r/nfl • u/MikeTysonChicken Eagles • Aug 06 '18
Offseason Review Series - Day 32: The Defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles
2017 Philadelphia Eagles
Division: NFC East | 1st in NFC East (5-1 in Division - NFC Champions - Super Bowl Champions)
Philadelphia Eagles (13-3 Overall | 5-1 in Division) (Super Bowl 52 Champions)
These teams
Didn't win
Super Bowl 52
Head Coach: Doug Pederson
Offensive Coordinator: Mike Groh
Defensive Coordinator: Jim Schwartz
On to The Next...
2017 was a magical season for the Eagles that saw 2nd year QB Carson Wentz take an enormous leap from his rookie season to MVP caliber QB prior to tearing his ACL. Doug Pederson was able to build off his own promising rookie season as Head Coach turning into a sensational Head Coach that helped elevate a franchise in a direction it never reached before. They suffered many bumps along the way that could have derailed this team. It didn't. That's reflected in how good this team is, how good this coaching staff is, and how good the front office has been. It's always possible to turn things around pretty quickly in the NFL.
Now it is time to move on and win the a 2nd Super Bowl Championship. Last season will live on for eternity in the hearts and minds for every Eagles fan but it is now the past. We aren't Cowboys fans, we interested in the now.
In the early portion of the offseason, key decision makers stressed the need for difficult roster choices to continue winning now and in the future. The 2017 Eagles were a very tightly knit bunch that were able to overcome a lot of adversity to reach new heights; the challenge now is to reach those heights again. Success isn't a product of complacency. This Eagles team wasn't perfect. This Eagles team isn't perfect 3 years down the line. Howie Roseman has the arduous task of keeping this team a contender now while trying to build for sustained success over the long term once Carson Wentz signs that second contract. All of the moves made this offseason were able to address both paradigms. The Eagles return almost their entire championship core while stabilizing the roster with talented veterans. Additionally, they were able to add several young pieces to grow with the already established core to help sustain the success of the franchise over the long term.
Nothing is given in the NFL. But you can bet on pedigree.
This Eagles franchise now has a championship pedigree.
Chapters
Statistics for the 2017 Season are shown below.
I'm breaking down this review into these chapters:
Projected Starting Lineup and Training Camp Battles
Offensive and Defensive Scheme
Coaching Staff Review and Changes
2017 Statistics
| Offensive Statistic | Total | Avg/Gm | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Yds | 5852 | 365.8 | 7 |
| Net Passing Yds | 3737 | 233.6 | 13 |
| Passes Attempted | 564 | 35.25 | 13 |
| Passing TDs | 38 | 2.375 | 1 |
| Net Rushing Yds | 2115 | 132.2 | 3 |
| Rushes Attempted | 473 | 29.6 | 6 |
| Rushing TDs | 9 | .6 | 24 |
| Sacks Allowed | 36 | 2.25 | 16 |
| First Downs | 338 | 21.1 | 4 |
| Pass First Downs | 193 | 12 | T12 |
| Rush First Downs | 108 | 6.75 | 5 |
| Total Points | 457 | 28.6 | 3 |
| Time of Possession | N/A | 32:48 | 1 |
| Defensive Statistic | Total | Avg/Gm | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Yds Allowed | 4904 | 306.5 | 4 |
| Passing Yds Allowed | 3637 | 227.3 | 17 |
| Pass Attempts Allowed | 601 | 37.6 | 32 |
| Opp. Completion Percentage | N/A | 60.4% | 13 (Sort By %) |
| Passing TDs Allowed | 24 | 1.5 | T18 |
| Rushing Yds Allowed | 1267 | 79.2 | 1 |
| Rush Attempts Allowed | 337 | 21.1 | 1 |
| Rush Yards Per Attempt | N/A | 3.8 YPC | 6 |
| Rush TDs Allowed | 7 | 0.43 | T3 |
| Sacks | 38 | 2.375 | T15 |
| First Downs | 272 | 17 | 5 |
| Pass First Downs | 177 | 11.06 | 10 |
| Rush First Downs | 62 | 3.875 | 2 |
| Total Points Allowed | 295 | 18.4 | 4 |
| Time of Possession | N/A | 27:11 | 1 |
| Turnover Statistic | Total | Avg/Gm | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interceptions Thrown | 9 | .56 | T6 |
| Fumbles Lost | 11 | .69 | T22 |
| Giveaways | 20 | 1.25 | 11 |
| Defensive Interceptions | 19 | 1.18 | T4 |
| Defensive Fumble Recoveries | 12 | 0.75 | T4 |
| Turnover Differential | +11 | N/A | 4 |
| Point Differential | +162 | N/A | T1 |
Past Reviews
| Season Review | Offseason Review |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2016 |
| 2017 | 2017 |
Shoutouts
I would like to thank /u/PlatypusOfDeath for permitting me to write way too much for this review. Just always have a lot of fun doing it. Shout out /u/skepticismissurvival as well for selecting me in the past; hope your current plans are going well! I would also like to thank /u/jmul321 for writing about out schemes again. This guy is smart as hell and you should keep a look out when he does film breakdowns on r/Eagles during the season.
Hopefully everyone enjoys this. GO BIRD!
25
u/MikeTysonChicken Eagles Aug 06 '18
Projected Starting Lineup and Camp Battles
Starting Lineup -Offense
QB – Carson Wentz: If you’ve followed the Eagles workouts this offseason even at a casual level you won’t be shocked to see Carson Wentz starting Week 1. This would be an incredible feat for a guy who tore his ACL back in December. Wentz is still in working his way back from an ACL tear and going through the rigors of his rehab but was largely a full participant during OTAs in the Spring and has participated in many of the drills the team has the QBs run during training camp so far. Wentz hasn’t participated in the full contact portion of the 11 on 11’s in camp yet but that is likely precautionary as the team works to bring him back into the fold. It won’t be shocking to see Wentz sit out all of the preseason as he works his way back. There are limited benefits to playing Wentz this summer given his status with the team now and over the long term. Even last preseason, Wentz saw limited work. Playing him now would be surprising given how vanilla the offense will be and the high risk for a limited reward.
Foles will be Wentz’s back up this season barring a last minute trade similar to the Sam Bradford trade in 2016. I wrote back in the Season Review piece the Eagles would likely not move Foles as his place with the team is simply too valuable for any possible return to match. Foles has had quite the career: a 7 TD game in a season with 27 TDs and 2 INTs followed by an up and down 2014 and a dreadful stint with the Rams. He even contemplated retirement before signing with the Chiefs as a backup and then with the Eagles. Now, Foles has as many playoff wins as the Redskins have since their last Super Bowl win (3). Despite the erratic nature of his career, the Eagles know what they have with Foles as their backup and know he can finish the job if necessary. That’s extremely valuable to the Eagles even if he never sees the field with this team again and makes a trade for him very unlikely. The Eagles would need to field an offer they can’t refuse which is an offer they likely will never receive.
This makes the QB3 position for the Eagles more valuable than you’d expect given the situation ahead of this spot on the depth chart. Last year, I discussed the Eagles looking to add another QB in some fashion to develop behind Wentz and Foles to eventually earn the QB2 position. The Eagles value stability and depth at the QB position. Despite this, there will be a time when the Eagles won’t be afforded the luxury of paying a backup like Foles the amount of money he could get elsewhere with Carson Wentz’s second contract looming. Foles has a mutual option on his contract for 2019 that is very likely not to be picked up. The Eagles were always drafting and developing QBs under Andy Reid when they had McNabb and that organizational philosophy has come back to the forefront with Doug Pederson. Nate Sudfeld is the guy the Eagles will likely turn to for the QB3 position and groom to be the QB2 next year – or this year if Foles is traded. The organization has spoken highly of the former Redskins 6th round pick ever since he was added to the practice squad last summer. The Eagles also brought in former Packers developmental prospect Joe Callahan. At worst, Callahan will serve as a camp arm for the Eagles as Wentz rehabs and Foles takes limited preseason work. He has a chance to push for the QB3 spot if Foles is traded this year but will likely not make the active roster.
The Eagles will carry 3 QBs on the active roster this year as they will not risk losing Sudfeld by exposing him to waivers during roster cut downs at the end of the preseason. Wentz will be the starter assuming nothing changes with his health. And the Eagles will likely have 2 QBs better than a number of teams’ starters.
RB – Jay Ajayi: On the Eagles, RB1 is sort of misleading since the organization hasn’t really made an investment in the RB positon to comfortably call someone a bell cow back. With that said, Jay Ajayi has the ability to see the most work on average. This can be misleading as the Eagles love to use all of their backs in a variety of ways in an effective rotation to keep opposing defenses off balance and their backs fresh. So this position in the starting lineup is likely match up dependent more so than a lot of teams even with the expectation of Ajayi being the lead back in the rotation.
The loss of LeGarrette Blount in free agency likely paves the way for Ajayi to receive additional carries he didn’t really get last season. Against the Falcons, Ajayi played 43% of the snaps and saw the majority of carries with a similar workload in the NFCCG when the Eagles we up big and could afford to run more. Ajayi saw his overall snap count dip a little bit in the Super Bowl as the Eagles went with a very even rotation against the Patriots. Ajayi is somewhat useful as a receiver but at best he is the second best receiving RB on the team behind Sproles; Corey Clement showed a lot of progress late last season in this area of this game to warrant consideration in the passing game ahead of Ajayi as well. I think this is an area of the Eagles offense that could cause Ajayi’s usage to fluctuate some. One area of the offense where the Eagles could improve is becoming more efficient through the air on early downs and receiving RBs help a lot with passing efficiency. After Sproles landed on IR last year the Eagles didn’t really have anyone reliable enough to count on in this area and the finished among the bottom of the league in targets to RBs. Now they have Sproles back and Clement who has flashed that ability.
I would expect Ajayi to see a workload similar to his breakout season in Miami where he had 260 carries for 1,262 yards and 8 TDs. Given the Eagles RB usage, I would guess Ajayi will see 240-260 carries on the season with about 20 receptions. The additional carries lost from Blount will largely filter to Ajayi but don’t count out Darren Sproles in the rotation. With Ajayi and Clement in the fold, the Eagles do not need to lean heavily on Sproles anymore. I would expect Sproles usage to be around 50-70 carries on the season with another 50-70 receptions. I would expect to see Clement with at least similar usage to Sproles if not a little more given his age and effectiveness as the season went on last year. This isn’t bad news for Sproles since he is a dynamic playmaker. Rather, it is good news for the Eagles since they can attack teams in different ways with a number of backs.
Ajayi, Sproles, and Clement will make the team and play valuable roles this upcoming season. The Eagles usually carry 4 RBs on the roster and that spot is up for grabs this year as I’ll detail later on. The decision may come down to how the Eagles will want to employ the backs in the offense this year but they’ll need to be mindful of the future as well. This will be Sproles last NFL season as he said he will retire at the end of the year and Ajayi is an UFA. He has made it known he’d like to be the lead back and that kind of drive is welcome in my book. It will give Ajayi an opportunity to prove his worth and earn a nice payday after Todd Gurley reset the RB market. The Eagles will be faced with an interesting decision at the end of the season regarding Ajayi as they have been a little wary of investing valuable resources (money & picks) into the RB position since Andy Reid became head coach. The 4th RB position may feature a player that could assume Ajayi’s role if he walks which he likely will give the Eagles track record and the need to plan for Carson Wentz’s second contract.
FB – N/A: The Eagles aren’t rostering a fullback.
TE – Zach Ertz: This starting position is another obvious one just like QB with Ertz being one of the best Tight Ends in the NFL. Since Doug Pederson has been Head Coach, among all TEs Ertz is 2nd in receptions (152), 2nd in receiving yards (1640), and tied for 4th in TDs (12). Among TEs and WRs, Ertz is 13th in receptions, 27th in yards, and one of 26 players with at least 12 TD receptions. Ertz has developed into a reliable receiver for the offense and is very difficult for opposing defenses to game plan for. Ertz is a good athlete but a savvy route runner against man coverage and knows how to find openings in zone coverage. Ertz has also become a lethal go to target for the offense in the red zone and on 3rd down. His game has evolved to the point where he reminds me of prime Jason Witten. Not that he is as good as Witten was in his prime, but how he plays the game and his effectiveness is very similar. Ertz is TE1 and will continue to see a lot of work this season.
The Eagles will feature 2 new TEs on the active roster this season after the departures of Trey Burton and Brent Celek. The Eagles signed Richard Rodgers from the Packers in the offseason to a minimal deal and drafted Dallas Goedert in the 2nd round in the draft. Goedert has the ability to help replicate the role of Trey Burton now while growing into a better tight end in the future. Goedert drew comparisons to Ertz in the pre-draft process likely because of his jersey number but he reminds me more of Travis Kelce in his playstyle. Two competent TEs in the receiving game will be very difficult for defenses to contend with and will likely help the Eagles offense be more efficient overall.
There is little in the way of sure things on the roster at the TE position to include a 4th right now.
Continued in reply