Latest on Eddie George!!

[Flux]

Early rumor is that despite Parcell's objections the Cowboys have signed Eddie George.

Again rumor only......but this will kill the value of J Jones.

bleh, that would be awful news for JJ.

[KingGhidra]

Early rumor is that despite Parcell's objections the Cowboys have signed Eddie George.

Again rumor only......but this will kill the value of J Jones.

Looks like Jerry is back to his old meddling ways.

[Rodge]

Clark Judge, columnist on cbs.sportsline.com seems to think that Eddie George would be a perfect fit for the Eagles. Here are some of his thoughts:


The Eagles would be as perfect for George as George would be for the Eagles. He grew up around Philadelphia, attending Abington High School before transferring to Fort Union (Va.) Military Academy after his sophomore year, and was a crowd favorite when he returned there in 2000 to dissect the Eagles for 101 yards in his only Philadelphia appearance.

So there's a comfort zone there for George. But there's one for the Eagles, too, who could use George to replace Duce Staley.

Staley was the first-down back who yielded to Brian Westbrook or Correll Buckhalter, depending on the down, distance or time of the game, and the plan worked beautifully a season ago: Philadelphia's average of 4.8 yards a carry was second only to Green Bay in the NFL, and their 26 rushing TDs were second only to Kansas City ... OK, Priest Holmes.

"George would be perfect for the Eagles," said one scout, "because they can't go through the season relying on Westbrook. He'll get hurt again. And Buckhalter is little more than adequate."

Now I know what you're thinking: Why would Eddie George succeed there when he struggled in Tennessee, with a 3.3-yards-per-carry average that last year tied for last among the league's top 50 backs? I'll give you three reasons:


-The Eagles' offensive line is more physical;

-The Eagles have a decent lead blocker in fullback Jon Ritchie;

-The Eagles can lean on other weapons than just Steve McNair, with Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens the most notable.

Sure, George is winding down. You would, too, if you were called on to run 2,733 times in eight years -- or an average ... an average ... of 342 times per season. You know how many backs had more carries last year? I do. Five. Which is why Philadelphia makes even more sense. Split the carries among George, Westbrook and Buckhalter, and they all benefit.

End Quote

http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/7512398


I vastly agree with Clark on this one. Lets face it, Correll Buckhalter is not that great. If Westbrook goes down, the Eagles are in trouble. George would not have to carry the ball 300+ times any more, which would tremendously benefit him.

[maddog60]

I whole-heartedly disagree with that article.

Firstly, there is no way with his past 2 years performances that George can come close to filling Staley's role. I think if the Eagles wanted to keep a veteran RB, they would've made a deal with Staley who wanted to stay in Philly and is one of the city's most beloved sports figures (and in a city where one bad 1st quarter of a game can get the home crowd chanting the 3rd string QB's name in unison, that's a very short list). But more to the point, the author is dramatically underestimating how much better Staley is right now than George.

Secondly, TO vs. Mason and McNabb vs. McNair. Sure I like Philly's combo better, but McNabb and McNair are similiar QB types, and to say the Eagles have more passing weapons to rely on tahn the Titans just because of TO is a slap in the face to the skills and stats Mason has put up through the years.

And Buckhalter may not be a featured RB quality player, but he's quite a bit better than George at this point. Look at when Buckhalter got a decent number of carries when Westbrook was out. He flourished. Look at the Miami game. Its not that Eddie George lacks the heart, he's just too old to be anything other than insurance.

Which kinda makes sense. If the Cowboys take him, it might be just to have a capable backup should JJ go down or not succeed. I certainly would feel safer having George as a backup than Cason, but to have him start ahead of JJ, that's really a training camp issue, and they're probably be better served using this year to develop some of that young talent.