During a Phillies game against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, fans got a little creative with their chants. This wasn’t a full ballpark because of COVID-related restrictions, but the fans who were there got together for some chants that were easily heard on the television broadcast. Among the chants: the standard “E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES” go-to and the more unique “Fire Howie.”
And according to Twitter, lots of people felt a certain kind of way about these Eagles chants at a Phillies game in April. My personal take is that this was just Philly fans having some fun and wasn’t disrespectful to the Phillies at all, but many understandably feel differently. Ultimately, does it matter? No, of course not.
Here is more on the latest rumors and what they’re saying around the beat.
‘Fire Howie’ chant breaks out at Phillies game (Brandon Lee Gowton, Bleeding Green Nation)
Safe to say that Howie Roseman isn’t the most popular person in Philadelphia right now.
Eagles fans are (understandably) frustrated with the team’s general manager after poor decisions have contributed to the team’s decline over the past three seasons. The Birds have a 23-27-1 record since winning Super Bowl LII, including last year’s miserable 4-11-1 campaign.
Attendance restrictions brought about by the pandemic spared Eagles decision-makers from coming close to hearing the loudest of boos at Lincoln Financial Field in 2020. But if Monday night’s Phillies game was any indication, it might not take long for this fan base to voice their displeasure at The Linc opens in the fall.
Inside The Birds: Changes Coming To Birds Run Game? (Inside the Birds)
Geoff Mosher: “I think it’s important that we repeat what we said after the Eagles signed Jordan Howard, and that is don’t get married to the idea that Jordan Howard is definitely going to be the No. 2 back. I mean he signed a one-year deal, he wasn’t wanted by very many teams. I don’t know if you heard his Zoom conference, but he told reporters that he thought he was done, he didn’t think anyone was going to have interest in him and that the market was so dry. So he comes back to the Eagles, where he has had some success, but he’s a person that I would think you can say is replaceable, fungible. If they draft a kid, you would want to see that kid get more time, but in case they don’t – or they do and the kid doesn’t work out – you’ve got the steady, reliable veteran there.”
Adam Caplan: “Agree, he is an insurance policy. The Eagles, as I understand it, loosely targeted him at the start of free agency. They knew he was going to be there. And they monitored the market, they had a certain money set aside for the position and they weren’t gonna spend anything really. They were looking for a veteran minimum deal and that’s what they got with Jordan Howard, and right now he’s the de facto No. 2, but that’s just a name only.”
Projecting what a Dallas Goedert contract extension would look like for the Eagles (Glenn Erby, Eagles Wire)
As the Eagles legit No. 1 tight end once Zach Ertz moves on, Goedert could be in line for a breakout season.
A solid contributor over the past three seasons, Goedert has 137 receptions, 1,465 yards receiving, and 12 touchdowns in 42 career games.
Goedert hasn’t been an elite tight end, but neither is Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, and both were paid well this offseason by the New England Patriots. The Eagles tight end won’t get Travis Kelce or George Kittle money, but he’s just as valuable as Smith and Henry potential wise.
While Goedert is not a playmaker on the level of Kelce and Kittle, he could be in line for a huge deal next offseason.
Eagles won’t attend in-person voluntary workouts
Predictor reveals favorite for Eagles’ pick at No. 12 in 2021 NFL draft (Tim McManus, ESPN)
With the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select … Jaycee Horn, cornerback, South Carolina.
That’s the most likely outcome when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell walks to the podium next Thursday night according to ESPN’s NFL Draft Day Predictor, which forecasts the range of draft outcomes for NFL prospects based on mock drafts, team needs and Scouts Inc. grades. The model has the chances of Philadelphia taking Horn at 14%.
It’s a tight race, however, with three players tied at 12%, including Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II, who holds a slight edge over his competitors by a fraction of a percentage point.
Players skipping workouts, a crack at draft picks 1-11, and trade rumors (Jimmy Kempski, PhillyVoice)
The 2021 NFL Draft is now only nine days away, and while there hasn’t been any major news over the last week or so, there have been a few little things worth noting. So we’ll do that here.
2021 NFL Draft Top 300 Big Board: Trevor Lawrence, Patrick Surtain II, Trey Lance — the talent runs deep (Dane Brugler, The Athletic)
Other prospects who started and finished in similar spots include North Dakota State’s Trey Lance who started at No. 6 and finished at No. 7. Ohio State’s Justin Fields started at No. 7 and finished at No. 8. And LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase didn’t budge, starting at No. 4 and finishing at No. 4.
But there has been plenty of fluctuation. Florida’s Kyle Pitts jumped from No. 11 to No. 2. South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn started at No. 43 and finished at No. 14. The biggest riser? BYU’s Zach Wilson, who went from mid-round consideration to No. 3 overall.
Here’s what the NFL draft will tell us about the Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts (Martin Frank, Delaware News Journal)
It is very likely that five quarterbacks will be taken among the first 10 picks in the NFL draft on April 29.
The Eagles virtually guaranteed that they won’t be drafting one of them when they traded down from No. 6 to No. 12 with the Miami Dolphins last month.
That, however, doesn’t mean the Eagles are committed to Jalen Hurts as their franchise quarterback, even though Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie reportedly told general manager Howie Roseman and staff that the team should do everything possible to make Hurts successful.
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Mike Maher is the editor and publisher of The Birds Blitz and Juiced Ball Era. Follow him on Twitter @mikeMaher and @TheBirdsBlitz and check out his archive for all of his latest stories about the Eagles and the NFL.
