In Roob's Observations: Why Dallas Goedert will have a huge season

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In Roob's Observations: Why Dallas Goedert will have a huge season

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

Who are the Eagles’ most likely first-time Pro Bowlers in 2022? How good was the Eagles’ 1991 defense? And why was Don Burroughs one of the most underrated Eagles of all time?

We have all the answers in this weekend's edition of Roob’s 10 Random Offseason Eagles Observations! 

1. How good can Dallas Goedert be this year? Off the charts. Here are five reasons why:

Reason No. 1: Even though he didn’t become the Eagles’ primary tight end until after the Zach Ertz trade in mid-October, Goedert had the fifth-most yards among all NFL tight ends last year. Goedert’s numbers in 11 games after the trade: 47-for-706 for 15 yards per catch. Project that over a 17-game season and you get 73 catches for 1,091 yards.

Reason No. 2: Goedert last year caught 56 passes and turned 42 of them into first downs. He had the 17^th-most targets among tight ends last year but the fourth-most 1^st-down catches, behind only Mark Andrews, Tracis Kelce and Kyle Pitts, who each had far more targets than Goedert (Andrews 153, Kelce 134, Pitts 110, Goedert 76). His 75 percent 1^st-down conversion rate was highest in the league among tight ends. Since 2019, Goedert has the 31^st-most targets among tight ends but the sixth-most first downs (103). 

Reason No. 3: Goedert is the only tight end since the NFL began tracking targets in 1992 with 800 or more yards on 80 or fewer targets. His 10.9 yards per target is third-highest on record by a tight end behind only Antonio Gates in 2010 (12.0) and Ken Dilger in 1995 (11.5). It’s also second-highest in Eagles history (behind DeSean Jackson’s 11.1 in 2010). That’s crazy production on limited targets. If he just goes from 17^th in targets to 10^th, and all his other numbers stay the same, he’s a 1,000-yard receiver.

Reason No. 4: How about Goedert’s 14.8 yards per catch last year? Only eight other tight ends in the last 50 years have averaged 14.8 yards per catch in a full season (with a minimum of 55 catches). Goedert was 14^th in catches among TEs last year.  With just one more catch per game at 14.8 yards per catch, he’s over 1,100 yards.

Reason No. 5: The Eagles did draft a tight end in the sixth round and they're hopeful Grant Calcaterra can contribute, but you can’t rely on any rookie sixth-round pick. The returning tight ends are Jack Stoll and Tyree Jackson, who caught a combined seven passes last year. Stoll is a very good blocker and will play a lot, but there is no other proven receiving tight end on the roster. Just about all the TE targets will go in Goedert’s direction.

2. Five most-likely first-time Eagles Pro Bowlers in 2022: 1) Jordan Mailata, 2) Dallas Goedert, 3) Landon Dickerson, 4) Haason Reddick, 5) Jalen Hurts.

3. Only three QBs in Eagles history have won playoff games in consecutive seasons – Jaws in 1979 and 1980, Donovan McNabb from 2000 through 2004 and Nick Foles in 2017 and 2018.

4. Carson Wentz has had three seasons with 25 or more touchdowns and seven or fewer interceptions. In NFL history, only Aaron Rodgers has had more. Russell Wilson, Drew Brees and Tom Brady have also had three.

5. Jalen Hurts Stat of the Week: Hurts’ 87.2 passer rating is highest ever by an Eagles quarterback before his 24^th birthday. The previous high was Nick Foles’ 79.1 rating when he was 23 in 2012. 

6. How good was the 1991 Eagles defense? That Eagles team allowed an average of just 221.8 yards per game, lowest ever in a 16-game season and lowest by any team in any season since the 1974 Steelers allowed 219.6 in a 14-game season and won the Super Bowl. Bud Carson was defensive coordinator of both teams.

7. Only four NFL players in the last 50 years have had seven interceptions in three straight seasons, and one of them was an Eagle – Don Burroughs had nine in the 1960 NFL Championship season and seven in 1961 and 1962. Burroughs, who was undrafted out of Colorado A&M (now Colorado State), had two other seasons with seven INTs with the Rams, and he’s one of only six players with five career seven-INT seasons. The only player with more is Hall of Famer Emlen Tunnell. Burroughs was nicknamed "The Blade” by Norm Van Brocklin when they were teammates with the Rams, and after Van Brocklin was traded to the Eagles, he asked management to try to acquire Burroughs as well, and they did. Burroughs’ 50 career INTs are ninth-most ever by an undrafted player and second-most ever by a player who was never picked to a Pro Bowl team. Even though Burroughs only spent five years with the Eagles, he’s sixth all-time with 29 INTs — behind only Brian Dawkins, Eric Allen, Bill Bradley, Herm Edwards and Wes Hopkins. Of that group, only Burroughs played for a championship team. Gotta make room made for Burroughs in the Eagles Hall of Fame.

8. There are 13 players in Eagles history who have played in at least 12 playoff games. All 13 were on the 2003 team (David Akers, Brian Dawkins, Jon Runyan, Tra Thomas, Donovan McNabb, Koy Detmer, Sheldon Brown, Quintin Mikell, Mike Bartrum, Todd Pinkston, Corey Simon, Bobby Taylor, Darwin Walker). 

9. One of the most improbable performances in Eagles history was turned in by running back Robert Drummond vs. the Chargers in San Diego in 1989. Drummond rushed 14 times for 77 yards and caught five passes for 74 yards. Drummond never had more than 29 rushing yards in any other game in his NFL career and never had more than 41 receiving yards in any other game in his NFL career. His 151 scrimmage yards that day were more than twice as many yards as he had in any other game. In fact, he only had more than 35 scrimmage yards in one other game – he had 68 against the Cards later in the 1989 season. Drummond only played in 36 games in his three-year career, and those 151 yards vs. the Chargers accounted for 37 percent of his career total. The only other Eagles rookie in the last 50 years with 70 yards both rushing and receiving in a game was Miles Sanders vs. the Cowboys in 2019 (77 rushing, 79 receiving). 

10. The Eagles finished last year ranked 14^th in the NFL in yards gained and 10^th in yards allowed. It was the first time in franchise history they were in the top half of the league in both categories in their first year under a new head coach. The closest they ever came previously was in 1952, when they were eighth in offense and second in defense under Jim Trimble in a 12-team league.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/dallas-goedert-eagles-jalen-hurts-carson-wentz-don-burroughs-nfl

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I mean look... I like Goedert and I'm glad he is now the #1 TE on this team. And can he have a monster year? Absolutely he can yes. But with AJ Brown now here and Smith going in to year 2 there are a lot of mouths to feed. So whilst I think he can be a highly effective player I'm not sure we are going to see a 1000+ yard year from him. 

[matchew88]

Because the other team will have to respect AJ Brown, but Hurts will not be able to scan through 3 receivers, so he will continue to go back to Goedert. Same as last year with more space in the middle.