Eagles News: Philadelphia has one of the worst ranked 2017 NFL Draft classes

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Revisiting and ranking each team’s 2017 NFL Draft haul - The Athletic
27. Philadelphia Eagles. Best player: Derek Barnett. After missing most of the 2018 season due to injury, Barnett rebounded well last season, starting 14 games and posting 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Has he lived up to being a top-15 pick? Not yet, but he put his career back on track in 2019 and is poised for another step forward in 2020. [...] Biggest miss: Sidney Jones. A projected first-round pick, Jones injured an Achilles at his pro day, putting his draft projection in limbo. Despite needing a redshirt year as a rookie, the Eagles took a chance on him in the second round with mixed results the last two years. There have been flashes, but so far, Jones has been a miss.

Eagles Question of the Day: Are you buying or selling a Sidney Jones breakout in 2020? - BGN
NJ.com reporter and BGN alumnus Mike Kaye reports Jones is “working with notable DB developer and trainer Ronnie Braxton in Texas this offseason. Braxton has worked with Aqib Talib, Chris Harris, AJ Bouye, Bradley Roby, new Eagles DB Will Parks and many more through the years.” Without even being specifically prompted to talk about his new teammate, the aforementioned Parks told Eagles reporters that Jones is going to “come back a dog” after working with his new trainer.

Eagles rookie NFL player comparisons: John Hightower - PhillyVoice
We’re going to get a little obscure with Hightower’s comp, former Cardinals and Chiefs receiver Steve Breaston. Like Hightower, Breaston was a fifth-round pick in 2007. In addition playing receiver, Breaston returned kicks and punts, something that Hightower did in college at Boise and should get an opportunity to do with the Eagles. Both players were lean receivers with decent speed and playmaking ability.

Have Eagles done enough to find stability at WR this year? - NBCSP
Over the last four years, Agholor leads Eagles receivers in catches (201) and receiving yards (2,232), while Jeffery leads receivers in touchdowns (19). Think about this now: their best wideouts over the last four years are a former first-round pick who just had to accept a veteran minimum contract with the Raiders and an aging player who’s past his prime, injured, has a bloated contract and might not be the greatest locker room fit. The Eagles have been lucky to have one of the best tight ends in the NFL during this span — two of the best since 2018 — but they need more help from their receivers.

Carson Wentz Is Massively Underrated - The Big Lead
Over the last three seasons, Wentz has completed 64.4 percent of his passes, averaged 7.2 yards per attempt and his passer rating is 98.3. Again, that’s despite a lack of high-level weapons around him. Ertz is good but not an All-Pro type guy, Alshon Jeffery is long past his prime and the Eagles haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher during Wentz’s career. Despite all of that, he’s put up really good numbers. In 2019, Wentz became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 20 or more touchdowns and seven or fewer interceptions in three straight seasons. His 607 pass attempts were the fourth-most ever by a quarterback with seven or fewer interceptions. Additionally, his 97 touchdown passes through his first four seasons are the ninth-most in NFL history and, as mentioned above, he’s missed eight regular season games, which means he’d likely be much higher on that list.

Better, worse or the same? Putting Eagles’ offense under a microscope - ESPN
Better, worse or the same? Worse. The Eagles made the decision to let Peters test free agency and move ahead with Dillard, the Eagles’ 2019 first-round pick, at left tackle. Dillard was up and down as a rookie and not everyone in the building is convinced he is ready for prime time. Unless Philly brings back Peters, who remains a free agent, Dillard will be responsible for Wentz’s blind side, and that could go one of two ways. Their tackle depth took a hit as well with Vaitai getting a handsome deal to start for the Lions. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland has been very good at developing prospects, and he will be called on again to get a couple of promising rookie O-linemen — Wanogho and Driscoll — up to speed. The group remains in good shape overall with anchors Kelce, Johnson and Brooks in place.

Pro Football Hall of Fame honors Eagles team photographer Kiel Leggere - PE.com
While Eagles fans recognize his work every day, Leggere was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame this offseason for one of his pieces. Leggere’s photo of Malcolm Jenkins in the locker room before the Week 7 showdown against the Cowboys placed third out of thousands of entries in the Best Features category of the 52nd Annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Photo Contest.

Quick Reads Decade in Review: QB Totals - Football Outsiders
Russell Wilson was devastating with his arm and even better with his legs — his 943 rushing DYAR were most for any quarterback in the last 10 years. Peyton Manning’s high ranking may surprise you considering he only had four good years in this timeframe, but those four years were really good — his 2,446 DYAR in 2013 were the second-best season since 2010, and his 2010, 2012, and 2014 seasons were each ranked 32nd or better. Ironically, he won his last Super Bowl championship in the worst season of his career; his -326 combined DYAR in 2015 was the third-worst total of that season, and his -115 DYAR in the championship game against Carolina was the worst performance by a quarterback in the Super Bowl in the 2010s. (By the way, one of the two quarterbacks worse than Manning in 2015 was Nick Foles, who would win his own Super Bowl two years later because the NFL is crazy.)

Fox Sports officially announces hiring of Emmanuel Acho, who will cohost Speak For Yourself with Marcellus Wiley - Awful Announcing
Going from Whitlock to Acho sure is a significant change for Speak For Yourself, and it’ll be interesting to see what the show looks like in two weeks. Acho is quite different from Whitlock in many ways, including age, background, and TV experience (not to mention his viewpoint on various hot button topics), and the show’s long-time viewers are likely in for quite a change with Acho in the host’s chair alongside Wiley. [BLG Note: Former Eagles LB is doing well in the media field.]

History shows Mike McCarthy faces an uphill battle in year one in Dallas - Blogging The Boys
Winning a championship in your first year as a coach is an extremely rare occurrence in any sport. In the NFL, three coaches, George Seifert, Jon Gruden, and Gary Kubiak have won a Super Bowl in their first season as the new head coach. Now, despite the talent on their roster, the Cowboys are not a team that should be looked at as “Super Bowl or bust” in 2020. If they were able to make the postseason, and reach the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1996, that would be considered a success in many eyes. Buteven qualifying for the postseason in his first year as a new head coach might be a large challenge. Out of the 12 coaches that have won a Super Bowl and went on to become a head coach elsewhere, only one reached the playoffs in their first season with the new team.

George Floyd protests: Cowboys’ Jerry Jones taking heat for maintaining silence - NJ.com
Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones is one of the most outspoken and influential owners in the NFL. However it’s what Jones isn’t saying following the death of George Floyd that’s causing a problem. Former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant tweeted Sunday from a protest in Austin, Texas: “Somebody should have brought Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Jason Witten to this protest down in Austin. This is not a policy change; this is a heart change. And yeah, I said it.’’

The Conversation Around NFL Protests Has Changed. How Will the League React This Time? - The Ringer
The NFL was largely quiet on this matter last week until Wednesday, when Yahoo Finance asked Saints quarterback Drew Brees how he would feel if NFL players once again protested racism and police brutality during the national anthem this season. “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America, or our country,” Brees said, echoing a talking point that critics of the protests have used since 2016 and one that Brees has stated multiple times in recent years. Within hours, dozens of high-profile athletes, including current and former Saints teammates, criticized Brees’s statements. San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman tweeted, “That uncomfortable conversation you are trying to avoid by injecting military into a conversation about brutality and equality is part of the problem.” Saints receiver Michael Thomas tweeted, “We don’t care if you don’t agree.” New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins, a cofounder of the Players Coalition, which promotes social justice and racial equality, posted a video to Instagram in which he directly addressed the quarterback: “Drew Brees, if you don’t understand how hurtful, how insensitive your comments are, you are part of the problem.”

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