August 17, 2022
Colleen Claggett/PhillyVoice
QB Jalen Hurts walks out from the tunnel during the Eagles' open practice at Lincoln Financial Field back on August 7.
The Eagles are headed to Cleveland for their joint practices with the Browns that begin on Thursday. The two squads will square off in a preseason game on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The team has essentially wrapped up training camp down in South Philly, now hitting Cleveland (and Miami next week) so they can square off against someone else for a change.
The Birds are buzzing and so is the fan base, so why not see how the national media views the roster right now.
Here's what they're saying about the Eagles...
Former Eagles beat writer Sheil Kapadia, now with The Ringer, has unveiled his ranking of the best offenses in the NFL. The Birds cracked the top 10, coming in at No. 9. Kapadia wrote the following about the Eagles' offense:
The Eagles completely changed their approach in the middle of last year, shifting to a run-heavy scheme with Jalen Hurts at quarterback. The final result? An offense that ranked 11th in efficiency. But their season came to a screeching halt with an ugly offensive performance in the playoffs against the Bucs. Larger samples are more useful than smaller samples, and this was an above-average offense that overachieved in 2021.
The Eagles may have the best and deepest offensive line in the NFL. They added wide receiver A.J. Brown to complement DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, who finished no. 1 in yards per route run among tight ends last year, and Hurts was one of the best runners in the NFL in 2021. Among 53 players with at least 100 carries, he ranked second behind only Bills QB Josh Allen in success rate.
The question is whether Hurts can make strides as a passer. If he can, the Eagles could easily outperform my projected ranking. But even if Hurts is the same guy as he was last season, given the pieces around him, this profiles as a high-floor group. [Ringer]
Kapadia's last sentence is the key for me. In covering Jalen Hurts' performance in training camp practices, he's looked markedly improved over where he was last summer. Even if that doesn't produce a substantially better 2022 season for him under center, the rest of the offense is so good that the team could still make the jump from a nine-win squad to an 11-win one with minimal improvement.
For reference, Kapadia has the Cowboys 10th, the Giants 23rd and the Commanders 25th.
Props to Sheil and his great coverage making for fun talking points. Kapadia also ranked NFL defenses going into the season with the Eagles coming in at No. 15. Kapdia's rationale is as follows:
The Eagles defense was a flat-out bore last season. They finished 24th in defensive DVOA—the third-worst ranking for the franchise going back to 1981. The ranking dipped after the Eagles rested their starters against the Cowboys in Week 18. But it also got a boost going up against backup quarterbacks like Jake Fromm, Trevor Siemian, and Garrett Gilbert earlier in the season. Whenever the Eagles faced a competent or good quarterback, the defense got torched.
GM Howie Roseman did his job this offseason, adding edge defender Haason Reddick, linebacker Kyzir White, and cornerback James Bradberry. The Eagles drafted defensive tackle Jordan Davis in the first round and linebacker Nakobe Dean in the third. The defensive line goes eight-deep with starting-caliber players. Bradberry, Darius Slay, and Avonte Maddox give the Eagles three solid veteran corners.
The Eagles played a high percentage of zone coverage last year and blitzed at the fourth-lowest rate, as first-year defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon prioritized stopping explosive plays above all else. But opponents completed 70 percent of their passes against the Eagles—the worst mark of any defense over the past two seasons.
In terms of talent, this is a top-10 group. But Gannon needs to prove he can maximize the personnel available to him. [Ringer]
Again, I agree completely with Sheil's final thought. The talent on this defense is undeniable (more on that in a bit!). The cornerback pairing (or trio with Avonte Maddox) are better than they've been in more than a decade and this is a monstrous defensive line. My Jonathan Gannon take is that he won't be in Philly in 2023: he'll either be an NFL head coach or ousted as the defensive coordinator here. It's a high-ceiling, low-floor season for him.
Looking around the NFC East again, Sheil has the Cowboys eighth, the Commanders 19th and the Giants 29th.
Brandon Thorn prioritizes offensive and defensive line play in his Trench Warfare Substack newsletter. Earlier this summer, he ranked the Eagles' offensive line as the best in the NFL and Lane Johnson as the best right tackle in the league. This time around, Thorn ranks the 40 best defensive linemen, including 25 edge rushers and 15 interior linemen. The Eagles had two players in both categories.
Haason Reddick was 21st among edge rushers in the "Good/above average" tier and Josh Sweat was 25th, listed in the "Solid w/ flashes of more" tier. Here's what Thorn said about Reddick:
Prior to the 2020 season, Reddick was playing out of position and in more of an off-ball linebacker role for the Cardinals before they moved him to the edge where he exploded for 13 sacks and followed it up with 12 last season. The most impressive aspect is that of those 25 sacks, 12 of them were high-quality. The former first round pick also added seven forced fumbles.
Reddick wins with cat-like quickness and agility that is dizzying for blockers to keep up with. Given the loaded defensive front he’s on in Philadelphia this season and the opportunities for isolated matchups, we should see a continuation of his production in 2022. [TW]
For interior defensive linemen, Javon Hargrave was ninth overall in the "Very Good" tier and Fletcher Cox was 12th in the "Good/above average" tier.
Hargrave is coming off the best year of his career in terms of production as a pass-rusher. He finished fourth in pressure percentage (14.3%) among interior rushers and tied for fourth with DeForest Bucker and Arik Armstead in high-quality sacks at his position.
Hargrave wins with outstanding natural leverage that makes it extremely difficult for blockers to establish leverage on his frame. Add in very good quickness and legit power in his bull-rush and you have a plus starter with high-end elements to his game as a rusher. [TW]
Hargrave made his first Pro Bowl team in 2021. Cox feels a little high based on past reputation rather than recent play, but it's a credit to how good he was for a long time. Perhaps Jordan Davis finds himself on this list in 2023.
Robert Mays, Mike Sando | The Athletic Football Show
On an episode of The Athletic Football Show last Thursday, Athletic writers Robert Mays and Mike Sando discussed which teams could conceivably win this Super Bowl this season. The topic of the Birds came up. Mays said the following about the Eagles:
I think the Eagles deserve to be on this list. I think the Eagles have so much talent on both sides of the ball. I mean, just dropping A.J. Brown onto that team. DeVonta is now the No. 2 receiver. They have arguably the best offensive line in the league.
I think their staff last year, I feel a lot differently now about them than I did beginning of last season or even halfway through last season. Their ability to kind of change and shape-shift midway through the year. I think defensively the players are just better this year. Dropping Jordan Davis into that situation. Haason Reddick, James Bradberry.
Even if they're a top-12-ish defense and Jalen Hurts takes enough of a step forward, they have a pretty big set of outcomes where they make the playoffs and I think, by definition, are a contender. [Athletic]
Hey, a team can have one home playoff game and anything can happen from there.
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