Philly Sports Chat

Posts Tagged ‘Jeremy Maclin’

The Eagles have a ton of potential this year and if that potential plays out there is no doubt they will find themselves at the top of the NFC East.  With each new season brings new changes to the teams roster and this off season the Eagles might have made the most significant change in franchise history by trading McNabb to the Redskins.  With that being said there are a lot of question marks surrounding the 2010 Eagles roster.  Here are the top three things I worry about (excluding depth at positions because obviously the O Line and Dbacks and Linebackers are always a concern with depth):

1. Kevin Kolb: Even if Kevin Kolb turns out to have a decent year, he will undoubtedly have his “bad” moments. The problem is that no one knows how he will handle the pressure of being the full time starting in the NFL let alone in Philadelphia.  He needs to show that the media, fans, and league off the field have no affect on how he performs on the field.
2. Jeremy Maclin’s Progress: Jeremy Maclin had a great rookie year.  He caught 4 touchdowns and had 762 receiving yards.  However the second year of a WR’s career is vital.  It’s the time when they will show a great deal of progess, or its the time when they really don’t show much difference from their rookie year (or even get worse).  Just look at DeSean.  He had an exceptional rookie season and last year he showed hes here to stay.  I hope Maclin will do the same.
3. Stewart Bradley: Before Bradley tore his ACL it was looking like he was making a push to become one of the NFL’s elite MLB’s in his future.  He has the toughness and all the assets to make offenses fear him.  The question is how will he respond to the injury?  It’s easy for him to say that his knee feels great.  To me it doesn’t matter how good he looks in OTA’s, mini camp, or actual summer camp.  I want to see him play at game speed.  I know many people who tore their ACL’s and they say its always in the back of their minds when they are playing sports.

I never like pointing out negative aspects of the Eagles but to me, these three things will be significant to the Eagles success this year.  Outside of the depth in the secondary, outside of the play of the offensive line, outside of the actual play of Kevin Kolb… these three questions need to be answered.  The thing is, we will not truly know the answer until about midway through the season.

I’ll start off by saying that I don’t see the Eagles’ losing two games in a row. We know that they’re an up and down team- showing up and dominating one week and rolling over to die the next- but it’s not like the Chargers are an elite team in this league and they don’t really worry me too much.

After a somewhat embarrassing loss on Sunday Night Football in front of over 21 million viewers, I think the Eagles’ have enough motivation to shut up their critics with a good game. The Chargers aren’t bad by any means but they don’t have the same weapons that the Cowboy’s did to shut down the players like DeSean Jackson.

The Chargers’ record looks good (5-3), but there are some holes in the team that the Eagles can exploit. They’re O-line has been bad at picking up the blitz all year and that’s something Philly loves to burn teams on. Also, they don’t seem to have the personnel needed to guard against the Eagles’ big playmakers like Jackson- look for a few big plays from him or Maclin.

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Rookie Jeremy Maclin has pure talent.  He is fast, he has good hands, and he makes big plays.   However he is only a rookie.  Everyone know how rookies fare in Andy Reid’s complex offense…not very well.  Maclin seems to be different though.  He has grasped the offense and understands it.  With Kevin Curtis being injured, Maclin last weeks stepped up and showed that he wants to play.

While Andy Reid will need to see more consistency from Maclin, I truly believe that Jeremy Maclin will continue to see himself be on the field more and more.

Last week against the Tampa Bay Bucs, Maclin hauled in two touchdowns, one was for over fifty yards.  In total he had six receptions for 142 yards.  That is three times more than his total for the first three games.  The thing that I noticed about Maclin is that his route running is improving. Read the rest of this entry »

The Eagles got the win today.  With a final score of 33-14, the Eagles displayed high intensity on both sides of the ball and showed their quick strike ability.  While it was an impressive performance, the Bucs are not even close to being on the talent level as the league elites.  However, that does not mean that todays victory did not count for anything.  Maybe the stats are a little deceiving because the opponents defense is soft, and maybe the turnovers forced won’t happen every game because an inexperienced QB wouldn’t make the same mistakes, but when taking a close look at the play of the Eagles today, I am very pleased.

First off, lets take a look at McNabb’s play.  His passer rating was virtually perfect.  He threw the ball 21 times completing 16 of them.  He tossed for Read the rest of this entry »

If you have been following the Eagles like a true fan, or simply read our last post, it should not be breaking news that the Eagles are banged up.  They are 1-1, tied with every other team in the NFC East besides the 2-0 Giants.  With the bye week coming up, the Eagles really need to go into the week off with a 2-1 record.  It will be seen as a success with the large amount of injuries, plus it will bring the teams moral up greatly.  So, with the Chiefs tomorrow, here are some things to look out for:

5. Kevin Kolb- Kolb had some good plays and bad plays in his first NFL start.  No matter how you look at it though, the Eagles lost, and struggled to put up points when it mattered.  The defense didn’t help.  However, Kolb did show some signs of promise.  Look to see if he makes progress.  With one game under his belt, he should only get better…key word, SHOULD.

4. Michael Vick- How could I leave Mr. Vick out.  While his name obviously needs to be mentioned, he didn’t earn a higher spot because we really don’t know an Read the rest of this entry »

If you were impressed by DeSean Jackson’s play last year, get ready for even more amazement this season. Donovan McNabb, Andy Reid and the rest of the team are all talking up Jackson’s performance during the Eagles training camp at Lehigh. ESPN described him as being “dominant”  in camp. Even Jackson himself has talked about how much better he feels this year than last year.

I went to camp a couple times in the past few weeks and I got to say, I agree with them. He looked great. He topped everyone’s expectations last season by almost reaching the 1,000 yard receiving mark and that was his first year in the league. Imagine how much he can do with that experience under his belt.

Let’s face it, the only thing that can get in this guys way is himself. He made a few notoriously stupid plays last year. Who can forget him dropping the ball before the end zone against Dallas or acting cocky and getting in the face of the opposing coaches?

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Dear Jeremy Maclin,

If you ever happen to stumble upon this website with in the next couple of days (which I highly doubt) please take time to read the whole thing.  PLEASE GET YOUR DEAL DONE WITH THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES SOON.  We need you.  Curtis is shaken up (again) and we simply need you to be getting as many reps as possible.  Just ask any Philadelphia Eagles fan how hard the offense is to grasp.  We’ve seen many…and I mean many players fail to get onto the field because the offense was to complex.  Being a rookie does not help either.

Brandon Pettigrew  just signed his deal and he was selected one pick later than you.  This should help you along with the orginaztion to feel out the right contract.  Heyward-Bey is the only reciever who has signed a contract.  As of yesterday, ESPN.com reported that no further progress has been made.  Quite unfortunate.  The Eagles drafted you for a reason.  They know that you can help the team… but you can’t help the team when your not at practice.  For McNabb, for the offense, for the team, for the fans…Please hurry up.

Yours Truly,

A Big Fan