Garcia - Eagle WR's seem like clones

[Zanshin]

12-4 is a pipe dream.

[mikey418]

Personally I think 12-4 is a possibility.  The team could get on a roll and win 7-8 games going into the bye week.  A confident team usually plays a heck of a lot better than a team with questions....and with the weakness of their starting schedule I think that could help....

[rjs246]

I'll eat my shoe.

[The BIGSTUD]

he caught a TD against the taterskins from McNabb.

Are you going to make me compare his McNabb stats to his McMahon stats, just for the sake of proving my point and embarrassing you? Say yes.

The reason he caught passes from McMahon was because he became the number one receiver a couple games before McNabb got hurt. Instead of looking at it that way, you should be thinking that since he played so well with McMahon he'll be even better with McNabb.

[rjs246]

Don't even consider telling someone else how they should think of something until you can figure out how to form complete thoughts that don't enrage the people around you.

[Don Ho]

I'll eat my shoe.

rj,

save me a bite cause ain't no way birds are going 12-4 unless we have a major collapse in the NFC East.   I'll be impressed we go 10-6 but I'm not feelin' that either.

[sallad selgae]

Captain Homertastic Sez, "The Eagles go 16 - 0 and continue the roll through the Super Bowl."

Captain Homertastic also likes shiney things.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

You get extra bonus points for spelling it S-H-I-N-E-Y. 

[Geowhizzer]

The Eagles could end up 10-6... and just as easily 6-10.

It wasn't just the injuries (physical and mental) that killed the team last year.  The defense didn't have major injuries until Shepard went out.  Kearse was healthy- and unproductive.  The LBs were all healthy- and unproductive.  The backfield, sans Dawkins (and to a lesser extent Brown)- unproductive.

Akers and Dirk are major question marks until they prove to be healthy.

McNabb has to come back, somehow reclaim leadership on a team that edged away from him during the TO affair, and physically come back from a serious injury.  Hs's also become like Andy Reid- refusing to run.  In fact, McNabb may be less likely to "resort" to running than Reid.

The WRs have to prove that they can even reach mediocrity.   Not saying they can't do it, but they haven't yet done that.  If Brown or Gaffney break out, this becomes much less of a concern.  But until they do, we can't just blindly assume they will.

The defense flat-out sucked last year, and mostly didn't have injuries to blame.  Now we expect Howard, who has been hurt and unproductive last year, to not only become productive himself, but make Kearse productive again as well.

The linebackers, sans Trotter, well, suck.

The special teams were lousy last year- is signing a skier going to change that?

If I'm a "hater," so be it, but I cannot claim to be overly confident going into this season.

In the end, I'm going to guess... 8-8.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

ESPN Insider article. This should make this discussion much more....um.....fun.

Harrison, Smith sure-handed
By KC Joyner
ESPN Insider

One of the things I most enjoy in researching football scientifically is debunking traditional football wisdom. How many times have you seen a sure-handed receiver drop a pass, only to have the announcer say something like, "That almost never happens. He'll catch that pass 99 times out of 100."

I always wondered if that was true. Do the best receivers catch 99 percent of the passes thrown their way?

As a result, I tracked the number of drops every qualifying receiver had during the 2005 season (minimum of 40 catches to qualify). I also divided the number of drops by the number of catchable passes to come up with a dropped pass percentage.

Here are the top 20 receivers in dropped pass percentage from the 2005 season:

Dropped Passes
Player Team Dropped passes Dropped pass %
Houshmandzadeh  Cincinnati  3  2.6% 
Marvin Harrison  Indianapolis  4  3.2% 
Bobby Engram  Seattle  4  4.3% 
Jason Witten  Dallas  4  4.5% 
Steve Smith  Carolina  7  4.7% 
Scottie Vines  Detroit  3  4.8% 
Tony Gonzalez  Kanas City  6  4.9% 
Eric Parker  San Diego  4  4.9% 
K. Johnson  Dallas  6  5.1% 
Joe Jurevicius  Seattle  4  5.1% 
Eric Moulds  Buffalo  7  5.5% 
Keenan McCardell  San Diego  6  5.6% 
Reggie Wayne  Indianapolis  7  5.7% 
Lee Evans  Buffalo  5  5.9% 
Jabar Gaffney  Houston  5  6.3%
Larry Fitzgerald  Arizona  10  6.4% 
Chris Cooley  Washington  6  6.5% 
Marcus Pollard  Detroit  5  6.7% 
Deion Branch  New England  8  6.7% 
Jermaine Wiggins  Minnesota  6  6.7% 


If last season is any indication, the best receivers don't drop only one pass for every 99 they catch. The best ratio is more like one drop for every 40 catches.

It was no surprise to see Marvin Harrison near the top of this list, but I was somewhat surprised to see T.J. Houshmandzadeh rank No. 1 in this category. Houshmandzadeh is known as a very good possession receiver, but this chart shows he may be one of the best.

Steve Smith's reputation as a home run threat is well earned, but having dropped only seven passes in 150 catchable attempts shows his hands are certainly underrated.

I also found it interesting to see two Seattle receivers -- Joe Jurevicius and Bobby Engram -- in the top 20. Having two of the most sure-handed receivers in the NFL certainly was a big reason Seattle was finally able to become a championship contender in 2005.

Let's also examine how the worst receivers in the league did (also a minimum of 40 catches to qualify).

Dropped Passes -2
Player Team Dropped passes Dropped pass %
Ernest Wilford  Jacksonville  13  19.1% 
Justin McCareins  NY Jets  16  16.7% 
Reggie Brown  Philadelphia  13  16.3%  
Roy Williams  Detroit  13  14.6% 
Brian Finneran  Atlanta  11  14.3% 
Erron Kinney  Tennessee  10  14.1% 
Antonio Bryant  Cleveland  16  13.9% 
M. Muhammad  Chicago  18  13.6% 
Greg Lewis  Philadelphia  13  12.9% 
Eddie Kennison  Kansas City  14  12.8% 
Randy McMichael  Miami  12  12.0% 
L.J. Smith  Philadelphia  12  11.8%  
Alge Crumpler  Atlanta  13  11.5% 
Mark Clayton  Baltimore  9  11.3% 
Donte' Stallworth  New Orleans  14  11.2% 
Chris Chambers  Miami  17  11.0% 
Todd Heap  Baltimore  11  10.4% 
Terrell Owens  Philadelphia  9  10.2% 
Plaxico Burress  NY Giants  17  10.2% 
Ben Troupe  Tennessee  8  10.1% 


This chart shows that Ernest Wilford dropped nearly one out of every five passes thrown to him last year. Despite this abysmal drop percentage, Wilford still ranked fourth in the league in total yards per catch attempt. Most of Wilford's drops came on accurate passes, so he has a ton of upside for the upcoming season.

Two highly touted rookie receivers -- Reggie Brown and Mark Clayton -- also found their way on this list. While their drop percentages were fairly close, Clayton was actually much more sure-handed when considering the accuracy of the passes each receiver dropped.

The accuracy of a pass is a subjective measurement, but I use a set of rules to hopefully limit its subjective nature. The rule of thumb I use to grade the accuracy of a pass is whether the receiver is forced to reach behind or dive to make the catch.

I segment dropped passes into three categories. The first is an accurate dropped pass. The blame for dropping an accurate pass falls completely on the wide receiver. The second is an inaccurate dropped pass. These are passes that are thrown outside of the receiver's catching frame, but are still catchable. A receiver may not catch all of these passes but the best ones still catch most of them.

The third type of dropped pass is what I call stripped/drop passes. These are passes a receiver gets his hands on, but has the ball stripped away by the defender for an incompletion. Most scoring systems list these as passes defensed. However, since the receiver got his hands on the ball and had it stripped away, I figure it should be segmented away from the standard pass defensed (i.e., when a DB knocks the pass down before it gets to the receiver).

So how did Clayton and Brown fare in these categories? Four of Clayton's nine total drops came on accurate passes, while only three came on inaccurate passes and two on stripped passes. Meanwhile, nine of Brown's 13 drops came on accurate passes, while only four were due to inaccurate passes and none were due to stripped passes. The nine accurate pass drops tied Brown for fifth-worst in the league in that category last year.

Having a pair of good pass-catching hands is a natural talent, but as Raymond Berry proved years ago, it is also something that can be improved upon with practice. If these numbers are any indication, Reggie Brown has the most room for improvement of any second-year wide receiver.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Well, good thing we have Gaffney then.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Bunkley78         03:40:12 PM          Posting in Garcia - Eagle WR's seem like clones.

Can't wait....

[rjs246]

These WRs are totally ready for a playoff run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111

The word 'stud' comes to mind.

[The BIGSTUD]

I'll say 11-5. This team is better than the team of 2004, but the competition is better. Overall this defense is going to be a lot better than the Superbowl team with upgrades at defensive line, and linebacker.

The offense should be equally as productive, and possibly even moreso. After all, the Eagles offense was pretty much equal(statistically) from 2003 and 2004, even with TO. The Eagles don't have the weapon of TO's caliber at receiver, but they have a better overall and deeper group of young guys. Reggie Brown isn't as good as TO or even close to TO at this point in his career, but he's probably the second best receiver the Eagles had since Irving Fryar. He's going to be a go to receiver for the Eagles without a doubt.

The Eagles also have Gaffney, who's better than any slot or even #2 receiver we've had in any of our competitive seasons since Andy's come here. Pinkston is a huge question mark because of his injury, combined with the "fragile" questions. If he can't play then the Eagles need to bring someone else in to fill his role. If not, and we have to look at someone else currently on the roster to fill that role, then this receiving corps is STILL better than that of 2003.

The tight end position is as strong as it's been in years. Schobel is a better player than either Spach or Chad Lewis, and we still have LJ Smith. He has trouble hanging on to the ball sometimes, but only a fool would deny his ability as a TE to get open and catch passes. He's a weapon at tight end, that's the reality.

Then you look at the RB situation. The Eagles don't have that big pound it up the middle guy, but they feel they are fine with the RB trio currently on the roster. I tend to agree with them. Westbrook is a stud as we all know. He does it all as a RB. Moats showed a lot last year when willing in for Westbrook. He definitely has the ability to make big plays for this team. As for Perry, he's very underrated. He's runs with power, has pop when he hits you, and has speed and quickness. I like Perry a lot, and he'll be better than anyone the Eagles could've realistically picked up on the cheap, except maye Mike Anderson. If the Eagles feel they really need a big power back for a goal line situation or 3rd/4th and 1's, then the Eagles could always use Thomas Tapeh. He has a lot more ball-carrying ability than any Eagles FB we've had in a while. All they have to do is actually run the ball, which they will.

Now let's look at the offensive line. It's the best and deepest offensive line this team has had in a while. Herremans is an upgrade over Hicks, and Andrews is losing the pounds and it staying in shape. Jackson at center will be an upgrade over Fraley, and we have Jean-Gilles and Justice as depth and eventual starters on this team.

So overall, this team IMO is better than the team that went to the Superbowl. Sure, we have questions, but so does every team, and the Eagles no more than anyone else. When all is said and done, you factor in what the Eagles have compared to the schedule and the competition and I think it's an 11-5 team with the division crown.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

I'll say 11-5. This team is better than the team of 2004, but the competition is better. Overall this defense is going to be a lot better than the Superbowl team with upgrades at defensive line, and linebacker.

The offense should be equally as productive, and possibly even moreso. After all, the Eagles offense was pretty much equal from 2003 and 2004, even with TO. The Eagles don't have the weapon of TO's caliber at receiver, but they have a better overall and deeper group of young guys. Reggie Brown isn't as good as TO or even close to TO at this point in his career, but he's probably the second best receiver the Eagles had since Irving Fryar. He's going to be a go to receiver for the Eagles without a doubt.

The Eagles also have Gaffney, who's better than any slot or even #2 receiver we've had in any of our competitive seasons since Andy's come here. Pinkston is a huge question mark because of his injury, combined with the "fragile" questions. If he can't play then the Eagles need to bring someone else in to fill his role. If not, and we have to look at someone else currently on the roster to fill that role, then this receiving corps is STILL better than that of 2003.

The tight end position is as strong as it's been in years. Schobel is a better player than either Spach or Chad Lewis, and we still have LJ Smith. He has trouble hanging on to the ball sometimes, but only a fool would deny his ability as a TE to get open and catch passes. He's a weapon at tight end, that's the reality.

Then you look at the RB situation. The Eagles don't have that big pound it up the middle guy, but they feel they are fine with the RB trio currently on the roster. I tend to agree with them. Westbrook is a stud as we all know. He does it all as a RB. Moats showed a lot last year when willing in for Westbrook. He definitely has the ability to make big plays for this team. As for Perry, he's very underrated. He's runs with power, has pop when he hits you, and has speed and quickness. I like Perry a lot, and he'll be better than anyone the Eagles could've realistically picked up on the cheap, except maye Mike Anderson. If the Eagles feel they really need a big power back for a goal line situation or 3rd/4th and 1's, then the Eagles could always use Thomas Tapeh. He has a lot more ball-carrying ability than any Eagles FB we've had in a while. All they have to do is actually run the ball, which they will.

Now let's look at the offensive line. It's the best and deepest offensive line this team has had in a while. Herremans is an upgrade over Hicks, and Andrews is losing the pounds and it staying in shape. Jackson at center will be an upgrade over Fraley, and we have Jean-Gilles and Justice as depth and eventual starters on this team.

So overall, this team IMO is better than the team that went to the Superbowl. Sure, we have questions, but so does every team, and the Eagles no more than anyone else. When all is said and done, you factor in what the Eagles have compared to the schedule and the competition and I think it's an 11-5 team with the division crown.