January 25, 2019
Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
After a bad 2017 season, Isaac Seumalo proved in 2018 that he belongs as a starter in the NFL.
In our Eagles chat earlier this week, there were a lot of questions that we could not get to in time or other questions we did answer but could use more color. And so, let's do a mailbag post to answer some of the overflow.
Question from MFlick: Who are the candidates for the “He is not a bust” award, a.k.a. the Agholor Award?
Well, to begin, if you don’t mind, I’d like to give proper respect to the “Not a bust” OG, Brandon Graham. Maybe this award should be named after him? I don’t know. That’s up to you.
Looking back to last offseason, the guy I offered up for this award was Isaac Seumalo, and he came through! (I also noted Elijah Qualls and Donnel Pumphrey as possibilities, with little confidence.)
This year I think the obvious choice is Sidney Jones, who I’ve seen some fans sour on. Jones has legitimate talent, and if he can stay healthy, which is now a legitimate concern, he can be a good player.
The other player I’ll offer up with very little confidence is Shelton Gibson. Wide receivers can take a year or two to get their sea legs in the NFL, so maybe the third year is a charm for him? Again, I’m personally not holding out much hope there.
Question from EaglesItl: Is it crazy to think that Avonte Maddox, Cre’Von LeBlanc, and Rasul Douglas played better than Jalen Mills, Ronald Darby, and Sidney Jones?
No, that’s not crazy at all. I think there’s a decent argument that they did. The silver lining to all the injuries the Eagles suffered in their secondary led to LeBlanc joining the roster, Maddox showing all the versatile things he can do, and Douglas making significant progress as a pro. With the way those three guys played down the stretch, perhaps they saved the Eagles from unnecessarily taking another corner early in the draft.
Question from Drew: With nine draft picks, some upcoming free agent departures, and a tight salary cap, do Howie and Joe need at least 3 starters out of this draft class?
That depends on what you mean by starters.
If you can find three long-term starters in a draft, then you had a great draft. That might seem like a low bar to clear, but when you look both at the Eagles’ drafts and other teams’ drafts around the league, it doesn’t happen that often.
If you’re looking for three rookies to step in and show that they are good enough to start immediately on an already very good roster, then I think your expectations need to be tempered a bit. I do think that if they can find three guys who can make meaningful contributions as rookies, like Derek Barnett, Corey Clement, and (to a lesser degree) Mack Hollins did during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, then that would help a lot.
Question from Timm: Which fan base is a bigger group of babies, the Vikings or the Saints?
That’s not even close. The Vikings’ fan base is WAAAAAAY worse. I mean, if that exact game played out in Philly the same way it did in New Orleans, especially if it happened before the Eagles won a Super Bowl, I can’t even imagine what the reaction would be in Philly to that no-call.
Question from Jarred: Does the idea that Foles being one of the universally-loved players in the locker room give the front office pause to consider keeping him? Wentz is the guy, but when you factor in team chemistry and Carson’s trade value, a tiny part of you has to consider it, right?
So I’ll answer that like this. If I’m Howie Roseman, and I’m just sitting in my office watching some DE from Wyoming and my phone rings with an offer of five first-round picks for Wentz, then yes, I’m certainly considering trading Wentz and keeping Foles.
Anything short of that, and Wentz is the undisputed quarterback going forward.
Question from a boatload of people on Twitter: Why have you still not commented on the Wentz story?
I did. I started the chat with commentary on it.
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