Reviewing the Preseason Opener

The Eagles preseason opener was a tale of two halves. The starters and primary backups led 16-7 at the half. Pittsburgh dominated the second half, 17-0, and won the game 24-16. There was more good than bad for the Eagles so they should come out of this feeling pretty good.

I’m not going to cover every player, just those who stood out to me, good or bad.

QB

Jalen Hurts only played two series, but looked good. His best throw was a pass to Dallas Goedert that went for 34 yards. Nick Sirianni said after the game that Hurts checked to that play. The throw was accurate and had good touch, giving DG a chance to catch and run. Hurts looked comfortable in the pocket. He finished 3-7-54, but there were two drops. Just missed on a deep ball to Watkins that would have been a 98-yard TD.

Joe Flacco was about what you would expect from a veteran QB playing in a backup role. He made some nice throws, but didn’t blow you away. Went 10-17-178, but remember that 79 yards came on a quick screen to Watkins that went for a long TD.

Nick Mullens was terrible. He threw two picks and both were bad. To be fair, his blocking wasn’t good and the receivers weren’t good either. But a player with his experience should look better than Mullens did.

RB

Jordan Howard got the start, which was interesting. The coaches didn’t feel the need to play Miles Sanders. They wanted to get a better feel for Howard. This may be a sign he’s in the lead over Kerryon Johnson for a roster spot. Howard had one of the highlight plays of the game when he took out a blitzer. Just leveled the guy. Sirianni made sure to reference that play when talking about the game.

Kenny Gainwell played a decent amount. He’s been up and down in camp, but had a good showing in the game. He was 2-14 as a runner and 2-16 as a receiver. He looked quick and athletic on the move. Good burst. He showed good strength when he caught a pass over the middle and broke a tackle. Gainwell showed solid effort as a blocker, but still needs work in that area.

WR

Quez Watkins has been one of the stars of camp and you could see why on Thursday. He got behind a CB on a go-route and was wide open for a long TD. The corner got a hand on him and slowed his release by a fraction of a second. That was enough for the pass to be off target by about a foot. Watkins then made the play of the game when he caught a quick screen and exploded up the field for a 79-yard TD. Watkins was fast last year, but he’s learned how to use his speed and will push for a key role on offense.

Jalen Reagor had an early drop. He bounced back with 2 catches for 20 yards. It was good to see him handle the drop and not let it ruin his night. Reagor ran a really good route on his first catch. That is an encouraging sign. Reagor has talent, but he isn’t so good he can get by on that in the NFL. He needed to develop positional skills and it looks like that is happening. His other catch was a quick screen.

Travis Fulgham wasn’t targeted. Almost caught the ball that Ertz dropped. Was really hoping to see the ball come his way.

TE

We don’t know what the future holds for Zach Ertz. You sure wouldn’t think he’s unhappy or trade bait by the way he played. Ertz was 2-20. He did have a costly drop that ended a drive. I thought he played hard and ran good routes.

Dallas Goedert had a 34-yard catch. Caught the ball on the move and added RAC yards. Looked smooth.

Richard Rodgers blocked well and caught the ball well.

Tyree Jackson really impressed me. He lined up out wide, flexed and in-line. He moved well in space and looked fluid running routes. He caught the ball well. I didn’t see enough of him as a blocker. Jackson had one mental mistake when he lined up on the LOS, covering the in-line TE. That drew a flag. Jackson is still a project, but you can see just how talented he is. I think you have to project him to make the roster at this point.

OL

Jordan Mailata started at LT and played well. He’s special with his combination of quick feet and power. Mailata looks more polished this year. He is playing with good pad level. He uses his hands better than last year. He really does have the chance to be a stud LT.

Take this with a grain of salt, but Jason Kelce had multiple sloppy plays in the game. I’m guessing he was just rusty.

Sua Opeta started at LG. He got beat on a few plays. Opeta played 33 snaps, second most on offense. Opeta has outstanding power. When he gets his hands on the rusher, it is over. The problem is that Opeta doesn’t have good feet and he can be sloppy with his hands as well. Rusher beat him with an inside move on the pass to Goedert, but Opeta didn’t give up on the play and may have slowed the rusher just enough for Hurts to get the ball out. Showed good awareness on a stunt, but then failed to get his hands on the DE coming inside.

Brandon Brooks got the start at RG and looked good. It was great to see him out on the field.

Brett Toth was the backup LT and played the most snaps of anyone on offense. He looked solid in pass pro. Toth has pretty good feet. He got out in space on a couple of quick screens and showed the ability to block on the move. Was called for holding on outside run play. Just got sloppy on that. Needs to get stronger. Showed good awareness. Might challenge for a roster spot.

Jack Driscoll played LG and RG. This is new to him and that showed. Looked outstanding on some plays. Quick feet. Athletic. Smart. Some times he got pushed around. Blocking edge rushers and DTs is very different. Also had times when the amount of traffic seemed to get to him. OTs are on the edge, 1-on-1. OGs have players all around them.

Nate Herbig was the backup center. Up and down showing. This is Year 3 for him and I was hoping he’d look better. Got in good shape this offseason, but didn’t seem to help his blocking. I didn’t note any issues with snaps. Did have some good blocks. Just wasn’t as good as I hoped for.

DE

Josh Sweat came off the bench. He was only in for 6 snaps. Sweat got excellent pressure when he used an outstanding dip move to get by the LT and to the QB. No reason to have him on the field much in this game.

Milton Williams played 23 snaps and was at LDE. Good showing. He was slow off the ball on some plays, but still showed his athletic ability. Really good power. He and McGill collapsed the pocket for the team’s only sack of the game. Williams manhandled the TE when they tried to block him like that. Williams played with good pad level and used his hands well. He looks like a legit player.

Tarron Jackson played 58 snaps. That’s basically a full game. He showed some flashes. He used a really good spin move to get some pressure on a pass play. Jackson showed a good motor, despite playing a ton. He was strong and physical. He just doesn’t have top quickness. Had 1 TFL. Very much a project at this point.

JaQuan Bailey played hard, but got no pressure. Limited athlete. Did have a TFL.

DT

T.Y. McGill was quick and disruptive. Really flew off the ball. Had the team’s only sack. Good showing. Still has to improve on what to do when he doesn’t win with his get-off.

Hassan Ridgeway was the other backup DT with McGill. Not as disruptive, but played stronger. Got some push on pass plays.

Marlon Tuipulotu had a terrible showing. I really thought playing in a game would bring out the best in him, but yikes. Not good. Got pushed around almost all game. PIT was able to run in large part because Tuipulotu was moved off the ball so consistently. He had a couple of solid snaps, but really struggled. Major longshot for a roster spot. Needs to show a lot in the next two weeks to even earn practice squad interest.

LB

Eric Wilson barely played, but did have 2 tackles.

Alex Singleton was terrific. He was in on 7 tackles and flew around the field. Played with a lot of energy. Made good reads and hustled to the ball. Tackled well. Singleton is not resting on last year’s laurels. Excited to see him play this year.

T.J. Edwards had 5 tackles and looked good. He played MLB and OLB. Still a smart, instinctive player.

Shaun Bradley led the team with 60 snaps. Was in on 7 tackles and had a TFL. I came away impressed. Showed good power when he stuffed an inside run. Showed good range as he chased the ball wide on outside plays. Good effort. Hustled to the ball. Very promising performance.

Patrick Johnson didn’t stand out to me when I watched the game live. He did stand out when I studied the game. Had 6 tackles and a TFL. More importantly, he showed his physical skills. Good burst to the ball. Tackled well in space. Strong. Quick feet. Not ideal in space, but that’s new to him and he looked okay. The kind of guy you want to develop at SAM in this scheme.

Joe Ostman had a solid showing. He’s been through multiple camps and preseasons so I was hoping for a bit more. Played hard and battled on every snap. Was in on 4 tackles. I saw more promise from Johnson, who is new to the NFL.

Rashad Smith did not play well overall. He had some good moments, but struggled to get off blocks and had some key missed tackles. Not a good showing at all.

S

Anthony Harris didn’t play much, but had one big hit. He’s a more physical player than I expected.

Marcus Epps played 52 snaps. He led the team with 7 solo tackles. Up and down showing. He was aggressive to the ball and had some good tackles. Showed some pop. Didn’t stand out in coverage.

Elijah Riley did impress me. Was in on 3 tackles. Looked like a strong, physical tackler. Made the defensive play of the game when he jumped a route and picked off a pass. That showed good vision, awareness and a good break on the ball.

Andrew Adams failed to stand out.

CB

The starting CBs didn’t play much.

Zech McPhearson did some good things in his NFL debut. Aggressive player. Almost picked off a pass in the end zone, but was called for PI on the play. Tackled well. Credited with 4 solo tackles. Played with good awareness.

Josiah Scott was the backup slot. Broke up one pass. Looked solid, but not so good he’s going to overtake Avonte Maddox.

Michael Jacquet was up and down. Had some good tackles. Gave up one long completion.

STs

Jake Elliott was 3 for 3 and hit them all cleanly.

Arryn Siposs showed a live leg. His long punt went 69 yards, but resulted in a touchback. Averaged 55.8 yards on 4 punts.

Reagor fielded one punt and returned it for 7 yards. He fair caught another punt and looked smooth in catching both of them.

Watkins was the KOR to start the game. He took that back 22 yards. Jason Huntley returned 3 KOs and took one of them 35 yards. He has legit speed.

Ostman and Riley played the most snaps on STs. Riley and Edwards had impressive tackles.

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