With the Eagles needing to get settle their 53 man roster today, they made a series of moves, including cutting the following 16 players:
S Jamar Adams
RB Eldra Buckley
WR Chad Hall
CB Joselio Hanson
DT Anthony Hargrove
WR Johnnie Lee Higgins
OT Austin Howard
S Marlin Jackson
DT Derek Landri
TE Donald Lee
LB Greg Lloyd
G Mike McGlynn
WR Sinorice Moss
DE Daniel Te'o-Nesheim
OL Fenuki Tupou
OL Reggie Wells
The Eagles also released linemen Jose Acuna and Ryan Harris, with Harris being waived/injured. Brandon Graham also remains on the PUP list.
There were a few surprises amongst the list of cuts, most notably that both Landri and Hargrove are out of the mix at DT. Landri was very impressive in the preseason and Hargrove quickly developed into a leader so it wouldn't be surprising for both to latch on with other teams in the coming days. Losing Hanson for nothing was somewhat surprising as well. Apparently other teams figure it is easier to sign him off the scrap heap. Cutting Chad Hall was a also bit of a surprise considering the health of Jeremy Maclin and Steve Smith, who apparently must both be ready to go in Week 1. There was a ton of turnover along the offensive line, with Howard, McGlynn, Tupou and Wells all being shown the door after being on the roster last season. The end of the Te'o-Nesheim era is disappointing though hardly surprising. The former third round pick simply got beat out by Philip Hunt.
As for surprises amongst players that made the team, DT Cedric Thornton and S Colt Anderson are the most notable. Anderson's special teams ability makes him valuable so it's nice to see the Eagles hold on to him.
Over the last few weeks, I have been making
my own projections of the Eagles roster. Here is the Eagles actual roster, with changes from my final version in bold. Expect a change or two before the season starts.
Offense:QB(3): Michael Vick, Vince Young, Mike Kafka
RB(3): LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown, Dion Lewis
FB (1): Owen Schmitt
WR(5): DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Steve Smith, Jason Avant, Riley Cooper
TE(2): Brent Celek, Clay Harbor
LT(1): Jason Peters
LG(2): Evan Mathis,
Julian VanderveldeC(2): Jason Kelce, Jamaal Jackson
RG(1): Danny Watkins
RT(3): Todd Herremans, Winston Justice, King Dunlap
Defense:DE(5): Trent Cole, Jason Babin, Juqua Parker, Darryl Tapp,
Philip HuntDT(5): Mike Patterson, Cullen Jenkins, Antonio Dixon, Trevor Laws, Cedric Thornton
LB(6): Moise Fokou, Casey Matthews, Jamar Chaney, Keenan Clayton, Brian Rolle,
Akeem JordanCB(6): Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Curtis Marsh, Brandon Hughes,
Trevard LindleyFS(2): Kurt Coleman, Jaiquawn Jarrett
SS(3): Nate Allen, Jarrad Page,
Colt Anderson Special Teams:K(1): Alex Henery
P(1): Chas Henry
LS(1): Jon Dorenbos
PUP: DE Brandon Graham
‘Tiger Pataudi’ didn’t have an exceptional batting or captaincy record but he was revered for his fortitude, courage, leadership and never-say die approach. He was hailed as one character who redefined Indian cricket with his bold tactics.
‘Vishy’ scored a century on Test debut and didn’t look back. He became the premier batsman of the country rather soon and Pataudi was credited to have fast tracked his entry in international cricket.
He led an honourable life all along. He was respected by the cricket community at the international. His association with the project of the Indian Premier League (IPL), however, seemed to have dented an otherwise clean career. It was probably his single greatest mistake to have been a party to the IPL whose founder Lalit Modi had to quit controversially.
I don’t understand the logic behind this particular decision of his. Did someone in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or anyone of the selectors prompt him to announce his retirement or was it a personal move to conserve energy and extend his Test career?
After having scored three centuries in the four-Test series he was an automatic choice for the ODIs against England. In fact he was also selected for the one-off T20I. His announcement to retire from the limited overs cricket at the end of the ODIs was shocking to say the least.
Dravid still has the hunger and passion to score runs. If the Indians are finding it difficult to get high quality young batsmen then they should persist with those having proven record and whose capacity is beyond doubt.
It would certainly be unfair to hold the Indian Premier League (IPL) wholly and solely responsible to the recent debacle. There were a few other factors as well, beyond the much-criticized Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which contributed to the downfall of the Indians on a tour where literally each and every thing went against them right from the first day of the tour to the very last day.
Whenever and wherever India scored heavily and then stuck early blows the rains arrived to rescue England. The Indian bowlers and fielders put up brave show in conditions when the late evening dew made it exceedingly hard to grip the ball. They could have only tried their level best which they did. But they didn’t possess the awesome power to win a game.
Who would have imagined India, having been crowned as the world champions only a few months ago, would return from England empty-handed? Who could have thought of the top-ranked Test side for the last three years getting whacked in every game?
The likes of Aleem Dar and Simon Taufel, representatives of the new crop of umpires, are fortunate to be standing in an era when they have to act neutrally and that too under the umbrella of a powerful match referee, designated by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Pakistan’s Aleem Dar remains a picture of confidence all along in the cricket field and his decision-making has been spot on most of the times. It came as no surprise to me when he was handed over the David Shepherd Trophy for the Umpire of the Year for third year running in the ICC Awards ceremony held recently in London.
Taufel was alright in the list of top umpires, nominated for the award, but there looked an element of surprise in the selection of Ian Gould and Steve Davis. The nomination of Davis seemed staggering for he had given two horrible leg-before decisions on successive deliveries in an India-New Zealand Test match last season.
Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, PBSA, has announced that the inaugural 6-Reds National Tournament, to be sponsored by NJI, will be held in December.
The PBSA President reckoned that the 6-Reds format designed to revive the popularity of snooker as a spectator sport, in the same way Twenty20 has done to cricket was here to stay.
The first international tournament in this format was contested in July 2008. A six-red tournament was held during the 2009 World Snooker Championship as a sideshow, involving one-frame knockout matches. The first 6-Reds World Championship was held in Ireland in December 2009.
The Eagles wrapped up their preseason with a victory over the Jets on Thursday night, winning 24-14. While the 4th preseason game is completely meaningless except for players on the roster bubble, the Eagles did get a small scare when Vince Young hurt his hamstring and had to leave the game. Young will have an MRI tomorrow but the initial speculation is that he should be healthy enough to backup Michael Vick in Week 1.