The Work Begins Again

Well, another season has come to an all too familiar end and the work begins again. At least this year we have more answers than questions. Things we’ve learned, Nick Sirianni isn’t all that bad, in his first season as Head Coach. Nick has demonstrated the ability to adapt on the fly, faced with a 2 and 5 start to the season. What looked like an early candidate for one-and-done, Nick, pivoted the offense from a pass dominant disaster to a run dominant monster winning 7 of the last 10.

On the offensive side of the ball, The Eagles have an extremely strong foundation with the surprising and impressive O line. Jason Kielce and Lane Johnson were known quantities. Isaac Seumalo and Andre Dillard were preseason first-team. Dillard failed again to take the left tackle job losing in camp to Jordan Mailata. Mailata is not losing that job any time soon. The often injured Brooks and a season-ending injury to Seumalo opened the door to 2nd Rd pic Landon Dickerson and Nate Herbig. The return of Seumalo next season along with the depth has positioned the Eagles very well to build on.

The Tight end position has changed after the Zack Ertz trade. Dallas Goedert did very well stepping into the first slot. Tyree Jackson’s knee injury in the last game of the season leaves a need for a second option.

“I think I’ve done a lot of great things this year. A lot of things to learn from”

“I think the most important thing is the relationships I’ve built”

-Jalen Hurts today when asked if he has earned coming back as QB1 next year pic.twitter.com/ORoQHexUCr
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 17, 2022

The Running Backs are a very solid squad. Sanders, Scott, and Gainwell are keepers. Huntley is a special teamer and even with his enormous heart Howard’s body looks as though it’s failing him. Drafting, a short-yardage back is a necessity but all in all a good group.

The Wide Receivers

The wide receivers after Smith and Watkins this squad is a mess. Howies wasted draft picks of Reagor and Arcega-Whiteside are glaring mistakes. Ward is a solid journeyman. The absolute need for a veteran-free agent should be job one, spending more high draft capital would be foolish because of the defensive holes. Now we get to the elephant in the room. The work begins again QB, Hurts has earned another chance as a starter however he is reading just like his scouting reports have said. He doesn’t follow progressions, drops his eyes, and runs while still in a good pocket. Hurts lacks the arm talent needed to make the strong throws and does not attempt to throw his targets open. He makes up for some of his deficiencies with his legs but Michael Vick, he is not. Don’t be surprised if the front office looks elsewhere.

The Defense, I could waste your time giving a position by position thumbnail but why? The fact is there are only maybe three players that get a spot on this roster as first-teamers next season. Starting with the DC, Gannon was way too soft as a play-caller for this town’s liking. They have maybe one linebacker in Edwards the rest can find work elsewhere. Only Hargrave and Sweat played with anything resembling consistency. Cox is a shot fighter, Graham is a huge post Achilles’ tendon question mark, and we’ve all seen enough.

Undisciplined play

We have seen the undisciplined play from another busted Howie draft pick Barnett. We need a go fundme page for his bus ticket. The Defense was a disappointment to put it kindly. They outright suck to be truthful. Not spending the draft capital they’ve accrued on this side of the ball would be exactly what this front office does. This will set us back years. To hear more on this and more Eagles topics check out the author Frank Finnegan on his show The Pattison Ave Phanatics Show.

Lastly, the work begins again for the front office. As reports indicated at the beginning of the season, they have become dependent on an analytics-dominated philosophy. It has proven itself true with bad draft picks at skill positions. The hopes and dreams of the Eagles faithful rest on the desk of Howie and Jeff.

In the past, they have not listened to us or for that matter other scouting services. Yet we return genetically predetermined to keep our expectations high regardless of what our eyes see. We can only hope that some dim lightbulbs brighten enough to make the right choices.