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Eagles News: Nick Sirianni featured in this week’s MMQB

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 5/17/21.

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Get to Know Nick Sirianni … and His Ways of Getting to Know the Eagles - MMQB
“That’s my family right there,” he says. “All educators who all married all educators.” Inside all of it, there’s the wiring for just who the Eagles hired to succeed Pederson. And the relationship-building we detailed above? It’s the starting point for where he hopes to take the team—the foundation for what’s ahead. “I kind of learned that early on in my life to be 100% honest,” Sirianni says. “My dad was a high school coach. He was the head football coach for nine years at our high school, and he was the head track coach for 41 years. That’s why I wanted to get into coaching, the relationships. And here’s really why—when I was growing up, these grown men would come with their kids just to say hi to Coach Sirianni, just to say hi to my dad and see him. “I always thought that was so cool, just the relationship my dad built with these players in the ’70s, early ’80s, where they were coming by to see him. That was just something that was on my mind, why I wanted to coach in the first place.” But he’s also learned since that there has to be more to it than just that, and that’s where we’ll dive into the other part of Philly’s offseason program, which will ramp up Monday morning.

Predicting final records for the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, and Football Team - BGN
The Cowboys are considered the division favorites. But is Dak Prescott going to be totally fine coming off a major injury? Will the Dallas offensive line hold up? Are we forgetting that Mike McCarthy isn’t a good head coach? RJ and I really disagreed on this one (surprise). RJ’s prediction: 12-5.

Special: Eagles Jersey Number Analytics Podcast, 2021 Edition - BGN Radio
The moment you’ve all been waiting for is finally here! Brandon Lee Gowton and Benjamin Solak got together to analyze the Eagles’ entire roster by going through every player’s jersey number and determining what it means for their outlook. It’s a very serious and incredibly important exercise.

An early look at what positions are strong in the 2022 NFL Draft - PhillyVoice
EDGE: 2021 was a weak pass rusher draft, as the first one off the board was Jaelen Phillips, at pick No. 18 to the Dolphins. It’s extraordinarily rare for the first edge rusher to come off the board in the back half of the first round. That almost certainly won’t happen in 2022, as the edge rusher talent could come off the board early and often. Like Stingley above, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux routinely lands in the top 5.

The UDFAs - Iggles Blitz
JaQuan Bailey: Tough. Productive. Bad athlete. Bailey had 44 TFLs, 25 sacks and 4 FFs in his career. He did that more with toughness and hustle than anything else. ISU runs a 3-3-5 defense and generally had Bailey as a DE. He was used to eat up blocks so that DBs and LBs could have better rush opportunities. Put on the Oklahoma game and you’ll see Bailey double-teamed a lot. He was triple-teamed on multiple plays. That wasn’t due to Bailey’s dominance, but rather ISU’s scheme, which at times is bend but don’t break and only rushes two or three guys. Bailey is undersized, but battled on every snap. He plays bigger than he is. Occasionally he was used as a LB. He dropped into coverage a couple of times, but didn’t look good in space. Bailey got the top signing bonus of the UDFAs so the Eagles must think he is worth taking a chance on. DEs with poor athleticism rarely pan out in the NFL so Bailey has an uphill battle. He will love coming to a true 4-3 scheme where he is actually allowed to attack up the field on a regular basis. Bailey does have a good motor and he will make his share of hustle plays. At the very least, he could develop into a good practice player.

Answering the 2021 NFL draft’s biggest questions: Experts debate favorite picks, top rookie classes, QBs, more - ESPN+
Give us a pick from Rounds 2-7 who will have some surprise value in fantasy this season. Matt Bowen, NFL analyst: Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Eagles. With his dual-threat ability, Gainwell has the receiving traits to be deployed in the pass game like Austin Ekeler. Release from the backfield, align in the slot or flex out wide. Look for the Eagles to use two-back personnel with both Gainwell and Miles Sanders on the field to create matchup advantages.

How an Eagles coach heavily influenced undrafted rookie Trevon Grimes to come to Philly - NJ.com
After Mr. Irrelevant was announced and the NFL Draft was closed, wide receiver Trevon Grimes suddenly found himself a free agent, looking for a team to join. Having his choice of destinations around the league, Grimes chose to sign with the Eagles, primarily because of his relationship with one of the coaches on the Eagles staff. Eagles quarterback coach Brian Johnson was Grimes’ offensive coordinator in Florida last season. During their time at Florida, the two became close, with Johnson seemingly acting as a mentor to Grimes. “Being in Florida with Coach Johnson was an amazing experience,” Grimes said. “He and I talked daily when I was at Florida, and the relationship hasn’t changed since I’ve been here. Our relationship is very tight. That bond was a factor in wanting to come here. I wanted to be closer with him, and it’s worked out well so far.”

Schedule No. 102,844 And The Nuttiness Around NFL’s Annual Slate - FMIA
Well, I see why the fan base would think the Eagles are taking a bad rap in scheduling this year. But to me it’s pretty easy. Philadelphia and Miami have two prime-time games because they’re coming off non-playoff years with iffy quarterback situations. How ironic. Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, Tide teammates before Hurts lost the job to Tua and chose to transfer, are the two quarterbacks of those franchises that the NFL is saying, “Prove it”.

Return of the PFT Mailbag - PFT
From @rational_yankee: Who should be favored to win the NFC East? ... DraftKings currently has the Cowboys as +125 favorites to win the division. The defending champions, Washington, have +260 odds. But while Dallas is favored to win the division, should they be? Washington quietly has improved this offseason, both via free agency and the draft. Could they have done more at the quarterback position? Sure. But they still should be better than they were last year. Whether their record reflects that is a different question. Finishing first in the NFC East last season means that they’ll play the Bills, Packers, and Seahawks while the Cowboys, who finished third, will face the Patriots, Vikings, and Cardinals. All teams in the division will play all teams of the AFC West and NFC South, which could result in the eventual champion once again having a sub.-500 record, especially since 8-8 is now off the table. Washington closes with five straight division games, including two against the Cowboys and two against the Eagles. That’s quite likely the stretch in which the NFC East will be decided.

Cowboys Micah Parsons getting plenty of play as Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 - Blogging The Boys
A couple of days ago, we looked again at the pick of Micah Parsons now that we are a couple of weeks away from the selection. Emotions can run pretty hot in the moment so it was a chance to look back with a little more detachment and try to objectively look at the selection. Given the state of the Dallas defense coming off the 2020 season, someone of Parsons’ ability should absolutely help. We’ve also learned that he will start off at the MIKE position, but there’s a level of flexibility to his game where he could be used in different spots. While the Cowboys fanbase and media have been debating the merits of taking Parsons, there is another discussion happening with national media and oddsmakers concerning the Cowboys first-round pick. That involves predicting who will win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2021. The lead dog in that race is none other than Micah Parsons.

Giants roster moves: Giants sign Kelvin Benjamin to play tight end - Big Blue View
Benjamin got off to a promising start, with 74 receptions for 1,008 yards (13.8 per catch) and 9 touchdowns as a rookie, following that up with 63 receptions for 941 yards (14.9 per catch) and 7 touchdowns in his second full season in 2016. However, those were the only two seasons in which Benjamin really lived up to his first round pedigree. He missed the Panthers’ trip to the Super Bowl following a torn ACL suffered in training camp befor the 2015 season. Benjamin was traded from the Panthers to the Buffalo Bills in October of 2017, catching just 48 passes total on the season. He was released by the Bills in December of 2018 following an abysmal season which saw him post the lowest catch rate in the NFL, but was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs two days later. He didn’t appear in any of the Chiefs’ play-off games that year and was cut following the 2018 season. This is a low-risk signing for the Giants as they see what the former first rounder can offer them.

NFL Daily Kickoff, Monday- Texans mum on Watson, still no Tebow deal in JAX - The SB Nation NFL Show
In today’s episode, the Texans Head Coach David Culley won’t say whether the team expects the see Deshaun Watson this offseason, Urban Meyer continues to stall in regards to Tim Tebow, and how many players will show up to work for Phase II of the offseason program?

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