CurtisC Note: Philadelphia Eagles Extend Justice, Sign Pope
The Philadelphia Eagles gave RT Winston Justice a 4-year extension today. Details of the contract have not been revealed yet.
In another move, the Eagles released corner back Jack Ikegwuonu and signed corner back Geoffrey Pope off the Bengals’ practice squad.
Thanks to off-season training and being moved back to RT, the light has come on for Justice.
Impact: The Eagles’ patience has finally paid off. Winston Justice came out college at the age of 20 and really struggled for the first few years in the NFL. One way or another, something had to give in 2009. He was either going to prove himself or the Eagles were going to move on.
After dropping a lot of money into offensive linemen Jason Peters and Stacy Andrews in the off-season, I think Winston got the message because he decided to stay in Philadelphia during the off-season and his effort has paid off.
Why he waited this long to take his job serious is probably due to the fact that he was so young. Thinking back to my early twenties, I can certainly understand.
Congratulations to both the Eagles and Justice. The timing couldn’t have been better because Shawn Andrews has now missed consecutive seasons do to back issues. Sad to say, but the former Pro Bowler might be done in Philadelphia.
Funny thing is, Justice might have succeeded earlier had the Eagles not tried converting him into a left tackle. Justice was a solid but not a great right tackle in college and nothing about his game indicated that he would be able to handle left tackle at the pro level. It appears to be another case of the Eagles making things harder than they need to be. For whatever reason, the Eagles like to play the role of mad scientist with their draft picks. If they would just stick to drafting players based on what they can do verses what they might be able to do, they would have a lot more success with their draft picks and in shorter periods of time.
Picking up Geoffrey Pope was an aggressive move and one that I like. Not only are the Bengals decent at developing DB’s, Pope is an all-round better prospect than Jack Ikegwuonu.
It’ll take Pope a little time getting up to speed with the Eagles’ playbook, but this is a step in the right direction. I just wish the Eagles would move Victor Harris back to corner. His ceiling as a free safety is lower than corner back.
Fantasy value: Winston Justice doesn’t have any individual fantasy value, but this is good news for the Eagles’ running backs and quarterbacks. Now, no matter what happens with Shawn Andrews, the Eagles offensive line will be in good shape for years to come. The Eagles probably have the best offensive line depth in the league.
Geoffrey Pope will be a nickel and dime back for the Eagles so he can be ignored in all fantasy leagues.
Comments
By Curtis Clements
on November 29th, 2009 at 10:27 am
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Could this be the move back to corner that I’ve been asking for?
By Curtis Clements
on November 29th, 2009 at 10:26 am
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(Rotoworld) Eagles rookie Macho Harris has worked his way back into playing time, handling nickel back duties last week. Analysis: Harris lost his starting free safety job to Sean Jones, but his college experience at cornerback comes in handy as a nickel. He’ll likely keep the job until Joselio Hanson returns from his suspension.
By Curtis Clements
on November 24th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
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I’m going out of town tomorrow so I was planning on doing it tonight anyway. I’ll be in Colorado from Wednesday to Saturday.
Happy Thanksgiving!
By Curtis Clements
on November 24th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
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Yeah, my problem is that the Eagles do it so often and it really hurts the team.
Timing is everything in the NFL. Starting the wrong players could be the difference between winning or losing the championship game.
By oldfart
on November 24th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
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don’t forget, Steve needs this wks picks tonight.
Total Comments by oldfart: 6007
By oldfart
on November 24th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
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Curtis, kinda funny how that stuff works out, not funny haha, funny strange. I’ve seen some teams trade for players, make them play a different position and it works out great. Many players have struggled for yrs, only to discover under another coach or team, their own hidden talents in a different position.
Good luck with the new moves.
Total Comments by oldfart: 6007