Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Hire New OL Coach

Posted February 9th, 2026 | 4 Comments »

The overhaul of the Eagles offensive staff continued on Monday. Reports came out that they hired Chris Kuper to be the team’s new offensive line coach, replacing the legendary Jeff Stoutland.

Kuper, age 43, played in the NFL for eight years. He was a guard and started 79 games in his career. Kuper was an assistant OL coach in Miami (2017-2018) and Denver (2019-2021) before becoming the full OL coach in Minnesota in 2022. That gives him nine years of NFL coaching experience with O-linemen.

Kuper’s time with the Vikings is a complicated subject. His contract expired this offseason and they opted not to bring him back. More than a few Vikings fans celebrated this as a great move. Minnesota’s OL has had issues in recent years. Fans love to blame coaches for those issues and that’s what happened with Kuper.

So why hire this guy?

He has scheme familiarity, which seems to be important for the building of this offensive staff. Kuper’s OL coach with the Broncos was Rick Dennison, who learned the outside zone system from the master himself, Alex Gibbs. Kuper worked with Kevin O’Connell for the previous four years. That gave him a chance to work on a different version of the scheme.

Kuper also has some familiarity with the new staff. He and offensive coordinator Sean Mannion crossed paths in Minnesota. Mannion was on the practice squad for six weeks in 2023 while Kuper was the OL coach. Josh Grizzard worked with Kuper for two years in Miami.

That’s a good start, but it is still fair to question if Kuper is a good OL coach. That’s where things get complicated. He helped Christian Darrisaw develop into one of the best LTs in the league. Darrisaw was a first round pick and has played like it. RT Brian O’Neill started four years before Kuper arrived. He made one Pro Bowl in their time together.

Minnesota spent high picks on center Garrett Bradbury and guards Ed Ingram and Ezra Cleveland. Bradbury and Cleveland were drafted before Kuper came on board, but he coached all three of them. They were disappointing as Vikings. Making matters worse, all three have played better since leaving Minnesota. Not ideal.

It didn’t help that the Vikings were so reliant on the passing game. Look at where their rushing attempts ranked during Kuper’s tenure.

2022 – 28th
2023 – 28th
2024 – 14th
2025 – 27th

No offensive line is going to have a lot of success when you run the ball that much. O’Connell also likes to throw the ball vertically, which put additional pressure on blockers. Injuries were also a factor during Kuper’s tenure. As good as Darrisaw is, he’s never played more than 15 games in a season. He only played in 10 last year. He wasn’t the only injury, but was most important.

Trying to evaluate Kuper is tough.

You have to think Kuper interviewed well. That’s always an important part of any hire. Maybe he was able to explain some of the issues in Minnesota and how he can deliver better results in Philly, likely based on personnel and scheme. The Eagles have been at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of running the ball. We don’t know exactly how things will play out in Mannion’s offense, but I don’t see the Eagles being at the bottom of the league in rushing attempts. That would be a waste of Saquon Barkley’s talent.

Chris Kuper is not Jeff Stoutland. Not even close. But he doesn’t have to be. Other teams have good O-lines without the luxury of Stoutland coaching them. Kuper just has to do a good job with his new players and get them to function well in the new offense.

I don’t know enough about Kuper to have a strong opinion on the move. If some of you have serious doubts, I think that’s fair. I tend to trust that Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni aren’t going to hire someone unless they truly believe he can get the job done. I know not every assistant has worked out. I do think there is some good logic in this hire. We’ll have to wait and see how things pan out.

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If you want to have an idea of the differences in blocking schemes, here is an excellent video.

That’s a good tutorial that can help you understand what’s going on up front in the different systems.

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Let’s Talk About AJ

Posted February 8th, 2026 | 3 Comments »

AJ Brown is a great player. He’s also become a complicated subject for discussion. Brown had a disappointing season on the field and generated a lot of drama off the field. That’s not ideal. It is fair to question whether he wants to remain in Philly and also if the Eagles want him to stay.

I’m sure the organization would love to keep the guy from 2022-2024. He was one of the best receivers in the league. I don’t think the team would want the guy from last year coming back.

What about AJ?

A lot of people listened to those comments and got excited. AJ said all the right things. I can see why that would get people to feel encouraged about his return.

On the other hand, I have a hard time ignoring what we saw and heard from September to January. AJ seemed like a very disgruntled player throughout the season. Maybe the frustrating season got the best of him. Maybe some time away has given him good perspective and he’s got a clear head now. I would love to think that’s the case.

The skeptic in me sees that video and doesn’t fully buy it. Those comments have a feel of someone saying the right things for PR purposes. So why would he do that? If AJ wants out of Philly, he would want to go somewhere good. The Eagles would have more trade partners if teams think AJ isn’t a headcase. Players with baggage are harder to deal. AJ helps his situation by doing and saying the right things.

Some of you wonder if the Eagles can even trade AJ. Jimmy Bama wrote a good piece on that previously. There is a lot of money involved so obviously it isn’t a simple situation. The easiest thing for the Eagles would be to keep AJ. No question about that. Jimmy also wrote a piece explaining why he thinks AJ will be dealt.

Howie Roseman talked about wanting to keep AJ around. As he pointed out, you want to get great players. You don’t want to lose them. But Howie knows that’s a two-way street. Players have to want to be in Philly. When other guys have pushed to get out, Howie was able to deal them and let them have a fresh start somewhere else.

I think one of the real complications here is trying to understand what would make AJ happy. He’s been to a pair of Super Bowls and won one of them in Philly. He’s been to a couple of Pro Bowls. He was second team All Pro twice. Brown has had nothing but success as an individual and as part of a team while an Eagle. So what is he missing?

My guess is that he sees gaudy numbers being put up by other receivers around the league and it bothers him. Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Chris Olave all caught 100 or more passes. George Pickens went to Dallas and caught 93 passes. He became a big star. AJ likely feels he’s as good or better than all of these guys and should be posting similar numbers.

The problem is that the Eagles were 24th and 32nd in passing attempts over the past two seasons. AJ has to share catches with DeVonta Smith. Even with a new offense in 2026, I don’t know that the Eagles will be a primarily passing offense. AJ did have 106 catches in 2023 so maybe the coaches can sell him on a vision where he gets back to that level.

AJ Brown was one of my favorite players before he even got to the Eagles. I love tough, physical receivers. I loved watching Irving Fryar in the mid-90’s. I always dreamed of Anquan Boldin as an Eagle. I was ecstatic when they traded for AJ. I finally got a tough guy and not just a speedster. I would love nothing more than to see him finish his career as an Eagle.

Unfortunately neither the Eagles nor AJ is overly concerned with my feelings. He is trying to figure out what he wants. The team is trying to figure out how they can put together the best roster possible. You would think they would invite me to town for a summit, where we ate cheesesteaks and worked on a solution that also included what I want. At least I can watch this and be happy.

If I had to bet a paycheck, I’d bet that AJ gets traded. I guess one good thing is that Howie has done a good job of managing complicated situations over the years. If anyone can find a way to make this work, it could be him, probably with some help from Big Dom.

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I can’t say I’m overly excited for the Super Bowl. I’ve never cared for Seattle and haven’t cared for the Pats for a long time. I guess I’ll pull for Seattle. They are an NFC team and the Pats already have enough friggin trophies. Plus it would probably drive Rams and Niners fans to see them win. It would also be a bit torturous for Vikings fans to see Sam Darnold holding the Lombardi Trophy after they let him go.

Seattle is the better team, but NE has handled the postseason better than I imagined. Never count out a Mike Vrabel team.

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