After a miserable 4-11-1 campaign in 2020, the Eagles will have a new head coach and quarterback with plenty of roster turnover in 2021.
With the new season a little over three months away, the Eagles are definitely in a transition period.
So maybe it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that NBC Sports’ Peter King, in his Football Morning in America column, has the Eagles as a bottom five NFL team. King released his entire power rankings on Monday morning as has the Eagles as the 28th-best team in the 32-team league.
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Here’s a look at his bottom five:
28. Eagles
29. Jaguars
30. Lions
NFL
31. Jets
32. Texans
Here’s what King said about the Eagles:
“This season falls under the category of a classic rebuilding year. The coach and quarterback who were the foundational long-term pieces of the team just nine months ago are gone, and Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts are in their places—for now. Come to think of it, that’s the most shocking thing that’s happened in the NFL in the last year. Sirianni and Hurts in, Doug Pederson and Carson Wentz out is, well, it’s more shocking than Tom Brady leading the Bucs to a world championship. The Eagles should have three first-round picks to replace Hurts if need be next April. But for the time being, Hurts will have his chance to be the Dak Prescott of the Eagles, the guy drafted as insurance but who took the job for himself and wouldn’t let it go. GM Howie Roseman did Hurts a favor by drafting his old friend from Alabama, Devonta Smith. I think Smith will be good in the NFL—he’s a competitive player who wins more 50-50 balls than a 6-0, 170-pound sprightly receiver should—and, as importantly, he won’t be cowed by the toughest fan base in the league. I think he’ll play to it and love it. But the Eagles have some long-term problems, like the state of an aging offensive line, and some significant age on the defensive front. I do like the Ryan Kerrigan addition, at least for one bridge year. A bridge year, the Eagles hope, to a brighter future after an offseason of mayhem.”
King is right about this season being in a rebuilding or transitional year — it’s undeniably so — but just last week veteran center Jason Kelce made the point that he expects the Eagles to be competitive even during this phase.
And based on the parity we’ve seen in the NFL before, it’s not a wild thought, to think that the Eagles could perhaps compete this season, especially in what should be a pretty weak NFC East.
In fact, in King’s power rankings, the NFC East is the only division without a top 10 team:
15. Washington
20. Giants
21. Cowboys
28. Eagles
We had King on the Eagle Eye podcast earlier this offseason to talk about the storyline that he called “the most shocking thing that’s happened in the NFL in the last year.” In that conversation, he also brought up the Hurts comparison to Prescott and outlined why the Eagles will be rooting for Hurts to prove he’s the guy in 2021.
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