Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 10/28/21.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Predicting NFL Week 8 upset picks, fantasy football sleepers and flops, plus trade buzz and notes around the league - ESPN+
A few more things I’ve heard: [...] It wouldn’t be a shock to see an AFC North team call Philly about offensive tackle Andre Dillard, who is considered to be on the block. Browns and Ravens have had depth issues there.

Seven Trades We’d Like to See Before the NFL Trade Deadline - The Ringer
Philadelphia Eagles OT Andre Dillard to the Carolina Panthers. Philadelphia receives: 2022 sixth-round pick. Carolina receives: OT Andre Dillard. Andre Dillard probably isn’t all that—but he could be! Dillard struggled mightily in Philadelphia when he first arrived in 2019, and Jordan Mailata beat him out in camp for the starting left tackle job this preseason. But when the Eagles reshuffled their line due to in-season injury, Dillard started four games at left tackle and acquitted himself fairly well. One of those games—arguably Dillard’s best—was against the Panthers, a team that already called the Eagles this offseason to inquire about Dillard’s price. At the time, Carolina was told Dillard was not available—but with the deadline approaching, I wouldn’t be surprised if this conversation opens back up. Dillard has two years left of a rookie contract (including his fifth-year option) and no avenue to starting in Philadelphia—the Eagles should get what they can for him now, when his stock has seen a bump following his adequate play.

From Marcus Mariota to Evan Engram: One NFL trade deadline candidate for every team - The Athletic
Philadelphia Eagles: LT Andre Dillard. The Eagles might be more inclined to sell aging veterans such as Brandon Brooks or one-year rentals such as Steven Nelson, but Dillard could be more valuable to a prospective team than the Eagles. Dillard, 26, was a 2019 first-round pick and plays a premium position. However, he lost out on the starting job to Jordan Mailata, and the Eagles signed Mailata to a contract extension to make him the long-term left tackle. That relegated Dillard to reserve status. Dillard was needed this year while Lane Johnson was absent because of a personal matter, and Dillard showed promise. The Eagles might be inclined to keep him for quality depth — especially on an aging line. But if another team views him as a starting left tackle and the Eagles could wrangle a Day 2 pick, the Eagles would have a hard time bypassing the draft capital.

5 candidates to be moved if Eagles are sellers at trade deadline - NBCSP
Andre Dillard. Jordan Mailata is the Eagles’ left tackle of the future and they’re still financially tied to Lane Johnson beyond this season, which means Dillard doesn’t have a starting job. And when Mailata was out with a knee sprain, Dillard played well enough to improve his draft stock. If a team is in need of a left tackle, he might be a viable option. The problem is that Johnson left Sunday’s game early after his ankle was stepped on and Mailata is still dealing with that knee sprain. So there’s a chance the Eagles will need Dillard the rest of the way, especially with Jack Driscoll playing at guard. A trade would leave their top backup tackles as Brett Toth on the active roster and Le’Raven Clark on the practice squad (although they could and would likely move Driscoll back to tackle in a pinch). Another hurdle is that Dillard is still under contract through next season and has at least proven himself to be a valuable depth player who doesn’t get paid a ton.

Eagles All-22 Film Review: Observations from the loss to the Raiders - BGN
I have defended Sirianni but I have nothing for Jonathan Gannon. It was bad. I completely understand the 2-high approach and stopping big plays and I think it is an important part of the modern game. But you can’t be so deep and passive that an offense can just pick up easy yards. This game was so hard to watch on defense. The problem with trying to stop big plays by putting everyone back is that a quarterback with time in the pocket can still make excellent plays. Derek Carr was awesome this game. This is a beauty of a throw. Also, I do not know if Fletcher Cox is actually covering the running back here or whether he just gets pushed back and decides to do it...

NFC East Mixtape Vol.28: At What Point Will This Thing Be Over? - BGN Radio
RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton discuss the latest storylines in the division including the biggest concerns for Cowboys, according to RJ the Eagles are the equivalent of Almond Joy in a candy hierarchy, Terry McClaurin is the best thing going for the WFT and Could Daniel Jones be the next Ryan Tannehill?

The Eagles should have traded Fletcher Cox; now they can’t - PhillyVoice
The short-short version of that video is that whether the Eagles cut, trade, or keep Cox in 2022, they found creative ways of dumping Cox’s cap charges into the 2023 season, when the cap is expected to rise substantially. However, as is often the case, the Eagles were too smart for their own good. Instead of moving Cox at a time when they could have rid themselves of his contract completely while also saving a little money and likely acquiring a good asset in return in a non-contending season, Cox’s decline could accelerate, he’ll continue to be “a big rock in the salary cap jar” through the 2023 season, and there will no longer be any sort of good asset that the team will acquire in return for him via trade. Oh, and he’s unhappy now, too.

NFL QB Index, Week 8: Patrick Mahomes plummets - NFL.com
22) Jalen Hurts. Hurts was inaccurate once again in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders. After the game, he regretted sliding on one run instead of picking up a first down, which is the type of head-scratching moment — like throwing the ball away on fourth down — that we see from him too often. Hurts has a few wow plays each week, but he could desperately use a good effort in Week 8. A loss to the Lions could send a darkening Eagles season into full-scale evaluation mode. [...] 24) Jared Goff. Goff was part of a Detroit team that was in the red zone with a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter against the Rams in Los Angeles. There were a few pretty throws mixed in before that, but ultimately, the Lions couldn’t cash in with a touchdown on a single one of their five red-zone trips on the day, and the QB’s struggles against pressure doomed them. The Lions’ special teams earned Goff three extra possessions, and Detroit only scored one touchdown in the game, on a long screen pass where D’Andre Swift did all the work.

NFL Week 8: Key matchups and storylines for all 15 games - PFF
Matchup to watch: LG Jonah Jackson vs. DI Javon Hargrave. Hargrave has been one of the most disruptive interior pass-rushers in the NFL this season. His 90.1 PFF pass-rushing grade through seven games trails only Aaron Donald and Jonathan Allen, and it is just the next step in a history of improvement for Hargrave when rushing quarterbacks. Hargrave lines up primarily over the left guard, and he projects to have an edge over Detroit’s left guard (Jackson) in this one. Jalen Mayfield is the only player at the position who has allowed more pressures at the position than Jackson (26) in 2021. It’s a mismatch that Philadelphia needs Hargrave to capitalize on.

2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs for Week 8 - Fake Teams
RB31) Kenneth Gainwell — Easier matchup (BUY now).

Ertz Family Foundation Opens New Philly Facility Aimed at Keeping Children Safe - NBC10
Zach Ertz may have left Philadelphia but his impact on the city continues. The Ertz Family Foundation broke ground Tuesday afternoon with a new facility aimed at keeping children safe. NBC10’s Aaron Baskerville explains.

Lions Week 8 scouting report: The Philadelphia Eagles are bad, and a good matchup for Detroit - Pride Of Detroit
The Eagles aren’t very good, and their weaknesses (run defense, passing attack) match up well for the Lions. Detroit has a chance at stopping the Eagles’ rushing attack with how well they’ve been bottling opponents at times, and the Lions’ offensive weapons match up nicely against the Eagles. Luckily, where the Lions are weakest (pass defense), the Eagles don’t pose as big of a threat as other teams they’ve faced. By all accounts this is a winnable game for both rebuilding teams.

Four Verts: Kyle Pitts is King and dissecting the problems with the Chiefs - FTW
Time will tell if the Lions become a relevant franchise under Campbell. For now, that’s not the important story of this era of Lions football. Take a second to watch the Lions at some point this season. Not for great execution on the field or gaudy statistical performances, but simply for the fact that it’s a pure display of what humanity can breathe into sports when trust, love and empathy are reciprocated throughout an organization. The Lions may not win a game for weeks or months, but this doesn’t look like a team that plans on quitting their journey through the regular season any time soon. Campbell has tapped into the soul of this team through his own passion and it’s truly beautiful to watch.

Dan Campbell: It would mean everything to win this week, particularly going into a bye - PFT
“The same thing that makes this game so tough and hard is the same thing that makes it just unbelievably exciting and blissful, if you will, to get a win — because they’re so hard to come by, you know? And you’ve got to earn them, you really do,” Campbell said in his press conference. “So, it would mean everything. And look, particularly going into a bye, too. Anytime it would be good, but I think just to… Man, you end on a right note, we get these guys [to] get their body back a little bit, and then you come back and you almost feel like you’re starting over somewhat. You’re continuing the progress you had. But now, I’d say [if we win], we’ve turned the corner here and now we’re ready to go, got our first win under our belt.”

State of the NFC East: The Carolina Panthers might get swept by the division - Blogging The Boys
Philadelphia’s roster has slowly depleted year by year since they won the Super Bowl and they are now at a place where they have too many holes to cover (no pun intended). It is not a joke or shot at a rival to say that they are literally one of the worst teams in the NFL at the moment. You just hate to see it.

Where will Ron Rivera look for Washington’s next quarterback? - Hogs Haven
Ron Rivera acknowledged that the Washington Football Team has quarterback as one of their highest priorities moving forward, but at this juncture of his tenure, he cannot afford to leave any stone unturned during his search.

NFL trade rumors: “Multiple teams” said to be interested in Giants’ TE Evan Engram - Big Blue View
Engram, the Giants’ 2017 first-round pick (the last first-round pick of the Jerry Reese era) has long been a lightning rod for frustrated Giants’ fans. Despite an attractive skillset, a penchant for drops and a lengthy injury history have soured many on Engram. He was booed for coming on the field and cheered for leaving it after a Week 3 fumble against the Atlanta Falcons. Engram is playing this year on his fifth-year option and can enter the free agent market in the offseason. The Philadelphia Eagles recently traded three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz to the Arizona Cardinals for rookie cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick. The expectation from those I have talked to seems to be that Engram, who has 20 catches in five games this season, won’t command that much. He likely would only bring back a late-round pick to the Giants as compensation.

Colts Injury Report: Three Colts Miss Practice - Stampede Blue
Wide receiver TY Hilton would have missed practice today with a quad injury. Hilton played his first game of the season two weeks ago against the Texans but ended up getting injured in the process. Hilton had a chance to play against the 49ers but ultimately wasn’t fit enough to play. Hilton will be one to monitor this week.

Kirk Cousins and the Legends of the Arbitrary Benchmarks - Football Outsiders
Keep an eye on Douglas. Joe Douglas has a sterling reputation among the Twitter intelligentsia, which in itself raises Walkthrough’s suspicions. (When the loudest name-droppers on the Internet all agree on something, they’re usually wrong.) Everything that has gone wrong so far during his Jets tenure has been blamed on Gase, just as the collapse of the Eagles was blamed almost entirely on Howie Roseman. That’s another yellow flag. Trading a draft pick for Flacco instead of yanking some Kyle Sloter-type off the waiver wire is a third: the Jets need to horde every future resource right now, and Douglas should realize that. Douglas’ Eagles drafts were rather weak, and his 2020 Jets draft already features a few critical misses (Denzel Mims, La’Mical Perine). Granting a general manager multiple years of benefit of the doubt is a great way to end up with another affable, approachable, clueless Mike Maccagnan type.

The NFL’s 7 biggest surprises so far this season - SB Nation
The Dolphins’ collapse. I’ll admit that I was pretty high on Miami after last season. Here you had a team that vastly outperformed expectations, they had a young nucleus, and a treasure trove of draft picks after fleecing the Texans in the trade for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. With the right coaching staff in place it felt like the sky was the limit for the Dolphins, and instead they’ve crashed and burned. There’s no one reason you can point to, but rather the fact they’re just playing really awful football. This is a young team that no longer looks like they have any chemistry on the field. It’s gotten so bad there are now rumors about whether the team could dump 2020 first round pick Tua Tagovailoa and make yet another trade, this time for Deshaun Watson — who might not even be able to play, depending on how the league addresses sexual assault allegations against him. This team is a mess.

NFL University #13: Owners meetings, Deshaun Watson rumors, Packers COVID problems, & Dan ‘the man’ Campbell - The SB Nation NFL Show
Welcome back to another edition of NFL University! Stephen Serda, Kyle Posey, and Justis Mosqueda discuss the feuds brewing between the owners at this year’s NFL owner meetings. Deshaun Watson trade rumors are heating up ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. The NFL has made it clear barring some kind of major development they will not stop him from playing this season if traded. Ja’Marr Chase has transformed the Bengals offense along with Joes Burrow’s big step forward. The Packers have a COVID problem, and KP offers up some solutions for the 49ers. Also, we take a few minutes to fanboy over Mike Tomlin and Dan Campbell.

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