Reid article today

[Mad-Lad]

I penalize Moats for not being able to play linebacker.

[rjs246]

You choose to penalize Moats for having the ability to take it to the house. Makes a lot of sense.

That's bullshtein and you know it. This team doesn't need another running back who can 'take it to the house.' It needs now what it needed last year at this time.  A running back who has any chance whatsoever of getting tough yards. Just imagine if Moats couldn't 'tkae it to the house.' He'd be JJ Arrington. So once every 15 carries he gains yardage whoppdee farging doo. No matter how you spin it, it was a retarded pick.

[General_Failure]

Buck was supposed to be the big back. He blew out his knee like we all knew he would and then they signed Moats. Wah.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Those of you who are calling Moats a wasted pick are nuts. It is easy to say that he was a negotiating tool, but if you look a little more in depth at the Moats vs. Westbrook argument then you'd see that it isn't exactly like that. Not to mention, so what if you have to wRBs who are similar in stature? Is there an NFL law restricting the amount of small RBs you canhave on the roster?

You don't have to have a Big RB & Small RB. You take the best players on your board. Moats, if he was intended to strong-arm Westbrook, is not a similar player to Westbrook. Reid likes to have his RBs able to be good receivers out of the backfield. Moats never really caught the ball at LaTech. He was a pure runner. So what if he's small?

That is just like saying that Matt McCoy = Mark Simoneau just because they're both smallish white LB's.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Another thing that this article holds that I found interesting:

The comment by Reid about trading up into the to 10. We know Reid will not hesitate to pull the trigger on a deal to trade up. And SalPal was on DNL and him and Bowen agreed that the fact that Reid and his contigent were there and so active in scouting seems to suggest that they are looking for an "impact player". SalPal seems to think it would be on the defensive side of the ball (Mario Williams, maybe?!?).

Their comments were reinforced by Scott Wright from NFLDraftCountdown:

Marvin Lewis and a couple of Bengals scouts paid a lot of attention to the defensive backs while Philadelphia and Tampa Bay had the largest presence of personnel that I noticed.

Also, no way they take LenDale White. It's going to be an OL or DL.

[LBIggle]

step 1's admitting you have a problem.

step 2's doing something about it.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

I would be pleased if they traded up a few spots and grabbed an elite lineman.

[SD_Eagle5]

I would be pleased if they traded up a few spots and grabbed an elite lineman.

I'm on the Mario Williams bandwagon. I'd give our 1st and 2nd to get him.

[MURP]

You choose to penalize Moats for having the ability to take it to the house. Makes a lot of sense.

That's bullshtein and you know it. This team doesn't need another running back who can 'take it to the house.' It needs now what it needed last year at this time.  A running back who has any chance whatsoever of getting tough yards. Just imagine if Moats couldn't 'tkae it to the house.' He'd be JJ Arrington. So once every 15 carries he gains yardage whoppdee farging doo. No matter how you spin it, it was a retarded pick.

Stop hating and get back to reality.   If you dont like the pick thats fine, but going all out to make it look bad is just silly.    The only person spinning here is you.  Moats can and did take it to the house.  Why should I imagine that he cant?  lol.  You make no sense man.   You blame Moats for Lamar Gordons inability to get your "tough yards" and Andy Reids lack of using him.  again, doesnt make any sense.  You act like Moats being able to break away for long runs is a problem, why is that?   God forbid the Eagles have a running back who can break 50 yard TD runs, that sucks!  I've never heard someone say a team doesnt need another RB who can take it to the house.  Get real.

Since you think people are spinning things here are the hard facts:    You take Moats 3 longest runs away and he averages 3.2 ypc.   You take Westbrooks 3 longest runs away and he averages 3.5 ypc.     

Bottom line is that Reid likes to have small, solid, quick RB's on the roster to create matchup problems.   If Westbrook is hurt than Moats fills that need as a backup RB.   That is logic in an easy to understand matter.     I agree that the team needs a power back on the roster and Reid needs to use them, but that has no bearing on the Moats pick and you know it.

[Feva]

Bottom line is that Reid likes to have small, solid, quick RB's on the roster to create matchup problems.   If Westbrook is hurt than Moats fills that need as a backup RB.   That is logic in an easy to understand matter.     I agree that the team needs a power back on the roster and Reid needs to use them, but that has no bearing on the Moats pick and you know it.

That's it right there.  You'd be silly to think that drafting Moats wasn't influenced by the Westbrook situation.  But at the same time, I think Reid saw an opportunity to make his offense even more versatile.  You look around this offense... it's ALL ABOUT matchup problems.  From LJ (smaller, quicker pass catching TE; tough cover for LB and CB), Westbrook (quick pass catching RB; tough cover for S or LB), even McNabb (dual threat with the abillity to run).  He thrives on finding offensive mismatches.  Moats satisfied that as well.  We talk all the time about having both Westbrook and Moats on the field at the same time and how difficult that would be to defend.  You can't ignore that aspect of it when you talk about why Moats was drafted.

Also, Reid tried to cover his ass personel-wise anyway, with the big back this past year... resigning Buck on the cheap (low-risk, high reward) and after he went down, bringing in Gordon.  Us lacking a prescense of a "big back" was not only the result of injury/ineffectiveness, but of Reid's playcalls.  I can't tell you how many times on 3rd and short this year I said "We're goin' deep.." only to be proven right about 10 seconds later.  Until Reid changes that... drafting LenDale White in the 1st would be the very definition of a wasted pick.  In short situations, he'd be nothing but a multi-million dollar decoy.

[bobbyinlondon]

I don't see how some of you guys can be down on Moats after what he did essentially with the 2nd and 3rd teamers in there. Plus, how can you be so "up" on Westbrook after the guy went down AGAIN with another injury?

[rjs246]

I'm not 'up' on Westbrook. I would trade him for another running back in a heartbeat. I'm down on Moats because he doesn't add anything to the team that they didn't already have.
That's great that you guys and andy reid want quick-strike weapons, but look at the teams that do well in the playoffs, not just this year, but most years. Do you see many quick-strike, all or nothing, offenses winning championships? I don't. Most teams have a solid, well rounded offense. The eagles made it to the NFCCG three years in a row with a dink/dunk passing offense and a change of pace running offense that encorporated different running styles to keep defenses honest. Last year the team basically passed their way to the superbowl through a miserably bad NFC and got more or less dominated by a slow and steady offense. (Yes they only lost by three, but New England controlled the pace of the entire game with their offense.)
Andy Reid loves talking about 'weapons', and you guys seem to lap it up. But how about running a balanced offense? How about not relying two speed backs that can't run up the gut to save their lives. 1 yard, 2 yards, 0 yards, 15 yards, 0 yards, -2 yards, 1 yard, 1 yard, 35 yards. 9 rushes, 53 yards looks pretty after the game, but during the game that looks like a lot of third and longs with the occasional big run. That isn't effective offense.

So you guys can have your all or nothing offense. I'd prefer the Steelers offense every single day of the week.

[ice grillin you]

no ones down on him...they just didnt need to pick him...also lets not jump all over his cack cause of some garbage time stats he put up at the end of the year...as rjs said he had exactly two runs the whole year one against the giants and one vs st louis...outside of those he was terrible

[PhillyPhreak54]

RJS,

Who is to say that Moats cannot be part of a grind it out offense? A combination of him, Westbrook and a big back would be just fine.

I don't get why Moats being here is a big deal. Like I said, he showed in college and even some in the pro's that he can be an inside runner. Him being small helps him slip through the cracks.

And it's funny that you'd use the Steelers offense as an example. Who is their #1 back? Willie Parker. What type of back is he? Exactly.

They need Reid to be committed to the run. It doesn't matter WHO the RB is if the OL is opening holes and the playcaller is calling runs.

[rjs246]

Willie Parker is a speed back, of course, and while he is important to their offense, he isn't what makes them well balanced. Bettis is what makes them well balanced. Bettis doesn't get the carries that Parker does, but if he isn't the most important piece to their offence I don't know who is. Bettis' style is the reason they went out and got Duce in the first place (and Duce played well for them the few times he was healthy). Bettis' style is the reason that the pundits keep saying that Lendale White would be a perfect draft pcik for them.

If the Easlges get a tough running back to muscle some yards, and rotate Moats and Westbrook, then that's fine, but for them to go into last season with Westbrook, confetti knees, Mahe and a rookie who didn't hit the field until halfway through the year was assinine. Everyone on Earth knew that Buck would get hurt. No one knew if/how much Moats would contirbute because they weren't going to be asking him to run occasionally for a tough yard or two. Westbrook is always hurt and Mahe licks chode for a living. If they had used that pick on a running back with size, they could have worked him in earlier in straightforward 'go-get-us-a-first-down' situations. But instead they wasted the pick on a small speed back, who wouldn't be able to step in when Buck got hurt. Leaving the team in the inevitable position of having no tough runners and having to pick up a waiver wire schmuck when Buck's knees exploded. Poor planning all around and it shows Reid's lack of attention to his own offense's flaws.