You know what annoys me about our FO? The way the FO seems to think midseason that everything is fine with our roster. I appreciated the move last year for Hankins and the trades earlier this year for Cooks and Gillmore. I also liked the swap we did with KJ. That said, I think it's mind boggling how the Eagles are able to make the trades that they do with no concern for salary cap, while Jerry and Stephen, for some confusing reason, don't really have this approach. The Eagles see a problem, and they make a move to try to fix it in a trade. Jerry sees a problem, and it's "It should be fine". I think a lot of this saw this roster and knew running back was a key weakness after letting Zeke go. Now, it's looking like a key weakness. Similarly, LB is also a big weakness of ours when it comes to depth. Jerry never seema to realise the problem until it smacks him in the face, and it's too late when that reality check comes.
I do think that our coaching staff and players need to be better. That said, the FO has to be better too. If they keep giving the coaching staff hamburger, then they can't be surprised when they get hamburger results. They need to provide steak every so often. They need to realise that, when there's a key problem that they can fix, then they should do it. There is this thing called a comp pick. I liked what they used to do where they would make late round trades to fill holes, then those players' contracts wouldn't be renewed, then we get the comp pick. It's a nice cycle. It's one the Eagles seem to use. It's a smart system because then you can trade some late round picks knowing you're getting more with comp picks anyway. In other words, Jerry and Stephen need to give McCarthy and Quinn the tools they need to succeed. Yes, McCarthy's playcalling could be better. No doubt. But, has it crossed the minds of the FO that maybe they have something missing?
I'll give an example. McCarthy stated he wanted to run the ball more. Jerry has given him Pollard, Dowdle, Vaughn, and Luepke (who, tbf, Mike hasn't used nearly enough). They do not replace what Zeke did. It's not just that the oline isn't as good as it once was. A rushing style has to be congruent with the style of oline being used. Pollard is not Zeke. Unfortunately, because Jerry hasn't given him a back to do what Zeke was able to do, Mike is having to use Pollard like Zeke. It's like putting a square peg in a round hole. Of course it's not going to work! Why would it be surprising that Pollard isn't as good up the middle as he is on the outside? Guess what? Jerry Jones has a week to fix the problem before the trade deadline. Yet, he makes this comment last week about "we won't initiate a call". Maybe it's a negotiating tactic, but he really should make a few calls. Who knows? He might get some deals on players that we could really use like a LB, RB, or a lineman. Plus, it doesn't always have to take draft picks. We made a good move earlier with Joseph. That was good! But, they did it likely because they couldn't take KJ anymore. It shouldn't come to that to realise that a player should be moved on from. Perhaps there might be players that other teams want that might be expendable for us? Who knows? You never know if you don't shake the tree.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
