Benefit of the Doubt

The Eagles have had the best or one of the best offensive lines in the NFL for a decade. They had great players, including possible Hall of Famers. They had a great coach. Players have come and gone in that time period. Jeff Stoutland remains.

If you’re a fan of WAS/NYG/SF or Dallas, you have to be hoping this is the year the Eagles OL finally takes a step back. Jason Kelce is gone. Lane Johnson is a year older. RG is an open competition.

Let’s check some OL rankings heading into the season.

2. Eagles (Jeff Stoutland)

LT   Jordan Mailata
LG   Landon Dickerson
C   Cam Jurgens
RG   Tyler Steen/Mekhi Becton
RT   Lane Johnson

Notes: The Eagles lost future Hall-of-Fame center Jason Kelce to retirement this offseason, but they have a solid plan in place to replace him with Cam Jurgens, who Kelce himself vouched for in the pre-draft process leading up to his selection in 2022. With probably the top trio in the NFL around Jurgens in Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson, this foursome forms a strong foundation for the 2024 season. The primary reason for keeping them outside of Tier 1 for now is the uncertainty around right guard with a pending camp battle between last year’s third-round pick Tyler Steen and free-agent signing Mekhi Becton. Between Steen starting just one game as a rookie and Becton never playing right guard, this position poses a significant question mark. Chances are Coach Stoutland will groom one of them into at least a functional starter with Jurgens’ skill set maximized at center, so forecasting Philly’s line this high isn’t as bold as it may initially seem.

The rankings were done by Brandon Thorn, who has become an expert on NFL offensive lines. This isn’t a biased take or something from a hack like Jimmy Bama. Brandon studies OL play year round. He has the Lions as the top OL and the only team that falls into his Elite category. The Eagles are in the Very Good category, mainly due to the uncertainty.

This isn’t blind faith in Stoutland. Think of all the players he’s worked with since joining the Eagles in 2013. Heck, just think about the OL that started in the Super Bowl.

LT – Halapoulivaati Vitai
LG – Stefen Wisniewski
C – Jason Kelce
RG – Brandon Brooks
RT – Lane Johnson

That group helped the Eagles put up 41 points and 538 yards of offense. Big V as the starting LT in the biggest game in franchise history. That’s crazy.

Not every player has panned out as hoped. Andre Dillard never became an effective starter, despite being a first round pick. I’m sure the Eagles would have loved for Jack Driscoll to develop into a starter. He was an effective backup, but that might be his ceiling. Other guys took a bit of time to develop. Isaac Seumalo had some ups and downs before finding a home at RG and becoming a Pro Bowl player.

There is no guarantee that Jurgens will be a stud center or that Steen will become a good RG. We’ve seen enough out of Jurgens to think there is a real chance for him to be a Pro Bowl player. With Steen, we’re focusing a lot on his resume (big, athletic, from Bama) and relying on Stoutland’s track record. There are reasons to believe, but still some doubts.

Jeff Stoutland has earned the benefit of the doubt.

*****

Compare that with say…LBs. Very different story.

The Eagles are on their third LB coach in three years. They have struggled to find capable starters on a regular basis.

Any fans and media members who question what will happen at LB have a right to be hyper-critical. We really have no idea what is going to happen. You can make an argument that things are looking up, but we really need to see evidence before truly buying in.

I do think it is fair to point out that Jeremiah Trotter Jr. has a legit shot to be the next Urlakerzzz (shoutout to all the EMB’ers out there…gone but never forgotten).

_

Bouncing Back

2024 is going to be an interesting season for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest will be seeing how the team bounces back from the disastrous end to the 2023 season.

We can’t look back at history for many clues because this is unique.

1994 – 7-game losing streak to close out the season
1995 – new coach

2012 – team went 1-11 after a 3-1 start
2013 – new coach

2020 – team went 1-7 in the second half of the season
2021 – new coach

This will be the first time the Eagles come off a terrible finish and bring back the coach. Both coordinators got replaced so it isn’t as if the Eagles kept everything the same. There will be plenty of change. But things are different when you change the whole staff. Going from Rich Kotite to Ray Rhodes was a huge shake-up. Going from Andy Reid to Chip Kelly was about as different as it gets.

The change from Doug Pederson to Nick Sirianni wasn’t quite as drastic. Still, things were different and Sirianni’s new ideas and fresh approach helped the team to develop into a winner.

Sirianni has a tough challenge. He has to build on the things that went right in 2021 and 2022, even 2023. He also has to fix everything that went wrong in 2023. Knowing what to fix and what to leave alone isn’t easy. There is a mixture of scheme, culture and people (coaches and players).

Bringing in veteran coordinators sure seems like a smart move. Adding a weapon like Saquon Barkley to the offense could prove to be huge. Barkley has special potential. If sure feels like the Eagles fixed the secondary with all the moves they made. That group is younger, deeper, more talented and more athletic. I think going with a younger, hungrier team will make a difference. Maybe a big difference.

A couple of the teams mentioned above also changed QBs. Randall Cunningham went from starting 14 games in 1994 to only 4 in 1995. Rodney Peete took over that team and led them to the playoffs. Michael Vick and Nick Foles split QB duties in both 2012 and 2013. Carson Wentz started for most of 2020 before losing his job to rookie Jalen Hurts. Hurts then took over in 2021 and hasn’t looked back since.

Hurts was great in 2022. He took a step back last year, but still had a good overall season. This will be a key year for him. Hurts needs to show he can learn from last year’s mistakes and work well with new coaches. There will be a ton of pressure and scrutiny. I’m genuinely curious to see how he handles everything, on and off the field. His awkward answers about Nick Sirianni recently went from nothing to a story that everyone wanted to comment on.

That came in the offseason. What if it was after a bad loss? The Philly media would have gone nuts.

If Hurts and Sirianni can find their mojo from 2022, life will be good. There aren’t any guarantees that will happen, though. The good news is that the team has a ton of talent. Hurts has some great weapons to work with. If he can adjust to the new scheme, watch out.

The 2024 season is a huge opportunity for Hurts and Sirianni. They can show that last year was the anomaly.

*****

Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday. I never got to see him play live. I was starting to watch sports as he retired. For my money, he’s the greatest baseball player of them all.

Power. Speed. Defense. And he did it all with a big smile on his face. Football is a violent sport where we need players to be mean and to have an edge. Baseball is a kid’s game that happens to be played by grown-ups. Guys should smile and have fun. That’s part of the magic of the game.

*****

Actor Donald Sutherland passed away on Thursday. I loved him for a long time. He had such a unique presence. If you haven’t seen many of his films, here are some suggestions.

• Kelly’s Heroes
• Ordinary People
• MASH
• Klute
• JFK

Oddball is one of my favorite movie characters of all time.

_