Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

Eagles Lock Up Dirk Johnson Through 2011

Don't you just hate how the cheapskate Eagles won't spend money to keep their own players?

'Weapon X'

Slightly overproduced.  Definitely over the top.

But totally Brian Dawkins.

I've watched this about 20 times now and I am officially ready for football season.  I also can't get that music out of my head. 

It's a huge file, but if your connection can handle it, download the full-screen version.  YouTube doesn't do it justice. 

(Hat tip to mike quick for the original link.)

A Hero's Welcome For AJ Feeley

"It's startin' to come together, Pepper. It's startin' to come together." 
-- Manager Lou Brown, Major League

I talked about this a couple of days ago when news of Feeley's departure from the Chargers had just broken.  Well, the man is back.

I'll try not to hyperventilate over a third-string QB who's now been unceremoniously dumped by two franchises, but this is AJ Feeley.  He's like Mr. Grit And Good Karma.  He might, although I'll have to check, have the highest winning percentage as an Eagle of any quarterback in the franchise's history.

Can you feel it, Eagles fans?  Howard, Bunkley, Stallworth, the incredible is-he-really-this-good Baskett and now Feeley.

This thing is Coming Together Now. 

The only bad news here is that Koy Detmer was released to make room for Feeley.  It's been clear for a while now that Koy doesn't really have anything left, but he's been a true Eagle for nine seasons and we wish him well.

Todd Pinkston was also cut.

Speed Comparison of Eagles Wideouts

Just out of curiosity:

Player	40-Yard
Donte' Stallworth	4.26
Greg Lewis	4.41
Darnerien McCants	4.41
Hank Baskett	4.50
Jabar Gaffney	4.55
Reggie Brown	4.55
Jason Avant	4.62*
*Injured

That's not just a little faster ... that's a lot faster.

I know, I know, we shouldn't get too excited about the acquisition of Donte' Stallworth until we actually see him on the field making plays.  But still.

Sorry Female Eagles Fans

Jeremy Bloom will officially not be playing for the team this year.  Evidently it's going to take him more than a few months to transition from skiing shape to football shape.

Hopefully he'll be ready to challenge for a job as a punt/kick returner in 2007.  This should also leave plenty of time for him to continue his modeling career...

McNabb Tearing It Up

SI's Don Banks ranks Donovan McNabb second on his list of quarterbacks bouncing back from injuries, ahead of Culpepper, Brees and Pennington.  After watching last night's dismantling of the Packers, I don't have much problem with him putting Palmer first.  This is interesting, though:

The Eagles have scored between 10 and 20 points in all four of their preseason games, splitting them 2-2. But McNabb, while not connecting for the big play, has been coolly efficient. He's 23 of 31 in passing, for a blistering 74.2 completion rate, with one touchdown, no interceptions and a 112.7 passer rating. He has been sacked four times, and his modest 9.1-yard yards per attempt (sic) is reflective of the Eagles' search for both a downfield receiving threat to replace Terrell Owens and a running game that makes defenses respect Philly's passing game.

Ben Roethlisberger led all NFL quarterbacks last season at 8.9 yards per attempt.  Peyton Manning and Trent Green were the only other QBs who averaged at least 8.0 yards per attempt. 

That 9.1 is pretty darn good.

I Feeley a Fever Coming On

And the only prescription is ... AJ Feeley? 

They say the most popular guy in town is always the backup quarterback.  In 2002, AJ Feeley took that one step further by becoming the best-loved third-string QB in the history of Philadelphia. 

After Donovan McNabb went down with a broken ankle against Arizona, Koy Detmer was named the starter for the next game against San Francisco.  For one half, he played out of his mind, completing 18 of 26 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns.  Then disaster struck.  Detmer was taken down in the pocket and dislocated the elbow in his throwing arm. 

Out trotted the unheralded Feeley, who finished off the 49ers (even throwing a touchdown pass) and then won four of the final five games of the season as the Eagles starter, managing to slip the team into the playoffs, when Donovan McNabb was finally able to return.  In 2003, Feeley didn't play at all -- although some Eagles fans dared to suggest that maybe he should -- and at the end of the season the Birds shipped him to Miami for a second-round draft pick. 

Yesterday afternoon, Feeley was released by the Chargers after an unimpressive stint in San Diego, which followed an even less noteworthy time in Miami. 

The reaction among Eagles fans has been quite entertaining.  Check out, oh, this poll perhaps: http://www.nbc10.com/news/9753408/detail.html.

The thing is that AJ, unlike most Iggles fan free agent obsessions, actually might make sense, assuming his health checks out.  Koy just doesn't have it anymore and Chang has a future, but isn't the guy I want to count on in a year when we really have a chance to make something happen.

Besides, we miss Heather.

Wide Receiver Comparison

This offseason, five big-name wide receivers were the subject of intense speculation as to where they would end up this season: Javon Walker (Green Bay to Denver), Ashley Lelie (Denver to Atlanta), Donte Stallworth (New Orleans to Philadelphia), Jerry Porter (still in Oakland) and Deion Branch (still in New England, for now).  Throughout this offseason, the majority of Iggles fans were convinced the team should do whatever it had to in order to grab one of these guys. 

The Eagles waited ... and waited ... and finally ended up with Stallworth.  So let's look at the stats for those five guys and see how they did:

For comparison, I've taken each receiver's best season.  It's clear there are three separate tiers here.  Branch, Stallworth and Porter are all very different kinds of receivers, but their numbers are pretty similar.  Lelie is a cut below.  He's truly just a speedy deep threat, rather than a complete receiver. 

Walker -- if he comes back healthy -- is on a whole different level.  He's really, really good.  So far this preseason, he also seems to be returning to his old form.  The Eagles tried to get him during the draft, but unfortunately the Broncos had a higher second-round draft pick available, so they lost that auction. 

Considering that the Patriots want two first-round picks for Branch {chortle} and Porter is a mini-TO when it comes to his attitude, I think the Eagles did juuuuust fine.

EAGLES TRADE FOR DONTE STALLWORTH

NOW WE'RE TALKING.

Keep your TO's, Ashley's and Jerry's.  The Eagles instead got a guy who was once timed running the 40-yard dash in 4.26 seconds. 

This afternoon, the Eagles traded back-up linebacker Mark Simoneau and a conditional 4th-round draft choice to the New Orleans Saints for wide receiver Donte Stallworth.  The pick becomes a 3rd-rounder if the Iggs can sign him to a long-term extension, something you know this team will try to do.

Stallworth provides a blazing-fast deep threat for an offense that has been looking to fill that role since Todd Pinkston blew out an Achilles before last season.  The team tried -- to various extents -- to acquire Ashley Lelie and Javon Walker, before finally settling Stallworth.  In four seasons, the 25-year-old Stallworth has out up excellent numbers, despite playing for the perennially underachieving Saints:

Year	Team	G	GS	No	Yards	Avg	Lg	TD	20+	40+	FD
2002	New Orleans Saints	13	7	42	594	14.1	57	8	11	2	26
2003	New Orleans Saints	11	3	25	485	19.4	76	3	6	3	19
2004	New Orleans Saints	16	10	58	767	13.2	45	5	13	1	35
2005	New Orleans Saints	16	13	70	945	13.5	43	7	16	1	50
TOTAL		56	33	195	2791	14.3	76	23	46	7	130

(stats courtesy NFL.com)

This is huge news for the Eagles.  The Eagles gave Pinkston a chance, but he spent most of the last preseason game limping around.  This team needed one more guy, as much as we were trying to believe they had enough to compete already. Now we got him, for a very affordable price.

For more, check out the following:

• His bio on Saints.com
• Scouting report coming out of college
• PhiladelphiaEagles.com story

E...A...G...L...E...S... EAGLES!!!

Westbrook Practicing Again

Heartening news from Iggleland.  Brian Westbrook - the straw Donovan uses to stir the Eagles' drink - is back practicing after missing a few weeks with a "foot sprain."  Coach Reid said he looks to be "between 80 and 85 percent right now."

DE McDougle and DT Walker are also back at practice.  Full story over on the Eagles site.