Hi Friends!
First of all, I'd like to thank Nikki Murry, Robyn Jones and the entire staff at Berks County Living for inviting me back to do my weekly blog on a subject I'm most passionate about: the Philadelphia Eagles! I hope you check in with me every week.
It's been a long time, but the new 2017-2018 season of Philadelphia Eagles football is upon us. I am anxious for it to begin and am really looking forward to seeing how all the changes that were made will transfer to wins and losses on the field. Before I get into preview of this week’s opening game and the season, let me bring you up to speed on some happenings here at my Locker Room…
Last year provided yours truly with some amazing experiences that will go down as some of my favorite memories. I was proud and honored to have been featured in Vice magazine after being chosen along with 26 other football nuts from across the United States. That was in conjunction with the Bud Light; people chose “little old me” to represent the Philadelphia region and the Philadelphia Eagles as part of the Bud Light Fan Can promotion. Bud Light also named Barry "The Hatchet" Vagnoni's Eagles Locker Room as the “#1 Man Cave" in the country. WOW! To say that I'm over the top with pride and excitement over that is a huge understatement.
Then in the early days of last summer, the NFL TV Network came here to Reading from Los Angeles with a crew of 18 folks to film a new show that they were going to debut this spring. Sadly, the production company and the network had a disagreement, so the project is in limbo at the present time. I am not permitted to reveal the name of the show due to an agreement I signed with the NFL network. They have 8 shows(1/2 of a season) taped and my episode featured the great Buffalo Bills wide receiver and Kutztown alumni Andre Reed along with the Locker Room.
NBC10 TV was also here in December last year and did a nice feature on the Locker Room that an awful lot of nice folks commented about. This year, there promises to be even more excitement here in the Locker Room as many sportswriters are predicting great things for our Philadelphia Eagles. When the Eagles do well, the media wants to know what the pulse is at the Locker Room. I am working tirelessly on trying to have one of the networks come here on game day so they can see what kind of crazy passionate Eagles fans that the Locker Room friends are. Maybe WFMZ 69 News is reading this?
I was also thrilled this April to be the face of a Dunkin Donuts promotion called "Go Large-Game On.” It was on all the social media outlets (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). Being old school, I have no clue what the heck they are, but Dunkin tells me it was a very successful promotion and my video was viewed by hundreds of thousands. (Boy, I must have scared an awful lot of folks!) It took an entire day of filming, but Dunkin is the greatest and they surprised me by having the Eagles mascot Swoop visit here for the taping. Also they almost put me in the hospital from shock when they played a personal video message to me from the great Zach Ertz, who you might remember from last year’s blogs is one of my favorite players. I was blown away with all of Zach's kind words and all the nice things he had to say about the Locker Room, and to top it off, he sent me an autographed football. The original plan was that Zach was going to be here with Swoop to surprise me but I had to postpone the taping for two weeks and by then he was out on the west coast with Carson Wentz. I am so thankful to Kristine Crocker of Dunkin for always thinking of me. She ROCKS!
Looking forward, and back…
You might recall from my last blog of the 2016 season that I threw in my 2 cents on what the Eagles had to address in the off season to improve the team. I just reviewed that last blog, and son of a gun, I was pretty darn right on the money. Here’s a review:
- #1. Need to add one or possibly two stud wideouts via the draft or in free agency. The Eagles added Alshon Jeffrey and Torrey Smith in free agency as well as Mack Hollins and Sheldon Gibson in the draft.
- #2. Need to add a shutdown cornerback. The Eagles drafted a potential steal of the draft in Sidney Jones. Jones injured himself at his pro-day workout but he would have been a Top 10 pick if healthy and it looks like he'll be back on the field sooner than anticipated. They also traded Jordan Matthews (a class guy) to the Buffalo Bills for the very speedy and talented Ronald Darby. Our cornerback play should be much better than last season.
- #3. Need to draft a stud pass rusher. The Eagles used their first round pick on a beast of a pass rusher in Derek Barnett, who broke the late great Reggie White's sack record at Tennessee. Mark this down. “The Hatchet" predicts Derek Barnett is going to have himself double digit sacks in his rookie season. Now they also upgraded the D-line by bringing in veteran Chris Long from the Patriots. They also added a guy who I think will really excel in this defense and be an upgrade over Benny Logan, and that's Timmy Jernigan. He will take the pressure off of Fletcher Cox, which will make this defense one of the league’s best without a doubt.
- #40. Need to upgrade the offensive line with more depth. They added guard Chance Warmack who was a beast at Alabama when coach Stoutland was Bama's line coach and look for him to help solidify the line. With Warmack as well as the maturation of Seameulo and Vatai, along with Wisniewski, the O line could be one of the league’s best. I am still reeling with the news that the Eagles traded my friend Jon Dorenbos to the New Orleans Saints for a 7th round draft pick. Jon is one of the premier long snappers in the NFL, and more importantly, is a classy person and one of the most popular Eagles players ever. I hope new guy Rick Lovello can be as steady and dependable as the Magic Man Jon Dorenbos was for 11 years with the Eagles. I wish you the best Jon and as I told you. Your locker will remain forever here in the Locker Room!
What To Look For In This Week’s Game:
#1. Offensively, the Eagles should be explosive with all the additions at key positions. The Redskins were a so-so team last year against the run, so I look for Darren Sproles, along with Wendell Smallwood, to get the bulk of the carries with newcomer LaGarrett Blount being used in short yardage situations, especially down at the goal line. The Skins just might have 7 new starters from last year’s defense, but there is still Josh Norman at corner and Ryan Kerrigan, who are both very good players. Also their first round pick Jonathan Allen out of Alabama is a beast and could make that defensive line much better than last year’s unit. I look for Carson Wentz to go to the two newcomers, Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, early and often as well as getting third year man Nelson Agholar going to boost his confidence after a tough last season. It will be a challenge going against Ryan Kerrigan and company, but Zach Ertz developed some chemistry with Wentz at the end of last season and I look for Ertz to have some big plays this Sunday. Personally, I would have loved to see the Eagles offensive line play more snaps this preseason than what they did and I'm hoping the timing and cohesiveness is there to protect Wentz. If they're in stride, this offensive line could be a Top 5 unit and we can only hope it is because if Carson gets hurt the backup unit is weak with Nick Foles sidelined with a sore elbow. It is key that this O line gels right from the jump to protect Wentz!
#2. Defense! Defensively, the Eagles added some good players in end Chris Long from the Patriots, Timothy Jernigan from the Ravens, and the first-round pick Derek Barnett, who has superstar written all over him. I think all three will make an impact in this week’s game and they better as the Skins are a pass-happy group and we have to get to Kirk Cousins and put him on the ground. Washington lost two 1,000=yard receivers in DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, but they added the great Tyrell Pryor(6'4") of the Browns and former first-rounder Josh Doctson (6'2") who was injured last year. These are big and very good receivers and it will be fun to see how our corners Jalen Mills and newly acquired Ronald Darby fare against them. , the most dangerous receiver on the Skins (in my opinion) is tight end Jordan Reed. If he's healthy, he will create a lot of trouble for our linebackers. Reed has been injured these past few weeks and it would be huge for our Eagles if he cannot suit up on Sunday. The Skins run game was bad last year and they really didn't do anything to help it out in the off season. The Eagles defensive line could be the strength of the defense with players like Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry. I do not think the Redskins are going to be able to run against the Eagles and we'll probably see Kirk Cousins drop back to pass 50+ times Sunday. Again we must put him on his back to come out with a W this week.
#3. Special Teams. It's going to be interesting to see how our special teams play will be impacted by the trade of team favorite Jon Dorenbos. He was a major factor on the field with his perfect long snaps, as well as in the locker room. Hopefully the team can ramp it up without #46. I know coach Fipps will have them prepared and they could be one of the tops in the league. Returning kickoffs again this year should be Darren Sproles, and I look for Donell Pumphrey and Nelson Agholar to handle the punts. Don't be surprised to see undrafted free agent Corey Clement back there also if he makes the final cut. The kid was a beast at Wisconsin and could be a very good addition to special teams. Once again, the steady Caleb Sturgis will do the placekicking and the ageless one Donnie "Longball" Jones will handle the punting. Both Sturgis and Jones are quality players and I feel very confident with those two handling the kicking duties.
That will do it for this week friends. I am looking for a thriller of a game this week as it most always is with the Washington Redskins. Please check in with me for next week’s blog on Thursday for my recap of this game and my outlook for the next game up for our Philadelphia Eagles. Until then...
Love, Luck, Lollipops & Linguini,
Barry "The Hatchet" Vagnoni
Fly Eagles, Fly!
