Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Underrated Offseason?

Posted July 3rd, 2026 | No Comments »

It can be tough to judge an offseason because sometimes you need time and context for it. Back in 2004 the Eagles traded for TO and signed Jevon Kearse. There was immediate celebrating. There were key moves in 2017 that stretched over months and didn’t get the same attention (Patrick Robinson, Chris Long, LeGarrette Blount), but turned out to be keys to winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

Have we underrated how good this offseason was?

Seth Walder of ESPN gave the Eagles the only A in his offseason grades.

The Eagles prepared for the loss of Brown by trading fifth- and sixth-round picks for Dontayvion Wicks and selecting Makai Lemon in the first round of the draft. I particularly like the Wicks acquisition. The former Packer has a 69 open score over the past three seasons — well above average — and perhaps has not fully realized his upside.

There is no question that Wicks still has upside. The question is whether the Eagles can get him to play to his full potential, or at least close to it.

The Eagles also had one of my favorite free agency signings of the offseason, nabbing Woolen for one year and $12 million. Woolen is not considered among the game’s best corners despite metrics that suggest elite-level play. Over the past four seasons, Woolen ranks first among all cornerbacks with at least 500 coverage snaps in air yards allowed per coverage snap, just ahead of new teammate Quinyon Mitchell and Pat Surtain II.

Woolen had a terrific spring and looks like a major upgrade at CB2.

Let’s review some of what the Eagles did.

DIFFERENCE MAKERS

The Eagles had a talented roster heading into the offseason. Howie Roseman is always looking to add top talent and it appears he was able to find three such pieces. Trading for Jonathan Greenard upgrades the edge situation in a big way. Greenard is highly disruptive and plays the run well. He has good size, which Vic Fangio wants in the left end when possible. That helps the player set the edge in the run game.

It is critical in this scheme for the front four to play the run well so you can keep the light box and focus on coverage. I think Greenard will prove to be a really key player for the defense. He seems really bought in and hungry to win big.

As mentioned above, adding Woolen looks more and more like a great move.

Woolen will help the secondary get back to the 2024 level, or even better. Woolen has an elite combination of size, speed and length. He’s also skilled. QBs won’t have great options with who to attack, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean or Woolen.

Rookie Makai Lemon can also be a difference-maker. He won’t be AJ Brown, but he can be an impactful slot receiver. The new offensive scheme wants to throw the ball to the middle of the field on a regular basis. Lemon is right at home working the middle. He knows how to get open, has strong hands and is outstanding at running after the catch.

The Eagles will be asking Lemon to do what he does best. That puts him in a position to succeed and should ease his transition to the NFL.

I think you can also add Sean Mannion to this category. The players have raved about him and the new offense. The old scheme relied on star players. With AJ Brown gone, the new scheme will focus on spreading the ball around. Roseman added good WR depth to fit the scheme. DeVonta Smith will be the workhorse to be sure, but Jalen Hurts will have more options than ever before. It will be up to Hurts and Mannion to make things work.

PLUGGING HOLES

Not all moves are going to involve star players. The Eagles needed a blocking TE and added Johnny Mundt, who can handle that role. Arnold Ebiketie figures to be a regular part of the pass rush rotation and is a good fit for the scheme. Eli Stowers brings some real juice to the TE spot and could be a good role player. As mentioned above, adding WRs Dontayvion Wicks and Hollywood Brown weren’t splashy moves, but they give Hurts talented veteran receivers to work with.

DEPTH

Roseman and his staff did a good job of finding depth pieces. They added veteran corner Jonathan Jones to the secondary. He’s an upgrade on what they had last year. Elijah Moore, a proven slot receiver, will be ready to step in if anything happens to Lemon this summer. Rookie Markell Bell gives the team better depth at OT. Veteran Michael Jordan could help at OG. Rookie Cole Wisniewski will be in the mix at safety. He’s bigger and more physical than the other safeties. AJ Epenesa offers size on the edge.

LOSSES

The Eagles lost key players in Jaelan Phillips, Nakobe Dean, Reed Blankenship and Brown. The team has Greenard to replace Phillips and could be an upgrade. They have Jihaad Campbell to replace Dean. Marcus Epps will get the first chance to succeed Blankenship. There is no clear replacement for Brown. They are using scheme and depth to replace him. Overall, the Eagles were well prepared to lose these guys. Epps has his doubters, but Fangio seems to believe in him.

The Eagles didn’t storm out of the gates making big moves, but it feels more and more like they had a better offseason than we realize.

*****

Here are some thoughts on the new offense.

Mannion will figure out what Hurts is most comfortable with and does the best and will tailor the offense accordingly. This isn’t one size fits all. You can adjust as needed to fit your personnel.

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Punting is Okay

Posted July 2nd, 2026 | 1 Comment »

Nick Sirianni caught some flak for a comment he made earlier this month in a press conference. He used an old coaching axiom that is cheesy, but does have some wisdom behind it.

BLG and Jimmy Bama didn’t like the comment. I had no issue with it. Sirianni isn’t saying he wants to punt. Go score a TD. If you can’t do that, kick a FG. If you can’t do that you have three options…a turnover, turnover on downs or punt. Coaches don’t want to turn the ball over so they want the offense to know that punting is okay. Not preferred, obviously, but it is acceptable.

Coaches have been obsessed with avoiding turnovers since football began. Legendary coach John Heisman has the greatest quote on the subject.

“Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football.”

Turnovers can be game-changers. You want to avoid them as much as possible. That doesn’t mean you don’t take any risks, but you need good situational awareness. If you’re losing in the fourth quarter, you should be more willing to take chances. If you’re winning, protect the ball. Simple stuff.

Think back to Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles were up 17-0 with 1:49 left in the half. KC was backed up deep in their own territory. They were desperate to get something going before the half, but were not in a favorable position. Mahomes didn’t handle that well.

The Eagles scored a TD after that. Game over. If Mahomes does a better job of protecting the ball, KC might have gone into the half down 17-0, which would have felt worlds different than 24-0. I still don’t think it would have changed the outcome because of how well the Eagles played, but gifting the Eagles that turnover basically ended the game. Punting would have been better than the pick.

Modern football is about taking chances on favorable fourth downs and trying to extend possessions. That doesn’t mean that punting has no value. We used to talk about flipping the field (pinning your opponent deeper in their own territory) and then going to play good defense to try and get the ball back. There is still value in punting and playing defense when needed. If you do that too much, you give the opponent an advantage. It pays to be aggressive these days, but you can’t do that on every possession.

Sirianni saying he wants every drive to end in a kick might seem overly simplistic to you, but remember that that message is primarily for his players. Football players. Not astronauts. You want messaging to be simple and memorable for them. I always thought Chip Kelly did a great job of communicating certain ideas to his players. He taught QBs they should have three thoughts when scrambling.

1 – Touchdown
2 – First down
3 – Get down

Simple, but memorable. He also talked about fumbles as city vs country. A city fumble was one that was in traffic. He taught players to jump on the ball and focus on getting possession. Country fumbles were the ones out in space. Players should try to pick those up and advance them. Simple, but memorable. Good messaging for players.

Sirianni wants his offense to score TDs just like we do. No one wants to punt. But it is the best option in some situations and Sirianni simply reminded his players of that.

*****

Yesterday’s Jaylen Brown trade led to a great Tweet.

I don’t know if the move will work, but I’m a big fan of it. The Sixers needed to take a chance. They got younger and better. Let’s hope the fit works on the court. Now there is talk of going after LeBron. That would be wild if they could pull that off. The Sixers won’t be boring this year.

*****

Having a good group of RBs is great…if you use them. Jimmy Bama pointed out how little Tank Bigsby got used last year and it surprised me.

However, during a four-game stretch from Weeks 7 to 11, Bigsby proved to be an effective runner in the offense, carrying 17 times for 156 yards in those games, for an average of 9.2 yards per carry.

Thereafter, the Eagles just… didn’t use him in meaningful games. He got 17 carries in garbage time in a blowout of the Raiders, and 16 carries in the Week 18 “resting starters” game against the Commanders. But in the five other games from Week 12 on, Bigsby only got 8 (!) carries, or 1.6 carries per game.

Wow. I knew they didn’t use him enough, but didn’t realize it was that little. Let’s hope Sean Mannion changes that. Bigsby had a great spring and has some real juice. This is a guy you want to get the ball to at least five times a game. Plus you keep wear ‘n tear off Saquon.

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