[ad_1] Ralph Vacchiano NFC East Reporter The offseason is over, the dust has settled, and training camp is less than a month away, which means
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The offseason is over, the dust has settled, and training camp is less than a month away, which means the retooling of the Philadelphia Eagles is over and the preparation for another Super Bowl run can begin. So after all their offseason moves (and non-moves), what have we learned about the defending NFC champs?
Here’s a look at what they’ve done and who they are, in the form of 3 truths and 1 lie:
Truth #1: The Eagles lost some important pieces this offseason, but none of the losses should be crippling to their Super Bowl dreams.
They lost a starting guard, starting running back, the NFL’s interception leader, a defensive tackle with 11 sacks and five defensive starters overall. That’s a lot. But somehow, general manager Howie Roseman made it all seem like no big deal.
How? Depth, shrewd signings and outstanding drafting. They lost two starting linebackers in T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, but Nakobe Dean (third round, 2022) is right there to pick up some of the slack. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave leaves, and 2022 first-rounder Jordan Davis is ready, plus the Eagles drafted defensive tackle Jalen Carter ninth overall in April. They let running back Miles Sanders go, then signed Rashaad Penny and traded for D’Andre Swift. They lost safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps, they sign veterans Terrell Edmunds and Justin Evans. Guard Isaac Seumalo departs and Cam Jurgens, last year’s second-rounder, is right there to fill the hole.
That’s how a good organization is supposed to work. And it helped that Roseman mitigated other losses, too. He found a way to re-sign cornerback James Bradberry and Darius Slay, keeping one of the NFL’s best cornerback duos intact. And he miraculously found the cap room to keep his revered “Core Four” in one piece by re-signing veteran center Jason Kelce, defensive end Brandon Graham and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.
Their pass rush might be a tiny bit depleted. They might miss the ball-hawking flash of Gardner-Johnson. But none of the losses are debilitating. The Eagles shouldn’t miss a beat.
Truth #2: The Eagles‘ top-5 rushing attack should be just as good, even after letting Miles Sanders go.
Sanders had a career year with 1,269 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, but the Eagles didn’t even nod in his direction as he left for Carolina in free agency. Paying him would’ve gone against their belief that money (and cap room) should go towards building the offensive line, and if they do that then they can find inexpensive running backs who can succeed behind them.
So instead of paying Sanders, they went out and got Rashaad Penny for one year, $1.35 million, and then they traded a fourth-round pick to Detroit for D’Andre Swift.
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Are either of them as good as Sanders? Maybe. They certainly have the talent. Penny, 27, has never been healthy enough for anyone to find out for sure, but he averaged more than 6 yards per carry over the last two years, totaling 1,095 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games. And Swift has never been more than a part-time back, though he had an impressive 542 yards on 99 carries last year.
If they’re healthy — a definite “if” — there’s no reason they can’t combine to top 1,000 rushing yards. Swift, who has 156 career catches, will give more than Sanders ever did in the passing game, too. And oh, by the way, they’re still running behind the league’s best offensive line and with the league’s best-rushing quarterback in Jalen Hurts.
Truth #3: One year after recording an astounding 70 sacks, the Eagles‘ pass rush has a chance to be just as good.
Unless new defensive coordinator Sean Desai is playing some sort of read-and-react scheme (he’s not) there’s really no reason why the Eagles’ pass rush will regress — at least not much. Yes, losing Hargrave and his 11 sacks is huge. And maybe it’s unreasonable to expect another 11 sacks from Graham as a part-time player at age 35 and another seven from Cox at age 32, too.
But those veterans are not going to drop to zero sacks. And Hargrave will at least be partially replaced by Carter, the best interior pass rusher in the draft. And don’t forget that later in the first round the Eagles drafted Nolan Smith, who’ll help out Haason Reddick as a force coming off the edge.
So maybe they won’t get to 70 again. But there’s enough there for this group to get in the high 50s. By the way, 55 sacks would’ve been good enough for second in the NFL last season. That seems like a reasonable floor.
The Lie: The loss of two coordinators — offensive coordinator Shane Steichen to Indianapolis and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to Arizona — is just too much to overcome.
It’s certainly not easy to lose two coaches, especially when they were both popular with their players and had a lot of success. And it’s never simple to switch systems and play-callers and terminology. There are always pitfalls to that along the way.
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But so far, all indications are the transitions have gone smoothly. That’s particularly true on offense where Brian Johnson took over for Steichen after two years as the Eagles quarterbacks coach. He was absolutely the players’ choice for the job, having been intimately involved in the offensive game planning already and having been a strong voice in the development of Hurts. With Johnson running the show, the offense isn’t likely to change much, if at all. The play-calling should be fairly similar, too.
There will be more changes on defense, where Desai takes over for Gannon after spending the last two years in Chicago and Seattle. He was not the players’ choice. Many of them wanted the job to go to defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson, who ended up bolting Philly to take the DB coach job with the Baltimore Ravens.
But so far Desai has said all the right things, promising a more aggressive defense — something the players often wanted, even last year under Gannon. He’s also not expected to make major changes, which will help this veteran-heavy unit stay on his side.
Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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