An unprecedented achievement for Howie Roseman, Jeff Lurie’s favorite band and why Lane Johnson’s contract extension shouldn’t affect the Eagles’ draft plans.
It’s time for another action-packed edition of Roob’s Random Offseason Eagles Observations.
“Observe on 3. … One, two, three … OBSERVE.”
1A. When Cam Jurgens was named to his first Pro Bowl team in December, it gave Howie Roseman an remarkable achievement that no other general manager in NFL history – no other team in NFL history – has ever pulled off. He drafted a Pro Bowl player in the second round four straight years. With Miles Sanders in 2019, Jalen Hurts in 2020, Landon Dickerson in 2021 and now Jurgens in 2022, the Eagles became the only team in history to draft a Pro Bowler in the second round four consecutive years. Only one other team in the last 40 years has even drafted a Pro Bowler in the second round three straight years, and that was the Chargers from 2005 through 2007 with Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeill and Eric Weddle. For the sake of comparison, the Jets have drafted one Pro Bowler in the second round in the last 45 years. The Eagles didn’t have a 2nd-round pick in 2023, but I’m not betting against Cooper DeJean making a Pro Bowl or six before he’s done. That wouldn’t be a Pro Bowl 2nd-rounder in five straight years but it would be five straight 2nd-round picks making a Pro Bowl. And if 2018 2nd-round pick Dallas Goedert could play a full healthy season – either here or somewhere else – that streak could conceivably reach five straight years with a 2nd-round Pro Bowler. Now if J.J. Arcega-Whiteside could ever make a Pro Bowl, we’d really be in business.
1B. The Eagles have never drafted a Pro Bowler in the first round four straight years. They did four out of five years from 1996 through 2000 with Jermane Mayberry, Tra Thomas, Donovan McNabb and Corey Simon.
1C. Would you put the Eagles’ 10-best 2nd-round picks up against their 10-best 1st-round picks? Would you rather have these 1st-rounders: Chuck Bednarik, Steve Van Buren, Mike Quick, Fletcher Cox, Donovan McNabb, Lane Johnson, Bob Brown, Jerome Brown, Tra Thomas and Keith Jackson? Or their 10-best 2nd-rounders: Brian Dawkins, Eric Allen, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Maxie Baughan, Jalen Hurts, Randall Cunningham, Zach Ertz, Landon Dickerson and Wes Hopkins. It’s close.
2. Eagles training camp starts in less than four months. How is that even possible?
3. The Eagles in 2024 had five defensive players who were on the roster in 2021: Milton Williams, Avonte Maddox, Darius Slay, Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham. All are gone. No current defensive players have been here without leaving longer than 2022 acquisitions Jordan Davis, Reed Blankenship and Nakobe Dean. That’s an astonishing level of roster turnover. When Howie Roseman says he’s going to go young, he sure takes it to the extreme. Put an asterisk by Patrick Johnson’s name. He was here as a rookie in 2021, played on opening day in São Paulo for the Eagles last year, was claimed by the Giants when the Eagles tried to sneak him onto the practice squad and played the rest of the year with the Giants, only to re-sign here last week.
4A. JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: It’s time to reinstate this weekly category. Did you know Jalen Hurts is one of only five quarterbacks in NFL history with three consecutive seasons of at least 11 wins and 65 percent accuracy? The others are Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. Now, that is good company. Only Hurts and Mahomnes have done that within their first five seasons.
4B. ANOTHER JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: Jalen Hurts doesn’t turn 27 until August and has won six playoff games. Every other quarterback in Eagles history combined won four playoff games before their 27th birthday.
4C. AND YET ANOTHER JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: Jalen Hurts completed 68.7 percent of his passes during the regular season and 71.4 percent during the postseason. The only other QBs to complete at least 68 percent of their passes during both the regular season and the postseason and win a Super Bowl are Joe Montana in 1989 (70.2, 78.3), Troy Aikman in 1993 (69.1, 74.4) and Drew Brees (70.6, 70.6).
5. Lane Johnson signing that two-year contract extension running through 2027 and then saying he hopes to play three more years shouldn’t change the Eagles’ draft strategy. I still think an offensive lineman like Josh Simmons from Ohio State or Josh Conerly from Oregon makes a lot of sense. Johnson really is playing as well as ever and has only missed two games because of injuries over the last three years, so you feel great about where he is. Still the best right tackle in the biz. But he does turn 35 in May and that’s an age where you just don’t know what the future holds in terms of injuries and level of play. It doesn’t always seem that way, but Lane is human, and bringing in his projected replacement now makes a lot of sense. Guys like Simmons and Conerly could back up both tackles now and also compete with Tyler Steen and Kenyon Green at right guard and quite likely hold down right guard until needed at tackle. Lane talked recently about how he’d like to mentor his successor like Jason Kelce with Cam Jurgens, Fletcher Cox with Jalen Carter, Brandon Graham with Nolan Smith. Obviously, there’s no better offensive line coach than Jeff Stoutland, but there’s so much value in having an all-timer spend a year or two with a young draft pick, as we’ve seen the past couple years. It’s fantastic that Johnson wants to keep playing a few more years, and the way he takes care of himself there’s no reason to think he can’t continue playing at an elite level. But if the Eagles can get his eventual successor now while also upgrading at right guard, it makes a lot of sense.
6. Jeff Lurie’s favorite band is Earth, Wind and Fire. Yet another reason he’s the best owner in sports.
7. In Eagles postseason history, their quarterbacks have only thrown two interceptions on plays starting inside the opposing 10-yard-line. Both were by Ty Detmer at Candlestick Park in the second quarter of the Eagles-49ers 1996 wild-card game. On a 3rd-and-1 from the 7-yard-line, with the 49ers up 7-0, Detmer’s pass for Irving Fryar was picked off by cornerback Marquez Pope in the end zone when linebacker Ken Norton smacked Detmer’s arm as he was releasing the ball. On their next drive, the Eagles had a 3rd-and-4 on the 49ers’ 5-yard-line when Detmer’s pass for Chris T. Jones was intercepted by defensive end Roy Barker at the 1-yard-line. The 49ers won 14-0 despite netting just 279 yards of offense. The Stathead play finder only goes back to 1994, but during that 31-year period Detmer is the only quarterback to throw two interceptions from inside the opposing 10-yard-line in the same playoff game. He’s also the only Eagles QB with two INTs inside the 10 in any regular season or postseason game since 1994.
8. How remarkable was Mike Quick’s 1983 season? He caught 69 passes for 1,409 yards and a 20.4 average with 13 touchdowns for a terrible team that won five games, ranked 16th out of 28 teams in passing offense and didn’t have another player – running back, receiver, tight end – with more than three touchdowns. He remains one of only three players in NFL history with 1,400 yards, a 20.0 average and 13 touchdowns in a season, along with Hall of Famer Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch with the Rams in 1951 and Hall of Famer Lance Alworth of the Chargers in 1965. Quick led the NFL in receiving yards and yards per game in 1983 and was named 1st-team all-pro along with the first of his five straight Pro Bowl honors. One of the best seasons any wide receiver has ever had.
9. This is completely bat-bleep crazy, but even if you removed Saquon Barkley’s eight-longest regular-season runs from scrimmage from this past season, he would have still led the NFC in rushing. Barkley finished with 2,005 yards and Bijan Robinson was second in the conference with 1,456 yards. Barkely’s eight-longest runs – – 41, 43, 55, 59, 65, 68, 70 and 72 yards – totaled 473 yards. Take ‘em out and Saquon is still at 1,532 yards on 335 carries for a 4.6 average with eight touchdowns. Without his eight longest runs. To put that into perspective, Derrick Henry is the only running back other than Barkley who had 1,500 yards, a 4.6 average and eight TDs this year. Only 42 other backs in NFL history have ever put up those numbers in a season. Only LeSean McCoy in 2013 has done it as an Eagle. Remove his eight-longest runs and Barkley is still an all-pro. Insane.
10. The Eagles’ 123 points vs. the Rams (28), Commanders (55) and Chiefs (40) were the most in any three-game span in the postseason by any team in 30 years. In 1994, the 49ers had 131 in a three-game span in wins vs. the Bears (44), Cowboys (38) and Chargers (49). The only other team to score more points in a three-game postseason span than the Eagles this year was the 1989 49ers with 126 vs. the Vikings (41), Rams (30) and Broncos (55).
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