Eagles News: Philadelphia had one of the most productive rookie classes

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Ranking rookie classes from the 2021 NFL draft: Best and worst teams based on first-year production – ESPN+
9. Philadelphia Eagles. Why they’re ranked here: DeVonta Smith showed that the ability to run routes and generate separation translates to the NFL level seamlessly, but his production was capped by the overall potency of the Eagles passing offense. Landon Dickerson ended up starting 13 games at guard once injuries struck the line, and Milton Williams played almost 500 snaps for the team on the defensive line. Kenneth Gainwell was also a contributor on offense but had just 107 total touches over the season including the wild-card loss. How their top pick fared: Smith’s route running was as sharp and effective as ever, and he seems to generate quick separation at will, but he was featured less than fellow top receiver draft picks Ja’Marr Chase and Jaylen Waddle. He showed the ability to make impressive sideline catches, but there were times where the greater physicality of the NFL caused some problems. Only Chase and Kadarius Toney had more yards per route run than Smith’s 1.77 among rookie receivers.

Early breakout candidates for all 32 NFL teams in 2022 – PFF
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: G LANDON DICKERSON. 2021 PFF Grade: 69.6. Dickerson’s best play in college came at center, and his career came to a close with a brutal torn ACL in the SEC title game. Despite all that, the second-round pick performed at a quality level for Philadelphia at left guard, where he started from Week 4 on as a rookie. The Alabama product earned the 12th-best PFF grade among left guards over that span. Now, he needs some consistency within his pass protection to take that next step forward. With a year of going up against NFL play strength now under his belt, that breakout is possible for 2022.

State of the Eagles, Part II: 2021 Final Exams – BGN
Howie should be fired for malpractice if he doesn’t make every attempt to trade the 15th pick for a 2023 1st rounder. The Eagles are in an enviable situation where they have back-to-back first round picks. This means if a guy they like falls to 15th, they can trade out to a team that doesn’t want him and scoop him up at 16th (assuming a trade partner materializes). It’s an easy way to give them more draft picks in 2023 to take a quarterback in case Hurts doesn’t pan out. The only exception to this, of course, is if there are 2 guys they really like when they are on the clock, but even then I’d think long and hard about trading that pick.

From the Bleachers #99 – NFL Mock Draft with Ben Natan – BGN Radio
Bleeding Green Nation draft writer Ben Natan joins Shamus Clancy to go through his latest mock draft for the Eagles.

Eagles stay or go: Head coach Nick Sirianni – PhillyVoice
#JimmyVerdict: When Jeffrey Lurie introduced Sirianni as the team’s new head coach during the aforementioned initial press conference, he cited “what coach he can become and what organization we can become with his leadership.” Lurie seemed well aware that there would be bumps in the road initially, which proved to be prophetic. Credit Sirianni for weathering those early bumps in a hardcore football city and improving as a head coach as the season progressed. It will be interesting to see how he evolves from Year 1 to Year 2.

Can the Eagles commit to Jalen Hurts after watching Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen? – Inquirer
For anyone who paid close attention to the Eagles and Hurts this season, it was impossible to watch Sunday’s games, see the plays that Stafford, Brady, Allen, and Mahomes were making, and think, Yeah, Hurts can do that. Maybe he’ll improve over time, but there were too many instances this season that suggested he won’t reach that level, too many instances in which his reads were late or his arm wasn’t quite strong enough to make the sorts of throws that appear routine to those four quarterbacks.If the Eagles’ recent history is any reliable indication, Lurie and Roseman were noticing the same thing. From Donovan McNabb to Carson Wentz, they’ve done their best to find and commit to a franchise quarterback — one who, they believe, can make them great and keep them great for a long time. And since Roseman presumably didn’t put his hand atop a Bible before telling reporters last week that Hurts would be the team’s starter next season, it should be no surprise that the Eagles have been and will be mentioned as a possible destination for Russell Wilson, should the Seahawks try to trade him.

Eagles’ backup OL faces lengthy rehab after knee surgery – NBCSP
Eagles backup offensive lineman Brett Toth, who was injured in the team’s regular season finale, now faces a lengthy recovery process. The 25-year-old lineman posted on his Instagram account on Monday that he had knee surgery will need nine months to rehab. If Toth takes the full nine months, that puts this timeframe deep into October, which means the Eagles won’t have him for training camp and at least for the start of the 2022 regular season.

Why ex-Eagles head coach Doug Pederson makes sense to replace Saints’ Sean Payton – NJ.com
Payton announced Tuesday that he would be retiring, ending a run with the Saints that lasted for 16 seasons. The Saints now join eight other teams and searching for a new head coach. However, to fix their open vacancy, the Saints could very well turn to someone who played college in Louisiana to lead their team: Former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson.

Insider says Cowboys had deal to trade for Sean Payton until Anthony Davis wanted out of New Orleans – Blogging The Boys
Whether or not Payton becomes the Cowboys coach in the future is obviously something that has yet to come to fruition, but according to one NFL insider he very nearly became their head coach in the past. As in very nearly. ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio has a book releasing soon called Playmakers, and in the aftermath of the Payton news, he decided to share an excerpt from it where he notes that the Cowboys were set to trade for Payton in early 2019 until Anthony Davis asked to be traded away from the New Orleans Pelicans. Yes. You read all of those words correctly.

Sean Payton’s Departure Will Be Felt Throughout the NFL – The Ringer
It doesn’t seem like that Payton will coach next year, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have an impact on the season. Any coach already on the hot seat—Mike McCarthy in Dallas and Matt Rhule in Carolina, for instance—is feeling a little more heat now that an elite head coach is on the market. The same goes for any coach on shaky ground. An opportunity to land a leader with Payton’s résumé and team-building experience doesn’t come around too often. Payton says his heart isn’t in coaching right now, but what if a high-profile team comes along offering a lot of money? If Jerry Jones wakes up tomorrow and decides he wants to hire Payton, I’m sure it could be arranged. Sure, the Cowboys have already committed to bringing McCarthy back for another season, but things have changed since then. From Payton’s perspective, the opportunity to coach Dak Prescott—who may be this generation’s Brees in terms of play style—would be awfully hard to turn down.

If Sean Payton stays in the NFL these teams should be all-in – SB Nation
Dallas Cowboys: I hate getting into all this, because truly I think Mike McCarthy is a good coach — and this scenario involves firing McCarthy. Still, it has to be considered. Payton has been linked to the Cowboys before, and they represent another nearly-complete team in need of some small adjustments. The big thing for Dallas right now is that they have two really promising coordinators in Dan Quinn and Kellen Moore, both of whom are getting some head coaching buzz — and they’d like to keep one, or both still in the fold. Is Sean Payton enough to take the current Cowboys’ roster and win a Super Bowl? Perhaps. That could be good enough. If you’re Jerry Jones then the dream scenario would be to hire Payton, let someone like Moore learn from him with the expectation the job would be his in a few years. Now you have a cohesive plan for the future, and a way to win now. There’s a lot of moving parts to this, but it’s definitely intriguing.

Off Day Debrief #73: Conference title games are set + Power Rankings of head coaching candidates – The SB Nation NFL Show
Rob “Stats” Guerrera and Brandon Lee Gowton react to an incredible Divisional Round and power rank the five best head coaching candidates in this hiring cycle. How the hell is Jimmy Garoppolo still in the playoffs? (3:40) Credit the Rams and Matthew Stafford for a huge play (13:31). Is this the last we’ve seen of Tom Brady (17:16). Did the return of Derrick Henry actually hurt the Titans? (22:37). Head coaching candidate power rankings (31:00.MVPs and LVPs of the week (56:32).

How you can get free N95 masks from the US government – Vox
This week, the Biden administration will begin distributing free N95 masks — which provide the greatest protection among readily available disposable masks — to the public as part of its push back against the omicron wave. The administration had announced last week that it would be making 400 million N95 respirator masks freely available to the public at community health centers and pharmacies across the country. That announcement came on the heels of the rollout of a website for ordering free Covid-19 rapid tests.

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