Eagles News: Can Jonathan Gannon maximize Philadelphia’s defensive talent?

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Big Year for Gannon - Iggles Blitz
Sheil Kapadia shared some of his thoughts on the defense. The Eagles played a high percentage of zone coverage last year and blitzed at the fourth-lowest rate, as first-year defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon prioritized stopping explosive plays above all else. But opponents completed 70 percent of their passes against the Eagles—the worst mark of any defense over the past two seasons. In terms of talent, this is a top-10 group. But Gannon needs to prove he can maximize the personnel available to him. Sheil projected the Eagles as the #15 defense in the league heading into this season. Of course, that was before the CGJ trade. He might have them even higher now. When we talk about Gannon needing to be more creative and aggressive, this isn’t a call for him to run The 46 Defense or some elaborate scheme. He needs to do a better job of mixing up man and zone coverage. He needs to let his corners play more press coverage. Gannon must do a better job of disguising coverages before the snap. If you line up in static looks and then play passively, good QBs are going to eat you alive.

10 Eagles predictions heading into the 2022 NFL season - PhillyVoice
Any decent quarterback was able to pick apart Jonathan Gannon’s soft coverage defense last season. Of course, the Eagles’ personnel on defense is much better in 2022 than it was in 2021, so even if nothing changes within Gannon’s scheme, the defense will be better. Ideally though, lessons will be learned from that milquetoast approach in 2022.

How all 32 NFL teams can win Super Bowl LVII - ESPN+
17. 17. Philadelphia Eagles. The first team on this list to project as favorites to make it to the postseason, the Eagles enter the season as one of the trendier long shot Super Bowl selections on the market. It’s not difficult to understand, as the Eagles aced this offseason, return a roster that won six of its seven final meaningful games during the regular season and can dream on a third-year breakout for quarterback Jalen Hurts. gain, though, I wonder whether Philadelphia’s ceiling might be more defined by the defense. The Eagles ranked 25th in the league in defensive DVOA a year ago before adding five new regulars in defensive backs James Bradberry and C.J. Gardner-Johnson and front-seven players Haason Reddick, Kyzir White and first-round pick Jordan Davis. Second-year coordinator Jonathan Gannon is blessed with a deep defensive line and two excellent cover corners. If he can improve what’s in the middle at linebacker and safety, the Eagles could be one of the best teams in the league.

How it’s going for the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles - BGN
Let the good times roll. If in June you drew up a best case scenario for the Eagles by 53-man roster cutdowns, it wouldn’t look much different than what has happened: Stocks trended up, young players improved, veterans looked mostly as advertised, and the team is healthy. I’m not a gambling man, but our friends at Draft Kings put the Eagles over/under at 9.5, and given the improvements we’ve seen so far, and their schedule, I’d easily take the over.

The QB Factory Reboot #63: Michael Kist on expectations for the Birds, Jalen Hurts’ biggest weakness + defensive players looking forward to seeing - BGN Radio
Raichele Privette and Mark Schofield are joined by BGN legend and SB Nation Executive Producer for Team Community Podcasts, Michael Kist. The three discuss expectations for Jalen Hurts and the Eagles this season, what success looks like for Jared Goff and defensive players that they are looking forward to seeing most.

QB Rankings - The Ringer
QB21) Jalen Hurts. Hurts already seems to have a good grasp on the offense. The Eagles gave him some pre-snap responsibilities during his second season, allowing him to check in and out of runs, and he pulled the right strings for the most part. As things stand, Hurts is an asset on his cheap rookie deal, but he’ll need to take another step forward as a passer if he’s going to earn a big second contract. [...] If Hurts was willing to stick in the pocket for a second or two longer, his decision-making would improve. Every game, there’s at least one example of the young quarterback dropping his eyes to react to pressure while a receiver runs uncovered downfield.

After Howie Roseman’s excellent offseason, one question remains for the Eagles - Inquirer
Of course, the bigger question is how good the defense needs to be. And that, finally, brings us back to our Big Unknown. It all comes down to the quarterback, doesn’t it? He is the only reason to wonder. Offensively, the Eagles have as much talent as any team in the league. Brown is a top-10 talent at wide receiver. Smith has the potential to be the same. Likewise for Dallas Goedert at tight end. Running backs are a function of the offensive line, and that unit is widely regarded as one of the top two or three in the game. If you plugged any of a number of quarterbacks into this equation, the expectation would be an offense that can win a title on its own. The only question is whether Jalen Hurts can become a member of that group. So, there. I guess I said it. That’s the honest take. Don’t blame me. Blame the roster the Eagles have assembled. Barring injuries, there doesn’t seem to be a ton else that can go wrong. The Eagles are better than they were last year. Much, much better. Beyond that, what can you say except that the quarterback is what matters?

Previewing Bengals, Eagles, Bucs Offensive Lines - Football Outsiders
The primary reason for watching the Eagles this year is that I always try to pick at least one offensive line that I think is going to be really good. It can be a long season if you’re watching crappy offensive line play for 18 weeks, and Philadelphia certainly has that potential to be a really good unit. Plus, it’s fun to watch teams that do some quarterback run stuff since that adds a nice wrinkle in the ground game. For the Eagles, it starts in the middle with center Jason Kelce. He has been the stalwart up front for over a decade and has made multiple All-Pro teams. He’s one of the best in the league. On either side of Kelce, Philly has Landon Dickerson and Isaac Seumalo. Dickerson started most of the season as a rookie last year and played pretty well from all reports. Seumalo is coming off of season-ending surgery and is probably the biggest question mark on the Eagles line. Kelce is the heart and soul of the unit, but it wouldn’t be a stretch at all to say right tackle Lane Johnson is the best player, and that’s not meant as a slight at all against Kelce. Johnson is simply one of the very best offensive linemen in the NFL. One of the best athletes to ever play the position, Johnson has been very good throughout his career when he has been healthy, though he has missed 23 games over the past three years. The left tackle is the mammoth Jordan Mailata. At 6-foot-8 and 365 pounds, he’s one of the biggest players in the league. He moves well for a man of that size too, and he’s someone I’m really looking forward to being able to see more of.

Eagles mailbag: Predicting team MVPs for 2022 - NBCSP
This is fun. Let’s start with the offense. My pick would be A.J. Brown. I knew he was a good player in Tennessee but getting to see him all summer, it was clear that he’s a special player, the kind of player the Eagles haven’t had in quite some time. Now, if Brown has a tremendous season, that likely means Jalen Hurts has improved too and the QB is often in the lead for any kind of MVP vote. But this could be a case of Brown really helping to raise the play of the quarterback. He’s that good. And as long as he stays healthy, there’s no reason to think he won’t be a Pro Bowl player in his first season with the team. He will give that passing offense a much-needed boost.

Detroit Lions sell out Week 1 game vs. Eagles; offering standing-room tickets - Pride Of Detroit
Last year, the Detroit Lions had the lowest average home attendance of any NFL team, averaging just 51,522 people in attendance. That figure represented the lowest figure since the team’s 2010 season. However, 2022 is off to a much more promising start. With the hype of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” an improved roster, and a charismatic head coach, the Lions have sold out Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, a team source told Pride of Detroit.

Spadaro: Last year’s Lions matchup means nothing - PE.com
Don’t allow yourself to think about the past when it comes to Sunday’s Eagles’ regular season-opening game in Detroit. How the Lions have performed in the past and the result of last season’s Eagles’ win in Detroit don’t apply here. The truth is, that the Eagles were a playoff team in 2021 doesn’t apply to 2022. New year. New NFL. That’s just the way it is. And so the Lions are a team heading in the right direction. In Head Coach Dan Campbell’s first season, the Lions lost a series of close games (19-17 to Baltimore, 19-17 to Minnesota, 28-19 to the Rams) before it all came crashing down in Philadelphia’s 44-6 win in Week 8. That was the low point in the season, because after that Detroit tied Pittsburgh and then narrowly lost to Cleveland and Chicago before winning its first game of the season against Minnesota to kick off a 3-3 close to the campaign. Now? Detroit had the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and chose game-changing defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who has drawn rave reviews in Detroit this summer. A later first-round pick, wide receiver Jameson Williams, was the highest-rated at his position heading into the draft and, while he won’t play in Week 1, is expected to be a dynamic player at this level.

Former NFL offensive lineman Guy Morriss dies at 71 - PFT
The Eagles made Morriss a second-round draft choice in 1973 out of TCU, and he spent 11 seasons as the team’s center before finishing his NFL career with the Patriots. Morriss played four seasons in New England.

3 reasons why the Dallas Cowboys could go 11-6 - Blogging The Boys
1. Kellen Moore elevates his play-calling to a Sean McVay level. Kellen Moore is heading into his fourth season as offensive coordinator. It’s time for him to step it up. The reason why head coach Mike McCarthy kept Moore on his staff is because of continuity. McCarthy knows how important it is for a quarterback to stay in the same system from year to year with his development. In the three seasons that quarterback Dak Prescott has had Moore as his OC, he totaled 11,207 passing yards, 76 touchdowns, 25 interceptions, and a career-high completion percentage in 2021 with 68.8, which ranked fourth in the league. It’s safe to say that Moore has been Prescott’s best friend. In 2022, the OC needs to be everyone’s best friend. The Cowboy’s offense was the best in the league in many statistical categories. However, after their Week 6 victory over the New England Patriots, the No. 1 offense seemed to lose its juice. Sure, the team beat up on bad teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Commanders, and the Atlanta Falcons. When it came time to face playoff-contending teams, Moore didn’t seem to have the answers.

NFL power rankings 2022: Giants No. 28 in aggregated Week 1 rankings - Big Blue View
The 2022 NFL season is upon us. That means so are weekly NFL power rankings, which have not been kind to your New York Giants for many many moons now. They probably aren’t going to be kind this time around, either. This week, we have aggregated nine power rankings and the averaged ranking for your Giants is No. 28. Let’s have a look as we build toward Sunday’s season-opening clash between the Giants and Tennessee Titans.

NFL Power Rankings: Carson Wentz and the Washington Commanders are starting the season near the bottom - Hogs Haven
The preseason is over and we’re officially in Week 1 mode as the Washington Commanders prepare to host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, September 11th at 1pm at FedEx Field. Washington played 3 preseason games, and didn’t show much...of anything. Carson Wentz was the Commanders big offseason splash, and the national media is not impressed to say the least. DraftKings has the Over/Under for Washington’s team win total at 8 this year, which would be a 1 game improvement on the typical Ron Rivera record in Washington. He has identified Year 3 as a critical year in the 5-year rebuild. There is a lot riding on Rivera’s bet that Carson Wentz is not only still a starting-level QB in this league, but that Dan Snyder was right and Washington finally has their QB.

NFL Season Preview 2022 - SB Nation
From new coaching hires to starting quarterback trades, and bold draft moves to free agency shakeups - the NFL offseason was packed full of dramatic changes and huge deals that have altered the landscape of the league heading into the 2022 season. Here’s how it started for each team this offseason, and how it’s going heading into Week 1.

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