1 hour ago, EaglesfanfromND said:

The guy that couldn't win with Aaron Rodgers is gonna go all the way with Dak???

He's got a more talented team there to work with for sure... But I don't think he'll go all the way no. 

9 hours ago, EaglesfanfromND said:

The guy that couldn't win with Aaron Rodgers is gonna go all the way with Dak???

what do you mean he "couldn’t win with Aaron Rodgers”?  They literally won a Super Bowl lmao. 

yes.  If we don't get crushed by injuries as usually we'll get to at least the NFC championship game.

We'll see. 

If Desean and Wentz stay healthy and one of the rookie WRs shows out I think we are a playoff team. I often blamed the pass rush not getting home on the secondary. We added Slay and a speedy pass defending LB that is perfect for covering TE/RBs. On paper, our defense should be much better. If the defense starts clicking like it should then yes we will be dominant team and SB contender.

Impossible to say right now. I do feel good about the defense with the pieces they added, I think they’re a top 10 unit. Still a little shaky at CB2, but hopefully Jones can finally step up (and stay healthy). Hoping that making a couple of clutch plays down the stretch last year did a world of good for his confidence.  Even still, just adding Slay as CB1 improves the CB situation immensely. 
 

On offense we have to wait and see since we are relying a lot on youth. I’m one of the biggest Reagor supporters here, and have little doubt that he will be electric. Problem is outside of him, you need to pray Jackson stays healthy or that one of the other two rookie receivers really has a strong rookie year. Or JJAW I guess but I don’t have a lot of faith in that one. I like Ward in the slot though so not a lot of concern there. 

It’s tough to win a Super Bowl with that schedule.

I would lean towards not quite a contender, but too early to tell really.  If we're a healthier team this year, and a few draft picks end up being good, who knows. 

On 5/4/2020 at 11:28 PM, Snoop88 said:

what do you mean he "couldn’t win with Aaron Rodgers”?  They literally won a Super Bowl lmao. 

One SB. How many years? With a HOF QB he was able to win one SB and he's going to win SB's with Dak now??

Playoff contender yes

Super Bowl contender probably not

I would argue that the Eagles have entered a soft rebuild phase since Carson Wentz signed his contract extension. You can say the "win a Super Bowl this year" window lasted from 2017-2019. Eagles came up with a Super Bowl win, a divisional playoff game loss, and a wild card game loss in the span of those three seasons, which isn't bad at all in the grand scheme of things. If you look at Super Bowl winning teams since 2010 and their success in subsequent years, the Eagles are in the middle of the pack in terms of sustained success:

3 teams missed the playoffs completely the following season: 2011 Giants, 2012 Ravens, 2015 Broncos

5 teams have made it back to the playoffs, but fell short of the Super Bowl the following year: 2009 Saints, 2010 Packers, 2014 Patriots, 2017 Eagles, 2018 Patriots

2 teams made it back to the Super Bowl after winning it but then lost: 2013 Seahawks, 2016 Patriots

 

The expectations should be tempered given the number of changes all over and key departures this offseason:

2020-2021 season: Compete for the playoffs, Wild Card win at best, add more young players in 2021 draft/FA

2021-2022 season: Divisional round, but can't win the conference, Eagles make decision on Wentz/Hurts given the opt out clause in Wentz's contract extension

2022-2023 season: Realistic Super Bowl window starts now assuming Wentz makes it this far, if Hurts is the new starter all bets are off

The offense looks to be fine as long as they stay healthy and if Dillard can put it together. 

The defense is more of a concern. I'm still worried about the LBs, safety experience, and lack of depth at the edge positions. Other than Reagor and maybe a return from one of the other WRs, I don't see the rookie contributing much. Howie wasted a potential starting LB, safety, or edge rusher with the second pick which could have solidified the defense. The cowboy's talent on offense will make them hard to stop and the schedule looks tough. 

4 minutes ago, kentwo said:

The offense looks to be fine as long as they stay healthy and if Dillard can put it together. 

Why does the offense look to be fine? If the WR moves work out then sure, if not then we are right back to where we were last year. And on top of that the OL is another year older and we shall see with Dillard.

2 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Why does the offense look to be fine? If the WR moves work out then sure, if not then we are right back to where we were last year. And on top of that the OL is another year older and we shall see with Dillard.

I think the skill positions are in a better shape. Don't think they're elite or great as a whole, but Wentz, Sanders, the OL (not counting Dillard), and TEs are solid. WRs if DJax stays healthy, I think they should be improved and serviceable. The defense is what I think will be the greater hurdle to overcome. 

Don't know. Usually get a better feel during the preseason but...It's hard to know. They may not be the best team in the division. 

On 5/4/2020 at 5:01 AM, Snoop88 said:

We aren’t even the best team in our division.  
 

replacing a career loser in Garrett with a SB winning coach is going to have an Alain Vigneault type effect for Dallas it pains me to say.   

Cowboys had a real good offseason, much as I hate to admit it. But McCarthy does not scare me as being an upgrade over Garrett. He will be another Jerry yes-man. And even if Jerry has learned to draft well, he still won't be able to keep his big, fat thumbprints off the day-to-day football decisions. And that will be the Cowboys undoing.

the Giants and Redskins both had good off seasons, too. On paper and so far.

Bottom line is this team has a lot of talent, and we get some key players back from injury. Offensively, Dillard is a question mark, and we will be in bad shape in a hurry if anyone on the starting OL gets injured. RB and TE, they're set, love to see a short-yardage RB added, but we could have that in the UDFA. At WR, they're already better than last year, just having DJax back and healthy. With him and Reagor and Hightower, Quez and Goodwin- teams will have to cover deep, even if all those guys somehow have stone hands like the group we had on the field most of last year. That will open the Offense up a lot.

Wentz needs to be the QB from the last 4 weeks of the season, too. And hopefully, he stays healthy because, as he goes, so goes the season. I don't have a lot of faith in the QB Factory's 2019 model.

It seems Schwartz is like the guy at your work that nobody likes talking to, because he's so damn intense, but he's pretty good at what he does. He got some input into his type of guys this draft. I know they got killed with injuries last year. But, man they looked so bad at times. How much of that was injuries, and how much of it was Schwartz trying to fit the square peg players he had into his round hole "positionless" scheme, I guess, we will see. The Dline is stout, love Hargraves and getting Malik back healthy. Barnett and BG are solid, especially with the interior constantly drawing double teams. Sweat showed flashes, love to see him make strides this year.

LB seems like a black hole on the field, where talent goes to die. Slow, oversized safeties or undersized DEs who can't cover. It will be interesting to see what Schwartz comes up with scheme-wise to mask the talent deficiency here. I don't see either of the draft picks making any real contribution, except for ST.

The secondary has to be better. I mean, it has to be. Getting Slay was huge, now he just has to prove last year was all injuries, and not Father Time tapping the hourglass. The other CB is up in the air, but I think they'll be ok with either Maddox or Jones (or even Mills). Any of those guys can fill in the slot comfortably and LeBlanc has shown some game. Safety, i think they broke even, which a good trade when you let Malcolm Jenkins walk. Jenkins was a great player here, but it was time for him to go. Not only was he getting old and expensive, but he didn't seem to fit what Schwartz wanted to do on Defense. There were too many games when assignments were just blown, coverages didn't get passed. I am not saying Jenkins was the cause of all of that. But he was the QB of the secondary, and they were awful a lot last year. Nice move to re-sign McLeod and it'll be a fun watch as Mills tries to fill Jenkins' role: Schwartz loves him, so, maybe there is a reason. Also, absolutely love the K'von Wallace pick! Great value pick up for them there, and I feel like he is a long-term starter for the Eagles for years to come.

ST will be exciting to watch again this year, too with all of the athletic, speedy players they drafted. 

TL; DR : yeah, the Eagles are contenders. Even the Bengals are contenders in May. They have a lot of talent and lot of new faces and new coaches and a shortened offseason. They have an even odds chance of taking the Division and a puncher's chance at the SuperBowl. Need to stay healthy and catch some breaks.

On 5/7/2020 at 3:40 AM, YubaEagle said:

Cowboys had a real good offseason, much as I hate to admit it. But McCarthy does not scare me as being an upgrade over Garrett

Literally anybody is a major upgrade over Garrett. I hate to say it but we should be concerned about the Cowboys. They added a lot of talent in the draft and they have a HC who isn't Garrett.

They pushed us close for the division last year with Garrett so it doesn't take much for them to gain that little extra over us. 

The Eagles are coming off two straight 9-7 seasons, and have a ton of rookies and new faces on the roster and the coaching staff.          The offense should be good, but that will be dependent on how much they get from rookie WR's and if guys like Whiteside step up.           The depth of the OL and Dillard's development are also big issues and question marks.           

Really, aside from QB, TE, and possibly RB, the roster is riddled with questions.           DE wasn't addressed, and although the DT's will certainly help the pass rush, the group of just guys on the edge will hurt.        At LB, who knows?          Safety is now a huge unknown, and the corner opposite Slay is the same.       And then there is the injury bugaboo, which seems to be an annual event here.

To me, this looks like another 9 win team that could just as easily be 10 wins or 6-7 wins depending on development and injuries.        Certainly good enough to win this pathetic division, but still a middle of the pack group with regard to competing for a championship.

On 5/6/2020 at 3:56 PM, eaglesfan0075 said:

The expectations should be tempered given the number of changes all over and key departures this offseason:

2020-2021 season: Compete for the playoffs, Wild Card win at best, add more young players in 2021 draft/FA

2021-2022 season: Divisional round, but can't win the conference, Eagles make decision on Wentz/Hurts given the opt out clause in Wentz's contract extension

2022-2023 season: Realistic Super Bowl window starts now assuming Wentz makes it this far, if Hurts is the new starter all bets are off

This makes sense, but I still find it hard to believe that the Eagles already have Wentz as a question for 2021, for the simple reason that I don't see Hurts as another Lamar Jackson.        I still don't know what to make of that pick other than the Eagles planning on using two QB's in some sort of new age offensive scheme.

But I looked at this year as a soft rebuild going into the off season, and felt it would take two successful off seasons for the Eagles to seriously get back in the SB conversation by hopefully 2022-23.         But that's with Wentz as the franchise QB - otherwise, as you say, all bets are off.

On 5/2/2020 at 5:55 PM, EagleJoe8 said:

Health is the most obvious key, but I think the offense should be solid as long as Dillon is good to go, and at least 2 of the new receivers pan out. Defense is always a concern though until it shows otherwise.

Health is the key for any playoff team. The teams making the runs late in the season are the ones that are healthy or are getting healthy. Most teams are fairly even talent-wise, but that all falls apart when injuries ravage a team or hit key positions. Good coaching and luck with the injury bug is what helps a team make a run in the playoffs. The Eagles in 2017 were one of the healthier teams late in the season at many of the key positions, with a capable backup QB and LT. So even if injuries do hit, depth can be just as important.

On 5/6/2020 at 3:56 PM, eaglesfan0075 said:

Playoff contender yes

Super Bowl contender probably not

I would argue that the Eagles have entered a soft rebuild phase since Carson Wentz signed his contract extension. You can say the "win a Super Bowl this year" window lasted from 2017-2019. Eagles came up with a Super Bowl win, a divisional playoff game loss, and a wild card game loss in the span of those three seasons, which isn't bad at all in the grand scheme of things. If you look at Super Bowl winning teams since 2010 and their success in subsequent years, the Eagles are in the middle of the pack in terms of sustained success:

3 teams missed the playoffs completely the following season: 2011 Giants, 2012 Ravens, 2015 Broncos

5 teams have made it back to the playoffs, but fell short of the Super Bowl the following year: 2009 Saints, 2010 Packers, 2014 Patriots, 2017 Eagles, 2018 Patriots

2 teams made it back to the Super Bowl after winning it but then lost: 2013 Seahawks, 2016 Patriots

 

The expectations should be tempered given the number of changes all over and key departures this offseason:

2020-2021 season: Compete for the playoffs, Wild Card win at best, add more young players in 2021 draft/FA

2021-2022 season: Divisional round, but can't win the conference, Eagles make decision on Wentz/Hurts given the opt out clause in Wentz's contract extension

2022-2023 season: Realistic Super Bowl window starts now assuming Wentz makes it this far, if Hurts is the new starter all bets are off

I would agree that we are in a soft rebuild for this season,   but I think we can be SB contenders by the 2021 season.    I don't think it necessarily will take another 2 seasons.  

there's still a very good base of talent on the roster.     whatever happens this season is icing on the cake,  but 2021 should be the goal.  

I think what's worrisome is the team is getting old fast. And Howie's marginal draft record hasn't brought in a lot of young talent. He's hit on a couple of guys, but not consistently enough. So he brings in FAs for prove it deals which sometimes works, but can also fail miserably. It comes down to can he improve his drafting skills to bring in more young talent. 

The way Pederson seems to run these teams its a lot more about injuries and momentum than it is about bringing in new talent.  Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but I think if this team gets hot around November they can always make a run.  

1 hour ago, kentwo said:

I think what's worrisome is the team is getting old fast. And Howie's marginal draft record hasn't brought in a lot of young talent. He's hit on a couple of guys, but not consistently enough. So he brings in FAs for prove it deals which sometimes works, but can also fail miserably. It comes down to can he improve his drafting skills to bring in more young talent. 

?  This whole offseason has been about getting younger and faster. 

3 minutes ago, NOTW said:

?  This whole offseason has been about getting younger and faster. 

They did, but shouldn't that be happening every offseason through the draft? Yet, majority of the best players on the team are still reaching/past 30. 

Seeing how Howie's drafting skills are marginal I'm not confident that this year's players will pan out any more then the past five years or so. 

2 hours ago, kentwo said:

They did, but shouldn't that be happening every offseason through the draft? Yet, majority of the best players on the team are still reaching/past 30. 

Seeing how Howie's drafting skills are marginal I'm not confident that this year's players will pan out any more then the past five years or so. 

Well they draft players every year just like every team.  Whether they're good or not is different.  But they have taken good players: Goedert, Maddox, Barnett, Dillard, Sanders, Mills, Pryor, Wentz, Seumalo.  They have a lot of young guys to pair with the veterans.