Programming Notes And Thoughts On The Future

So you may have noticed I haven't taken much part in the "now what" discussions that are always so popular after the final meaningful game has been played each year.  That's partly pragmatic.  I was pretty much offline from Friday morning through early Monday when I got home after my (much delayed) redeye flight back.  That left me -- in order -- very tired, very busy at work and quite behind in my parenting duties.

Not too mention somewhat depressed by how this whole thing sorta fizzled out there.

But there are a couple other factors in play here, as well.  The first is that I'm frankly a little worn out.  According to the little equation I just typed into Excel, I started this blog 901 days ago.  In that time, I've churned out 1,408 posts, read through 5,647 comments, and deleted dozens of spam "trackbacks" before I finally realized I should just turn that crap off.

If there were an easy way to figure out how many posts I've written since, say, August, I'd look that up too.  Really though, knowing the exact number wouldn't change the underlying point that it's been a lot.

All of which is to say that things are going to slow down a bit here for awhile.  I don't know how much or for how long, but it will be noticeable.  I'll probably even -- shudder -- skip posting some days, especially once things really slow down at the NovaCare in a week or two. 

I realize this will annoy some of you all.  Sorry about that.  You guys are Eagles fiends (in the best possible way), what can I say.  At least sign up for the feed over there on the right so you can keep tabs without having to stop by every day. 

But there's at least one benefit.  Freed from the need to ALWAYS keep track of and chime in on the DISCUSSION OF THE DAY, I may even have time for more of those long-form analytical pieces that used to be a higher percentage of what we did around here.  So that's cool. 

Also, and I'm not going to say anything publicly until it's actually locked in, since I don't trust this guy to not just go off and start taking sandwich pictures again, but we may have some pretty cool news coming up for the IgglesBlog that's going to make this place even better, by adding a third voice to the current dialogue (me and you).  I'm really looking forward to that and if [insert appropriate and lengthy caveats here] it happens, I think y'all are going to like it too.

With all of that said, you know I'm not going to just head out without making my contributions to the current offseason discussion, so let's hit that now.

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What I liked about this year's team.  Now that the Eagles lost, it's unfashionable to talk about the positives, but really, there were a lot of them this year.  In no particular order:

1. Donovan McNabb having one of his finest seasons ever at the ripe old age of 32 (an age I'll be exiting this coming Sunday), staying healthy the entire season, and proving you can teach a new dog old tricks by changing the way he plays the position to avoid all those sacks and nasty hits in the pocket he used to take.
2. DeSean Jackson exceeding our wildest expectations for what he could do in his first season as a pro and blasting a permanent hole in the idea that rookie wide receivers can't be big-time threats in this offense.
3. Stewart Bradley for blowing away another Eagles' myth by proving that playmaking linebackers actually do have a heck of a lot of value in this defense.
4. Quintin Mikell for shutting up know-nothing writers like me who focused on things like 40 times and draft position in our worries about his ability to make the transition to starter.
5. Jason Avant for finding his role and seizing it.
6. Dan Klecko for being, if nothing else, one hell of a gamer.
7. David Akers for rediscovering his preternatural ability to kick footballs a very long distance in a very straight line.
8. Todd Herremans for showcasing the value of hard work. 
9. Chris Gocong for finally finding his way to the lightswitch.
10. The entirety of the defensive line rotation.  These guys are fun to watch.  They never, ever give up on play.  How many times this season did we see a guy like Howard or Parker making a tackle 20 yards downfield?  That just doesn't happen on every team out there.

Beyond that, you have to give Andy Reid and his locker room a hell of a lot credit for never giving up this season when all the smart money was saying it was time to pack it in.  Look, it wasn't a perfect season, mistakes were made, blahblahblah.  When the chips were down, these guys showed up and fought for every inch.  This is a very different team than even the 2005 squad was.  And for that we should be grateful.

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What I think we need to do in the offseason ...

... About the offensive line. 

Obviously, the line wasn't good enough this year.  It's hard for those of us on the outside to isolate how much of that was simply the absence of Shawn Andrews, but I think we can rest assured that the people who matter know exactly how well the two old bookends played this season.  If they think they need to make a change, we'll know soon enough.

What's weird, though, is that a lot of people seem to be forgetting the Eagles have 10 offensive linemen on this roster not named Jon Runyan or Tra Thomas. 

I understand the appeal of getting a top-shelf tackle prospect early in the first round, but my sense is that you're really talking about a small percentage of the league's offensive linemen who arrive that way. 

The vast majority of these guys are dudes who have the requisite athletic ability, sure, but who also have 1) the brains to learn complex systems, 2) the willingness to completely rebuild their raggedy college-level techniques, and 3) the desire to work their butts off to get into that starting lineup. 

The reason the Eagles have drafted all those big eaters the last few years wasn't just to stash them on the roster and piss you off.  It was an understanding that the two All-Pros were one day going to retire and they better have some backup plans in place for that point.  So rather than rush out and blow picks on a guy who may or may not pan out, let those half dozen dudes fight it out in the trenches of Lehigh, and let the best men win.

I think there's an added benefit to opening this competition up as well.  If you re-sign Runyan and Thomas -- which might happen and would not be something I'd oppose without more information -- you're basically telling guys like Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles and King Dunlap, "The second string is where you're headed this year, so no need to kill yourself this offseason training."  I think the salutory effects of competition could work wonders with some of these young guys who might be the future of this team.  (Particularly for Jamaal Jackson, who should be having the public fires lit under him some time in the next month or so to get him to finally show up in better shape next year.)

Tell me, right now, how upset would you be if the Eagles went into the 2009 season with a starting line of Herremans, Cole, Jackson, MJG and Andrews?  Honestly, I'd find that pretty exciting.  There's a lot of potential there.

... About the wide receivers.

You might find this surprising, but I don't think wide receiver is even a top three need for this offense.  If Jackson works as hard this offseason as he has the past year, this is a pretty good unit. 

Oh sure, I'd love to see another stud out there catching passes from McNabb, but looking around the league, most of the good options seem to be locked up and the guys who may be available are all damaged goods.

Something obviously needs to "happen" with Reggie Brown.  Either he gets with the program or he goes out the door, but either way he's not helping us right now.  And there's no point in using up a roster spot on Greg Lewis.  He's a fine NFL player and by all accounts a good guy -- and yeah, you have to be careful mucking with the chemistry -- but it's time to fill that fifth WR spot with a young guy with a higher ceiling. 

... About the fullback position.

Bring in a guy to make it a competition in camp, but seriously, does anyone out there think Dan Klecko isn't going to be working his tail off this offseason to become a better fullback?  I wouldn't bet against him.

... About the tight end position.

Soooo, Brent Celek.  Again, he's decent enough player.  He catches the balls that come to him and runs hard after the catch.  He even had a very nice postseason run, although the true measure of a player is what he's able to accomplish after the defense starts paying attention to him.

The problem is there's a certain "Dhani Jones halo effect" about him, in that the guy who starts at his position is so universally despised that most Eagles fan think there's no way the new guy could be worse. 

My big issue with Celek, though, is that he's not really great at any one thing.  He's a decent pass catcher and a sub-par run blocker.  Either one of those would be fine in isolation, but together it's not a great combination.  And frankly I'm tired of watching other teams' tight ends slapping around our defensive ends while our guys are getting planted into the turf next to McNabb. 

If Celek's not going to be a great blocker, then why not bring in a more athletic guy who could provide the same lack-of-blocking, but also be a truly exceptional athlete on the route-running side of things?

It seems to me the Eagles need to fundamentally re-think the way they attack the tight end position.  Keep Celek as the #2, fine, but bring in a Manumaleuna-type road grader as your #3, and make a run at an athletic #1 guy who can provide another riddle for opposing defenses' to solve in the middle of the field. 

... About the running back position.

I said it last year and I'm saying it again.  This offense is incredibly dependent upon the home run hitting abilities of its franchise running back.  It's time to bring in another one of those.

I'm not saying we need to take that on in the first round.  As BFH pointed out to me in an email yesterday, the running back position was something of a sure thing in the first half of last year's draft. 

Although I would quibble with the emerging talking point that the Eagles need a "big" back -- had one of those, didn't really work.  What the Eagles need is a home run threat.  A guy who can scare defenses with the five carries a game he's likely going to get, but also step in and be an every-down guy in the games Westbrook can't go. 

I like Buck.  He's a heck of a character guy and a fine running back, but the perfect complement to Brian is a guy who can score any time he touches the ball.  At this stage of his career, Buck isn't that guy.  I'd love to see them keep him, but if he really wants to play a bigger part of an offense, he probably needs to go somewhere else. 

... About the defense.

Honestly, not much.  Bring back Dawk, because they're going to pry those pads out of his cold, dead hands and it would kill us to watch him anywhere else.  Beyond that, draft for depth and find out what we have in this Ikegwuonu character.

I will say, however, that I'm not sure I'm sold on the Akeem Jordan experiment.  The guy did a nice job taking over for Gaither in the regular season, but check out the way he disappeared in the postseason, especially against the two power-running teams. 

Jordan's problem is always going to be his size.  Remember the way Mark Simoneau started out so well, then wore down as the season went on because he wasn't that big?  I'm worried we'll see that again next year from Jordan, which isn't a great thing in a division with Barber, Jacobs and Portis. 

I like Jordan as an Ike Reese type, but we all remember what happened with Reese when he went elsewhere to start.

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Last bit of housekeeping here.  It's been a very long time since I refreshed my blogroll over there on the right.  I wanted to point out Eagles Perch, a new addition to the list, as well Sportsdork, where our friend BFH makes his regular home.  Seriously, check 'em out.

Also, it's ... sigh ... almost baseball season, so it's time to start checking out Balls, Sticks & Stuff again.

Go on, I'll catch up in a few.  I just -- I just need a minute alone with the casket.