Our 2022 NFL Preview travels to the City of Brotherly Love, where the Eagles are set to soar higher than they have in recent years as they look to challenge not only in the NFC East, but the conference as a whole. After a slow start to his first season with the franchise, (Head Coach) Nick Sirianni got his troops up and running down the stretch as they closed out the campaign with four wins in their final five outings en route to a surprise trip to the playoffs. Are they indeed ahead of the learning curve, or will they take a step back? Will (Quarterback) Jalen Hurts thrive with a bolstered supporting cast? Let’s take a trip down Broad Street, shall we?
Hurts So Good
At this time a year ago, the prevailing question coming out of Philadelphia was whether or not Jalen Hurts (pictured) was indeed the starting QB for the Eagles after showing glimpses down the stretch of his rookie campaign. Well, for all intents and purposes, he cemented his status as primary signal-caller, going 8-7 in fifteen starts, including 6-3 after Halloween. So, how did he do it, you ask? Well, credit to Sirianni and his coaching staff for not trying to make this kid into something he isn’t, instead leaning into his athleticism and mobility to become the no. one rushing team in the NFL; Philly churned out a whopping 159.7 yards per game (1st Overall) on 4.9 yards per carry (4th Overall), with Hurts doing his part with 784 yards and ten touchdowns, both of which led all players at his position. However, there were times he struggled throwing the football, particularly when it came to accuracy and anticipation, completing just 61.3% of his passes for 209.6 yards per game on 6.54 net yards per attempt, with sixteen touchdowns opposed to nine interceptions and a middling QBR of 48.5. Furthermore, his performance against the Buccaneers in the playoffs was particularly poor, in which he completed 23-of-43 passes for 258 yards, with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions, though the majority of those completions and yardage came after the birds were trailing 31-0 midway through the third quarter. Philadelphia either punted or turned it over on nine of their first ten possessions of the affair, with a meager 154 total yards to their credit. Simply put, Hurts MUST grow as a passer, which is something that Siranni has lamented throughout the offseason. Word out of Eagles Camp is that the 24-year-old spent part of the offseason in California specifically working on his throwing mechanics, footwork, and quickening his release. If that work leads to him becoming a more consistent passer, then this offense could REALLY take flight, particularly after (General Manager) Howie Roseman gifted his Quarterback a top-tier pass-catcher during the Draft…
Taking Flight
One of the best ways to help a young Quarterback is to go out and get them help, or more particularly an established veteran pass-catcher. After spending first-round picks on Receivers in each of the past two Drafts, the aforementioned Roseman engineered a trade with the Titans for wantaway Wideout, A.J. Brown (pictured), in an attempt to further facilitate Hurts’ development. Needless to say, this was a surprise for the Eagles, who had already invested heavily in the Receiving Cops. However, Jalen Reagor (drafted twenty-first in 2020) has yet to surpass forty catches or 400 receiving yards in any of his two years with the team, while DeVonta Smith (tenth overall in 2021) proved to be solid if unspectacular with sixty-four receptions for 916 yards and five touchdowns. Whereas the former is a speedster and the latter more of a route-running technician, Brown brings another dimension to the group altogether; at 6′-1″, 226 lbs. the former Pro-Bowler is a serious physical presence that can make plays after the catch or go up and get the ball in traffic. In three years in Nashville, the 25-year-old hauled in 185 catches for 2,995 yards and twenty-four touchdowns despite missing time last season with a nagging hamstring injury. Just one year older than Hurts, Brown has the potential to grow alongside his Quarterback, which is clearly what Roseman had in mind when he immediately signed him to a lucrative four-year, $100 million contract with over $50 million in guarantees. Looking at the position group as a whole, which also includes the addition of (former Colt) Zach Pascal, they seem to complement each other rather well, which should be a boon to the passing game, which was certainly a weakness in 2021; no team attempted fewer passes than the Eagles (28.4), while finishing twenty-fifth in passing yards (210.9) and touchdowns (20), along with thirteenth in net yards per attempt (6.5). Needless to say, the expectation is for Hurts to flourish with so many weapons, which squarely puts the pressure upon the young passer to perform.
Beefing Up
On the opposite side of the football, the Eagles were one of the better units in the NFL last year, though they undoubtedly benefitted from playing alongside the no. one rushing attack in the league. Philadelphia averaged nearly three minutes of game time per drive, which ranked ninth overall, which means that the defense spent that time resting on the sideline. As a result, (Defensive Coordinator) Jonathan Gannon’s unit relinquished the tenth-fewest yards in the NFL (328.8), including eleventh against the pass (220.9) and ninth against the run (107.9). However, they sat in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed (22.6), due in large part to a meager sixteen takeaways (26th Overall) and a rather dreadful showing in the red zone where they capitulated 66.7% of the time (28th Overall). And it’s with that said that the aforementioned Roseman went about beefing up the defense, addressing all three levels with a mixture of signings and draft picks. The Secondary received reinforcements in the form of (Safety) Jaquiski Tart and (Cornerback) James Bradberry, arriving via free agency from the 49ers and Giants respectively. (Temple graduate) Haason Reddick returns home after spending the first five years of his career with the Cardinals and Panthers and is expected to bring some pass-rushing versatility off the edge after compiling 23.5 sacks over the last two seasons. As for the Draft, Philadelphia focused squarely on (National Champions) Georgia, adding rangy Linebacker, Nakobe Dean in third round after selecting his mammoth teammate, Jordan Davis (pictured) with the thirteenth overall pick. At a mountainous 6′-6″, 340 lbs., the 22-year-old Nose Tackle should be a rock in the middle of the Defensive Line, giving Gannon some serious size to play with in short yardage situations and on the goal line. Granted, the knock on Davis coming out of college was that he only featured in about 50% of the Bulldogs’ defensive plays, with conditioning limitations being the culprit. However, that’s not likely to be an issue during his rookie campaign, for after all, this is a unit that still packs plenty of pounds in the trenches with the likes of Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave in the mix, making it difficult to envision their rotation getting outmuscled at the point of attack.
Projected Finish: 11-6
After a surprising finish to the previous campaign, and an offseason in which they bolstered both sides of the football considerably, there is understandably a lot of optimism surrounding the Eagles heading into the fall. If Jalen Hurts can take the next step as a passer and the defense can shore up its issues in the red zone, then this is a team that will absolutely challenge for supremacy in not just the NFC East, but the conference at large. However, even if one of those factors fails to come to pass, then they will likely reside on the fringes of postseason contention once more.
