Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Notebook – Kelce’s Future

Posted February 10th, 2024 | Comments Off on Eagles Notebook – Kelce’s Future

Will he or won’t he? One of the key questions for the Eagles heading into the offseason is the status of Jason Kelce. He is the best center in football. He’s also the best podcaster. What is his future?

Kelce would be a natural at doing games. He’s got the perfect combination of brains and personality. He’s been an elite player for a long time, but is now having quite the impact off the field. Think about his presence at the Buffalo game a few weeks back. Taylor Swift took a back seat to him and that’s not easy to pull off.

This won’t be an easy decision for Kelce. The Eagles finished the season on a real down note. No player wants to walk away after something like that. At the same time, Kelce is 35 years old. Each season is tough on his body. He might be ready to walk away while relatively healthy and still playing at a high level. Kelce is the kind of driven, competitive player who might not handle it well if his performance dropped.

Part of me wants him to come back for one more year. He’s such a great presence on and off the field. Another part of me is ready for him to walk away. The Eagles need to get younger. As much as I’d like Kelce to leave after a Super Bowl win, you just can’t count on that happening.

We’ll find out his decision soon enough.

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I forgot about Isaiah Rodgers when I wrote my piece on the roster. He could play on the outside or in the slot. Rodgers was suspended for 2023 for gambling. He is 26 years old and has started 10 games in his three year career. Rodgers also has PR/KOR experience. I’ll need to watch some 2022 Colts games to get a better feel for him and what he can do for the Eagles.

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Some fans were bothered by Covey’s comments. I didn’t have an issue with them at all. I thought he gave a good explanation of what went wrong. There is no one person or one thing to blame. You don’t have a historic collapse like that where it can all tie up neatly. There are a lot of reasons. I didn’t see Covey as trying to blame one person or point the finger in one direction.

Those comments did lead to this point/question.

We have to give Sirianni credit for the good culture of 2021 and 2022. And let’s make sure to point out that things going horribly wrong last year led to an 11-6 record and playoff appearance.

The players stood by Sirianni during and after the season. Things certainly went wrong, but this still feels fixable.

I remember during the 1992 season when Seth Joyner threatened mutiny against Rich Kotite. I remember during the 1998 season when Ray Rhodes had to get on his players because they weren’t paying attention in practice. Those are the kind of coaching issues that felt extreme.

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King has worked for the Chargers, Texans and Titans over the past decade. He has not worked with Vic Fangio, but he has coached in similar schemes. I like the fact King is an experienced NFL coach. The Eagles are going to have some young LBs on the roster this year so they will need a coach who knows how to teach and how to deal with NFL offenses. King has had more than a few guys thrive under his tutelage.

King coached Zach Cunningham in both Houston and Tennessee. Howie Roseman spoke highly of Cunningham after the season. Maybe the Eagles would consider bringing him back as depth. They obviously need to spend a pick or some money on a good LB, but I would be okay with Cunningham returning as a backup. He did some good things in 2023.

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I’m surprised Roy lasted this long with the Eagles, but I’m also surprised he’s going to be an assistant OL coach somewhere else. I thought he would be ready to run his own O-line. He’s done a good job of supporting Jeff Stoutland in recent years.

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Offseason Overview

Posted February 8th, 2024 | 2 Comments »

The Eagles have an unusual offseason in front of them. They made the Super Bowl in 2022. They started off 10-1 last year. That sounds like a team that needs tweaking more than big changes. But the disastrous close to the season changed that narrative in a big way.

Put simply, the Eagles are trying to keep the good stuff and fix the bad stuff. That sounds easy, but is quite challenging.

The biggest changes are with the coaching staff. The defensive staff will be almost entirely new. That’s good because the defense was one of the worst in the NFL. That group needs new coaches. Last year’s staff lacked NFL experience and didn’t have an expertise in the scheme. This year will be very different. Vic Fangio has a ton of experience at running NFL defenses. He has worked with the DL coach, the safeties coach and the DB coach. These coaches know the league and they know each other. That will help them to teach the scheme and solve problems better than last year’s group.

The offense is trickier. That side of the ball finished in the Top 10 in yards and points, but struggled down the stretch. The Eagles don’t need to throw out the entire playbook. They do need some new ideas.

Hiring Kellen Moore should give the offense the boost it needs. He does a lot of the same things the Eagles do, but also has some differences. Moore uses under-center plays more than the Eagles did. He uses motion more than the Eagles did. Moore runs a more creative scheme overall. Nick Sirianni has talked in the past about focusing on execution more than scheme. That strategy worked fine in 2022, but fell apart in 2023.

Defenses spent the offseason studying the Eagles offense. They came up with ideas on how to handle the Eagles RPOs. They focused on Jalen Hurts as a runner. Sirianni and his staff didn’t have enough answers for defensive adjustments. That meant relying on execution. That didn’t work well down the stretch when the Eagles were making costly mistakes instead of big plays. It would have helped if the Eagles had some plays that could have jump-started a stagnant offense.

Coaching changes can be a big help, but the Eagles need more than that. They need better talent in some key areas. LB was a major weakness last year. Nakobe Dean will be back this year, but you can’t count on him in a big way. Howie Roseman will look to add LBs in free agency and the draft. The cupboard is too bare to focus on adding just one player. One key lesson from last year is that you need depth at LB. The Eagles don’t need great players at LB. They do need reliable starters and good depth.

Safety is another interesting position. Reed Blankenship has developed into a solid starter. Sydney Brown showed promise last year, but tore his ACL late in the season. He’ll be out until late in 2024. You don’t want to invest a high pick here because Blankenship and Brown could be the safeties of the future. At the same time, relying on mediocre free agents did not work well at all last year. This is another spot where depth is needed. Maybe Mekhi Garner becomes a reliable backup, but you can’t count on that. Roseman will need to make multiple additions at safety.

CB is a critical spot heading into the offseason. Darius Slay is still above-average, but the rest of the CBs are question marks. James Bradberry should never play another snap for the Eagles. Avonte Maddox can’t stay healthy. So that’s not a great start to the CB discussion.

Kelee Ringo showed promise last year. I don’t think he showed enough that you project him as a starter this season. Eli Ricks had some good moments, but isn’t a sure thing either. Josh Jobe and Zech McPhearson feel like longshots at this point.

This is a position where the Eagles need a premium addition. They don’t have to spend a first round pick on a CB, but they need to bring in a talented player, whether through the draft or free agency. This isn’t a spot to go cheap. The defense needs a good corner added to the mix. They can bring back Avonte Maddox, but will need to bring in a good backup at the nickel spot. I don’t want to ever see Bradley Roby on the field again.

The offense needs some help. Bringing back D’Andre Swift at RB makes some sense. He had a good season. They need to add another RB to the mix. Rashaad Penny won’t be returning and Boston shouldn’t be brought back. The Eagles have a great 1-2 punch at WR, but need depth. I hope they sign a free agent and draft someone. Build up a true WR corps. I am curious to see what they do at backup QB. Going with Tanner McKee would save money. Is he ready to be the primary backup, though? The OL needs depth. How much will depend on whether Jason Kelce is coming back.

Beyond just finding talent, Howie Roseman needs to find the right kind of guys. Last year’s team felt like fat cats that played as individuals. The group that was so hungry in 2022 looked worlds different in 20023. As an outsider, it felt like too many guys thought coming to Philly would make them winners instead of understanding that they needed to do their part to keep the Eagles winning. Some of that is on the coaches for not maintaining the right culture, but some is on the players.

The Eagles have a lot of key pieces already in place. They have the potential to be an outstanding team in 2024. The key is for the front office to find talented players to help fix the roster. They also need to find hungry players who can help the team get back on track. The coaches need to work on the culture to make sure the focus is on winning and not individual accomplishments.

This is going to be one interesting offseason.

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