Dallas Goedert, Andy Harmon, Motorhead, Nate Gerry, a crazy Nick Foles stat, a crazier Carson Wentz stat and obsessing over the Philly Special.
It's a Wednesday edition of Roob's 10 Random Eagles Observations just for you!
1. For a team coming off a Super Bowl championship, the Eagles have done a nice job creating competition in a lot of spots this summer, and training camp has certainly felt more like a competition than any sort of celebration of what happened six months ago in Minneapolis. Three guys who've been battling this summer I'm especially looking forward to seeing Thursday night in the preseason opener against the Steelers are Donnel Pumphrey, Nate Gerry and Sidney Jones, who were all 2017 draft picks. Pumphrey literally looks like a different person. But can he carry it over to the games? Gerry is on track to replace Mychal Kendricks at weakside linebacker and has had a good camp, but Kamu Grugier-Hill, while not as stout at the point of attack, looks like a real playmaker. And Jones has done nothing to make me think he's not going to be a star. Can't wait to see those guys Thursday night.
2. One thing about Gerry - he's really fighting history when it comes to late-round linebackers making an impact. The Eagles have had some late-round linebackers start - guys like seventh-round picks Moise Fokou and Jamar Chaney, sixth-round pick Brian Rolle and fifth-round pick Omar Gaither - but none of them were very good. Honestly, the last linebacker the Eagles drafted in the fifth round or later who has been an above average player was Seth Joyner, an eighth-round pick in 1986 and an all-time great. Gerry's not Seth, but he's not Mouse Fokou either.
3. Standing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Friday staring at the Philly Special football behind a glass case I couldn't stop thinking … "Doug Pederson called a trick play where an undrafted rookie running back flipped the ball to an undrafted backup tight end who threw a pass to the backup quarterback … in the end zone … in a Super Bowl … on fourth down … just before halftime … against Bill Belichick's defense." I still don't know if I'll ever grasp just how insane that really is.
4. I'm not sure how this is possible, but no Eagles quarterback has ever thrown 25 or more touchdown passes in consecutive seasons. Among the 53 NFL QBs who have? Brian Sipe, Ken O'Brien and Aaron Brooks.
5. I try not to get too carried away by rookies at training camp, but my goodness, Dallas Goedert looks scary good.
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6. This is insane: Carson Wentz in his last NINE games last year AVERAGED 248 passing yards, 3 TDs, 60 percent accuracy and 0.6 interceptions per game. The last Eagles quarterback before Wentz with TWO consecutive games with 248 yards, 3 TDs, 60 percent accuracy and one or fewer interceptions? Would you believe Randall Cunningham against the Cards and Broncos in September of 1992? Carson averaged that over nine games.
7. There are 28 quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Only six of them have had more career playoff games with a passer rating of at least 100 than Nick Foles (Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Dan Marino and Steve Young).
8. I'll be surprised if Corey Clement doesn't catch 50 passes this year.
9. Here's another weird one: Trent Cole, a fifth-round pick in 2005, is the only player the Eagles have drafted in the last 25 years with a 10-sack season as an Eagle. Before Trent you have to go back to 1991 sixth-round pick Andy Harmon. Matter of fact, the last player the Eagles drafted in the first four rounds to record a double-digit sack season was 1987 first-round pick Jerome Brown! That ends now. I've got Derek Barnett down for 13 1/2.
10. Hey, how many people think I should choose the music at the Linc during Eagles games? Forget the vapid dance pop they play now. This is football, not a 12-year-old's bowling party. There's nothing worse than watching the defense run on the field to that "I drove my car into a bridge song." You really think that's going to intimidate the Redskins? We'll go Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Motorhead, Pantera, Megadeth, Metallica, Uriah Heep and Ozzy. If you agree, contact the Eagles at 1 NovaCare Way, Philadelphia, PA 19145.
