Looking Backward, Forward for Asante Samuel

Since yesterday was Presidents Day, it seems like a good time to reflect on the Eagles own self-proclaimed president, Asante Samuel.

Samuel has had an up and down relationship with Philly fans since he arrived in 2008. First he was an overpaid slacker, then an interception machine with a fun and outsized personality, and then a few more missed tackles landed him back on the negative side of the ledger. Through it all, though, Samuel has been a one of the best coverage cornerbacks in the NFL.

Take a look at his stats with the Eagles:

While 2011 was a down year for interceptions, Samuel really hasn’t shown any decline year over year. In some ways he was the best cornerback the Eagles had last season.

Did you know that Samuel has more interceptions before age 31 than any other cornerback in the last 20 years? And many of the guys just below him (Champ Bailey, Aeneas Williams, Ty Law, Deion Sanders) managed to play well through at least a few years of their thirties.

All in all, I’m relatively bullish on Samuel’s potential to remain a high value coverage corner in the next few years. If his game were built on speed and physicality, you might project more of a dropoff. But Asante has always been an interception artist, rather than a complete player.

However, it’s a near certainty that Samuel will get to play out the remainder of his career in a different jersey. The Eagles explored trade possibilities for him last year, but never pulled the trigger (even turning down a second round pick from Detroit). After a year of turmoil in the secondary, Howie Roseman has little choice but to ship Samuel out this time, probably for no more than a third round pick.

When that happens, Asante’s play and his personality will both be missed.

Photo from Getty.

Inqy & DN Sports Editors: Papers Won't Miss a Beat

Josh Barnett and John Quinn, sports editors for the Daily News and Inquirer, respectively (to The 700 Level):

We will have a group of writers whose work will exclusively appear in the Daily News, a group of writers whose work will exclusively appear in the Inquirer and a group of writers whose work will appear in both papers. Everything in the print editions — and much more — will appear on philly.com along with new content that is being finalized.

What we have identified as “beat writer” information — game stories, transactions, injury updates, etc. — will be shared between the papers and handled by one writer per beat although we will supplement that one writer with other staffers to add depth and perspective to that information in both print and online.

On a macro level, this kind of change definitely makes sense. The basic game recap or minor news story doesn’t need to be written up by a reporter at each paper. Giving guys like Les Bowen more time to write analysis rather than chase quotes is a positive development.

Still, I wonder about the long term ramifications of combining the two newspaper staffs. Eventually, if you get on well enough with one shared beat reporter, you start to wonder if you can combine the other roles too. By the time the next budget cuts come down, it’s the two groups of columnists/analysts who become redundant. Hopefully the readership will continue to demand more content and sports coverage won’t suffer.

Evan Mathis, Man of the Internet

Soon-to-be free agent guard Evan Mathis did an AMA (ask me anything) post on Reddit. Fun questions and answers abound.

Where Did the High-Flying Pass Attack Go?

I’m not sure what happened to the Eagles vaunted quick-strike passing attack of 2010. And after combing through some of the stats from last year, I still don’t have a good read on it.

Let’s just take a minute to compare Michael Vick’s passes of 20 yards or more over the last two years, courtesy of Pro Football Focus:

The numbers show a complicated picture. By some measures, Vick’s deep passes were as good as they were a year prior. Yards per target and per reception were almost identical. The interception rate was similar, and completion percentage actually bumped up to 50 percent.

On the other hand, Vick’s touchdown rate dropped precipitously from 12.3 percent of all deep passes to just 6.3 percent. There were also seemingly fewer opportunities downfield — Vick’s percentage of throws 20 yards or greater fell by more than a third.

What about for DeSean Jackson, Vick’s frequent target on deep passes?

DeSean received a higher percentage of deep targets (54.2 percent vs. 44.6 percent in 2010), but his reception rate went in the opposite direction. A few drops here, a few bad passes there caused his yards per target figure to drop as well.

The odd thing about Jackson’s numbers is the interceptions column. Notice anything? Yes, all four of Vick’s interceptions throwing deep were targeted at Jackson. I’m not sure what to make of that. Was Jackson not putting in the effort to go get the ball? Was Vick forcing the ball to his top target? Whatever the problem, is it fixable?

It may be time to go back to the tape.

Photo from Getty.

Inquirer and Daily News Set to Merge Coverage

Mike Armstrong, for the Inquirer:

Under the plan, some elements of sports coverage, arts and other features stories, city and suburban reporting, and various editing functions would be coordinated and shared, Wischnowski said.

The same story might appear in both newspapers.

For example, the papers’ sports departments intend to have one editor in charge of reporters from both staffs covering the Philadelphia Phillies, another for those covering the Philadelphia Eagles, and so on. Two reporters may still cover a Phillies game. However, one may be “digitally focused,” Wischnowski said, posting news and video interviews to the Web, while the other may concentrate on a story for print.

Make no mistake, this is going to be a sad offseason for journalism, and especially sports journalism, in Philadelphia. With four beat reporters, a bunch of columnists, and the Philly.com mavens covering the Eagles right now, “redundancy” is a scary word.

Update: A source tells The 700 Level that “there is only going to be one ‘beat writer’ per team going forward and that existing beats will either be reassigned or eliminated.”

Roseman: 'People Call and Your Phone Does Ring'

Howie Roseman on Asante Samuel’s situation:

“Whenever you have a surplus at a particular position there are talks around the league. People call and your phone does ring and that’s happened in the past couple years by our quarterback situation and so I think there are particular position on our team that maybe we had a surplus at and I expect the phone calls to be active. In terms of talking about a specific player or position obviously I stay away from that. But we’re always open to phone calls and to seeing if something works and really if there are win-win situations for particular teams and particular players we’ll look at that.”

It was nice knowing you, Pres.

Mayock: Kuechly a Slam-Dunk for Eagles

Les Bowen, reporting on NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock’s comments:

“(Kuechly’s) playmaking and instincts are so good, think about Sean Lee. I think that’s the best comparison for him. Sean Lee went in the second round to Dallas (from Penn State, two years ago), but has become a Pro Bowl inside linebacker, and I think this kid is very similar. He doesn’t have the knee issues Sean had, and I think he’s a slightly better athlete,” Mayock said.

“If he’s not there, I think you’ve got a little bit of a problem inside,” Mayock said. “I don’t think Don’ta Hightower, from Alabama, is worthy of the 15th pick in the draft, and I don’t think there’s any other inside linebackers worthy of that pick.”

Especially with the hard fall of Vontaze Burfict, the drumbeat for Kuechly to the Eagles gets louder by the day.

Drafting Linebackers Not Named Luke Kuechly

Tommy Lawlor:

Football has become more and more of a passing league. The emphasis on size has gone away. Teams need a SAM to be someone that can hold his ground on run plays that come at him, but that can be done by a 6’1, 240 LB. The key now is for him to be able to hang with TEs, based more on athleticism that just size. Teams are now moving TEs around so if that happens with the SAM on the field, he must be able to play more in space.

This is just the introduction to a great breakdown Tommy has over on Scouts Notebook of the best SAM linebackers in the draft. Check it out. It makes a lot of sense to address middle linebacker in free agency, perhaps with a player like Stephen Tulloch, then shore up the outside spot with an early pick of Zach Brown or Keenan Robinson.