With the NFL calendar in hibernation mode, it’s a good time to be a reflective Eagles fan.
Hop on YouTube. Watch some highlights. Maybe a compilation of Saquon Barkley’s best runs from his 2,000 yard season. Maybe it’s a mash-up of the Eagles’ playoff run. Maybe it’s just re-watching Super Bowl 59 in its entirety.
It’s also a good time to ask questions. With training camp still a little over a week away, there are blessedly few things to worry about for Eagles fans here in mid-July, but that’s not to say there aren’t some question marks about the defending champs.
While there are more than what’s below, here are five questions I’m ruminating on with the NFL news grinder stuck in neutral.
1) Will There Be Growing Pains with Kevin Patullo as the New OC?
After a brilliant 2022 in which Shane Steichen put together one of the greatest play-calling seasons in franchise history, he departed Nick Sirianni’s staff to take over as head coach of the Colts. In his wake, the Eagles hired QB coach Brian Johnson to replace him. Johnson had never called plays prior to taking over as offensive coordinator for the ‘23 season, and it didn’t go well.
Last off-season, Kellen Moore was brought aboard after Johnson was fired. While the offense, specifically the passing game, didn’t blow anyone’s socks off, it ultimately did function at a higher level and reached new heights in the playoffs, led mainly by the running prowess of Barkley and Jalen Hurts. But after just one season, Moore is gone and the team is once again turning to an untested play-caller, former passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Patullo served as an assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs under Chan Gailey, and then as wide receivers coach with Nick Sirianni in Indianapolis. Brought to Philadelphia by Sirianni in 2021, Patullo has climbed the ladder and now takes over as offensive coordinator, calling plays for the first time in his career.
Will this time be different than Johnson’s failed run as OC two years ago? There’s reason to believe it will.
First, the Eagles still have Barkley. Second, Hurts’ mobility appeared lacking during the ‘23 season, and re-emerged last year as a signature part of his game. Third, the offensive line remains one of the best in football, and even though Hurts will have his fourth play-caller in five seasons, the offense is going to look a lot like it did a year ago. This really is the Hurts/Saquon offense more than it is “Patullo’s” offense.
That said, we won’t know how effectively the Eagles’ offense will function with Patullo as the new play-caller until the regular season gets underway.
2) How Close Will Saquon Barkley Get To His 2024 Season?
It’s not out of the realm of possibility Barkley could approach 2,000 yards again. The offensive line is still extremely good, there are still just as many threats to catch the ball and take some focus off him, and Jalen Hurts is still an outstanding quarterback.
That said, the odds are long. He almost certainly won’t break as many long runs as he did a year ago, but even a 1,500+ yard season would be outstanding. Perhaps this is a season where the passing game carries more of the load.
Barkley’s 2024 season will almost certainly never be repeated, but how close will he get in Year No. 2 in Philly?
3) When Will Nakobe Dean Be Back?
The entire fanbase breathed a huge sigh of relief when the team re-signed Zack Baun following the Super Bowl. It means there is at least one top-notch player at that position heading into the season.
Health is the question mark, primarily Nakobe Dean’s, who is in the final year of his rookie contract and will certainly miss a chunk of this season as he recovers from a torn patella tendon in the wild card win over Green Bay. How big a chunk? Dean still doesn’t know, and neither do the Eagles, it seems.
It’s also unclear when first round pick Jihaad Campbell will be ready. Recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum, Campbell might need a couple weeks of the regular season before he’s trusted to play, much like Cooper DeJean a season ago. In the meantime, can the Eagles run with Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. as the second linebacker? How long will he be able to hold down the fort?
4) Can the Eagles survive the losses along their defensive line?
Josh Sweat is gone. Milton Williams is gone. Brandon Graham is gone. Bryce Huff, well, he never was really all here. The Eagles are going to be relying on younger players to generate a pass rush this season, but will they be up to their increased roles?
Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt and Moro Ojomo all found another gear late in the season and throughout the postseason. Can they carry that into 2025? Does Jordan Davis have another level, or is what we’re seeing what we’re going to get? And what is Jalen Carter’s ceiling? What can we expect from him in Year No. 3?
Sweat and Williams weren’t superstars and Graham was aging, but all were productive members of a D-line rotation that got better as the season went along. Hopefully, the youngsters they’re depending on for production will provide it.
5) Did the postseason fix Jake Elliot?
Jake Elliot was brutal in the regular season. His 77.8% field goal rate was 28th out of 36 NFL kickers, and he made just one of seven attempts from 50 yards or longer.
Then, the playoffs came, and Elliot was on fire.
He nailed big kicks in the snow against the Rams, and calmly poured one long field goal after another through the uprights in the Super Bowl. Kickers, by nature, are volatile. Elliot has been one of the most consistent kickers in the NFL since he arrived in 2017. As he endured his struggles last year, there was some thought he was nearing the end of his tenure in Philly, but hope is renewed that Elliot found himself during the biggest moments of the Birds’ season last year.
So, did the playoffs fix Jake Elliot? We’ll see.
