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Eagles News: PFF says Philadelphia could have the league’s best front seven

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 7/18/17.

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NFL: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

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Ranking all 32 team's front seven units headed into the 2017 season - PFF
3) This 2017 Eagles unit could easily challenge for the No. 1 or No. 2 spot on this list as the season progresses, as there are no real weakness to this front seven. Fletcher Cox and Jordan Hicks both ranked in the top five in their positional grades, while Brandon Graham finished with a 93.3 overall grade, second best of all edge defenders. They added PFF’s No. 3 overall prospect in the 2016 draft in edge defender Derek Barnett, as well as veteran Timmy Jernigan, who had the best stop percentage last season among all 3-4 defensive ends (10.8 percent).

Carson Wentz is primed to improve in 2017 - BGN
The old adage is that most NFL players make their biggest leap from Year 1 to Year 2. With that in mind, it’ll be extremely interesting to see how Wentz performs in his sophomore season.

What they’re saying about the Eagles: Don’t expect much from Nelson Agholor - PhillyVoice
One of the fastest ways for a team to plummet down the NFL standings is for a team to whiff on its high draft picks, specifically the first-round picks. So far, Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor has qualified just as that. But Agholor has received some positive buzz for his play in spring practices, which can happen out of nowhere for any player. Over at Bleeding Green Nation, Brandon Gowton was asked about Agholor in his latest Eagles mailbag.

The Peaglers - Iggles Blitz
One of Pederson’s bad habits in interviews/press conferences is over-praising players. It is important for a coach to support his players and show confidence in them, but overdoing it can lead to problems. Pederson is more honest behind closed doors so I doubt he is telling his players this directly. He’s going to be positive with his players, but I don’t think he’ll have them recording an updated version of The Super Bowl Shuffle anytime soon. The comments about 2011 are important. Pederson was making the point that a team must turn potential into actual performance for it to mean something. That is the message he needs to hammering home with his team.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson raises expectations as his second season in charge arrives - Inquirer
Ultimately, Pederson’s second season will be determined by whether the record improves. A rookie coach can go 7-9 and claim he’s building. If the win total doesn’t increase in 2017, it’s hard to call it progress. “If we go 8-8, is that a successful year?” Pederson said. “I don’t coach to be average — I’ll tell you that.”

Rookie Journey: Shelton Gibson - PE.com
Fifth-round draft selection Shelton Gibson shares his thoughts on how his rookie experience has gone so far, and what he expects to come in his first season in the NFL.

Who are the Waterboys? - ESPN
SportsCenter takes a closer look at some of the work Chris Long of the Philadelphia Eagles has been doing in East Africa with his charity, the Waterboys.

What are Doug Pederson's expectations of Carson Wentz in Year 2? - CSN Philly
Yeah, a lot has changed, including the expectations of the 24-year-old quarterback as he enters his sophomore season in the league. So, what's realistic? "Realistically," head coach Doug Pederson said after spring practices concluded, "we want to see, and I've said this before, we want to see incremental growth." As a rookie, Wentz completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 3,782 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions — good for a passer rating of 79.3. If he steadily increases his play in 2017, there's a good chance he will become the first 4,000-yard passer in Eagles history. What the Eagles really need out of Wentz is more consistency. He had five games during his rookie season with a passer rating of over 90, but he also had five games with a passer rating under 65.

Eagles Nathan Gerry embracing new city and new position - NFL Player Engagement
In order to make the switch, the 6-foot-2 Gerry has bulked up from 212 pounds to 230 pounds. “It’s a transition, for sure,’’ Gerry said just as the Eagles finished their final minicamp. “I mean football is still football, but there are some new techniques I had to learn. And then playing safety, I was always on top of routes, now as a linebacker you’re underneath routes. There’s a lot of vision on the quarterback as a linebacker, too. And your five yards closer to the line so things happen a little faster. Your first instinct has to be the right one or you’re out of position.’’

Cousins and Redskins Fail to Reach New Deal - Over The Cap
Cousins, because of the position he plays, is in a very unique spot which the Redskins don’t seem to realize. QBs have a much longer life than the average NFL player so losing seasons to the tag doesn’t have the same impact as it would to a wide receiver or defensive end who will likely be removed from his prime after two tags. The injury rates impacting financial earning power are really low as is the loss of power because of a bad season. And if Washington is successful this year it puts Cousins in a scenario to break the bank. More quarterbacks should be following this path.

Michael Vick: Colin Kaepernick’s problem is his play, not his protest - PFT
Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick does not believe Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest is the reason he’s currently out of the NFL. Vick told Jason Whitlock on FS1 that he thinks the real reason Kaepernick can’t find a team to sign him is that Kaepernick didn’t play well enough in the last two years, as well as that teams are looking more for a pocket passer than a mobile quarterback like Kaepernick is (and like Vick was).

2016 Slot vs. Wide: WRs and QBs - Football Outsiders
Interesting: Nelson Agholor was a lot worse in the slot than he was on the outside last season.

Do You Believe Bruce Allen Made A Push To Sign Kirk Cousins? - Hogs Haven
Kirk Cousins will play out another year on the franchise tag. Did the front office try hard enough to re-sign him?

A note from Blogging The Boys - BTB
Editor’s note: On July 16, we posted an article on Ezekiel Elliot that fell far short of our editorial standards. We take domestic violence matters seriously, and the tone of our post did not reflect that. We apologize, and are taking steps to ensure that this will not happen again.

How much money is too much to pay an NFL quarterback? - SB Nation
Quarterback contracts aren’t the burden they once were. Just pay up.

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