Eagles Season In Review/ Offseason Preview

By: Mike Rifkin

The Philadelphia Eagles finished the 2021 regular season with a 9-8 record, good for second place in the NFC East and wound up with a wild card. In the Wild Card round the Eagles lost to the Buccaneers 31-15. After going 4-11-1 in 2020 the Eagles fired Super Bowl winning coach Doug Pederson. Pederson was replaced by Colts Offensive Coordinator Nick Siriani. The Eagles also decided to make a change at quarterback, trading former second overall pick Carson Wentz to the Colts and riding with former second round pick Jalen Hurts.

In 2020 the Eagles averaged 20.8 points per game, in 2021 Philly averaged 26.1 points per game. Hurts and Siriani led the NFL’S best rushing offense averaging 159.7 yards rushing per game. Hurts in his first full season as the starter had 61.3 completion percentage 3,144 yards 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Hurts also added 784 rushing yards averaging 52.3 yards per game and 10 touchdowns on the ground. There were a lot of talks heading into this offseason that the Eagles had the ammunition to get an elite quarterback like Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson. As of this writing Wilson has been traded to Denver, but Watson is still available. If I was Howie Roseman I would build around Hurts. He deserves the opportunity to continue to start. 

As mentioned earlier Hurts led the Eagles in rushing with 784 yards and 10 touchdowns. Miles Sanders ran for 754 yards in 12 games. Boston Scott had 373 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games. Rookie receiver Devonta Smith led the team with 64 receptions, 916 yards and five touchdowns. Tight end Dallas Goedert had 56 receptions, 830 yards and four touchdowns. Goedert signed a new contract after the Eagles traded Zach Ertz to the Cardinals. One receiver the Eagles are hoping breaks out is Jalen Reagor who had 33 catches for 299 yards and two touchdowns. The reason why the Eagles need Reagor to break out is because right after Reagor was selected in 2020 the next pick was Justin Jefferson who has been sensational for the Vikings. 

The Eagles defense gave up 22.6 points per game. The Eagles were tenth in the NFL in yards allowing 328.8 yards per game. One position the Eagles are going to have to upgrade is their pass rush as they only had 29 sacks in the regular season which was the second fewest in the NFL. 15 of the 29 sacks belong to Javon Hargrave and Josh Sweat. The Eagles defense forced 16 turnovers but had a turnover margin of 0. 

The Eagles have 21 million dollars in cap space. The Eagles could create more cap space by restructuring the contracts of Javon Hargrave and cornerback Darius Slay. Trading offensive lineman Andre Dillard could also create some space.

Free agent Targets

1. Sign Allen Robinson/ DJ Chark: Philly can use another receiver to pair with Devonta Smith, Quez Watkins and Jalen Reagor. Robinson brings a veteran presence and Chark brings another solid option.
2. Sign Xavier Rhodes – Rhodes played for Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in both Minnesota and Indianapolis. Rhodes and Slay would give the Eagles a veteran cornerback duo. 
3. Sign Hasson Reddick : Eagles need to improve their pass rush and Reddick has had 23.5 sacks combined in the last two seasons. 

Draft :

RD 1 (15) : Jordan Davis Defensive Tackle Georgia : The Eagles are reportedly listening to offers on Fletcher Cox. Davis, who was great for the Bulldogs on their way to the National Championship can be a great replacement. Also Davis ran a 4.78 40 yard dash at 341 pounds (just had to get that in there).

RD 1 (16) :  Jermaine Johnson Edge : Florida State: Philly was 31st in the league in sacks. Johnson needs to improve in certain areas and is raw but has a ton of upside that can help the Eagle defense.

RD 1 (19)  Andrew Booth Cornerback Clemson : Philly can use someone to go opposite Darius Slay. Booth brings in good size and length for a team that can use the help on the backend. 

RD 2 (51) Darian Kinnard Offensive Tackle Kentucky: Excellent run blocker who needs some work on pass protection. 

RD 3 (83) Jeremy Ruckert Tight End Ohio State: Has the ability to block and play receiver. Pairing him with Goedert could be big for Hurts development. 

RD 3 (102) : Dylan Parham Center Memphis : Jason Kelce will return for 2022, but who knows beyond that. Parham also has the ability to move to guard.