When my sister-in-law (Villanova alumna) was raising her infant son Luke, she was obsessed with the concern that the little boy would choke on his food. She became famous in the family for the slogan “Little Bites, Luke!”
Welp, the 2016 Eagles are in their own “Little Bites” phase right now— making some seemingly minor moves and transactions prior to the big all-you-can-eat meal they hope to devour on Draft Weekend (April 28-30).
For instance, the team just signed a converted linebacker to play a true fullback in Doug Pederson’s offense. But in the overall scope of things, that’s a Little Bite—because even if he makes the final roster, he is unlikely to touch the ball much and will probably play most of his snaps on special teams.
Pederson said he wanted to add a fullback to the roster. So he signed former UDFA 6-foot-2, 260-pound Ryan Mueller to a non-guaranteed two-year contract this past week. Mueller is better known as a linebacker/ST guy with the San Diego Chargers and a collegiate linebacker and defensive end at Kansas State. So the move may seem like a head-scratcher—until you understand that Pederson is simply looking to add a fierce lead blocker and pass protector to his offensive backfield formations.
In theory it could be an effective tweak—but I will not be surprised if it is a purely situational device based upon down and distance.
The real focus should fall upon hybrid tight end/fullback Trey Burton to line up in the backfield if you’re looking to get offensive production out of the fullback position. But— Anthony Sherman played fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs last year when Pederson was offensive coordinator. Sherman carried the ball just once all season and caught four passes for 34 yards. So there is no historical precedent for Pederson’s intent to use a true fullback for ball-skills, which would kind of suggest playing Trey Burton back there would be a waste of Burton’s real potential on offense.
In recent Eagles history, we had zero fullback employment in the Chip Kelly years (2013-2015). Prior to that, Andy Reid had used true fullbacks in different ways. Leonard Weaver got a ton of offensive touches in addition to his blocking assignments; then, it was the Beer Truck (Owen Schmitt) whose main job was to block and rarely touched the ball.
Another “Little Bite” by the Eagles to consider—they announced there will be an open kicking competition between Cody Parkey and Caleb Sturgis.
Parkey injured a groin muscle last summer—then, after three games (in which he made 3 of 4 field goal tries), Parkey tore the groin muscle again. He was placed on injured reserve and missed the rest of the 2015 season. The Eagles then signed Sturgis, who had spent the previous two seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Sturgis missed a field goal in his first game, a 23-20 loss at Washington. The Chippah decided to stay with Sturgis, and he went 18 for 21 over the rest of the season.
To his credit as a gentleman, Sturgis has said he feels the job should belong to Parkey—it’s a kind of kickers’ fraternity code of honor thing where guys stick up for each other after an injury.
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MACH 10 Draft Challenge plunges on…
Feel free to drop your Livefyre post which lists at least 10 names but no more than 12 names of guys you think the Eagles will draft in Chicago (April 28-30). This is the 10th annual MACH 10 Challenge. You have until midnight of the morning of April 28th to enter the battle.
Here are the past winners of the MACH 10 Draft Challenge, the greatest Eagles fan contest of them all— (official EYE/Brizer-sanctioned version):
2007……….M. “FANNY” HARRIS
2008……….LEO PIZZINI
2009……….M. “FANNY” HARRIS
2010……….GK BRIZER
2011……….J.B. “SAGE-LION”
2012……….~BROZER
2013……….DON PARDO
2014……….KENNY KENEMEKA
2015……….~BROZER
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