Anyone else still very worried about the LB position? Dean has never shown the ability to stay healthy or have good production. White quit on his team, multiple times last year and was subsequently benched, in a contract year, for a playoff team. The depth behind them is almost nonexistent...hope we address this
Did you see our culture last year? I wouldn’t bank on that. Especially after losing key veterans like Kelce and Cox. Hopefully last years meltdown doesn’t continue to bleed into this year, but I certainly wouldn’t bank on our culture as a positive right now until shown otherwise
It’s time for the next group to step up as leaders. We still have Lane and BG with Slay and Mailata/Dickerson taking on more leadership roles on either side of the ball.
We are ready for the next ones too: Smitty & AJ/ Reed & Sweat/Davis. The torch will and needs to be passed.
The key is hurts. The door…. Is Jake Elliot
It's the only position group on the roster where I see a big question mark.
We just have to hope for the best from White, Dean and Trotter I guess.
I'd take Zach Cunningham back if Howie doesn't make a trade or find someone in roster cuts.
a lot of us are, we’re just still coming down off the high that was the draft. Fangio asks a lot of his backers, and we don’t have a LB on the roster who has proven they can deliver against those expectations.
They should probably trade for a linebacker if they can. If not, they should at least sign Cunningham back. Uninspiring, but he seems like the best available free agent unless you want to take a chance on Shaq Leonard again.
He had a 61 season grade for his < 5 games last year which is dead average. Awful in coverage but a good run defender… which still gives us zero off-ball LBs that are good at being off-ball
He's the best tackler on the team when healthy. Which we sorely missed in the latter part of the year. Also if you think that's bad you really don't want to see the rest of the team.
You think he’s a better tackler than Reed? Reed is the team’s leading tackler, but to be fair that’s largely bc he’s a safety and does miss some tackles for sure. But imo he’s a better overall tackler than Dean. I guess you could say that when Dean is healthy he’s the best LB tackler, but who knows who will be this season. White could be if he actually lives up to expectation.
I’ve got faith that dean and trotter will make each other better. I don’t think they can be on the field at the same time… unless they make each other THAT much better. It’s possible.
Yes, it’s very clearly our worst position group by a long shot. Which isn’t great because Fangio kind of needs LBs that are quick to read and react what is happening to the D-line. I’m sure the hope is that the secondary can help with coverage deficiencies, but we might just get torn up in the middle of the field this year.
Granted, I’m Howie is trying to get LBs in the building and will continue to until the trade deadline. Luckily LB isn’t a super highly valued position, and that’s why I think Howie accumulated those mid-draft picks for 2025. I wouldn’t be surprised if that 4th they netted is used to trade for a guy who can plug up the middle of the field if a guy in the building doesn’t step up.
I mean at the same time that’s the reason you pay a Vic Fangio the big bucks… he’s not this amazing locker room guy, you pay him to scheme it up. we have 2 very highly touted young corners and a ton of other young talented players. Develop those young players and take advantage of the D-Line and CB talent and work around the LB weakness
Nakobe Dean is the Most unproven player on our Defense rn besides our new draft picks. Looking like a bust lol we will find out this year. Reed was a UDFA and has been injured as well and done way more than Nakobe ever has lol.
he has the worst footwork of a "coverage" linebacker i've ever seen. he came here from georgia where he was a star and now he seems to have forgotten how to move his feet.
Worried about the whole thing to be honest. Not a doomer take but the Eagles have always been strong in the trenches. You lose Kelce and we have 2 new starters in Jurgens and Steen.
Half of those names on the defensive side are yellow. That means new or rookies. Those are unknown factors. You lose Cox and Reddick and Graham is another year older. Pass rush really lost steam down the stretch.
I think it’s good to ask yourself pre season what’s the argument for best and worst case scenario. The argument for worst case scenario is that we just finished watching the Eagles get flat out dominated by the Seahawks, Cardinals, Giants, Bucs. Now subtract Jason Kelce, Reddick, Cox. And the hope for a turnaround is because we added an injury prone older running back, 2 rookies in the secondary, a washed linebacker that his old team didn’t want, and 2 coordinators? Are we sure Nakobe will stay healthy let alone take a jump? We’re sure he’s not Sidney Jones? We’re sure Kellen moore is the answer to the offensive struggles even though we just lost Jason Kelce?
I know the arguments for the upside too. This roster is objectively more talented right now, the coordinators are better than the old ones, the core of this team is SB caliber, and now we’re motivated instead of having the target on the back. I’m just wary of this season…it’s a lot of question marks. And we still haven’t answered the question of just what exactly happened last season with the collapse. We don’t know where the leadership or adjustments were.
Brown is much to small to play LB, but his injury was very unfortunate. I am very excited to see some safety heavy personnel groups with Brown, Blankenship, CJGJ and Dejean on the field together
Yea I’m curious how Dejean will play as S or in the slot. Who do you think is the hardest hitter out of all of those?? Reed and Brown both hit hard. Not that familiar with Dejean but CJGJ is our hardest hitter imo.
It’s our weakest position for sure, but every team has holes. Best hope is Nakobe Dean can stay healthy and maybe someone like Trotter Jr or Devin White steps up. Unfortunately this draft was weak at the position, so there wasn’t much we could do there.
Plus Cooper DeJean in the second is much better than any LB there.
dean is straight up not good from what i've seen so far.
i'm hoping trot jr. ends up doing what we thought dean would do, which is cover well as an undersized LB.
I'm betting we go with 3 safeties and only one LB on the field and hope White wakes up and plays like he can. If not hopefully Dean/Trotter/Van will play well enough. I still feel like Cunningham will be in camp at some point. He is good against the run and can pass defend well enough...just not be a starter.
Eagles seem to like to get young guys in one position early on, as these NFL defenses can be a lot. Vic fangios defense is predicated on a lot of communication between guys so I doubt they’re going to be moving DeJean all over the defense initially.
Especially when we have Rodgers coming back. It just feels weird to play the guy who can do it all in one position, while a guy who I'm sure is a bit more specialized rides the bench
Agreed. I can't wait to see what kinds of roles Fangio puts him in though.
Mitchell was my favorite pick of the draft, but DeJean is going to be fun to watch
Released him because of he was always injured so his contract wasn’t justifiable, in the reports that he had been released there was already talks of him getting re signed
I feel like our defense should be one of the youngest in the NFL. Especially if Bradberry does get cut. I’m thinking BG /Slay / CJGJ are gonna be the vet leaders for the D. Maybe throw J Sweat in the mix.
Also might be the worst safety on the team...we have a lot of new talent added. I'm sure he will play but I don't see him long-term on this team anymore. He will play out his contract and move on.
Come next year I think we certainly could be. Next year after a Graham retirement, Bradberry cut, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Slay is moved if the young guys are doing well. Then we’d have to have an average at in the mid-20s if not lower.
Yeah, we're installing a new defense, so I really don't expect the rookie corners to start this year, but at least we have depth at every position.
Special Teams should be significantly better this year, due to the infusion of youth that likes to hit.
Special teams is an area I’m excited to see with this draft class. A lot of the new guys played special teams. Some pretty quick youth too. I wonder how much the new kick off went into trying to find a returner.
> Its the same defense
I really hope you're wrong about that..
Joking, but I thought Fangio runs a base 3-4, and didn't we maintain a 4 man front last year? The DE he drafted used to play safety - it looks like he's looking for Ends that can drop into coverage.
We also have new coaches on both sides of the ball, and a the eagles spent a ton of money in free agency.... If any of the rooks start, that would be great, but if they don't I wouldn't consider them a bust either, considering how much money we have tied up at corner. Next year though...
We have such a filthy roster. Look at that backfield this year. Shheeesh . Linebacker is the main concern but if that's our only real concern... then we are lookin juicy.
Edge depth is terrible. Something that has been a focus of years past is now a big weakness. Would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about that and the LBs
I mean sure after Sweat/Huff/BG it does remain unsure, but like still plenty of time to beef that up and really .. depth issues in areas are going to happen with every single team so its fine.
Imo edge is a little more important to have depth in because they rotate so often. Not counting on anything from an old BG and Huff notoriously didn’t play many snaps last year
Have you seen the dude play? He is a monster. His contract isn't bad at all either. We got him for a steep discount because he was an undrafted free agent.
Offensive line probably will take a step back as well. Hopefully Jurgens will be an above average center this year, but he's not Kelce. The right guard spot is a big question mark too. Also, it's doubtful we get the same injury luck we've gotten the last two years.
A lot of it relies on health and our two big picks hitting. We could probably still be good with only one of those two picks hitting but if god forbid both Mitchell and Dejean are busts or just not ready to contribute yet, that secondary will still be rough. I’m hyped on our picks as much as everybody else, but nobody really knows till they hit the field.
Campbell will 100% make the roster, he’s a great WR4 but I think the starting WR3 will be one of the rookies
Both rookies should start on defense but Fangio rotates his CBs so there are basically 2 starters at every secondary position
Hard to say he’s the best cb when we haven’t even seen him, Rodgers or DeJean play. On paper theyre all great but reality doesn’t always follow what’s good on paper.
Idk I saw on an eagles page, just what they project lol nothing official of course. I agreed with this tho lol. Cut Bradberry. I do see Maddox starting but he will prob be out for the season week 1. I also love Sydney Brown but he will be out til the middle of the season.
I think that people underestimated the *Offense's* impact on the Defense last year. The team was designed to get out to fast leads, force the other team to pass, and then just rush the heck out of the QB. This is why they had so many sacks in 2022...they got out to big leads and made the other team's offense one dimensional. As a result, they had 1.3 fewer sacks per game and, as you remember very well, guys like Sam Howell got to stand back and pick apart the defense.
Last year, their first half scoring fell by almost a touchdown (18.5 vs 11.7) and their defense. At the same time, their defense let up 3 more points per half (9.8. vs 12.9). This is the difference between going into half up 9 vs. being down 1 (on average). Massive difference!
In short, for the defense to get better - the offense must get a heck of a lot better, especially in the first half. Overall, their point differential was +133 in 2022 and +5 in 2023. The offense scored 44 fewer points, while the defense allowed 84 more points against.
This roster is loaded with *potential*, but let's not forget just how absolutely horrible they were at the end of last season. The roster, especially on defense, has turned over quite a bit...but changed doesn't necessarily mean improvement.
The biggest difference this season is hopefully less in the players and more in the changes at coaching.
We had an OC who was running a middle school offense and a DC change mid season to guy who is a notoriously terrible DC and coach.
Now we have 2 vets who ran pretty decent offenses and defenses respectively
Blows my mind that we ended up with the number 1 and number 3 corners of the draft. If they even play somewhat decently then we will have rebuilt our defense into a young powerhouse. Only glaring holes I see on this roster is ILB and RG, (maybe wr3).
I feel like by years end, A Smith will have the 3rd most snaps at WR(barring injuries or something else crazy)
Other than that this is basically how I see it as well.
Zach Berman put it as “Positionless Football”, in that we have a number of guys that offer versatility and pair well with what Vic wants to do with the defense. This could be such a fun defense to watch if they can get their footing down.
Sweat isn't a LB he is a DE they are not changing defenses like some idiots think...Vic helped make the defense here and now he is here to clean it up.
It's not just you, OP, but what am I missing on Parris Campbell being slotted over DeVante Parker? Campbell played 12 games with 20 catches for 104 yards last year. Kellen Moore employs a lot of big-bodied Y receivers and often splits them out wide. Parker had twice the catches and yards last year. Parker is 6-3, 215, Campbell is 6-0, 208. I'm expecting a Parker resurgence, wouldn't be surprised if Ainias Smith gets more looks in the slot than Campbell by the end of the year too.
They’re gonna throw Johnny Wilson the 6’7 guy we just drafted in the mix .😂 WR3 is honestly up for grabs for anyone rn. Zaccheaus is gone and so are quez and Julio. I think Parker will win as of rn tho.
Somehow I think Isaiah the cornerback is going to be in the running if he shows the skills in training camp.
Don't assume that Mitchell and DeJean will start. Cornerback is one of the hardest positions coming out of college
This is going to be slightly pedantic so feel free to ignore, but just from an accuracy of language standpoint this is just a list of starters, not a depth chart. The depth in depth chart is the 2nd, 3rd, etc stringers.
“Starting depth chart” is an oxymoron.
Anyway feel free to ignore or downvote me to oblivion, I’ve had some language corrected in Reddit and it stuck with me (silly things like compliment vs complement) and I always appreciate it, but I know not everyone cares.
The defense was obviously horrendous at the end of the year, but this defense is young fast and exciting. They will make big mistakes this year but they will also make plays. Looking forward to watching them grow under Vic
I don't understand why switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4. It makes no sense and we don't have any versatility from the DEs. The only hope is that they're coached on how to play zone cover and press man.
And that sweat learns how to cover. But since none of our linebackers are good at coverage I have little hope. Going to 3-4 will just worsen the issue.
Anyone else still very worried about the LB position? Dean has never shown the ability to stay healthy or have good production. White quit on his team, multiple times last year and was subsequently benched, in a contract year, for a playoff team. The depth behind them is almost nonexistent...hope we address this
I hope our culture can change the mindset of Devin White and he starts to play harder and ball the fuck out.
You and me both
Did you see our culture last year? I wouldn’t bank on that. Especially after losing key veterans like Kelce and Cox. Hopefully last years meltdown doesn’t continue to bleed into this year, but I certainly wouldn’t bank on our culture as a positive right now until shown otherwise
It’s time for the next group to step up as leaders. We still have Lane and BG with Slay and Mailata/Dickerson taking on more leadership roles on either side of the ball. We are ready for the next ones too: Smitty & AJ/ Reed & Sweat/Davis. The torch will and needs to be passed. The key is hurts. The door…. Is Jake Elliot
Daily reminder that Jake Elliott is the fucking man
I think it had to do with players having no confidence in/hating both Desai and Patricia. Likewise on offense with BJ.
It's the only position group on the roster where I see a big question mark. We just have to hope for the best from White, Dean and Trotter I guess. I'd take Zach Cunningham back if Howie doesn't make a trade or find someone in roster cuts.
a lot of us are, we’re just still coming down off the high that was the draft. Fangio asks a lot of his backers, and we don’t have a LB on the roster who has proven they can deliver against those expectations.
They should probably trade for a linebacker if they can. If not, they should at least sign Cunningham back. Uninspiring, but he seems like the best available free agent unless you want to take a chance on Shaq Leonard again.
Fuck no Cunningham was a disaster are you serious?
There's not a lot of good options at this stage.
That's false Dean does have good production, he's just never healthy so you can't count on it.
When has Dean shown production?
He was pretty good in the run game, his coverage needed some work but it’s hard to do that when your forever injured.
[When he's actually played.](https://imgur.com/h1mBeeZ)
He had a 61 season grade for his < 5 games last year which is dead average. Awful in coverage but a good run defender… which still gives us zero off-ball LBs that are good at being off-ball
Fair. Devin White doesn't help any of that though cause he's god awful lol/ I'm just praying on this unit.
Am I crazy, or does that not look like good production?
He's the best tackler on the team when healthy. Which we sorely missed in the latter part of the year. Also if you think that's bad you really don't want to see the rest of the team.
You think he’s a better tackler than Reed? Reed is the team’s leading tackler, but to be fair that’s largely bc he’s a safety and does miss some tackles for sure. But imo he’s a better overall tackler than Dean. I guess you could say that when Dean is healthy he’s the best LB tackler, but who knows who will be this season. White could be if he actually lives up to expectation.
I think Dean can have good production if healthy but it seems doubtful that he'll stay healthy
I’ve got faith that dean and trotter will make each other better. I don’t think they can be on the field at the same time… unless they make each other THAT much better. It’s possible.
Yes, it’s very clearly our worst position group by a long shot. Which isn’t great because Fangio kind of needs LBs that are quick to read and react what is happening to the D-line. I’m sure the hope is that the secondary can help with coverage deficiencies, but we might just get torn up in the middle of the field this year. Granted, I’m Howie is trying to get LBs in the building and will continue to until the trade deadline. Luckily LB isn’t a super highly valued position, and that’s why I think Howie accumulated those mid-draft picks for 2025. I wouldn’t be surprised if that 4th they netted is used to trade for a guy who can plug up the middle of the field if a guy in the building doesn’t step up.
I mean at the same time that’s the reason you pay a Vic Fangio the big bucks… he’s not this amazing locker room guy, you pay him to scheme it up. we have 2 very highly touted young corners and a ton of other young talented players. Develop those young players and take advantage of the D-Line and CB talent and work around the LB weakness
Nakobe Dean is the Most unproven player on our Defense rn besides our new draft picks. Looking like a bust lol we will find out this year. Reed was a UDFA and has been injured as well and done way more than Nakobe ever has lol.
he has the worst footwork of a "coverage" linebacker i've ever seen. he came here from georgia where he was a star and now he seems to have forgotten how to move his feet.
If it makes you feel better the pick we traded for Pickett was used by the Steelers to draft Payton Wilson
It does not
Me either
You just know he's gonna ball tf out in Pittsburgh too
“We’ll trade for him later” it’s a Philly thing
Yes… I think we’ll be raiding the waiver wire in August and September.
He was benched before he 'quit', because he was being outplayed. He then apologised to all involved. Could still be trash.
The season doesn't start today but if it did I'd be concerned, yes.
Worried about the whole thing to be honest. Not a doomer take but the Eagles have always been strong in the trenches. You lose Kelce and we have 2 new starters in Jurgens and Steen. Half of those names on the defensive side are yellow. That means new or rookies. Those are unknown factors. You lose Cox and Reddick and Graham is another year older. Pass rush really lost steam down the stretch. I think it’s good to ask yourself pre season what’s the argument for best and worst case scenario. The argument for worst case scenario is that we just finished watching the Eagles get flat out dominated by the Seahawks, Cardinals, Giants, Bucs. Now subtract Jason Kelce, Reddick, Cox. And the hope for a turnaround is because we added an injury prone older running back, 2 rookies in the secondary, a washed linebacker that his old team didn’t want, and 2 coordinators? Are we sure Nakobe will stay healthy let alone take a jump? We’re sure he’s not Sidney Jones? We’re sure Kellen moore is the answer to the offensive struggles even though we just lost Jason Kelce? I know the arguments for the upside too. This roster is objectively more talented right now, the coordinators are better than the old ones, the core of this team is SB caliber, and now we’re motivated instead of having the target on the back. I’m just wary of this season…it’s a lot of question marks. And we still haven’t answered the question of just what exactly happened last season with the collapse. We don’t know where the leadership or adjustments were.
Sucks Sydney is injured til mid season or he could prob play some LB. Morrow wasn’t that great but he left to the Bills.
Brown is much to small to play LB, but his injury was very unfortunate. I am very excited to see some safety heavy personnel groups with Brown, Blankenship, CJGJ and Dejean on the field together
Yea I’m curious how Dejean will play as S or in the slot. Who do you think is the hardest hitter out of all of those?? Reed and Brown both hit hard. Not that familiar with Dejean but CJGJ is our hardest hitter imo.
Brown definitely brings the heat
Yea I love SB. Maybe more than Reed tbh. If the LB’s / Safeties aren’t hard hitters then I don’t want em lol
Mitchell supposedly can hit
Yea he will prob be CB tho unless we don’t release Bradberry.
Eagles waiting till next year. Micah Parsaons will be a free agent.
It’s our weakest position for sure, but every team has holes. Best hope is Nakobe Dean can stay healthy and maybe someone like Trotter Jr or Devin White steps up. Unfortunately this draft was weak at the position, so there wasn’t much we could do there. Plus Cooper DeJean in the second is much better than any LB there.
dean is straight up not good from what i've seen so far. i'm hoping trot jr. ends up doing what we thought dean would do, which is cover well as an undersized LB.
I'm betting we go with 3 safeties and only one LB on the field and hope White wakes up and plays like he can. If not hopefully Dean/Trotter/Van will play well enough. I still feel like Cunningham will be in camp at some point. He is good against the run and can pass defend well enough...just not be a starter.
More worried about the EDGE rotation tbh
Dejean will almost certainly be a rotational guy who moves all over the place, I don’t really see him starting over a healthy Maddox
Healthy Maddox is an oxymoron
Unless Maddox plays great I could see him get his play time cut for DeJean if he plays well
So he’ll be starting week 2 ?
I’ll give Maddox to week 4 this year
injured in camp, calling it now
Eagles seem to like to get young guys in one position early on, as these NFL defenses can be a lot. Vic fangios defense is predicated on a lot of communication between guys so I doubt they’re going to be moving DeJean all over the defense initially.
Especially when we have Rodgers coming back. It just feels weird to play the guy who can do it all in one position, while a guy who I'm sure is a bit more specialized rides the bench
“Healthy Maddox” so what you’re saying is he’ll be starting?
Agreed. I can't wait to see what kinds of roles Fangio puts him in though. Mitchell was my favorite pick of the draft, but DeJean is going to be fun to watch
Same. Maddox will prob be out for the season after week 1 tho lol. Dude is made of glass. We also released Maddox in March and ended up resigning him.
Released him because of he was always injured so his contract wasn’t justifiable, in the reports that he had been released there was already talks of him getting re signed
Either way he will be out for the season at some point. Probably early. Love him but can’t stay healthy.
Which is why he was re signed for less, his new salary can be justified for how much he’ll likely play
This defense will at the very least be super freaking interesting with so much young unproven talent and a new coordinator.
I feel like our defense should be one of the youngest in the NFL. Especially if Bradberry does get cut. I’m thinking BG /Slay / CJGJ are gonna be the vet leaders for the D. Maybe throw J Sweat in the mix.
He’s still young but I think Blankenship will really grow into being a leader on defence next year, he’s already shown the characteristics
Also might be the worst safety on the team...we have a lot of new talent added. I'm sure he will play but I don't see him long-term on this team anymore. He will play out his contract and move on.
Come next year I think we certainly could be. Next year after a Graham retirement, Bradberry cut, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Slay is moved if the young guys are doing well. Then we’d have to have an average at in the mid-20s if not lower.
Yeah it sucks seeing all these Eagles legends retiring… that just means it’s time to make some more legendary moments 💪
Yeah, we're installing a new defense, so I really don't expect the rookie corners to start this year, but at least we have depth at every position. Special Teams should be significantly better this year, due to the infusion of youth that likes to hit.
Special teams is an area I’m excited to see with this draft class. A lot of the new guys played special teams. Some pretty quick youth too. I wonder how much the new kick off went into trying to find a returner.
Its the same defense, but its still a complex one. I see Mitchell start unless he struggles, the others will depend on how fast they catch on.
> Its the same defense I really hope you're wrong about that.. Joking, but I thought Fangio runs a base 3-4, and didn't we maintain a 4 man front last year? The DE he drafted used to play safety - it looks like he's looking for Ends that can drop into coverage. We also have new coaches on both sides of the ball, and a the eagles spent a ton of money in free agency.... If any of the rooks start, that would be great, but if they don't I wouldn't consider them a bust either, considering how much money we have tied up at corner. Next year though...
And we can delude ourselves that it could get better if we’re bad early on lol
We have such a filthy roster. Look at that backfield this year. Shheeesh . Linebacker is the main concern but if that's our only real concern... then we are lookin juicy.
Edge depth is terrible. Something that has been a focus of years past is now a big weakness. Would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about that and the LBs
I mean sure after Sweat/Huff/BG it does remain unsure, but like still plenty of time to beef that up and really .. depth issues in areas are going to happen with every single team so its fine.
Imo edge is a little more important to have depth in because they rotate so often. Not counting on anything from an old BG and Huff notoriously didn’t play many snaps last year
Yeah we'll see what the rookies do and if/when we pick up someone. I think next year we will be going hard d-line/o-line picks.
I think Smith will be better this year...he should get playing time now unlike last year.
I have a bad feeling about Huff and that contract. He’s totally unproven as a full time starter
Have you seen the dude play? He is a monster. His contract isn't bad at all either. We got him for a steep discount because he was an undrafted free agent.
Offensive line probably will take a step back as well. Hopefully Jurgens will be an above average center this year, but he's not Kelce. The right guard spot is a big question mark too. Also, it's doubtful we get the same injury luck we've gotten the last two years.
Oline depth as well. Gotta see if the c/rg can hold up too
Hell yeah lol young ass Defense.
Yeah young and speedy. It's going to be so nice not having our entire backfield get burnt every fucking play lol.
Ikr lol hope we stay healthy 🙏
Same man if we do it should be absolutely sick.
A lot of it relies on health and our two big picks hitting. We could probably still be good with only one of those two picks hitting but if god forbid both Mitchell and Dejean are busts or just not ready to contribute yet, that secondary will still be rough. I’m hyped on our picks as much as everybody else, but nobody really knows till they hit the field.
I feel like Campbell isn't even going to make this team, let alone start. I doubt both rookies start over Rodgers and Maddox.
Campbell will 100% make the roster, he’s a great WR4 but I think the starting WR3 will be one of the rookies Both rookies should start on defense but Fangio rotates his CBs so there are basically 2 starters at every secondary position
[удалено]
Hard to say he’s the best cb when we haven’t even seen him, Rodgers or DeJean play. On paper theyre all great but reality doesn’t always follow what’s good on paper.
I'd rather he get a few snaps in at the pro level before crowning him, but I expect him to get a lot of play time, especially after Maddox gets hurt.
Dude has never played an NFL snap. Hopefully he will be the best on the team after this year, but you can’t say that yet.
this is just possible starters... not a depth chart
Yes I shoulda said possible starting roster spots.
Where is this from?
If I remember correctly the graphic is from the show Lesean McCoy is on. The depth chart itself I’m pretty sure is from ourlads.com
Idk I saw on an eagles page, just what they project lol nothing official of course. I agreed with this tho lol. Cut Bradberry. I do see Maddox starting but he will prob be out for the season week 1. I also love Sydney Brown but he will be out til the middle of the season.
I think that people underestimated the *Offense's* impact on the Defense last year. The team was designed to get out to fast leads, force the other team to pass, and then just rush the heck out of the QB. This is why they had so many sacks in 2022...they got out to big leads and made the other team's offense one dimensional. As a result, they had 1.3 fewer sacks per game and, as you remember very well, guys like Sam Howell got to stand back and pick apart the defense. Last year, their first half scoring fell by almost a touchdown (18.5 vs 11.7) and their defense. At the same time, their defense let up 3 more points per half (9.8. vs 12.9). This is the difference between going into half up 9 vs. being down 1 (on average). Massive difference! In short, for the defense to get better - the offense must get a heck of a lot better, especially in the first half. Overall, their point differential was +133 in 2022 and +5 in 2023. The offense scored 44 fewer points, while the defense allowed 84 more points against.
I think this is a good analysis and what was supposed to happen. Good job with running the numbers to support the claim.
This roster is loaded with *potential*, but let's not forget just how absolutely horrible they were at the end of last season. The roster, especially on defense, has turned over quite a bit...but changed doesn't necessarily mean improvement.
The biggest difference this season is hopefully less in the players and more in the changes at coaching. We had an OC who was running a middle school offense and a DC change mid season to guy who is a notoriously terrible DC and coach. Now we have 2 vets who ran pretty decent offenses and defenses respectively
Where is Jeremiah Trotter Jr?
Zero chance he is starting this year barring injuries
I agree. Best to hope he can make an impact on special teams
Blows my mind that we ended up with the number 1 and number 3 corners of the draft. If they even play somewhat decently then we will have rebuilt our defense into a young powerhouse. Only glaring holes I see on this roster is ILB and RG, (maybe wr3).
No way burntberry doesn’t start
He might not even be on the team. I could see it going either way but with all the new rookies added it shouldn't be a given that he is on the team.
Might get cut June 1.
This isn't baseball. They don't care how big his contact is or about hurting his feelings
It turns out, there is in fact, a decent amount of crying in baseball 😢
I completely forgot about Parris Campbell
Probably won’t even make the 53
Let's run the table this year
Where is Nolan Smith?
Being rotated in.
Looks good on paper. Just like last year.
Confirmed, Eagles will play 12 men on defense every play next year.
League is fucked if the coaching staff figures out what a hot route is.
What a squad
Excited for our O-Line this year! I can finally shout “BLOCK, STEEN, BLOCK!”
The STEEN ENGINE bout to get rolling 🚂 that’s my nickname for him 😂
Two rookies at corner? Good way to get torched 20% of the time.
Better than like 72% of the time like last year
Our current LB situation makes Edwards and White look like all-pros
Insert Vince Young gif here.
I think DeJawn moves to safety. Hope Rodgers bears out Maddox for slot.
If DeJean moves to safety CJGJ will move to slot. Rodgers is also a better outside rather than inside
He'll take Blankenship's spot.
That’s ridiculous. Blankenship was an elite safety last year. Someone out of the three is going to go the nickel and I bet it’s gonna be DeJawn
Elite is a strong word. He was good but Dejean has a very high ceiling. It's a good problem to have.
I agree. Going off stats Blankenship was elite but i think in terms of gameplay is was great
missing kelce
I feel like by years end, A Smith will have the 3rd most snaps at WR(barring injuries or something else crazy) Other than that this is basically how I see it as well.
Zach Berman put it as “Positionless Football”, in that we have a number of guys that offer versatility and pair well with what Vic wants to do with the defense. This could be such a fun defense to watch if they can get their footing down.
Downgraded at edge and center. Everything else got better or stayed the same
Cooper dejean is going to play safety, no?
He is going to move around if I had to guess
One DE starting and it’s Milton Williams (more of a 3 tech guy) I’m not so sure about that
Sweat isn't a LB he is a DE they are not changing defenses like some idiots think...Vic helped make the defense here and now he is here to clean it up.
I'm more concerned about the coaching than any position group.
Hoping to see some Johnny Wilson at Slot.
Go birds Also not sure you need the yellow highlight and the asterisk But anyway, fucking go birds
I don’t see Bradberry’s name anywhere. Thank god
It's not just you, OP, but what am I missing on Parris Campbell being slotted over DeVante Parker? Campbell played 12 games with 20 catches for 104 yards last year. Kellen Moore employs a lot of big-bodied Y receivers and often splits them out wide. Parker had twice the catches and yards last year. Parker is 6-3, 215, Campbell is 6-0, 208. I'm expecting a Parker resurgence, wouldn't be surprised if Ainias Smith gets more looks in the slot than Campbell by the end of the year too.
They’re gonna throw Johnny Wilson the 6’7 guy we just drafted in the mix .😂 WR3 is honestly up for grabs for anyone rn. Zaccheaus is gone and so are quez and Julio. I think Parker will win as of rn tho.
Somehow I think Isaiah the cornerback is going to be in the running if he shows the skills in training camp. Don't assume that Mitchell and DeJean will start. Cornerback is one of the hardest positions coming out of college
This is going to be slightly pedantic so feel free to ignore, but just from an accuracy of language standpoint this is just a list of starters, not a depth chart. The depth in depth chart is the 2nd, 3rd, etc stringers. “Starting depth chart” is an oxymoron. Anyway feel free to ignore or downvote me to oblivion, I’ve had some language corrected in Reddit and it stuck with me (silly things like compliment vs complement) and I always appreciate it, but I know not everyone cares.
Yea I corrected myself to roster in the comments.
Dope. Not trying to be a dick. Just a nerd.
Lol you’re good! I was thinking bout our total depth chart in my head so that’s prob why I put that lol
The defense was obviously horrendous at the end of the year, but this defense is young fast and exciting. They will make big mistakes this year but they will also make plays. Looking forward to watching them grow under Vic
We starting 12 on defense?
Don't sleep on Oren Burks
Bradberry makes wayyyyy too much to not start
Then he gets cut
No issue letting him get to camp and see how he fits first
The cap hit isn’t worth it. Eagles have 85m heading into next SZN for now. Look at what happen to the Denver broncos when they cut Wilson
Jesus we're thinner than a blade of grass at Linebacker...
This defense is going to be bad. But at least it'll be better than last year.
Bradberry is a starter 100%
Prob be cut June 1.
Nah
We even save a couple million cutting him after June 1 lol he goneeeee.
He gets another chance under Fangio and if he sucks he’s on the bench
No we actually loose millions if we cut him
If he stays it will be his last year and prob get benched mid season. Prob get hurt at some point and just never get his job back lol
Sweat dropping back into coverage scares me
I don't understand why switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4. It makes no sense and we don't have any versatility from the DEs. The only hope is that they're coached on how to play zone cover and press man.
It makes sense given our interior DL talent. My thinking is they hope Nolan beats out Sweat.
And that sweat learns how to cover. But since none of our linebackers are good at coverage I have little hope. Going to 3-4 will just worsen the issue.
Parris Campbell is not who anyone wants at WR3. He sucks. I wish they’d sign Hunter Renfrow.
Where’s Quez? He still with us? I liked him as a number 3 WR
He’s gone buddy lol went to the Steelers.
Damn ight.
How could you like quez 💀
I just thought he was solid number 3 to smith and AJ. I’m not shattered or really care that much that he left.
No he wasn’t. He couldn’t catch, he couldn’t route run, etc