January 03, 2025
With the Eagles poised to rest starters on Sunday in a meaningless game against the New York Giants, now feels like a good time to answer some questions, solicited from readers on Twitter, Bluesky, and Threads. This is Part II of a two-part mailbag (Part I here).
Question from @brianwiorasport: Suppose the Eagles do in fact win the Super Bowl this year. What would be the 3 primary reasons why?
The easy answer is "Jalen Hurts plays well." But Hurts aside:
• Offensive line: It's the biggest reason they won the Super Bowl in 2017, and also why they went to the Super Bowl in 2022. They still have the best offensive line in the NFL in 2024, in my opinion, and it's a positional group that they can count on to almost never have a poor performance.
• A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith: We already know we can trust the Eagles' run game. But if Brown and Smith go off in the playoffs, good luck stopping this offense. Both guys have been banged up this year, and at times the passing attack has been stagnant. With a week off, Brown and Smith will have a chance to get their bodies right for a playoff run. (I suppose Brown and Smith are an extension of Hurts, but shut up.)
• Vic Fangio: All season long we've watched Fangio adjust to what opposing offenses have tried to do against the Eagles' defense. Imagine if the Eagles' defense adjusted to anything the Chiefs were trying to do in the Super Bowl.
Question from @footba11joe (via Bluesky): What is this team's Achilles heel that leads to an early playoff exit?
The easy answer here is "Jalen Hurts doesn't play well." I also think special teams has some potential to wreck a game in a variety of ways.
Question from @andy-124 (via Bluesky): So the Eagles lucked into a stud ILB and it has made a big difference in the defense. What lesson will Howie learn from it? That stud ILBs are important and you should invest in the position? Or stud ILBs can be found in the bargain bin, stay the course.
Generally speaking, I think their QB / OL / DL / WR / CB philosophy of roster building is tried and true, and they're right to prioritize those positions over RB / TE / LB / S. However, I also believe that at times their minimalization of their lesser priority positions has gone too far. Having guys like Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham lead the linebacking corps in snaps last season, for example, was unacceptable.
This season, Zack Baun has been a star player and Nakobe Dean has taken a big step forward in his development. Their linebackers have become a strength when they very well may have been the worst linebacking group in the NFL a season ago.
Vic Fangio has stated pretty clearly that he believes that linebackers are very important. With the season that his defense has had — and with the respect that he had inside the building before he was ever even hired — Fangio should have some influence over roster decisions on his side of the ball. It's probably also worth noting that Fangio is the person credited with the Eagles' interest in Baun in the first place.
Are you going to see the Eagles drafting linebackers in the first round of the draft? Probably not. But there's probably a happy medium of spending at linebacker without overpaying there.
Question from @theronlongley: What will it take to re-sign Baun and what are the chances of that happening?
After the 2022 season, the Eagles lost both T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White in free agency. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake not trying harder to retain those guys. But it was also somewhat understandable that they let those guys get away, given the excessive number of free agents they stood to lose that offseason. If you'll recall, they also lost Javon Hargrave, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard, Miles Sanders, Marcus Epps, and Gardner Minshew.
They retained Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, James Bradberry, and Darius Slay (who wasn't necessarily a free agent, but whose roster spot was in peril).
Difficult decisions had to be made, and whether they were right decisions or not, they were going to lose a bunch of good players no matter what.
This upcoming offseason, the Eagles will have four free agents likely to made a good amount of money, whether they re-sign with the Eagles or go elsewhere. They are Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Mekhi Becton, and Baun. Their losses won't be anywhere near as damaging as they were after the 2022 season. They'll be in a better position to retain Baun.
There's precedent for the Eagles to re-sign a linebacker to a lucrative deal after they had an unexpectedly good season. That's what they did with Nigel Bradham after the 2017 season, when they signed him to a five-year deal worth $40 million. I think the Eagles would be comfortable doing a similar deal, but with inflation of the salary cap baked in. So, like $12-$14 million per year? Something in that range.
If I had to guess whether Baun stays or goes, I'd would guess that he stays.
Question from @DarwinKastle: Who do you expect to sit out on Sunday?
The short answer is... almost all of the starters. The only current starters who I can see sniffing the field are Jahan Dotson (gotta get his cardio in), Grant Calcaterra (who won't be a starter when Dallas Goedert returns), maybe Milton Williams (because someone along the defense line is likely going to have to take some snaps), and maybe Nolan Smith (again, someone is going to have to take some snaps).
Here's who I think will take the bulk of the snaps.
Offense:
QB: Tanner McKee
RB: Will Shipley
WR: Jahan Dotson
WR: Johnny Wilson
WR: Ainias Smith
TE: E.J. Jenkins
LT: Fred Johnson
LG: Trevor Keegan
C: Nick Gates
RG: Tyler Steen (I think they'll get him some work)
RT: Jack Driscoll
Defense:
EDGE: Bryce Huff (Vic Fangio referred to him as "rusty.")
DT: Moro Ojomo
NT: Thomas Booker
DT: Gabe Hall (PS callup)
EDGE Jalyx Hunt
LB: Jeremiah Trotter
LB: Oren Burks
CB: Isaiah Rodgers
S: Sydney Brown
S: Tristin McCollum
CB: Kelee Ringo
Nickel: Eli Ricks or Avonte Maddox
The Giants are still 3-point underdogs, lol.
Question from @xtinathegreat (via Bluesky): Whose replacement should be the focus this upcoming draft? Lane Johnson, Dallas Goedert, someone else?
If we're talking about succession plans for older players here, yep, Lane at RT, Goedert at TE, and I would add Brandon Graham on the EDGE, though a replacement for Graham is more of an immediate need since he is likely retiring. I would rank the urgency in replacing reloading at those spots like so:
All things being equal, however, if I have a RT and a TE rated similarly and they're both on the board, I'm taking the RT because of positional importance.
Question from @Noriko21616296: If for some godforsaken reason Hurts still can't play for the playoffs, would you feel more comfortable with Pickett or McKee starting?
I think McKee is better. It'll be Pickett though, if necessary (and assuming he's healthy by the time he'd be needed).
Question from @theandychampion: Hey Jimmy, can you share what your web traffic is like after wins compared to losses? I definitely consume less Eagles news after a loss. Just wondering if that is the trend.
One of the misconceptions that a lot of readers have is that negativity sells. It most certainly does not. Like, look at the headline for this article. If made those two questions two separate articles, the one outlining how the Eagles can win the Super Bowl would probably do triple the traffic of the one that wonders how they might be a first-round exit.
And yes, my postgame "10 awards" posts crush after wins. After losses, not so much.
Question from @stevecleff (via Bluesky): I’m taking my oldest to his first Eagles game next week. If the starters don’t play, what’s something we can focus on next week that’s fun? Trot Jr. throwing the axe, maybe? What would you look for?
Most years my sister takes my daughter to a preseason game, because it's more of a family atmosphere. That's probably what you'll find this Sunday in a similarly meaningless game. So if your kid is young and you want to break him/her in without scarring them for life, it's not the worst thing that this is their first game.
As for what to watch, I laid out my five things Thursday morning. Spoiler: They're not super exciting, lol.
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