Perhaps no other statistic showed just how far the Eagles have to go to become a Super Bowl contender than this one:
The Eagles went 0-7 against playoff teams and beat only one team with a winning record in the New Orleans Saints, who went 9-8.
That, of course, included the Eagles’ loss in the playoffs on Sunday, 31-15 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Eagles beat the teams they should have, other than the first meeting against the Giants, and showed that they were not good enough to be considered among the elite teams.
But the Eagles can get there, perhaps as soon as next season – and they can do it with Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback.
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Making that happen, of course, is the task of general manager Howie Roseman. Roseman will have the capital to at least accelerate the rebuilding, or retooling, or whatever you want to call it.
That’s because the Eagles will have three first-round picks (No. 15, 16 and 19) and enough salary-cap space to sign at least one prominent free agent.
Roseman is expected to address the media later this week.
“I know for us as a football team, the sky is the limit,” Hurts said. “Nobody likes this feeling. We’ll do the things we need to do so we don’t feel this feeling again. … But this season was far from a failure.
“It’s only a failure if you don’t learn from it. We’ll take it as a lesson.”
Here, then, are the steps the Eagles should take:
1. Hurts-ing to get better
Yes, much of the Eagles’ success in 2022 is contingent on Hurts improving as a pocket passer. But the Bucs also exposed another weakness in Hurts – forcing him to throw while scrambling to his left.
Hurts threw his interception trying to hit DeVonta Smith in the end zone near the end of the first half while scrambling to his left. The Bucs rarely allowed Hurts to scramble to his right, where it’s easier for him to throw on the run.
But there is another factor at play.
This will be the first time since Hurts’ freshman year at Alabama that he will have the same signal caller on offense for two straight seasons in head coach Nick Sirianni.
Hurts won’t have to learn a new system. He can just expand upon what he is already learned. That counts for something.
“I’ve had so much that I have to adjust to,” Hurts said. “To have some consistency coming into next year, to have Coach Sirianni back, I think it’ll do us a huge benefit in that aspect, and in every aspect of our game.”
2. Spend big for a wide receiver
The Eagles definitely need a top-flight wide receiver to pair with Smith. Jalen Reagor, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2020, showed that he can’t be that guy. So did Quez Watkins.
Sure, they can be good third and fourth wide receivers, but not a No. 2, or a No. 1B.
It would be tempting to use one of the first-round picks, or a second-round pick, on such a wide receiver. But the Eagles should resist this, too.
That’s because the Eagles are too young at wide receiver.
They need a proven wide receiver who has experience of making tough catches when they’re needed the most.
So make a big push for Delaware native Chris Godwin if the Bucs allow him to get to free agency, even though he’ll likely miss part of next season rehabbing from ACL surgery.
Godwin had 98 receptions for 1,103 yards in 14 games before suffering his injury. Imagine someone like him next to Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert.
There are other top receivers who could hit free agency. That includes the Steelers’ Juju Smith-Schuster or someone Sirianni is very familiar with from his days as the Colts’ offensive coordinator in T.Y. Hilton.
Like Godwin, both are coming off injury-marred seasons, so there’s some risk. But the reward could be great.
But the best solution could come by a trade in Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley. He overlapped with Hurts for two seasons at Alabama and Smith for one.
Ridley, who missed most of this past season to deal with a mental health illness, had 1,374 yards receiving in 2020. It could cost the Eagles one of their first-round picks, and maybe a future early-rounder. If that’s what it takes, they should do it.
3. A better Sirianni
It was a learning experience for everybody involved with the Eagles this past season.
That included Sirianni and his staff. He deserves credit for going to a run-based offense following the Week 7 debacle against the Las Vegas Raiders. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon also made some adjustments after that game, no doubt inspired by defensive tackle Fletcher Cox’s postgame rant.
Gannon, it should be noted, is interviewing this week for vacant head-coaching jobs with the Broncos, Vikings and Texans.
Then again, it did take 6-7 games before those adjustments were made. But it all fell apart against the Bucs. So that goes back to the original question – is it the players? Or is it the scheme?
If the Eagles have better players, the schemes should work. If not, then the coaching needs to be addressed.
4. Draft this linebacker in 1st round
This is how the Eagles should use their first-round picks: defense, defense, defense. As in defensive end, linebacker and cornerback or safety.
Heck, they could even package two of those picks, say No. 15 and No. 19, and move into the top 10 for Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean.
If they can get Dean and perhaps an edge rusher like Michigan’s David Ojabo at No. 16, they will have addressed two of their biggest needs right away.
It’s true the Eagles haven’t drafted a true linebacker in the first round since 1979. But Dean, who’s 6-feet, 225 pounds, breaks the mold as a traditional linebacker. He can wreak havoc at the line of scrimmage and cover receivers underneath.
If the Eagles are looking for the next Micah Parsons, Dean could be the guy.
5. The solution at defensive back
The Eagles only have two of their top five defensive backs under contract for 2022 in Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox. That means both safeties in Rodney McLeod and Anthony Harris, along with cornerback Steven Nelson, might not return.
The Eagles should sign one of those three. If it’s Nelson, then the Eagles will need to replace both safeties. They can do this with Marcus Epps, who already was rotating in with McLeod and Harris, along with drafting one in the first or second round.
If the returnee is McLeod or Harris, then the Eagles can start Epps next to him with K’Von Wallace as the third safety. In that situation, the Eagles should either draft a cornerback in the first two rounds and/or add a free agent.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
