1 big question for each NFL team as training camps begin – SB Nation
NFC East. Philadelphia Eagles: Is Kellen Moore the cure-all? The Eagles scuffled down the stretch, fumbling away a division lead and ultimately losing in the playoffs. That means there is no shortage of questions facing the team heading into camp but the biggest one is this: Can Kellen Moore get the offense back on track?
2024 Philadelphia Eagles training camp preview – ESPN
Biggest question: Have the cracks been repaired following a late-season collapse? A 10-1 start in 2023 gave way to a 1-6 implosion down the stretch, leading to staff changes and myriad questions about the state of affairs inside the building. The defense went from leaky to dysfunctional when Sean Desai was demoted in favor of Matt Patricia as playcaller. Offensively, the visions of Jalen Hurts, offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and coach Nick Sirianni failed to mesh — a major factor in why the unit underperformed. Sirianni was retained but finds himself squarely on the hot seat and with less influence on offense. Kellen Moore, who replaced Johnson, is now at the controls while Vic Fangio was brought in to stabilize the defense. Players are optimistic about the direction Moore and Fangio have taken their respective sides of the ball. It generally takes time for new schemes to take hold but the Eagles will be anxious to speed up that timeline as they set out to prove that the issues from a year ago are behind them.
The 5 biggest questions heading into Eagles training camp – Inquirer
Is the reworked edge-rusher rotation good enough? There aren’t many position groups on the Eagles roster with as wide a range of outcomes as the edge-rusher rotation. General manager Howie Roseman ostensibly swapped Haason Reddick for Bryce Huff, signing Huff away from the Jets in free agency before trading Reddick to them a few weeks later. Huff was impressively efficient in a designated pass-rushing role during his time with the Jets, but whether he remains productive as a featured starter will go a long way toward determining how the reworked group fares. Which version of Josh Sweat the Eagles get in 2024 also will be crucial. The 27-year-old finished with 6½ sacks last season, all of which came before Week 10. In the depth spots behind Sweat and Huff, veteran defensive end Brandon Graham should still be a productive member of the rotation, albeit in a limited capacity. Beyond that, Nolan Smith figures to be a key reserve after scarcely playing during his rookie season. Considering they play a premium position, the Eagles’ defense may need one of Huff, Sweat, or Smith to take a leap.
NFL Betting 2024: NFC East preview – PFF
A blind look at the Eagles’ full-season 2023 numbers fails to tell the full story. Their second-half collapse certainly left a sour taste in the mouths of bettors, but the team fielded one of the best offenses in the first half of the season and for much of the season prior. And let us not forget quarterback Jalen Hurts sustained a knee injury midway through the season that hampered his play. Especially when trying to avoid disrupted plays — that is, plays with early pressure or perfect coverage — Hurts was less effective on scrambles and throws to open receivers in the second half of the season. Whereas Hurts was “creating” — scrambling for positive EPA or throwing to open receivers — on 37% of disrupted plays in the first half, that number tanked to 26% in the second half. Keeping all else constant, it stands to reason that the offense with a healthy Hurts provides a better sample of data from which to project how the Eagles’ 2024 campaign will go. While Philadelphia’s cast of characters on offense looks largely the same, outside of Jason Kelce’s retirement, the team brought in Kellen Moore to be its new offensive coordinator, which should boost production. The Eagles ranked dead last in motion rate in the NFL last season, and Moore’s Chargers placed in the top 10, with motion correlating strongly with offensive efficiency. Further, Moore’s offenses have perennially ranked at the top in production EPA on plays determined to be “in scheme.” Add it all together, and this Eagles offense still has the elite ceiling it displayed in the first half of last season.
Eagles training camp preview: 53-man roster prediction – BGN
WR: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Parris Campbell, Britain Covey, Johnny Wilson, Ainias Smith (6) [12]. We do know that A.J. and DeVonta are awesome players. We don’t know if there are any quality depth options behind them. Based on him taking first-team reps in the spring, Campbell will get the first crack at the WR3 job. Hurts seemed to have some level of trust in him. Covey is arguably the best punt returner in the NFL and he’s no small part why the Eagles had the top-ranked special teams unit last year. It remains to be seen if he can actually contribute on offense. As a tall receiver, Wilson is primed to be a training camp darling. Smith didn’t have a great spring but he wasn’t 100% healthy. If John Ross can stay healthy, which is a big if, he could very well push for a roster spot. If no one seizes the WR3 job, Howie Roseman could look to make a trade. Perhaps a reverse Ronald Darby situation from 2017 where the Eagles deal a cornerback and a draft pick for a wide receiver this time.
25 things I’ll be watching at 2024 Eagles training camp – PhillyVoice
1) The Eagles’ 2023 late-season collapse was something of a perfect storm of awfulness. One could blame any number of things for why things went badly, and they might all be correct. Jalen Hurts was part of the problem, as he did not play well down the stretch, and his leadership skills — always thought to be the biggest checkmark in his favor — came into question. Hurts was given the chance to say some nice things about Nick Sirianni during locker room clean out day after the team’s embarrassing playoff loss to the Buccaneers, when Sirianni’s status as the team’s head coach was still in peril. He didn’t. He was given another chance during spring practices, and again, nothing. He also stated that the offense, which will now be some nebulous combination of Sirianni’s old playbook and new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s ideas, is “95 percent new.” (Sirianni disagreed with that assertion.) Hurts did not look sharp in spring practices, which may or may not be meaningful. It would ease some anxiety within the Eagles’ organization if Hurts had a good training camp. The pressure is on. How effectively will he pick up Moore’s scheme? How is he interacting with teammates, and his coaches? Is he making quick reads and getting the ball out quickly instead of looking to extend plays at the first sign of pressure? Those questions — and plenty of others — will be under the microscope this summer.
NFL training camp: Most intriguing position battles to track in 2024 – NFL.com
CORNERBACK: Much like Detroit, Philly made major investments to address problems in the secondary. Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox are likely locked in as starters. The question is how the rest of the group sorts itself out. Does Quinyon Mitchell win the starting gig? How does Isaiah Rodgers look after serving a year-long suspension for violating the NFL’s gambling policy? Where does Kelee Ringo wind up? Does Cooper DeJean play corner, backup safety, nickel or a little bit of everything? James Bradberry is transitioning to safety but is a potential cut candidate. How Vic Fangio handles his secondary unit during camp will be fascinating.
Pre-training camp NFL Power Rankings: Chiefs and 49ers reign, Texans and Bears on the rise – The Athletic
10. Philadelphia Eagles. Last season: 11-6, lost in NFC wild-card round. Questions abound in Philly. Will new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s system suit quarterback Jalen Hurts? How will the offensive line hold up without “the other Kelce,” center Jason who, like his brother Travis, is a future Hall of Famer but, unlike his brother, is not dating Taylor Swift and is now retired? But the biggest question is: What the heck happened last season? The Eagles lost six of their last seven games, and their point differential (minus-59) was the fourth worst in the league during that stretch, suggesting something more than personnel fits was amiss with the one-time juggernaut.
2024 Eagles season preview: ‘Start fast and finish strong’ – PE.com
A lot of pieces are in place. It’s no wonder that Barkley, almost immediately, recognized what it’s like being here, in South Philadelphia, in an offense that has a galaxy of top options. “Biggest thing that struck me is my first 7-on-7 huddle, you see A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Jalen Hurts. It’s not a bad group to be out there with,” Barkley said. “That’s not even including the offensive linemen. “We’re all just coming in, buying in, trying to learn the playbook, learning the system, trying to get better each day. You know there is a lot of talent, a lot of talent before I got here. I feel I can only add to that. At the same time, you can’t look too far. That’s the beauty of it. That’s the beauty of coming in every single day, working with each other, pushing each other.” Pushing each other. It’s a mentality, one the Eagles are bringing to a new height for 2024, determined to do what they did in the offseason: Start fast and finish strong.
Reports: Haason Reddick to hold out of training camp as he seeks a new contract – Gang Green Nation
Reddick is looking at a $50,000 per day fine by holding out. Reddick already faced fines for skipping the mandatory minicamp at the end of the offseason program. Quite frankly it’s baffling to me how the Jets let themselves end up at this point. I reiterate that the entire league knew that Reddick was seeking a new deal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trade for a high profile player where the player and acquiring team went straight into a contract dispute and a holdout. If there’s a silver lining for the Jets, it’s that Reddick still has massive incentives to play this year, namely a salary of over $14 million he will not collect if he doesn’t play. Still, it’s tough to understand how the standoff was allowed to reach this point.
Packers QB Jordan Love not practicing without new deal, more pressure for Cowboys with Dak Prescott – Blogging The Boys
The price always goes up. History is filled with this reality, and unfortunately for all of us we have had to watch many examples of this over the course of this offseason while we have been trapped in “all-in” land. Other NFL teams have been living in reality, though. We have reached an important time in the calendar as different NFL teams are starting to report to training camp. Soon enough our Dallas Cowboys will join the fold. Whether or not CeeDee Lamb is among them remains to be seen. One player across the league who we will not be seeing any football from as of late majorly helped end Lamb’s most recent season. On Monday morning we learned that the Green Bay Packers will not see quarterback Jordan Love practice until he has a brand new deal with the team.
Saquon Barkley: Giants ‘really weren’t in play’ in free agency – Big Blue View
While there was a media and fan base obsession throughout the offseason over whether or not Saquon Barkley would return to the New York Giants, Barkley said the Giants “really weren’t in play” as a possible landing spot. Barkley told Dianna Russini of The Athletic on the ‘Scoop City’ podcast that the Giants were not one of the three teams he considered signing with this offseason. “They really weren’t in play I guess you could say come to find out and see the reality of it,” Barkley told Russini. “When you look at ‘Hard Knocks’ you make it seem like oh like this was like a thing that was going on every single day but it really wasn’t. “‘Hard Knocks’ did a really good job. It looks juicy, it looks like okay there actually could have been a thing and they [the Giants] pulled out the last second. In reality, the whole time me and my agent were talking on our side like we don’t think that the Giants are even going to do anything.”