Eagles News: Philadelphia’s most underrated player

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The most underrated player on all 32 NFL teams - PFF
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: S Anthony Harris. It was a tough market for safeties this offseason. Even so, Anthony Harris failing to sign anything better than a one-year $5 million deal (that’s actually for one year and $4 million with another million of incentives) shows that he remains criminally underrated. Harris isn’t coming off his best season, but he still has 10 interceptions and 14 pass breakups over the past three campaigns.

PFF ranks Jalen Hurts as the NFL’s second-worst starting quarterback - BGN
Is PFF being too harsh on Hurts, though? Perhaps not after seeing how a variety of numbers certainly don’t paint the Eagles’ second-year quarterback in a favorable light. Hurts ranked 40th out of 42 quarterbacks graded by PFF. Hurts ranked 31st out of 37 quarterbacks in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric. Among qualified quarterbacks, Drew Lock led the NFL in bad throws (22.9%) and ranked last in on target throws (68.9%) last year. Hurts was significantly worse in those categories (26.7% and 60.7%). Hurts completed just 52% of his attempts. For perspective on how low that number is, Drew Lock ranked last out of 35 qualified quarterbacks with a 57.3% completion percentage.

Off Day Debrief #37: The return of the 100% accurate Power Rankings! - The SB Nation NFL Show
Rob “Stats” Guerrera and Brandon Lee Gowton reunite after a month apart to rank the teams in the NFL now that we’re through free agency and the NFL Draft. Why the Chargers are the 3rd best team in the league with Michael Peterson of Bolts from the Blue. Why too many people are sleeping on the Washington Football Team. Could the wheels fall off for the Seahawks this year? Are the Ravens handling Lamar Jackson the right way, and more!

Preseason All-NFC East team: Defense edition - PhillyVoice
Cornerback: James Bradberry, Giants, Kendall Fuller, Football Team, Darius Slay, Eagles. Like Martinez above, Bradberry was a good free agent signing with the Giants last year, earning his first Pro Bowl nod. Fuller is a solid, productive vet, who had four INTs and 11 PBUs in 2020. Slay got cooked in a couple games (vs. Davante Adams and DK Metcalf), but he also probably had the most difficult assignments in the division over the course of last season.

Eagles Add a CB - Iggles Blitz
Do not look at this as Howie Roseman thinking he’s solved the CB issue. The Eagles need CBs who can come in and compete for roster spots and playing time. Scott could compete with Maddox for the nickel spot. Or maybe Scott plays inside and Maddox then battles with rookie Zech McPhearson for the #2 outside spot. Scott isn’t here to be the answer. He is here to compete. The Eagles obviously liked him last spring. They had no preseason tape to study and Scott didn’t play much as a rookie. This move is based on the draft grade they had on him a year ago. The Eagles saw ability and potential. They must feel he will be a good fit in Jonathan Gannon’s defense. I look at Scott and see an overachiever type. He was a Top 80 CB coming out of high school. That’s solid, but nothing special. He earned a starting job as a freshman and started all three years at Michigan State. He’s not compelling in any way, but started on a good defense while going against elite competition. That’s not luck or an accident.

Eagles mailbag: What must Jalen Hurts do to keep Philadelphia’s starting QB job? - The Athletic
The easy answer is that the Eagles started 11 offensive linemen last season, Mailata has an injury history and a quality backup at that spot is more valuable than a Day 3 pick, which is probably the best the Eagles would be able to secure for Dillard if they traded him after a competition in training camp. Dillard has little game experience, so perhaps all he needs is an opportunity in games. I’m dubious the Eagles would have Dillard on the roster as a reserve, though. After trading up to acquire him in 2019, Dillard should be in the lineup by Year 3. If he’s not, I think Howie Roseman would sooner try to trade him and get some type of value than have Dillard on the bench. Plus, he’s not a swing tackle — he was uncomfortable at right tackle. That would limit his value as a reserve. Perhaps Dillard in Year 3 will be different from the player in 2019, so this is all speculative. And he might prove to be the better option in the starting lineup. But I’d trade him before making him a backup.

Meet Eagles youngest position coach with overwhelming passion for football - NBCSP
A few weeks after the Eagles finalized their new staff, head coach Nick Sirianni sent a text message to Vikings linebackers coach Adam Zimmer, a former colleague. “How much do you love Nick Rallis?” Sirianni wrote. The Eagles had just hired Rallis away from the Minnesota Vikings, where he was a fast-rising assistant linebackers coach. Despite his age, the Eagles thought he was ready for the next step. And Zimmer agrees. Even though he’s not happy to be losing him. “Yeah, I’m going to miss him,” Zimmer replied. Rallis (RAWL-iss) was born on July 13, 1993, which makes him just 27 years old. That seems pretty shocking, for a 27-year-old to be leading an entire position group of professional athletes.

Report: Jaguars send Josiah Scott to Eagles for Jameson Houston and sixth-round pick - Big Cat Country
Scott, originally selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, played in just six games last season, tallying 80 snaps. He would accumulate 11 tackles (10 solo) and one tackle for loss on the year. He would primarily man the team’s nickel position and was put into game action due to a slew of injuries at the position. Drafted out of Michigan State, Scott was thought to eventually become the team’s starting nickel after former Jaguars nickel, D.J. Hayden’s contract lapses this season. His athleticism, running a 4.42 40-yard dash, and physicality were seen on display during training camp in 2020. Scott is the first Jaguars draft pick from the 2020 class to no longer be with the team. Jacksonville had three fourth-round selections last season, spending the second of the three on Scott at pick No. 137.

Eagles opened modified offseason program Tuesday - PE.com
“Our goal is to keep building. So up to this point, we’ve had a lot of great time with our players virtually teaching them our schemes,” Sirianni said. “So now what we’re doing is taking that out onto the field, focusing in on the fundamentals, while taking what was learned virtually and getting the reps in person. It’s one thing to talk about it and see it virtually, but it’s another thing to get out there and go through it physically. So that’s what our focus is these next three weeks and then we’ll pick back up once we get back for Training Camp in July.”

NFC East burning questions: Can Dak Prescott return to form? Will Daniel Jones step up? Four key storylines - CBS Sports
A lot of people are making a couple of big assumptions about the Cowboys: 1.) That Prescott, who was on pace to be an MVP candidate before breaking his ankle in 2020, will have a seamless transition back into the lineup; and 2.) That Dallas’ talent on paper will translate to on-field results. The latter is seemingly an annual issue in Arlington, where the Cowboys have struggled to hit their perceived ceiling regardless of who’s manning the sidelines. But the biggest X factor regarding the 2021 team remains Prescott.

PFF ranked Dak Prescott just outside of the top five for all 32 starting quarterbacks - Blogging The Boys
The only quarterbacks who I would undoubtedly take over Prescott today, in terms of building a team for the future so factoring in age, are Mahomes, Rodgers, and Allen. Tom Brady is Tom Brady, but again we are factoring in age here, and then the competition really begins in my eyes.

PFF 2021 quarterback rankings: Daniel Jones ranked 20th in the NFL - Big Blue View
Stepping away from PFF for a moment, we have to acknowledge that 2020 was a disappointing season by any measure for Daniel Jones. The Giants came into the season expecting Jones to take a step forward from his rookie year, but he suffered an injury, saw his touchdown percentage drop, was sacked 45 times (not all of which is on the offensive line) and his ANY/A (adjusted net yards per attempt, which take touchdowns, interceptions, and sacks into account) drop from a bad 5.38 as a rookie to a terrible 4.92. As PFF points out, Jones continued to make turnover-worthy plays, with many of the bad habits he got away with as a rookie (such as locking onto and staring down targets or attempting passes he just shouldn’t) catching up to him in his second season.

On letting Ryan Kerrigan go and grooming talent for the future - Hogs Haven
With Ryan Kerrigan’s signing by Philadelphia official now, it seems like a good time to reflect on a couple of key features of his departure. On the last year of his contract in 2020, there was some question about whether the team was going to keep Kerrigan and his $11.7M, non-guaranteed contract around. Coach Rivera ultimately retained Kerrigan, albeit in a part-time role, while Montez Sweat and rookie Chase Young assumed their mantles on either side of the defensive line. At the end of the season, Kerrigan expressed his interest in retaining a starting role (and, presumably, the salary that would come with that), and Rivera passed on re-signing the veteran. At the time, there was a significant portion of the fan base that hoped Kerrigan would be brought back, but it never felt to me like that was in the cards, given Rivera’s moves to get younger, and hungrier. It’s now come out that was likely the case.

Adam Schein Considers New Colts QB Carson Wentz a ‘Dark Horse’ 2021 NFL MVP Candidate - Stampede Blue
If it doesn’t happen in Indianapolis during 2021, it simply not happen again for the former 2016 2nd overall pick and 2017 NFL Second-Team All-Pro—who still only 28 years old, was once considered one of the league’s top young quarterbacks. Because that’s about as good as it’s going to get for a quarterback to thrive, aside from throwing to the likes of Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark of course. However, there’s definite reason for real optimism in Indy regarding Wentz because by being surrounded by a solid all-around supporting act (something that in Philly was recently lacking), he could re-cast his MVP self again.

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