July 24, 2024
It's another hot and muggy summer in South Philadelphia, which means the return of Jalen Hurts watch at Eagles training camp has returned. Wednesday morning marked the Birds' first camp practice and there were a ton of reps to go around for Hurts and the Eagles' first-string offense. Here is the tracking on how Hurts and the offense performed in each 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 drill.
Let's get to it...
Play 1: Saquon Barkley lines up wide left and motions into the backfield. Hurts hands it off to Barkley up the gut for a couple of yards.
Play 2: With DeVonta Smith in the slot to the right and Dallas Goedert motioning to the left, the Eagles go play action. Hurts hits Smith in stride on a crosser, but the usually reliable receiver can't hold on to it. That's on the wideout.
Play 3: Beginning with stacked receiver trips right, Smith motions left. Hurts hands it off to Kenny Gainwell and the running back gets stuffed immediately.
Play 4: The Eagles run a quarterback keeper right. Hurts makes a defender or two miss and picks up a nice chunk of yards. Obviously, this isn't a live tackling situation, so the plays Hurts is making in the run game, and that of any rushing attempt, isn't how things would truly transpire in a real game.
Play 5: With A.J. Brown in the slot to the right, Goedert motions left. The Eagles clearly already have a massive spike in pre-snap motion under new offensive coordinator and play-caller Kellen Moore. Hurts' first read is to Barkley in the flat. Linebacker Ben VanSumeren closes in on him and Barkley lets up, but in a real game, I'd bank on Barkley making him miss on that one.
Play 6: Hurts' first read is a quick throw in the flat to the left to Barkley for a short gain.
Play 7: On this play, second-year cornerback Kelee Ringo and linebacker Nakobe Dean are getting the first-team reps. With Ringo lined up on veteran free agent signing Parris Campbell, Hurts finds Campbell in a cushion between Ringo and Dean for a decent pickup. That was a good sit route from Campbell, who, based on the ultra-small sample size of one practice, looks like the clear cut No. 3 receiver in the Eagles' offense.
Play 8: Hurts dials up Grant Calcaterra's number, hitting the third-year tight end on a comeback route. The Eagles used Calcaterra a surprising amount on Day 1 of camp with the first-team O. Will the Eagles make more use of 12 personnel this season or is this just a one-practice anomaly? Moore has historically been an 11 personnel coach, but that's an underrated storyline to follow.
Play 9: With Ringo in coverage on him once again, Campbell is on the receiving end of a quick throw from Hurts to the right side of the field for a short gain.
Play 10: This was the best offensive play of practice up to this point. With Brown lined up wide right, Hurts finds him on a deep comeback route for a gain of about 20 yards. That should be a staple of Moore's playbook this season.
Play 11: Hurts goes Brown's way yet again. QB1 connects with Brown for a big pickup. Brown had to come back for the ball a bit, but it was an easy catch. Hurts probably could've hit him in stride more.
Play 12: It's an end around run for Campbell for a marginal gain. If the Eagles are going to use end arounds for a receiver this season, Campbell would not be my pick, I'd prefer someone like Smith instead or even a formation that has Barkley originally lined up wide.
Play 13: It's an option right, as Hurts keeps it and bursts through a clear hole in the defense for a nice gain. He looked spry there, more like his 2022 self in the running game than the player we saw at times in 2023.
Play 14: Smith motions left and then back right again before the snap. Hurts then hits Campbell underneath for a small gain. There were a lot of targets for Campbell, 27, who had just 20 catches for 104 receiving yards with the Giants in 12 games last season.
Play 15: Finishing up this session is a handoff to Gainwell up the middle for a negligible gain. Gainwell has had a surprising amount of usage when healthy with the Eagles the last couple of seasons even while not being the most talented back on the roster. He's a coaching staff favorite. It's only camp, so they're not going to run Barkley into the ground already, but I will be interested in seeing how much they spell Barkley with Gainwell this fall.
Play 16: Hurts finds Brown across the middle in traffic for an easy gain. First down.
Play 17: This was a strange play where there was a scrum at the line of scrimmage and Hurts did a little flip up the middle to Barkley that was blown dead shortly after the catch. The whole setup didn't make a lot of sense from the press' view. For the sake of statistics, I will chalk this one up as a pass.
Play 18: With receiver trips left, Smith motions right. This could've been a sack in a live game setting, as Hurts held the ball for far too long. The quarterback darts up the middle to pick up some yards. He did have Campbell down the left sideline 1-on-1 with Ringo. The wideout had a step on the cornerback if he wanted a hero ball throw in a low-stakes training camp practice.
Play 19: Smith and Brown line up stacked to the left. Hurts hands it off to Gainwell up the gut for a short gain.
Play 20: The formation begins with receiver trips to the left before Smith motions right. Hurts fakes the hand-off to Barkley, feels the pressure and dumps it off to Smith on a short crosser.
Play 21: Hurts simply feeds Barkley, who picks up a couple of yards.
Play 22: With two tight ends lined up as in-line blockers, the Eagles go play action again. Hurts rolls left and lofts a pass slightly off balance perfectly in stride to Dallas Goedert for a clear touchdown just a few yards before the goal line. That was the best practice throw Hurts has made in 2024.
Play 23: Hurts gives it to Barkley with a lot of running room in front of him. Barkley should have a bounce-back campaign in 2024 playing behind this offensive line compared to the one he ran behind with the Giants last season.
Play 24: Hurts dumps it off to Barkley in the flat to the right for a decent pickup. I wrote on Tuesday about how the Eagles might utilize Barkley as a receiver this season. He'd only be the fourth option, at best, in the passing game, but his ability to be a weapon in that facet of the game is undeniable.
Play 25: It's an easy pitch and catch on the left sideline with Hurts connecting with Campbell on a sit route.
Play 26: For Hurts' final play of the day, he connects with Brown on yet another comeback. When in doubt come the regular season (and the playoffs), look Brown's way!
Hurts' final stat line: 15-16 (93.8 percent), one touchdown, zero turnovers
Hurts' Day 1 grade: B+. There were a lot of vanilla looks in Wednesday's offense, but Hurts made a few really nice throws without any incompletions falling on his shoulders. Hurts had an up-and-down minicamp, so this was certainly a positive.
Follow Shamus & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @shamus_clancy | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Shamus' RSS feed to your feed reader
