July 24, 2024
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles performs a drill during practice at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Eagles training camp is here and NFL football is finally drawing near.
It's going to be a big year for the Eagles, with all the talent they assembled in the offseason, and over the next few weeks, we'll finally get a good look at how it's all going to fit together.
But until then, here's a bit of what they're saying as training camp kicks off:
Saquon Barkley is getting settled in as an Eagle, but still finds himself in awe at that level of talent they seem to have collected – from himself to Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and so on.
He knows the Eagles can be special, but that they very much have to go out there and prove it first.
He's also ready to finally be on the other side of Philadelphia's sports madness.
Said Barkley in a conversation with The Athletic's Dianna Russini earlier this week:
"Crazy, but they're still crazy but in a different way. When you're on the Giants side your like 'Oh, these motherf---ers are insane!' But on this side, you're like 'Oh no, they bleed this. This is Philly' – it's Eagles, Flyers, Philly, like they bleed this. We lose on Sunday, they're having a bad week. It impacts their week.
"Philly fans, even like Nick, I remember playing him in the playoffs and you see him across the sideline, he's doing all this, stuff like that, like when you're on that side you're just like 'Ah man, I know I'll never stand that guy!' Then I'm in meetings with him and he's the head coach, and I'm sitting and talking to him and now me and him are like this – we're locked in.Same thing with Jalen, same thing with all those guys.
"It's different seeing it from that side, but when you're here, especially the fans, it's like 'Wow...' It's similar to that college vibe." [The Athletic]
#Eagles fans are special and new running back #Saquon Barkley is ready to hear them all at the Linc…with Big Dom.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) July 23, 2024
He is rejuvenated by this chapter.
🎤 https://t.co/OPooQq9JIK
📺https://t.co/0micCwpxZB pic.twitter.com/UzwBtdlTxj
Barkley talked about a number of other topics on the Scoop City podcast, including his exit from the Giants as it was betrayed on this offseason's "Hard Knocks."
You can check out the full conversation on YouTube HERE.
Jalen Carter is headed for Year 2 and the follow-up to an impressive rookie season, despite the Eagles' late-season collapse.
While it won't be clear exactly how big of a leap he can take in 2024 until the games finally get going, there is some strong belief that he'll achieve a whole lot more over at the Ringer.
For their preseason All Under-25 team, Diante Lee had the 23-year old as one of the starting defensive tackles alongside the Lions' Alim McNeill.
Carter (and the rest of Philadelphia’s defense) fell off a cliff down the stretch of 2023, but his 3.5 sacks and 12 percent pressure rate both ranked in the top 15 among interior linemen. We still need to see Carter use his physical gifts to be a consistent force as a run defender, but he did rank in the top 20 at his position with six TFLs, proof of how destructive he can be when he’s at his best. [The Ringer]
Sticking with Carter and the defense, here's who he feels will stand as the sack leader by the end:
The candidates are Josh Sweat, who had 18 ½ sacks in 2021 and 2022 before dropping off to 6 ½ last year, including eight games to finish the season without a sack; Bryce Huff, who had 10 sacks in a breakthrough year with the Jets; last year’s 1st-round pick Nolan Smith, who’s hoping for a bust-out season after a lost rookie year; and 36-year-old veteran Brandon Graham, whose 73 sacks are 4th-most in franchise history (three behind Clyde Simmons). Realistically, Sweat and Huff are most likely to lead the Eagles in sacks in 2024 and I’m going to go with Sweat because he has such a track record of consistency despite the way last year ended. Sweat is one of just 11 NFL players with at least six sacks in each of the last four years and I’m looking for a bounce-back year into double digits for the former 4th-round pick. I’m predicting 11 ½ sacks for Sweaty. [NBCSP]
For what it's worth: Sweat's sack totals and overall production increased every year up until this past season, and he might have more room for opportunity now that Haason Reddick is with the Jets (well, kind of).
5 Eagles thoughts: Saquon Barkley as a receiver, training camp fan-favorites and more
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