January 27, 2024
On Friday we solicited questions for an Eagles mailbag via Twitter or whatever it's called now. Thank you as always for doing half the work for me. This will be Part I of a two-part mailbag. Let's just get right to it.
Question from @StokesTheWriter: Rank the following coordinators based on their Eagles careers: Sean Desai, Jonathan Gannon, Brian Johnson.
Oof, Gannon is No. 1 here. Quality quarterbacks shredded his defense, but at least the Eagles wrecked the bad ones.
Then I'd say Brian Johnson. His tenure as the offensive coordinator will always remind me of a kid at a restaurant. His menu was limited, and he was probably getting strong suggestions from his superior on what to order. It is probably not fair that he was made the scapegoat for the offense's failings, but at the same time he was also pretty clearly a downgrade from Shane Steichen.
Desai is last. He had his moments against some good teams and the Eagles' plan to replacement him was ludicrous, but he also got lit up by a lot of opposing offenses, both good and bad.
Question from @nzect24: Given the amount of power this new offensive coordinator is going to have in designing the offense and calling plays, would it make sense to hire someone with a little more experience (like a Kellen Moore type) than a Jerrod Johnson type?
Yep, great question. This is something I wanted to touch on as well.
I imagine that in addition to running the offense, the new offensive coordinator will also have a strong say in what positional coaches are brought aboard. Handing the keys to someone who has never run an offense or even called plays feels very unlikely. Jerrod Johnson has had one season as a quarterbacks coach, and none as an offensive coordinator. You can probably cross him and other similarly inexperienced candidates off the list, unless someone absolutely blows them away during an interview session.
Question from @WalkWithLyle: Out of the offensive coordinators the Eagles already have interviewed who do you think would be the worst hire, and why is it Kliff Kingsbury?
We only know of three because their agents wanted to get it out there (usually with positive spins) that their clients have interviews, but the Eagles have no doubt interviewed more than three prospective offensive coordinators so far.
But yes, among the three known interviews, the worst hire in my opinion would indeed be Kingsbury, who runs an "Air Raid" offense, which is a spread, up-tempo, mainly shotgun approach, and its effectiveness is contingent on how well the players can master and execute a predictable, limited playbook. If Nick Sirianni and the Eagles are looking for "fresh" ideas as they repeatedly said they were during Sirianni's press conference on Wednesday, that ain't it.
Question from @tweetjoshtweet: Who from the current roster will be starting for this team on defense in Week 1 of 2024? Especially in the secondary?
We'll go a little deeper on each positional group in our "stay or go" series, but Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick, Darius Slay, Reed Blankenship, and Nakobe Dean are all likely to be starters in 2024. We'll call that group over 75 percent likely. (To be clear, I am not necessarily endorsing every one of those players as presumptive starters. It's just what I think will happen.)
And then it'll be Fletcher Cox or Milton Williams, depending on whether or not Cox is back. We'll see on Avonte Maddox, Kelee Ringo, etc.
Question from @BigFeist73: All over the NFL teams got contributions from their third and fourth receivers, and backup tight ends. Do the Eagles need to find a way to spread the ball around more even though they admittedly want to get the Big 3 as many touches as possible?
In short, yes.
On the one hand, feeding your best players is a good idea. On the other hand, if opposing defenses know that nobody outside of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert is getting the ball, then the offense becomes all the more predictable, and guys like Brown, Smith, and Goedert are a lot easier to defend.
Olamide Zaccheaus, Julio Jones, Quez Watkins, and Jack Stoll combined for 68 targets in 2023. Brown, Smith, and Goedert combined for 353. I certainly wouldn't advocate for guys like Watkins or Stoll to get more targets, but I do think that the offense was too geared toward the "Big 3," as you put it, and a good fourth option who can at least keep opposing defenses honest could theoretically open up higher quality opportunities for the star players.
Question from @PhiIIyFanatic: How do bigger name coaches like Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, etc. view the Eagles' organization in terms of having to work with Howie Roseman? Is there any word around the NFL about Howie wanting to share power with a coach? Are bigger names reluctant to come here?
I can't speak for guys like Harbaugh, Belichick, or Carroll, and what they each want, and honestly I'm not sure any of those guys would be good answers anyway. But generally speaking, if a head coach candidate is interested in having personnel control, then they are less likely to be interested in the Eagles' job, because Roseman sure as hell isn't interested in giving that up, and Jeffrey Lurie doesn't seem intent on forcing him to.
On that note, there's little question that Roseman was #TeamNick when Lurie was deciding on Sirianni's fate. Owners who double as general managers aside, no general manager in the league has been in place for more firings than Roseman, and he probably didn't want to add to his tally. He also knows that Sirianni is no threat on personnel control. I wouldn't be surprised if Roseman coached up Sirianni on how to sell himself to Lurie on why he should remain the head coach.
Question from @thiagozys: Isn't last season's collapse a red flag for Sirianni in a "CEO" role?
It is.
Question from @Frizzle: Assuming Fangio is the defensive coordinator, what sort of changes should we expect to see with regard to scheme and personnel usage? Are there players that don't fit especially well or are an especially good fit?
For the last three years, the Eagles have had coordinators who were branches on the Fangio tree, so to speak. The basic structure of the offense won't change much, and the skill sets of the players they seek to acquire won't change much either.
If you like the young core group of defensive players the Eagles have assembled in recent years, then that's a checkmark in favor of keeping the basic structure of the defense the same. If you don't like the young players they have put in place over the last three years, I regret to inform you that they're going to stick with those guys.
Question from @KevinCardoni: Do we finally get to see Bill Belichick shine as the greatest special teams coordinator this league has ever seen?
Ha, it really is something that he might not immediately find a head coaching job. If he doesn't, that'll be a debate point in favor of those who don't think he is the best coach in NFL history.
Question from @Stagosaurus: As an Eagles fan living in Dallas, there is a noticeable difference in how the Cowboys and Eagles are covered. Dallas media tends to be far less critical while the Philly media (mostly radio) tends to be overly cynical. Is this the fault of the fan bases, or the media culture?
Philly is no doubt a tough market to play in if you're a struggling team/player.
I can't speak for sports talk radio locally, because I rarely ever listen to it. Generally speaking, I think for the most part the core group of beat writers covering the team seeks to just be honest about what they're seeing and hearing, and sometimes the truth can be harsh.
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