, mobility, size, moves. Gets banged up because he moves around a little bit. No one else looks like Mahomes, Wentz kinda looks like him.”

Eagles Question of the Day: What’s your least popular opinion? - BGN
Nick Foles gets too much credit for the Eagles’ Super Bowl win. He’s revered as if he started every game during the 2017 season.

The QB Factory #4: Year 2 Breakout Candidates - BGN Radio
Michael Kist and Mark Schofield discuss the potential year 2 breakout candidates from the 2019 NFL Draft class of quarterbacks w/thoughts on Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, and more! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Breaking down 2020 NFC East win total betting splits - DraftKings Nation
Philadelphia Eagles Win total: 9.5. Over (+110): 38% handle, 64% bets. Under (-134): 62% handle, 36% bets. The Eagles had a productive offseason, upgrading their passing defense and offense. That 9.5 number is still steep though, as the Eagles have only surpassed it once in their last five seasons when they one the Super Bowl. They also have a tough schedule which could negate some of the strong moves they had this offseason.

Eagles rookie NFL player comparisons: Jack Driscoll - PhillyVoice
Driscoll reminds me a little of Allen Barbre, an athletic, versatile offensive lineman who played in the NFL for 11 seasons, including four with the Eagles, from 2013 to 2016. In Philly, Barbre mostly played guard, but he would kick out to tackle on occasion in emergency situations. In college, at UMass and Auburn, Driscoll played both at left guard and right tackle. In the pros, he is probably best suited for guard, but could maybe be cross-trained at tackle, and he may even get a look at center. As you can see, both Barbre and Driscoll have plus athleticism for offensive linemen, but are somewhat undersized.

Ranking the NFL’s 32 starting running backs by elusiveness - PFF
19. Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles. Sanders undoubtedly had a productive rookie season. As sad as it is, he effectively served as the Eagles’ best deep receiver last year with the attrition they dealt with at the wide receiver position, and he should continue to have a positive impact in the passing game. His PFF rushing grade from this past season (58.5) doesn’t quite match the production he had on the ground, though. Part of that is the fact that he was running behind PFF’s highest-graded run-blocking offensive line in the NFL, but another consideration is that he didn’t make defenders miss at a high rate. There’s reason to believe he can improve in that area. Sanders just needs to show it in 2020.

Eagles Positional Previews: Cornerback - Inquirer
Maddox will likely enter training camp as the starter opposite Slay. That’s where he was when the season ended and general manager Howie Roseman all but handed him the job during an interview with reporters following free agency. The Eagles drafted Maddox to play primarily in the slot, but they have increasingly used him outside despite his relative lack of length. He may be only 5-foot-9, but he can compensate some with his speed and 37-inch vertical leap. He’s had mixed results lined up vs. outside receivers. The Eagles like his confidence, but quarterbacks have taken advantage of his overaggressiveness. But that aggressiveness has led to big plays. Maddox’s athleticism often gives him a chance to be around the ball. I’d be concerned about his lack of length – he also has short arms – vs. taller receivers, especially on jump-ball situations. But if Schwartz is to use more man coverage with Slay on board, it could play to Maddox’s strengths. Maddox could always move back inside, but Nickell Robey-Coleman was signed in the offseason to likely fill that role. I liked what I saw out of Maddox at safety two years ago, but the Eagles clearly don’t envision him in that role – for now.

Have the Eagles done enough at cornerback? - NBCSP
Mills was very good in 2017, but let’s be honest — the Eagles haven’t gotten Pro Bowl play out of a cornerback since Asante Samuel in 2010. Of course the cornerback position is closely tied to how Mills (or perhaps Will Parks) manages at safety with Malcolm Jenkins gone and how much pressure the Eagles can get from injury-plagued Derek Barnett and 32-year-old Brandon Graham. But if Slay can continue his Pro Bowl level of play, if the talented Maddox can hold up for a full season at outside corner at 5-9 and the combination of Robey-Coleman and LeBlanc can hold down the slot, then maybe the unthinkable can actually occur, and for the first time in a long time cornerback can be a strength of this team.

Mike Quick: Eagles have ‘world-class, sprinter-type speed’ at WR in 2020 - PE.com
Philadelphia Eagles radio analyst Mike Quick joins “NFL NOW” to discuss the Eagles’ potential in 2020.

DeSean Jackson’s baseball roots: 15 years ago, touted prospect wowed MLB scouts - The Athletic
“From a baseball standpoint, the speed and athleticism and the ability to play center field was so good that I had to spend my time scouting him,” Kissner said. He recalled watching a Monday afternoon game at Long Beach State’s ballpark alongside a Rays scout. Jackson hit a grounder to the shortstop and beat the throw to first base. The scouts showed each other their stopwatches. “Did you see that?!” they exclaimed. On the next pitch, Jackson stole second base. They looked at their stopwatches again. “Holy cow!” Kissner remembered saying. “There’s nobody in the big leagues who runs like this.”

Malcolm Jenkins: NFL won’t get it right until it specifically addresses Colin Kaepernick - ESPN
New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins said the efforts by commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL to support players fighting for social justice have fallen short because they have yet to properly address their handling of Colin Kaepernick. “I still don’t think [the NFL has] gotten it right. Until they apologize, specifically, to Colin Kaepernick, or assign him to a team, I don’t think that they will end up on the right side of history,” Jenkins, who is the co-founder of the Players Coalition, said Tuesday in an appearance on “CBS This Morning.” At the end of the day, they’ve listened to their players, they’ve donated money, they’ve created an Inspire Change platform; they’ve tried to do things up to this point. But it’s been one player in particular that they have ignored and not acknowledged, and that’s Colin Kaepernick.”

Malcolm Jenkins delivers message of hope to Philadelphia graduates - PennLive
“I’ll tell you, anything worth fighting for takes hard work,” Jenkins said. “When the world told the Philadelphia Eagles that we couldn’t win that world championship, we came together as a team, as a community, as a family to battle day in and day out, practice, strength training, watching film, talking to each other, our coaches and meeting every day. And you, our strong Philadelphia community cheered and supported us to victory. So, I also want you to think hard about your voice and that your voice matters. Not just the Eagles, Philly is known for its grit, determination and the community leaders, clergymen, community organizers that I’ve been fortunate to meet in my lifetime have motivated me, inspired me to get involved and help our neighbors to strengthen our community.”

Players On Track To Be Helped By the New PPE Rules - Over The Cap
Four teams–the Partiots, Jets, Chargers, Eagles–have no player that had its projected PPE upgraded as a part of the 2020 CBA. Of those four, the Patriots stand out as having no player eligible for the PPE at all from the 2018 and 2019 draft classes.

Can Tyler Biadasz start at center for the Cowboys as a rookie? - Blogging The Boys
So can Biadasz actually start for the Cowboys in his rookie year? It’s a question that we really won’t be able to answer until preseason games begin. For starters, Biadasz has some legitimate competition. Joe Looney is the biggest threat, and his lone year as a starter in 2018 was relatively impressive. But there’s also second-year pro Connor McGovern, a guard/center who may compete for snaps, as well as journeyman Adam Redmond, who the Cowboys made sure to bring back shortly after McCarthy arrived in Dallas. The bigger question for Biadasz’s chances of starting in 2020, though, are related to his own body. Was the decline in 2019 merely a player who hadn’t fully recovered from a serious surgery, or was it an indicator of the new normal? The effects of the coronavirus on the draft process this year made it more difficult to evaluate such a question, so Biadasz’s projection requires some guesswork.

Can Steven Sims be the next Tyreek Hill? - Hogs Haven
This offseason, Redskins’ wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. has been working out with famed WR trainer David Robinson to hone his craft. Robinson is one of the foremost wide receiver coaches out there, serving players such as Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Jordan Reed, and Chris Godwin. Robinson himself was a WR at the University of Oklahoma from 2002-2006 and has been a trainer since 2008.

The Six Most Underrated Position Groups in the NFL - The Ringer
Daniel Jones’s rookie performance was impressive enough on its own merit, but it was doubly so when you consider that he was playing with a decimated pass-catching corps for much of the year. After trading away superstar receiver Odell Beckham Jr. over the offseason, New York notched the third most adjusted games lost at the receiver position in 2019 (24.6), per Football Outsiders, while tallying the fifth-most adjusted games lost at tight end (14). Corey Coleman tore his ACL on the first day of training camp and missed the entire year, Sterling Shepard missed six games with a concussion, and Evan Engram missed eight games with a foot injury. And though it’s not accounted for in that Football Outsiders stat, the team also missed Golden Tate for the first four weeks of the season after the receiver was suspended for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy. Ultimately, replacement-level receivers like Cody Latimer and Bennie Fowler were both pushed into major snaps. But if the team’s core pass-catching nucleus can stay healthy and on the field together this year, Jones should have a very intriguing mix of established veterans and ascending young talent at his disposal.

Report: Seahawks offered Jadeveon Clowney $15 million for 1 year - Field Gulls
“My understanding is the Seahawks have been in the range of $15 million on a one-year deal for Jadeveon Clowney,” Florio said. “The Seahawks have been led to believe that the Browns offered 18, and he has yet to take that.” If Florio is correct, then the Browns’ highest bid is coming in at $3 million more than Seattle’s offer, which was also turned down. It’s not known, however, when the Seahawks made that reported offer to Clowney or if it remains on the table.

“Be wary of things that are purely symbolic”: How to join the conversation on race - Vox
But for many white Americans, this idea of active white supremacy is not one they have ever thought about before. Amid George Floyd’s death and the protests it has inspired over the past two weeks, the country is waking up. The issues demonstrators are pushing against aren’t new — especially to black, brown, and indigenous people who have experienced them their entire lives. But the diverse and widespread outrage over them we’re seeing right now is. Polls show swift and significant shifts in attitudes about police violence toward people of color. But the conversation about racism in America, especially for those new to it, is uneasy and imperfect. Oluo knows: She dedicates much of her time talking about how to talk about race, as the title of her book suggests.

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