The Grind!! Its Times Like These When The Eagles Are At Their Best!
These are tough times for those of us in the sports op-ed business. Here at the dawn of another NFL season, there is only one honest take about the 2022 Eagles. And nobody wants to hear it.
Not that I blame them. They’ve heard it a hundred times already. Not only that, but they agree with it, which makes them even less interested in hearing it, because hearing it only reminds them that the optimism they feel is entirely contingent on the outcome of one singular unknown. And so the best thing to do is ignore it. Find a new slant, as a famous burner account might say.
Except, all of the other slants lead back to the same place. The Big Unknown is like a pink elephant, or an absurdly oversize bespoke shirt collar. The more you try not to think about it, the more present it becomes.
That’s the problem with the 2022 Eagles. You have to dig really deep to find an original thought. For Eagles fans, this is a good problem to have. It’s a testament to the job that Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni have done over the last couple of years in fashioning a bridge from the ashes of the Carson Wentz-Doug Pederson regime.
Times like these are when the Eagles organization is at its best. Coaches and quarterbacks create inflection points for franchises. The defining characteristic of the Eagles in the post-Andy Reid era has been their ability to bounce back. One year after firing Reid, they made the playoffs under Chip Kelly. Two years after firing Kelly, they won a Super Bowl under Pederson. One year after firing Pederson, they made the playoffs under Sirianni.
It’s a bedeviling quality. After all, a franchise that succeeds in bouncing back is one that first put itself in the position of needing to do so. But there is something to be said for avoiding the lengthy bottoming-out period that afflicts so many NFL teams.
When is the last time an Eagles fan had to endure the plight of those who spend their summers steeling themselves for Sundays spent watching the Giants, or the Jets, or the Dolphins?
The one thing you have been able to count on throughout the last 20 years of Jeffrey Lurie’s ownership is a reasonable expectation that they will be competitive. And, if they aren’t, that they will be next year. Since Reid’s departure in 2013, the Eagles are one of only 11 teams in the NFL that have avoided multiple seasons of six or fewer wins. That counts for something.
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This year’s team is a testament to all that the Eagles do right. It is rock solid, with none of the holes that glared out from the depth chart a year ago. It is that way in large part because Roseman has a better understanding of value than most of his fellow general managers.
That starts with a commitment to building an offensive line that does not require any heavy lifting on a year-to-year basis. This creates an environment where you can develop a tackle like Jordan Mailata and sign him to a contract that locks him into a salary-cap number of a combined $12 million in 2022 and 2023 just as he is becoming a potential All-Pro.
Not only does this give a less-than-elite quarterback a better chance to succeed than he would elsewhere, and a developing coach the ability to call a game plan that helps him succeed, it gives you more spending money to fill in your holes. And that’s where Roseman is at his best.
There are a lot of similarities between the roster that Roseman has built this season and the one that the Eagles carried into the playoffs in 2017. That year, the additions of Alshon Jeffery, Timmy Jernigan, LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, and Chris Long helped fill in the holes that existed after the additions of Brandon Brooks, Rodney McLeod, and Nigel Bradham the year before.
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This year’s offense has more top-end talent, thanks to the first-round picks the Eagles spent on DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, the latter of whom will go down as an absolute steal. Defensively, the trio of Kyzir White, Chauncey-Gardner Johnson, and James Bradberry should at least give Jonathan Gannon some solidity where he lacked it a year ago.
The big question is how good the defense can be. If Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat can provide the type of edge pressure that wreaked so much havoc back in 2017, the answer could be dominant.
Of course, the bigger question is how good the defense needs to be. And that, finally, brings us back to our Big Unknown. It all comes down to the quarterback, doesn’t it? He is the only reason to wonder.
Offensively, the Eagles have as much talent as any team in the league. Brown is a top-10 talent at wide receiver. Smith has the potential to be the same. Likewise for Dallas Goedert at tight end. Running backs are a function of the offensive line, and that unit is widely regarded as one of the top two or three in the game.
If you plugged any of a number of quarterbacks into this equation, the expectation would be an offense that can win a title on its own. The only question is whether Jalen Hurts can become a member of that group.
So, there. I guess I said it. That’s the honest take. Don’t blame me. Blame the roster the Eagles have assembled. Barring injuries, there doesn’t seem to be a ton else that can go wrong. The Eagles are better than they were last year. Much, much better. Beyond that, what can you say except that the quarterback is what matters?
Dave Murphy
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