What is the long term prognosis for the Eagles?

[Procus]

I'll vote murky.  One saving grace is Howie.  He won't tolerate prolonged lethargy.  But unless they find adequate replacements in the draft or free agency for Kelce and LJ when they're done, the flashes of success from this era look to be fleeting.

[Traveler Vic]

35 minutes ago, Procus said:

I'll vote murky.  One saving grace is Howie.  He won't tolerate prolonged lethargy.  But unless they find adequate replacements in the draft or free agency for Kelce and LJ when they're done, the flashes of success from this era look to be fleeting.

Completely agree. The strength of the team was the offensive line..until the old age, coaching mismanagement, and injuries have hurt it. You can not replace potential hall of famers at center and right tackle overnight. So no matter how positive I am about the immediate future and coaching changes...the domination that we have enjoyed..may be behind us. It will take some smart drafting, great development, and patient coaching for us to get back to the level that we were... So Yes the future does look murky. Howie will try to plug the holes..but us it has been proven..that his 1 year stop gaps are hit and miss. The team needs to re-tool before making any significant forward progress, and with so many holes ..it will take patience and time.

[time2rock]

8 hours ago, Procus said:

I'll vote murky.  One saving grace is Howie.  He won't tolerate prolonged lethargy.  But unless they find adequate replacements in the draft or free agency for Kelce and LJ when they're done, the flashes of success from this era look to be fleeting.

I also voted murky.  We seem to have the coaches now (time will tell) ...  it is now up to Howie to make sure he adds the right players for them to be successful implementing whatever scheme they plan to run.  That latter part needs to rely on drafting well and we all know Howie isn't the best evaluator of talent (his value really comes in the way of cap management and even then he has pretty much run out of options to extend players to add dummy years and spread the cap hit to future years other than Byard and Reddick).  So we are going to be reliant on drafting to fill needs now more so than any time in recent years.  

[brkmsn]

My prognosis is that most fans will have a negative prognosis. 31 teams fail in this league every year. Some of the NFL's best players are "on the wrong side of 30." Teams can't rely on "luck" to continue. Windows are always small, always closing and ceilings are low --- anything that doesn't support that is an anomaly or outlier. Injuries are always a bigger concern if a player has had them before. Most players "are not the same" after an injury occurs. 

[EagleJoe8]

Murky. I have little confidence Howie can draft well on defense outside of having a top 10 pick. I have little confidence he can draft receivers, also outside of the top 10. Howie can do well on the stop gap deals provided he has a QB on a cost controlled rookie contract. Were going to find out how well he can do with his QB on the "2nd contract” while also drafting in the 20’s each round. 

[Procus]

6 minutes ago, EagleJoe8 said:

Murky. I have little confidence Howie can draft well on defense outside of having a top 10 pick. I have little confidence he can draft receivers, also outside of the top 10. Howie can do well on the stop gap deals provided he has a QB on a cost controlled rookie contract. Were going to find out how well he can do with his QB on the "2nd contract” while also drafting in the 20’s each round. 

Before Lane Johnson, Jon Runyan was a fixture at RT for a decade.  He was a free agent signing - probably the best free agent signing ever for the Eagles.  I don't care how those holes are plugged - just plug them.

[EagleJoe8]

7 minutes ago, Procus said:

Before Lane Johnson, Jon Runyan was a fixture at RT for a decade.  He was a free agent signing - probably the best free agent signing ever for the Eagles.  I don't care how those holes are plugged - just plug them.

Uh, ok. Not sure what that has to do with anything I said. Runyan was also signed in 2000, long before Howie had any power. 

[kiwinavega]

I voted other, because you could make a pretty decent case for each of those three positions to be correct.

Looking at just the Eagles, we know they have talent across the offense but need to bolster the offensive line. On defense, we have some talent but some glaring holes in the back seven and the rotation of the front four isn´t going to last another season before Cox and BG, to name two, begin to drop off. We have a very good QB in my opinion, but he has an outsized contract that is going to prove a problem, despite Howie´s legendary cap wizardry. Coaching should be better this year, with experienced coordinators in place. I still like Siri as a head coach, but he needs to be on a short leash this year. He also needs to quit playing the jackass. We should have a much, much easier schedule this season, which was just ridiculous, and fewer MNF/SNF games, which I do think contributed to the overall malaise of the team in the run-in.

Looking at the league as a whole, there are some terribly managed teams around. Comparing the Eagles´ situation to the league average (if there is such a thing) it´s easier to tend to view things positively. The NFC East looks to be a two horse race for the short to medium term unless NY and WAS go through rapid improvements, which I can´t see from here. The NFC does have a powerhouse in the Niners, but they can be streaky. There´s no team in the conference that really fills the heart with dread. Dallas are choke artists par excellence, the South is mediocre (yes, I know we lost to the Bucs), the North is going to be beating up on each other. 

I think we need to see what moves Howie and co make in the offseason before we will have a true picture. He has to sort out that secondary, and quickly. We need QB1 to let a little of that contract´s weight off his shoulders and start playing with some freedom. I´ll be watching and waiting, but cautiously optimistic although less so than last year. 

[Procus]

1 hour ago, EagleJoe8 said:

Uh, ok. Not sure what that has to do with anything I said. Runyan was also signed in 2000, long before Howie had any power. 

Point was that the roster is not only built through the draft - it is also built through free agency.  We never would have won the SB without good free agent signings.

[Perforator]

2 minutes ago, Procus said:

Point was that the roster is not only built through the draft - it is also built through free agency.  We never would have won the SB without good free agent signings.

Howie stepped in ish that year

[EagleJoe8]

53 minutes ago, Procus said:

Point was that the roster is not only built through the draft - it is also built through free agency.  We never would have won the SB without good free agent signings.

I’m aware of that. I also know that it’s a lot more difficult to build that way when your QB is on the 2nd contract. Drafting well and having cost controlled players elsewhere becomes much more critical. Howie hasn’t proven to excel in that area. 

[EaglesAddict]

I'll vote Bright...just because...optimism! And, I'm only basing on the outlook for 2024 and not "long term" because too many things change from year to year to really have any kind of read on things long term.  As long as a team has a foundational QB in place, a good coaching staff and a GM/Owner who want to win, every year can be competitive. We, theoretically, have those things in place right now. 

On offense, we do have a good young core.  Brown/Smith, Goedert smack middle of prime, Hurts, Jurgens, Mailata, Dickerson with more to come at the OL in the draft, I'm sure...including a likely OT at pick 22.

On defense we have Davis, Carter, Milton W, N. Smith (counting on Fangio to maximize him) and Ringo (hopefully) to build around.  This unit needs a lot of work, but in this day and age, if we can just improve the defense to at least be "middle of the pack", that will be good enough to legitimately compete. And that is certainly doable between the new coaches and getting some key additions in personnel.

There's going to be a lot of bruised pride to heal heading into next season.  Sirianni, Howie and Hurts especially.  They will each have something to prove and will be highly motivated to prove 2023 wasn't who they really are.

[eagle45]

The Eagles are better than the second half of 2023 looked.  But they also aren’t good enough.

They are probably 2 years behind the 76ers (although life cycles are faster in the nfl). Aka the early realization phase that you just missed your chance with this group…followed by the extended waiting period for everyone else to figure it out and move on.

[MidMoFo]

I voted bright also because of optimism. The biggest concern for murky was how long will Kelce and LJ continue playing, and that’s legit. Our starting 5 at OL were all drafted by the team and developed by Stoutland. How many nfl teams can say that and also have a legit claim to the best oline in the league? It appears we have a next man up at center and I suspect OT to be a high priority in the draft this year. Kelce and LJ are irreplaceable, but I think the foundation to continue the tradition of a great oline is in place with Malaita, Dickerson and even Jurgens.

I also still believe in the young talent on defense. I think fatigue hit the entire defense last season, especially the young guys on the dline, and some of those young players still need to prove they will put in the offseason work that is required to be great at the nfl level. I’ve seen a lot of quotes from former Fangio players talking about how much knowledge he carries about playing defense in the NFL. It’s not too much of a stretch to say some of those young guys, especially the Georgia boys, had better defensive coaching in college than they had here last year. I’m curious how they respond to Vic Fangio next season.

Howie catches his fair share of criticism for his drafting history, but comparatively across the league, I don’t think he’s as bad as some like to think it is.

[Mike030270]

Offense has potential to be top 5 with Brown, Smith, and whoever they have at RB

No idea about defense 

[Talonblood]

Murk, with some hope mixed in. 

[weko]

We need to draft better or it's a losing record soon

[opa-opa]

Considering how bad the NFC is I think the window is open for the next 5 years or so.

[Miami]

Very good.  Fix a few problems, already in process, and we’re back on track.  Eagles have had a high talent level for a while now.  Just need to unlock the beast.

[PoconoDon]

I voted murky. Player development is the key for me. If the young guys show significant progression, the team will be in pretty good shape. If not, more failure will follow.

[toolg]

Murky, with reasons to be optimistic. Aging vets like Cox, Graham, and Slay got old really fast. Kelce and LJ aren't getting younger. They have guys like Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Cam Jurgens developing to fill some of the gaps. Will we ever see Nakobe Dean healthy?  A lot depends on how the younger guys develop. Hurts took a step back in 2023, but there is reason to believe he was banged up the entire year. He got an extra month to recuperate without the playoff run. He has a corps of trusted receivers to throw to: AJ Brown, Devante Smith, and Goedert. How do they handle RB, since Gainwell is the only RB left on a contract?

[Kz!]

I voted murky. The offense should be dynamic again with a healthy Hurts and playcalling from an NFL caliber coordinator. Howie's got his work cut out for him on defense, though. We really need our Bulldogs to pan out. Carter is going to be an absolute stud. Davis should be good. We need Dean and Ringo to pan out. We also have to find some legitimate prospects at both safety and corner, and we need an entirely new set of LBers with the exception of Dean. If Howie nails it, I don't think there's any reason we can't at least be in the conversation for a super bowl over the next few seasons. 

[NCTANK]

other

[Godfather]

4 minutes ago, NCTANK said:

other

Agreed. Op likes choking down big deeks

[eglz1]

I voted murky as well. I think it depends in part on how much the Luries (Jeffrey & Julian) and Howie meddle.