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JJ: A view from the Eagles side...
#1


The draft moment that changed the Vikings’ 
Jefferson could make things difficult for the Eagles secondary on Monday night, but Jonathan Gannon thinks his group will be up for the challenge.

While Nick Sirianni prepares for the Minnesota Vikings, he can’t help but think about the first time he saw Justin Jefferson play football.

The Eagles coach had just finished his second year as the Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator and was determined to watch a bigger swath of receiver and quarterback prospects after the 7-9 season.
He turned on the national championship game, hopeful to study some potential first-rounders. Even though he misremembered the team LSU played that night, Jefferson and the camera angle that confirmed Sirianni’s previous film study resonated with him.
“I remember putting on the tape and going, ‘Man, this Justin Jefferson guy is really, really good,’” Sirianni said Thursday. “Like he’s really quick. He’s got great hands. He runs really good routes. It made the game a little bit more enjoyable for me. I put the game on, we’re watching the game ... and he catches the ball and he puts his foot in the ground quick and you get the zoom up of it on the TV camera and it was like, ‘OK, he’s exactly what I thought. He does have all that quickness.’ That close-up view really helped me learn that.”
Sirianni will get another close-up view of Jefferson on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field. The third-year receiver has become one of the best players in the league since going 22nd overall in the 2019 NFL draft. He finished last season with 108 catches for 1,616 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“He’s a dude,” Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said. “Great route-runner, great after the catch, he’s strong at the finish. Playmaker, man. He makes plays. He’s a different breed. Them LSU receivers been panning out real well.”
Jefferson is coming off a dominant Week 1 performance against the Green Bay Packers in which he had nine catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He had several explosive plays down the field, most of which came on deep crossing routes against the Packers’ zone defense.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon also employs a heavy amount of zone. To avoid the same fate Green Bay’s secondary suffered, the Eagles’ secondary will have to be on the same page passing off receivers. The Eagles reworked their secondary in the offseason, adding veteran cornerback James Bradberry via free agency and trading for safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson earlier this month.
“We have to make sure we’re executing,” Eagles safety Marcus Epps said. “We need to make sure we’re seeing our right keys, matching coverages the right way, things like that. Definitely when you’re playing a player like that, you have to make sure you’re on point on the back end.”
Under first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell, formerly the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, Jefferson moves around the formation more than he did last season. On Jefferson’s 11 targets against the Packers, four came when he was the “Z” receiver off the line of scrimmage, three came when he lined up as the “X” receiver on the line, three came when he was in the slot, and one came when he was in the backfield.
He did damage from three of the four alignments. He caught three passes out of the slot for 91 yards, three passes out of the “Z” alignment for 36 yards and a touchdown, and had two catches for 57 yards and a touchdown as an “X” receiver. He caught one pass out of the backfield for no gain.
“He can beat you all different types of ways,” Gannon said. “When you’re looking at his game, he’s not a one-dimensional guy. He can take the roof off, he can beat you underneath, he can beat you with yards after catch.”
“They do a really good job of deploying him different ways. So it’s hard to have a plan for him to always have two guys on him. It’s going to be a good challenge for us, and we’ll be up for it.”
Even though the Eagles are a zone-heavy team under Gannon, there have been occasions when Slay has followed No. 1 receivers to match up in man coverage throughout the game. The 31-year-old corner developed a reputation for sticking top wideouts earlier in his career, but it might not be an option for the Eagles because of Jefferson’s varied alignments.

For Bradberry, studying the routes Jefferson typically runs from each alignment is the difference-maker this week.
“For me specifically, I just try to learn the route concepts from where he lines up,” he said. “If he ends up in the slot, I try to learn what’s his route tree from there. If he ends up outside, I try to learn what his route tree is from there.”
Slay said he’s not worried about Jefferson matching up against Bradberry or slot cornerback Avonte Maddox.
“It doesn’t matter,” Slay said. “We could do whatever we need. We got a great nickel, we got great safeties, and a great other [outside] corner, so we could do whatever.”
https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/eagles-v...20915.html
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#2
The Vikings have more weapons offensively than JJ.....I think the Eagles are going to be reminded of that tomorrow night. Bright lights, tomorrow night: guys like Cook, Thielen, etc. are waiting to remind people. 
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#3
Quote: @StickyBun said:
The Vikings have more weapons offensively than JJ.....I think the Eagles are going to be reminded of that tomorrow night. Bright lights, tomorrow night: guys like Cook, Thielen, etc. are waiting to remind people. 
I got a good feeling about this Mundt kid too...I think he's going to surprise us this season. 
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#4
Everyone assumed Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was going to take Jefferson on draft night.In the opening round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Vikings were sitting at No. 22, anxiously waiting for the Philadelphia Eagles to make their pick to see who would still be on the board.
Because of the pandemic, former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and various members of the front office had to conduct business via Zoom. Every one of them assumed Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was going to go with a receiver with the No. 21 pick.
“All right, the pick is in and we’re on the clock,” former Vikings manager of player personnel Kelly Kleine can be heard saying in a clip that has since gone viral on social media. “Jalen Reagor, wide receiver, TCU, to the Eagles.”
Quote:
The reaction from the Vikings was priceless.
Whether it was Spielman literally laughing out loud, or Zimmer removing his glasses — partially in disbelief, partially in celebration — the Vikings were over the moon that the Eagles had just passed on who they felt was a generational talent.

Let’s go get him,” Spielman can be heard saying with a huge smile on his face. “Get Justin Jefferson on the clock right now. Wow.”
And the rest, as they say, is history.
In the span of two years, Jefferson has completely changed the trajectory of the Vikings. He put together the best start of any receiver in NFL history, compiling 196 receptions for 3,016 yards and 17 touchdowns through two seasons in the league.
On the flip side, not only did Reagor underwhelm during his time with the Eagles, he was constantly being compared to Jefferson at every turn. In a weird twist of fate, the Vikings acquired Reagor from the Eagles last month.
Asked if it weighs on him being known as the player who went in the pick before Jefferson in the draft, Reagor noted how the rest of the story is still unwritten for him. Just because it’s taking Reagor a little bit longer to reach his full potential doesn’t mean he can’t get there at some point.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jalen Reagor (18) eludes a tackle by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL wild-card football game Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Meanwhile, it’s safe to say no one truly knows what Jefferson’s full potential is at this point. He currently is on pace to rank among the best receivers in NFL history, and his 9-catch, 184-yard performance against the rival Green Bay Packers last weekend serves as yet another reminder of that.
He has unlocked another dimension for the Vikings with his unbelievable skill set. Plus, current coach Kevin O’Connell already has proven more capable of maximizing Jefferson’s talents in a way Zimmer never figured out.
As for his memories of the 2020 NFL Draft, Jefferson admitted this week that he fully expected to go to the Eagles in the opening round. Why would he think anything else? Almost every mock draft had him going there.
“Just getting a phone call and it being Minnesota was definitely a shocker,” Jefferson said. “I’m definitely happy — way more happy — to be here than there.”
Though the wound of passing on Jefferson is still fresh for most Eagles fans, naturally, the Vikings are hoping to rub some salt in it on Monday Night Football.

“I’ve heard about their fans and heard about their atmosphere,” Jefferson said. “Those are the best wins, when their stands are quiet, and their fans are leaving the stadium early. I love these away games. I live for those type of moments. I’m definitely excited for it.”
https://www.twincities.com/2022/09/18/th...020-draft/



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#5
Quote: @purplefaithful said:“I’ve heard about their fans and heard about their atmosphere,” Jefferson said. “Those are the best wins, when their stands are quiet, and their fans are leaving the stadium early. I love these away games. I live for those type of moments. I’m definitely excited for it.”
Wouldn't that be great tonight - a quiet Eagles crowd after a Vikings win. Here's hoping he can help do that.
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#6
It's like 1998. 

Titans at #16 take WR  Kevin Dyson.  Moss goes #21.  Dyson has a 6 year career with 18 total TDs.  Moss re-writes the receiving game to the HOF.  Oops.

I think the 40 times came into play, and Philly envisioned Reagor as a low 4.3 next Tyreek Hill type that still needed polish.  JJ was a 4.4.  Diggs was also 4.4 

Some guys play faster.  
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#7
I don’t think there’s any real shade that needs to be put on
the Eagles, other than giving their classy fans what they deserve.  Drafting is not an exact science, and even
the best teams are wrong more than they’re right.  I think people put way too much emphasis on
which teams “are good at drafting” rather than “which teams are good at
developing players”


Regarding Jefferson, I think we’ll spam the Jefferson
button, until someone makes a solid attempt to alter their defense enough to
take him away, and then we’ll have a counter to that.  I think Jefferson, Thielen, and Osborn all
have relatively interchangeable skillsets, and if someone got good at countering
Jefferson as he moves around, you could easily put him more out wide in a more
traditional role and let Thielen or Osborn move around and get 80% of the benefit.  I think there’s a version of our offense
where you always have someone moving around causing chaos, but maybe the targeted
player isn’t the guy that’s moving.


I’d also be interested in seeing how defenses try to double
a guy that is moving around the offense lining up in unpredictable spots.
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#8
With the Iggles, this is a good game to get Cook going early.  This will slow the pass rush down a little bit and open up the passing lanes more.

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#9
Quote: @ArizonaViking said:
With the Iggles, this is a good game to get Cook going early.  This will slow the pass rush down a little bit and open up the passing lanes more.
Agreed - will help with the pass rush and keep that RPO on the sidelines more. Our D really has to come to play tonight!! 
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