PHILADELPHIA − It sure would be nice to imagine Jalen Hurts looking around the Eagles’ huddle this week during the organized team activities and seeing DeAndre Hopkins along with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.
The fact that it’s not a pipe dream for the Eagles to land the five-time Pro Bowl selection is a testament, of course, to Hurts. Hopkins, in a recent “I Am Athlete” podcast before he was released by the Cardinals, listed Hurts as one of the five quarterbacks he would want to play for.
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And sure, there’s every reason to think that the Eagles would be interested in Hopkins, 30, who as recently as 2020 had 1,407 yards receiving and twice topped 1,500 yards in his previous 10 seasons. Last season, Hopkins had 717 yards receiving despite missing six games to serve an NFL suspension, well on pace to surpass 1,000 yards if he had played a full season.
As you might guess, Hopkins also listed the top QBs in the NFL as the others he would want to play with in Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert and the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.
Of the five teams, the Eagles have the most salary cap space, at about $13.5 million, according to overthecap.com. But the Ravens and Chargers are also in the ballpark. The Bills and Chiefs are pretty much maxed out.
That Hopkins would put Hurts on that list shows the high regard that Hurts is held in around the NFL. That’s nothing new to the Eagles after Hurts led them to the Super Bowl last season, then threw for 304 yards and ran for 70 more in the Eagles’ 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Will that be enough for Hopkins to accept being a third or fourth option if he were to sign with the Eagles? After all, Hopkins would be a No. 1 or No. 2 option on the other teams on his QB list, all of whom could be considered Super Bowl contenders.
Keep in mind that the Eagles signed James Bradberry around this time last year after he was released by the Giants. That worked out pretty well.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will be busy with their OTAs that begin Tuesday. They’ll have three days of practices this week followed by two next week before breaking until training camp in late July. Will Hopkins be an Eagle by then? We’ll find out.
Here are 5 questions for the (as of now) Hopkins-less Eagles:
Can Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis become the top DT pair over Fletcher Cox?
Starting jobs, of course, aren’t won in OTAs, especially when there’s no contact, and no 11-on-11 team drills that involve offensive and defensive linemen.
But there are things we can learn about first-round pick Jalen Carter and his former Georgia defensive linemate Jordan Davis, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2022. For Carter, conditioning might have been an issue during the rookie minicamp, which Eagles coach Nick Sirianni didn’t deny while pointing out that none of the players on hand were ready to play an NFL game yet.
Fine, but Carter will get an idea of what’s expected now that the veterans are here. Davis might have struggled with conditioning last season too. He was starting to find a niche in the rotation when he sprained his ankle last Oct. 30 against the Steelers and went on injured reserve.
When Davis returned, the Eagles had signed veterans Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph, and Davis’ playing time was cut drastically.
Suh, Joseph and Javon Hargrave did not return. Fletcher Cox did on a one-year deal. But he’s also entering his 12th season, and isn’t at the level he was from 2015-20 when he was selected to six straight Pro Bowls. Cox will still have a major role, but the Eagles would certainly like to keep him at around 50-60% of the defensive snaps.
Whether they can depends on how much they can rely on Carter and Davis. So conditioning will be crucial for both.
Are D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny better than Miles Sanders?
Swift and Penny might not be better than Sanders as individuals after Sanders had a career-high 1,269 yards rushing last season. That is double the career highs for Penny, signed as a free agent, and Swift, acquired in a trade. But together, the two can replace Sanders’ yardage.
By playing in a rotation, along with Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott, Swift and Penny can play to their strengths. And they will also benefit, much like Sanders did, by having Hurts as a dynamic runner as well. It’s possible that neither will amass 1,000 yards. Combined, however, they could surpass 2,000 yards from scrimmage.
The OTAs will give the Eagles an idea of how they can use both running backs in the offense.
How the Eagles showed Nakobe Dean that he’s the man at linebacker
One player who won’t face competition as a starter is Dean.
Last season, the 2022 third-round pick rarely played behind veterans T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. Both left as free agents, and the Eagles added only Nicholas Morrow as a free agent from the Bears.
That was a sign that the Eagles believe in Dean. And Dean believes in himself.
“Did I feel like I was ready (last season)?” Dean said. “Yeah. But at the same time, we was rolling as a team.”
The QB battle to watch
The Eagles already know what they have in Hurts and backup QB Marcus Mariota. So it’s quite possible that the OTAs will focus on the battle for the No. 3 job between returnee Ian Book and sixth-round pick Tanner McKee.
But there’s more at stake in a typical No. 3 battle because of the new rule allowing teams to dress an emergency quarterback without having to use up a game-day roster spot.
The Eagles, like most teams, only dressed two QBs in the past, with someone like Greg Ward serving as an emergency QB (he was never needed).
In the past two years of OTAs, it became apparent that the QBs the Eagles signed as undrafted free agents − Carson Strong last year and Jamie Newman in 2021 − weren’t ready. The stakes are higher for Book and McKee.
Some other position battles to watch
On offense, there’s one starting job up for grabs, and it’s at right guard between Cam Jurgens, the Eagles’ second-round pick in 2022, and Tyler Steen, the Eagles’ third-round pick last month. One of them will replace Isaac Seumalo, who left as a free agent for Pittsburgh … At safety, third-round pick Sydney Brown could battle for a starting job with Reed Blankenship, an undrafted rookie free agent who started five games last season when Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was injured. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps both left in free agency. The Eagles signed veteran Terrell Edmunds as one starter, leaving the other spot open for Brown, Blankenship or veteran free agent Justin Evans.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
