Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

The Evolution of a QB

Posted July 10th, 2026 | No Comments »

We know Jalen Hurts will be asked to do different things this season. He’ll be under center more. He’ll be working the middle of the field more. He should also be spreading the ball around more.Ā  His game will be evolving.

Hurts may also be changing off the field.

EJ Smith and Bo Wulf had an interesting discussion about Hurts on a recent show. I had been thinking along similar lines so it was good to hear others share their thoughts on Hurts and what we’ve seen recently.

Jalen came to the NFL after three years under Nick Saban at Bama and one playing for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. Riley helped him develop into a good dual-threat QB. Saban taught Hurts a different set of skills. He taught him to work hard, stay focused on football, avoid distractions and to ignore the “rat poison”. Hurts brought that mentality to the NFL, thinking that would be the mindset needed to succeed at this level.

The problem is that college and pro football are very different in some ways. College is temporary. You are there for four, maybe five years. Teammates come and go. Hurts played when no one got money (legitimately). Players were judged on how they played. You weren’t worrying about who had the biggest NIL deal. You just needed to do your job and impress the coaches. Saban ruled his team like a mostly benevolent dictator. Everyone answered to him. Fall in line, do your job and you’ll be good.

The NFL is full of highly paid players, some with massive egos. There are cliques on teams. There are organizational politics. The media is more of a factor. You are dealing with players who may be 21, 31 or even 41 in some rare cases. Avoiding trouble and doing the right thing isn’t necessarily enough, especially for someone who is a team leader. You have to build relationships with players, coaches and staff to have long term success. You can’t be the face of the franchise and also want to avoid the spotlight. When you sign the $50M a year deal, you are agreeing to be The Guy on the field and off the field. It feels like Jalen may have realized that.

Think about him at DeVonta’s wedding recently. Hurts was there being one of the guys. Then he organized workouts with the receivers. But they also did some socializing and bonding. That stuff is important.

Nick Sirianni preaches connecting as one of his core values. Here is Hurts connecting with his teammates, some new and some old. You can’t pick and choose guys to bond with. You need to be accessible to as many of them as possible. I’m sure Hurts did some of this in the past, but he was sure more secretive about it. It helps when you let people see you with your hair down, so to speak. Let them know you can be one of the guys. Let them see you as normal, not just a star athlete who covets privacy.

He may also be realizing that as a star he’s bigger than life to some of his young teammates.

Hurts may not want to be a star, but he is and that brings its own set of responsibilities. Maybe age and time have helped Hurts understand this and open up a bit more.

The first thing Sean Mannion did after getting hired was to get to know Hurts as a person. He wanted the two of them to connect and build a relationship off the field to help them work well together on the field. I’m sure that was a good lesson for Hurts.

Jalen has always been a good guy. I have told this story before, but it fits well here so I’ll share it again. I was at the Senior Bowl back in 2020. It rained that day so practice moved to the South Alabama covered practice facility. I was standing at the back of the end zone by myself (Jimmy Bama had headed to the airport). There was a group of kids standing just outside the facility. They couldn’t get in, but wanted to see any Alabama players or other stars that were inside. The facility is open air so there was a small fence or something, but not a wall blocking them.

Hurts wasn’t practicing at the moment and walked down near me for some reason. He saw the kids, who lit up when they realized who he was. Hurts walked out in the rain to talk to them. No media was watching this. It wasn’t a PR move, just Jalen doing the right thing and giving those kids a great story/memory.

It feels like Hurts is now seeing the value in letting the world see this side of him. Pro athletes, fair or not, get judged on and off the field. We love BG because he’s always got a smile on his face and never has a bad day. We love Jason Kelce because we see him chugging beer and acting like a fun buddy more than a football star. We didn’t like Nnamdi Asomugha sitting in his car and eating lunch by himself. Too weird. We didn’t like Cary Williams skipping OTAs because he had to pick out sconces. Too weird. We love it when players seem like good, normal dudes.

Hurts will change on the field this year and it feels like he’s already changed off it. I think that is important. It could help quiet the critical whispers that come out against him. Build strong relationships and make people embrace you more. They will be more forgiving when you have a bad game or an extended streak of struggles. It would be great if Hurts could raise his game and then be the QB for the next five years. That level of play and kind of stability would help the Eagles to continue winning. It would also give Hurts one heck of a legacy.

Another Lombardi wouldn’t hurt things either.

*****

Villanova alum and NBAer Josh Hart recently ripped Philly, calling it a bad sports town. His argument is that Knicks fans shouldn’t have been able to take over the Sixers arena and take away any home court advantage. Saquon Barkley strongly disagreed about Philly.

Agreed. Being frustrated with the Sixers and sellingĀ  your tickets doesn’t make Philly a bad sports town. I think that said more about the Sixers organization than anything. And with the offseason they’ve had, that frustration is going away and excitement is building.

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Will BG be back this year? He wants to play.

Maybe the Eagles are trying to figure out how he would fit in. They do focus on young players so maybe they are trying to decide if the fit is right. Vic Fangio doesn’t like to use too many guys. Getting everyone the right amount of snaps can be tricky. That said, they don’t want to use Jalen Carter as much as they did in 2024 so having BG as an inside rusher would make some sense.

I guess this could always be about money. BG may not want to play as cheap as the team wants.

It would be fun to get one more season out of our old friend. We’ll see how this plays out.

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Up Front

Posted July 9th, 2026 | No Comments »

There is a lot of talk about Jalen Hurts and the new offensive scheme in regard to how the 2026 season will play out. Obviously Hurts and the offense will be key. I think the most important factor for Eagles success will be line play. It was an issue last year and that led to a lot of problems.

The good news is that the Eagles focus on the OL and DL and should be able to bounce back if the players stay healthy. So far everything we’ve seen and heard from Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens is encouraging. They participated in minicamp and looked good. The real test will be the grind of Training Camp, where there will be daily action and actual hitting. Lane Johnson is also looking good. I keep him separate because he’s coming off more of a standard injury than the other two and what they had to deal with.

Expectations are high for the Eagles OL.

That is three independent sources who have the Eagles rated as the #2 OL in the league heading into 2026. The Eagles have the best OT duo in the league. Tyler Steen is a player on the rise. Dickerson and Jurgens are Pro Bowlers when healthy. That’s a really talented group. And the depth is good, with Fred Johnson and rookie Markell Bell as the OTs. Interior depth is unproven, but Drew Kendall looked promising in limited action last year. Veteran Michael Jordan has more experience than talent and will have to earn a roster spot with a strong summer. Rookie Micah Morris has NFL size, athleticism and ability. He’s got to show he can put all of that together on a consistent basis. I’m also curious to see what Willie Lampkin and Myles Hinton do this summer.

If the line is healthy, the run game should work and the overall offense should be fine. The Packers were seventh in the league in rushing attempts last year so Sean Mannion comes from a team that wanted to run the ball and did just that. With this OL and Saquon Barkley, expect the Eagles to once again be a running team. That worked pretty well in 2024 so I certainly won’t object.

Jalen Carter missed six games last year (one was the season finale where most starters rested). The Eagles went 3-2 in the games that mattered. Carter had some struggles when he played due to his shoulders. According to Vic Fangio, Carter is healthy, which is bad news for opposing blockers.

Heck, you could see improvement last year. Carter missed three straight games and then returned to play against Buffalo. He had a sack and blocked extra point in the game and was disruptive. Having healthy shoulders is apparently a good thing for DTs.

ESPN put out their rankings for the top DTs in the league and the Eagles fared well. Carter was third, with Jordan Davis coming in 10th.

Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles
Highest ranking: 2 | Lowest ranking: 9
Age: 25 | Last year’s ranking: 3

Carter is one of the toughest evaluations among the top 10. He is immensely talented and has made two Pro Bowls. All but one of his votes were in the top seven. But his pass-rush prowess is modest, with 13.5 sacks during his three-year career. Carter’s production dipped in 2025 — with three sacks and five tackles for loss — though he batted down six passes, which tied for the most among defensive tackles.

“He’s a problem,” a veteran NFL defensive coach said. “A game-wrecker. You feel his presence out there consistently.”

Several evaluators argued, however, that was not the case onĀ everyĀ snap. A few voters said Carter is not the best defensive lineman on hisĀ own team, opting forĀ Jordan DavisĀ instead.

“He flashes 10 times a game but gets dragged far too often by average players,” an NFL coordinator said.

Carter’s 83 pass-rush wins as an interior lineman since 2023 are tied for the seventh most in the NFL.

And

Jordan Davis, Philadelphia Eagles
Highest ranking: 5 | Lowest ranking: Unranked
Age: 26 | Last year’s ranking: Unranked.

Davis emerged as a star in his fourth season. The 2022 first-round pick was a 336-pound problem for guards and centers. Multiple voters picked Davis ahead of Carter, his DT running mate in Philly.

“He’s just so fā€ā€ā€ing strong and consistent,” an NFL coordinator said. “And he’s gotten better as he’s gotten older and in better shape.”

Davis famously reached 18.6 mph on hisĀ return of a blocked field goalĀ for a touchdown to seal the Eagles’Ā Week 3 winĀ over the Rams, the fastest by a player weighing at least 330 pounds since NFL Next Gen Stats tracking began in 2017. His 72 tackles last season ranked third among interior linemen, and his 39 run stops versus double-teams ranked second.

“Carter is the better talent, but Davis had the better season,” a veteran NFL defensive coach said.

I knew Carter would be Top 10, but didn’t expect Davis that high. That’s a real compliment to the work he’s put in to get in better shape and to play at a high level. Former Eagle Milton Williams was ninth. Howie and the scouts have done a good job with DTs in recent years.

Better line play should make the Eagles a better team this season.

*****

This is ugly.

Mannion and the offensive staff can improve the offense by simply speeding things up. I’m sure this will be a focal point for the staff. The Packers were in the middle, which is fine. We don’t need to go back to the Chip Kelly days, but being dead last and by that much was bad.

*****

Interesting take on the new offense.

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Here is your random nugget for the day.

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