There are former Eagles all over the NFL. A few are having exceptional years, some have been big disappointments, some you may not have even heard of.
Yeah, you really don’t see a lot of Eric Tomlinson No. 83 jerseys at the Linc amidst the Dawk No. 20s, Westbrook No. 36s and Shady No. 25s.
We thought it would be fun to go through every NFL roster and come up with a 2021 Former Eagles All-Star team. Some positions are pretty deep. Others are a reach. But they’re all fun to look at.
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Offense
Wide Receiver
None of the former Eagles around the league are having big seasons. Nelson Agholor has 32-for-416, and that’s actually the most yards this year by any former Eagles WR. DeSean Jackson is just behind with 14-for-394 split between the Rams and Raiders. Andre Carter, with 21-for-279 and three TDs, gets the nod over Marquise Goodwin (16-277-1) for the third spot.
Running Back
NFL
With McCoy retired and Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams barely playing, we turn to an unusual source for our running back – it’s Godwin Igwebuike of the Lions, who was a safety while he was with the Eagles during 2019 training camp. The Lions converted him to running back just before the season began - yes, his coach is Duce Staley - and on his fourth NFL carry he ran 42 yards for a touchdown against the Steelers. That’s the Lions’ 5th-longest rushing TD since Barry Sanders retired. Overall, Igwebuike has a 7.4 average on 16 carries and five catches for 49 yards. Give Godwin the rock!
Tight End
Zach Ertz gets the nod here over the Ravens’ Tomlinson, who only the most hardcore Eagles fans will remember. Tomlinson was here during 2015 training camp and caught 6 passes for 64 yards in the preseason. Ertz? He has 46 catches for 510 yards and five touchdowns if you combine his numbers with the Eagles and Cards. Earlier this year, he became the ninth tight end in NFL history to surpass 600 career catches. Rob Gronkowski became the 10th on Sunday.
Offensive Line
The tackles are simple: Jason Peters hurt his ankle Sunday night but has played well for the Bears, and Alejandro Villaneuvo has started all 13 games in his first year for the Ravens. The guards are simple: Big V of the Lions and Dennis Kelly, who played well filling in for the Packers Sunday night (and remember when we all thought the Eagles stole Doriel Green-Beckham from the Titans in the Kelly trade? DGB hasn’t played in five years!) Good luck finding a center. Thanks to Jason Kelce, the Eagles don’t really have any former centers. We’ll go with Josh Andrews of the Falcons, who’s injured now but has carved out a nice six-year career as an undrafted free agent who started out in Philly.
Quarterback
He’s still prone to the occasional ugly turnover, but for the most part Carson Wentz has been really good in his first year with the Colts. He’s hitting on 63 percent of his passes, throwing for 227 yards per game and has 22 TDs and 5 INTs. Most importantly, he’s stayed healthy and has the Colts in the thick of the AFC wild-card hunt. Certainly a vastly improved Carson from what we saw last year.
Defense
Defensive Line
Slim pickings here. There just aren’t a lot of former Eagles defensive linemen playing for other teams right now. But we’ll go with Steve Means of the Falcons, who’s started 10 games, and Damion Square of the Raiders as our edge rushers, and Malik Jackson of the Browns and Justin Hamilton of the Cowboys as our interior linemen. Unfortunately, Square and Hamilton were both released on Saturday. But they still qualify because we make the rules!
Linebacker
Jordan Hicks is having another very good season for the Cards – he has a career-high five sacks for the NFC’s top seed – and Kamu Grugier-Hill has been one of the Texans’ better defensive players, with three sacks and an 82-yard INT return off Ryan Tannehill last month. In base, our middle linebacker is Joe Bachie, who was with the Eagles last year and made his first career start for the Bengals on Sunday. Yes, that Joe Bachie.
Cornerbacks
Now with his sixth team in 20 months, Rasul Douglas is enjoying a great stretch for the Packers with pick-6’s in back-to-back games. Overall, he has three INTs in eight games since the Packers plucked him off the Cards’ practice squad. And Ronald Darby has been solid for the Broncos since returning after a four-game injury layoff. So Douglas and Darby outside, and Chandon Sullivan, Douglas’s past and current teammate, has a couple INTs this year and is our slot corner.
Safety
Some pretty good depth here with Malcolm Jenkins of the Saints, Jalen Mills of the Patriots. Jordan Poyer of the Bills, Andrew Sendejo of the Browns and Terrence Brooks of the Texans. With all due respect to Jenkins, Mills is starting for the No. 1 defense in the NFL, and Poyer has five interceptions, which is tied for the NFL lead among safeties.
Specialists
There are no former Eagles kickers in the league, although Cody Parkey did play one game earlier this season for the Saints (and missed two PATs). Cameron Johnston is having a solid year for the Texans, averaging 46.8 yards per punt. Our returner can be Washington’s Carter, who’s averaging 24.8 yards on kick returns.
Coaches
Our offensive staff is led by Andy Reid, Frank Reich, Eric Bieniemy, James Urban, Mike Kafka and Mike Groh and our defensive staff by Todd Bowles, Leslie Frazier, Sean McDermott, Ron Rivera, DeMeco Ryans and Cory Undlin. And our special teams coach is Colt Anderson.
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