Eagles News: Football Outsiders projects a bottom 8 finish for Philadelphia in 2021

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Eagles News: Football Outsiders projects a bottom 8 finish for Philadelphia in 2021

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 5/22/21.

By Brandon Lee Gowton@BrandonGowton  May 22, 2021, 8:01am EDT  

 

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

 

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

2022 NFL draft order projections: Predicting top 10 picks, why the Jets will have No. 1 - ESPN+
8. Philadelphia Eagles. A team that looked deep across the board a year ago now looks just all-around drained on both offense and defense. Some players aged. Some are gone. Some were never as good as expected. The Eagles don’t project to be particularly terrible in any area. They just don’t project to be good anywhere, either. Philadelphia’s projections for offense, defense and special teams all fall between 23rd and 26th in the league. On offense, there are questions about whether Jalen Hurts can truly mature into an NFL-level passer. On defense, the front line is still strong, but the linebacker corps is very weak and there are questions in the secondary, where a number of young defensive backs never quite developed as expected. Best-case scenario: Hurts has a strong year, with Jalen Reagor developing in his second season and DeVonta Smith exploding onto the league as a rookie. Darius Slay has a big season shutting down the opponent’s top receiver, and the quality of the defensive line makes up for questions in the rest of the secondary. Plus, the Eagles finally have good health after a couple of years struggling with injuries. If the Dallas offense and Washington defense don’t produce as advertised, the Eagles then could win the NFC East. [BLG Note: FO has the Giants getting two picks in the first six picks with NYG at No. 4 and the Bears at No. 6.]

Eagles Rookie Profile: 6 things to know about Kenny Gainwell - BGN
2) What are his strengths? Versatility is the biggest one. He can run in the trenches, but can also line up out wide and act as a wide receiver. He’s an explosive player who can make a sudden cut to open the field up and gash an opposing defense, and he keeps his pads square to bounce off of tacklers coming from different angles. His balance allows him to make one move after another thanks to quick footwork, and that got him out of a ton of tight jams in 2019.

Thoughts on Ryan Kerrigan signing, confidence in Jalen Hurts and more - BGN Radio
Brandon Lee Gowton and Jimmy Kempski go through a relatively busy week in terms of Eagles news! The guys offer thoughts on the Ryan Kerrigan signing, takeaways from player/coach press conferences, confidence in Jalen Hurts, and much more.

Eagles player review: Marcus Epps edition - PhillyVoice
Epps is purely a deep safety, as he’s not going to add much value close to the line of scrimmage, unless he is matched up against a tight end man-to-man in coverage. Even as a deep safety, while he has demonstrated good ball skills on occasion, there were times in which he "bit the cheese,” in which he either committed to an underneath route leaving the deep route open, or took a false step as a result of guessing on a receiver’s route, leaving that receiver open. For some defensive coordinators, he’s an automatic "no” from a roster configuration standpoint, because of his tackling deficiencies. Jim Schwartz, who prioritized coverage safeties over thumpers, was willing to forgive a few missed tackles here and there, but only to a point, and even Epps seemingly got benched by him after a poor tackling performance against the Steelers. Epps is heading into his third year in the NFL, and his ball skills will give him a chance to make the roster, especially since he was drafted by a Mike Zimmer team, and Jonathan Gannon’s scheme will likely have Zimmer influence.

Meet the New Guys - Iggles Blitz
Gannon talked a lot about flexibility, without using that specific word. He wants to build the scheme around the specific players he has, but needs to get them on the practice field before he’ll really know what he has. He will adjust the scheme based on opponents. You’re going to play differently vs Lamar Jackson than you are Tom Brady. I get a little scared when coaches talk about flexibility too much. You need some foundational principles. Do I want size or speed? Am I running a 1-gap 4-3 or do I want to do something else? I’m guessing Gannon has some foundational ideas, but didn’t want to get too specific with the media. We’ll see what the defense looks like. I did come away impressed with him. He gave good answers, communicated well and made you feel confident in his thinking. I’m really curious to see what he does with the Eagles secondary. His background is with DBs and I felt encouraged after the way he talked about coaching DBs. He’s certainly got his work cut out for him.

GamePlan: Why the Jaguars Are Taking a Chance on Tim Tebow, Given the Potential Risk and Reward - Sports Illustrated
"So with some [of the opt-outs], you found yourself projecting. … A lot of those guys, I think, lost a half a round or a round. There’s no science or data behind that, but it’s just what you lose not having the playing experience. Generally, you’re going to be better the next year in all categories, and I think that equated in how some guys fell.” Here, then, are a few examples: [...] Eagles QB Jamie Newman: He transferred from Wake Forest to Georgia, then opted out during fall camp, and ended up declaring for the draft, then going undrafted. There are some tools there, but NFL people never saw him like the May and June mock drafters did—and it does make you wonder if thinking he’d be drafted early played a role in his decision to come out. If that’s the case … not a great call.

Jonathan Gannon looks to restore the Eagles’ reputation as a team built on defense - Inquirer
Zimmer has long been one of the best at disguising. That may have come from scheme, but it also came from allowing players to devise their own system for disguise. "Everyone talks about you want to pressure the quarterback, pressure the quarterback. Well, in my opinion, one of those ways is pre-snap, not post-snap,” Gannon said. "So what you do is ... put a little bit of seed of doubt in that quarterback’s mind, ‘Do I have that guy, or do I not?” Acquiring Harris and Wilson suggests that Roseman and Sirianni understood the importance of equipping Gannon with defenders who not only understand Zimmer’s scheme, but him. Gannon had interviewed with the Bears and Chargers for their coordinator openings, and he was also on Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ radar had he been hired by the Eagles as head coach. Gannon, like Sirianni, is new to his position, and has never called plays. If he has immediate success with the Eagles, though, his stay could be short-lived. He would be a hot commodity to become a head coach. There’s that much buzz around the NFL about his potential.

Eagles donate over $330K worth of Gatorade, football equipment - PE.com
The Philadelphia Eagles are pleased to announce a donation of more than $330,000 in Gatorade product and football equipment to the Philadelphia Public League. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many aspects of youth sports participation and training have changed significantly, impacting thousands of youth athletes across the area. This donation will help support participants of the Philadelphia Public League as they prepare for their fall sports seasons. "The Philadelphia Eagles have always been dedicated to the health, safety, and development of children through a commitment to youth football programming,” said Eagles President Don Smolenski. "While many experiences were taken away from them this past year, these young athletes have been resilient in the face of adversity. We are proud to partner with Gatorade and the Philadelphia Public League to ensure that our youth have the proper nutrition and equipment needed to support a safe and healthy return to sports this fall.”

Where do Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott rank as a duo against their counterparts in the NFC East? - Blogging The Boys
Dallas is being called the team to beat in the NFC East by oddsmakers, which at the very least will be good enough to host a playoff game in mid-January. Speaking of the league’s most-storied division, it is something that Brandon Gowton and I discuss every week on the NFC East Mixtape, a podcast that you can listen to on both the BGN and BTB podcast feeds. Subscribe to the Blogging The Boys podcast network on Apple devices right here or on Spotify right here. On this week’s episode, BLG and I had Bryan Stabbe from Hogs Haven on to discuss whether the Washington Football Team should be the favorites in the division or whether or not the Cowboys should be ahead of them. We also touched on an interesting idea that BLG has floated out before that has to do with Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott.

Eugene Chung says NFL team told him he’s "not the right minority” in job interview - PFT
Former NFL player and assistant coach Eugene Chung says he was told in a job interview with an NFL team this offseason that he is "not the right minority” for the league to hire. "It was said to me, ‘Well, you’re really not a minority,’” Chung told the Boston Globe. Chung, an Asian-American whose parents are both Korean, said he challenged the interviewer. "I was like, ‘Wait a minute. The last time I checked, when I looked in the mirror and brushed my teeth, I was a minority,’” Chung said. "So I was like, ‘What do you mean I’m not a minority?’ ” The interviewer responded, "You are not the right minority we’re looking for.”

4 teams who should trade for Julio Jones - SB Nation
Miami Dolphins. This is purely a move that takes into account the fact the Dolphins are rebuilding faster than anyone thought, and at this point they have tremendous draft capital. While Miami did invest a top pick into Jaylen Waddle, and already have DeVante Parker, there’s no reason they shouldn’t get a player like Jones and push the Bills in the AFC East. With that suite of weapons the team should be able to quickly acknowledge whether Tua Tagovailoa is their long-term answer at the position, and it would immediately turn the team into a major playoff contender.

2021 NFL Draft Special #12: Tough Questions About Rookie QBs w/Mark Schofield - The SB Nation NFL Show
Michael Kist and Mark Schofield ask and answer tough questions regarding the rookie class of quarterbacks entering the NFL!

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2021/5/22/22448749/eagles-news-football-outsiders-projects-bottom-8-finish-philadelphia-2021-nfl-draft-2022-espn-hurts