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The Eagles are making the rounds among preseason rankings and discussions as a key contender and likely Super Bowl favorite when the season kicks off — and you can throw Mina Kimes’ $.02 on the pile. The ESPN panelist and columnist hosted Cynthia Frelund of NFL Network on her podcast, The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, for her NFC East preview, and was quick to heap praise on the Eagles’ roster.
The Eagles section begins at the 5:25 mark of the show.
To me, there’s one team that’s not only above the fold of this division, but as I’ve gone through these divisions, I think has a really, really strong chance of taking the whole thing. I’m talking about Philadelphia.
This Eagles roster, as I was going through it, I was struck by how deep they are — and the way in which they’re deep. The Eagles teams in recent years that have been so good — the reason why Nick Foles was able to thrive in [Carson Wentz’s] absence...is the two lines, which both look so deep and so good.
A timely comment, considering the tweet that Daniel Jeremiah threw on the timeline today, asking which team was the best trench team in the league:
Which NFL Team has the best combination of OL/DL talent?
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) July 10, 2019
My top 5
1) Eagles
2) Steelers
3) Rams
4) Chiefs
5) Cowboys
The Eagles are indeed one of the best teams in the league in the trenches, if not the best overall — I and several others would argue as such. That success in the trenches is much unchanged from the Eagles 2017 season as well: they’ll return 4 of 5 starters on the offensive line and 3 of 4 starters from the defensive line, with the excepted starters now as backups on the team!
Their dominance in the trenches is a big part of what makes them favorites in the NFC East, but as Kimes noted, the roster is deep throughout. With one big question mark squarely stationed on Carson Wentz’s injury report, the Eagles seem to be a healthy QB away from a repeat visit to the Super Bowl under Doug Pederson.