I think the Eagles will be good this year and make the playoffs

[ManchesterEagle]

I'm going to put myself out there and say that the Eagles will surprise a lot of people and finish 10-7 or better. 

I could obviously be wrong. There are a lot of critical unknowns including the Head Coach, DC and QB. But if those 3 are at least decent, then I think the Eagles will compete for the following reasons:

I think the O-Line returns to being a top 5/10 unit in the NFL. Sure it's likely one or both of Brooks and Johnson miss time, but I think our back-ups look pretty good this year. Dickerson should be ready relatively early. Herbig and Driscoll both played well last year and should develop. Dillard has been a dart board for much of the off-season, but he did okay in his rookie year at LT and should be a capable back-up to Mailata, who could potentially slide over to RT if Johnson misses time.

Wide receiver - Devonta Smith as a top 10 pick becomes our number 1 WR. Doesn't need to put up Jefferson numbers, but with his skill set and route running it's more than possible he could put up 1,000 yards and 8 TDs in 17 games. Reagor was on pace for 700 yards with Hurts at QB. A small improvement and there's no reason he couldn't put up 800 yards and 5-6 TDs as WR2. I think we are all cautiously optimistic about Watkins and Ward is a solid back-up.

TE - Some people wanted to ship off Ertz for a 7th rounder and 2 burgers, but we probably have the best pair of TEs in the league with Ertz and Goedert. Gives Hurts two really good safety blankets. I foresee both having bounce back years.

RB - Sanders continues to be Sanders. Gainwell emerges as a dangerous RB2. We know Scott can kill any team from New York/Jersey.

QB - with the above providing him with better protection and legitimate weapons, Hurts flourishes and has a breakout 2nd season. Suddenly he is close to the Russell Wilson mark 2 the Eagles were hoping for. Improves his pocket passing and uses his legs, not too often but to good effect.

D- Line - strength of the group. The 8 man rotation keeps Cox and Graham fresh and productive. Barnett and Sweat deliver on their promise. Williams becomes a dangerous rotational tackle. The real difference maker here could be Hargrave. He's really good, but due to playing hurt, I don't think we saw close to the best of him this year. This group has a chance to dominate up front against both the run and pass.

Linebacker - well this isn't going to be a strength, but Wilson gives us a bit more in coverage and Singleton continues to be solid. Shame Taylor got hurt, but hopefully he can contribute later in the year.

Safety -  Harris, who isn't that old, hopefully reverts back to 2017-2019 form and is a dangerous playmaker for us. He could be one of the steals of free agency. Hopefully the others can hold down the fort for 2-3 weeks until Rodney gets back.

Corner - Slay returns to pro-bowl form under Gannon and stays healthy. Nelson also returns to 2018-2019 form and with Slay taking the WR1, has a really strong season opposite him. Even if he doesn't, just having a legitimate outside CB2 is a huge upgrade on last year. Maddox is back in the slot where he is far better.

[wtfcares]

10 minutes ago, ManchesterEagle said:

I'm going to put myself out there and say that the Eagles will surprise a lot of people and finish 10-7 or better. 

I could obviously be wrong. There are a lot of critical unknowns including the Head Coach, DC and QB. But if those 3 are at least decent, then I think the Eagles will compete for the following reasons:

I think the O-Line returns to being a top 5/10 unit in the NFL. Sure it's likely one or both of Brooks and Johnson miss time, but I think our back-ups look pretty good this year. Dickerson should be ready relatively early. Herbig and Driscoll both played well last year and should develop. Dillard has been a dart board for much of the off-season, but he did okay in his rookie year at LT and should be a capable back-up to Mailata, who could potentially slide over to RT if Johnson misses time.

Wide receiver - Devonta Smith as a top 10 pick becomes our number 1 WR. Doesn't need to put up Jefferson numbers, but with his skill set and route running it's more than possible he could put up 1,000 yards and 8 TDs in 17 games. Reagor was on pace for 700 yards with Hurts at QB. A small improvement and there's no reason he couldn't put up 800 yards and 5-6 TDs as WR2. I think we are all cautiously optimistic about Watkins and Ward is a solid back-up.

TE - Some people wanted to ship off Ertz for a 7th rounder and 2 burgers, but we probably have the best pair of TEs in the league with Ertz and Goedert. Gives Hurts two really good safety blankets. I foresee both having bounce back years.

RB - Sanders continues to be Sanders. Gainwell emerges as a dangerous RB2. We know Scott can kill any team from New York/Jersey.

QB - with the above providing him with better protection and legitimate weapons, Hurts flourishes and has a breakout 2nd season. Suddenly he is close to the Russell Wilson mark 2 the Eagles were hoping for. Improves his pocket passing and uses his legs, not too often but to good effect.

D- Line - strength of the group. The 8 man rotation keeps Cox and Graham fresh and productive. Barnett and Sweat deliver on their promise. Williams becomes a dangerous rotational tackle. The real difference maker here could be Hargrave. He's really good, but due to playing hurt, I don't think we saw close to the best of him this year. This group has a chance to dominate up front against both the run and pass.

Linebacker - well this isn't going to be a strength, but Wilson gives us a bit more in coverage and Singleton continues to be solid. Shame Taylor got hurt, but hopefully he can contribute later in the year.

Safety -  Harris, who isn't that old, hopefully reverts back to 2017-2019 form and is a dangerous playmaker for us. He could be one of the steals of free agency. Hopefully the others can hold down the fort for 2-3 weeks until Rodney gets back.

Corner - Slay returns to pro-bowl form under Gannon and stays healthy. Nelson also returns to 2018-2019 form and with Slay taking the WR1, has a really strong season opposite him. Even if he doesn't, just having a legitimate outside CB2 is a huge upgrade on last year. Maddox is back in the slot where he is far better.

Agreed as long as they can stay relatively healthy especially on the OL and DL. As you mentioned both those units when healthy are top 5 in the league and that will always give you a chance to win. 

[Pliny]

I have been reading several analysts threads saying the Eagles could be the worst team in the NFL.   I just don't see it.    This team was beat to hell last year with injuries and some "experts" are not factoring that in.   Just getting healthy will make them a better team.      But, that is the question.

[Perforator]

I'm shocked!

[Bwestbrook36]

2 hours ago, Pliny said:

I have been reading several analysts threads saying the Eagles could be the worst team in the NFL.   I just don't see it.    This team was beat to hell last year with injuries and some "experts" are not factoring that in.   Just getting healthy will make them a better team.      But, that is the question.

There is teams with waaaayy worse talent then us believe it or not. The problem we have is we have no future talent that we know of yet and guys that are past there prime mostly on defense with zero defensive future talent as of right now. 

[EagleVA]

3 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Linebacker - well this isn't going to be a strength, but Wilson gives us a bit more in coverage and Singleton continues to be solid. Shame Taylor got hurt, but hopefully he can contribute later in the year.

Compared to what we've seen at LB it may be fair to say Singleton is solid but compared to LBs througout the league he is not.

The Eagles first 2 or more picks should address the LBs and CBs as it's the defense is what's going to put your prediction in jeopardy 

[Talonblood]

They haven't played 4 quarters of real football yet, so I don't have any expectations of judgements yet. I need at least 3 or 4 games to get even a HINT of what they may or may not be.

I would put the standard "Playoff, you're talking about playoffs???" gif here, but it's just a seriously lame gif these days. 🤣

[flyerdog]

10 - 7 just sounds so weird...gonna be a while before we get used to this...

[Bwestbrook36]

5 minutes ago, flyerdog said:

10 - 7 just sounds so weird...gonna be a while before we get used to this...

I'll never get used to it and when they go to 18 I'll become even more uninterested. 

[Texas Eagle]

People on this board tend to think that if your team isn't stacked at each and every position, you aren't a contender. There are zero holes on the Bucs/Chiefs apparently. Easily the worst division as of late and very winnable.

[Bwestbrook36]

1 minute ago, eaglesflyers#1 said:

People on this board tend to think that if your team isn't stacked at each and every position, you aren't a contender. There are zero holes on the Bucs/Chiefs apparently. Easily the worst division as of late and very winnable.

And when they are to stacked at one position they want to trade them immediately lol. To try and stack another position that isn't quite as stacked but, then the stacked position that was just traded. all of a sudden has injuries and now you have no more stacks. 

[Texas Eagle]

QB- TBD on Hurts. Good depth.

RB- Sanders needs to work on catching/ball security but is a home run threat and really good depth behind him.

WR- Somewhere between okay and really good depending on how the top 3 shake out. Not a fan of really any of them behind those 3 so wouldn't mind adding depth at the X/Y since we have Watkins, Reagor, and Ward for slot and no outside WR backups.

TE - Elite

O-LIne- Elite if healthy. Okay depth IMO if someone goes down.

D-Line- Really good. Excited to see a healthy Hargrave and what Milton can contribute. Sweat is obviously the most intriguing of all.

LB- Same story as always, undervalued by team. Interested to see how Gannon uses them.

CB- Big dropoff after Slay/Nelson, need to add a solid CB who can start on outside if one goes down.

S- Harris should be really good, McLeod is solid at best. No depth behind them.

[Swoop]

"I think the Eagles will be a playoff team, but then again maybe not..."

Such conviction.

[ManchesterEagle]

2 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

There is teams with waaaayy worse talent then us believe it or not. The problem we have is we have no future talent that we know of yet and guys that are past there prime mostly on defense with zero defensive future talent as of right now. 

 

2 hours ago, EagleVA said:

Compared to what we've seen at LB it may be fair to say Singleton is solid but compared to LBs througout the league he is not.

The Eagles first 2 or more picks should address the LBs and CBs as it's the defense is what's going to put your prediction in jeopardy 

Yeah agreed 100%, we have pretty much no future defensive talent. If Hurts doesn't work out and we have to spend a lot of our high draft picks next year on a QB, then this D could be in a mess for a while.

Also on Singleton, I agree, he's not good by the league standards, but we were just so happy to have a linebacker who can run in the right direction and tackle somebody other than Fletcher Cox that people started overrating him a bit. Shame Taylor got hurt, as I would hoping he would step up this year. He still might.

I think the D will be fine for this year. We have enough good vets at or just over the peak. The issue is the future as those players move on or retire.

[Bwestbrook36]

2 minutes ago, ManchesterEagle said:

 

Yeah agreed 100%, we have pretty much no future defensive talent. If Hurts doesn't work out and we have to spend a lot of our high draft picks next year on a QB, then this D could be in a mess for a while.

Also on Singleton, I agree, he's not good by the league standards, but we were just so happy to have a linebacker who can run in the right direction and tackle somebody other than Fletcher Cox that people started overrating him a bit. Shame Taylor got hurt, as I would hoping he would step up this year. He still might.

I think the D will be fine for this year. We have enough good vets at or just over the peak. The issue is the future as those players move on or retire.

Meh, if you look up and down every roster especially the teams that run a 4-3 you can tell teams don't care about linebackers as much. Most teams have a couple of Jags and 1 really good backer. Then you have some that have 2 above average guys and 1 really crappy one. Then you have teams that just have 3 solid guys and no potential. 

The only team that really stands out is the cowboys. They are the only team with 3 really good to potentially great linebackers and their defense is terrible sooo yeah. Eagles need to upgrade the position for sure but ,the talent pool on other teams isn't anything spectacular either with the exception like I said the cowboys. 

[Mike030270]

Lane pretty much said today that the ankle still isn't 100% so he's very likely to miss games. Then there's Brooks who had a anxiety problems because Lane wasn't there

Is the Dline going to rotate again?

Every year since Goedert has been drafted people say it's the best TE duo yet the numbers have actually not been good. Blame it on health but it's still not good

WR looks promising finally

I'm actually hoping that Hurts doesn't run much and that he seriously worked on staying in the pocket in the offseason

I think Skins take the division but I just want development from the young guys because I'm not expecting anything from this season

[ManchesterEagle]

4 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Meh, if you look up and down every roster especially the teams that run a 4-3 you can tell teams don't care about linebackers as much. Most teams have a couple of Jags and 1 really good backer. Then you have some that have 2 above average guys and 1 really crappy one. Then you have teams that just have 3 solid guys and no potential. 

The only team that really stands out is the cowboys. They are the only team with 3 really good to potentially great linebackers and their defense is terrible sooo yeah. Eagles need to upgrade the position for sure but ,the talent pool on other teams isn't anything spectacular either with the exception like I said the cowboys. 

Yeah look, I'm not worried about the linebackers specifically and I want to have a look at Taylor. I'm more concerned about corner, safety and the D-Line where most of our best players are either 30 plus or in a contract year. 

But this year, I expect the D to be pretty good.

[CouchKing]

The Eagles end the season with several NFC East games. 

They will have a chance to beat the division head to head after figuring out how to win games.

Eagles win the division at 10-7.

Side Note: Eagles will need to score more points than their opponents in order to win games.

[EagleVA]

1 hour ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

The only team that really stands out is the cowboys. They are the only team with 3 really good to potentially great linebackers and their defense is terrible sooo yeah. Eagles need to upgrade the position for sure but ,the talent pool on other teams isn't anything spectacular either with the exception like I said the cowboys. 

The Pats and Ravens usually have good LBs.

[Bwestbrook36]

4 hours ago, EagleVA said:

The Pats and Ravens usually have good LBs.

Yes but, they always alternate depending on the kinds of players they have. Especially the Patriots they will switch to a 3-4 or a 4-3 based on the players they have ( I'm sure you know this ) . Which is an amazing thing to do without a hitch. I'm envious of any defensive coordinator or Head coach that can pull that off. 

I didn't include 3-4 defenses because they obviously use their linebackers a lot more  and they need they best they can get. 

It seems to be the 4-3 teams are the ones that don't seem to value the position. 

Like I said they are all still in better shape then we are though. The other teams have at least one really good backer.  

Anyways I was actually looking into all the linebackers in the league even before anyone even said anything about it today. I got bored so figured I would check where everyone else is compared to us on a few positions and I happened to pick linebackers lol. 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Good is a relative term, but I could see us losing fewer games than Washington and coming away with a division championship. 

40 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

I dont get the optimism. This is bad deep with no depth and injury issues. O, not to mention they have an entire new coaching staff. 

We don’t have to do better than everyone, we just have to do better than the other dumpster fires in the NFCE

[eggs]

On 8/30/2021 at 11:37 AM, ManchesterEagle said:

I'm going to put myself out there and say that the Eagles will surprise a lot of people and finish 10-7 or better. 

I could obviously be wrong. There are a lot of critical unknowns including the Head Coach, DC and QB. But if those 3 are at least decent, then I think the Eagles will compete for the following reasons:

I think the O-Line returns to being a top 5/10 unit in the NFL. Sure it's likely one or both of Brooks and Johnson miss time, but I think our back-ups look pretty good this year. Dickerson should be ready relatively early. Herbig and Driscoll both played well last year and should develop. Dillard has been a dart board for much of the off-season, but he did okay in his rookie year at LT and should be a capable back-up to Mailata, who could potentially slide over to RT if Johnson misses time.

Wide receiver - Devonta Smith as a top 10 pick becomes our number 1 WR. Doesn't need to put up Jefferson numbers, but with his skill set and route running it's more than possible he could put up 1,000 yards and 8 TDs in 17 games. Reagor was on pace for 700 yards with Hurts at QB. A small improvement and there's no reason he couldn't put up 800 yards and 5-6 TDs as WR2. I think we are all cautiously optimistic about Watkins and Ward is a solid back-up.

TE - Some people wanted to ship off Ertz for a 7th rounder and 2 burgers, but we probably have the best pair of TEs in the league with Ertz and Goedert. Gives Hurts two really good safety blankets. I foresee both having bounce back years.

RB - Sanders continues to be Sanders. Gainwell emerges as a dangerous RB2. We know Scott can kill any team from New York/Jersey.

QB - with the above providing him with better protection and legitimate weapons, Hurts flourishes and has a breakout 2nd season. Suddenly he is close to the Russell Wilson mark 2 the Eagles were hoping for. Improves his pocket passing and uses his legs, not too often but to good effect.

D- Line - strength of the group. The 8 man rotation keeps Cox and Graham fresh and productive. Barnett and Sweat deliver on their promise. Williams becomes a dangerous rotational tackle. The real difference maker here could be Hargrave. He's really good, but due to playing hurt, I don't think we saw close to the best of him this year. This group has a chance to dominate up front against both the run and pass.

Linebacker - well this isn't going to be a strength, but Wilson gives us a bit more in coverage and Singleton continues to be solid. Shame Taylor got hurt, but hopefully he can contribute later in the year.

Safety -  Harris, who isn't that old, hopefully reverts back to 2017-2019 form and is a dangerous playmaker for us. He could be one of the steals of free agency. Hopefully the others can hold down the fort for 2-3 weeks until Rodney gets back.

Corner - Slay returns to pro-bowl form under Gannon and stays healthy. Nelson also returns to 2018-2019 form and with Slay taking the WR1, has a really strong season opposite him. Even if he doesn't, just having a legitimate outside CB2 is a huge upgrade on last year. Maddox is back in the slot where he is far better.

It’s possible and you list what has to go right. I think we are thin at RB as Gainwell has not shown much as a rb, more of a slot receiver. I still think we may bring Howard back or anither larger, veteran rb. Also, both Cox and Hargreaves have to remain healthy. 

[birdman#12]

On 8/30/2021 at 1:02 PM, Pliny said:

I have been reading several analysts threads saying the Eagles could be the worst team in the NFL.   I just don't see it.    This team was beat to hell last year with injuries and some "experts" are not factoring that in.   Just getting healthy will make them a better team.      But, that is the question.

Analysts don't actually analyze a team.......they look at last year's record, "big" free agent signings, the draft, and what other "analysts" are saying.  They don't visit every training camp, they don't watch every game.

It's easy to look at the eagles record last year, the new head coach and his young staff, the inexperienced QB and ignore last year's injuries, Wentz's collapse, and how Pedersen and his staff struggled to fix the problems, and assume that the eagles are not going to be better.

But, if you truly analyze the personnel changes, the eagles have added significant talent from last year.....Players coming back from injury, strategic free agent signings, draft picks and young players who no one can really predict how they'll improve.

But it hinges mostly on 2 things.  How well Jalen Hurts plays and develops.  And if the defense can improve overall. 

And, as always with the eagles, they need to stay relatively healthy.

[pallidrone]

2 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

Yea, theyre not a dumpster fire. 

Redskins are a top 5 defense and a middle of pack Offense

Cowbous are a top 5 offense with a middle of pack Defense

Eagles are mid 20's in both, as are the giants

WTF are you talking about?

Washington does not have a middle of the pack offense and Dallas does not have a middle of the road defense. Both of those teams were the worst the last year and I see nothing that really improves them.

What moves did they really do in the off season to improve themselves? Dallas continues to invest in LBs and ignoring their DL when they play a 4-3 and the emphasis should be on the DL. The only real improvement they did was bring in Dan Quinn.

Washington did what exactly? Brought in Ryan Fitzpatrick, a journeyman QB who has been on every team in the league and Curtis Samuel, a middle of the road WR? They exchanged Morgan Moses, one of their only decent OL for Cosi a second round rookie. Their OL is still a mess.

The Eagles are unknown at this point. The only thing that is known is that IF HEALTHY their Offensive and Defensive lines are among the best in the league. You win football games in the trenches so that will always give them a chance. The big problem is that they are old at those positions and they cant stay healthy.

[Bwestbrook36]

2 minutes ago, pallidrone said:

WTF are you talking about?

Washington does not have a middle of the pack offense and Dallas does not have a middle of the road defense. Both of those teams were the worst the last year and I see nothing that really improves them.

What moves did they really do in the off season to improve themselves? Dallas continues to invest in LBs and ignoring their DL when they play a 4-3 and the emphasis should be on the DL. The only real improvement they did was bring in Dan Quinn.

Washington did what exactly? Brought in Ryan Fitzpatrick, a journeyman QB who has been on every team in the league and Curtis Samuel, a middle of the road WR? They exchanged Morgan Moses, one of their only decent OL for Cosi a second round rookie. Their OL is still a mess.

The Eagles are unknown at this point. The only thing that is known is that IF HEALTHY their Offensive and Defensive lines are among the best in the league. You win football games in the trenches so that will always give them a chance. The big problem is that they are old at those positions and they cant stay healthy.

The WFT has a long way to just to even get middle of the pack. They were in the bottom 10 in every offensive category last year except rushing TDs. matter of fact they were basically side by side with the eagles in almost all off them. THey were bottom 10 in sacks given up QBs hits and rushing yards per game, not sure where people are getting the WTF has a good oline stuff from ive seen multiple people say that now. I think they are going off a few years ago when they used to be good. 

Dak coming back will help but, even in the 5 games he played they were still 2-3. I see a lot of people complain that the Cowboys get hyped up to much and they get to much exposure and they always get picked to be great. Yet all i get is eagles fans telling me how great they are going to be