This year’s Eagles football team is built the way of many championship teams. The Birds are strongest upfront on both sides of the football. Of course, everybody loves to talk bout the skill position player, but we all know that NFL games and championships are won and lost by the battles that take place upfront. It’s one of the main reasons why I feel good about the Eagles this season. It might not be popular to say but the big guys upfront decide most of the game because the skilled position players can’t do their jobs, unless the big boys upfront do theirs.
The Birds seem to be strong and for the most part, healthy again on the offensive line. You remember the way Saquon Barkley and the Eagles “BIG FELLAS” dominated the NFL a couple of years ago. Well, they are back and they are led by future Hall of Famer, right tackle Lane Johnson, who missed most of the 2025 season. This will likely be his final year and you know he would love to go out on top.
Birds fans are hoping, that Johnson and his buddies on the offensive line will be able to stay healthy for the entire season. The big right tackle along with left guard Landon Dickerson and center Cam Jurgens will likely be the keys to the season. Last year, Johnson suffered a severe Lisfranc foot injury, while Dickerson battled knee problems all season long and Jurgens was dealing with a back injury for most of the 2025 campaign.
Dickerson is the one player in this group, who doesn’t seem to be all the way back to full strength from his injury. The Eagles have had to give him more time off during training camp and I don’t he is the same dominating blocker that he was a couple of years ago. Fortunately, the Eagles have better depth on the offensive line this year and that will help them tremendously if injuries trouble them again. Still I’m not confident that they’re good enough to be as dominant as they were a couple of years ago. I think they’re going to need more help from the passing game.
If Dickerson and the other Birds “Big Boys” can stay healthy and get that running game going the way they did a couple of years ago, then “Look Out NFL”. The offensive linemen all seem very confident in the new blocking system brought in by new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion and new offensive line coach, Chris Kuper.
The “O” line wants to get back to what they were doing a couple of years ago, which is opening up huge holes for Barkley and letting him do his thing. Number 26, still has that amazing speed. We all remember Barkley’s amazing burst, when he kicks it into gear and all the other team’s defenders seem like they’re running in place. Barkley is still a once in a lifetime back, who can take over a game in seconds, if given the opportunity.
I think we’re going to also see more of quarterback Jalen Hurts taking off with the football and showing everybody, he still has the speed and athleticism to hurt opponents with his legs. The Eagles are deep at the running back position with Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley ready to go behind Barkley.
Now let’s take a look at the Eagles passing attack. Hurts is still getting comfortable with this new aerial plan, but he’s been throwing a bunch of interceptions during this training camp because he’s targeting receivers in the middle of the field much more than he has in previous years. This offense that Mannion has put in requires the passing game to attack inside the numbers. In fairness, Hurts and most of his receivers have been working together for only a short period of time.
I can guarantee you that Hurts is not going to continue to be so quick to trow the ball over the middle, if the turnovers continue in the regular season because Jalen is all about winning. It’s going to be very interesting and important to se how Mannion and Hurts decide to address this interception issue between now and the regular season. They along with head coach Nick Sirianni, know how important turnovers are. Remember a couple of years ago during the bye week, when the Birds were 2-2 and Hurts had thrown numerous interceptions in the first four games. They reduced the passing game and handed the ball to Saquon Barkley.
Back to what’s happening now, Hurts and this multi-talented receiver group have been getting plenty of work in, at their new passing game, which features an abundance of activity before the snap (long motion, shot motion, single player shifts, multi-player shifts and etc.) and all types of pass routes after Number One get his hands on the football.
The wide receiver group has changed immensely with Pro Bowl wide out A.J. Brown being traded to the New England Patriots. We don’t have time, nor the space to get into all of my opinions about the Brown situation and trade, so let’s move on and take a look at the Birds new wide receiver crew.
Of course, they have an outstanding number one wide receiver in DeVonta Smith, and Hurts will be getting the ball to him consistently, so don’t be surprised if this is a big year (100 catch yea for Smitty). He is a great route runner with excellent hands and the sneaky ability to beat secondaries deep, even though he’s not a burner.
Here’s the rest of the gang. Dontayvion Wicks is a big, tough and talented wide receiver, who has shown he can get open across the middle and make tough catches in crowds. I think he has a tremendous upside. First round pick Makai Lemon is a quick, polished route-runner with great hands and tremendous playmaking ability. Hollywood Brown has explosive, game breaking speed, which helps him catch the deep ball and also get open on intermediate routes. Elijah Moore is extremely versatile with great change of direction speed and the ability to get separation from defenders quickly. Darius Cooper is a young wide out, who is comfortable getting open and catching passes across the middle, plus he likes making catches in a crowd, as well as tracking down the deep ball. Britain Covey has tremendous quickness and an ability to change directions at full; speed, which helps him get separation from defenders.
As for tight ends, I think the Birds are going to add to this position before the season starts. Right now, they have a veteran Dallas Goedert, who is talented and consistently productive both as a receiver and a blocker. He’s very good at both of those duties and his only weakness has been injuries. The Birds need him in the lineup. Veteran Johnny Mundt is effective as a blocker, but he’s not much of a receiver. Rookie Eli Stowers has shown potential, but he doesn’t look like he’s ready yet. Veteran Grant Calcaterra is a good receiver, but he’s not much of a blocker.
Again, I expect the Birds to possibly trade for help at the tight end position before the season begins. The Rams have more talented tight ends than they can keep on the roster, so don’t be surprised if Eagles GM Howie Roseman works out a trade with them.
