Pass Blocking Efficiency, from Peters to Kelce

Considering how much fun we had the last time we talked about offensive line play, we might as well go back to it.

Pro Football Focus calculates “Pass Blocking Efficiency” as a percentage of plays in which offensive linemen prevent quarterback pressure. Sacks are weighted more heavily than hits and hurries, but they all count.

Here are the numbers for the Eagles starting linemen last season:

I listed the players in order of their Pass Blocking Efficiency, but truthfully that doesn’t quite give you the right context. 95 percent might sound good, but you have to prevent the quarterback from pressure the vast majority of the time if you even want to see playing time as an offensive lineman.

For a more accurate picture, look at the ranks on the left side. Those numbers are where the player stands among all those at his position (tackle, guard, or center) who played at least 50 percent of his team’s snaps. Therefore, even though Evan Mathis has the highest raw score, Jason Peters was ranked higher among his peers. He scored 5th-best among tackles, where Mathis was 11th among guards. Presumably that means that Peters’ job is more difficult.

Todd Herremans ranked 35th with 94 percent PBE, but that’s not as bad as it might sound. 58 tackles qualified with more than half of their team’s snaps, so he is below average among all of them. On the other hand, he still scored better than the majority of “second” tackles, so I suppose there’s a positive way to look at his performance. Danny Watkins, at 43rd out of 55, looks worse than Herremans on this measurement.

It was Jason Kelce that really stood out to me, though. At 30th overall, he was the single worst center measured. I was critical of Brian Baldinger’s comments that Kelce was having a Pro Bowl year, but that was based solely on my own impressions. These numbers certainly back me up though. In fact, Kelce’s 33 total pressures allowed was 10 more than the next highest center.

Assuming Mathis returns to Philly, it looks like the left side of the line will be more than fine. But everyone from Kelce on down the right side definitely has room for improvement in 2012.

Photo from Getty.

Ray Diddy, Master Internet Troll

Ray Didinger:

If Jeff Lurie really is the risk-taking, outside-the-box owner that he professes to be, he should sit down with his cabinet today and say, “Let’s talk about this.” You don’t get the chance to bid on an all-time great quarterback very often and when you haven’t won a championship in more than half a century – and your team has made a habit of coming up just short year after year – then you have to seriously discuss this.

Peyton Manning would take ownership of this offense in a way no quarterback in the Andy Reid era could. That could very well make it better in the critical fourth quarter, clock-ticking-down moments when the Eagles so often break down. All those wasted timeouts, all those valuable seconds lost with the quarterback waiting for the play to come in from the sideline, it all would be a thing of the past with Manning running the show.

It solves everything!

Judging Alex Henery's Rookie Season

The big change in the Eagles kicking game last offseason made headlines, but the story largely fell by the wayside as we took in the 2011 Eagles horror show. Time to bring it back.

When the Eagles let David Akers go last year, I pegged him as an average kicker at this point in his career. While his accuracy under 50 yards was still good, other kickers had overtaken him in the distance department. Before 2011, Akers had gone five years without making more than 40 percent of his attempts over 50 yards.

So, it was with a heavy heart but a rational mind that I accepted the selection of Alex Henery in the fourth round. Akers went off to San Francisco and by the end of the season both players actually had very solid years:

Just to remain with Akers for a moment, he really enjoyed playing in the warm air of San Francisco. He made more field goals beyond 50 yards than he had in the previous six seasons combined. Oddly, his accuracy from 40-49 yards dropped instead.

On the other hand, Henery’s numbers are difficult to judge, if only because he kicked so few field goals. He attempted 27, which was tied for third-fewest in the NFL among kickers playing all 16 games. He also had just six attempts all season beyond 40 yards. Henery did well from that distance, but it was such a small sample size.

I’m not completely surprised by his lack of distance attempts. When I attended games in the press box, Henery’s warm-ups suggested his leg needed to get stronger. Practice attempts from 45+ yards were at best a 50-50 shot, and almost always because of distance, not accuracy. Akers became a legend for his 60-yard field goals during practice, and Henery still seems to have a ways to go before Andy Reid can trust him on those longer kicks.

Perhaps an offseason in the weight room can help with that.

Photo from Getty.

Dan Connor, Another Band-Aid at Linebacker?

Geoff Mosher:

At least two sources close to the situation believe Connor, a native of the Delaware County suburb of Wallingford, Pa., is high on the Eagles’ wish list. But one source with direct knowledge of the Eagles’ offseason plans indicated that Connor isn’t their top choice and suggested that it’s less likely to happen, although he did acknowledge that Connor, 26, is someone the team has sought in the past.

All sources interviewed confirmed that the Eagles were interested enough in Connor last August to approach the Panthers about a trade, but Carolina’s uncertainty regarding the health of Pro Bowl middle linebacker Jon Beason made the Panthers reluctant to pull the trigger.

Dan Connor has been out of sight since he graduated from Penn State. In four years and only 17 starts in the NFL, Connor has one sack, one pass defensed, and one forced fumble. Not exactly stellar production. It’s actually more interesting that the Eagles were considering him to help out last season. (Well, that and the jumble of sources.)

(via Noah)

Stevie Johnson's Contract Could Guide DeSean

News broke this morning that would-be free agent wide receiver Stevie Johnson signed a new contract with the Buffalo Bills. Johnson is an interesting test case for a possible new contract for DeSean Jackson because the two players are of similar age and ability.

ESPN reported the figures of the deal:

The Bills didn’t disclose terms of the agreement, but a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Johnson received a five-year, $36.25 million deal that includes $19.5 million guaranteed and over $24 million in the contract’s first three years.

That sounds like it would be a great deal for the Eagles. At the very least, it’s a step down from last offseason’s market-setting deal that Santonio Holmes received from the Jets. The Holmes contract was also for five years, but reached $45 million with $24 million guaranteed.

So how close are Jackson and Johnson? Let’s briefly compare them.

Both players are 25 years old. They both have four years of NFL experience and reach free agency as the top receiving threat on their respective teams. DeSean is more of a speedster, at only 5’10”, 170 lbs, while Stevie is a more prototypical 6’2”, 210 lbs. Their numbers over the last two seasons are similar, although they have different strengths:

We already know all about Jackson’s big play ability, and Johnson can’t measure up in yards per reception. But Johnson matched in total yardage because he catches significantly more passes per game. He’s also a bigger threat in the redzone, with seven more touchdowns.

DeSean does have a better full resume than Johnson, since the Bills wideout didn’t become a starter until 2010. Thus, despite his deficiency in some categories, I would expect Jackson could beat this contract, if only by a little bit. Still, it’s a great marker by which both the Eagles and Drew Rosenhaus will have to adjust. Hopefully this deal will help bring the two sides closer together.

Photo from Getty.

DeSean Jackson, the Franchise Tag, and Respect

So, what did we miss? Just a few weeks ago Eagles fans were collectively doom and gloom about the DeSean Jackson situation. Many expected the Eagles to let him walk in free agency, others saw a long holdout in store. Instead, yesterday the team used its franchise tag on Jackson and immediate reports were that the wide receiver would sign the one-year tender as soon as possible.

I wrote a few weeks back why I thought Jackson would be wise not to fight the franchise tag, and I still think many of those reasons apply. Coming off a poor season both on and off the field, his leverage wasn’t as great as it once was. The Eagles could have eventually forced him to report unless he wanted to sit out the 2012 season.

However, there’s one factor I missed that both played a large role in Jackson’s decision to sign and gives me further hope that a long term deal can eventually be worked out. The factor deals with exactly why Jackson was angry last year. He wasn’t, I now believe, miffed because he didn’t have long term security. None of his statements suggested that he was hesitant to put his body on the line for the team because he thought that he could get hurt and never get that second payday.

Not to cherry-pick a single quote, but after the final game last season, Jackson told reporters, “I can’t really get frustrated over contract situations or if I’m not paid how I think I should be.”

For Jackson, it has always seemed to be about that perceived slight. He was mad because the Eagles went out and gave money to players like Steve Smith instead of to him. Jackson was one of the best players on the field and simultaneously one of the lowest-paid players off of it.

That’s why Jackson has never had a problem with the franchise tag. His immediate reaction after the season suggested that he would be happy with it, and so did his response to the tag actually being applied yesterday: “I am honored that the Philadelphia Eagles organization perceives me as a franchise player.” Jackson also said he is “Enjoyin My Life!!” and “Humbled moment!!”

Instead of being annoyed that he couldn’t seek a long term deal, DeSean seems happy — both in his offical PR and off-the-cuff tweets. Jackson’s happy because in his eyes he’s finally being recognized and paid like the player he knows he is. It may be only for one season, but that’s enough for now, and it gives me hope that the two sides will have an easier time coming together.

Insult is off the table, so hopefully real negotiations can now take place.

Photo from Getty.

Pessimism Be Damned: DeSean Tagged, Will Sign

Eagles Insider, at 4:21 PM:

Eagles have placed their franchise tag on WR DeSean Jackson. More details to come …

Tim McManus, at 5:48 PM:

DeSean plans to sign franchise tender ASAP, I hear.

Where We Stop, Nobody Knows

Jeff McLane:

Adam Schefter’s report from last week that DeSean Jackson was available for trade did not come from the Eagles, I was recently told. The ESPN NFL reporter essentially said as much when he was asked about it on the radio. It makes little sense for the Eagles to float a trade rumor when they’re trying to negotiate an extension with a player they still hold rights to. More than likely an agent with a name that rhymes with “Brew Brosenhouse” tossed a monkey wrench into talks when the Eagles failed to match his estimation of Jackson’s worth.

I said the same thing about the Schefter report earlier in the week. But if I read this correctly, McLane suggests that the Eagles are still trying to negotiate a new contract with Jackson — unless Howie Roseman’s playing the same game with him that Rosenhaus is with Schefter. Round and round we go…