Interview with Bloomsburg WR Kyle Fisher

I wonder how many people were interested in talking to Miles Austin when he was coming out into the NFL from Monmouth University in 2006, and I wonder how many draft experts would want to talk to him now.   Amazing the money spent on scouting yet every year there are small school players who go later in the process than they should but always end up with the better career than those who go ahead of them.    A name people might not know now, but will very soon, is Bloomsburg University wide receiver, Kyle Fisher.

Footballdialogue:  What is your official height, weight and forty yard dash?

KF:  I am 5’11 7/8, 195 pounds and I run a 4.41

Footballdialogue:  What other sports did you play in high school? 

KF: I played basketball my freshman year and ran track all through high school.

Footballdialogue:  I saw you had extensive experience running track in high school, do you miss running track? (league champ in the 100, 200 & 400, finished 4th in the state in the 200).

KF:  I miss competing as it is a very individual based sport so that type of competition is rare and I miss that.

Around the NFC East

Would the Dallas Cowboys seriously consider trading Tony Romo?  It was something recently touched on at   KESN-FM 103.3 and take a look what they threw out as a potential offer.

Are the Eagles just going to sign as quarterbacks as they can just in case Chip Kelly wears out some arms. Take a look who is joining the mix.

Giants look at a former Philadelphia Eagles castoff.  Something tells me he's going to stick and get even.

Oh boy!!! I wonder what advice Chargers fans would give the Redskins faithful after this news.  Mine might be what does he know about the draft.

Philadelphia Eagles 2013 Free Agents

Nnamdi Asomugha of the Philadelphia Eagles. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the new regime a lot of decisions will be made this off-season by Chip Kelly and his guys.  I for one expect to see Mike Vick and Nnamdi Asomugha on different teams next year but they are officially still under contract.  The guys below will certainly be free agents and likely playing somewhere else besides Philadelphia.

• Jon Dorenbos   C
• King Dunlap     OT
• Akeem Jordan  LB
• Derek Landri    DL
• Dominique Rodgers Cromartie   DB
• Jake Scott        OG
• Darryl Tapp      DL 

Related articles

• Should the Philadelphia Eagles Consider Chasing Darrelle Revis?
• Philadelphia Eagles: Nnamdi Asomugha's Exit Will Be Celebrated Like His Arrival
• Chip Kelly hiring by Eagles is a major victory for Howie Roseman

Shots from Eagles and Bills Training Camp

Here are a few of the shots from the past two weekends.  

Bills or Eagles Camp...No Contest Go Buffalo!!!

Over the past few weekends, I've had the opportunity to go to two training camps that were within a car ride from my residency in Northeastern, PA and let me say it was two different worlds. 

My first visit was to St. John’s Fisher College in Rochester, NY to see the Buffalo Bills camp and what a welcoming place that was for my entire family.   They have giveaways from corporate sponsors like M&T Bank, Verizon, Moe’s, Visa, and on and on.  They encouraged fans to stand by the fence, to cheer on the team and wait for players to come sign autographs after practice.   The Bills had a tent set up for fans under 14 accompanied with a parent the chance to get autographs from various positions depending on the day.   Other players walk along signing autographs for 15 to 20 minutes.   You felt like you were part of the action and that the players where as happy to see you as you were them.

This past weekend, I went to Lehigh University to see the Philadelphia Eagles training camp and to say I felt like an unwelcome guest would be an understatement.    You get there and they usher you along like a prisoner to the field area and have security poised to make sure you don’t lean on the “fence” or take a video or too many pictures.    If you decide you want to sit and watch the player’s practice your only option is to sit in bleachers and you better take that seat immediately or you’ll have some security guard screaming at you that you aren’t allowed to stand on the landing.   It was so bad a security guard was signaling out a man with a red hat who remained standing.  Calling him out in front of everyone only when she decided to take the time to approach him did she learn he was deaf and could not hear anything behind him.   As soon as practice ended the security force ushered the players towards the locker room with a few rare player such as third string QB, Mike Kafka, taking time to sign some autographs. 

Overall, unless you are a Eagles fan if you have the ability to pick between Lehigh and St. John’s Fisher there is really no doubt what your choice should be.  While the Bills might have trouble beating the Eagles this year on the field they humiliate them when it comes to fan experience at training camp.  Go Bills!!!

Optimism abound, and Brett Farve

The training Camps are set to open--let the optimism begin. Every year around this time, we see more and more football articles. Peter King’s Monday morning QB has returned. This is the time of year where predictions of the upcoming season can hold the key to the day’s happiness. The buzz is created by training camp articles, and the feel good stories get us rooting again for the underdog. And then there is Brett Farve.

As fans, we search the internet for news for our favorite team. We await a report from a national reporter visiting a favorite team’s training camp. The predictions from people who get paid to know the game and hope our team is mentioned as a playoff contender.

Every year there is much speculation on which team will be the year’s surprise team. Last year, it was the Cardinals, and the year before, it was the Panthers. Every year, one team comes out of nowhere and this is because the NFL has a first and last place schedule. The Patriots and Colts can handle a tougher schedule. The real test is which last place team can take advantage of their schedule.

As a Jets fan, I am well aware of these quirks in the schedule. This is what helps us get back to the playoffs every couple of years. The Jets pattern has been to make the playoffs, and then stink for a few years. Of course, after making the playoffs, the Jets get a harder schedule, and their performance suffers, proving that they are not ready for prime time.

I believe the above pattern is a league-wide trend, though I have no numbers to support this. I am sure if I looked them up I will be able to quantify this. I need an ESPN stat geek assistant to help me out.

My prediction for this year’s team that will suffer this trend is The Cleveland Browns.

My prediction for this year’s team to make the jump from last place to the playoffs is The Philadelphia Eagles.

I actually did a little research here. I looked at the Cowboys schedule and the Eagles schedule. The Eagles play two last place teams from last year that the Cowboys do not. The two last place teams I noticed the Bears, and the Falcons (both last place teams), where Dallas plays Green Bay, and Tampa Bay (Both first place teams). That is where my research ended.

When the Circus comes to town

Mr. Farve annoys me. He is a great player but the circus he creates around himself is ridiculous. Play or get out of the way and let some one else play. See also: Aaron Rodgers. This has been going on for a couple of years now. Will he play, won’t he play?
After finally “retiring,” he wants back in, but the Packers may or may not want him back.

I think if he plays, he will play in Green Bay. The Packer organization does not have the balls to trade Farve. I think they will force his hand and he will stay retired, because he may feel as though he is not wanted. This will trigger the national fans to clamor for him to play for some team.

Brett, please, make a decision and live with it. Until this happens expect a summer circus rivaled only by Ringling Brothers.

By the way, I am still bitter that the Falcons traded up over the Jets and took Brett. The Jets took the next guy on their board, Browning Nagel. I should get over it, huh?

NFC East Breakdown

Dallas Cowboys: So far this off-season in Dallas it’s been about keeping the vital parts together (coaches and players); letting the market dictate the value on the back-ups, and bargain shop when you can fit it in your budget.

Positives: Keeping Jason Garrett; adding top offensive line coach, Hudson Houck; Todd Grantham, Brett Maxie, Dave Campo; Reggie Herring. Signing Flozell Adams to a long term deal, franchising Ken Hamlin, giving Marion Barber a 1st and 3rd round qualifying offer, Chris Canty a 1st round qualifying offer; and adding Zach Thomas made for a solid off-season to this point.

Negatives: They lost some depth with Jacques Reeves-CB, going to Houston; Nate Jones- CB and Keith Davis- S joining so many others in Miami; and Julius Jones-RB bolting for Seattle. Also lost coaches Tony Soprano, Paul Pasqualoni, Kacy Rodgers, and Todd Bowles. Soprano was a respected coach who should have success fairly early in Miami. Of the assistant coaches to lose, I felt Pasqualoini was the toughest loss and may be the next guy to become a head coach in this league.

Overall: It hurts losing depth, but with two first round picks next month, the Cowboys should be able to replace and likely upgrade the positions they’ve lost to this point. Dallas will need to have a good draft in order to duplicate the same success next season, as they now have a few holes to fill behind their starters but so far have not lost any vital parts. Keeping Garrett was a masterful stroke by Jerry, and they also added some great minds to their defensive staffs that may help it to not bend so much in key moments.

Washington Redskins: Talk about surprises this off-season; the Redskins are the poster child for that, as they haven’t wasted money signing vets past their prime or players that don’t warrant a monster contract. Instead, the Redskins have demonstrated financial restraint and worked at keeping their own guys and waiting for the draft (glad to see someone in D.C. worries about that type of stuff). Granted this off-season wasn’t without its headlines when it appeared they backed into hiring Jim Zorn as their head coach. That move will be highly scrutinized throughout the year and likely will appear to be a boom or bust type decision.

Positives: Keeping valuable back-ups Rock Cartwright and Todd Collins. Both guys realized that sometimes the grass isn’t greener; it’s just different grass. Dumping Brandon Lloyd was a wise move too. Lloyd’s mouth made comments that his game couldn’t back up.

Negatives: Redskins where close to be making a big run with Joe Gibbs, but now have unproven and fall back choice Jim Zorn to control everything. Still can’t figure out what happened with Gregg Williams. Zorn could have the same success that Jason Garrett did calling the plays for Dallas last year, but it’s a huge gamble for Danny Snyder. It’s as if he’s giving the keys to his new Lexus to a 16 year old that just passed his driver’s license. Very surprised he didn’t go with a more established head coach for a few years and let Zorn prepare to run a team.

Overall: Besides the panic, fallback, or desperate hire (whatever you want to call it) of Zorn, the Skins have been quiet this off-season which is a good thing for Redskins fans. Moving Greg Blache from defensive line to defensive coordinator should keep the continuity on the defense. Now they just need to hold onto their picks and get players that will fit Jim Zorn’s scheme. No wild drafts or crazy free agents moves, and Washington should stay in the playoff hunt.

NY Giants: If you look up the phrase, “catching lighting in a bottle”, there should be a picture of the 2007 NY Giants. These Super Bowl Champions were the same team that lost to Green Bay by 22 pts, to Dallas by 10 and 11 pts, Minnesota by 24 pts, Washington by 12 pts and to New England on the last game of the season. With that said, if I wore a hat, it would be off to them for the run they did in the playoffs when it counted and that’s all that matters. So far they’ve played free agency like most Super Bowl Champs, expecting a few guys to bolt and replacing them with similar talent but less expense.

Positives: First was getting Tom Coughlin to a long term contract. That was vital to show who is boss in NY. Next was not overpaying to keep players with limited talent but yet fit their scheme perfectly. Every Super Bowl team loses guys that other teams fall in love with and usually overpay for (insert Raiders: see Larry Brown and Dominic Rhodes). Also, very fortunate that Steve Spagnuolo decided to stick around at least one more year. Additions of Danny Clark, David Carr, and Sammy Knight should lessen any losses the team might have had; and with picks added, the Giants will be fine.

Negatives: Hard to say much of a negative when you end the season the way they did, but they need to make a public show of support of Jeremy Shockey. He may have finally worn out his welcome in NY City. If he is dumped, say to Miami or New Orleans, for a #2nd round pick, that will also show that Eli is the priority in NY. It’s fairly obvious that Manning improved in confidence and decision making once Shockey went down. Also losing both Reggie Torbor and Kawika Mitchell hurts even though they have guys who can step up to replace them; all depth has been lost.

Overall: It’s good to be King of the NFL, but to stay around for a while the Giants need another successful draft to help secure that future. They also need to show a stronger consistency all season long as you can’t expect to have a 2007 type playoff run again.

Philadelphia Eagles: Clearly the most aggressive team in the division this free agency period with the big signing of Asante Samuel on the first day of free agency. The real question becomes, Will they ever give McNabb the top wide receiver he traditionally begs for every off-season? Even though he doesn’t ever really act like it, you would have to think Reid will really feel the heat next off-season if they don’t make a legit run towards the playoffs because of the lack of weapons in his offense.

Positives: Obviously the signing of Asante Samuel is huge, but grabbing DE-Chris Clemons from the Raiders was a nice move. Dan Klecko’s signing was an interesting move that will be worth following this season.

Negatives: Raise your hand if you think the Eagles can win a Super Bowl with Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown as their starting receivers. Someday Philly will make the necessary move and get the #1 WR for McNabb, hopefully it will be while he’s still young enough to really benefit and click with the player. You would have to think this is a make or break season for Andy Reid, who if he continues to be so stubborn about adding a #1 WR and getting Westbrook a backfield mate to share the load, Reid will be out as head man.

Overall: Philadelphia seems to thrive when everyone counts them out or tells them they can’t do something. For all those die hard Eagles fans, I just hope that they trade Lito Sheppard for a #1 wide receiver (say Roy Williams from Detroit) and add a back to take some carries and keep Westbrook closer to 100% near the end of the season. Granted with that said, Philly will probably keep Sheppard and draft an OT in round 1, LB in round 2 and a QB in round 3.

Well there you have it, a month before the draft, a look at how the teams in the NFC East are shaping up. Check back soon for an in-depth look at another division and send me an email on your thoughts to Patrick@footballdialogue.com