WhitewalkerInPhilly

I know. It's nice to talk about, you know, football rather than the latest rumor about whether Brady's jock strap is deflated.

I already got that from KDS73

Well, I guess that ended about as well as could be expected. No jail time for Kromer, he's present for the installation of the blocking schemes for most of training camp when it's important he be there, and the Pegulas avoid scandal with a punishmental they worked out with the league. I won't say anyone "won" in this debacle, but it looks to be over.

When word first broke, the word was that the trade would be Foles for Bradford and a 2nd round pick. That made sense as rumor was Chip was trying to trade up for Mariota, and Bradford, the 20th pick and 2 second round picks would have been a nice package. Then word came down that it was Foles AND a second round pick for Bradford. *headdesk*

Hmm, that does give me am idea. Are you familiar with the Big Nickel, where you put in 3 safeties instead of an extra CB? I could see taking Duke, who is a quintessential box safety and subbing out a LB like Lawson. It looks like our nickel, but then you bring in Duke as the WLB and A. Williams as SS. Similar effect as the normal 46, but you have some coverage flexibility.

I'm not trashing the guy, but I think it's ludicrous to think that he's exempt from scrutiny. I'll take on the other points one at a time. 1) I don't blame Chip for not cutting Cooper, or not benching Cooper after the incident. I blame him for letting the issue linger to the point where there is resentment three years after the fact. That's a locker room issue and he is responsible. 2) You're really going to tell me that the Eagles cut a WR coming off a Pro Bowl year, and Howie Rosman had absolutely no input from Chip, with whom Jackson had a bad relationship with? That it was completely a football decision? Suuuuure it was. 3) Last season, Vince Wilfork asked to be released fron the Patriors. He's now sitting with a 2014 SB Championship ring. Players ask for it all the time as negotiating tactic. The thing is, the teams hold all the power. Chip had no obligation to grant it, and unless you honestly think Mathis would not play rather than collect 5.5M dollars all you've done is create dead cap and lose a excellent player in a position of need. 4) you're right in a way that we won't know how his moves will shake out yet. But every indication so far is that he's acting like it's a college program, and the NFL is a business. Right now I'm looking at a team with a starting QB who hasn't played a full season in three years, a hurry up offense that has gaping holes at guards, no clear #1 receiver and a secondary with one decent proven safety and one decent proven CB. We'll see but I certainly think he's made plenty of miscues so far.

Ok. Who would you sub out for nickel and dime packages if we have a 46 base?

Even if we aren't, I can see Rex trying to be. Having his dad hold a legacy for a defense in the conversation of GOAT has to be a part of Rex. If Rex just cared about winning, he could have gone to the Falcons or hung around for a year to find a team with an offense in place that just needed a boost on defense to win a title. Instead he came here, where he has the pieces to maybe, maybe, build a historic defense.

Well, I think no one is able to run it in its pure form 100% of the time anymore. The second the offense hits the 46 with a 5 receiver formation... But as OC pointed out, we might have the personnel to use it effectively in a lot of situations (2 TE 2 WR 1 RB, 2 WR 1 TE 2 RB, maybe 3 WR and the Balco formations like Roman uses)

Re:OC IN BUFFALO Do you think that Rex would use a modified version? As much as I love Dareus and Mario, Dareus really isn't a zero technique player and Mario isn't a 3 technique player. Would they maybe shade Dareus at the 1 and Mario at the five?

Maybe both? Because of its weakness against speak attacks and no huddle, the 46 would almost certainly be a subpackage, or at least build in adaptations for 5 and 6 DBs right? It would be interesting to see how it fits with our base personnel and then ask who might get rolled in. I could see maybe rolling Carrington to the 3 or 5 technique while having Hughes act as SLB.

To be fair, Chip is good at scheming the offense and drawing up plays. And they have a strong front 7. But their DB group as a whole is a weak link. Agholor has drawn comparisons to Woods: a very polished route runner with decent size and speed. But you don't build an offense around him, like we did with Sammy. They'll probably pile points on teams with bad defenses (especially bad secondaries) but you cab only go so far doing that. Their brutal losses were against Seattle, Arizona and San Francisco because those defenses shut down the offense. And when you go 3 and out doing the no huddle... I'm actually a fan of Gargano on the mornings.

To be honest, I think Innes might be worse. I don't like Cataldi, but his crew usually makes up for him. Innes tends to scream a lot and shuts down anyone he disagrees with. He's so bad that he drove legitimate broadcaster Tony Bruno into retirement from radio.

I'm just thinking, if this is something Rex would be trying to do frequently that would explain some of the comments we heard from Mario and Hughes in the offseason that seemed contradictory. Mario said things were rather similar while Hughes said that things were different. In the 46 Mario's role would be identical while Hughes would be moving from the 7 or 9 technique to the 5.

There is a very good article to read if you have time: http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/guide-to-n-f-l-defenses-part-6-the-46-defense/?_r=0 To sum up, it's what Rex based a lot of his scheme on, as in a 4-3 hybrid. You have the personnel of a 3-4 line, where you have a nose tackle and 2 three technique players. Then, you have a DE on the weakside 5 tech and have the strong side and weakside linebackers lining up on the strong side while the Strong Safety comes into the box to act in place of the WLB. I believe Rex was doing a modified version with Dareus shading at the 1 and Hughes playing 5 tech. The end result is that you have incredible pressure to bring on the QB and very strong run D. The reason you don't see it as much is that you need a pair of shutdown corners since you have only one safety back to help. West Coast offenses shred it, and you need to sub players for 3 and 4 wr packages.

Did I miscommunicate? I meant that, other than QB, Whaley has had a rather good track record

Not to mention that it looks like he's hit on every draft pick except the 7th rounder this year.

Obviously we should be a little worried. He had a very good year last year and I would want him back. That said, as others have mentioned, our injuries at CB are why we drafted Darby. While optimally I would want him to get his feet wet at nickel so far Darby has looked amazing in camp. I am happy to give McKelvin time to recover so he's full speed when he gets back.

I'm not going to lie, I'd be hyped. RGIII is never going to be a precision passer but I'd take him over anyone we currently have. Gruden is trying to make him a pocket passer which he'll never be. He'd absolutely work with what Roman did with the wishbone in SF.

I'm conflicted because I also like the Eagles. There's a blue collar feel of the fans like we hace, and any team which creams the Cowboys, Giants and Skins is alright in my book. That said they've been pretty annoying fan boys over Chip the past 7 months. Every roster move is genius, and every player who didn't sign or was cut or traded sucks because they "didn't fit the culture". I'd like to see them knocked down a few pegs.

Have we seen any sign that Washington would let RGIII go? Granted, I'm all for it and even with his injury history I think he would work well with this offense, but I haven't heard any trade rumors. In fact, didn't they just pick up his option? Purely hypothetical, but what would you offer for him?

Yeah, WIP is really buying in, aND so are most of their callers. But they're crazy if they think they're winning 14 games.

I could see that. They play in a weaker division, but the play the Pats on the road (with Brady). Also, their high speed offense has a weakness we know all too well: when it goes against a really good defensive team and stalls, it really stalls and you gas your defense. And they play the Cardinals, Jets and Bills. I've been saying it all offseason, but I like how we match up with them. Unless their rookie WR makes a huge leap, they don't have any receiver I'd be afraid to leave in single coverage. Chip has gotten rid of both his starting guards without an heir apparent, so I fully expect Dareus and Kyle to have their way with the interior.

That is what Philly sports radio is saying. I'd take that wager as well. My personal guess is that after all of Chip's moves, and those bridges burnt they'll settle right back to 10-6. Again.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the Eagles won't have a losing season. But local media is predicting 12 wins and a playoff win. If they have another 10-6 year, if Bradford isn't everything they've hoped for I have to think there will be backlash.