Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Depth Moves for the Offense

Posted March 23rd, 2024 | 1 Comment »

Howie Roseman has used free agency to add key players like Saquon Barkley, Bryce Huff and CJGJ. He has also done a good job of adding depth the to the roster. Some of those players won’t make the team in September, but it is smart to bring in players to compete in the spring and summer. You never know when one of them will turn out to be a good signing.

You may wonder why the Eagles would add a fourth QB. They already have Jalen Hurts, Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee. They drafted two of those guys and just traded for the other one. I doubt they are unhappy with any of the trio.

Grier makes sense because of his history with Kellen Moore, the Eagles new offensive coordinator. Grier was a backup for the Cowboys in 2021 and 2022, when Moore was the OC there. Grier then spent some time last year with Moore and the Chargers.  Grier can help the Eagles QBs and other skill players better understand the new offense. He can talk to Hurts about how to read a certain progression. Moore can explain it, but from a coach’s perspective. Grier can talk from a player’s perspective and there is value in that.

There is also the simple question of depth. Should one of the other QBs get hurt, Grier could win a roster or practice squad spot. He started 2 games back in 2019, but hasn’t played since then. The Eagles will be his sixth team so he’s been good enough to bounce around, but not good enough keep a job.

Now let’s talk about Parris Campbell.

He was a second round pick by the Colts back in 2019. He’s caught 117 career passes. That sounds like someone you should be interested in. But he averages 9.3 yards per catch for his career. That’s not good, to put it mildly.

Campbell has solid size at 6-1, 205. He ran 4.31 at the Combine. He’s got the physical tools to be a good NFL receiver. Somehow his best NFL season was 2022, when he went 63-623-3.  Campbell is proof that there is more to the NFL than size and speed.

The Eagles were high on Campbell when he was coming out of Ohio State. They took JJ Arcega-Whiteside with pick 57. Campbell went to the Colts at pick 59. There is a story that scouts wanted Campbell, but were overruled by Jeffrey Lurie wanting JJAW. That may or may not be true. Either way, both players turned out to be disappointing. Campbell has at least been functional.

AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith are a dynamic duo. The Eagles needed depth behind them. They signed DeVante Parker and now Campbell. That gives the team a pair of veteran players to compete for the #3 spot. Parker has had the better career, while Campbell is younger and more athletic.

The Eagles are not done at WR. They might be with pro moves, but they are doing a lot of work on draft prospects. They are even checking out guys who could go as high as the second round. I’m not sure that’s an ideal use of resources, but this shows you the team wants better depth at receiver than they had last year. Quez, Oz and Julio Jones were an odd combination.

While Nick Sirianni wants to feed his stars over and over, Moore has spread the ball around. AJ and DeVonta will still be the workhorses. Moore might just push Hurts to use the other weapons more often than he did in past seasons.

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No real news, but still sounds like Reddick will end up traded. Teams aren’t getting great compensation this year with veteran trades, but Reddick isn’t going to be happy until he gets a new deal. That isn’t coming from the Eagles. We’ll see how this plays out.

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One Comment on “Depth Moves for the Offense”

  1. 1 Eagles News: Haason Reddick trade rumors link him to two potential landing spots - GORRS said at 1:15 PM on March 24th, 2024:

    […] Depth moves for offense – Iggles BlitzNow let’s talk about Parris Campbell. He was a second-round pick of the Colts in 2019. He caught 117 career passes. It sounds like someone you’re interested in. But he’s averaging 9.3 yards a catch for his career. This is not good to say the least. Campbell is 6-1, 205. He ran a 4.31 at the combine. He has the physical tools to be a good NFL receiver. However, his best NFL season was 2022, when he went 63-623-3. Campbell proves there’s more to the NFL than size and speed. As Campbell came out, the Eagles were all over him Ohio State. They took JJ Arcega-Whiteside with the 57th pick. Campbell went to the Colts on the 59th. There is talk that scouts want Campbell, but Jeffrey Lurie has denied that he wants JJAW. This may or may not be true. Either way, both players were disappointed. Campbell was at least functional. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith are a dynamic duo. The Eagles needed depth behind them. They signed DeVante Parker and now Campbell. That gives the team a pair of veteran players to compete for the No. 3 spot. Parker has had a solid career, while Campbell is young and athletic. […]