The Eagles Offseason Thread(all aboard the Brian Finneran bandwagon)

[Eagaholic]

I had the distinct impression from things Reid has said that he pretty much relies on Heckerts recommendations on drafting after the first or second round.

If you think about it, Andy Reid - Head Coach and Executive Vice President of Football Operations - has delegated play calling to MM, JJ does the defense, Banner handles everything on the contracts and money end, and Heckert is in charge of overseeing the scouting and draft process. AR is basically left in charge of Game Clock Management.

[Rome]

Reid is a notorious micro-manager.  Even if he has ceded some of his responsibilities he's still the sort of control freak who  has his hand in every important decision that affects the franchise at least in terms of the football side of it.

Heckert's a paper tiger at best.  If that's so and another organization is willing to give him veto power of the sort that Reid has, then he really should go. 

[Eagaholic]

No doubt Reid has final say and is ultimately 'the decision maker' on the football side. Even when he was on leave tending to his kids problems he was still in touch on a regular basis. But I do think Heckert is a major influence, not a paper tiger. After day 1 of the '06 draft (getting Bunkley and Justice) Reid was so happy he uncharacteristically let his guard down when asked about trading up in the 3rd to get Gocong. He explained how Heckert "coached me up" on the choices still on their board and their best options of trading up to get Gocong. Basically  he wasn't that familiar with some of the guys still on their board. My impression is that he likes to focus on the first couple of rounds in particular, interview the guys he wants etc. but relies heavily on the input of Heckert's group. I believe I've heard AR and Heckert both say in interviews that Reid welcomes opposing views but most often they are on the same page anyway. Which can also be a bad thing imo when a group is so much on the same page that nobody is able to see the collective blind spots. 


     

[The BIGSTUD]

FWIW from Spadaro:

I think they will consider WRs.  I think, however, that either a trade or a draft pick is more likely than a FA WR.

Looks like they aren't planning to pass off Berrian or D.J. Hackett as a #1 if they decide to upgrade...

Good. Signing Berrian or Hackett is a huge mistake. They are average WRs.

[Magical_Retard]

FWIW from Spadaro:

I think they will consider WRs.  I think, however, that either a trade or a draft pick is more likely than a FA WR.

Looks like they aren't planning to pass off Berrian or D.J. Hackett as a #1 if they decide to upgrade...

not that what he said means anything but i see that more as them drafting a WR in the 2nd or 3rd round. i do not see them attempting a trade.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

FWIW from Spadaro:

I think they will consider WRs.  I think, however, that either a trade or a draft pick is more likely than a FA WR.

Looks like they aren't planning to pass off Berrian or D.J. Hackett as a #1 if they decide to upgrade...

not that what he said means anything but i see that more as them drafting a WR in the 2nd or 3rd round. i do not see them attempting a trade.

Yep.

[Rome]

The receivers are fine.

[ice grillin you]

kevin curtis got 1000 yards
hank baskett has two 80 yard touchdown catches

[SD_Eagle5]

Heckert: Don't expect major changes

By REUBEN FRANK
phillyBurbs.com

On the one hand, Eagles general manager Tom Heckert knows the Eagles have to get better. On the other hand, he thinks both starting lineups will return virtually intact in 2008. "We can definitely upgrade our team," Heckert said during a chat yesterday at the NovaCare Complex. "We need guys to push our starters. But I think we're very close to the top teams in the league. We beat one of them (Dallas) and had a pretty good shot at beating another one of them (New England) without our starting quarterback.

"There's definitely room for improvement, but I think we're talented enough to get into the playoffs."

The Eagles went 8-8 this year and missed the playoffs for the second time in three years after going to the postseason five straight years.

The only starters not under contract for next year are tight end L.J. Smith and fullback Thomas Tapeh.

Heckert said the Eagles will consider placing a franchise tag on Smith to retain his rights. That would be a guaranteed one-year contract worth about $41/2 million.

"When L.J.'s healthy, he's a good football player," Heckert said. "We like him. We saw (Brent) Celek can come in and play, and if L.J.'s back, it's a real solid group."

Heckert said he's happy with the returning veteran safeties — Brian Dawkins, Quintin Mikell, J.R. Reed and Sean Considine — but said cornerback will be an offseason priority.

"We need help in the secondary," he said.

But wholesale changes? Don't look for them.

"What starters do you want us to get rid of?" Heckert said. "Name them."

When it was suggested the Eagles could upgrade at defensive end opposite Trent Cole, Heckert said, "If Juqua Thomas isn't starting, then you've got Victor (Abiamiri), who's going to be a real good player ... I think we pressured the (heck) out of quarterbacks the second half of the year. You'd always like more sacks, but I think the pressure was pretty consistent throughout the year."

When it was suggested the Eagles could upgrade the interior of the offensive line, especially at left guard, Heckert said, "I think those guys played pretty good. Shawn (Andrews) missed most of training camp, Jamaal (Jackson) was up and down but I think he played pretty good the second half, and once Todd (Herremans) was healthy, he played pretty good. He's not going anywhere."

And when it was suggested the Eagles could upgrade at wide receiver, Heckert said the Eagles will consider adding a proven big-play guy but said that's easier said than done: "If there's a guy out there, a difference maker, we'd be interested. It's not like we're averse to doing that at all. If a guy like that is available, we'll talk about it.

"But Kevin (Curtis) and Reggie (Brown) both had career years. Kevin went over 1,000 yards and Reggie caught 60 balls. ... We think Jason (Avant) is a good player, every time Greg Lewis played he made plays, and Hank (Baskett) didn't play as much because of Jason, but we like Hank.

"We like our guys. We think we've got a good group. Do we have somebody who's going to catch 110 balls? Probably not. But in this offense, I don't think anybody's going to do that anyway.

"If an impact guy (is available), we'd look at him, but they're not falling off trees."
Some more snippets from Heckert:

With Lito Sheppard constantly hurt, what's the plan at cornerback? "Will (James) is a free agent and (Joselio) Hanson is unrestricted, so at the very least we have to get some bodies in so we have somebody who can play if Lito (Sheppard) goes down — or Sheldon (Brown). When Lito's healthy, he's good. It's just a matter of him staying healthy. I think he'll be back and be all right, but it's a position we do have to look at."

Jevon Kearse is gone, right? "We have not made that decision at all. That may be his feeling, but we think when he's healthy he's a good player. Obviously, he wasn't very healthy. He's coming off a significant (knee) injury. That was a major deal. If he is back, I think he'll be more productive. But it's definitely not a foregone conclusion he won't be back."

When do you have to start preparing for life after veteran offensive tackles Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan? "If both those guys play next year the way they did this year, we'll be all right. Winston (Justice) played pretty well that last game (vs. the Bills) when Jon got hurt, so that was good to see. And we still have the option of moving Todd or Shawn out to tackle."

How do you get better in the Red Zone? "We have to do some things differently. We did move the ball, but we didn't score as many touchdowns as we needed to. Whether we need different personnel or it's schemes — it's probably a little bit of both. Obviously, we need to get better there."

Are you convinced Donovan McNabb can return to his Pro Bowl form? "There's no reason he can't. Thirty-two for a quarterback is nothing. If he's healthy, he can definitely be the guy. Early in the season, he couldn't do the stuff he's used to doing — getting out of the pocket and running around and buying time. The last few weeks, he was back to his old self."

rfrank@phillyBurbs.com



January 3, 2008 6:27 AM

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

I literally felt sick reading that.  It's some of the worst tripe ever.  I'm not even going to bother singling out the worst of it, because it's all so awful.

[Rome]

LOL - Heckert = Barney Fife.

I agree that Curtis & Brown are fine as 2 & 3 receivers.  He seems to be suggesting that getting a true #1 is impossible or at least very difficult and if that's the case, if that's truly what he believes then he's in the wrong business.  All it takes is astute talent analysis, free agent money, or simply taking a chance on a guy who's had problems elsewhere.  Since they don't have the first ability, spend free agent money like misers, and are scared by the T.O. thing, there really doesn't seem to be any chance of them upgrading the position.

Oh, and thanks for cramming Lewis, Avant & Baskett down our throats, Tom!  Get the sickle cell and die, you farghead.

[Feva]

"There's definitely room for improvement, but I think we're talented enough to get into the playoffs."

disgusting.

[ice grillin you]

that has to be a parody article right?

they wont upgrade juqua's spot because they have victor abiamiri??


he thinks they are talented enough to "get in the playoffs"...way to aim high there


lol @ the curtis 1000 yards propoganda...we will hear that 1000 times this offseason

winston justice is fine because he played "pretty well" against buffalo in week 17...but no mention of the giant game of course?...if youre gonna use individual games to make a blamket statement about someone shouldnt you use the good and bad games

how many times is pretty well or pretty good stated in that piece....is that the level of play that has become acceptable now...

the impact wr's dont fall off trees line is horrible too...no shtein they arent easy to get thats why you have to be creative and go out and get them...basically they are saying we wont get into a bidding war with anyone for any player...either hes right in front of our noses for the taking or no thanks we are fine with what we have

and probably the most insulting comment in the whole article is when he condecendingly asks "what starters to you want to get rid of?..."name them"

farg you icehole...as if the eagles were the patriots this year...you were 8-8 and yet no starters are replaceable??....

what the farg is going on here

[SunMo]

but they beat dallas once!  they must be good.


that 3 game win streak to end the season is all they are going to think about all off season

[Rome]

The party line that's emerging is that injuries or players recovering from injuries is the prime factor in a 10-6 playoff team falling to 8-8.

The reality is they've woefully overrated their own talent and like any dictatorship they're loathe to admit any culpability in the disaster that they've created.

I honestly think that Heckert is obfuscating through that entire article if for no other reason than there's no logical way he can believe the unending stream of bullshtein he spewed.  I mean, there's just no way.

PS: The Kearse thing was hilarious.  That line was like a key in deciphering a code of misinformation.  It's so preposterous that it couldn't possibly true.  It's like he deliberately put that in there just to let everyone know he's lying about everythig else.