Eagles Eye View from Down Under…

There’s a young man in Australia who loves his Eagles and has earned his wings.

While the rest of us veg out watching the Pats and the Falcons battle it out for King of the Hill this Sunday, with a melancholy notion of “maybe next year” for the Eagles, our Australian correspondent Ben (aka Benoni Watt, aka Beanstalk, aka Ranga Timing) is actively plotting their future. Here is a lift from his recent essay on how to improve the Birds right now, and his ideas start with the notion of drafting a mountain of a tight end named O.J. Howard (6-6, 242, Alabama) and/or offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk (6-6, 313, Wisconsin) as the best players available to the Eagles in the 2017 Draft :

“Why is O.J. Howard such a great fit for Doug’s Offense? WHEN they have Matthews in the slot, they want to exploit up the seam or underneath that route with Ertz…..Much the same way Witten and Beasley of Dallas run option routes in that area.. Go, curl, out route etc, just get open past the 1st down marker…and leave it to Dak to decide in a split second which way to go with the ball….but they have Zeke’s running and Dak’s more nimble scrambling as the twist, but also Dez. (He’s an after-thought, because you saw how long it took for Dak to build up confidence to choose that progression, when taking off on foot was his bread and butter. Note to league— screw Dez, spy Dak).

“Ertz and Matthews are Wentz and Doug’s “safety blankie” AND “nightlight” on Must Convert downs…followed by Sproles. Teams figured that out a month into the season, which coincided with Lane’s suspension and Vaitai’s Kerrigan-prison-raping [in the first Redskins game]. Doug gave him NO help that game to start with, he stubbornly stuck to his 30 scripted plays, confounded why there simply wasn’t enough time for the play to develop….the result was that the safety blankie got soiled with TE’s and RB’s having to chip-block to help, from the 2nd half and for most of the middle of the season, leaving Less Time to develop a play and becoming MORE one Dimensional and obvious. Once RT settled, the playbook got opened up again SLOWLY….and if you saw some of the innovative formations, with a TE and two WRs on one wing for example, and paid genuine attention to just how random some of those play designs are, you would cut your tongue out for saying ‘Matthews is just a slot WR’. So what is Ertz, a slot TE?…Heck, they lined HIM up at wideout plenty, maybe heez a #1 WR in a TE’s body? Frankly, WHO CARES where they all line up, as long as they catch the ball when they get open, and keep the opponents guessing….

“JMatt is getting to the size and tenacity, were he could start muscling like Anquan Boldin when the ball is in the air. You can see it in him as he is growing. He’s pissed off and wants success. Adding a Vet with some diplomatic skills, instead of the boyhood immaturity that DeSean exhibited when he was here, may be a significant consideration…it really depends on how well Doug knows DeSean. A lot of noise is out there about how HE has changed from getting dumped by Chip the way he did, and his character assassinated. He may be able share how he has dealt with bad press and image with these young guys. Or steer them completely off-course on an Ego trip. Gangster Rap album owner, being invited over for Bible study with JMatt, Ags and Wentz? Where da hoes at…right? Regardless, Kareem Hunt, Howard and Djax, added to Ertz, JMatt, Burton, Sproles, Smallwood and DGB…maybe even Ags grows a set. And we have an Offense that will give Defensive coordinators pause (if not fits!) and Open that 300 play playbook to its fullest potential.Yay!!…

“But for me? It all still comes back to the basics….O-line Depth and a GOOD back-up QB. That’s why it was so valuable to get Vaitai and Seumalo blooded…now we got experienced Depth….But if Peters goes down or retires, are we going to wait till the last moment to find a solution? THAT is why I could see Ryan Ramczyk as the other BPA along with O.J. Howard. Get him blooded at guard or spelling Peters… rebuild for another year… There is one bright spot that may result in that being unnecessary, taking an LT in the 1st round. That is, we have Stoutland back to his best post-Chip coaching….and an Ex O-lineman scouting guru drawing up the draft board in Joe Douglas. One would think they SHOULD be able to sniff out some great O-line prospects that are Steals in the late rounds, like Vaitai…who I grudgingly admit, appears to be an upgrade on Dennis Kelly, but he has got to show a lot more before you anoint him anything better than a Swing Tackle for a ceiling.

“Much the same as “The QB Ranch” of Doug, Frank, John and clip-board Chase, should be able to turn say, Chad Kelly, into the next Foles/Kolb/Vick, who can win games and develop trade value and be a genuine contingency plan in a Superbowl run. Why? So we don’t flop on the end of Wentz’s rookie contract year, like Derek Carr and the Raiders just did in the Playoffs and have to start cutting guys, veteran guys to pay their Franchise QB. 5 Years of planning for their best season in 20 years, flushed down the drain because they didn’t have a decent back-up QB. Poor bastards!!!! So LEARN from it and our O-line collapse. This is about the 3rd season out of the last seven, I think, where O-line injuries(suspensions) screwed our entire season. FFS… Can’t wait to see the way it all pans out, OUTSIDE of my obsessed head!! Go Eagles!!!!”