Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/6/23.

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NFL’s most intriguing players: 23 to watch for the 2023 season - The Athletic
11. Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles Hurts made the massive leap last season and, as an MVP candidate, gave the Eagles a shot at upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Rival talent evaluators are impressed, but they want to see if Hurts can duplicate last season’s success with the weight of expectations on his shoulders. Hurts certainly isn’t satisfied. How much higher can he ascend? [...] 21. Jalen Carter, DT, Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have some aging stars up front, so they used the 2023 No. 9 pick on the 6-3, 300-pound Carter, who is massive, powerful and versatile. He is expected to make an instant impact in the trenches and compete for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

5 things Eagles fans should be most excited about this year - BGN
Last year, the Eagles didn’t need any of their draft picks to jump into the fray right away and contribute. Jordan Davis’ rookie season was mired by injury but no one hardly noticed because his teammates piled up 70 sacks. Cam Jurgens and Nakobe Dean barely saw the field, and only undrafted rookie safety Reed Blankenship contributed anything of value to the cause. All those guys are being counted on to play a major role in 2023. Dean is the quarterback of the defense, he’ll be calling the plays, and while he is still a major question mark, given his lack of NFL experience, the talent is tantalizing. Davis should be a devastating run stuffer as part of a ridiculously deep defensive line rotation, and Jurgens is slated to start at right guard. Unlike last year, the 2023 draft class is expected to compete and perform. The odds-on favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year is Jalen Carter, who is wowing people with his game-wrecking ability from the interior, but his fellow Georgia Bulldog teammate, Nolan Smith, has opened eyes with his speed rushing ability on the outside, too. It’s going to be a joy to watch those two dudes go at it. And don’t sleep on Tyler Steen playing a major role at some point this season, especially if Jason Kelce suffers and injury and Jurgens is needed at center, or safety Sydney Brown, who will also likely see a fair number of snaps at a position that features a dearth of depth. The one rookie you hope you don’t see much of is QB Tanner McKee who, while showing promise during the preseason, would only be on the field if Jalen Hurts is not. And that’s not what you want.

All 32 NFL teams, ranked by how likely they are to win 2024 Super Bowl - SB Nation
2. Philadelphia Eagles. It’s the Eagles. This teams has been running circles around the rest of the league when it comes to the draft for several years in a row, and their investment in young talent has really paid off. Philadelphia won’t have the shock and awe factor in 2023 that they benefited from a year ago. It also remains to be seen how they’ll rebound from losing both their offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching jobs. However, Nick Siriani has a system and a type that really promotes “next man up” in his coaching ranks, and there’s a lot to like about this team. It’s unclear if they can get past the big dogs of the AFC, but the Eagles absolutely figure into being a favorite in the NFC in 2023.

BGN Draft #18: CFB Week 2 Eagles’ prospects + Game of the Week predictions - BGN Radio
Shane Haff, Mark Henry Jr. and Chris Deibler recap their college football player of the week picks from Week 1 and each provide Eagles targets of the Week, Player of the Week Predictions and games of the Week for Week 2.

Eagles at Patriots: Five matchups to watch - PhillyVoice
1) The Eagles’ run defense vs. the Patriots’ rushing attack. The Pats are likely to be a run-heavy offense in 2023, led by Rhamondre Stevenson and familiar foe Ezekiel Elliott. Stevenson topped 1000 rushing yards in 2022, with a yards per carry average of 5.0, while Elliott was dumped by the Cowboys after his worst season as a pro (3.8 YPC). Both Stevenson (listed at 6’0, 227) and Elliott (6’0, 225) are big backs. In the second half of the 2022 season, the Eagles faced something of a gauntlet of some of the league’s best runners — Jonathan Taylor, Aaron Jones, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley twice, Justin Fields, Tony Pollard, Alvin Kamara, etc. Some of those guys made some plays, but for the most part the Eagles did a nice job against them. In the Super Bowl, the Eagles really struggled to stop the run, as the Chiefs churned out 158 yards on 6.1 yards per carry on the ground. The veterans on the Eagles’ defense should be eager to play the run well after that disappointing performance on the NFL’s biggest stage. Stopping the run should be the Eagles’ No. 1 priority defensively n Sunday, because if they can slow the Pats’ run game and make them one-dimensional it could get ugly, given that the Pats’ injury-plagued offensive line should be at a big disadvantage in pass protection.

RBBC - Iggles Blitz
We only got to see a little of Swift in the preseason, but I think he’ll be the feature back as the season starts. Still, he won’t be getting a ton of work. The Eagles are going to spread the ball around. The four RBs have different skill sets. The coaches can find ways to get the most out of them. Penny is the biggest of the RBs and is a physical runner. He has big play ability because of his power and downhill style. Gainwell isn’t big, but is a surprisingly good short yardage runner. He is a good receiver and will be the key RB in the 2-mintue offense. Scott is the KOR and is a solid RB. He is small, but thick. He hides behind blockers and runs to daylight. I would think at least three of them will be the leading rusher in a game this year. Possibly all four. If one of them is having a good day, he’s likely to get more carries and be The Guy for that game. I don’t think sharing the ball will be an issue since none of these guys has been a workhorse runner in their careers.

DVOA Preseason Award Picks - FTN Fantasy
Defensive Rookie of the Year. Bryan: Co-favorites make it tough! I think Jalen Carter (+500) finds himself in the better situation in Philadelphia, and there’s enough talent around him to help make his job that much easier than Will Anderson will have it. Not that Carter needs a ton of help, mind you; he’s already looking like a beast. He’s going to get plenty of opportunities to pin his ears back and rush the passer while replacing Javon Hargrave; he has a chance to be the first Eagle rookie with double-digit sacks since Reggie White.

Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin. . . Nick Sirianni? Eagles head coach will soon rank among the greats - Inquirer
With the exception of Reid, they weren’t regarded as schematic geniuses. With the possible exception of Parcells, they didn’t ride to their current posts on the coattails of great collections of talent for whom they happened to call plays. None of them preached a message that was any more revolutionary than the one Sirianni was bellowing into his bullhorn a month ago.What set them apart is that their players listened. Sirianni’s players listen. It’s the ultimate compliment for a coach. It’s one that Sirianni has been receiving since his days on Frank Reich’s staff in Indianapolis. It’s evident to anybody who watches the guy in action.

Eagles mailbag: Thoughts on Nakobe Dean entering 2023 - NBCSP
But let’s talk about Dean a little bit. Because I get it. The 22-year-old basically had a redshirt season in 2022 as a third-round pick. He played just 34 defensive snaps. The Eagles simply rolled with T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White last season, which made some sense. The Eagles were pretty good with those two on the field. But I am still a bit surprised Jonathan Gannon never made a concerted effort to get Dean on the field in any type of role. And now a year after sitting him on the bench for an entire season, the Eagles never questioned whether or not Dean was ready to become a starting linebacker in Year 2? A bit strange. But with all that said, I’m not too worried about Dean. Maybe that’s some pre-draft bias in there. I liked him as a prospect coming out of Georgia and I shared the sentiment of many, that he was a heck of a draft steal at No. 83 overall. I mean, this guy was the leader of the best defense in college football.

Spadaro: Do Nick Sirianni’s season openers offer any clues for Sunday? - PE.com
There is always a sense of the unknown when the NFL opens its season and, no doubt, this year is no exception for the Eagles. They’re going against a New England team that has a new offensive coordinator in Bill O’Brien and a defense that, for the first time in a dozen seasons, doesn’t have star defensive back Devin McCourty. Unknowns, unknowns, unknowns. Of course, it is the same with the Eagles, who have spent the last couple of weeks introducing their game plan for the September 10 opener. All of those open Training Camp practices at the NovaCare Complex? Those were primarily the basics, a shell of what the Eagles will scheme from week to week in this 2023 regular season. So, we venture into new territory starting Sunday when the team can finally start answering all of those “What is the identity of this football team?” questions. In the meantime, with time to spare before the opener, let’s take a look back at Head Coach Nick Sirianni’s two openers, wins at Atlanta and Detroit, that helped the team get off to positive starts in each playoff season.

2023 NFL simulation: 285 game predictions, including playoffs - ESPN
Eagles defeat Ravens in Super Bowl. The FPI had the Eagles as Super Bowl favorites entering the season, but with just a 14% chance to win it all. That means 86% of the simulations had someone else winning the Super Bowl. What do those 86% look like? We’ll never know. Because a year after coming so close to beating the Chiefs for the Lombardi Trophy, the Eagles came back and finished the job. But it was hardly straightforward. Eight weeks into the season, the Eagles were 2-6, looking at a season on the brink. Star players battling injuries dampened the offense, cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry weren’t playing at the elite level they did in 2022 and the new starters at off-ball linebacker weren’t cutting it. Even the “Tush Push” stopped working. But it eventually started clicking, as the Eagles became the top-five team on both sides of the ball they were expected to be. Philadelphia finished the regular season on a nine-game winning streak, clinching the NFC East and earning the No. 2 seed in the conference. The Eagles beat the Commanders 29-20 in the wild-card round before taking down the 49ers 32-23 in a battle of NFC heavyweights. The surprising Vikings brought their offense to the NFC Championship Game, but that’s it, as the Eagles prevailed 38-31. In the Super Bowl, the Eagles’ defense — fueled by second-year defensive tackle Jordan Davis’ run-stuffing and linebacker Haason Reddick’s pass rush — stifled the Ravens’ offense. The Eagles won 14-10, and redemption for Super Bowl LVII was complete.

Former Eagle Hugh Douglas’ son killed in crash outside Atlanta - CBS News
A former Eagle is mourning the tragic loss of his son in a crash outside Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday. Hugh Douglas, the son of Eagles Hall of Famer Hugh Douglas, was killed in the single-vehicle crash just after 5 p.m. in East Point, Georgia. A spokesperson for the Georgia State Patrol says a car struck a power pole at Church Street and Linwood Avenue and overturned, killing the vehicle’s two occupants.

Patriots eager to ‘show the world what we can do’ in season opener against Eagles - Pats Pulpit
The first game of the New England Patriots’ 2023 season might already be one of the toughest tests on their schedule. They will welcome a Philadelphia Eagles team to Gillette Stadium that went 14-3 last season and made its way to the Super Bowl as the NFC representative. The Eagles may have fallen short in this game, and subsequently lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching offers, but make no mistake: they are as good a team as any in the NFL right now. Accordingly, the Patriots will have to bring their A-game. They are very much prepared to do that, and not lacking any confidence heading into the contest. “Very confident” said wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Monday. “Super, super high in confidence, being able to — everything we did this offseason — finally put it in an actual game and go out there and show the world what we can do.”

Cowboys injury update: Tyler Smith suffered a ‘hamstring strain’ in Monday’s practice - Blogging The Boys
As David Moore mentions in his tweet, Jones had confidence the injury would not eliminate Smith from the starting lineup on Sunday night against the New York Giants. The Cowboys had an off day on Tuesday, so there was no practice, but with Wednesday being the start of the injury report designation for both teams, it’ll be interesting to see how the week progresses for Smith. Dallas is already monitoring the calf strain suffered by safety Donovan Wilson, but at least there’s depth behind him. For the offensive line, it’s a different story. The Cowboys don’t have proven experience behind their starting five, given the injuries to Josh Ball, Chuma Edoga, and Matt Waletzko. They have a few names on the practice squad, including Brock Hoffman, but not much after that.

Progression or regression? Which will we see from Giants in 2023? - Big Blue View
I think getting to nine wins again, considering everything, would be an excellent season for the Giants. I think this is a seven- to nine-win year for the Giants. I will err on the side of being optimistic, and predict a playoff-less 9-8 season. Regardless of the final record, I think Giants fans should feel good about the future of this team. The coaching staff and front office that are in place should make you confident that the Giants, no matter what happens in 2023, are going in the right direction.

Washington Commanders update their unofficial depth chart before Week 1 - Hogs Haven
Terry McLaurin entered the offseason as Washington’s number 1 receiver, but a preseason turf toe injury has put his status for Week 1 in doubt. Jahan Dotson is ready to step up if McLaurin misses time, and will be a solid 1A for Washington when McLaurin is in the lineup. Curtis Samuel enters a contract year, and will look to show his value in Eric Bieniemy’s offense. Dyami Brown is likely on his last chance to make an impact, and having his former college QB throwing him the ball will hopefully bring out the big play ability that he showed at North Carolina. EB brought Byron Pringle over from Kansas City, and he will compete with Dax Milne and rookie UDFA Mitchell Tinsley for snaps.

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