Welcome to SportsRadio94WIP's Judgment Week, where we will find out who we were wrong about and ultimately revisit five topics in Philadelphia sports with the benefit of hindsight.
From Wednesday, July 8th to Wednesday, July 15th submit someone or something that we were wrong about. You can click this link to do so.
From Monday, July 20th to Friday, July 24th we will spend each day judging, discussing, and debating one of the five most submitted topics that we were wrong about.
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Philadelphia is a football town. Always has been, always will be. As a result, everyone always has an opinion on everything with the Eagles. Some are good and prove to be correct.
Some, however, are misses.
Here is a look at seven of the Eagles' players, coaches and (one) general manager I can remember being wrong about:
Chip Kelly: The Chip Kelly era is a complicated one to look back on. He won 26 games in three years, captured a division title and had a 10-win team that somehow didn't qualify for the postseason his second year. His offense, at the beginning at least, was incredibly fun to watch and had an influence on teams around the league.
The above reasons are why when the (somewhat surprisingly) Eagles fired him at the end of the 2015 season, I thought it was a decision they would regret.
It wasn't.
Looking back, Kelly's downfall was driven by two factors — his bad moves as a general manager and his inability to adjust. Kelly has a smart football mind, but his decisions to trade for Sam Bradford and sign DeMarco Murray were so bad they basically ruined the 2015 season. While Kelly losing the locker room was always a little overblown — many players liked the sports science aspect of his training program — there is no denying a lot of the veteran players didn't support Kelly, and overall, there was a lot of bad blood between Kelly and other employees in the building.
Doug Pederson coming in and turning things around quickly only further proved that moving on from Kelly was absolutely the right decision.
Howie Roseman: I have the distinct honor of being in the wrong about both the Eagles decision to fire Chip Kelly and the Eagles decision to hand power back over to Howie Roseman. To be fair, being hesitant about Roseman taking back over control was fair — he had been a general manager for five years up until that point, with his teams having a total of exactly zero playoff wins in those years. In fact, it wasn't until the beginning of the 2017 Super Bowl run that Roseman got his first playoff win.
What is clear about Roseman now, however, is that he really did learn and change during his time on the sideline during the 2015 season. Roseman has become one of the most forward-thinking general managers in the league, and without question runs one of the best, most well-informed front offices. He has also learned to do a much better job working with those around him, and his desire to see people around him succeed is evident by the fact that he has had so many of his employees move on to better roles over the last few years.
And, let's be honest, the second Roseman won that Super Bowl, he proved every single one of his detractors wrong in perhaps the best, most savage way possible — parading down Brown Street with the Lombardi trophy.
Alshon Jeffery: I didn't think Alshon Jeffery was going to come into Philadelphia and be the No. 1 receiver they were paying him to be. In some ways, I was correct — his numbers in an Eagles uniform have never been near the top of the league. He has been somewhat inconsistent, has rarely dominated, and had arguably the biggest drop in the history of the franchise when he let a pass from Nick Foles slip through his hands against the New Orleans Saints.
But, as is the case with Roseman, a Super Bowl changes a lot.
Jeffery picked two great games to be dominant, as he totaled a combined 158 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches in the team's NFC Championship and Super Bowl wins in 2017. His touchdown catch against the Patriots is still the best catch I have ever seen, considering the level of difficulty and the stage it was on.
Jeffery's current situation with the Eagles — overpaid and injured — will certainly cloud how people look at him. The bottom line is, however, that signing Jeffery in 2017 was obviously the right move — and I was obviously wrong.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai: I predicted Vaitai would be a bust, and when the Eagles drafted him in the fifth-round, I was certain he was a waste of a draft pick.
Yikes.
Vaitai never became a full-time starter here in Philadelphia, but there is no question he provided incredible value as a late-round pick. He played quality football for the Eagles at multiple positions, and stepped in during their Super Bowl run to give them above-average play the ultra-important left-tackle position.
Vaitai deserved the big money he got, and chances are at some point next season the Eagles will miss having him as an elite-level backup.
Donnel Pumphrey: Pumphrey had the speed and the look of a player that would absolutely kill it in Doug Pederson's offense. I still believe that if the Eagles had to start Pumphrey for a game, he would do well. Alas, since he is currently out of the NFL, that won't be happening.
Matt Barkley: In 2013, despite the excitement around Chip Kelly's first year in the league, the Eagles sat at 3-5 after eight games and had a quarterback problem on their hands.
Both Michael Vick and Nick Foles were dealing with injuries. It was unclear when either would come back.
My suggestion? Play Matt Barkley.
Barkley was just a rookie, but coming off of a stellar career at USC, I was confident that with a full week of reps he would be able to come in and play at a higher level than Vick or Foles had that season. Kelly needed a quarterback to build around for the future, and considering his age Vick didn't seem like the answer. Foles had played pretty poorly in his career up until that point. So to me, the answer was clearly Barkley.
Well, Kelly and the Eagles didn't take my advice. They played Foles, who would go on to finish the season with 27 touchdowns, just two interceptions and one division title.
One year later, Barkley was off the team.
Marcus Smith:
Just gonna let this tweet speak for itself:
Week ago today, #Eagles selected Marcus Smith. Everyone question it, including me. Now I give it an "A". Here is why https://t.co/7R7Ow1JBZA
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) May 15, 2014Finally: Since you will all tweet me…No, I was not wrong about Jordan Matthews.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
