Mailbag: Can the Eagles' passing attack under Jalen Hurts catch up to the run game?

With the Eagles on their mini-bye, now feels like a good time to answer some questions, solicited from readers on Twitter and Bluesky. This is be Part II of a two-part mailbag (Part I here).

Question from @mightbeash.bsky.social (mild editing on this comment)‬: The offense seems to consistently improve when they de-emphasize Jalen Hurts as a passer and lean on the run game.

I suppose one could say the passing game is being "de-emphasized," and that wouldn't necessarily be wrong. But I think the bigger picture is that their rushing attack has been extraordinary: 

When you're running the ball at that high a level, of course you're going to emphasize it.

Hurts has been up and down this season. Early on he was being careless with the football, which led to some turnovers. That improved significantly. More recently he's been holding onto the ball for an eternity and taking too many sacks. But ultimately, he's still 7th among quarterbacks in EPA per play. 

If you're a glass half full person, there's so much potential for the Eagles' offense to be elite if the passing game can catch up to the run game a bit, which it is capable of given the weapons at Hurts' disposal. But certainly, if the Eagles are going to make it back to the Super Bowl, Hurts is still a ways away from what he was in 2022.

Question from @dtbully: What’s your thoughts on Kellen Moore possibly getting poached from the staff as a head coach and starting this process all over again for the umpteenth time.

For those of you unsure what this question means, Hurts is in his fifth NFL season, and he has had four different offensive coordinators:

2020: Press Taylor (passing game coordinator)
2021: Shane Steichen
2022: Shane Steichen
2023: Brian Johnson
2024: Kellen Moore

Steichen and Johnson were running Sirianni's offense, so it's probably more like three offensive schemes over five years. Still, Hurts has not often had the benefit of scheme continuity either in college or in the pros. The one year he had the same offensive coordinator in consecutive NFL seasons he was the MVP runner-up and the team went to the Super Bowl. I do think that lack of continuity has a real affect on quarterbacks, and ideally the Eagles would be able to retain Moore and allow Hurts to grow further in his system.

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Moore was a hot head coaching candidate once upon a time, but he has cooled off. He very likely still has ambitions of being a head coach, and will probably get interviews again if the Eagles go on a playoff run. Of course, he has interviewed a lot in the past, and has never been able to convince a team to hire him for that role. I would also add that teams in the market for offensive-minded head coaches are going to be excited by guys who elevate quarterbacks, and it's not as if Hurts is lighting the world on fire as a passer, as noted above. If I were to handicap it in November, I would guess the Eagles will be able to retain Moore into 2025.

Question from @tech__44: There’s been a ton of hype for Saquon Barkley, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Who are some of your most underrated players through 10 games? I have to say Cam Jurgens. No one talks about him after replacing Kelce which is kinda insane to me!

I would add Zack Baun to your list, as he has gotten his share of love as well.

As for underrated players, I think that you can put Lane Johnson into this category every year. He is a top 20 player in the NFL, but has never really been celebrated that way. I think there are also good arguments for Josh Sweat, Reed Blankenship, and even Jalen Carter not getting appropriate praise relative to their performances. I would also agree that Jurgens has flown under the radar a bit (but not here).

Question from @devinweber796: How does Quinyon Mitchell compare to Terrion Arnold (CB Detroit) so far? Obviously, the Eagles could have picked either player.

I liked both players coming out of college quite a bit, and if I'm being honest I liked Arnold a tiny bit more. But so far in their rookie seasons, it's not even close. Mitchell has been the far better player. Arnold has been flagged for 10 penalties already, second-most in the NFL, and the most by a defensive back by a wide margin. He has also allowed 37 receptions and 3 TDs, per PFF, while Mitchell has allowed 23 receptions and 0 TDs. 

Question from @DrewSportsNews: Which other supposed "role players" in recent Eagles history remind you of the season Baun is having, where he essentially came out of nowhere to become a top-level player at his position?

I'll frame this another way. Here are my top 5 players who the team acquired from outside the organization on cheap contracts who way outperformed their initial pay in Philly. Let's go back about 10 years, in chronological order:

1. CB James Bradberry, 2022 
2. WR Travis Fulgham, for 5 games in 2020
3. CB Patrick Robinson, 2017
4. LB Nigel Bradham, 2017
5. S Malcolm Jenkins, 2014

Question from @CoachToTheCouch: The vibes are immaculate right now. The team chemistry seems to be reminiscent of the year the Eagles went to the promised land. How much actual effect do you think this will have during the stretch run?

I've never seen a team that had as good a chemistry as the 2017 team. Those guys loved each other, and when you hear them talk about that season they attribute a big part of their success to the team's culture. I agree that this team has chemistry and the vibes seem good at the moment, especially during a six-game winning streak, but I don't think it's near the level of the 2017 team. 

Question from @Bula412: Will the Eagles exercise Jordan Davis' 5th year option?

The Eagles actually have decisions to make this coming offseason on fifth-year options for three different players: Davis, Jahan Dotson, and Kenny Pickett. Of all the first-round picks in the 2022 draft, Davis has the second-lowest projected fifth-year option, per OverTheCap, at $11,458,000. Davis doesn't play a lot of snaps, but he is a very good run defender who has helped put opposing offenses in long downs/distances. That's valuable, even if Davis has not played to his potential. 

The Eagles will likely exercise Davis' fifth-year option. Why?

1. They paid such a high price to get him, and won't be quick to discard him.
2. Defensive linemen can take a while to become great.
3. Interior defensive linemen make a lot of money. 
4. It's not an outlandish figure.

There's obviously no way they'll exercise Dotson's or Pickett's fifth-year options.

Question from @ChipReiderson: Tio Jimmy. Reverence as always. Are you going to make some time in LA to surf? Also, how shocked were you that so many people love the corny “witching hour”?

No surfing for me, friend. I won't be there long enough, and there's the hassle of renting a board that I might not even like even if I were going to stay an extra day or two. 

As for the "witching hour," or "National Tight Ends Day," or constantly saying "Ooh, that run by Derrick Henry has a chance to make 'angry runs' this week," the RedZone Channel has become a seven-hour vehicle for non-stop branding efforts. 

The "witching hour" isn't even new, by the way. Brent Musburger coined that on The NFL Today in either the '70s or the '80s. Why are we bringing that back, and why is it being crammed down the viewers' throats for hours every single week? The commitment to trying to make the "witching hour" a thing again is just weird to me. Honest question: Do people really like that bit that much? And if so, why?

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