February 10, 2020

Previewing the Eagles' next calendar year, in stick figure form

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Jimmy/for PhillyVoice

Alshonymous

Over the last four years, I've predicted what the Philadelphia Eagles' next calendar year would look like (in stick figure form), based mostly on logic, and mayyyyybe a little inside knowledge here and there.

A quick recap:

2016

On December 1, 2015, with the Eagles' season still underway (but already over for all intents and purposes), I was already in offseason mode:

How'd we do?

They did indeed continue to suck.
Jeffrey Lurie fired Chip, to the surprise of most.
They hired Doug Pederson, who wasn't a retread in the traditional sense, in that he wasn't a formerly fired coach getting his second crack as a team's head coach. But at the same time, he was kind of retread'y, in that he was an Andy Reid disciple. It was certainly a "boring" hire, at the time. I feel like I should at least get half-credit here.
All those guys are indeed gone, now anyway, though it took a little longer than anticipated for a few of them.
They did indeed draft a savior quarterback, but I'm so mad at myself for not including Wentz. I would take my first look at him a week later, and instantly loved him. Had I watched him sooner, he'd have been in there. But certainly, the premise of quarterback being the focus of the offseason was correct.
And they did continue to suck in 2016, but, you know, with a quarterback you could feel good about for the future.

Sooooo, 5.5 out of 6? Is that fair?

2017

Fearing I wouldn't top the previous year, I'd have preferred to retire this bit on a high note, but I gave the people what they wanted. I'm glad I did:

Bang.

They did indeed free up a lot of money to prepare for a free agent splurge. And yes, I know I had Jason Kelce in there, but shut up.
They did indeed let Nolan Carroll, Stephen Tulloch, Bryan Braman, and Bennie Logan walk in free agency. I remember getting a lot of grief for including Bennie, but that was a pretty easy call, in my view.
They did indeed sign a couple receivers, and I even had both of them (Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith) included in my picture.
They did indeed draft a couple of confident corners.
There were no major contract extensions handed out to players already on the roster. In fact, they even traded away Jordan Matthews, who appeared in that box.
And finally, while No. 6 was indeed correct, it was obviously undersold.

Soooooo, 6 of 6?

2018

In 2018, I could only go down, and that I did.

Trey Burton, Beau Allen, and Patrick Robinson did indeed move on.
Nick Foles was obviously not traded, and he remained in Philly.
The Eagles did indeed have an unsplashy free agency.
Jason Peters played another year, which I guess was unknown at the time.
Wentz was hampered, and while "still great" at times, his season did not go as everyone would have hoped.
Half right on this one.

So, 3 right, and 2 half-right? 4 out of 6? Good? Good.

2019

In 2019, the Eagles should have listened to me a little more.

Foles walked, and I got the team right.
The Eagles should have been more willing to let some of their own go last offseason. Guys like Ronald Darby, Rodney McLeod, Darren Sproles, Richard Rodgers, and Timmy Jernigan should not have come back.
They did at least get rid of guys like Mike Wallace, Haloti Ngata, Chris Maragos, and Corey Graham.
Not adding defensive line talent in a loaded DL draft was a huge surprise to me, especially at DT, though I guess they did OK with Andre Dillard and Miles Sanders. The rest of the draft, not so much.
It took a little while, but Wentz did indeed have a big bounceback year.
Half right here.

3.5. That's not up to my expectations, and I have to do better.