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Considering he's 35, he wouldn't have been an Eagle for the last 5 years. Anyway, if he'd blown out his ACL, he'd definitely be an Eagle signed at vet minimum.

C&PSeth,

I meant Brady an exception in that he hasn't had a marquee WR like most other multi-win SB QBs.

Was McNabb talking about a marquee WR or just some consistency? I thought it was the latter. Which is why Banner's comment about the Patriots makes no sense. Brady had his main guys for a few years.

found this on AOL sports...hopefully it copies and pastes ok


It Might Be Hard to Believe, but Curtis Is an Upgrade Over Stallworth
Posted Mar 16th 2007 12:40PM by Ryan Wilson
Filed under: Eagles, NFL Free Agency

I admit to being a little confused the Eagles didn't make more of an effort to sign Dante' Stallworth. Stallworth ended up in New England with just about every other free-agent wide receiver except Kevin Curtis, who, incidentally, signed with Philadelphia earlier this week.

My first thought was, huh, I guess the Eagles panicked after losing out on Stallworth and just signed the best guy left in a decidedly mediocre class. But you know what? After poking around, this is a great deal ... for Philly. No, seriously.

The knock on Stallworth is that he's injury prone. Last year he missed four games because of a balky hamstring, and ended the season with just 38 receptions. In his five-year career, he's never caught more than 70 balls or cracked 1,000 receiving yards.

Curtis, who has been basically anonymous outside of St. Louis his entire career, has quietly become a pretty good player. According to Football Outsiders, Curtis ranked 29th in total value among all wideouts last season, and Stallworth was 39th. Total value (also called DPAR) is a cumulative statistic, so playing time is a factor.

In terms of value per play (DVOA) -- which isn't cumulative -- Curtis ranks sixth -- SIXTH -- in the league. Stallworth was 35th. Also, Curtis had a catch percentage of 70 while Stallworth only caught 49 percent of passes thrown in his direction.

It's worth pointing out that Stallworth was Philly's No. 1 receiver last season and Curtis was St. Louis' second or third option. It's an important distinction, and as Curtis' roles changes for the Eagles, so too could his production. In the meantime, Philadelphia fans should be happy with the move. Who'da thought Curtis was an upgrade over Stallworth?

Haven't seen this little tidbit commented on, so here goes...

"Heckert is every bit as excited about the Eagles' receiving corps as he would have been if Stallworth had returned.

"I think it's definitely a strength of our team," he said." - From an article in the Inqy, by Bob Brookover.

So, let's think about this. Either 1) Heckert is right, which means the WRs are a strength relative to the rest of the team, which means the rest of the team really sucks and so we're screwed; or 2) Heckert is wrong, which means one of the team's top talent evaluators can't evaluate talent and so we're screwed.

Either way, we're screwed.

(and by "we", I mean the fans, so chill out "we" nazis)

Thanks, eeb.

That article reminds me of an old saying:

"Arcane statistics win championships."

So do you guys think it's gonna be too crowded on Broad near the stadium, or will I have a better view of the parade further uptown?

That one got a chuckle out of me.

Maybe Mahe could pop out of a tuba when the marching band comes through and we can all have a "good cry".

Roachie, the real thing is....Heckert is a liar, either way.

There is no way you can say that the WR Corps is the same with or without Stallworth. It defies logic. It's like saying Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is the same without the chips.

This FO lies to us at every turn. It's now so endemic, that I doubt they even care if we believe them or not. They don't give a shit what we think as long as the Linc is banged out and the merchandise sells.

I had a guy in my tailgate that insisted that Jeffy & Li'l Joe actually prefered to lose the NFC Title Games, because a win would cost them the $$$ to fly and house the team for the Super Bowl. He honestly believed it. What stunned me is that a FO could get such a bad rep that the theory would have any legs. But despite their success, that's just what they've done.

And I misread your last line as wee Nazis. I got a mental image of dwarves in Luftwaffe uniforms.

'copy n paste Seth"...NTF...almost as good as "Seth is Gay". i had nothing to do with the new one, so don't be banning me

NTF ???
Curtis CAN run and he CAN catch. "If" McNabb has trust in him....Stallworth wasnt a loss.

McNabb's sucess and failure lies between his ears.

Boo'ed at the draft- stil irks him
Vomiting on the field- twice? nerves
Not running- he "can" but chooses not to
Not airing it out- lack of trust
Garcia gone- Dont want to upset D Mac

These are all mental issues. If Curtis with his 48 wonderlic score can get McNabb to trust him....we're OK

So, let's think about this. Either 1) Heckert is right, which means the WRs are a strength relative to the rest of the team, which means the rest of the team really sucks and so we're screwed; or 2) Heckert is wrong, which means one of the team's top talent evaluators can't evaluate talent and so we're screwed.

Roach, I think unfortunately you're right but it's a combination of the two... the talent evaluator(coughculleycough) sucks, the FO/Eagles have basicly said the same thing about the WR's almost since Reid took over coaching... so the problem is that they REALLY believe the guy that scouts the WR talent... although Baskett has actually shown some nice flashes(in games not just practice ala Na Brown) so with Stallworth gone he should see the field a little more, that only leaves Avant as a real question mark... ASSuming that the WR's progress as they should Brown will be very solid, Baskett will get more time and Curtis will be the question as to if he can pick-up this system quick enough, then Lewis and Avant are the 4-5 WR... which baring injury means they see the field very little...

basicly someone has too break into Culley's house and find the pictures/evidence he has been holding over Reid's head...

Good points fågelpojke. I'm sure you're right, but maybe he's a liar and he can't judge talent.

These are all mental issues. If Curtis with his 48 wonderlic score can get McNabb to trust him....we're OK

...and if he can't, maybe we'll get really juicy quote about "black on white crime". Think of how much fun that media cirus would be.

Tattoo - good points as well. How long has Culley been with the organization?

I dont get why so many of us get upset about what the FO says. Offseason NFL, is a big poker game. Id much rather our GM bullshit or play coy than spill his heart out. I dont see any advantage to the EAGLES if the GM or President Saying "our LB suck, we def need to upgrade. We are quite desperate and will do almost anything to get better". I guess the latter will assure us they are not taking crazy pills, but will do little to help them during negotiations.

Did anyone else hear Banner acknowledge that the Jets are shopping LB VILMA???? I believe they are moving to a 3-4. Man he is clearly worth the eagles second round pick., hell in this draft he would be a top 10 pick.

Roach, ok Culley has been with Reid since the start, hired in 01 of 99...

this is from his bio on PE.com

The 51-year-old Culley came to the Eagles after a three-year stint as the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach. During that three-year span, the Steelers reached the playoffs twice, advancing to the AFC title game in 1997 and to the divisional playoffs the previous season. In all, Culley has been to the playoffs seven times in his last nine seasons as an assistant coach, including five appearances in the conference championship game.

Under Culley's watch, WR Reggie Brown set the franchise rookie record with 43 receptions in 2005. A year later, Brown led all Eagles wideouts with 46 catches for a team-leading 816 yards and 8 TDs. In addition, rookie free agent WR Hank Baskett hauled in 22 receptions for 464 yards (21.1 average).

OK so he's been here 9 F'ING YEARS and his only highlights are from Brown two years ago and Baskett this year??? CUT THE CORD... not like I expected to see something better, being a fan for my entire life I know they WR's have been subpar but that just magnifies the issue...

Not finding this anywhere, but McNabb again reiterated his position about the receivers (it was on CBS3 last night).

Did he really come out and say it again, or is it just rehashing an old story?

OK so he's been here 9 F'ING YEARS and his only highlights are from Brown two years ago and Baskett this year??? CUT THE CORD... not like I expected to see something better, being a fan for my entire life I know they WR's have been subpar but that just magnifies the issue...

Ah...it's that time of year again.

Normally the way this goes is someone says "Culley sucks" and I take up not Culley's side, but what I consider to be the logical side of the argument (that it's talent, not Culley). I'm not saying Culley is a good coach (I have no idea), but I believe it's impossible to call him a bad coach.

First, let's look at what he's had to work with.

In 9 years, they gave him 1 1st round pick. 2 Second round picks. 1 3rd round pick.

4 first day picks in 9 years.

- Freddie Mitchell (1st)
- Todd Pinkston (2nd)
- Billy McMullen (2nd)
- Reggie Brown (2nd)

- Freddie clearly didn't have enough talent. He was a solid slot receiver, but when the Eagles released him he failed with play in the NFL again. He most recently tried out for Toronto and didn't get a contract offer.

- Pinkston was the skinniest WR in the history of the NFL. He was soft and weak. He actually failed to rep 225 once at the combine. Tried and failed. Despite his awfulness, he ended up having a couple solid years. He was injured, failed to bounce back, was released by the Eagles, and hasn't been able to land a job since. He's likely done in the NFL.

- Billy McMullen. He had a really hard time learning the offense. He couldn't get any separation. He couldn't catch the ball at all. I think literally dropped more balls than he caught as an Eagle. He finally made a contribution 2 years ago with almost 300 yards before being traded to the Vikes. He had 300 yards receiving last year on what ended up being one of the worst passing offenses in football.

- Reggie Brown was the most recent first day pick. He led all rookie receivers in total receiving yards 2 years ago. Last year, in his 2nd NFL season, he had 816 yards and 8 TDs. He is obviously going to be a player and already is.


Free agents...Culley has had a few to work with.

- Charles Johnson
- Torrence Small
- James Thrash
- Antonio Freeman
- T.O.
- Maybe I'm missing one here or there...not sure.

Johnson was pretty much done by the time the Eagles got him.

Small sucked.

Thrash had a couple semi-productive years but I don't think anyone could accuse Culley of not maximizing his talent. I think he got everything he could out of him.

- Freeman was at the end of his career and was very productive as a slot WR in his single season in Philly.

- T.O. was on pace for career highs across the board before his injury and often praised Culley.


Undrafted players...Greg Lewis was undrafted and has established himself as a solid guy in the top 5. He'll never be a starter, but I think we can agree that he's done very well for himself considering where he came from. I think it you are going to say Culley had a hand in McMullen sucking (which I disagree with) than you have to say he had a hand in making Greg Lewis a pretty productive player. He was aquired the same year as McMullen as an undrafted rookie and simply beat him and outproduced him as a player from day 1.

Hank Baskett was an undrafted rookie they traded McMullen for. In his rookie year, he was twice named offensive rookie of the week and finished 4th among rookie receivers in receiving yards last year. A pretty impressive feat, to be sure. Again, if we're going to kill Culley because Mitchell didn't develop, shouldn't we give him extraordinary credit for taking an undrafted rookie from the street and putting him in such elite company among other rookies?


Not one receiver since Culley took over has left the Eagles and become a key player with another team other than T.O. (which was unique).

The only player to ever leave the Eagles and better the numbers he had with the Eagles after leaving was McMullem (who had a career high 300 yards last year).

They drafted a total of 6 WRs from 1999 through 2005. Not one of the WRs is still in the NFL other than McMullen. Not one ever made another active roster other than McMullen.

So, in short, Culley may suck...I have no idea. However, I just don't find any evidence that he does. It seems like he's coached a lot of guys up but the Eagles have just failed to identify talent in the draft.

They drafted a total of 6 WRs from 1999 through 2005. Not one of the WRs is still in the NFL other than McMullen. Not one ever made another active roster other than McMullen.

Possibly the most scathing indictment of Reid, Hekcert and their band of merry men I've seen.

Not one receiver since Culley took over has left the Eagles and become a key player with another team other than T.O. (which was unique).

Have there been many )if any) players that the Birds have drafted that have been successful elsewhere (besides Burgess)?

Depends how you value "success", but the short answers is "not many".

Raheem Brock

Jermaine Mayberry, perhaps.

Raheem Brock

Never played for the Eagles!

brian finneran, allen rossum

We're not exactly putting together a All-Pro squad, as we?

Jon Welborn started for a couple years because he got busted for Roids, but he was traded.

Hollis Thomas played well last year and got a contract extension with the Saints. He, again, was traded.

ND Kalu played a lot in the Texans D.

James Thrash is still on the skins.

Tony Stewart is still in the league and just signed a FA deal.

If the Eagles give up on you, you are pretty much done, it seems.

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