Everybody’s grasping at straws for an angle on the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles…
I get that. It is the month before Training Camp opens that is the hardest stretch of the NFL season to wade through if you are looking for “Eureka!” moments…
Jimmy Kempski is busy putting up put-down pieces on the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins this week. That’s all fine and well, of course we all know things are not going to go 100 percent to plan for the rest of our divisional rivals… there will be a solid opportunity for the reconstituted Eagles team to make something happen this year in Doug Pederson’s all-important second season as head coach.
But the real emphasis should be on what we’ve got in the tank in Philly to determine our own destiny.
I dislike focusing on other teams unless we are in the hunt to recruit one or more of their better players.
That said, we got a backfield masher with a pedigree by the name of Blount this offseason.
Maybe this acquisition changes the entire dynamic of the offensive approach for coach Pederson and QB Carson Wentz? Or, maybe Blount tears a hammy in the preseason and isn’t a real factor in the Eagles offense until December? Who knows? That’s the problem with getting too high on a guy in July.
My point is, you should pay more attention to the viability of the offensive system, and less to the big-name individual piece who on paper is a great fit but is one hit away from being replaced by the next man up.
Still, I forgive Tim McManus of ESPN.com for his intense prediction that Blount could be the difference between 7-9 and 10-6 this coming season.
McManus details the essential truth about the difference Blount made for the Pats in September of last season when Tom Brady was suspended:
“With Tom Brady serving his Deflategate suspension for the first four games last season, the Patriots leaned on the ground game — and, more specifically, running back LeGarrette Blount — in what turned out to be a tone-setting 3-1 start. They ran the ball 53 percent of the time over that span compared with 45 percent when Brady was back in the fold. Blount was in the middle of it all. He averaged 25 carries and 99 yards and scored four times over the first three games, all New England wins.”
That’s true fact and history. They leaned on Blount, and he delivered.
Positioned as the lead back, he went on to set new career highs in carries (299), yards (1,161) and touchdowns (18).
“Just the number of opportunities,” Blount said, explaining why he experienced such a spike in production in Year 7 of his NFL career. “Obviously, Tom missing four games played a part in the opportunities that I had. Just taking advantage of all of them.”
It feels like a perfect storm to McManus.
“Blount, 30, finds himself in another situation ripe with opportunity. He signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles in May, joining a backfield in desperate need of a lead dog. Ryan Mathews (neck) is expected to be cut once he is cleared medically, creating a need for a physical, downhill runner to go with the lighter Darren Sproles (5-foot-6, 190 pounds), rookie Donnel Pumphrey (5-foot-8, 169 pounds) and unproven second-year back Wendell Smallwood.”
At 6-foot, 250 pounds, Blount fits the bill. He rumbled for 518 yards after first contact last season, good for sixth in the NFL, per ESPN Stats & Information. He picked up 67 first downs (fifth in the league) with a 50 percent conversion rate on third-down attempts. And his 18 rushing touchdowns were the most in the NFL since Adrian Peterson matched that number in 2009.
“Just get back to pounding the ball a little bit, just imposing your will on these defenses, being able to get Blount out there in the secondary,” Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley said about what the revamped backfield could bring. “I’m pretty sure those safeties will think twice about hitting him.”
Oh, they will hit him, Duce! What matters is who will be left standing after the hits.
Certainly Blount’s healthy presence should help the Eagles achieve a primary goal of being more run-heavy in 2017. Quarterback Carson Wentz was put in precarious positions far too often as a rookie. He set a franchise record for most pass attempts in a season (607) despite being green to the league and operating with substandard offensive weapons. Wentz attempted 40 or more passes seven times, including 60 attempts in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in early December.
That was a brutal game for any Eagles fan to witness.
Some of that can be pinned on the playcalling of head coach Doug Pederson and issues along the offensive line during right tackle Lane Johnson’s 10-game suspension, but a less-than-reliable running back group (with the exception of Sproles) was also a factor. The hope is that the additions of Blount and Pumphrey, a fourth-round pick out of San Diego State, will bring more balance to the force.
“Oh, Doug communicated it himself,” Staley said. “He talked about running the ball: ‘We’re not bringing these guys in here just to sit them up on the shelf. We want to run the ball, and we want to impose our will.'”
Impose our will… wouldn’t that be nice? I’d love to impose my will on a lot of things. I can’t even manage to imagine how that happens with an Eagles offense these days. A lot will depend on our offensive line which I am still not completely sold upon.
Blount says he has been welcomed with open arms by the Eagles’ locker room, and he has benefited from having a veteran such as Sproles teach him the finer points of the system. Asked why he chose Philly for this chapter of his career, he pointed to the upside of Wentz, and what’s possible if the young signal-caller can get a boost on the ground.
“I don’t think there was a hole I had to fill or void I had to fill,” Blount said. “It was just [about] adding a lot more weapons around Carson, giving him the opportunity to be better and grow as a quarterback. He’s a young guy. It’s only his second year — just taking a lot of responsibility off of him. I think he’s going to be a really special player, but it takes a lot of responsibility off him and what he’s called on doing.”
“They were 7-9 last year. They were pretty close in a lot of games. Carson is going to be a really good quarterback; he’s going to be something special. I think they’re building something good here, and I just want to be a part of it.”
I want it to be a fairy tale that comes true. I just have this nagging feeling that if Blount were still the guy he seems to be, why on God’s green earth would New England not re-sign him?
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