A look at the Eagles’ new starters, why Howie might draft a tight end and how the Eagles never actually held a training camp practice in West Chester.
The Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations train keeps rolling through the offseason! It can’t be stopped.
1. The Eagles lost seven starters through free agency – five on defense - and it’s hard to say they’ve improved at any of those seven spots. Nick Morrow is no T.J. Edwards. Terrell Edmunds might be a push with Marcus Epps – but he might not be. Nakobe Dean could – and should - end up much more productive than Kyzir White, but he only played 34 snaps last year and is still a question mark until we see it on the field. Cam Jurgens has all the potential in the world, but he played exactly one snap at right guard as a rookie and Isaac Seumalo was a top-10 guard in the NFL last year according to Pro Football Focus. Kenny Gainwell and Rashaad Penny are loaded with potential, but neither has been a consistent week-in and week-out player like Miles Sanders. Reed Blankenship really showed up last year, but Chauncey Gardner-Johnson’s shoes are huge ones to fill. Jordan Davis has all the tools, but Javon Hargrave was one of the best in the business. Don’t get me wrong. I like this roster. The Eagles are loaded on offense, they still have the best group of edge rushers in football and there’ll be multiple opportunities to land elite playmakers in the draft. And I feel like Howie Roseman did as good a job as possible replacing the guys who left considering the cap limitations he was working around. But these are big holes, and the Eagles will be counting on a lot of question marks to fill them.
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2. Over the last quarter century, the Eagles have drafted four defensive backs who started at least 50 games in an Eagles uniform. They drafted three of them in 2002. Sheldon Brown started 98 games, Lito Sheppard 61 and Michael Lewis 58. All were drafted in 2002. The only other defensive back the Eagles have drafted since 2000 to start 50 games here is Nate Allen, a 2010 pick who started 69 games. The only other homegrown d-backs who’ve started double-digit games since 2000 are Jalen Mills (49 starts ), Avonte Maddox (31), Kurt Coleman (27), Rasul Douglas (18) and Sean Considine (17).
3. Don’t be shocked if Howie goes tight end at some point in the first couple rounds. This is an unusually deep tight end draft, and there’s a chance five of them could go in the first two rounds, something that’s only happened twice since 1980 – in 1995 and 2017. Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer is a 1st-rounder, Utah’s Dalton Kincaid and Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave will go somewhere in the first or second, Georgia’s Darnell Washington should be a second-rounder and Iowa’s Sam Laporta could go in the second round as well. Why take a tight end when Dallas Goedert is one of the best in the league and signed through 2025? Because the Eagles need more big-time weapons than just A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Goedert, and that weapon doesn’t have to be a wide receiver or a running back – although it certainly could be. Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra are OK in limited roles, but the opportunity to add a second elite tight end is tempting. And remember, Brent Celek and Zach Ertz played together for five years, and Ertz and Goedert played together for 3 ½ years. A second tight end would give Brian Johnson a legit 12 personnel option with two big-time receiving tight ends while Brown and Smith race down the field. How do you defend that?
4. Jalen Hurts is the only quarterback in history to complete 70 percent of his passes and throw for 300 yards without an interception in a Super Bowl. He’s also one of only two players in history to rush for 70 yards and three touchdowns in a Super Bowl. Terrell Davis did it in the Broncos’ win over the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII after the 1997 season. Hurts had one of the best Super Bowls ever as both a passer and a runner. Nobody else in NFL history has ever thrown for 300 yards, completed 70 percent of their passes and rushed for three touchdowns in any game.
5. These Howie Roseman rules that people keep repeating – “He’ll never draft a running back in the first round” or “He’ll never draft a linebacker in the first round” – don’t be so sure. Roseman has some guidelines he follows, but they change constantly depending on the Eagles’ roster, on the strength of the draft, on where the team is in terms of rebuilding or contending and on what other teams are doing. Remember what he said at the owners’ meetings? “I kind of try to zig a little bit when other people are zagging.” If he believes the best value for the Eagles is a linebacker at 10 or a running back at 30, he absolutely will make it happen. No matter what’s happened in the past. Now, if it’s a linebacker in the first round he’s going to have to be an every-down linebacker, a guy who can pressure, stop the run and cover, like Trenton Simpson. If he’s going to take a running back in the first round, it’s going to have to be a versatile player who can run but also has elite receiving ability, like Jahmyr Gibbs. Don’t be surprised by anything Howie does. Just when you think you have him figured out, he’ll surprise you.
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6. Jeremy Maclin was off to such an incredible start in 2014 and I always wondered what kind of numbers he would have put up if Nick Foles hadn’t suffered that broken collarbone. After 10 games, Maclin had 57 catches for 921 yards and nine TD and he remains one of only 10 players in NFL history with at least 900 yards, nine TDs and 16 yards per catch 10 games into a season. But Maclin never clicked with Mark Sanchez the way he did with Foles, and he averaged only 66 yards per game and caught just one TD the last six weeks of the season. He still finished with 1,318 yards (4th-most in Eagles history) and 10 touchdowns, but with Foles at QB he was on pace for nearly 1,500 yards and 15 TDs. He would have had the greatest year ever by an Eagles receiver.
7. The Eagles’ offensive line is still loaded, still one of the NFL’s best. But the depth they’ve had for years is gone. With Andre Dillard now a Titan, they lost their top tackle backup, and with Isaac Seumalo now a Steeler, they lost their top interior backup, since Cam Jurgens replaced Seumalo at right guard. Jack Driscoll can give you reps at guard or tackle and is a high-effort guy, Sua Opeta has been around a while and can get you through a game at guard and then you have guys like Fred Johnson, Cameron Tom, Brett Toth and Tyrese Robinson. But the bottomless depth they’ve had on the o-line just isn’t there anymore, so it will be interesting to see where and when the Eagles draft offensive linemen this year. As long as Jeff Stoutland is around, the young unknown linemen are going to get better. But right now, while the cupboard isn’t totally bare, it’s a lot emptier than it has been.
8. Keith Jackson caught 81 passes in 1988 as an Eagles rookie, and 35 years later that remains an NFL record for rookie tight ends. Jeremy Shockey came the closest to Jackson with 74 catches for the Giants in 2002, but Evan Engram (64 with the Giants in 2017) and Kyle Pitts (68 with the Falcons in 2021) are the only other tight ends within 20 of Jackson as rookies. A lot of guys you might think came close didn’t: George Kittle had 43 catches as a rookie, Rob Gronkowski 42, Zach Ertz 36, Jason Witten 35, Tony Gonzalez 33 and Travis Kelce none. Jackson never matched his rookie production, but he did make five Pro Bowls and three all-pro teams in his nine years with the Eagles, Dolphins and Packers. He’s the only Eagle in the last 50 years to make all-pro as a rookie
9. We talk all the time about rookie records, but what about the best performances ever by Eagles players in their final NFL season? We've got 'em right here. Most rushing yards by Eagles in their final season: Ryan Mathews (661), Anthony Toney (452) and Dorsey Levens (410). Most receiving yards: Bud Grant (997), Pete Pihos (864), Todd Pinkston (676). Most passing yards: Norm Van Brocklin (2,471), Tommy Thompson (1,608), Davey O’Brien (1,290). Most interceptions: Dick Humbert (7), Ernie Steele (6), many with four. Most sacks: Jerome Brown (9.0), Darren Howard (6.5), Chris Long (6.5). Pro Bowl in their final season: Van Brocklin, Jim Ringo and Jerome.
10. I covered training camp at West Chester from 1988 through 1995, the Eagles’ last year at West Chester before moving to Lehigh. What I somehow never realized is that the Eagles never actually practiced in West Chester. Farrell Stadium and the practice fields are nowhere near the actual borough of West Chester, which ends at Rosedale Avenue. The football complex where the Eagles practiced is mostly in Westtown Township but partially in East Bradford Township. And what’s most interesting (to me, at least) is that WCU’s Farrell Stadium is actually in both townships. As you can see from the Google Maps close-up, the township line cuts right through the stadium, with most of the field and the home stands in East Bradford but a section of the west end zone and the visiting stands in Westtown. The east end zone is entirely in East Bradford, but the west end zone is about 70 percent in Westtown. The practice fields behind the stadium are all in Westtown, but the main parking lot sits entirely in East Bradford. And the back practice field – where we once watched Randall Cunningham boot 60-yard field goals and is now Vonnie Gros field hockey field – is definitely in Westtown. So for eight years, every “WEST CHESTER - ” dateline on all my Eagles training camp stories for the Burlington County Times was wrong. The good news: Lehigh really is in Bethlehem.