Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Hurts and the New Offense

Posted April 30th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

In 1995 the Eagles hired 14-year old Jon Gruden to be their new offensive coordinator. Okay, he was actually 31, but he looked so young you wondered if he was really old enough to be running an NFL offense. Gruden brought the West Coast Offense with him, something that was going to modernize the Eagles and help them get back to being a Super Bowl contender.

Gruden inherited Randall Cunningham, a dynamic talent at QB. He had Charlie Garner and newly-signed Ricky Watters as his backfield. There was Fred Barnett, the field stretcher, and Calvin Williams, the chains mover, at at receiver. Gruden had some good pieces in place and was excited about the potential of his new offense.

His first order of business was teaching the WCO to Cunningham. Gruden needed him to understand how it worked and why it worked. The WCO had big play potential, but initially focused on getting the ball out quickly. First downs would lead to touchdowns. You needed to stay on schedule to keep the chains moving. That meant completing passes and avoiding sacks. Gruden put together a tape of all the sacks from the previous season and talked to Cunningham about the need to make quicker decisions and get the ball out. Gruden needed the veteran QB to buy into that philosophy for the offense to work.

Like most veteran QBs, Cunningham was stubborn. He didn’t buy in. The Eagles started 1-3 that year, with the only win coming in a game where Cunningham was benched and replaced by Rodney Peete. Peete took over as the starter in Week 5 and the Eagles went 9-3. They won a wild card game, beating the Lions 58-37. The season proved to be a success in spite of Cunningham, not because of him. That shocked me and the rest of Eagles nation.

Sean Mannion, age 34, is coming to Philly with his version of the McVay/Shanahan offense. Mannion inherits plenty of offensive talent and a good veteran QB. There is a big difference this situation and 1995. Jalen Hurts is more coachable than Cunningham was. That can make all the difference in the world.

Hurts went to Alabama to start his college career. He was a dynamic runner and leader, but only a mediocre passer. That cost him his job. He stayed for a year and then transferred to Oklahoma for his final season. He went from the pro system at Bama to Lincoln Riley’s version of the Air Raid. Riley was able to push the right buttons and got high level passing out of his new QB. Hurts completed 69.7 percent of his passes, threw for 3,851 yards and 32 TDs. He also ran for 1,298 yards and 20 TDs. He thrived in the new system. That showing got him drafted in the second round by the Eagles.

Hurts has a stubborn streak to be sure, but he’s shown the ability to deal with new coaches and offensive tweaks during his NFL career. He’s had a bunch of different coaches and been successful under all of them. More than anything, Hurts wants to win. He is the son of a high school football coach. Hurts has thick skin. He will do what is necessary to succeed. I think he will buy into Mannion’s ideas. Hurts has heard his critics and would love to shut them up.

Mannion won’t come to Philly to “fix” Hurts. He knows he is inheriting a guy with a Super Bowl ring and five straight trips to the playoffs. Hurts is a good QB. He can be great at times. He can also stink at times. Mannion will try to make him a bit more consistent. He will figure out what Hurts does best and then structure the offense around that. Hurts will have to make some adjustments to his game in order for the new scheme to be at it’s best. Every scheme is shaped by the QB who runs it. The McVay offense was different with Jared Goff and Matt Stafford. The WCO offense was different with Joe Montana and Brett Favre.

So what might Mannion do?

Mannion’s offense will aim to spread the ball around. Howie Roseman re-shaped the receiver room so this can now work. DeVonta Smith will be WR1. Dontayvion Wicks will play the other outside spot. Rookie Makai Lemon will focus on the slot. Hollywood Brown can play inside or outside and brings great speed. There are a bunch of guys who will battle for the final couple of spots. The days of forcing the ball to AJ or DeVonta are over. The goal is to get the ball to the open receiver, whoever that is.

Hurts will also have talented TEs to use. Dallas Goedert is back and rookie Eli Stowers has special ability as a pass catcher. UDFA Dae’Quon Wright has more than enough talent to earn a roster spot.

The Eagles aren’t throwing Hurts to the wolves. They are giving him a new scheme, but making sure he’s got the right weapons to make it work. Mannion wants more yards after the catch. That’s a specialty of both Lemon and Stowers.

Let’s not forget about Dontayvion Wicks.

All three guys will work the middle of the field. All three will catch the ball in traffic. All of them can break tackles and fight for yards. That’s what the Mannion offense needs. DeVonta Smith has good RAC ability as well. The Eagles just haven’t consistently taken advantage of it.

Hurts job will be to get them the ball so they can make plays for him. Let your guys work for you.

We haven’t even talked about Saquon Barkley. He’ll be looking for a bounce-back year and I’m sure will be hungrier than ever. He was actually fine in 2025. The blocking was the big issue. Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens are much healthier now than a year ago. We’ll see if they can stay healthy and return to form. The Eagles should have better depth this year. Drew Kendall is in his second season. Willie Lampkin has been with the team for a full offseason. Rookie Micah Morris has more potential than most sixth rounders. Check out this nugget from Jeremy Fowler.

Georgia guard Micah Morris in the sixth round shouldn’t be overlooked. Multiple veteran scouts believed Morris had some Day 1 features, but questions persisted about his work ethic in Athens. Luckily for Morris, the Eagles’ SEC culture — six Alabama players and five Georgia on the roster — should help with accountability. “Once money’s involved and you can be fined for showing up late, maybe he’ll turn the corner,” an NFC exec said. “But he’s light on his feet, he’s got bend, power, legit SEC starting guard.”

He’s not just some late round slappy. The talent is there. He’ll have really good mentors in Dickerson, Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. He can also lean on any number of former Georgia players on the team. If his head is right, Morris has a bright future.

If Mannion and Hurts can get on the same page and buy into each other, the offense could be very good this season. The potential is there, in terms of talent and scheme fit. It will be interesting to see how this goes. There are plenty of things that could go wrong as well. We don’t want to put on rose colored glasses and assume everything will work out perfectly. I just think the people involved want this to go well and will do everything they can to make that happen. Mannion is trying to establish himself as a coordinator. Hurts is trying to show he’s a better QB than his critics think.

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Someone asked if I think the Eagles will sign or trade for a veteran safety.

It certainly is possible, but the fit and cost would have to be right. Howie Roseman is always looking to upgrade. But he doesn’t have a bunch of extra 2027 picks to deal and that draft looks stacked. You want to be careful with those resources. If the right veteran is cut, sure, go get him.

I do think they like Marcus Epps more than most realize. Some people think of him as purely a backup. Epps has 49 career starts. He’s been part of two Top 10 defenses. He is better than some realize.

And rookie Cole Wisniewski is mature physically and mentally. He’s already 24 years old. He was in college for six years. He’s got plenty of experience and took a professional approach to football while in school. He focused on nutrition, rest, and heavy film preparation to make sure he was ready for every week. That’s not your average college player. It is possible he handles the adjustment to pro football better than most rookies.

There is also Michael Carter. We’ve heard he might challenge at safety. Vic Fangio likes him and that’s important.

The Eagles don’t need a body. If they can find an upgrade, that’s worth pursuing. I just don’t see Howie giving up much.

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About Stout

Posted April 29th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

Jeff Stoutland is a great coach. Some will argue he’s the best OL coach in NFL history. Joe Bugel, Bobb McKittrick, Dante Scarnecchia, Howard Mudd, Jim Hanifan, Hudson Houck, Art McNally, Jim Myers, Ollie Spencer and some others would also be candidates. We don’t want to get caught up too much in the moment. Stout is the hot name we all know, but NFL history is full of great OL coaches who produced legendary blockers and some dominant OLs.

Stout built an amazing connection to his players. Jason Kelce’s retirement speech was incredibly moving, especially when he talked about Stout.

Stout was coach, mentor and father figure to his players.

Stout didn’t just connect with Kelce. He was able to forge special bonds with many players over the years. He coached his players hard. Some could handle that, some couldn’t. If you can’t handle tough coaching, how the hell are you going to handle Myles Garrett or Aaron Donald? He wanted the best for his guys, on and off the field. He wanted to help them grow as men, not just players.

Jeff Stoutland was special. He was one of a kind, a unicorn. The Eagles were lucky to have his services for more than a decade. He helped them to win a pair of Super Bowls and go on a special run that had 3 SB appearances in a decade. There were only two appearances in the team’s history before his arrival.

Now let’s also understand that Stoutland was given great resources to work with. He inherited an All-Pro LT in Jason Peters. He got Jason Kelce after two years of good coaching and development by Howard Mudd. Todd Herremans was a proven player at multiple positions when Stout took over. Evan Mathis was an emerging star. Lane Johnson was the #4 pick in the 2013 draft. He was raw, but a rare talent. The Eagles spent big money on free agent OG Brandon Brooks in 2016. They spent second round picks on Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens. Isaac Seumalo was a third round pick. Jack Driscoll, who proved to be a key backup, was taken in the fourth round.

Stout took these resources and built the Eagles the best OL in the league on a regular basis. The only thing that really slowed him down was injuries (and Lane’s 10-game suspension in 2016). Stout delivered.

So how can the Eagles move on from him?

The offense needed to change. That required everyone involved to buy in and embrace the change. Stout has served as the team’s run game coordinator in recent seasons. I’m guessing he didn’t want to change much of his side of things. I was also troubled by his recent comments.

We all agree that the play-calling last season left a lot to be desired. But the biggest problem for the offense was unquestionably the play of the OL, specifically Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens. They tried to play their way through incredibly limiting injuries and the result was the worst OL play we’ve seen since 2020.

The OL struggled to consistently block well in the run game. And the Eagles offense was built around the run game. Barkley getting shut down led to a lof of 2nd and long and 3rd and long situations. Patullo didn’t have great options. The offense ran well in 2024 so Kellen Moore operated out of much more favorable situations. That opened up more of the playbook. Think about how the Tush Push eroded. That was blocking more than defenses.

I respect the hell out of Dickerson and Jurgens for playing through their injuries and doing whatever they could for their teammates. Stout was loyal to them and wanted to stick with his guys. He should have been loyal to the overall team. That would have meant benching his stars and going with Brett Toth at LG and Drew Kendall at C. I honestly believe they would have been an upgrade because they were healthy. Dickerson and Jurgens were dealing with severe pain and discomfort. That limited their ability to function well.

I wish Stoutland had taken some accountability and talked about the OL’s struggles. Always point the finger at the guy in the mirror first and ask what you could have done better. This isn’t to absolve Patullo, but he’s become a convenient excuse for too many people who didn’t do their part. Patullo didn’t ask for significant OL injuries. He didn’t plan on Dallas Goedert forgetting how to block. He didn’t expect AJ Brown to mentally check out at times. The offense was a mess for multiple reasons. If Stout thought running it back, but adding a new play-caller would solve everything, he was wrong. Change was needed and it is coming.

Sean Mannion will bring his version of the McVay/Shanahan offense to Philly. The Eagles hired Chris Kuper to be the new OL coach because he’s got experience in the scheme and they felt like he could be a good teacher. He will be given the same kind of resources as Stout. We’ll have to wait and see if he can deliver.

It is important to note the Eagles have had good OL play for most of the past 30 years. They have had good OL coaches throughout that time. Bill Callahan worked for Ray Rhodes and cobbled together groups that out-performed their talent. Juan Castillo ran the OL for most of the Andy Reid era. He did a good job. He was succeeded by Howard Mudd, who worked his magic for a couple of seasons. Then came Stout. Part of Stout’s success was the Eagles organizational commitment to good OL play. That commitment hasn’t changed.

Jeff Stoutland is a great OL coach. But the Eagles had success before him and will have success after him. If Dickerson, Jurgens and Johnson are healthy, this could be the best OL in the league in 2026, even without their legendary leader. Kuper got a great job and with that comes great responsibility. We’ll have to wait and see if he’s ready for that. Can he get the OL back on track? Can he sustain success? Can he develop some of the young guys he’ll have to work with? Can he help the team get back to the Super Bowl? Those are the expectations.

I’ll be interested to see what happens with Stout in 2027. The Bengals and Texans should go hard after him. They’ve had OL issues for years and could use a great coach like him to rebuild their OLs. I would love to see Stout do something more league-wide. The NFL struggles to find and develop OL. Hire Stout and have him assist all 32 teams. He could visit OTAs and Training Camps to work with coaches and players. Have him go to the Shrine Game and Senior Bowl. Have him at the Combine. Have him work with the International Players Program. We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds.

*****

Speaking of offensive linemen.

Brandon is absolutely right. There is more to Bell than just size. That part overwhelms you because he’s so big, but the dude can play. He’s legit.

*****

There wasn’t much of a market for McKee during the draft. That could easily change over the next few months. If Rodgers doesn’t return, are the Steelers really prepared for Mason Rudolph, Will Howard or rookie Drew Allar to start?

There are other teams who could find themselves needing a QB. That’s why Howie went on record to say he’s willing to keep four of them. He wants the league to know McKee isn’t going anywhere unless the offer is right. He’s too valuable to the Eagles to just give away.

*****

Howie and his staff remain salary cap magicians.

There is a real difference in those deals. Hopefully you can appreciate why Howie didn’t want to top Phillips offer, but was still willing to spend big on Greenard.

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