Eagles News: “Dolphins and Eagles likely will be the two teams at the front of the line” for Deshaun Watson

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

Silence persists regarding Deshaun Watson situation - PFT
Peter King offered up some rough odds in his latest Football Morning in America column. And it’s clear that he’s been hearing the same things we’ve been hearing: Watch the Eagles. [...] As we see it in light of the ongoing silence, here are the current odds for Watson for 2021: 4-1 Dolphins, 5-1 Eagles, 7-1 Texans (on Commissioner Exempt list and not playing), 8-1 Panthers, 10-1 Washington, 12-1 Broncos, 20-1 field, 50-1 Texans (actually playing). Even if the litigation is resolved, Watson will surely serve a suspension, under the same reasoning that applied to Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in 2010. But teams will likely make a move if/when the lawsuits are resolved. If they’re resolved before the start of training camp, Watson will become available — and the Dolphins and Eagles likely will be the two teams at the front of the line, in our view.

NFL Source: QB Deshaun Watson Trade From Texans To Eagles ‘Still In Play’ And ‘The Smartest Bet’ - Sports Illustrated
From what we know, the asking/offering price between Philly and Houston might have changed. But our source tells us now that the interest has never waned - and confirms King’s “gut feeling’’ that the Eagles are the smartest bet. “The idea,’’ the source tells us, “is still in play.’’ [...] It has been speculated that a Watson trade may be months away. It’s even been speculated that a swap is “impossible.’’ We’re not sure that is so. But this we know: The Philadelphia Eagles’ interest in trading for Deshaun Watson remains in play.

Mailbag: Our Eagles ‘hindsight’ draft, and the best steals / worst reaches of 2021 - PhillyVoice
With the disclaimer that the facts of his case aren’t fully known and I reserve the right to change my opinion on this in the future, from a pure age/cost/talent perspective, Watson is way out in front of everyone. Then I’d say Wilson, followed by Rodgers. Cousins is better than Garoppolo, but I wouldn’t want either of them to be the starting quarterback of my team, so they don’t even make the cut. And before anyone points out Cousins’ stats, let me take a moment to interrupt you by saying that I don’t care and I’m not interested.

Are They Better? - Iggles Blitz
QB – We can’t judge this right now. Jalen Hurts is a mystery. He’s got a veteran backup in Joe Flacco who the Eagles think will be better now that he’s fully healthy. It seems absurd that this pair could be an upgrade at QB, but you have to understand just how awful Wentz was last year. Here is a new report from FO on Wentz and interceptions last season. Wentz didn’t just struggle a bit. He was historically bad. Hurts has a low bar to beat to show improved QB play.

Roob’s 10 Observations: A crazy Jalen Hurts stat and more - NBCSP
2. When I was working on a column about Jalen Hurts a few days ago I was struck by some eye-opening stats regarding Hurts’ downfield passing. Using the Stathead NFL number cruncher, I discovered that Hurts’ 13.8 yards per completion last year was highest among all NFL quarterbacks (minimum 100 attempts) by more than a yard. Deshaun Watson was second at 12.63. Carson Wentz was 32nd at 10.4, or nearly 3 ½ yards per completion less than Hurts. That 13.8 mark is also 2nd-highest in NFL history by a rookie, behind only Michael Vick’s ridiculous 15.7 figure in 2001. A lot has been made of Hurts’ NFL-low 52 percent completion percentage, and that’s a concern. But when your average completion is going nearly 14 yards - the NFL average last year was 11.1 (lowest in NFL history) - that 52 percent figure makes a lot more sense.

DeVonta Smith thought “for sure” he would be a Giant - Big Blue View
Once the Carolina Panthers bypassed him at No. 8 in the 2021 NFL Draft, DeVonta Smith began envisioning standing on the draft stage in Cleveland wearing a New York Giants cap and holding a blue No. 1 jersey while greeting Commissioner Roger Goodell. “I thought Carolina was going to draft me,” Smith told [Chris] Long (via NBC Sports Philadelphia). “That’s who I thought. I knew of course the Giants, but it was all about, You have to get to 11. I knew if I was there at 11, I was for sure going to the Giants.” The Philadelphia Eagles, of course, had other ideas. They moved No. 12 to No. 10 in a deal with the Dallas Cowboys to select the Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver.

6 things to know about new Eagles running back Kerryon Johnson - BGN
“Johnson came into Detroit with much fanfare. Lions fans fell in love with him immediately on draft night and doubled down on that emotion at camp. For a minute it looked like Johnson was going to be the guy that finally shored up the Lions run game woes that they’ve had since Barry Sanders retired. In his third game with the Lions, he broke a 100-yard rusher streak that had been going since 2013 when Reggie Bush was the Lions’ running back. Two weeks later he flexed all over the Dolphins for 158 yards and the love for him was at a fever pitch. He was the guy and everyone knew it. Four weeks later he sprained his knee against the Panthers and was never the same again. He missed the last six games of the year and then again in 2019 he missed another eight weeks when he hurt the same knee again and needed surgery. In 2020 it felt like he wasn’t even on the team. He had just 52 carries for 181 yards the whole year. He did show that he could pass block though. Sadly he added himself to a long list of Lions running backs that were in fact, not the guy.”

Kerryon Johnson: ‘I have to go out there and prove it every single day’ - PE.com
“I like every running play where we get the ball,” Johnson said, chuckling. “Any play that they can give the running backs the ball, that is my type of play. But you know, they have a very good offensive line here and have had a good offensive line for years here ... I’m excited to get with those guys. It doesn’t matter what running play I like. If they don’t block it, I don’t get yards. They have plays that they love to block, that they love to run, that’s what I’ll work on to get better at and that’s what we’ll run. It all stems from the five guys up front and obviously including the tight ends as well. Whatever running play they like, I’ll like it more.”

Aggressiveness Index 2020 - Football Outsiders
Aggressiveness Index comes out with Kliff Kingsbury of Arizona as the most aggressive head coach of 2020, at least when compared to historical averages. Kingsbury’s AI of 3.12 is the second highest ever measured, trailing only John Harbaugh’s 3.95 in 2019. Doug Pederson’s AI of 2.64 is the third highest ever measured. 11 of the 20 historical seasons over 2.0 (minimum 60 opportunities) have taken place since 2018.

Looking at the 2021 Cowboys opponents by opposing quarterbacks is an interesting exercise - Blogging The Boys
Beyond that hypothetical though, the obviously scary ones are Mahomes, Brady, Herbert, and Murray. It is expected that Dallas’ defense will be better in 2021 - partly because it would be difficult to be that bad again - but they will have opportunities against some lower-quality quarterbacks like Derek Carr, Sam Darnold, and others to prove their worth. How does looking at the team’s opponents by quarterbacks make you feel? We all have some level of trust in the Cowboys offense to get things done, barring some sort of catastrophe, do you think the defense can hold their own against this group enough times to be a contender?

Tim Tebow will be a bigger distraction to the Jaguars than he’s worth - SB Nation
The heart wants what the heart wants, or so the cheesy phrase goes — and when it comes to Urban Meyer, he wanted Tim Tebow. Now, the Jacksonville Jaguars are signing the 33-year-old quarterback, turned baseball player, turned broadcaster, and turning him into a tight end. Why? Nobody knows. Does it makes sense? Absolutely not. Is it going to end poorly? Yeah, probably. Tebow returning to the NFL after a six year hiatus is unquestionably the weirdest, and dumbest signing of the offseason. A move that makes functionally no sense, almost assuredly won’t make the Jaguars a better team, while welcoming unneeded outside pressure to the beginning of Trevor Lawrence’s tenure. With so many questions on why the Jaguars made this decision, Meyer didn’t really have a great answer, other than the nebulous “I’m here to win games” platitude, which every coach offers.

Off Day Debrief #36: Building the Perfect 17-Game Schedule - The SB Nation NFL Show
RJ Ochoa fills in for Stats and aids Brandon Lee Gowton in building the perfect 17-game schedule for the 2021 NFL Season!

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