Here is my guess at four players on the Eagles that could take a step back in 2019:
Alshon Jeffery: Alshon has been a lot of things since joining the Eagles in 2017. He was Carson Wentz's first major weapon and became an even bigger playmaker for Nick Foles during Super Bowl run in '17. He will without a doubt play at a high level in 2019… but now DeSean Jackson returns to Philly, Dallas Goedert is entering his 2nd year with rumors of 12 personnel being an even bigger part of the offense, Nelson Agholor needs to get paid and doesn't have to worry about Golden Tate, JJ Arcega-Whiteside looks like his game is going to transfer rather quickly to the NFL game, Jordan Howard is in a contract year and the Birds think he's a pass catcher… oh yeah and Carson's best friend, Zack Ertz, who is trending towards the Hall of Fame and set a record for receptions in a season isn't going to slow down anytime soon Now, could you say this about anyone who might catch a ball from Carson this season? Absolutely. There are a ton of weapons on this team. It also is a little strange to me that you wouldn't be working with Carson Wentz during OTAs as much as you can to make sure the ball goes your way. Alshon will still be Alshon and that's a good thing, but I don't think his numbers will look great this season.
Fletcher Cox: We saw the effects of what happened to Brandon Graham (although totally worth it) coming back from surgery and it took a long time for him to feel like himself again. Graham still had a good year but he was clearly hampered by his injury. After coming off of a monster 10.5 sack season, Fletcher Cox seems to be in a very similar spot. Everyone's body is obviously different and there is a little more recovery time for Cox, but to expect him to come out guns blazing might be to high of an expectation. Fletcher is one of the most dominate DT in the game, so a regression year from him is going to look a lot better than any average to above average starter.
Cre'von LeBlanc: I'll be honest, I don't really have any big facts to back this up and it's a 'need to see it' more than anything else. Cre'von stunned us all with his spectacular play after he came off the street in the middle of the season. I don't think anyone really expected him to play that much. Fast forward to the playoff run and everyone has anointed him as the starting nickel. Not so fast, my friends. Cre'von had appeared in 42 games between two teams and didn't impress much. Could this be the scenery that he needed and never have to see Mitchell Trubisky throw another pass in practice again cause it scares little children every time he does? Yes! But this is a very crowded DB room with a lot on the line for draft picks and one year deals. LeBlanc so far in OTAs hasn't been apart of the starting group. I need to see the consistency in his game and I would bet that he just is what he is, a decent backup that can go on hot streak and then come right back down to earth.
Jordan Mailata: It hasn't been great for Jordan already starting in OTAs. Although it's still the tackle position, think you could easily argue going from LT to RT is going to slow him down a little bit. Not to mention if he does in fact start cross training at guard. But this is to be expected and progress is never linear. It is up and down, especially for someone who has never played football before. Just think of late round draft picks that do know how to play the game and how hard it is for them to shine on any NFL team. Now put them on a Super Bowl roster and it just got a lot harder. I remain excited about Jordan's development, but being a back up tackle in year 2 might have been an incredibly unrealistic goal that I thought he could achieve.
