Prior to the season, I thought Eagles running back LeSean McCoy was going to be a good back, but I didn’t think he had the size, speed and quickness to be a great back. I was wrong, McCoy has proved he’s better than a I thought.
I put Brian Westbrook on a level above McCoy, but this young man has proven that he’s capable of being as good a back as Westbrook was. Like BWest before him, LeSean McCoy is a playmaker. All you need to do is get the ball in his hands and give him some space to work with.
McCoy is stronger than I thought he was and is able to pull through tacklers. He’s faster than I thought and has shown the ability to turn on the afterburners when he sees the end zone.
The former Pittsburgh Panther does something that all great backs can do. He can and will beat a tackler in a one-on-one situation. McCoy can cut on a dime with the best of them.
He gives the tackler no indication that he’s going to cut, then at the last second when the tackler is approaching him, McCoy cuts and breaks the tackler’s ankles.
Add to his abilities, tremendous toughness. How does a running back play with a broken rib? Every time you touch the football, you get hit when you’re playing running back, yet McCoy was able to play great football with a broken rib.
If McCoy hadn’t played against the Niners the Eagles would have lost the game. “You gotta give him credit,” Andy Reid after the game. “He’s a tough kid. There was no doubt he was going to play. He went places a lot of people wouldn’t go.”
He carried the ball 18 times for 92 yards and contributed another 46 yards receiving on five catches. That’s 138 yards of offense with a broken rib.
This young man also has a great nose for the end zone and his vision is outstanding. The guy sees holes where nobody else does. How many times is this guy going to run the ball right up the middle and be able to weave through it and go into the end zone standing?
This is very unusual in the NFL to see a running back weave through standing linebackers and get into the end zone from 20-plus yards and reach the end zone on his feet. It happens over and over with this guy.
Nearly every time he touches the football, he makes at least one tackler miss. There are quite a few times when he makes three or four of them miss on simple wide routes.
McCoy is very good. If his ability shined one or two times, that would be one thing, but he does this every game, so you’ve got to give him credit.
I also liked the way, McCoy took the time to give props to former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook after the game. I saw Westbrook tutor him last year, during his rookie season. He told him he needed to get stronger and it’s made him a much better back.
Westbrook’s advice definitely helped him tremendously and he had enough class to thank him for it.
Ill be the first to admit Mccoy was honeslty the last back i wanted in that draft. The kid had made me feel like an idiot for that many time . He seriously impresses me more and more every game. As big of a jump from year one to two that he made i think the sky the limit for this kid. He truly is a dynmaic back and if we keep leaning toward the run as much as we have been (never thought id type that) at over 500 all purpose yards and 5 touchdowns already he could have a great year. MAYBE even get his frist probowl nod .
I’ve said it before – I’m a Pitt alumn, a huge Shady fan, and I AM BIASED. VERY BIASED. But I said it all along, that while Shady is a good receiver, and has the potential to develop into a great one, he isn’t as amazing at it as Westbrook. BUT, he is undoubtedly a better inside the tackles runner than Westbrook ever was able to be. Westbrook struggled inside, save for times when there was excellent blocking (the Sean Adrews glory days – don’t deny it, they did exist…)…. Shady always reminded me of Barry Sanders – NOT IN HOW GOOD HE WAS AT THE TIME, but in style. I said that watching him at Pitt BEFORE I heard him say that Sanders was his role model/inspiration and who he attempted to model his game after. Shady plays lights out football. It’s that simple. The best is yet to come for him.
As I posted the key to the game was whether and how well McCoy would be able to play
I hope his ribs heal fast because he really helps set up the passing game and is a potent weapon running and receiving ala Westbrook
I don’t know if he is as good a blitz blocker as Westbrook was but I am sure he can improve
Will these damn injuries never stop –11 games to go and the Birds are the walking wounded since game one
And doesn’t this once again prove that NFL players take time to improve, especially early in their careers? And that as fans/analysts, we often (myself included, I wrote of Justice, I wrote of Hobbs who has played better than I expected, I wrote off many others too), are WAY TOO IMPATIENT and JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS regarding young players too often?
Maybe Kolb will continue to improve with more playing time too? Maybe Desean and Maclin will continue to? Maybe Celek can still improve? Justice still has more to grow? And look the hell out if Allen improves, because he’s already playing at a very very high level for a rook. Maybe Fokou keeps improving?
And it was good to see Lindley get some time and make a play (albeit a ‘gimme’)…
My point is not an “i told you so” – it’s – can we actually learn from this and temper our brash judgments in the future? Or are we just going to treat every time that a player many wrote off early in his career improves as an exception? A random fluke?
McCoy is Ricky Watters 2.0..same body type as the young Ricky in San Fran, Same running style(kinda upright), Same quickness catching the football as well as running, and not game breaking speed initially, but when they both see pay dirt, they are gone! They both are from Pittsburg, and Ricky tutored McCoy for a period. I see ALOT of Ricky Watters in him. Which is a good thing cause Watters is VERY underratted and is one of the all time greats and should be in the hall! LeSean has a ways to go before he can be spoken in those terms, but his play is what has lifted the eagles in their wins, even when Vick played. He has like 5 TD’s in 5 games, one of the top rushes in the league, on a eagles team that doesnt run like other teams. BEASTLY!
It’s funny you say he reminds you of Ricky Watters because both McCoy and Watters are from Harrisburg, Pa.
I liked McCoy a lot in College for he had a great knack of getting into the endzone
I was unsure if he could do this consistently at the NFL Level, with his hard work,extra lbs and muscle,
he is develpoing into a great overall back, his blocking and blitz pick-ups have improved tremendously..
Playing RB in AR’s system is not easy and not for everyone, the Eagles system demands a lot besides just running the ball.. You can really tell that McCoy has learned alot from B Westbrook and He’s running more patient and allowing holes to developed and then makes the quick burst and gets north & south in an instant which is what you have to do at the NFL level..
Congrats to MCCoy for his hard work and strong desire to be a complete back are really paying off..
On a side note, back-up RB M Bell appeared a little quicker last evening and maybe is finally getting his “football legs’ underneath him again, he is important and will be needed as the season progresses.
Paul man im not trying to attack you or start an argument here ok just want to voice my opioin …but what game r you watching in regards to mike bell. That dude should be fired. From ONLY a speed standpoint i can kinda see where your coming from but the dude barley gets 2 yards a run. I guess i just dont c him being as improtant to this team as you do thats all. I would much rather prefer buckley than that bum.
eaglez, yeah, he’s been disappointing, but he did show slight improvements last night. If he has another oh so slight improvement over the next few weeks, and then continues it to the point where he is at least a somewhat decent change of pace back, it will be KEY later in the season. Too early to count him out (AM I A BROKEN RECORD OR WHAT!?).
mike bell is not a nfl calibur rb, he is slow with no vision
why not sign willie parker or larry johnson for a year rental? i say that because there are better options
lesean mccoy is a tough kid, playing with a cracked rib is no easy feat, i love having tough players
he is a smooth and smart player earning his respect and making a name for himself
i agree he does play like ricky williams, i like him a lot and think he will be a playmaker for years
wmon – Ha, my friend made the same error a few weeks ago – Ricky WATERS! Ricky Willliams, who McCoy is nothing like, is a different type of back. And McCoy at least knows how to be “SHADY” when HE gets high….. ha
shady got game. and like paul says bell looked better. lets hope it all keeps coming together.
The ONLY issue I have with Shady right now is his ball security or lack thereof. He needs to go to the Tiki Barber school of carrying the ball. Tiki was another back with a chronic case of fumbleitis that he successfully cured during the latter half of his career. High and tight with 4 points of pressure Shady. Other than that, it’s hard not to like what we are seeing from him.
Mike Bell did look better last night –Time will tell
Now Eldra Bukcley…
What the hell was that play that was called .. Made no sense bring a guy sitting on the bench for most of the game in a crucuial 3rd & 1 Play.. Run McCoy up the gut behind FB Schmitt to keep the drive going and put the game out of reach if they go on in and score on that Drive..
Eagles4ever,
No offense taken, but I thoughtt M Bell looked the best he’s looked so far in an Eagle uniform..
Is he all the way back, absolutely not, but I though he was a little quicker, a little more decisive in the couple of runs that he had last evening as opposed to what he’s done as an Eagle so far…
I am not about to go out and buy a M Bell jersey,but at least it was an improvement over what we have seen from him so far…