May 26, 2017
In our weekly Eagles chat on Wednesday, there were a lot of good unanswered questions that I was not able to get to, so we'll cover them and some recent emails here in an Eagles mailbag.
Question from Joe: Nelson Agholor for Kyle Fuller? Is that a fair trade?
In preparing to respond to this question, I looked at the Bears’ depth chart, and learned that they signed Rueben Randle at some point. Anyway, I’ll be kind and say the Bears’ receivers are less than inspiring.
If the Bears are basing their evaluation of Agholor on some Eagles reporters reacting to one good day of practice in May, then sure, Agholor's value is skyrocketing. If they look at his actual game tape over the last two years, I can't imagine why the Bears (or any team) would trade anything for him. In other words, I wouldn't get your hopes up on that one.
Personally, I think the swap that makes the most sense is Kendricks for Fuller, if both teams did indeed have interest.
Question from Nate: Do you think a Mike Groh growl and kick in the pants is all Matthews and Agholor need to start holding on to balls this year?
To begin, I do think Groh is an upgrade over Greg Lewis. I was impressed with him during the first practice. There was a good mix of getting on guys for not doing what they’re supposed to do, along with constant instruction throughout the day, but without the nonsense screaming of a guy like, say, Jim Washburn. Lewis was a “rah rah” guy, which isn't necessarily bad in every situation, but I don’t think that’s what this group needed.
That said, the positional coach can only do so much. Can he help? Sure. But ultimately, the players just have to play better.
Question from Papale86: If Marcus Smith is cut, do they bring in someone else at camp?
When Marcus Smith is cut, sure, they’ll fill his roster spot, but they don’t necessarily need to do so with the idea in mind that they now have some sort of hole at defensive end. The Eagles go two deep on each side with Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry, and Chris Long. When you add in a guy like Steven Means, who outplayed Smith in camp last year, along with a developmental guy in Alex McCalister, and they have plenty to work with.
With Marcus Smith contributing very little at DE, what are your thoughts on him potentially being moved to a backup linebacker spot, where they lack depth?
He’s gone.
Question from Matthew: Acknowledging that analysis in OTAs is damn near impossible, what is the easiest position to assess? I know OL and DL is the toughest.
I would say WR and CB. And even then, you're not seeing guys jam at the line of scrimmage when they're not in pads, so you can't see if the corners can press, and you can't see if receivers can beat jams.
Question from Joe: It seems like the Eagles have depth at slot CB with Robinson, Mills, and Brooks all best suited to play there. Yet, there’s alarmingly bad depth at outside corner. Why has there been more of an emphasis on having depth for a player on the field for two-thirds of the snaps than the whole game?
Joe, they just took outside corners with two of their first three picks in the draft literally less than a month ago.
Question from Nate: Who do you think will make a bigger impact on the 2017 Eagles: Shelton Gibson or Mack Hollins?
At a minimum, Hollins is going to be a special teams contributor from Day 1, so him.
Question from Can Hope Solo Play Corner: Be honest. You kind of want to troll Cowboys fans over David Irving, another defensive lineman getting a four-game suspension.
I’m actually surprised a bigger deal hasn’t been made of that. He was their best D-lineman last year.
Also (shameless plug alert), I’ll have plenty of time to troll Cowboys fans (and the rest of the NFC East, including the Eagles), in my annual Dumpster Fire series, which is right around the corner.
Question from Hinkie: Would you trade the Sixers’ 1st this year, Dario Saric, and the Lakers’ pick next year for #1 overall?
Nope.
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