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Eagles News: The Ringer says Philadelphia is the most improved team in the NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 5/9/20.

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Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Breaking Down Every NFC Division After the Draft and Free Agency - The Ringer
NFC East. Team That Improved the Most: Eagles. A lot of Eagles fans are still parsing Philadelphia’s decision to draft quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round, but they shouldn’t get hung up on that for long. The Eagles front office added a significant amount of talent this spring that should contribute immediately. First-round pick Jalen Reagor should give the offense a dose of playmaking that it lacked last season, and general manager Howie Roseman doubled down at receiver by trading for burner Marquise Goodwin. With Reagor and Goodwin in the fold and DeSean Jackson returning from an injury, a lack of explosiveness should no longer be an issue in Philly. Roseman and the front office have consistently addressed areas of need with multiple players in a single offseason, and that also applies in 2020 at cornerback. To fill one of its outside corner spots, Philly traded third- and fifth-round picks to Detroit to acquire Darius Slay. The Eagles gave Slay a three-year, $50.5 million extension as part of that deal, and then made up some value by nabbing Nickell Robey-Coleman on a one-year, $1.4 million contract—a bargain for a proven slot cornerback. Along with improving the back end of their defense, the Eagles also signed defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to a three-year, $39 million deal. With Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, and Malik Jackson on the interior, Philly has a chance to overwhelm opposing offensive lines.

Eagles Rookie Profile: 6 things to know about Jack Driscoll - BGN
2) What are his strengths? At times over the past 2 years, you forget that Driscoll was out there. I mean that in a good way. He’s not giving up brutal sacks or getting called for dumb penalties. He executes his assignments at a high level and wins with great technique. Auburn’s former OL coach raved about the fact you never had to tell him something twice. He’s also a very good athlete as seen by the fact he was playing some WR as a senior in high school and started his career at tight end. While not a mauler by any means, he is effective at displacing defenders in the run game. Overall, he’s someone that’s maybe not elite at any one thing but very good at most.

Eagles Schedule Release & Predictions - BGN Radio
Jimmy Kempski and Brandon Lee Gowton react to the Eagles 2020 regular season schedule release and give their game-by-game predictions! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Game-by-game Eagles 2020 win-loss predictions - PhillyVoice
Divisional round, (4) Eagles at (1) Saints: Away from the cold, and with the advantage of a week of rest, the Saints get revenge for their Week 14 loss in Philly. A Malcolm Jenkins sack-fumble of Wentz seals the Birds’ season. Loss.

Ranking the 13 most interesting games on the NFL schedule - The Athletic
6. Week 16: Eagles at Cowboys (Sunday, Dec. 27, 4:25 p.m. ET). William Hill has the Cowboys as slight favorites (plus-125) over the Eagles (plus-135) in the NFC East. There’s a pretty good chance this game could go a long way in determining who wins the division. Last year, the Week 16 matchup between the teams was essentially a division championship game. For the Eagles, I could see Carson Wentz weeping on the sideline as he watches Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup make catches all over the field for Dak Prescott. For the Cowboys, I could see Mike McCarthy viewing this as an opportunity to prove to the world he’s Mr. Analytics. Maybe he waits for the camera to zoom in on him in the fourth quarter before breaking out a TI-82 calculator to help him decide whether to go for it on fourth down. One way or another, there will be a lot at stake, and this game will entertain.

Will Miles Sanders receive a workhorse role? - Rotoworld
Sanders *should* work as the Eagles’ featured RB next season, but this will be a situation to monitor all the way through August in order to make sure Pederson doesn’t get crazy with another committee. The likes of Carlos Hyde, Devonta Freeman and Lamar Miller linger as potential veterans that could feasibly steal a large portion of early-down work away from the Eagles’ talented rising second-year back. Sanders is presently going in the PPR RB13-14 range in season-long and best-ball drafts alike. I’m fine with taking the talented back higher and within the top-10 picks for now, but this current range could look rough if/when this offense introduces an early-down grinder to the equation. The Eagles truly had to look everywhere to find play-makers in their injury-ravened roster down the stretch in 2020, and we just haven’t seen a ton of historical evidence that Pederson is willing to fully feed one RB for an entire season. This is a good idea to preserve the best years of a RB’s career; it’s just not always the greatest type of RB to invest a top-round selection in.

16-0 for real? I never go into a game thinking ‘loss’ - PE.com
The Eagles think that second-year linebacker T.J. Edwards is ready to make a big contribution in 2020. He’ll have that chance in a room that includes Nathan Gerry, Duke Riley, free agent addition Jatavis Brown, and third-round draft pick Davion Taylor. Edwards said in a telephone interview on Thursday that he believes that he is prepared to take on that responsibility. “I think a lot of it has to do with me knowing a little bit of what to expect when I show up in the building, whenever that is,” Edwards said. “Knowing kind of what I’m going to have to do to prove myself, knowing the pressure is on so I have to be at my best this offseason at all times and I’ve definitely tried to do that. I’m excited to get back and to get around the guys again and see what the future holds.”

2020 NFL schedule: Ranking each Eagles game from hardest to easiest - NBCSP
1. Week 4: at 49ers Oct. 4 at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. To me, this Sunday Night Football game against the defending NFC champions is the toughest game on the Eagles’ schedule. They’ll have to fly across the country and face a team that won 13 games last season while playing in a tough division. The 49ers have one of the best defenses in the league and have plenty of firepower on offense. The Niners scored the second-most points in the league last year and they gave up the second-fewest yards on defense. They’re a well-rounded test.

Which players benefit most from 2020 NFL schedule in fantasy? - ESPN
Projected NFC seeds. 1. Saints (bye); 2. 49ers; 3. Cowboys; 4. Packers; 5. Buccaneers; 6. Seahawks; 7. Eagles. New Orleans is all in for what is likely Drew Brees’ final season. The Saints have the league’s best team on paper, so they get the edge. San Francisco remains in good shape despite trading away arguably its best player in DeForest Buckner. Dallas’ 2019 implosion is a concern, but the roster looks excellent on paper and perhaps new coach Mike McCarthy will help the cause. Green Bay’s record was better than its actual performance last season, but this remains a solid squad on paper, which gives it a tiny edge over Minnesota and Detroit in a wide-open NFC North. Brady and the Buccaneers are arguably a top-five team on paper and will give the Saints a run for their money. Seattle and Philadelphia are borderline top-10 teams on paper and are safe bets to contend for playoff spots.

Each NFL team’s schedule release, ranked - Fake Teams
12. Philadelphia Eagles. Bored at home watching TV is a running theme with all these and the Eagles do a good job with them, though some of the show connections aren’t quite there.

Mike Clay’s score projections for the 2020 NFL season have the Dallas Cowboys winning 12 games - Blogging The Boys
The only true losses that these score projections have the Cowboys suffering are both on the road, at Philadelphia and Baltimore. Those are obviously going to be very difficult games (both on prime time by the way) as they are both against playoff teams from last year. Not to mention that Philadelphia is the only real and legitimate challenge for the Cowboys in the NFC East.

Giants won’t open 2020 season against the Cowboys? Well ... not so fast - Big Blue View
In other words, if the NFL needs to delay the start of the season, they could move games from the beginning of the schedule to the end of the schedule by moving the Super Bowl back. While the NFL obviously wants to stick to their calendar as normal, the COVID-19 pandemic could force a delay in the start of the season. As it so happens, if the NFL needs to act on this hypothetical delay, the Giants are playing the Cowboys in a national game in Week 5. This might mean donning the old tinfoil cap, but it seems the NFL schedule makers put in an emergency plan that could still get us the Giants at Dallas to open the season. The NFL loves that game to start the season. It’s a historic rivalry between two of the league’s biggest markets, and this year will feature two new head coaching regimes.

Top Takeaways From The 2020 Schedule - Hogs Haven
We end the season with either a chance to play spoiler against the Eagles, or with our first glimpse of Jalen Hurts. At this point, it’s one or the other. Although, who knows, we might even be playing for a spot in the playoffs if the ball bounces our way a couple times this year.

Carolina Panthers hire Pat Stewart as director of player personnel - Cat Scratch Reader
The Carolina Panthers have hired former Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots national scout Pat Stewart as their director of player personnel, according to a report from NFL insider Ian Rapoport. Stewart worked with Panthers head coach Matt Rhule at Temple.

NFL to end pass interference replay - Cincy Jungle
After only one year, the pass interference replay has been eliminated. In an effort to correct the missed call in the 2018 NFC Championship game, the NFL allowed pass interference to be reviewable in 2019. However, the league seemed so unenthused over the new rule that pass interference calls were overturned less than 20 percent of the time. Furthermore, non-calls that should have been identified by review officials and that should have been reviewed never were. Competition Committee Chairman Rich McKay announced that the NFL would end pass interference reviews. “We’re not going to vote on, because nobody is putting forward, the OPI/DPI review again. So that dies a natural death,” McKay said. [BLG Note: Lol at Sean Payton.]

Presidential debates conflict with two Thursday night games - PFT
Of the seven days of the week, the NFL plays games on three nights. Yet again, however, presidential debates will conflict with a pair of prime-time NFL games. Two Thursday Night Football games will be played against presidential debates. The October 15 game between the Chiefs and the Bills and the October 22 game between the Giants and Eagles conflict with the showdowns between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Unmotivated NFL QB gets divorced because wife says he was unmotivated - SB Nation
Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari’s seven-year marriage is over, according to Page Six. The two star in the E! reality series Very Cavallari. And most recently, the two were stuck in the Bahamas as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The divorce seems to stem from Jay Cutler’s lack of motivation. Cavallari was “was growing increasingly impatient with him,” and she found Cutler “‘unmotivated’ and even ‘lazy’.” It’s a shame to see these two call it quits, but if you’ve been paying attention to Jay Cutler’s career, lack of motivation has been his calling card.

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