Eagles expectations are soaring, but should they be?
How good the Eagles will be this season likely depends on who you ask. And there's a large contingent in the national media that believes in the Birds.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/FBRLWRNWCRFBTNRRS3TRTZ6UOM.jpg)
Last month, Pro Football Focus called the Eagles one of the five most overlooked teams in the NFL heading into the 2022 season. The main reason cited was a lack of confidence in Jalen Hurts as he embarks on his second full season as the starting quarterback.
They weren’t alone in that assessment — The Ringer called Hurts one of the toughest players in the league to evaluate, while Football Outsiders put Hurts in the “C” tier of quarterbacks. That doubt grew to a fever pitch earlier this month when Eagles reporter Derrick Gunn reported on Hurts’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at OTA practice, forcing new teammate A.J. Brown to come to his quarterback’s defense.
Others, however, believe Hurts is ready to take the next step thanks to another year of experience and better weapons at his disposal. But no matter which way you slice it, it’s hard to see how the Eagles are being “overlooked” — even if some think they could be a “dumpster fire” this season.
After all, Hurts and first-year head coach Nick Sirianni led the team to the playoffs behind a strong second half before falling to the defending champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the wild-card round. The team made considerable upgrades at key areas, like wide receiver and linebacker. And just a couple weeks before PFF said they were being overlooked, NBC Sports’ Peter King ranked the Eagles as the ninth best team in the NFL, joining several others who have been hyping up the Birds this offseason — including the NFL itself, which awarded the Eagles as many primetime games as anyone, and even the team’s own players.
In a few days, the Eagles will begin training camp as they return to the field at the NovaCare Complex for the first time since OTAs, back when they were still being “overlooked.” And as you’ll see, that’s not exactly the case any more.
It’s the whole team
The Eagles were good a year ago — better than many expected, for sure — but in order vault themselves into Super Bowl contender status, they needed to undergo some upgrades this offseason, and they certainly did that in adding players like Brown, Haason Reddick, James Bradberry, and a pair of talented Georgia defensive players in the draft.
So how good was their offseason? According to CBSSports.com, the Birds are the most improved team in the entire NFL. And while a lot of the talk has been surrounding the addition of Brown to help Hurts and the offense, the site believes Howie Roseman’s additions on the defensive side of the ball will be just as important.
It would be one thing if CBS was alone. But NFL.com has the Eagles listed among their six most improved teams. And ESPN says the Eagles had the second best offseason of any team, behind only the Broncos, who added Russell Wilson.
Yahoo Sports is throwing around the phrase “Super Bowl contender,” but isn’t willing to rank the Eagles any higher than 13th in their offseason rankings. That’s exactly where Pro Football Focus has the Eagles, which is a bit surprising considering the site thinks the Birds have the seventh best roster in the league.
As David Murphy wrote back in May, the Eagles have a Super Bowl-caliber roster. It’s up to Hurts to rise to the occasion.
No pressure, kid.
Jalen Hurts ‘guaranteed’ to improve
While King remains high on the Eagles overall — he thinks they’re one of the four best teams in the NFC and the best in their division — he is far from sold on Hurts.
But others see Hurts making big strides in Year 3, his second as the Eagles starter. Some are going so far as to mention him in the same breath as MVP, which seems almost absurd until you remember how Lamar Jackson won the award in 2019 following a disappointing first-round playoff exit a year earlier. But even while noting he could be a dark horse MVP candidate, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, like King, notes that Hurts could just be easily playing elsewhere next year.
Hurts, however, doesn’t need to win MVP to prove to the Eagles that he can be the guy going forward. He simply needs to show he’s improved enough with a year of experience and better weapons around him. What “enough” is will be up to Roseman and the Eagles, but getting the Eagles back to the playoffs will be a good first step.
That’s what NFL.com’s Adam Schein believes Hurts is capable of this season, as he ranked Hurts third on his list of players who are guaranteed to rise in 2022.
Hurts’ coach has already seen a big improvement from his quarterback this summer.
“I’m noticing a big difference,” Sirianni told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio. “What I see is a crisper ball. The accuracy I’ve been very pleased with. You can just see him taking strides every single day with his accuracy because of the fundamentals he has with his feet and his upper body.”
If Hurts can indeed improve his passing accuracy this season, that will go a long way. He’s already one of the most dangerous players in the NFL on the ground — and we’re not just talking about quarterbacks. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Hurts was the “most explosive” rusher at any position in the NFL a year ago.
That’s likely not going anywhere. And if he’s able to couple that with improved accuracy and more dangerous weapons, it’s easy to see why some are high on the Eagles this season.
Plenty of offensive weapons
Speaking of the Hurts’ new toys, the addition of Brown via a draft-night trade (and even Zach Pascal) should give the Eagles one of the better receiving corps in the league. Pro Football Focus has them in the Top 5, which is a long way from where they were just a few short years ago.
But it’s not just the new guys who will help Hurts. Outside of the wide receivers, Hurts will have one of the best tight ends in the game in Dallas Goedert, who NFL insiders ranked as sixth best in the league. Hurts will also have Kenneth Gainwell, who showed quite a bit as a pass catcher in his rookie year, and Boston Scott out of the backfield, not to mention Miles Sanders who will be looking to bounce back as a receiver after a down year in 2021.
It starts at the top
The hype for the Eagles roster starts at the top, even above the surprising first-year success story Sirianni. Most outlets, including CBS Sports, have the Eagles coach ranked in the middle of the pack at best.
That likely has more to do with limited track record off which to judge him, but as noted, he has a better roster to work with this season. And he can thank his boss, Roseman, for that.
Roseman has been getting wide praise for his offseason, as we already noted with ESPN, NFL.com, and CBS Sports all listing the Eagles as one of the most improved teams or as one of the teams that had the best offseason.
To NBC Sports Edge, Roseman is the eighth best GM in the game, behind some pretty big names that include the leaders of each of the last four Super Bowl-winning teams.
And it’s not just about the big Brown- and Reddick-type moves for Roseman. He and his team were able to not only find but also extend Jordan Mailata, who Pro Football Network ranks as a top 10 tackle, on what PFF calls the best contract in the entire NFL.
Lane Johnson — who is part of that impressive offensive line, along with Mailata and one of the NFL’s top centers Jason Kelce — said he believes the team is better, at least on paper.
Best in the NFC East?
Two of ESPN’s four NFC East writers picked the Birds to come out on top, including Giants writer Dan Graziano, who actually has the defending division champs falling to third this year.
Whether or not they’ve done enough to catch and pass the Cowboys has been a hot topic of debate this offseason, including on Undisputed with Shannon Sharpe and noted Cowboys fan Skip Bayless.
It’s too early to know for sure, but we’ll get our first real look at the team when camp opens this week.