Jalen Hurts’ disturbing patterns in his three seasons as a starter, a dark horse cornerback who had phenomenal success in college, and Wes Hopkins’ stats that will no doubt be appreciated.
The Eagles are three days away from their 12th straight win.Number The team will hold training camp at the NovaCare Complex after 17 years at Lehigh University, 16 at West Chester University, seven at Widener University, five at Albright College in Reading, 17 at Hershey College and 11 other locations in the franchise’s first 18 seasons.
So those are our final 10 observations for the offseason. Let’s see what happens!
1. What worries me about Jalen Hurts is that through 36 starts in the first 13 weeks of the three seasons since he became the Eagles’ full-time starting quarterback, Hurts has completed 65.0 percent of his passes with a 95.4 completion percentage, 52 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions, ranking him 12th in passing percentage.Number Among 37 quarterbacks who have thrown 400 passes during that span, the Eagles have an NFL-best record of 26-10 in 36 games. In 11 games over the season’s final five weeks, Hurts has recorded an 82.7 passer rating, nine touchdowns, nine interceptions and completed 63.0 percent of his passes. That 82.7 passer rating ranks 22nd in the league.and He is one of 29 quarterbacks to throw 200 passes in the final five weeks of the past three seasons, and the Eagles are 7-4 in those games. Four of his lowest eight passer ratings came in the final five weeks of the season. My theory is that season-ending injuries and general wear and tear have a dramatic cumulative effect on Hurts’ performance each year. He had some very good games late in the season and obviously had a great run in the 2022 playoffs, but he only played one game in the four weeks leading up to the 2022 postseason, had a bye week the week before the postseason started, then two easy wins, and another bye week before the Super Bowl. But it’s clear that Hurts was not the same player in the second half of the season as he was in the first few months, whether or not there was a known injury. I would never want Kellen Moore to eliminate his running ability, because it’s a big weapon. But I think he needs to keep Hurts’ long-term health in mind when he calls plays. I also think that at times Hurts needs to be smarter about taking contact that he doesn’t need. The Eagles aren’t going to get where they want to be unless Hurts is close to 100% in January, and Hurts, Moore and Nick Sirianni will have to do everything in their power to make that happen.
2A. If the Eagles make the playoffs this year, Nick Sirianni will become just the sixth head coach in NFL history, and just the second since the 1980s, to lead his first four teams to the postseason.
Jon Robinson, Rams [1983-1986]
Bill Cowher, Steelers [1992-1987]
John Harbaugh, Ravens [2008-2012]
Chuck Knox, Rams [1973-1977]
Paul Brown, The Browns [1946-1955] (Played for AAFC 1946-1949)
2B. Remember when Bill Cowher played for the Eagles? Cowher started his short NFL career with the Eagles in 1979 as an undrafted linebacker, but never played in a game. He signed with the Browns after the season and played 25 games from 1980 to 1982. After the 1982 season, the Eagles traded the Browns for an undisclosed late draft pick, and Cowher became the Eagles’ special teams captain. He played 16 games in 1983 and four games in 1984, mostly on special teams. Cowher injured his knee in a Week 4 loss to the 49ers at Veterans’ Stadium and never played again. The Eagles invited Cowher to training camp in 1985, but by that point he knew he wanted to be a coach, so he accepted the Browns’ special teams coaching job. Seven years later, he became the Steelers’ head coach and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, becoming the first former Eagles linebacker to be inducted since Chuck Bednarik.
3. Wes Hopkins recorded nine interceptions against the Cowboys, tying him for the most all-time, while Giants’ Terry Kinard also had nine. Lito Sheppard was tied for second with eight.
Four. The Eagles’ over/under for wins in Las Vegas this year is 10 ½. Six of the last seven times the over/under was 10 or more, the Eagles ended up with fewer than 10 wins. The only exception was last year. In 2005 they were 6-10 with 11 ½, in 2011 they were 8-8 with 10 ½, in 2012 they were 4-12 with 10, in 2015 they were 7-9 with 10, and in 2018 and 2019 they were 10 ½ and 10, going 9-7 both years. Last year the over/under was 11 ½ and they ended up with 11 wins. So 2018 is the only year since 2004 that the Eagles have had a preseason win projection of 10 or more and won the playoffs.
Five. We’ve talked a lot about the impressive young cornerback corps the Eagles have assembled this offseason, led by Quinton Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Isaiah Rodgers and Kelly Ringo, but also including Eli Ricks, Tyler Hall and Zeck McPherson. But another intriguing player who could be fun to watch in camp is Shawn Stevens, a 5-foot-9 small-college veteran the Eagles signed as an undrafted free agent in April. Stevens doesn’t have ideal speed and has never played in a Division I game, but he’s been impressive at the Division II level. After brief stints at junior college Bakersfield (Calif.) and Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri, Stevens recorded eight interceptions at D-2 West Liberty (WV) in 2022 and eight more at D-2 Ferris State University-Big Rapids last year. His 16 interceptions in 22 games are impressive at any level, as is his 4.38-second 40-yard dash time at Michigan State’s pro day. Roster depth will be tough for Stevens. Assuming the Eagles keep seven cornerbacks, Darius Slay, Mitchell, Dejean, Rodgers and Ringo are guaranteed, with Avonte Maddox and Eli Ricks likely to be available. But if Stevens has a good summer, he’ll be a fixture on the practice squad. What we can all agree on is that you can never have too many young, quick, playmaking cornerbacks.
6. Since Jeff Lurie bought the Eagles, only four teams have had fewer losing seasons. Lurie bought the Eagles in 1994, but 1995 was his first full season as owner, so the Eagles have played 29 seasons under his ownership from 1995 to 2023. They have only had eight losing seasons during that span (19 winning seasons and two .500 seasons). In that same 29-year span, the Steelers had three losing seasons, the Packers and Patriots had five, and the Colts had seven. The Eagles also had eight losing seasons. Of those six teams, all but the Eagles had Hall of Fame quarterbacks during that span, including Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning.
6B. In the 29 seasons (1966-1994) before Lurie purchased the Eagles from Norman Braman, the Eagles had 10 winning seasons, 17 losing seasons and two seasons with a winning percentage of .500.
6C. In franchise history, the Eagles have had 42 winning seasons, meaning 45% of the winning seasons in Eagles history have come since Lurie purchased the team.
7. The Eagles have scored at least 30 points in the postseason 10 times: once under Dick Vermeil, once under Rich Kotite, once under Ray Rhodes, twice under Andy Reid, twice under Doug Pederson and three times under Nick Sirianni.
8. The Eagles had 49 first downs in their final three games last year: 17 against Arizona, 19 against the Giants and 13 against the Buccaneers. That’s their fewest first downs in three consecutive games since Mike McMahon had just 42 in the second half of the 2005 season (13 against the Rams, 11 against Arizona and 18 against Washington).
9. Of all the players drafted by the Eagles in the past 20 years, the only one to record 10 interceptions for the Eagles is Nate Allen.
Ten. Of the 63 players who played at least one game for the Eagles in their 2017 Super Bowl winning season, 17 are still in the NFL, with four of them still with the Eagles: Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Jake Elliott and Rick Lobato are all with the Eagles, while the remaining 13 are Nelson Agoura. [Ravens]Derek Barnett [Texans]Ronald Darby [Jaguars]Rasul Douglas [Bills]Zach Ertz [Commanders]Cam Gurgie Hill [Vikings]Jordan Hicks [Browns]Mack Hollins [Bills]Rodney McLeod [Browns]Jalen Mills [Giants]Isaac Seumalo [Steelers]Nate Sudfeld [Lions] Carson Wentz [Chiefs]Several others who played last year and haven’t officially retired are not currently with a team: Corey Clement, Sidney Jones, Jason Peters and Halapoulivati Vaitai. Nick Foles, who hasn’t played since 2022, is also currently out of the league but is not retired.
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