NFL teams are practicing lightly so far this year, training camp is multiple weeks away, and the first preseason game isn't going to be played for months. The new defense has not been completely installed yet and neither has the new offense. We do not know whether the special teams unit will be as effective as it has been the past several seasons because Chip Kelly's practice schedule is no longer in place to provide extra reps and the overall depth chart isn't even being considered at this point because players are currently sporting shorts and t-shirts on the field. What a perfect time to predict who the surprise Eagles contributors will be, huh? Predictions like these can be really obvious even though we are so far away from the preseason. How easy would it be for anyone to pick Fletcher Cox, Jordan Matthews, Ryan Mathews, Malcolm Jenkins, and Sam Bradford for a list of impact guys to look out for? For this reason, I chose five guys who we should be paying close attention to …show more content…
but are still being overlooked at this point in the workouts; guys who are going to need to step their game up if they want to make the team or stay with the team long-term. A few of them will also need to improve if the team will be successful in any way this season. So, without giving away any more details, here are the guys I believe will need to step up their game (or prove that they HAVE game... For various reasons): 1.
JaCorey Shepherd, CB Shepherd was projected by many to be the starting slot cornerback during training camp last season before he was injured in a collision with Darren Sproles that cost him his first season in the NFL. Now, the second-year man out of Kansas has to prove his worth to a new coaching staff in a new defensive scheme and earn a spot on the roster with a crowded secondary. Shepherd has less NFL experience than most of the other cornerbacks and he hasn't played a single down of football yet, so his climb back into a starting role in the nickel isn't as likely as it was last year. However, if Shepherd can find a way to step up his game and prove he is worth the long-term investment, making the final roster for the season or, at least, being assigned to the practice squad is a win for him. All of this will be contingent on the idea that he is healthy, but there is a sneaky strong reason to believe that he could surprise the coaching staff in training camp. 2. Brandon Brooks,
G Brooks cashed in with the Eagles after a few seasons with the Houston Texans, where he quite admirably had to practice against J.J. Watt on a regular basis. On the other hand, the Eagles possibly experienced the worst performance from both its starting offensive guards in over a decade with Allen Barbre and Matt Tobin. Brooks will be slated in to play the right guard spot in between Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson to solidify a line that failed to produce a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time since 2012. The irony is that Brooks is actually a better pass blocker than he is a run blocker and is still better at run blocking than Matt Tobin is. With a new coaching staff, Brooks will be relied upon to be a consistent force up front. Let's hope he proves that his contract wasn't as crazy as everyone thought it was when he first got into Philadelphia. 3. Isaac Seumalo, G Doug Pederson has recently confused many fans and NFL analysts by labeling Allen Barbre and Sam Bradford the starting left guard and starting quarterback, respectively, during an interview a while ago. No one could figure out why a new head coach would name his starters being that training camp hasn't even taken place but the move is actually not that controversial because Pederson simply stated what we all know to be true. Isaac Seumalo, taken in the third round of this year's draft, has the potential to start for this Eagles team at left guard even though he has no experience playing left guard in college (although he did start at almost every other spot on the line at some point). However, Pederson's philosophy seems to be that the starters from last year need to earn their starting spots all over again through competition. For this reason, Barbre will have every opportunity to retain his starting role on the offensive line and Seumalo will have every opportunity to take it through some good ol' competition. Pederson seems to believe that rookies should all begin at the bottom of the depth chart and rise through the realization of their skills and that really isn't a bad idea. If Seumalo can beat Barbre for starting spot at left guard, he will have earned his job and increased depth along the offensive line. I expect that Seumalo will not only start this season but the line should have an opportunity to change its trajectory in a positive way. Competition on the offensive line isn't always the most exciting camp battle to look out for but do not take this lightly. It could turn out to be the most important battle on the offensive side of the ball. 4. Nigel Bradham, LB No one in Philadelphia really knew Nigel Bradham before he signed with the Eagles during free agency. His connection to Jim Schwartz has many fans believing that he could be a great teacher and leader when Schwartz begins to truly implement his defense. He could also be the only projected starter on defense that will be familiar with this scheme come training camp. However, Bradham needs to be more than that if this team is going to be remotely successful. His ability to cover tight ends and pursue ball carriers from the weak side will be very important to this defense as he figures to play next to Jordan Hicks and Mychal Kendricks. Hicks is expected to play well but is still a very young linebacker and Kendricks, reportedly gained weight in order play a more physical brand of football in this 4-3 defense (something he hasn't had to do since Andy Reid). Bradham is going to have to play consistently well in pass and run defense if either of his starting counterparts will be good. He has already proven he can be successful with Schwartz before. Let's hope he can do that again. 5. Nelson Agholor, WR Agholor suffered through last season with multiple nagging injuries that include a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for several weeks. Both the coaching staff and his teammates also admit that he never fully recovered from the sprain and was running routes on one good ankle for the better part of the second half of the season. Still, the former first round pick didn't need explosive numbers to prove to fans that his ability to run and catch the football has the potential to make him a viable candidate to start opposite Jordan Matthews. Agholor won't have the starting role handed to him in training camp and it isn't likely that the Eagles will run as many three receiver sets as they did last year so it is crucial that he carves out a starting role. The team has already invested a first, second, and third round pick in the receiver position over the past three seasons and if they can get starters out of two of those picks then they will not have been in vain. Agholor's talent is not in question by any stretch. However, he will need to prove he was worth the first round grade placed on him last year. His success should definitely boost this team greatly on offense.
The Rams already have a pretty stacked offensive rushing player in Todd Gurley and solid receiving corps with players like Tavon Austin and rookie Pharoh Cooper, but their quarterback position has been shaky the last couple of seasons and the three players eyeing for the position this year haven’t been too bad this preseason. Case Keenum is most likely going to start, unless he is injured or either Jared Goff or Sean Mannion just do something amazing in the last preseason game. That begs the question, what will Goff’s role be as the number one overall pick. He will most likely turn into the #3 QB and won’t make any starts this season, unless Keenum comes down with an injury. Even though Prescott will get the opportunity to start for the Cowboys, Goff will be in a better position because he isn’t on a team that will most likely finish last in their division. The Rams might be in the division with the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco 49ers, but they have a team that looks good enough to beat out at least two of these teams this upcoming year. If the quarterback position, whoever it may be, can stay solid, the Rams have a great opportunity to even make the playoffs. Jared Goff will be able to learn a lot quicker when his team is winning games instead of losing them, but this doesn’t mean that Prescott won’t be a great
on the team. In the Rams debut season they went 1-10-0. I know what your
The injury that Boobie Miles acquired was a torn anterior cruciate ligament(ACL). A serious injury that changes athletes forever. Boobie and his uncle L.V. opted to use a knee brace and go through rehab to be able to play.
American football in the past several years have really developed, not only from the fans perspective but also from the players and the official heads. Safety is the most important topic talked about in all sports but it is a must in football, especially because of the way the game is played with all of the tackles and hits. It is really important not only for the players to be safe but also the officials to keep it safe. Both players and officials play a key role in making the game of football safe and interesting to watch for the fans and a great experience for the players as well. As said in the Denver Post, players are expected to play with the rules…coaches are expected to teach…and game officials to emphasize the rules. The game of football, in the NFL, is safer than it has ever been because of the rules, penalties and the equipment.
players around the NFL. The number of athletes that protested would increase from a couple on each team to nearly all of them. With the only exception being, the Dallas Cowboys. Who as a team took a knee prior to the anthem, but would all stand during it. This was due to the owner Jerry Jones why has said that no player will sit or take a knee on his team or he would cut them, but more on that later. Then there was one other person that would not join his team in protest. That person was Pittsburgh Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva. Who is a former United States Army Ranger.
Do you think media coverage of the National Football League is fair? The media has been interfering with players personal life and it is not ok. Such as the incident with Johnny Manziel, Jerry Rice, and Adrian Peterson. Johnny Manziel committed domestic violence against his girl friend, Jerry Rice punched his girlfriend, and Adrian Peterson committed child abuse. In addition to those crimes there have been many more. These issues have all dealt with law breaking, and media tells the public. This is interfering with player careers, it’s putting pressure on the NFL, and also affecting many youth football leagues. The media coverage of the NFL’s problems is not fair because the NFL has bigger problems to worry about, players are leaving teams, and parents are not letting there kids play football.
Despite a dominant 40-10 win against the San Fransisco 49ers, it is not all good news for the Dallas Cowboys looking back on Sunday evening’s showing. The Dallas Cowboy’s lost All-Pro kicker, Dan Bailey, mid game, due to a groin strain in his kicking leg. It was announced this morning that Bailey could be out for several weeks while recovering.
Mascots are beloved figure heads for sports teams everywhere almost every sport team has a mascot of some kind; that said, sometimes instead of bring people together it can cause a rift between two cultures. Such as Washington’s D.C.’s football team the “Redskins” often the word redskin was a derogatory word used against the Native Americans and while it may seem as though paying homage to the Native American community the overall stereotyped actions of the fans themselves as well as the sugarcoating of the previously racial slur has done little to bring the two cultures together and instead created a larger disconnect between white and Native American. The name Redskin should be retired and replaced so that rather
You should have in mind what players you want on your team. You should research all the player’s statistics from the previous year and see if they are consistent with his being a reliable player. You should look at his past injuries and research the significance of them. You should keep up with the NFL news to see which players that were traded or injured. You should also look at the player’s schedule because whether he is playing against a hard or easy team could affect his performance. Finally, you should read fantasy magazines and, most importantly, you should listen to what all fantasy experts are suggesting that you
What event brings a crowd to a mega sized event that roars louder than a concert? How this phenomena became one of the most popular sports that involves numerous amount of physicality? To answer both questions only requires two words.
For years, the debate over who the most productive fantasy players were in a given era was fixated on the top-rated running backs. With a gradual change in play calling philosophies, that trend has shifted dramatically since 2010. Such a dramatic shift - that now getting a top tier wide receiver is a higher draft priority than stocking up on ball carriers. However, since 2010 a few NFL fantasy superstars have been consistently the best point producers.
When looking for an argumentative visual I wanted to do something over a topic that was one day going to relate to me. So I chose the topic of young male children playing tackle football. In this PBS Learning Media documentary, a group of doctors persuasively discuss the effects of allowing a male child under the age of fourteen to play tackle football and the head injuries it can cause as well as the later effective of their growth they can encounter if a hard blow to the head was the happen. The documentaries argument clearly stated that allowing your children to play tackle before the age of fourteen is dangerous and should be avoided for the child 's safety. The film also successfully utilized many rhetorical appeals that convinces parents to reconsider their idea of allowing their son to participate in tackle football. The first rhetorical appeal used in the film was pathos, it was a video clip of a child on the ground hurt because of a hard hit to the head. Another rhetorical appeal used was logos when they interviewed doctors from highly respected fields to state their factual
No, there's got to be something going on in that room. Something to keep Arizona from franchising him, something to scare off the rest of the league. "We didn't even have him on our board," says a Redskins exec, whose team needed a receiver this winter and opted to pay Laveranues Coles a $13 million signing bonus. Laveranues Coles? He's half this guy's size and doesn't run any faster.
In my 8 or so years of playing football I’ve often heard coaches liken the job of the linemen to that of a soldier fighting in a trench, pushing, attacking, and struggling for every inch of the battlefield that is the line of scrimmage. Of course, the job of a lineman is far less dramatic and glorious than that description makes it out to be, most of our job is just keeping the defense at bay so the quarterback and the rest of the backfield has time to get a play off. Unfortunately for us offensive linemen, the defense has a much larger bag of tricks when it comes to the actual clash, they can grab, pull, or simply spin by while the O-line is relegated mostly to pushing with shoulder and hand. This can make things difficult if, for instance
Are high school sports beneficial or not for students? I personally believe if a student is in a high school sport they’re forced to prioritize between school and their sport, and at a young age I believe the student would decide to use his time to improve in his sport instead of school. Which in the long run would affect his academics, unless they decide to stay up late and work on their homework to keep up with both school and their sport. But, even like that in time the lack of sleep would catch up to them, and cause them to do even worse in both academics, and sports. High school sports are like the lotto in my opinion, many play but only a few get rewarded for their work. Therefore, high school sports cause more negativity than positivity.