The Eagles have made a flurry of moves after the first week or so of free agency, yet still have a few glaring holes in the roster that need to be fixed either via trade or the draft before the season starts. Let’s take a look at the transactions by position and asses what needs to be done moving forward.
Offense
QB: Let’s start with the most important position on the field. Nick Foles is officially gone and we will all miss him. The consummate professional, great locker room guy and of course, Super Bowl MVP is taking his talents to Jacksonville. But onto the future, the Eagles placed a second round tender on previous 3rd string QB Nate Sudfeld, meaning he will likely be their backup QB this year. I wouldn’t mind them going after another backup, say Ryan Fitzpatrick, who already has chemistry with Desean Jackson and can keep the ship afloat if Wentz goes down, but if they roll with Sudfeld I trust that they believe he can get the job done.
RB: The most glaring hole on this roster is at the running back position. My theory has always been to never pay running backs big money or draft them high, but if the Eagles used a 2nd round pick on a running back this year it wouldn’t be the worst decision. They simply can’t go into the year with a Smallwood, Adams and Clement backfield. Any of those guys may be a decent rotational piece, but they clearly need to upgrade talent here. Maybe a Jordan Howard trade is in the works? It’ll be interesting to see what Howie does here going forward.
Offensive Line: The Eagles brought back Jason Peters, restructured the contracts of both Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson and additionally, let Stefen Wisniewski go. As of now, it’s clear that Kelce, Johnson, and Peters will start at the center and tackle spots. Guard has gotten a bit more cloudy than I’m sure the team will admit. Standout Brandon Brooks is recovering from a torn achilles and who knows if and when he will be back and how effective he will be when he returns. The other guard spot is likely going to Isaac Seumalo, who just got a new deal as well. But Seumalo was not as good as Wisniewski and far less consistent. So who starts if Brooks isn’t ready? The team really liked Matt Pryor, the rookie from TCU, who they think can be a starter going forward. I think they need to either sign a low risk guard or draft one in the mid rounds just to beef up the position with the uncertainty of Brooks and shaky play of Seumalo.
WR: Howie gave up a 6th round pick in 2020 for Desean Jackson and a 7th round pick in 2020. Jackson should fit perfectly with this offense. The team lacked a true deep threat, sorry Torrey Smith and Mike Wallace, for the last two years. Jackson is still a premium deep target that should absolutely make life easier for Ertz, Alshon and Nelson Agholor. Barring injury this should be a productive group and add in Mack Hollins who is a wildcard and the Eagles could be in really good shape. Still wouldn’t mind seeing a mid round pick as a WR coming in, if for nothing more than getting younger.
TE: Not much going on here, Eagles pretty set with Ertz and last years top pick for the team, Dallas (Philly) Goedert.
Defense
Safety: This is one of the most interesting spots on the roster. The team has two very solid starters in Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, but not much depth after that, as we saw last year. However, many people think that corners Rasul Douglas and/or Jalen Mills could step in as safeties and are the teams best options moving forward. Both are more physical corners who lack speed to keep up with most WR’s. I do think Rasul would be a great safety if they chose to go that route, but the team has been reluctant to play him at that position even when they were ravaged by injuries this past season. They even went with Avonte Maddox, who performed admirably after having time to adjust, at safety before Douglas. The team needs to figure out if they are going to convert one of their corners to safety before the draft, if the answer is no, then they have to draft a viable backup.
Corner: Corner was a big issue during the year, but I think the Eagles liked where they ended the season. Starters Ronald Darby, who the Eagles brought back on a 1 year prove it deal, and Jalen Mills both had season ending injuries rather early in the season. Cre’Von LeBlanc had a fantastic finish last season and was one of the top rated Pro Football Focus corners during his time as a starter. Sidney Jones is another guy the Eagles drafted high whose season ended early with injury. This should be a position of strength as we haven’t even mentioned Douglas, who has some experience at corner as well. It will be an absolute battle in camp for the starting spots. Oh yeah, and Avonte Maddox is really good as the nickel corner. I like this group when healthy. Also important to note, any of these guys could get traded for a position of need or draft picks, I would be a bit surprised if they went into the year with all these guys at corner.
LB: This is perhaps the most glaring need on defense. The team lost Jordan Hicks, who signed for a ton of money in Arizona. This leaves starters Nigel Bradham and Kamu Grugier-Hill as the two top LB’s left on the roster. The team signed former Steelers LB LJ Fort to a 3 year deal, which probably suggests that they expect him to compete for a starting spot and not just be a special teamer. I think it’s a no brainer that the team will draft a linebacker in this draft or find a way to trade for one.
Defensive Line: The Eagles let Tim Jernigan walk and had to find a replacement. The team then inked Malik Jackson to a 3 year deal. Jackson should be a great addition next to Fletcher Cox in the interior of that defensive line. However, this defense relies heavily on rotating defensive linemen and this years draft is stacked on the dline. I would be surprised if the Eagles first round pick isn’t spent this year on either a defensive tackle or end. Speaking of end, the Eagles lost Michael Bennett, but resigned Super Bowl hero Brandon Graham. The team will be relying heavily on former first round pick Derek Barnett to live up to his potential. Additionally, the team is still waiting to hear if Chris Long will be back for another year or if he is finally entering retirement. Again, with the talent in this years draft, I think the team might spend two picks on their defensive line. It was the life force that drove the team that won the Super Bowl and they need to restock a bit.
Overall the Eagles are in pretty good shape entering the secondary stages of free agency as well as the draft. The team has 7 total draft picks this season including 3 in the first two rounds, if they can draft well, they have a chance to supplement their older starters with good backups and keep the window open for a few more year. Also important to note, since Malik Jackson was released, not coming off an expiring contract, and Desean Jackson was traded for, they do not count against the compensatory pick for next year. The team is already slated to get an extra 3rd round pick for losing Nick Foles and a 4th round pick for both Jordan Hicks and Golden Tate. Keep loading up on draft picks and get as many shots to land talent as you can go forward. No team is perfect, but with a strong draft and finish to the offseason, the Eagles can have a strong all around roster going into this season.
By: Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 