NFL PREVIEW: 2020 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

BY ADAM GREENE

Key Additions: CB Darius Slay (trade), WR Marquise Goodwin (trade), DT Javon Hargrave (free agent), CB Nickell Robey-Coleman (free agent), OLB Jatavis Brown (free agent), S Will Parks (free agent)

2020 NFL Draft: WR Jalen Reagor, TCU (round 1), QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma (round 2), OLB Davion Taylor, Colorado (round 3), S K’Von Wallace, Clemson (round 4), OT Jack Driscoll, Auburn (round 4), WR John Hightower, Boise State (round 5), LB Shaun Bradley, Temple (round 6), WR Quez Watkins, Southern Miss (round 6), OT Prince Tega Wangogho, Auburn (round 6), OLB Casey Toohill, Stanford (round 7)

Projected Offensive Starters: QB Carson Wentz, RB Miles Sanders, WR Alshon Jeffery, WR DeSean Jackson, WR Jalen Reagor, TE Zach Ertz, LT Andre Dillard, LG Isaac Seumalo, C Jason Kelce, RG Jack Driscoll, RT Lane Johnson

Projected Defensive Starters: LDE Brandon Grahom, LDT Fletcher Cox, RDT Javon Hargrave, RDE Derek Barnett, WLB Nathan Gerry, MLB Jatavis Brown, SLB Alex Singleton, LCB Darius Slay, RCB Avonte Maddox, SS Jalen Mills, FS Rodney McLeod

K: Jake Elliott

P: Cameron Johnston

Head Coach: Doug Pederson

2019 Record: 9-7, 1^st place NFC East

A Look Back: Any hope for the Eagles to make another trip to the Super Bowl were dashed once Carson Wentz left the Wild Card game against the Seattle Seahawks with an injury just a few minutes in. It was a bad scene as Wentz’s injury history has been pretty much the only knock against him since he entered the league as the No. 2 overall pick back in 2016.

For the first time since his rookie year Wentz played a full regular season, completing 63.9 percent of his passes for 4,039 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven picks. In spite of that, Philadelphia was an underachieving team and was in a pitched battle to get into the playoffs after too many dumb losses to teams they should have destroyed (like the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions, for instance).

Still, this was a squad that was a play away in each loss to putting up a ridiculous record. Five of their seven defeats were by a single score. One different bounce of the ball and They could have been battling for home field advantage in the playoffs.

2020 Projection: But, of course, you can’t always get the breaks so the Eagles did the best possible thing they could do to ensure their team’s future success this offseason; they drafted a starting caliber-level quarterback in Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts in the second round.

Wentz has now gone down with an injury in three straight seasons, including the year the team won the Super Bowl thanks to his back up, Nick Foles. Pederson wanted to make sure he had that kind of insurance again.

The weaknesses the team did have outside of their No. 2 QB were addressed in the draft and free agency. Philly looks as good as the team that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy three seasons ago.

2020 Projected Win Total: 11-5. Nobody’s fooled by the Eagles this season. Over 9.5 wins pays at -110 and 10-14 victories pays at -120, so everyone is expecting a solid run here. The truth is, that win total might be low. The Eagles have a first place monster schedule, as all division winners do, but a anything up to 13-3 record is possible here if Wentz stays healthy. If he doesn’t, Hurts can still get them to double-digits and the postseason.

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