POSITIONS OF WEAKNESS
Reality bites: Eagles are worse at almost every roster spot than in 2019 season
Quarterback play obviously continues to top the list of positions gone bad for the Philadelphia Eagles. But the truth about the haphazardly collected talent on their 2020 roster is that they’re worse this year at just about every position group than they were in 2019, when they weren’t so great, either.
Just three years after being blessed with a championship mix of players, they have deteriorated into a laughingstock, thanks to a perfect storm of injuries, gross personnel misevaluations, hasty decisions on offensive assistant coaches, and egregious financial guarantees to players well past their prime that prevented them from obtaining veterans who actually could have made a positive impact, like defensive end Yannick Ngakoue or wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
They traded two draft picks to obtain a 29-year-old cornerback, Darius Slay, who was coming off his worst year, before making him the fourth-highest paid the player in the game at his position with a lucrative contract extension.
His play against the league’s top receivers has proved no better than what they received before his arrival. It might actually be worse, when you take into account how often he was toasted in just the last two games — by the Packers’ Davante Adams in Sunday’s 30-16 loss and by Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf six days earlier.
They insisted on paying huge money to wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery and offensive lineman Jason Peters, who would have been out of football two years ago if not for the Eagles’ insistence on continuing to bring him back.
Every position group has been compromised by injuries and/or thoughtless decisions.
Tight end
Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert both have spent time on the injured reserve list. Fortunately, Richard Rodgers was able to stay healthy for the first time since they acquired him and contribute in their absence.
Running back
General manager Howie Roseman can’t be blamed for allowing Jordan Howard to depart in free agency. They couldn’t afford to compete with the big contract he received from Miami, plus they had just drafted their top back in Miles Sanders.
But their precarious salary cap situation most likely forced Roseman to gamble that backups Boston Scott and Corey Clement would suffice. That has not worked out as planned.
Fortunately for them,
Howard fell back in their laps when Miami let him go and should be a fixture the rest of the way.
Wide receiver
Putting aside for a minute the comparisons to Justin Jefferson, who was still on the board when the Eagles took Jalen Reagor with the 21st pick in the NFL Draft, the Eagles stood by and watched the Arizona Cardinals get Hopkins from the Houston Texans for a bucket of bolts.
Why? Because they were in no position to give Hopkins the pay raise he was seeking.
Reagor and DeSean Jackson, the two most explosive receivers on their roster, then both missed significant time with injuries. This was after Marquise Goodwin, called “one of the fastest players on the planet” by Roseman, opted out of this season because of COVID-19.
If not for the solid play of Greg Ward and the surprise emergence of Travis Fulgham, who clearly has been stifled by Jeffery’s return after missing the first eight games, this position would be a total bust.
Here’s a disturbing thought: Jeffery hasn’t been the same player since dropping that crucial pass near the end of the Eagles’ playoff loss at New Orleans following the 2018 season.
Offensive line
Right off the bat, the Eagles lost All-Pro right guard Brandon Brooks and left tackle Andre Dillard, last year’s first-round round draft pick, to injuries before the season began. Then they emasculated Pederson by allowing Peters, who foolishly was re-signed to fill in for Brooks, to hold them hostage over moving moving back to left tackle when Dillard went down.
Peters finally made the move after being bribed with more money, then proved to be no better than Jordan Mailata, who already was under contract at a more reasonable price.
That’s why Mailata is now the left tackle and Peters went back to play right guard over Nate Herbig or whoever the next best guard du jour is, based on offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland’s preferences, which alternate by the hour.
Defensive line
The signing of prized free agent Javon Hargrave has not worked out nearly as planned. Fletcher Cox’s play has regressed. Brandon Graham started the season with gunsa-blazin’ but has gone four straight games without a sack.
And Hassan Ridgeway was lost to a season-ending injury in Week 7.
The combination of Nate Gerry (out injured since Week 8), T.J. Edwards, Alex Singleton and Duke Riley has not proved as effective as Gerry, Nigel Bradham and Kamu Grugier-Hill were the year before.
Bradham was cut in the offseason and Grugier-Hill was allowed to leave in free agency.
Draft picks Shaun Bradley and Davion Taylor have been slow to develop.
Cornerback
Could it be that, on the whole, the Eagles are no better off with Slay and Avonte Maddox starting on the outside with Nickell Robey-Coleman in the slot than they were last season with Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills on the outside and Maddox in the slot and Sidney Jones making plays when healthy enough?
Hell, yeah.
In fact, this year’s alignment might be weaker.
There simply is no way Maddox is better equipped to start on the outside than Jones or Rasul Douglas, who both were let go. And Maddox was better in the slot than Robey-Coleman has been.
Slay has not been worth what it took to get him, has calf and knee injuries and will turn 30 on New Year’s day.
Safety
Last year, the starting spots were manned by Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. This year, it’s Mills and McLeod. Not as good.
Free-agent acquisition Will Parks missed time with an injury before being let go. K’Von Wallace was drafted but not seemingly ready.
Truth is, there’s not one position that’s better for the Eagles this year than last year.
Add to that the massive changes to the offensive coaching staff that are widely believed to have been forced on Pederson in a season with no minicamps and no preseason games allowed, and you have what you have: a team that’s gone off the rails and now is a good bet to finish last in the NFC
East, perhaps the worst in NFL history.
The downgrades are everywhere.