By: Dylan Rosenmerkel Howie Roseman, the Eagles General Manager, has done it again during the 2019 offseason, acquiring many valuable assets for the team and, once again, improving the team’s chance at being in playoff and Superbowl contention. The team picked up former Eagle start and wide receiver, DeSean Jackson, solidifying the receiving corps. He will add much needed speed on the outside, as well as a veteran presence to the mostly young group receivers. In the first game of the season, Jackson managed to haul in 8 catches for 154 yard and two touchdowns against the redskins proving that he was a worthwhile pickup this offseason. The Eagles also got two new running backs this offseason, Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders. Howard proved himself to be a strong presence in the back field in his 3 years with the Chicago Bears, running for over 3300 yards and 24 touchdowns in his time there. Sanders is a rookie out of Penn State that was drafted with the 53rd pick of the 2nd round. A solid running back in college, Sanders was a very promising prospect and really impressed Doung Peterson and the entire Eagles coaching staff. They have hopes that he can eventually become a three down back for them and help sure up the running back position that in previous years has been by committee. In the first game, neither running back saw many snaps, getting 17 snaps combined. Howard showed off some of his hard down the field running racking up 7.3 yards per carry. Sanders’ stats were less impressive, but he really shined in the blocking game, which is becoming more and more important, especially in young running backs. In addition to these acquisitions at skill positions, the Eagles also restructured deals offensive linemen, Jason Peters and Lane Johnson, in order to resign Isaac Seumalo and Jason Kelce, two essential parts of the Eagles offensive line. The defense had a few pick ups this offseason as well, most notably that of Malik Jackson. Jackson, a star defensive tackle out that was previously on the Jaguars, would help to solidify the already strong defensive line of the Eagles and would be a good complement to Fletcher Cox, the Eagles All-pro defensive tackle. The Eagles also signed a former Eagles Defensive End Vinney Curry to complete the line and make it one of the best and deepest defensive lines in the league. Another major pick up for the Eagles was Andrew Sendejo, a safety from the Vikings, who gives some quality depth to the safety position and gives some greatly needed energy to the secondary. Two major resignings on the defense were Ronald Darby, the most experienced cornerback of the team, and Brandon Graham, a star defensive end and Philly hero for his strip sack during Superbowl LII. Although there was great success of the offseason for the Eagles, there were some negatives. They failed to get any quality cornerbacks over the offseason, which was an area with which the defense struggled greatly last year. The cornerbacks are currently a very young, inexperienced group that has not proven any special talent thus far. With this lacking secondary, it will be hard for the Eagles defense to defend against elite receivers and will in turn cause them to struggle to stop teams from getting long passing touchdowns. As a result, the Eagles will rely heavily on their defensive line to get pressure on the quarterback and force bad throws. This is an area that the Eagles administration should target to improve through trades or free agency. Another negative part of the offseason was the loss of Philly hero and Eagles quarterback Nick Foles to the Jaguars. Though the loss is tough for the fans and team, the move was overall strategic, and it allowed the team to improve and helped Carson Wentz get out of Foles’ shadow. With a healthy Carson Wentz, this Eagles team has the potential to be one of the best yet. The offense should be one of the best in the league with new options for Wentz to utilize as he grows, develops, and gains chemistry with his team after is injury near the end of last season. Two years ago he was an MVP candidate before being injured, and now that he is back and seemingly fully healthy, he is hoping to get back into his MVP level form and bring the team on another Superbowl run. On the defensive side of the ball, the team is moving in a promising direction. Although the secondary remained stagnant after a move filed offseason, the increases in other areas of the defense and offense should be able to mask the fatal flaw that killed the team last year. Nonetheless, there are high expectations for the Eagles this year, and the offseason helped get the team a step closer to meeting them.
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Dylan EdelmanWilson Senior Archives
February 2020
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