There are so many things that can go wrong for a team coming off a heart-wrenching Super Bowl defeat like the Eagles suffered in February.
Several key players left in free agency, many of them replaced by talented, yet unproven, rookies, or free agents signed on the cheap because of salary cap restraints.
Secondly, there’s a more difficult schedule and heightened expectations of getting back to the NFL’s championship game.
Can certain players duplicate or improve upon career seasons? That begins with quarterback Jalen Hurts, the MVP runner-up who in one year’s time went from uncertainty as the quarterback of the future, to signing a record (at the time) contract extension worth as much as $255 million.
But there are others, such as wide receiver A.J. Brown, who had 1,496 yards receiving, and edge rusher Haason Reddick, who had 16 sacks and another 3½ in the playoffs.
With the Eagles reporting to training camp on July 25, we’re counting down the nine most important players heading into the 2023 season. A few caveats: These aren’t necessarily the Eagles’ best players, and we’re not including Hurts in this list because he’s obviously the most important. You can read a separate story online about Hurts on July 26.
No. 9: Terrell Edmunds, safety
The Eagles are taking a big gamble with Edmunds. It’s not because of Edmunds’ ability. After all, Edmunds has been a full-time starter at safety for the Steelers ever since he was their first-round pick (28th overall) in 2018.
But for the first time since Malcolm Jenkins arrived in 2014, the Eagles won’t have a returning starter at safety familiar with the system. After Jenkins left in the spring of 2020, Rodney McLeod was the veteran voice in the safety room.
After McLeod left in 2022, it was Marcus Epps who had been on the team since 2019. The Eagles also traded for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson just before last season started.
Both Epps and Gardner-Johnson left in free agency. The only returning players with starting experience at safety are Reed Blankenship, an undrafted free agent last year who filled in for five games while Gardner-Johnson was injured, and K’Von Wallace, who was behind Blankenship on the depth chart.
The Eagles drafted Sydney Brown in the third round, and it’s quite possible that he could start over Blankenship this season, next to Edmunds.
The Eagles also have a new defensive coordinator in Sean Desai. While Desai uses some of the same principles as previous defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, there are some differences.
So Edmunds will be expected to become a leader at safety right away, even though he’s on a one-year contract, and even though he’s learning a new system.
“We have a lot of smart guys, a lot of guys that want to learn, that want to be the best group,” Edmunds said. “A lot of guys that are willing to listen to each other. A lot of guys that can pick up on stuff fast. So I wouldn’t say that it’s a concern, just that we have to constantly work.”
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No. 8: Nakobe Dean, linebacker
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni both have said during the offseason that Dean, the Eagles’ third-round pick in 2022, was ready to play last season. It’s just that he was stuck behind two veterans in T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White who were both playing well and stayed healthy throughout the season.
That limited Dean to just 3% of the defensive snaps. Dean stayed busy, however. He became a core player on special teams, and he learned as much as he could from Edwards and White.
But Edwards and White both left in free agency, and the Eagles only signed Nicholas Morrow, a starter for the Bears last season. Morrow, for one, was impressed.
“We started in the weight room,’ Morrow said about the offseason workouts. “He’s very explosive and strong. Then we got into the meeting rooms, and he’s smart. He knows his stuff. He knows what’s going on. He’s a good communicator.”
But the Eagles don’t have a choice but to be all-in on Dean.
There isn’t a fall-back option. If Dean gets hurt or falters, the backups haven’t shown that they can play on a regular basis, whether it’s special teams aces Shaun Bradley or Christian Elliss, the defensive star of spring practice. Or even Davion Taylor, the Eagles’ third-round pick in 2020 who spent last season on the practice squad.
Unless Roseman signs or trades for a veteran before the season starts, the Eagles are counting on Dean.
No. 7: D’Andre Swift, running back
Sure, the Eagles’ running attack should thrive no matter who’s running the ball because of quarterback Jalen Hurts’ ability as a runner.
After all, Miles Sanders had by far the best season of his career last season when he rushed for 1,269 yards. Sanders left in free agency and the Eagles replaced him by trading for Swift during the draft and signing free agent Rashaad Penny. They also brought back Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott.
But the Eagles are counting on Swift, the Lions’ second-round pick in 2020, to replace the bulk of Sanders’ yardage. Penny is coming off a foot injury that cost him the final 12 games of 2022, and he has dealt with injuries throughout his career. Gainwell and Scott have mostly served as rotational backs.
Swift had 144 yards on 15 carries against the Eagles in the season opener last season before a shoulder injury limited his production afterward.
If Swift can’t produce, then opponents can focus more on taking Hurts away as a runner. And what happens if Hurts is injured? We saw Sanders’ production drop off significantly after Hurts injured his shoulder on Dec. 18 against the Bears.
For the season, Sanders averaged 4.90 yards per carry last season. But it was only 3.65 yards over the final four games beginning against Chicago. And Sanders never gained more than 65 yards in any of the final four games.
“I haven’t had too much experience with a quarterback exactly like Jalen Hurts,” Swift said. “But the things Jalen does in the passing game, the running game, just from the outside looking in, how he commands the offense, the leadership, everything he brings to the team, to the organization, I look forward to the opportunity to sit beside him and play.”
No. 6: Dallas Goedert, tight end
The Eagles showed last season that they can get by without Goedert, winning all five games that he missed with a small fracture in his shoulder.
But that included a 17-16 slugfest win over a bad Indianapolis team, preceded by the Eagles’ loss the previous week against Washington, when Goedert left in the first half. The Eagles went to Quez Watkins as the third receiver for Goedert, and the results were mixed at best.
That’s because the Eagles didn’t have an adequate alternative at tight end, and they still don’t. Even after missing five games, Goedert finished with 55 catches for 702 yards. The next closest tight end was Jack Stoll with 11 catches for 123 yards. The Eagles didn’t really upgrade the position during the offseason, adding only veteran Dan Arnold, who has never had more than 35 catches in any of his previous five seasons. Arnold had just 9 catches for 135 yards last season in Jacksonville.
More importantly, the Eagles lost a good deal of their flexibility without Goedert in the lineup. They were more apt to run the ball when Stoll was in the game. When Watkins was in the game, the run-blocking and pass protection suffered.
All of this had an affect on Hurts. On the one hand, Hurts had four of his five best rushing games of the season while Goedert was out. But Hurts was also running more, and he ended up injuring his shoulder on a run against Chicago. He missed two games and was affected well into the playoffs.
Goedert is just as adept blocking − a very underrated part of his game − as he is catching passes, making the Eagles much more versatile.
Goedert also clears lanes for Brown and DeVonta Smith, enabling them to get open down the field.
There’s little doubt that Goedert can surpass 1,000 yards receiving with about 75-80 receptions if he can stay healthy over an entire season. And that will make the Eagles’ offense all the more dangerous.
No. 5: Darius Slay, cornerback
Let’s just say there isn’t much of a backup plan here if Slay starts showing his age. Slay will turn 33 before the regular-season ends in January, and it’s rare to see a lockdown cornerback continue playing at a high level into his mid-30s.
Slay, of course, had another strong season in 2022, as he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time in the last six seasons. But he wasn’t as dominant later in the season as he was earlier.
And the Eagles were prepared to move on from Slay in March as he had posted on social media that he was being released before the Eagles reversed course and signed him to a two-year extension once they realized they couldn’t re-sign safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
The Eagles also brought back James Bradberry, who’s approaching 30, and they did draft Kelee Ringo in the fourth round and they signed Greedy Williams in free agency. But if Ringo is an heir apparent, he’s most likely at least a year away.
That means the Eagles still need a strong season from Slay, and really, from Bradberry too, because there’s a big dropoff after that.
No. 4. Jalen Carter, defensive tackle
Carter has never played an NFL down. Yet the Eagles are counting on him heavily.
At defensive tackle, Javon Hargrave, who had 11 sacks last season, left as a free agent. Fletcher Cox will turn 33 years old during the season. Jordan Davis, the Eagles’ first-round pick last season, is mostly a run-stopping defensive tackle. Milton Williams, although promising, hasn’t been more than a rotational piece since the Eagles drafted him in the third round in 2021.
So the Eagles need Carter to essentially fill Hargrave’s role. Carter was the No. 9 pick in the draft, but probably would have gone in the top 5 if not for a deadly crash involving another car last January that led Carter to plead no contest to racing and reckless driving.
Carter also had to stop some drills during his Pro Day due to conditioning.
So the Eagles are taking a chance on Carter’s football ability and his character. If Carter works out, the Eagles have a mainstay in the middle for the next decade. If not, they could be plugging holes with low-cost veterans. The last time the Eagles relied this heavily on a non-quarterback as a first-round pick was Lane Johnson in 2013, preceded by Cox in 2012.
In fact, Carter said Cox told him to keep his mind as clear as possible: “There’s a lot of stuff going on, but it’s time to work, it’s a new start,” Carter said.
Carter can certainly use that.
No. 3: A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, wide receivers
Brown and Smith became the first duo in Eagles history to each surpass 1,000 yards receiving last season. Brown had 1,496 yards and Smith 1,196, both career highs.
The Eagles need more of the same from each this season. And it really shouldn’t be a problem. Brown recently turned 26 years old, and Smith is in his third season. They’re both hard workers, and the both have had a strong relationship with Hurts going back to their college days.
And they’re both determined to get better, as Brown said during the spring when asked what he can improve on.
“There’s a lot I can improve upon,” he said. “I don’t want to name it, but just being a complete receiver. I can always just work on getting in better shape so I can have more opportunities. But just trying to be that well-rounded receiver and do it all … The sky’s the limit.”
An Eagles offense with an improved Hurts, Brown and Smith is almost too scary to think about. That’s why Brown and Smith are so important.
No. 2: Haason Reddick, edge rusher
Reddick’s importance goes beyond his 16 sacks last season, when he tied for second in the NFL. Certainly, the Eagles need that kind of production again from Reddick.
But they need it even more because they can’t necessarily count on Brandon Graham, who’s 35 years old, getting 11 sacks like he did last season. And the Eagles can’t necessarily count on Derek Barnett, who’s coming back after a torn ACL, or rookie Nolan Smith.
Beyond Reddick and Josh Sweat (11 sacks in 2022), the Eagles have a lot of question marks at edge. So the Eagles need Reddick to dominate, and to mentor Smith, who is much like Reddick in body type.
For Smith’s part, he has already attached himself to Reddick, in a manner of speaking.
“Media always knock us on the same thing, with certain guys like me, (Reddick), Von Miller, guys like us who are undersized guys,” Smith said. “I just want to know certain things about how (Reddick) goes about his game. How he approaches the game, how he studies.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
