Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

A Safety Option?

Posted May 8th, 2026 | No Comments »

More than a few people are nervous about the Eagles group of safeties. They want Howie Roseman to sign a free agent or trade for a veteran. They don’t trust second-year Drew Mukuba or Marcus Epps to hold down the back end of the defense.

I am not among those people. Mukuba made great strides last year as he adjusted to the pro game and was playing well until he got hurt. Mukuba can be excellent in coverage and showed playmaking ability. As for Epps, I have reminded people that he’s got 49 starts under his belt. There seems to be this thought that he’s only meant to be a backup. Epps started all 17 games for the Eagles in 2022 as part of a Top 10 defense and a team that went to the Super Bowl. He had 94 tackles, 6 PDs, 1 FF and 4 TFLs. Last season Reed Blankenship started 16 games. He had 83 tackles, 4 PDs, 1 FF and 1 TFL. Epps isn’t some slappy. He can play.

Epps isn’t great in coverage and isn’t a ballhawk. He’s only got 3 career INTs. He is a good hitter and tackler. If Vic Fangio decides he does want someone with better ball skills to challenge for a spot there might be a new option. The Colts just released long time nickelback Kenny Moore. He’s played corner and nickel, but some think he could transition to safety. The Honey Badger sure thinks so.

As we know, Fangio likes safeties who have nickel experience. That shows they have good man coverage ability. Moore certainly has that. He’s also very good in zone. He is a playmaker, with 21 career INTs and 68 PDs. He has 11.5 sacks and 39 TFLs so he will hit and tackle. There really is a lot to like. The downside is that he will turn 31 this summer and this is his tenth season in the league. How much decline will there be.

Here are some clips to show you what he’s capable of in coverage and as a tackler. I appreciate his instincts and ability to jump routes. That’s really impressive.

I don’t see this as a likely move, but found it at least interesting. Moore knows Nick Sirianni from their time together in Indy. He’s highly regarded as a person and has been a good player for a while. I also don’t think he would cost that much. We’ll see. I absolutely don’t see the Eagles bringing him in as a nickel so they can move Cooper DeJean to safety. DeJean is arguably the best nickel in the league. I don’t think you want to lose that. The nickel position has become more important than ever.

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Great reminder here from Jimmy Bama that the Eagles still have one of the best rosters in the league. Eagles fans love to nitpick about certain possible issues. I get it, but don’t lose sight of the big picture. Howie has put together another impressive lineup.

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One of those stars is LB Zack Baun. There was some thought this might be his last season due to a combination of price and age. Thankfully it sounds like he’ll be here for 2027 as well. We’ll have to wait and see what happens after that. Baun is arguably my favorite player so this is great news to me.

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If you ever wondered why NFL teams are so paranoid about information, here is a great story from former Eagles exec Jason Licht.

I would have to think Andy and Howie will be calling or texting him after hearing this story.

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We’re about to hit a dead period where news will come and go. If you have some topics you would like me to write about, please let me know. I’ve got a few good ideas already lined up, but it is always good to see what you guys might want.

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Front Office Changes

Posted May 7th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles finally announced the changes they have made to the front office and scouting staff. There weren’t any crazy moves. They promoted from within for the most part, but did add some new faces. Go here for the full list of changes. I’m going to cover the things that stood out to me.

Adam Berry was promoted to Assistant General Manager. Berry is the brother of Browns GM Andrew Berry. Adam is in his fourth season with the Eagles. He’s obviously impressed Howie Roseman enough to get a coveted position like this. Here is some good info on him.

Berry was expected to be promoted so no surprise here.

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Zachary Steever was promoted to Director of Football Research and Strategy and Zach Drapkin to Assistant Director of Personnel Strategy. Who are these guys? They have backgrounds in data analysis. That may sound boring and not very football, but it is a growing part of NFL front offices. The Carolina Panthers just put out an in-depth story on how their “nerd” Eric Eager has become invaluable to the GM and scouts. If you’re a draftnik, make sure to read that.

Grant Reiter will now be the Director of Football Administration.

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Here are the scouting promotions.

  • Joe Douglas – Senior Vice President of Player Personnel
  • Phil Bhaya – Vice President of Player Personnel
  • Alan Wolking – Vice President of Football Operations and Strategic Initiatives
  • Jeremy Gray – Director of Player Personnel
  • Lee DiValerio – Assistant Director of Pro Scouting
  • Preston Tiffany – Southeast Area Scout
  • Terrence Braxton – NFS Scout

Douglas wasn’t a good GM with the Jets (who is?), but he is an experienced personnel man with a lot of wisdom to share. Bhaya and Wolking are valuable personnel guys who have been with the Eagles and worked their way up the ladder.

You may wonder what NFS scout means. That is National Football Scouting, the group that runs the Combine. Various teams have a scout work for that service. They are the ones who compile lists of prospects to study and start shaping who will go to Indy. Most scouts cover a specific region. Braxton will be working in conjuction with other NFS scouts to let the Eagles area scouts know who to go study.

There were a couple of new hires.

  • Mike Maccagnan – Personnel Executive
  • Caspian Svenson – Pro Scout

Maccagnan was the Jets GM from 2015 to 2019. The team’s last winning season came under his watch. He was fired and most recently worked with Sumer Sports, a company that is combining traditional scouting with analytics and data analysis. Mike Mayock and Shawn Syed also work for Sumer. That’s an interesting company.

Svenson has worked in college recruiting and then interned with the Chiefs and Eagles. He’s young and adds fresh blood to the department.

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The Eagles finally put out  their behind the scenes draft video. This is always a must-watch.

There aren’t any crazy moments we didn’t already know about, but it is always interesting to see how things went down. My biggest takeaway is the Clint Hurtt is a large man. I would not mess with that dude. I can see where his DL have to respect him. He’s as big as they are. He was a big advocate for taking Uar Bernard. I can’t stress enough how important that is. Position coaches have to believe in the guys they are coaching.

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Olivia Reiner wrote an excellent story on Uar Bernard. He’s been getting some DL coaching for months, which I didn’t realize. He’s still incredibly raw, but he is further along than I anticipated and that’s a good thing.

Bernard and his cohort of IPP defensive linemen in Fort Myers, which also included Eagles undrafted free agent edge rusher Joshua Weru, were at the facility from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week. Beyond the pro day training, Gopie estimates he spent four hours with them daily on position-specific work, from chalk talk to film breakdown to walk-throughs to skill development.

And

Phase 1 focused on terminology, alignment (the various positions along the defensive line), and assignment (the responsibilities at those positions). Gopie had a weekly test that required the players to draw different positions on the whiteboard using the same language that they would encounter at the NFL level.

Bernard is still a novice, but he’s been taught different alignments and how to watch tape. He’s had lots of work on fundamentals. Go read the piece. It is very encouraging. I still think Bernard won’t play this season, but I can’t wait to see him in the preseason. Really a fascinating guy.

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