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July 10, 2015

Random Eagles notes: Eagles pass on supplemental draft

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071015IsaiahBattle Richard Shiro/AP

The Eagles passed on Clemson OT Isaiah Battle.

The Eagles passed on all seven of the players eligible to be selected in the supplemental draft, most notably Clemson OT Isaiah Battle. We covered Battle and his potential fit with the Eagles a few weeks ago. Instead, it was the St. Louis Rams, who have used a staggering eight picks (eight more than the Eagles) on offensive linemen the last two years, listed below (sorted by round):

Year  PlayerPos Round Overall 
 2014Greg RobinsonOT 
 2015 Rob HavensteinOT 57 
 2015 Jamon BrownOG 72 
 2015 Andrew DonnalOT 119 
 2015 (supp)Isaiah Battle OT (supplemental) 
 2015Cody Wichmann OG 215 
 2014Mitchell Van Dyk OT 226 
 2014Demetrius Rhaney 250 


In other words, the Rams basically used an entire year's worth of draft picks the last two years to fix their offensive line. The OL-needy Eagles could be keeping a close eye on the Rams to see which players shake free at 53-man cutdowns.

Football used to be ugly

With the passing of former Raiders QB Kenny Stabler, ProFootballReference.com tweeted the all-time NFL leaders in completion percentage as of 1979, Stabler's final season in Oakland:

It's crazy to think that as of 1979, only one QB in NFL history had a career completion percentage of over 60%. During the 2015 season, 25 QBs had a completion percentage higher than Stabler's career percentage in 1979.

And then there's this tweet from Michael David Smith, who notes how low NFL QB ratings were back in the 70's.

The league average was 63.6? Tim Tebow played in the wrong era.

Giants will keep Jason Pierre-Paul

According to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com, the Giants are going to keep JPP around for the 2015 season. The Giants basically have two options here: Keep him, or rescind the franchise tag and let him become an unrestricted free agent. The Giants were reportedly working toward a long-term extension with JPP before he damaged his hand, but that is now off the table. As Raanan points out in his piece via a league executive, this reeks of a GM and head coach looking for short-term results because their jobs are on the line:

"Send a message. Save the money," one NFL executive said of what he would do in this situation. "But it's a typical case of long-term interest of team versus short-term interest of [general manager Jerry Reese and coach Tom Coughlin], who need to win games now." 

Instead, it appears the Giants are going to pay almost $15 million to a player who (A) may not be in their long-term plans, (B) will not be able to participate in training camp and possibly into the season, and (C) might not be as effective without the use of all five fingers.

Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski

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