The Eagles Are in a Much Different Place This Year
Video 8/12/22
One of the coolest things for me to see heading into the 2022 NFL Season has been the growth of Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles. His ease, his confidence, the belief the team has in him. You can see how he's grown, and it's really cool to see. Â
QB-WR Dynamic
Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown have been friends for a LONG time. These two even dreamed of playing together. And now, they have that opportunity.Â
Seeing them start to forge this relationship, with all the extra time they’ve spent together, will help them get things off the ground and moving. That's going to be fun to see.Â
The Head Coach
As many will remember, when Nick Sirianni got this job and had that first press conference, most people said he bombed the press conference. People were skeptical.Â
Then, after they got off to a 2-5 start, he gave his team a big speech about plants and how they grow and how they are nurtured and watered and eventually they grow. This got him ridiculed by the Philadelphia media, but the team took off and earned themselves a playoff spot.Â
Over all that time, you can really see how Nick Sirianni has grown, and that’s been really cool to watch.Â
Helping the Young QB
When the Eagles drafted Hurts, they drafted him to be Carson Wentz’s backup. As it turned out, he was a real challenger, and now? Carson Wentz is no longer there, and Hurts is QB1.
The Eagles, not just this offseason but the last few offseasons, have undergone the process of really trying to help Hurts. One way they did that was by restructuring the offensive line, trying to get stronger up front. They’ve done an incredible job with Jordan Mailata, a young man from Australia, who was a rugby player. He’s become a stalwart left tackle in the NFL. Jeff Stoutland, the offensive line coach, has done a phenomenal job.Â
They drafted Landon Dickerson, who moved over to guard opposite Isaac Seumalo, and they still have Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce on the roster. Plus, they drafted Cam Jurgens out of Nebraska, who will be the heir apparent to Kelce but gives them a little more rotation on the inside.Â
Then on the outside, the last two offseasons they have drafted Devonta Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama, and of course, they made the trade for Brown. They're still hoping Jalen Reagor, their first-round pick from a couple of years ago, will rise up. They have a tight end they really like in Dallas Goedert, and they’re bringing back Miles Sanders as the lead runner.Â
They ran the ball more last season, which helps Hurts because heavy play action and throwing off the run creates better downs and distances. That creates more open windows for him to throw the ball downfield. When Hurts— a small part of the running game himself— does take off, Smith knows how to get open down the field.Â
The Eagles are giving Jalen Hurts every opportunity to be their QB1.
The Defense
Don’t forget, on the defense side of the ball, they’ve brought in guys like Jordan Davis through the draft, Kyzir White and Haason Reddick in free agency. all guys that will continue to help make improvements on that side of the ball. Â
They really wanna get good in that area, and they have Darius Slay or SLAY as he wants to be called. He's their lockdown cornerback. And opposite him is James Bradberry, who they got so teams can’t just throw away from Slay.
All of that to try and help the young quarterback improve.Â