Preseason Q&A Part II
Thanks again for all the great feedback on the board last week. Saw this had come in just before I posted responses to all the others, so figured I’d get to these now since there’s some stuff I didn’t get to in the previous post.
“Last year they seemed to be in limbo on the offensive strategy…Do you think they keep some of the run stuff for James/Longergan or transition to a more pro style approach?”
They were, mostly because of the original starting quarterback and his inability to push the ball down the field. There’s also a week-to-week game plan element though, remember it’s basically an NFL-ran program given the staff’s experience. I do think they’ll keep it to an extent, but I’d expect more of a pro style, pocket passing offense simply because of O’Brien and Lawing and the fact you actually have two or three QBs that can accurately throw the ball more than 20 yards. If you do see a healthy dose of that running element still, I think Grayson James is the guy better suited for it, but Dylan Lonergan isn’t a turtle by any means.
“I’m really interested in how some of the young linemen are coming along on the offensive side…I’m hoping we have some guys on the roster that are making strides. Guys like Lafontant, Pruitt, Sye, Crounse, Funke, and Mickow. I’m really high on some of the 2025 kids like Williams and Smith…If Bowry has a good year and leaves for the draft we could be very weak at tackle. Maybe an article with Applebaum talking about the progress of the younger linemen would be good content.”
Think I mentioned all of them when talking about the O-line in the last Q&A post. I also believe immensely in Matt Applebaum and not just because of how good he’s been with us both at EA and NEFJ, but because his former players speak so highly of him. I also think there’s a concentrated effort to be a dominant team in the run game so the pressure isn’t always on James or Lonergan. Those guys won’t have to pass protect nearly as much if they’re ahead in games rather than trailing.
I think Logan Taylor and Jude Bowry are your next two NFL Draft picks from BC, followed closely by Lewis Bond. Having said that, I think they’ll be fine here too. BC may not attract the biggest skill guys in the portal, but they absolutely will be able to grab some of the top available linemen if they continue pumping out draft picks again. It’s all about being able to get to the league now and the Eagles’ track record is hard to ignore for guys that might have two years left when they head in the portal.
I’ll have plenty of Applebaum and O-line stuff once we get to talk to him either during camp or at the local Media Day some time in August.
“I’m interested what True or RS Freshmen will make the 2 deep. Also what is the staffs view on redshirting? In the era of the portal is it something that is less important to do?”
Me too. There’s always someone who surprises in camp. Good question on the redshirting. Now that I think of it, we’ve asked O’Brien about his thoughts on the roster limits (always gets his best responses) plenty of times, but we’ve never really talked about the redshirt thing. Probably because they came in so late last offseason there was so much more to talk about. Someone remind me when camp hits please so we can ask.
