Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Celebrating Jason Kelce

Posted July 4th, 2023 | 7 Comments »

My nephew recently asked me who my favorite Eagle was. All time? Reggie White. He was perfect. Great player. Great dude. Cool name. Cool number. Played on a great defense. I loved everything about Reggie. He never won a Super Bowl as an Eagle. Heck, he only won a single playoff game. But I wouldn’t trade watching him for anything.

My newphew asked about the current Eagles. I said AJ Brown, but then changed to Jason Kelce a moment later. Offensive linemen just don’t jump to the front of your mind that often. Kelce should. He’s special.

Let’s start with Kelce the football player. He might be the most athletic center to ever play in the NFL. Kelce weighed 280 pounds at the 2011 Scouting Combine. He ran 4.89 and had a short shuttle time of 4.14. LeSean McCoy, a dynamic RB who ran for more than 11,000 yards in his career, had a SS time of 4.18 at 198 pounds. DeSean Jackson is one of the fastest players to ever play in the NFL. At his Pro Day in 2008, Jackson was 169 pounds and had a SS time of 4.19. Kelce’s mobility and agility is freakish.

https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/1069988517894340610

Kelce’s athleticism might be a fun sidenote on other teams, but Jeff Stoutland and the Eagles coaches build the run game around Kelce’s ability. Since Stoutland arrived in 2013, the Eagles have been Top 10 in rushing five times and have led the league twice. He and Kelce make a formidable duo.

Kelce isn’t perfect. Big DTs will occasionally give him problems. Kelce will have an errant snap or two. But Kelce has played at a very high level for a long time. He’s been All-Pro five times and a Pro Bowler six times. He hasn’t missed a game since 2014. He’s played in all 16 or 17 games in 10 of his 12 NFL seasons. He is absolutely the guy you want in the middle of your O-line. Kelce has a legitimate chance to make the Hall of Fame. I scoffed at that notion a few years back, but his play continues to be special and the Eagles winning certainly doesn’t hurt.

He’s not just valuable on the field. Kelce is a great teammate. Check out this story from former OT Alejandro Villanueva.

https://twitter.com/newheightshow/status/1674798850157215748

That isn’t Kelce giving a key speech before a big game. That isn’t him consoling a long time teammate after a tough situation. That’s Kelce looking out for a guy he barely knew. They were teammates from May until August back in 2014. Kelce wanted to look out for Villanueva. That shows you the kind of genuine leader he is. Kelce genuinely cares about his teammates, whether stars or role players, veterans or rookies. That kind of leadership helps build a strong culture. Two Super Bowls in six years isn’t an accident.

The greatest Kelce moment of them all came off the field.

 

What an amazing, iconic moment.

Kelce also seems like a special person. I don’t mean that he’s perfect. None of us are. Kelce has a genuine enthusiasm for whatever he’s doing. You just can’t fake that.

His stints as a bartender are legendary.

Think about how weird some athletes are. Ja Morant has a weird obsession with guns that has gotten him in big trouble. Aaron Rodgers does and says some absolutely oddball things (to put it mildly). We see other athletes getting arrested for all sorts of issues.

Kelce just finds a way to enjoy life.

He’s comfortable as a man of the people. There’s no need for guns or darkness retreats. Just go drink a few beers and watch a ballgame.

Expectations for the upcoming season are sky high. Fans and players both have Super Bowl aspirations. There is no guarantee things will work out that way. Don’t get too down if things go sideways. Think how lucky you are to watch Jason Kelce play. Drink a couple of beers. Smile. Life is good.

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Pretty Good Roster

Posted June 30th, 2023 | 5 Comments »

The Eagles were the best team in the NFC last year. They lost some good players this offseason, but have pretty good plans for how to replace them. Some of that was young players already on the roster waiting for a chance to start. The Eagles made some good moves in free agency and then had a strong draft. There is a good chance the Eagles will be the best team in the NFC again this year.

Don’t just take my word for it. ESPN ranked the rosters and had the Eagles at #2, behind only the Chiefs.

Strongest unit: Offensive line. Four starters return, with Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson forming an elite duo at tackle, Jason Kelce back for one more season at the pivot, and Landon Dickerson locked in at left guard. Isaac Seumalo was the only offseason departure, but GM Howie Roseman was ready, having selected Cam Jurgens (Kelce’s eventual replacement) in the second round of the 2022 draft. — Clay

Weakest unit: Off-ball linebacker and safety (tie). At linebacker, T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White are out and will be replaced by Nicholas Morrow, Nakobe Dean and Davion Taylor. At safety, Terrell Edmunds and Reed Blankenship are competing to replace Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Morrow and Edmunds are solid players who combined to play 1,892 snaps last season, and Dean has upside as a 2022 Day 2 draft pick, but it’s a bit of a concern when your conference champion-winning defense loses five of its top nine snap-getters. — Clay

X factor for 2023: CBs Darius Slay and James Bradberry. They were elite a season ago, but corners are awfully finicky from year to year, and even stars can’t always be relied upon. If they maintain their current level of play, the Eagles’ defense will be mighty again, but it’s no guarantee. — Walder

Nonstarter to know: S Sydney Brown. Brown — a rookie third-round pick — allowed a 27 QBR when targeted last season at Illinois. No matter what, the Eagles will have turnover at safety after losing Gardner-Johnson and Epps this offseason. — Walder

Good analysis.

All the new faces on defense could lead to some issues. At the same time, there are some good replacements. We all want to see Nakobe Dean on the field. Reed Blankenship could prove to be a good starter. A combination of Jalen Carter and Milton Williams could be productive in place of Javon Hargrave. There is risk. There also could be a good reward.

The point on corners is interesting. It does feel like that is a position of variance. Jalen Ramsey was dominant in 2021. He wasn’t as good last year. Xavien Howard was All-Pro in 2020, but more up and down last year. Stephon Gilmore has been up and down in recent years. JC Jackson had 22 INTs from 2019-2021 while playing for the Pats. He signed a big deal with the Chargers and struggled.

Corner really is a hard position to figure out. The Eagles got great corner player for most of last year. It will be interesting to see if Slay and Bradberry can keep that up or have more struggles this season.

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Former GM Randy Mueller wrote a piece for The Athletic looking at rosters and offering his thoughts.

The Eagles are the champs on paper in the NFC. They have added to a talented roster this offseason, which should allow them to be the favorite in almost every game they play this year. And what I really love is the depth that has been built so that when injuries occur — and that is when, not if — they have options. That’s the job of a team builder in the offseason. The margin for error on this roster is greater than any other in the league.

Howie Roseman is the best general manager in the league right now. And I am surely not going to sit in my chair and say I have a ton of worries about this team. I know head coach Nick Sirianni and what makes him tick. We had some deep conversations when we were both with the Chargers. He will find a way to keep the narrative fresh, and the team will be hungry to finish the job after coming up just short last year.

Mueller makes a great point by talking about the Eagles depth. So often we focus on starters and key players, but football is a game of attrition. You will have injuries to deal with and must be able to overcome them.

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Speaking of not being able to overcome injuries…

Some of Jimmy’s finest work. Make sure you check that out.

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Back to the ESPN piece on rosters.

1 – KC
2 – PHI
3 – BUF
4 – MIA
5 – CIN
6 – DAL
7 – LAC
8 – SF
18 – NYG
24 – WAS
32 – ARZ

The Niners are down at 8th due to OL concerns.

I love this comment on the Giants.

Weakest unit: Wide receiver. The question marks here are massive. Here is who is competing: Wan’Dale Robinson (torn ACL in Week 11), Sterling Shepard (torn ACL in Week 3), Parris Campbell (has missed 34 games in four seasons), Jamison Crowder (24 missed games over the last three seasons), Darius Slayton (was on the trade block last offseason), Isaiah Hodgins (13 appearances in three seasons) and Jalin Hyatt (third-round rookie). Will quantity over quality work out? We’ll see. — Clay

“The question marks here are massive.” Yes, they are.

And this is great on Washington.

Weakest unit: Quarterback. Washington seems to have an eyebrow-raising amount of confidence in Sam Howell — a 2022 fifth-round pick who attempted 19 passes as a rookie. Perhaps the Commanders have found a diamond in the rough, but he’s an unknown.

“Eyebrown-raising amount of confidence” is a new phrase to me, but you can bet I’ll be stealing that one.

Johnny Gannon has his hands full in the desert. Bad roster and a ton of questions about him as coach. That could prove to be a disastrous marriage.

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