Free at last, free at last. Now lets get back to the future, Marty.
I don't think you are right about Philly. They didn't finally win due to building through the draft. A LOT of their roster is through free agency or trade.
Just off the top of my head:
McLeod
Jenkins
The corner from Buffalo who's name is escaping me
Robinson
Bradham
Jernigan
Long
Jeffrey
Tory Smith
Ajai
Blount
Wisniewski
Warmack
Peters
I mean, that's a lot right there and I'm probably missing a bunch.
(Not sure where you'd consider Foles since he's actually both a draftee and a free agent.)
I agree Philly has always made plays in FA. Hell it always seems like they make an early splash in FA.
But I think they’re now getting some major homegrown cornerstones too, namely Wentz but also Barnett, Agholar, Matthews, and Hicks. We already know about Johnson, Logan, Cox, and Ertz. Even Foles is technically their choice, and Sidney Jones is slow cooking for next year.
You could normally count on their drafts being a crapshow, but now these guys are sticking. I think they’re getting the coaching they need.
I hope this works. I'd really like to see Dez and Dak working together all offseason too. Those two need to really work on building chemistry with each other. Those two need to work on getting on the same page and at least get the completion percentage between them up into the 60% range. When all you're doing is throwing 50/50 balls of course your percentage is going to be down near 50%. You just can't live and die by that with your number 1 WR. I've always liked Dez and I think he is loved among teammates. But I also don't want to keep hoping that Dez and Dak somehow become Dez and Romo. It's just not going to happen. It's different QBs with different skill sets. There is no reason though if Dak can complete nearly 70% of his balls thrown to Terrance Williams that he shouldn't be able to do similar with Dez.
Im thinking 9 years into his NFL career is too late to be optimistic. Old habits and, more to the point, an old and declining body don't lend themselves to new skills readily.
History does not favor a player with 3 down seasons hoping for a sudden renewal.
Free at last, free at last. Now lets get back to the future, Marty.
Dez can be a beast, but he's wearing down. Either he evolves his game or he needs to go away.
Troy Aikman was similar in that his game relied on toughness in the pocket and gunning a 15-20 yard pass on a rope.
He couldn't keep that up later in his career. Just watch his weak passes in the 1998-1999 playoff loss vs Arizona and compare with his great performances 6-7 years earlier. His back could no longer take those vicious hits standing in the pocket.
Dak can't throw those perfectly leading or back-shoulder passes, so Dez need to refine timing routes with his QB.
Blew my mind yesterday when I saw Dez would be working with a route coach. A 30 year old NFL WR taking route lessons? Hey at least he cares enough to do it. But wow, how is running good routes a mystery after 9 years in the league?
Well I'd say that route running is something you should always be working at. I'm sure Larry Fitzgerald still works his ass off to improve his route running ability. It's not something that you just learn and can sort of ignore the rest of your career. It's something you need to constantly work on to keep it sharp. And frankly Dez is kind of dull at it and with his decrease in explosiveness it couldn't be more important than now.