What has you fired up about this upcoming season?

After running through the biggest concerns about the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles, Jimmy Kempski and I are back with a more positive spin on this week’s BGN Radio podcast episode. As promised, we got together to talk about the top reasons to be excited about the upcoming season.

Jimmy and I each came up with nine reasons for optimism, though we had some overlap. You can listen to the entire list in the embed below. For you non-podcast people, keep reading on for written typed elaboration.

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1 - DeVonta MF Smith

I mean, this should be No. 1 on everyone’s list. Smith’s potential is tantalizing. He’s not some project that the Eagles have high hopes for. The Heisman Trophy winner is a proven commodity in that he actually knows how to play wide receiver at a high level. Smith is incredibly skilled and he figures to be a volume target from Day 1. He should reasonably be the Eagles’ first wide receiver to hit 1,000 yards since Jeremy Maclin last did it all the way back in 2014. I legitimately cannot wait to watch Smith terrorize NFC East defensive backs. Especially when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys (allowed the Eagles to trade up for him!) and the New York Giants (wanted to draft him). Smith is going to be a star and this season should only be the beginning of a very bright career.

2 - Rooting against the Colts and Dolphins

Even if things go poorly for the 2021 Eagles, there will at least be the fun schadenfreude factor of rooting against the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins to fall back on. Struggles by those teams could potentially set the Eagles up nicely with three quality first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. And it’s not even just Colts and Dolphins games that will hold more interest to Eagles fans than ever. The draft pick dynamic also adds extra intrigue to other games featuring AFC playoff contenders. In a normal year, you might not be all that interested in watching a Titans-49ers game on Thursday Night Football. This year, however, you’ll be rooting for Derrick Henry to go off and keep Indy away from the AFC South lead. More games with Eagles relevance!

3 - Fans will be back at the Linc

Things just weren’t the same with the Eagles playing in front of a mostly empty Lincoln Financial Field last year. It’ll be great to see fans back in the stands. It’ll be great to hear the roar of the crowd as DeVonta Smith breaks the record for single-game receiving touchdowns with his sixth score of the day. On the flip side, the fans also won’t be shy to boo if things go poorly for this team. That could very much be a positive in the long run, though, as an accountability element.

4 - Ryan Kerrigan is one of the good guys now

Not sure about his long-term value to this franchise but it’s at least nice to know that he won’t be terrorizing the Eagles for once!

Once again, you can check out the rest of our Biggest Reasons for excitement in pod form. Our question for you in the comments is: What are YOUR biggest reasons for excitement about the Eagles?