Lack of toughness...

Whoa boy.  It's been a while since I've posted - mainly because of my busyness.

This year has been the most painful year of being an Eagles fan since I began when I was 12.  Every game hurts more than the last...

It has gotten to the point where I sincerely hope the Eagles lose every single game from now on so we can get a better draft pick.

It has also gotten to the point where there are only a few players left on this team that I like.  To this point, I am going to go through the team and say who should stay and who should go.  Given that this is driven purely by my rage at this team's lack of toughness and heart.

Offense:
Vick - Go.
Foles - Stay.

McCoy - Stay.
Dion Lewis - Who knows!?
Bryce Brown - Stay.
Stanley Havili - Stay.

Celek - Go.
Harbor - Go.

Jackson - Stay.
Maclin - Stay.
Avant - Go.
Cooper - Go.
Johnson - Stay.

Peters - Stay.
Mathis - Stay
Kelce - Stay
Watkins - Go
Herremans - Stay, but we should move him inside to right guard and get a new RT.
Bell - Go
Dunlap - Go
Scott - Go
Reynolds - Go
Kelly - Go


Defense:
Cole - Stay
Babin - Go
Graham - Stay
Tapp - Go
Hunt - Stay
Jenkins - Stay
Cox - Stay
Landri - Stay
Patterson - Stay

Ryans - Stay
Kendricks - Stay
Jordan - Go
Matthews - Go
Chaney - Go

Asomugha - Go
DRC - Go
Allen - Go
Coleman - Go
Anderson - Stay (for ST)
Boynkin - Go
Marsh - Go

ST:
Henery - Stay.
McBriar - Go.
Dorenbos - Stay.

A new year

I cannot believe it has been almost a year since I last posted something.  I was hoping this would be a forum for me to get out my thoughts around the Eagles, but I guess I was too busy or something.  Who knows...

What a crazy ride it has been!  Last year was just ugly.  From the moment Vince Young made the stupid comment about the "dream team", last season was a huge disappointment.  Very little went well last year until the last 4 games of the year and even that wasn't all that great.  Bottom line is we missed the playoffs and the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl.  Given the way we were playing at the end of the season, I'm not sure any team, including the Giants, could have stopped us.  I spoke with a bunch of my friends who are Giants fans and everyone agreed that they were really happy that the Eagles didn't sneak in.

There's no use crying over last year.  This is 2012 and it's a new year.

There is a LOT to be excited about this year.  Even more than last year, IMO.

Here's just a taste...

1. All the pieces of the offense are back.
2. DeSean has a new contract,
3. Shady has a new contract,
4. Evan Mathis has a new contract,
5. Herremans has a new contract.
6. Vick gets a complete offseason to work with the Eagles coaches, WRs, RBs, and Oline.
7. Maclin is healthy and stronger than ever.
8. We have some new WRs and RBs that could be exciting in backup roles. (More on this in a later post)
9. We lost Jason Peters (our best Olineman) for the year with an achilles injury, but we quickly signed Demetress Bell as a replacement and all signs are that he'll suffice.  Peters was a perennial all pro so he's not a replacement, but hopefully he can step in and we'll survive.

So all those guys are happy players.  Happy players make happy fans.

10. Juan Castillo (our D coordinator) has a year under his belt and considering that we finished in the top 10 in defenses, I think this D can be much improved.
11. We infused some talent at LB.  We traded for DeMeco Ryans at MLB and drafted Mychal Kendricks at SLB.  Brian Rolle (our best LB from last year) will stick at WLB.
12. We let Samuel and his bad tackling go and seem to have changed to more of a man defense, which plays into Asomugha and DRC's strengths.
13. We had a devastating pass rush and it has been improved with a first round draft pick in Fletcher Cox at DT, a third round pick in DE Vinny Curry, as well as DE Brandon Graham and DT Antonio Dixon coming back from injury.

More to come...