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Football season is back (!) so it’s time to look at how various media outlets are viewing the Philadelphia Eagles in their NFL power rankings. It’s always interesting to see how the Eagles stack up from an outside perspective.
ESPN
2) Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman had yet another terrific offseason, landing vertical threat DeSean Jackson, revamping running back with Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders and replacing key defenders Michael Bennett, Jordan Hicks and Chris Long with Malik Jackson, Zach Brown and Vinny Curry. All that while adding luxury picks OT Andre Dillard and WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside during the first and second round of April’s draft. Carson Wentz is healthy, and the Eagles are locked and loaded for another Super Bowl run.
Pro Football Talk
3) Has an elite team ever been so overlooked?
Bleeding Green Nation
4) Why can’t the Eagles win Super Bowl LIV? The path is there. A now healthy Carson Wentz is poised to regain MVP form thanks in part to being surrounded by a strong supporting cast: DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Jordan Howard, Darren Sproles, and Corey Clement ... not to mention one of the best offensive lines in the league. Jim Schwartz should be able to get enough out of the Eagles’ defensive talent to complement one of the league’s top offenses.
PennLive
4) The Eagles are loaded on offense after adding DeSean Jackson, Jordan Howard, Miles Sanders and JJ Arcega-Whiteside to a group that already featured Alshon Jeffery, Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor. Health will be key, but Carson Wentz can return to MVP form and make special things happen.
USA Today
4) Who knew replacing backup QB Nick Foles would prove such an odyssey? But it might have been worth it given Josh McCown’s eventual arrival.
NFL.com
5) Eagles fans have every reason to be optimistic as the 2019 season opens. What’s an obvious weakness of this team? It’s not a stretch to imagine a healthy Carson Wentz regaining his pre-injury 2017 magic and leading a top-10 offense. DeSean Jackson was a camp MVP for Philly; it’s scary to think what he can add to the mix if he’s in peak form. The defense -- the pass rush particularly -- is less formidable than it was last season with the departures of Michael Bennett and Chris Long, but the unit is almost certain to have better injury luck than a year ago (it couldn’t be worse), and underrated defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has kept his group on a very steady level for three years and counting. While the Cowboys get all the offseason shine, the Iggles lurk in the shadows, hungrier than a Broad Street bro waiting for a Wing Bowl that won’t come.
MMQB
5) If the Eagles can stay healthy, there’s no reason they can’t compete for the Super Bowl title this year.
Yahoo! Sports
5) If Carson Wentz stays healthy all season, the Eagles can win a Super Bowl and Wentz can win MVP. If he is hurt again, I’m not sure the Eagles can make the playoffs. Yes, you can say all of that about many quarterbacks but given Wentz’s recent injury history, it seems more relevant to Philadelphia.
Bleacher Report
5) For the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, it will all come down to one thing—Carson Wentz’s health. In each of the past two years, Wentz has suffered a season-ending injury. If it happens again in 2019, the Eagles are cooked—there’s no Nick Foles in town to bail the team out now. As ESPN’s Tim McManus reported, Wentz has worked this summer on making more plays from the pocket, getting the ball out quicker and avoiding unnecessary hits. But the 26-year-old said mobility is still going to be a big part of his game. ”I feel good just going through my reads, throwing a completion and moving on,” Wentz said. “When I need to make a guy miss in the pocket, when I need to get out and make a play, that’s still definitely going to be a big part of my game.” You’ll have to forgive Eagles fans if they hold their collective breath every time Wentz scrambles in 2019. With him, the Eagles are a Super Bowl contender. If he goes down, the Eagles are finished.
Pro Football Focus
5) The Eagles put a premium on their pass-rush, and it pays off as they led the league in pressure rate for the second consecutive year in 2018. With Desean Jackson returning to his former team, Carson Wentz has all the weapons along with the proper protection to enjoy a very good season in 2019.
Washington Post
5) This is a Super Bowl-caliber team if QB Carson Wentz can remain healthy and in the lineup. That’s a big if given the knee injury in 2017 and the stress fracture in his back in 2018 that cut short Wentz’s past two seasons.
The Athletic
5) No Carson Wentz in the preseason meant the Eagles stayed put. We think Philadelphia could make an early statement and give our voters reason to move them further up the top five this week against Washington.
Sporting News
6) The Eagles are much like the Cowboys in their profile and will be right there with them challenging for the division title, armed with a healthy Carson Wentz and loaded across all positions. Philly returning to the playoffs and rediscovering its 2017 form would surprise nobody.
Blogging The Boys
6) They’re very good: Philly also has one of the best rosters in the NFL, but they were swept by the Cowboys last year. It’s illogical to regard them as better without any 2019 data in my opinion. The NFC East will come down to America’s Team and the bad guys, it should be fun.
CBS Sports
8) Carson Wentz will get back to being an MVP candidate this season. They are the clear favorite in the NFC East.
ANALYSIS
The rankings range from as high as 2 to as low as 8. The average ranking is 4.8. The most common ranking is 5. (For perspective, the Eagles’ rankings ranged from 1 to 5 at this time last year. Their average ranking was 2.1.)
It’s no surprise to see that the Eagles are viewed as one of the best teams in the league. Now they’ve got to go out and prove the hype is justified. They can do that by starting off the season with a win over Washington.