Revisiting Eagles’ biggest questions going into the season, from Jalen Hurts to Jonathan Gannon

For anyone who'd wondered about their defensive front, the Eagles coming close to breaking the NFL's record for sacks in a single season is a pretty good answer.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon talking to quarterback Jalen Hurts before the victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

by EJ Smith

Published Jan. 13, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

When the Eagles reported for training camp in July, few would have predicted their season would go quite as well as it did.

They were a trendy pick to win their division, but most sportsbooks favored the Dallas Cowboys in the race by a small margin. They were 13th in Super Bowl odds with an over-under of 9.5 wins.

With the regular season in the books, the 2022 Eagles have both shattered and redefined the expectations going into the playoffs.

Before training camp, we went over the five biggest questions the team faced and checked in on those questions midway through the season. With 17 games now behind us, here are those questions revisited for a final time:

How different will the Eagles’ defensive front look?

Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon used a multiple front last season, fluctuating between even- and odd-man looks depending on the situation. It’s safe to say the Eagles are gravitating toward more odd-man fronts going into this season, though, based on the offseason additions.

As good as the Eagles’ defensive secondary has been this season, the structure of the team’s defensive front has been the foundation for the group’s success.

The Eagles defense has created a winning formula by using heavy odd fronts on early downs to contain the run, forcing teams to pass on later downs, and rushing with abandon in those known-pass situations.

It has led to the Eagles logging 70 sacks in the regular season, which ranks third all-time, two short of the 1984 Chicago Bears. They also became the first team in NFL history to have four players reach double-digit sacks, with Haason Reddick getting 16 and Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, and Javon Hargrave each tallying 11.

When rookie nose tackle Jordan Davis went down with an ankle injury midway through the season, the Eagles went through a rough patch against the run and signed veteran free agents Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh as a result.

Joseph especially has been an integral part of the Eagles’ early-down plans ever since and figures to have an important role in the postseason. Since signing the 34-year-old, the Eagles are allowing 3.62 rushing yards per attempt and have a 67% defensive success rate with him on the field according to TruMedia. With Joseph on the sideline, they’re giving up 5 yards per carry and have a 56.9% success rate.

Did Jalen Hurts make strides during the offseason?

Hurts, who will turn 24 during training camp, spent more offseason time in California working with quarterback gurus and has tweaked his mechanics some since last year. He has also stated the importance of having the same play-caller and offensive coordinator for consecutive years, something he hasn’t had since high school.

Plenty of ink has already been spilled over the progress Jalen Hurts has made this season.

The Eagles are in their conference’s most advantageous position to win a Super Bowl largely because of Hurts’ strides as a passer, and their championship hopes hinge just as much on his play in the coming weeks.

Going into the divisional round, Hurts has established himself as a franchise quarterback worth building around. Smaller questions about what kind of cornerstone he can eventually become still linger.

The 24-year-old is going into his second consecutive postseason battling injury — this time a sprained throwing shoulder — which has led to some concern about his ability to make it through a season unscathed for when the games matter most. Hurts’ ability to create gains with his legs will always be an integral part of his game, but the progress he has made operating out of the pocket and his already-apparent ability to avoid the worst hits possible in the open field suggest he should be able to limit risk even more as his career goes on.

Still, the change in conversation from Hurts’ standing as the starter toward his playoff durability is representative of the strides he has made this year.

Hurts has already shown enough to garner a lucrative contract extension when eligible in the offseason, but that potential contract’s long-term perception will largely depend on performance in high-leverage situations. Part of that story will be written in a few weeks, but Hurts has made significant strides since putting the pads on five months ago.

How much does A.J. Brown change the Eagles offense?

Some of it will depend on Hurts, but Brown’s arrival could compel Nick Sirianni to return to the pass-heavy offense he ran during the first half of last year in order to get the trio of Brown, Smith, and Goedert the requisite touches each game.

A.J. Brown has offered an emphatic answer to any training camp questions with 88 catches for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first year with the Eagles.

Beyond his production, Brown has been the type of receiver that the Eagles typically turn to in have-to-have-it situations when the offense grew stagnant or needed a play. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown had 15 contested catches in the regular season, which is tied for seventh in the NFL.

After resorting to a run-heavy approach in 2021, the Eagles had one of the most potent passing attacks in the league in 2022. The duo of Brown and DeVonta Smith was one of the best receiving tandems in the league this season. Brown tied for third in yards per route run, which is tracked by PFF, and Smith was tied for 18th. The only other team with two receivers in the top 20 was the Miami Dolphins with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

Who will be this year’s training camp surprise?

Even though Britain Covey fits the bill as the Eagles player that most closely resembles a member of the Eagles’ beat writing corps, he has gotten multiple shout-outs from coaches and teammates going into camp. Sirianni and Goedert both mentioned him as an exciting prospect. Can he hold up in the league as a 5-foot-8, 173-pound slot receiver with some juice in the return game?

With the benefit of hindsight, Reed Blankenship stands out as the undrafted rookie and training-camp surprise with the biggest impact on the team this year. Britain Covey has been a reliable punt returner and even showed some juice in the latter half of the season, but Blankenship has been even more important to the team since filling in for C.J. Gardner-Johnson at safety.

Blankenship became the first undrafted rookie ever to record an interception against Aaron Rodgers a few months ago. The former five-year starter at Middle Tennessee State has been steady enough since then to facilitate Gardner-Johnson slotting in at nickel corner with Avonte Maddox sidelined.

Who starts at right guard?

Seumalo will likely be the first up when camp opens, and it looks like his job to lose, but Driscoll, 25, has capably filled in at guard and tackle in the first two years of his career.

This competition was called moments before the first stretching period of the first training camp practice, but it does serve as a nice illustration for how far Isaac Seumalo has come this season.

The Eagles coaching staff teased a position battle at right guard between him and reserve lineman Jack Driscoll throughout the summer. At the end of the regular season, Seumalo is a Pro Bowl alternate and has been one of the best interior linemen in the NFL. According to PFF, Seumalo was the seventh-best guard in the league and allowed just one sack in 653 pass-blocking reps.