Eagles News: Two of the projected top 10 games of the 2023 season feature Philadelphia

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

Top 10 games of the 2023 NFL season: Bengals-Chiefs, Cowboys-49ers among tantalizing matchups - NFL.com
5) Aaron Rodgers is now a Jet — and what better way to test his new squad than by matching it up with the defending NFC champs? Much of New York’s surprising success last season relied on its defense, which kept games within reach even when the Jets weren’t receiving adequate quarterback play. That’s no longer a concern with Rodgers, at least not on paper. The Jets will likely need every bit of their offensive firepower to keep pace with the incredibly talented Eagles. Rodgers had to leave early when the Packers faced Jalen Hurts and the Eagles last season, and he’ll presumably be eager for another shot at the rising young star. A motivated Rodgers versus the recently extended Hurts? Say no more. 1) Three words: Super Bowl rematch. One of the greatest title bouts in NFL history ended on a disappointing note, but unlike some past Super Bowl dance partners, both of these teams are on track to get right back to the biggest stage in football. We have every reason to believe there’s at least a somewhat decent chance of seeing an actual Super Bowl rematch in Las Vegas next February, but thanks to the alignment of the scheduling stars, we don’t have to wait that long. This game is an absolute must-watch, one you’ll hear plenty about, because it’s a clash of titans unseen in some time. Need proof? Snuggle up and watch the Super Bowl LVII replay. [BLG Note: Didn’t expect to see the Jets matchup make the list.]

Eagles Film Review: Nolan Smith can be useful in so many different ways - BGN
Smith will be in a great situation because he will likely never get chipped or doubled in his first year or two because of how talented the Eagles are upfront. I prefer him as an EDGE defender in the Eagles’ 5-man fronts and more of a moveable off-ball linebacker in 4-man fronts rather than a strict defensive end (except for obvious pass-rushing situations). I would be so disappointed if the Eagles just lined up Smith as an every-down pass rusher. He should be used in coverage, used on exotic blitzes, used in stunts etc. The Eagles should be creative with him and take advantage of his athletic profile and not expect him to beat really good pass-blocking tackles on a one-on-one basis consistently.

The NFC East Mixtape Vol.110: Post Draft Team Assessment - BGN Radio
RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton provide their overall assessment for the draft class for each team in the division and pick a draft pick that they are bummed that each team made.

Most improved defensive lines after the 2023 NFL Draft: Bears, Eagles bolster their defensive front - PFF
The Eagles used their two first-round picks on defensive linemen, landing Georgia’s Jalen Carter with Pick 9 and Nolan Smith with Pick 30. Carter is coming off a season in which he produced a PFF grade of 92.3, leading all Power Five players on the defensive interior. Smith might be undersized, but he was still productive enough to be the 13th-ranked player on the PFF big board. He earned a 90.0 PFF run-defense grade over the past two seasons. Philadelphia closed out its draft with Texas’ Moro Ojomo, another top-100 player on the PFF big board. Ojomo was tremendous against the run at Texas, producing a 91.4 PFF run-defense grade in 2022. Even if he never develops as a pass-rusher, this was still a worthwhile selection in the seventh round.

The truth about the Jonathan Gannon tampering situation, if it gets out, could force big changes to the hiring cycle - PFT
The official story is that the Cardinals self-reported the ensuing violation. I still don’t buy it. I believe the Eagles conducted an internal investigation, and that they quickly found digital footprints showing that Gannon had been, for example, lining up potential members of his coaching staff and/or working on an outline of the points to make during his day-after-the-Super-Bowl presentation to the Cardinals. Every minute spent preparing for the interview he knew would happen is one less minute that was available for preparing to stop Kansas City’s offense in the Super Bowl. Gannon failed, for example, to fix obvious struggles when it comes to dealing with motion and shifts. Even if he still would have failed to button up a fairly glaring flaw in the Philly defense — a flaw that the Chiefs exploited with two key second-half touchdowns — the idea that Gannon spent X hours preparing for his next job in lieu of devoting that time to finishing up his current one would prompt outrage among Eagles fans. And it quite possibly could create a critical mass of fans across the sport who demand that the rules immediately change.

2024 Compensatory Picks Update (5/2/2022) - Over The Cap
This list is dominated by two teams, and the list is underrating that domination due to the limit of one team being awarded a maximum of four compensatory picks per draft. Those teams are the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, who each saw a total of nine compensatory free agents depart for other teams. In the case of the Eagles, they didn’t even make a single signing that would qualify for compensatory free agent status, even though they had five free opportunities to do so without going down below four comp picks. As far as I know, the net loss of nine CFAs is a record for greatest net loss ever. This should net the Eagles a 3rd, a 5th, a borderline 5th/6th, and a 6th.

Source: Browns add safety Rodney McLeod to secondary - ESPN
The Cleveland Browns have agreed to terms with veteran safety Rodney McLeod, a source told ESPN on Thursday. McLeod will likely step into a key backup role in the Cleveland secondary behind starting safeties Grant Delpit and Juan Thornhill, whom the Browns signed earlier in free agency. McLeod enjoyed a rejuvenation in his 11th NFL season in 2022, emerging in his first season with the Indianapolis Colts as a key member of one of the league’s underrated defenses. He registered career highs in pass deflections (8) and tackles for losses (8) and was the team’s third-leading tackler with 96 stops.

Report: Cowboys Micah Parsons not participating in voluntary workouts for a big reason - Blogging The Boys
It looks like the debate as to whether Micah Parsons is a linebacker or a defensive end has come to a close. When the Dallas Cowboys drafted Parsons, it was primarily to be a linebacker, the position he held down at Penn State. That was actually one of the reasons people were a little iffy on drafting him so early, off-ball linebackers are not considered worthy of premium picks in many draft circles. Early on in his career, an injury thrust Parsons into a defensive end role for a game, and ever since there has been debate around just how much he should be a linebacker, and how much he should be a defensive end. Today, we found out defensive end has won out as a full-time position.

The 5 O’Clock Club: Which draft pick would you steal from an NFC East rival? - Hogs Haven
Hogs Haven recently published an article that...(gag)...praised Eagles GM Howie Roseman. It’s not my fault; I didn’t write it. Still, the Eagles undoubtedly had a good draft, and Hogs Haven isn’t the only place to have published fawning reviews of what they accomplished last weekend.

Giants bring Oshane Ximines back on a 1-year deal, per report - Big Blue View
The New York Giants are bringing edge defender Oshane Ximines back on a one-year deal, per a report from Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. The Giants originally drafted the 26-year-old Queens native, out of Old Dominion in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He’s played in 45 games for the Giants with nine starts since being drafted. Ximines has yet to match his strong rookie year with 4.5 sacks and 9 quarterback hits, but has proved to be valuable depth. He played 506 snaps (51 percent) in 2022, with 4 starts over the course of the season. He was also an important special teams player, with 117 special teams snaps (28 percent).

AI-created NFL mascots, ranked from best to worst - SB Nation
We’re now living in the artificial intelligence era — and not always in the fun way. I don’t really worry about some existential, robot-led revolt like The Terminator, but man is it depressing to see dopes gleefully talk about which jobs can be phased out by A.I. without thinking about societal collapse. Anyway, enough world-ending dread for a second, because A.I. CAN ALSO CREATE MASCOTS! Who doesn’t love a good mascot? Who doesn’t love a bad mascot? We all love mascots, and when @GarryGates on Twitter asked A.I. to redesign every mascot in the NFL, we got a mix of adorable creatures that far surpass their NFL counterparts, and also “Newt” the Giants new mascot who I hate. Let’s dive in.

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