It’s time to get really excited again about the Eagles.
I’m not talking about nine-win excited. I’m not talking about squeak-in-the-playoffs excited. I’m not talking about a 2-5 start and only being alive in December because the dreck of the bottom of the NFC postseason picture or down NFC East kind of excited.
Related
For the first time in years, something bigger feels on the horizon for the Eagles franchise: A Super Bowl window.
Every good franchise opens them once in a while, only to see them slammed shut in short order. That’s the nature of the NFL, unless your franchise is run by Bill Belichick or Andy Reid. The Eagles didn’t just crack open the window in 2017. They ripped it off the hinges. It stayed open in 2018 and 2019. Then it slammed shut heading into the 2020 season.
Then 2021 happened, and never has nine wins and a playoff trip felt harder for a city to wrap its collective arms around.
Were the Eagles lucky? Was a team in transition ready to build upon a late-season run, or poised to fall back to earth quickly? It was hard to parse, which made this offseason so fascinating. Surely, the Eagles would declare themselves: In or out?
Except, well, it didn’t materialize. Despite rumors (Calvin Ridley, Allen Robinson, Christian Kirk) an impact wide receiver didn’t land here. Despite veteran quarterback speculation, no one could seriously believe the Eagles were going to land Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson. An offseason that could have been spent improving a playoff team seemingly was being wasted, with an eye toward the future.
Then draft night happened, and it all crystalized.
A.J. Brown is in tow, along with a long-term contract. Jalen Hurts is still here, and the unquestioned starting quarterback with a chance to cement himself for years to come. The transition to a 3-4 (or at least a more multiple defense, likely including over fronts) now makes sense when you add together Haason Reddick and Kyzir White signing, and the drafting of Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean. Jason Kelce is back. The Cowboys got worse, the Eagles got better, and the NFC East is there for the taking.
This offseason didn’t seem to make sense at first, but now it does. It feels like the end of 2016 into the start of 2017, and we all know how that ended. No, I don’t imagine Hurts will turn into an MVP candidate in his second full year as a starter. But discounting a player that gets better every single season would be a fool’s errand. Could Hurts go from being, say, the 20th best quarterback in the NFL to somewhere in the 13-16 range? I believe he can, and believe he will.
Related
It’s easy to downplay what the Eagles accomplished last year during a transition season, but some of the numbers are too intriguing to just ignore. Philadelphia finished tied for 10th (with the Cincinnati Bengals) in the NFL in yards per play, and landed 12th (ahead of the 49ers and Raiders) in scoring . The Eagles were a top-half of the league offense despite a quarterback developing on the fly, suspect wide receiver depth and trading away Zach Ertz in October. The 2022 team will add Brown, have more offensive line depth, and feature a second-year head coach that very likely won’t need six or seven weeks to understand how to best use the roster.
Nothing is guaranteed, and Hurts still has to take a leap. But take a look at the number of important Eagles under contract for at least the next three seasons: Brown, Davis, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Dallas Goedert, DeVonta Smith, Reddick, Cam Jurgens, Josh Sweat, Avonte Maddox, Landon Dickerson, Kenny Gainwell, and Milton Williams. Almost the entire group is young, and can be looked at as ascending players. Forget hope. There's a real reason to believe.
The Eagles aren’t a finished product (look at the corner and safety situation), but most teams aren’t. Degree of difficulty matters, and adds to the equation. If we were talking about the gauntlet that is the AFC, perhaps correlating the Eagles current situation to a Super Bowl window would be farfetched. But in the NFC, it’s not. I believe we’re looking at a team that can win its division, and resides in a conference that lacks (outside of Aaron Rodgers) truly elite quarterbacks. It’s up for grabs over the next three years by any team with a core in place, assets to add and a program on the rise.
Related
While talking to Brandon Graham on Wednesday's WIP Morning Show, I sensed a renewed energy from the veteran. For the first time in years, the team is clearly on the upswing. Not on the decline. Not in transition. Veterans like Graham and Kelce seem energized by their young teammates and coaches. It's probably not instructive to read too much into May energy when trying to figure out how good a team can be in October and November, but it feels like a quiet confidence in what's brewing here that hasn't existed in a while.
I (loudly) proclaimed the Eagles Super Bowl window over before the 2020 season began. I am now (just as loudly) recognizing what’s clear: Howie Roseman has managed to reopen a new window two years later.