Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...
Could one of these seven NFL teams finally celebrate first MVP in 2023? - NFL.com
Jalen Hurts. Last year’s MVP runner-up to Patrick Mahomes, Hurts is coming off a stellar campaign entering his age-25 season. One of the league’s fresh-faced new superstars, Hurts and his Eagles are hungry to rebound after falling short in their Super Bowl quest. In his first season as a starter, the dual-threat dynamo racked up 25 total touchdowns. In 2022, he posted 35 total TDs. He’s on the rise and a bona fide preseason MVP candidate.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is insecure. It’s his superpower. - Inquirer
The most insecure athletes I’ve been around, who used those insecurities to push them to higher levels of performance, are Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dawkins. In fact, I compared Hurts’ work ethic to Jordan, Bryant, and Dawkins on the podcast. Not bad comps. And yes, all three were insecure. Each in his own way, to his own degree, but each of them was driven by something more than the simple pursuit of excellence. They were the best at their business but never thought they were good enough. They obsessed over proving their critics wrong, even when the criticisms were mild; and by obsessed, I mean they got angry, and vengeful, and they were maybe a little bit scared. Their single-minded, furious focus on perfecting their techniques, preparing their bodies, and understanding their craft and its strategies while still adding skills to the repertoires made them … different.
The new basketball on grass - BGN
The Eagles high usage rate seems intentional. Quez Watkins struggled this season, but he was targeted more than twice in only one of the Eagles first 8 games, and half his targets for the season were when Goedert was hurt. Zach Pascal, a favorite of the head coach who started 40 games in three seasons from 2019-2021, played 29% of snaps and saw just 19 targets. In five games in relief of Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra combined for just 15 targets. And this wasn’t a byproduct of Jalen Hurts, in Gardner Minshew’s two starts, Brown, Smith, and Goedert combined for 71% of attempts. Is this the future of football? There’s something to be said about spreading the ball around and not being too predictable. But with a good–not even elite–trio of pass catchers capable of receiving the ball anywhere on the field, what is there to gain by intentionally spreading the ball around to inferior players?
Eye on the Enemy #143: Ranking all 16 NFC teams in order - BGN Radio
John Stolnis ranks all 16 NFC teams in order, ranked which playoff drought teams were most likely to break those streaks and which teams that have never won a Super Bowl are most likely to break that streak this year.
Roob’s Top 10: Ranking the best head coaches in Eagles history - NBCSP
3. Doug Pederson: What Pederson and the 2017 Eagles did was historic and unforgettable and electrifying, going 13-3 and then rolling to the Super Bowl championship with backup quarterback Nick Foles after eight years without a single playoff win. Everything Pederson did in 2017 worked. Every decision, every gamble, every risk, every move. The fact that he wasn’t named Coach of the Year is a travesty. The weird thing about Pederson is that his four other Eagles teams were a combined 29-34-1, although the 2018 team did win the double-doink wild-card game in Chicago. Pederson was only 42-37-1 overall in his five years here, but his four playoff wins are 2nd-most in franchise history behind the guy who hired him, Andy Reid, and he remains one of only three coaches to lead the Eagles to a championship.
Pretty Good Roster - Iggles Blitz
All the new faces on defense could lead to some issues. At the same time, there are some good replacements. We all want to see Nakobe Dean on the field. Reed Blankenship could prove to be a good starter. A combination of Jalen Carter and Milton Williams could be productive in place of Javon Hargrave. There is risk. There also could be a good reward. The point on corners is interesting. It does feel like that is a position of variance. Jalen Ramsey was dominant in 2021. He wasn’t as good last year. Xavien Howard was All-Pro in 2020, but more up and down last year. Stephon Gilmore has been up and down in recent years. JC Jackson had 22 INTs from 2019-2021 while playing for the Pats. He signed a big deal with the Chargers and struggled. Corner really is a hard position to figure out. The Eagles got great corner player for most of last year. It will be interesting to see if Slay and Bradberry can keep that up or have more struggles this season.
Where are they now? FB Anthony Toney - PE.com
Buddy Ryan took care of the Eagles’ offensive backfield needs for the next four seasons during the 1986 NFL Draft when after choosing Ohio State halfback Keith Byars with the 10th pick in the first round, the head coach selected Anthony Toney, a fullback from Texas A&M, 27 picks later in the second. “Well, Buddy was kind of like, ‘Hey, we’re bringing these two guys in and we expect these two to play.’ He expected us to be able to run the ball, be able to catch the ball, to be able to run-block and pass-block. I know that for sure,” Toney laughed. The duo would have a delayed start while Byars dealt with a broken foot, and so Toney would spend Training Camp running, catching, and blocking as a halfback, a position he played in high school and initially at Texas A&M. “They weren’t really sure how his foot was going to heal and if he’d be able to play right away,” Toney says. “He came to practice and it was like, ‘Is his foot going to be OK? Is he going to be able to play?’ So there was that. But I was willing to do whatever was going to help us win. Whatever the team needed.”
Dallas Cowboys offseason A to Z: State of the team through each letter of the whole alphabet - Blogging The Boys
A: Another year where the drought remains alive. Obviously we have been waiting for a very long time for the Cowboys to reach another NFC Championship Game, hopefully win it, reach another Super Bowl and lift the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy. It is wild to think that it has been almost 30 years and that at the time of Super Bowl XXX the team held five of them and had appeared in eight.
Big Blue View mailbag: Evan Neal, winning now, more questions - Big Blue View
Ed says: Jeffrey, here we go again with the Neal to guard stuff. Yes, I think he gets the full year. What else are the Giants going to do? Transition him to guard midseason, a position he hasn’t played since his sophomore year at Alabama? That’s not fair to him — or to Daniel Jones. Maybe Neal ends up at guard some day. I wish, though, that Giants fans would stop trying to make him one before he has had a fair shot to prove whether or not he can be a good NFL right tackle. Those are a lot harder to find than guards, and you don’t want to give up one a potentially good one too quickly. If Neal flops again in 2023, then the Giants have a decision to make.
Football Court: Should NFL players be allowed to gamble? - SB Nation
Everyone rise. The honorable Judge JP Acosta presiding in Football Court case No. 5621-07, “Should NFL players be allowed to gamble during the season?” Representing the affirmative —Yes, players should be allowed to gamble: Representing the negative — No, players should not be allowed to gamble: Gentleman, you have been sworn in and may begin your arguments. Football Court is SBNation.com’s ongoing series where we debate some of the biggest topics in the NFL. Think of it like First Take, but without the performative yelling.
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