August 19, 2021
Philadelphia Eagles training camp got off to a rocky start, at least offensively, but after a solid performance against the Steelers in the first preseason game, and a good showing in two joint practices against the New England Patriots, the Birds will try to keep their momentum going in their second preseason game Thursday night. Here are five things I'll be watching.
Hurts made our "stock up" list on Wednesday, as he has been notably improved over the last week or two. The offense looked ugly at times early in camp, but Hurts' accuracy has improved along the way, he has command of the offense, and it appears that some teammates are beginning to believe in him.
Just leaving Eagles-Patriots and being around them last couple days and the confidence in @JalenHurts from teammates became much, much clearer. He’s winning those guys over
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) August 18, 2021
Hurts has always been a likeable player with positive intangibles such as leadership, poise, and physical/mental toughness, so it's not a huge surprise that players are gravitating toward him. But what will ultimately matter is what he shows on the field, and his confidence appears to be growing as he has strung together some encouraging performances.
Can we see a big play in a real game?
During the 2020 season, Reagor caught a 55-yard bomb Week 1 against Washington. The rest of the season, he had three catches of 20+ yards, and no more catches of 40+ yards. In training camp practices this year, Reagor has looked great in 1-on-1's, but he has not been as productive as a number of other Eagles receivers in 11-on-11's.
Reagor has been occasionally great. Can he also be consistently good?
If the Eagles are going to trade Ertz, ideally that would happen before 53-man cutdowns. In the first preseason game, the Eagles seemingly tried to get the ball in Ertz's hands as he was targeted three times in limited action. He had two catches for 20 yards and a drop.
Ertz has had a good training camp, and if the Eagles were to put together a tape of his play during practice for potential suitors, they could pretty easily demonstrate that he can still run routes and catch the football. Still, it'd be more convincing if he made some nice plays in a game setting.
If the Eagles were to trade Andre Dillard, they would need a competent backup at LT behind Jordan Mailata. Personally, I would have more trust in Brett Toth, Jack Driscoll, or Le'Raven Clark fill in at LT than Dillard. He's been that bad.
I'm curious to see how the backup LT reps are split in this second preseason game. Toth played 35 snaps in the first preseason game, the most of anyone on the offensive side of the ball, an indication that he is getting a long look from the team.
I'll have my eye on the following five young defenders:
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