August 23, 2024
Training camp practices are over, there's one more preseason game left on Saturday, and then it's on to that two-week gap in between until the real thing finally gets going...in Brazil this time.
But now that camp is a wrap, for the Eagles and across the league, preseason polls and rankings are going to start pouring in, as well as some more fleshed-out assessments now that we've had a month of reps to work off of.
Here's a bit of what's out there about the Birds now that camp has closed...
Nick Sirianni survived last year's collapse and remains on as head coach, but only after an offseason that saw both of his coordinators replaced with Vic Fangio on defense and Kellen Moore on offense, and then recent reports of disconnect that grew between himself and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
So how do you even begin to gauge the Eagles' 2024 coaching staff? Ben Solak, now of ESPN, wasn't quite sure himself when making a ranking of all 32 NFL staffs.
He put the Eagles at 15th though, with the thought that Moore and Fangio are at least definite improvements over last season:
I don't know how to credit Sirianni. He's the best fourth-down decision-maker in the league by the numbers, but so much of that success is a credit to the tush push, not any particular genius from the head coach. The complete collapse of the Eagles' offense from the Shane Steichen era to the Brian Johnson experiment indicates to me that Sirianni was not much of a schematic influence on the successful Jalen Hurts offense of 2022. And as a leader, motivator and manager of personalities, the reports from last season are extremely rough.
I don't think Sirianni is completely a stuffed shirt, but figuring out his role alongside these two excellent coordinators is tricky. Fangio had a tough time with the Dolphins' locker room last season, but he was a key voice in the success of the 2022 Eagles defense and remains one of the shrewdest defensive coaches in the league. Some of the shine is off Moore, who interviewed for the Eagles' head-coaching job back in 2021 at the height of his hype. Moore still runs a dangerous, complex offense that presents a lot of stressors for opposing defenses. Is it a great fit for Jalen Hurts' play style? I'm not convinced, but it's still a good system, and Hurts' mobility creates the opportunity for a lot of fresh wrinkles. [ESPN]
Seeing the first-team offense and defense both operate during camp, everything did look a lot more fluid and creative. There aren't any guarantees yet that it'll all carry over into the season, but it should end up better than what Brian Johnson and Sean Desai/Matt Patricia did last year...that was brutal.
Sticking with the defense, Sheil Kapadia over at The Ringer posted his rankings of each unit in the league.
The Eagles are also middle of the pack here at 14.
For as much as Howie Roseman did to turn the roster around in the spring and summer – bringing back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, signing Bryce Huff in place of the traded Haason Reddick, looking to Devin White and Zack Baun at linebacker, and drafting Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean for the secondary – Kapadia isn't so sure if Fangio is the guy to make it all work as the defensive coordinator.
But how quickly can Fangio turn this group around? He hasn’t been as impressive in the last decade as he was when he was coaching the 49ers defense in the early 2010s. In his last eight seasons directing a defense—one with the Dolphins, three with the Broncos, and four with the Bears—he has produced one top-10 unit.
There’s certainly a scenario where the Eagles outperform this ranking: The young defensive backs play well. Jalen Carter makes the leap and emerges as one of the best defensive tackles in football. And Fangio shows he still has his fastball. But there’s also a lot of uncertainty. Like everything else with the Eagles, I see a high-variance group. [The Ringer]
MORE: The future is now for Jordan Davis, Eagles' defense
Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce both retired, while Brandon Graham is about to play his 15th and final season.
The Eagles' longtime "Core Four" is fading, and Lane Johnson knows he doesn't have much longer left either.
The veteran right tackle told The Inquirer's Jeff Neiburg earlier this week that, physically, he feels like he can play until his 40.
But realistically...
Johnson said “realistically” he thinks he has two or three more seasons left in him.
“We’ll see,” he said. “It’s hard to step away from something you love and something that you’ve done for so long. I grew up as an only child, so this is really the only brothers that I’ve had, being a part of a team.” [The Inquirer]
This is consistent with what Johnson has said about his career in the past. In 2022 and 2023, he made mention of having a few good years left in him, but just never put a firm date on when the end of the line would be.
At 34 though, he's definitely closer to the end than the beginning of what has become a very clear-cut Hall of Fame career.
MORE: Jalen Hurts is in 'a better place physically' after trying 2023
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