Philly, Not So Special: Why We Really Need to Stop Comparing the 2020 Eagles to Their 2017 Predecessors

Philly, Not So Special: Why We Really Need to Stop Comparing the 2020 Eagles to Their 2017 Predecessors

By: Dan Primiani

What does the future hold for franchise quarterback Carson Wentz?

    With each second that ticked off in tonight's game, we inched closer and closer to potentially the most important offseason in recent memory for the Philadelphia Eagles whilst also moving further and further away from our moment atop the NFL landscape on February 4th, 2018. On the heals of a 4-11-1 season, the Philadelphia Eagles necessitate changes virtually top to bottom in order to remain competitive in a NFC East that, despite doing its best efforts to be the laughing stock of the NFL, actually appears to have two teams on the rise in the New York Giants and the Washington Football Team. Both of those teams possess young core talent on both ends of the ball (Antonio Gibson, Terry McLaurin, and Chase Young are going to torment the Eagles for years to come and the Giants will be bolstered by the return of star running back, Saquon Barkley) and head coaches in Joe Judge and Ron Rivera who inspire confidence in both their teams and their fanbases. The Philadelphia Eagles? Not so much, and considering we're starting nearly seventy MILLION dollars over the cap, the Eagles are going to need to be creative and innovative in building a competitive unit out of what currently is an overpaid, under-skilled mess.

    Before we leap into the offseason, though, there is one narrative that simply needs to be put to rest and that is that the current iteration of the Philadelphia Eagles is capable of performing like we did in 2017. It's a tagline that you'll hear on any Philly based sports radio show throughout the day. Too often, we might find ourselves saying, "Well, look how Carson Wentz performed in 2017. Why can't he do that now?" or "We've seen this team go on runs before after prolonged struggles (see both 2018 and 2019). Why can't they do that now?". Well, I'll tell you why that isn't going to happen: this team just isn't that good. Top to bottom, the talent level just isn't where it needs to be in order to be competitive with the rest of the NFL. I'll be the first one to admit, I truly and whole heartedly believed that the Eagles were going to go on a run at some point this year and pull away in this gawd-awful, stinking mess that is the NFC East. At 3-4-1 on November 1st, I believed that the Eagles were going to pull out four to five more wins and right the proverbial ship, positioning themselves for a home playoff game and another exciting postseason opportunity. The past two years had led me to believe that Doug Pederson was capable of pulling the team together when the season hung on a knife's edge and call all the right plays at the right times. That certainly hasn't been the case and it's clear now that we're about as close to challenging for another Super Bowl championship as, well, Adam Gase is to being served a free steak at Delmonico's on 56 Beaver St.. Which is to say, not too likely.

My expression when I saw that we re-upped for another year of Jason Peters on the o-line.

    The 2017 Eagles were littered with talent on both ends of the ball with players both peaking and contributing with career years up and down the roster. Even looking beyond Carson Wentz's MVP-caliber season (I've never prescribed to the nearly universal belief that Carson's A+ level production came as a result of the tutelage of then-offensive coordinator, Frank Reich, and I've always believed that yes, he was just that good), they rushed for over 2,000 yards as a team, with trade acquisition Jay Ajayi averaging nearly six yards per carry and undrafted rookie Corey Clement contributing 444 all purpose yards as a change-of-pace back. Alshon Jeffery was manhandling corners on his way to a nine touchdown season while Zach Ertz was rapidly developing into one of the best receiving tight ends in the league. The offensive line paved the way with Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Lane Johnson all thriving in the primes of their careers, giving up only 36 total sacks on the season. Even Hal Vaitai stepped in and filled admirably at left tackle when Jason Peters went down, a performance strong enough that it led him to a five year, $50 million contract with the Detroit Lions. On the defensive side of the ball, you got fantastic production from journeyman cornerback Patrick Robinson and some clutch performances out of the likes of youngsters Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills. Chris Long and Vinny Curry combined for eight sacks as rotational pieces on the defensive line. This all goes without even mentioning Pro-Bowlers Malcolm Jenkins and Fletcher Cox, both of whom put together their typically stellar seasons and the aforementioned Carson Wentz who set the NFL world ablaze for thirteen brilliant weeks. Things just clicked that year with nearly every player playing up to their full potential and they peaked at just the right time. Throw in a little Nick Foles post-season magic and the end result? A Super Bowl championship.

    In many ways, the 2020 Eagles are reminiscent of some of those Phillies baseball teams in the early 2010s. The front office of the Phillies paid for past performance and then were surprised when those players failed to reach the output of their peak years and dismayed when their depleted farm system failed to produce any competitive talent (remember when Cody Asche was a starter? Yikes!). Ditto for this year's iteration of the Eagles. Old talent struggled while young backups folded under the pressure. The defensive backs were laughable (bless his heart, but putting Michael Jacquet on an island with DeAndre Hopkins and Michael Gallup qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment at the hands of now defunct defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz). The defensive line underperformed with high-priced defensive tackles Malik Jackson and Javon Hargrave doing little to justify their big contracts. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the failures of these two, among others, on the defensive side of the ball was the impetus for the ousting of Jim Schwartz considering his role in bringing in defensive players. We unnecessarily backed ourselves into a QB controversy by drafting Jalen Hurts in the second round in the 2020 NFL draft (didn't we have enough of this in 2018?). The men playing in front of both of our QBs (all three of them if you include Nate Sudfeld's token, one-game appearance tonight) allowed sixty-two sacks on the season. Zach Ertz quit on this team when he couldn't secure a contract to his liking early on in the season and played with one foot out the door when he was on the field (even though he is still technically signed for 2021). Desean Jackson showed that he is what he is at this point in his career: a one-trick pony who is good for about one or two highlights a year surrounded by a whole lot of inactive time on the injured reserve. JJ Arcega-Whiteside is...well, I have only NSFW comments on him, so we're going to move on quickly. Jake Elliott parlayed his record setting sixty-one yard field goal in 2018 into a five-year, $21.8 million deal, making him the third highest paid kicker in the league. Expecting consistency at that position now? Think again. Elliott put together one of the least effective kicking seasons in the league this year, going 14-for-19 (73.9% success rate).

Jake Elliott's $21.8 million contract is emblematic of the front office's poor business making process.

    Injuries certainly played a part in this debacle, but bringing back a thirty-eight year old Jason Peters should've been our first warning sign that we were looking to the past rather than planning for the future. The Eagles have a mind-boggling amount of money committed to end-of-the-road players like Alshon Jeffery, Malik Jackson, Desean Jackson, and Jake Elliott, contracts that ultimately can't be voided lest we just shoot ourselves in the foot with dead cap space, something this team can ill afford. We're committed to a group of players who simply aren't capable of producing at a high level anymore. We're not one or two role players away from making a deep postseason run like we were in 2017 when the likes of Chris Long, Patrick Robinson, and Corey Graham helped strengthen the back end of the roster. We don't have players who can make a difference at each level of the field as we did in 2017 when Mychal Kendricks and Nigel Bradham (two criminally underrated players on that championship team) offered stability and consistency. We desperately need to hit big on our draft picks and hope that we can glean some usage out of some of these atrocious contracts that we're essentially bound to if we want to bounce back next season.

    All this being said, are there pieces that we can build around? A few. Miles Sanders is a legitimate three-down back who needs to be utilized properly. He's not some 5'7" scatback a la Darren Sproles or Boston Scott; Sanders is the type of player that you should game plan around. Finding ways to get the ball 22-28 times in his hands per game needs to be at the core of the offensive play caller's mindset. Jalen Reagor, despite the likelihood that he'll forever be held in comparison to Justin Jefferson (who the Eagles 100% should've drafted last spring), has shown flashes as a potential playmaker. Dallas Goedert is a stud at tight end and offers a more complete skillset than Zach Ertz ever did. Jason Kelce is still playing at a Pro-Bowl level, but you have to imagine he's nearing the end of his career and it's unlikely he'll sign on for another season if the Eagles put forth another roster such as the one they fielded in 2020. On defense, Fletcher Cox is starting to slow down, but he still is capable of impacting a game. Brandon Graham had one of his better seasons, but he too is nearing the end of his peak years. Darius Slay didn't necessarily live up to his nickname of "Big Play Slay", but at least he offered some semblance of consistency at cornerback than none of the other defensive backs did. I'd be inclined to say that, in theory, the Eagles at least have some talent to build around on the offensive side of the ball, but they desperately need to figure out a defensive identity for the 2021 season as well as find some more playmakers on that side of the ball.

    So, in conclusion, where do we go from here? The NFL Draft will be coming up in a few months and, while I'm sure that some are salivating at the chance of drafting the likes of Ja'Marr Chase or DeVonta Smith at wide receiver, I hope we remember what it felt like to get burned consistently on go-routes with Michael Jacquet, Rasul Douglas, and Sidney Jones in lame pursuit and opt for someone like Patrick Surtain Jr. out of Alabama or Caleb Farley out of Virginia Tech. Perhaps we can salvage our relationship with Carson Wentz and figure out how he and Jalen Hurts fit into this picture or, if things can't work out, we figure out a way to package Wentz or Hurts out for draft compensation. Maybe Jalen Reagor can develop over the offseason (hopefully one not marred by COVID-19) and develop into the type of player we hoped he would be when he came out of TCU. However, please, please, please stop comparing where we are now to where we were in 2017. Stop referencing 2017 when constructing your arguments about Carson Wentz or Doug Pederson's play calling or, really, any part of this team. Our Super Bowl run was great, but the past is the past and we desperately need to move forward and rebuild this roster in order to be competitive moving forwards.

Images courtesy of NFL.com.