Morning Phil-Up: Darren Sproles Led An Elite Return Unit

If the Eagles got one thing right last year, it was the dramatic improvement of their special teams.

Ever since the departure of Brian Mitchell, the team had been searching for an effective return man.

They cycled through the J.R. Reed’s, Reno Mahe’s, and Damaris Johnson’s of the world, meeting with mediocre results for all of them. With the additions of guys like Darren Sproles and Josh Huff, they finally got things right.

Be sure to check out these articles as you start your morning.

Darren Sproles Led An Elite Return Unit – Bleeding Green Nation

While the Eagles took steps backward in several areas during the 2014 season, one area that made major strides in the right direction was special teams, particularly the kick and punt return units.

Darren Sproles picked up 506 punt return yards for the Birds this year, as opposed to the paltry 171 they earned in 2013. The Eagles averaged 13 yards per punt return, well above the league average of 8.9.

On kick returns, the Eagles averaged 27.3 yards per return, above the league average of 23.8. Josh Huff and Chris Polk played big roles in getting that average near the top of the league.

As much criticism as the Eagles should receive for certain aspects of how they approached the last offseason, they should receive immense praise for the emphasis that they placed on improving their special teams. Without the production from the special teams, this team may have struggled to even be a .500 team in 2014.

Padres Likely Out Of Race For Cole Hamels After Signing James Shields – CSNPhilly

Cross the San Diego Padres off the list of potential suitors for Cole Hamels.

The Padres announced the addition of starter James Shields, signing the veteran to a deal worth $75 million.

With Shields on their roster, the Padres now have a top arm to anchor their rotation. They had previously been reported to be one of the teams interested in trading for Cole Hamels, but they’re likely out of that picture after shelling out big money to pick up the former Tampa Bay Ray ace.

The Cole Hamels situation is slowly becoming the latest big blunder for Phillies’ general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. By refusing to lower his asking price, and do everything he could to get a deal done while the window of opportunity was open, Amaro has allowed interested teams to make other moves and take themselves out of the bidding for his ace, thus systemically destroying the market for Cole.

Steve Mason Injured Again – Philly.com

Flyers’ goaltender Steve Mason continues to battle injury woes.

Mason, who left this weekend’s win over Washington with a “lower body injury” is expected to undergo surgery and could be out at least a month.

The injuries have been piling up for the talented Mason, who has now suffered his third injury in a span of seven weeks. The former Blue Jacket was also injured last season, and missed the first half of the playoff series against the New York Rangers.

As talented as Mason is, the Flyers are going to find it hard to count on him if he continues to find himself on the injury report. Having a number-one goalie that doesn’t play isn’t exactly the greatest help to a team.

If Mason is out for any extended period of time that might threaten his season, the team may be forced to once again consider what their future between the pipes might be.

Are The Sixers Winning Too Much? – The 700 Level

The Philadelphia 76ers have been playing pretty decent basketball as of late.

Before Monday’s game against Golden State, they had won five of their last 10 games, moving themselves to the third-worst record in the league, two games ahead of New York and one game ahead of Minnesota.

The recent winning ways of the scrappy Sixers have some fans concerned about whether or not the team is now winning too much.

Andrew Kulp of The 700 Level doesn’t believe that to be the case, arguing that the team that finishes with the worst record in the league has only won the top pick once in the last decade (the Orlando Magic in 2004).

While Kulp is correct that the Sixers don’t necessarily need to finish with the worst record in the league, I would worry about the way that they’ve been playing as of late.

If the Sixers really start to get some consistency together and become capable of regularly defeating the league’s bottom dwellers, they could easily find themselves somewhere between the fifth and seventh worst record instead of in the top three.

Ideally, the Sixers would finish with the worst mark in the league. Finishing with the second worst would be acceptable as well, with the third worst mark being a worst-case scenario.

Acquiring a top-three pick has been the purpose of what this franchise has gone through for the last two seasons. As nice as it is to see these young guys play hard, develop, and have some success, the greater good demands that the Sixers stay at the bottom of the standings.