Eagles News: “Few players got the kind of boost that Jalen Hurts did this offseason”

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

Fantasy Football: 8 players whose situation improved dramatically for 2022 - PFF
QB JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES. Speaking of his quarterback, few players got the kind of boost that Hurts did this offseason with the Brown addition. Hurts is already a fantasy cheat code due to his rushing ability — he ranked just 16th last year in PFF passing grade but 10th overall in PFF grade as well as fantasy points. He was even higher in points per game. Hurts left a lot of meat on the bone as a passer, often failing to even target open receivers, but Brown brings something completely different to the receiving corps — a dominant physical specimen who has the tools to make things happen with the ball in his hands. He has broken 40 tackles in three seasons while averaging over 6.0 yards after the catch. Brown will present Hurts with a completely different type of target than he has had to work with so far in his career, and those differences may make the Eagles QB a little more ready to put the ball in the air and take some chances. If he does that, he could emerge as a real top quarterback.

What NFL analyst and Hall-of-Fame QB wants to see Eagles’ Jalen Hurts improve on this season - NJ.com
One of the people who have watched Hurts closely is NFL Network analyst and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. Warner told NJ Advance Media that Hurts brings a lot to the table at the quarterback position but wants to see him develop specifically in one area. “I think the hope is that he gets more comfortable playing on schedule in the pocket,” Warner told NJ Advance Media. “I think what we know about Jalen is that his skill set lends itself to their run game, the zone reads, and his ability to create and make big plays. But I always believe that all of these quarterbacks, come playoff time, have to be able to play inside the pocket. They have to be able to play on schedule, make the layups, and then allow their special skill set to be special. That’s the area that he has to improve.”

Philadelphia Eagles training camp preview: Can Jalen Hurts take the next step? - ESPN
Who’s the player with the most to prove? Receiver Jalen Reagor. His first two years in the league have not gone as hoped, with Reagor totaling 64 catches for 695 yards and three touchdowns over 28 games. Expectations for first-round picks are always high and were knocked out of whack when the Eagles selected him ahead of receiver Justin Jefferson, who took off immediately for the Minnesota Vikings and is well on his way to becoming a star in the league. Reagor enters his third season having to fight for a role on the team. Brown and DeVonta Smith are wide receivers 1 and 1A, followed by Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal, a Sirianni favorite. Reagor is still only 23 years old and has a lot of ability. But the clock is ticking for him to put it all together in an Eagles uniform.

Jeff Lurie has spoiled generations of Eagles fans - BGN
The Miami Dolphins will wear a 50th-year commemorative patch on their jerseys this season. The Eagles won’t. That’s because 50 years ago, the undefeated Dolphins, arguably the greatest team in NFL history, went on to a 17-0 season and won Super Bowl VII in 1972. The Eagles’ 1972 team was arguably the worst in franchise history, finishing 2-11-1, with the largest point-differential in the 89-year history of the team, losing by an average of 14.8 points a game. Imagine sitting through that? It may make you reconsider each time you’re frothing at the mouth, looking to bite someone’s head off after an Eagles’ loss, or witnessing an errant Jalen Hurts pass, or DeVonta Smith drop, or Jason Kelce holding call, that it could always be worse. Because for many older Eagles fans, it was.

Eagles 2022 training camp: Locks, near-locks, bubble players, and longshots - PhillyVoice
This is really the group worth watching this summer, in terms of who’s going to make the team. Simple math above will show that the locks (34) plus the “near-locks” (13) equals 47, leaving six open spots on the final 53. These are the players jockeying for those six spots (or more, if some of the near-lock players falter).

Spadaro: A position-by-position Eagles Training Camp preview - PE.com
This is a room with talent and depth and, at the top with Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew, experience in winning games at the NFL level. There aren’t a lot of teams in the NFL that have two quarterbacks who have won in the league as have Hurts and Minshew. Hurts, of course, is the undisputed starter here for the second straight season, and he’s coming off a 2021 year in which he produced nearly 4,000 yards of offense and 26 total touchdowns. Minshew is the No. 2 and he showed his worth last season in the win over the Jets, completing 20 of 25 passes for 242 yards and a pair of scores. Behind those two veterans are a pair of young prospects who will get a lot of reps through the summer. The Eagles claimed Reid Sinnett off of waivers from Miami in late October after he spent most of two seasons there on the practice squad. Sinnett had a terrific career at the University of San Diego before signing with Tampa Bay as a non-drafted rookie in 2020. Carson Strong signed with the Eagles after the 2022 draft following a highly productive career at Nevada where Strong threw for more than 9,000 yards and 74 touchdowns. How many quarterbacks will the Eagles keep on the 53-man roster? That’s the question heading into Training Camp, where it is firmly established that Hurts is the starter, Minshew is the No. 2, and both Sinnett and Strong are hoping to show the coaches that they deserve a place on this roster.

Eagles mailbag: Breaking down linebackers going into training camp - NBCSP
It definitely feels like Taylor is the forgotten guy in this group. Edwards played so well last year and then the Eagles added White and Dean this offseason. It was a shame that Taylor got hurt last season and wasn’t able to return. Because he really could have used all those game reps he lost. When the Eagles drafted him in the third round back in 2020, they knew he was raw. After barely playing as a rookie, he was expected to be a starter for the second half of the 2021 season before he got hurt. Taylor will be on the roster in 2022 and while his role will likely be reduced from what it was before his injury last year, it’s a product of the depth at the position, not the Eagles’ feelings on him. And even though I penciled in White as the WILL on passing downs in the question above, Taylor should have an opportunity to wrestle away snaps. Because Taylor is super athletic and packs a solid punch for a guy know for his athleticism. I’m still intrigued by him.

The Cowboys championship window could just be opening, not slammed shut - Blogging The Boys
At this point last year, nobody knew Micah Parsons would be an emerging star in the NFL, or that Terence Steele was a capable starting right tackle. Now it’s finally time to evaluate this roster fairly from a football perspective, being led by coaches that feel the collective pressure to build on last year’s playoff berth. The Cowboys have not been a playoff team in consecutive seasons since 2006-07, so starting off as clear division favorites again is a decent starting point. What they do with it will be incredibly telling in retrospect, when looking back at how much was truly lost when the team failed to defend home field at AT&T Stadium in last year’s playoffs.

Giants 53-man roster projection: A pre-training camp guess at the season-opening roster - Big Blue View
Having watched the first seasons of Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and now Brian Daboll as head coach of the New York Giants, there is one thing I know for certain. When it comes to predicting the shape of the season-opening 53-man roster we know almost nothing. New coaches — and new general managers — have no track record. We don’t know exactly how they view many of the players held over from the previous regime. We don’t know exactly what they are looking for in depth players. Even having watched spring practices, we don’t know precisely who fits — and doesn’t fit — the schemes the team wants to implement. There will almost certainly be some stunning moves as the Giants shape their roster. There will probably be a bunch of shuffling after ‘final’ cuts to 53, once GM Joe Schoen sees which veteran players are cut loose by other NFL teams.

Commanders depth chart ahead of training camp - Hogs Haven
Some teams have a very clear x, y, z structure for their top 3 wide receivers. That’s not necessarily the case in Washington. Scott Turner has a lot of flexibility in his offensive alignments. Curtis Samuel can play both slot and out wide. In his best season as a pro (in Carolina), he was used primarily in the slot, but that was in 2020, when Ron Rivera and Scott Turner were coaching in Washington. Jahan Dotson spend OTAs and minicamp lined up on the outside, but that was in practices without Terry McLaurin. Dotson has the speed to stretch the field, but also has the attributes of a slot receiver. Interestingly, McLaurin, who mostly lines up wide, has been very productive in his limited snaps as a slot receiver. Both Gibson and McKissic have the ability to line up as receivers — usually in the slot, and Scott Turner likes to use tight ends in motion in both the running and passing game, and he frequently aligns TEs as slot receivers.

Roster Moves: Jaguars sign QB Kyle Sloter, release QB EJ Perry - Jaguars
[BLG Note: Perry was originally set to join the Eagles as a UDFA signing but ended up in Jacksonville instead.]

Nick Chubb squats a mindblowing 610 pounds on a Tsunami Bar - SB Nation
Like clockwork we have another incredible “Nick Chubb lifting ludicrous amounts” video. These always pop up during the offseason and increase in frequency until the start of training camp, and they somehow keep getting more and more amazing.

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