Random Commanders Thoughts

[RexTomb]

Yeah our division is tough. The Eagles are obviously the team to beat, but it’s not like we had an easy time with Dallas or New York last year.

I’m somewhat worried about New York, I think they had a strong draft, and I think that Skattebo in particular going to be problem for our defense.

Assuming we don’t backslide, those two games against Philly to end the year will be the real test of where we stand.

My prediction is that Saquon will start the year strong, but he will breakdown at some point. The dude was run into the ground last year and I forget where I saw it, but there's a stat out there that RBs who run the ball 300+ times in a season rarely stay healthy or are as effective the following year.

 

[HOF44]

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My prediction is that Saquon will start the year strong, but he will breakdown at some point. The dude was run into the ground last year and I forget where I saw it, but there's a stat out there that RBs who run the ball 300+ times in a season rarely stay healthy or are as effective the following year.

Plus his health history hasn’t been great. Last year was a bit of an anomaly.

 

[Hail Raiser]

Yeah our division is tough. The Eagles are obviously the team to beat, but it’s not like we had an easy time with Dallas or New York last year.

I’m somewhat worried about New York, I think they had a strong draft, and I think that Skattebo in particular going to be problem for our defense.

Assuming we don’t backslide, those two games against Philly to end the year will be the real test of where we stand.

Yeah, those are going to be championship level games for sure. It's like we're back in the 80's and I'm here for it.

I think the Giants are better, because of Russ's cheesy ass. He's going to feed Nabers like a 300lbs infant.

 

[Hail Raiser]

My prediction is that Saquon will start the year strong, but he will breakdown at some point. The dude was run into the ground last year and I forget where I saw it, but there's a stat out there that RBs who run the ball 300+ times in a season rarely stay healthy or are as effective the following year.

Let's hope so, but I think his second half of his career is going to be special. That offense is littered with borderline HoFers and they work really well together. They are the best blocking team in the league, by far. When your QB is a legit down field blocker, you know it's a focal point and he's running behind the best OL in the league. I could see if he was crashing into walls on most of those 300+ carries, but he's not. The point I was making earlier is that Barkley, the OL, most of the team is already working their asses off together on one of the least injured teams in the league.

We're one of the least injured as well last year. I hope it's because of our S&C program and trainers and not luck.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Why is Noah Brown a lock? He did catch that Hail Mary, but he is on a one-year contract, and he has only had over 40 catches once in his seven year career.

I figure McLaurin and Deebo are the top two. After that I think it is wide open. Lane and McCaffery should get some advantage because of their upside, but the three vets are all guys who have caught hundreds of balls in the NFL, so I figure the competition should be good.

Noah Brown was the #2 last year until he got hurt. He was better than all the other receivers except McLaurin.

You add Deebo, Noah drops to #3, but he might actually line up outside with Deebo in the slot.

He was very good for them last year and I don’t think any other WR is taking his place at this point.

 

[burgold]

Plus Noah was not only effective as the number two receiver, I think he made the running game go. I really don't think it was a coincidence that the running game fell off a cliff after he got injured. He was so good at blocking the cbs and holding stopping pursuit.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Noah Brown was the #2 last year until he got hurt. He was better than all the other receivers except McLaurin.

You add Deebo, Noah drops to #3, but he might actually line up outside with Deebo in the slot.

He was very good for them last year and I don’t think any other WR is taking his place at this point.

I’m not sure I agree Noah Brown was “very good” and “better than all the other receivers” last year. OZ had more catches, more yards, and more touchdowns. Crowder had more touchdowns. Dyami Brown was the biggest contributor in the playoffs. And everybody except John Bates had a higher catch per target percentage (Noah’s was 62.5% which is consistent with his 59% career number). Not to dog on the guy too much, but I just don’t get the love for him. We’re talking about a guy who averages about 35 catches for 350 yards and 1 TD per season over a 7 year career.

So I didn’t see Noah Brown as the second best receiver last year, I saw him as part of a committee of several wideouts who were good contributors but nowhere near good enough to be WR2. And judging by the addition of guys like Deebo, Gallup, and Jaylin Lane, it seems I’m not the only one who saw the need for better WR play.

As I said, I see an open competition after McLaurin and Deebo, but if pressed I would put them in this order:

1. McLaurin
2. Samuel
3. Brown/Gallup/Osborn
4. Lane
5. McCaffery

Pick which one of the vets you want to keep at 3, probably go with Brown because he was here last year and seems like a good culture guy, but they’re all about the same to me, and no way would I keep any of them over Lane and McCaffery who at least have some upside.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and a couple guys will have such a great camp and preseason that they’ll make the choice easier. Maybe we’ll decide to keep 6 of them. But I seriously doubt we cut either of the youngsters.

 

[Chris]

I’m a sucker for behind the facemask stories. The Frankie Luvu story.

 

[DWinzit]

^^^That was awesome Chris , thanks for posting it

 

[Hail Raiser]

Our WRs sucked last year, so saying Noah was the best of the bunch isn't exactly a compliment.

Hard to tell if he was any good, because he didn't play very much.

 

[burgold]

WIth as effective an offense as we had, I reject the idea that our wide receivers sucked. They definitely overperformed expectations, but by no measure did they suck. Honestly, our wide receiver corp reminded me of prime year Brady and the Pats receiver corps. On paper, you would never want them, but on the field they got the job done week in/week out.

 

[DWinzit]

Our WR group definitely didn't scare teams last year outside of Terry. We got lucky picking him up as late as we did. That only occurred because he was cut by the Texans, not good enough to make their roster. He also missed a number of games and injuries have always been prevalent in the football career.

We did also get lucky with Dyami having a couple big games late.

 

[Faithful Fan]

I agree with burgold that our WR committee was actually productive even if the individual players weren’t stars. We also got good receiving production from TE and RB. Credit Daniels and Kliff for doing a good job spreading the ball around.

Honestly, I would have kept Dyami, who seemed to finally break out with his 14 catches in the playoffs, and maybe OZ who was the second leading WR statistically. But the team must have a reason for going with Noah, Gallup, and Osborn.

In the end, I fully expect the unit to be productive again, but also much improved with the addition of Deebo and Lane.

 

[Bulldog]

To me McCaffrey has not shown the flashes or upside as of yet that would make me believe he is necessarily going to be a core player here.

Some of the optimism to me is his name and draft position.

If his name was Ed Smith and he was drafted at #100 with what he did in 2024 most would think he is a special teamer and backup level performer in NFL.

 

[burgold]

I agree with burgold that our WR committee was actually productive even if the individual players weren’t stars. We also got good receiving production from TE and RB. Credit Daniels and Kliff for doing a good job spreading the ball around.

Honestly, I would have kept Dyami, who seemed to finally break out with his 14 catches in the playoffs, and maybe OZ who was the second leading WR statistically. But the team must have a reason for going with Noah, Gallup, and Osborn.

In the end, I fully expect the unit to be productive again, but also much improved with the addition of Deebo and Lane.

I don't think they have any serious hopes for Osborne. After all, they signed him late last season and he never made it on the field. Not during the last few weeks and not in the playoffs. Compare that to Crowder who kept finding ways to be inserted onto the field. Osborne never showed enough in practice to take snaps away from OZ, Crowder, etc. Likewise, Gallup was signed more as a favor than as a solution. Gallup has come back after retirement and might make some noise in a bare cabinet receiving room. It would be best for us if both Lane and McCaffrey showed enough potential and production that both Osborne and Gallup wind up roster cuts.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen.

 

[burgold]

To me McCaffrey has not shown the flashes or upside as of yet that would make me believe he is necessarily going to be a core player here.

Some of the optimism to me is his name and draft position.

If his name was Ed Smith and he was drafted at #100 with what he did in 2024 most would think he is a special teamer.

Can't disagree with that even though I want to be hopeful about him. I do think Luke flashed a bit as a kickoff man and I remember hearing people announce how he was always open early in the season, but that for whatever reason Daniels never targeted him. Now, I don't know if he wasn't open because he was not where he was supposed to or if he wasn't targeted because he was read number four after McLauren, Brown, and Ertz. With the line we had, it's unlikely Daniels would ever make it to the fourth read before bailing out and doing a quick check on the run for a dumpoff or bomb to McLaurin, Ekeler, or Ertz downfield.

 

[Faithful Fan]

To me McCaffrey has not shown the flashes or upside as of yet that would make me believe he is necessarily going to be a core player here.

Some of the optimism to me is his name and draft position.

If his name was Ed Smith and he was drafted at #100 with what he did in 2024 most would think he is a special teamer.

This is a common take on Luke McCaffery, but it seems off base to me. For one thing, his name is not nothing, it’s a pedigree. He comes from a family of great athletes, including both a father and brother who were All-Pro NFL players, and an Olympic medalist on his mother’s side. I wouldn’t discount that.

His draft position is not nothing either. You don’t give up on a third round draft pick in his second season unless he is a complete bust or you’re changing regimes, neither of which applies here.

I’m not sure what people expected, but he wasn’t so bad. He had a better rookie season than a guy like Dyami Brown, who got four years to prove himself, or a guy like Noah Brown, who most here regard as a safe bet to make the roster.

Maybe you’re right that he won’t ever be a core player, but at least give the guy a chance to play out his rookie contract before you give up on him.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I agree with burgold that our WR committee was actually productive even if the individual players weren’t stars. We also got good receiving production from TE and RB. Credit Daniels and Kliff for doing a good job spreading the ball around.

Honestly, I would have kept Dyami, who seemed to finally break out with his 14 catches in the playoffs, and maybe OZ who was the second leading WR statistically. But the team must have a reason for going with Noah, Gallup, and Osborn.

In the end, I fully expect the unit to be productive again, but also much improved with the addition of Deebo and Lane.

I wouldnt pay Diyami what he got paid. Which is why he probably wasn’t resigned.

I think you might be sleeping on Noah Brown. He played the outside position across McLaurin almost the entire season, led the league up until he was hurt with pass interference yards, and was a beast in the run game. He was very good for then and they missed him when he left with injury.

I’d have to look up the exact numbers but I know when he got injured, he was the second leading receiver on the team. OZ’s production came on late, as did D. Brown’s.

I am surprised they didn’t keep OZ. I think they wanted to, but with N. Brown’s back, and Deebo, he might have just assumed his opportunities would be very limited. Then they drafted a guy and McCaffery last year. So from his perspective, I see why he would like to move on.

What I think would make this offense absolutely brutal to defend is if they had more speed at TE. Ertz had a renaissance season. But he doesn’t run the way he used to. If they could stretch the field from the TE position, they would add an element which is really missing. And it would help the run game as well.

We’ll see. I think they have a chance to be even better this year but we’ll see.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Can't disagree with that even though I want to be hopeful about him. I do think Luke flashed a bit as a kickoff man and I remember hearing people announce how he was always open early in the season, but that for whatever reason Daniels never targeted him. Now, I don't know if he wasn't open because he was not where he was supposed to or if he wasn't targeted because he was read number four after McLauren, Brown, and Ertz. With the line we had, it's unlikely Daniels would ever make it to the fourth read before bailing out and doing a quick check on the run for a dumpoff or bomb to McLaurin, Ekeler, or Ertz downfield.

I think what you’re going to see the coaching staff do with Luke is put him in a spot and let him develop there. They asked him to learn all three positions last year. And he only played WR for 2 years in college.

I think patience with Luke is the key. But I think they need to stick him in a spot and let him master that one spot. I also think they are smart enough to know they need to do that.

 

[skinsmarydu]

Well, I was in my local convenience store yesterday in my Alfred Morris T-shirt and a female Eagles fan wished us luck---"Ya'll got one hell of a quarterback"...I couldn't even bring myself to tell her that my very high dollar tickets were already secured for the Falcons game