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A (mostly) comprehensive list of NFL QBs

A semi-detailed look at the offensive side of the Eagles roster; for the purposes of this exercise I'm including practice squad guys as the line between the 53 man roster and the practice squad (PS) has become all the more thin in the COVID era. PS guys will be notated as such, as well as injured reserve (IR). Here goes nothing:

Quarterbacks

In the QB rankings column we talked extensively about Jalen Hurts, but the book on Jalen is pretty well established: a top ten overall quarterback who plays efficiently, runs the ball very instinctively, avoids turnovers (that ten game stretch from late 2023 through early 2024 notwithstanding) and has been a comeback king (eleven wins after trailing by 9+ over the last four years; remarkable). Hurts has essentially been doing this as long as he's been the starter and is as comfortable with Kevin Patullo as he's ever been with a "new" playcaller ("new" in quotes as Kevin has been here as long as Sirianni has and knows this player and this system).

Eagles fans are justifiably excited about Tanner McKee, who has developed into one of the NFL's top backups. With Jalen's injury history, having confidence in QB2 is necessary and Philly has its best backup since at least Gardner Minshew.

Last Sunday's trade for Sam Howell was a solid move. Howell set college football's record for touchdown passes by a freshman at UNC and held off Drake Maye as a junior. He wasn't great in his one year as a starter in Washington but the Commies were awful on offense that year. Howell is overqualified as a QB3.

The team was able to bring Kyle McCord back on the PS. McCord was rough in the preseason but getting him some seasoning should help. No reason to give up on the kid just yet.

My evaluation: this QB room has a headliner in Hurts who's top five caliber, but has unusual depth with a top 40 QB as second string and a top 60 QB as the emergency guy. May be the best room in the league.

Running Backs

I'll quote my Barkley comment from last year's article: "The obvious caveat is health; if Barkley is able to play the whole season he's in for an OPOY-type season." Nailed it! The concern here is naturally the wear and tear (nearly 500 touches in the extended season last year). No player who's ever run for 2,000 yards has been able to repeat the performance (in fact, no one who ever ran for 2K even hit 1,500 yards the following season). I still think Barkley will be elite this year but expecting a repeat performance isn't reasonable.

I'm looking for an exciting year from all-purpose back Will Shipley. Fun side note: Shipley is one of only two players to record 75+ yards from scrimmage, 75+ return yards, a touchdown, two tackles and a forced fumble in the same game, ever. He achieved that against Washington in the NFCCG.

AJ Dillon is the sort of player Philly needed to spell Barkley; he's definitely the biggest RB we've had here since at least LeGarrette Blount at 247 pounds, and he carries that weight REALLY well. In the preseason I saw him take a carry and move so well I thought he weighed thirty pounds less (I didn't even recognize him). Another big back to take those grinding carries will keep Hurts and Barkley more fresh as the year goes along. Audric Estime (PS) is yet another big back at 227 pounds; there was some buzz around him and Philly in last year's draft and he's made his way to Philly one year later.

FB Ben VanSumeren looks like the real deal at the fullback spot. I remember what a holy terror Leonard Weaver was at the FB spot in 2009; maybe BVS is the second coming.

My evaluation: looks good! As long as the staff resists the temptation to ride Barkley too hard I think this group should be solidly productive and an even bigger factor in the passing game than before.

Wide Receivers

AJ Brown's 10.11 yards per target is the second most among the 277 NFL players with at least 200 targets over the last ten years (Justin Jefferson, 10.18 yds/tgt). 'Nuff said.

Devonta Smith's 9.1 yds/tgt stands 24th on that list, by the way. These two make up arguably the best WR due working today; only the Bengals with Chase-Higgins would come close.

Jahan Dotson isn't on the same level of the top two guys by any stretch but is perfectly fine as WR3. It's forgotten now, but Dotson was arguably the best WR in the Big Ten through 2020 and 2021. His much higher comfort level with Hurts and the system gives hope that he'll take another step forward in a contract year. Similar things should be said about John Metchie, a former teammate of Smith's and Hurts' at Alabama who's health issues have prevented him from ever getting going in the NFL but is in a good no-pressure spot in Philly. Darius Cooper, an undrafted rookie, was a surprise addition to the 53 man roster but has deceptive speed and a RB's build at 5-11, 210. He stood out in preseason as a guy who had good instincts with the ball in his hands.

It's a shame that Jonny Wilson (IR) got hurt just as things seemed to be coming together for him. We'll check back on him in 12 months, as I think the team believes he has a future here. A couple more vets in Terrace Marshall and Elijah Cooks landed on the PS; Marshall has a lot of NFL and big time CFB experience and will be the first guy promoted in case of an injury. Also on the PS is Britain Covey, who was likely added for his special teams acumen.

My evaluation: remains a top shelf unit. Perhaps even better than before, because unlike some of the last few years, Philly has a couple veteran guys that can step in if there's an injury to one of the top players.

Tight Ends

Dallas Goedert remains a seriously efficient receiving threat (6th among active TEs with 100+ targets in yards/attempt, 11th in catch % and 2nd in success rate), who also has turned into a remarkable blocker. He's a true dual threat in that way, which makes him one of the most important players on this offense. We saw just how that important that was in last year's playoffs, where Goedert outgained everyone but Barkley over those four games.

Grant Calcaterra and Kylen Granson are more or less the same kind of player: pretty athletic, slightly undersized tight ends that make their money as receivers more than blockers. Both have some starting experience so the Birds shouldn't be too sunk if they lose Goedert for a few games (an annual tradition, seemingly).

On the PS, Philly retained EJ Jenkins and Cameron Latu. Both players have good size and developmental upside, especially Jenkins who many thought would make the 53.

My evaluation: I think that Goedert is significantly underrated in terms of his importance to this offense, thanks to the versatility that he offers. The Eagles kept things afloat while missing Goedert for awhile last year but if he should sustain a more serious injury, they may struggle.

Offensive Tackles

Here's your annual reminder reminder that Lane Johnson is as responsible as any single player to Philly's success as a team: when Lane plays at least 50% of the offensive snaps, the Birds are 98-51-1 (65.7%), they are 18-27 (40%) otherwise. Put another way, we have a 12 year body of evidence that Lane is worth about four wins per year.

We may be coming into a similar stratosphere with Jordan Mailata, who was PFF's highest rated player last year (500 snap minimum). Read that again; not the highest rated OT, or OL, or offensive player, or Eagle... the highest rated PLAYER. What's even more wild about that is, he may still be ascending. Football players tend to reach their peak around the time they play their ninth season of football (assuming four years of high school, three years of college and two seasons of NFL football). Mailata is only now entering his eighth year playing the sport and at 28, still has plenty of physical prime left to go. Don't rule out another leap (or two).

Philly made a solid move to bring back Fred Johnson, who shouldn't be a Week 1 starter for anyone but is fine as a reserve swing tackle. He's in his prime and knows the system. The rest of the depth chart is long on high ceiling developmental guys: Cam Williams, Hollin Pierce (PS), Myles Hinton (IR), and Luke Felix-Fualalo (PS) are all rookie dart throws that the team wants to monitor. Pierce in particular intrigues me; his absurd dimensions are all but unprecedented and give him remarkable upside. Keep an eye on these four names; there's a half decent chance (think 15-20%) that one of those players is our starting right tackle in 2027.

My evaluation: don't pay attention to the hand wringers; this is the best collection of OT talent in the league.

Guards

Thankfully Landon Dickerson is still healthy; his health was a point of concern as a draft prospect but he's largely held up in his 4+ years here. He's sneakily one of the best centers in the league although (thankfully) Philly hasn't needed to use him that way much.

All eyes will be on Tyler Steen, who's the only new starter on this offense. This will be the third year of the tackle-to-guard experiment for Steen, and if there's any program that can pull it off, it's Stoutland University. Just look at Becton from last year. Steen has ideal size and athletic ability but results have been mixed when he's actually been called on to play guard, so we'll see.

Matt Pryor and the immortal Brett Toth are the reserves here. Both have experience, especially Pryor who was a decent starter for the Bears last year. Failed former first round pick Kenyon Green is likely in a good spot to reset his career with no pressure.

My evaluation: this group will play as well as Steen does; if he's decent we'll look at it as a success. Pryor will be first up if he flops, which isn't all that bad.

Centers

Cam Jurgens is an underrated success story; six years ago he was a tight end. Two years ago he was a guard. Seven months ago he was a Pro Bowl center. The pick was panned at the time but I'd say things have worked out.

Philly has given unusual attention to the reserve center spot; check out previous versions of this column and you'll see how rarely the Birds have even one true backup center and now we find they have two: rookies Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin. My guess is the injuries the team sustained during last year's playoffs forced a change in thinking; for a little while there was a real threat they would be down both Dickerson and Jurgens, but now they have the option of a true reserve center if Jurgens gets hurt, or should Jurgens need to make an emergency move to guard in the event of a Dickerson injury or if Steen stinks (don't rule these possibilities out, by the way). Kendall in particular is intriguing; he's already one of the best 32 centers in the NFL right now (ideal size/athleticism, lots of experience at an NFL OL factory school, NFL OL bloodlines).

My evaluation: as suggested above, the team seems to be using the center room as a tool to give them options down the road (perhaps as soon as this season). This is a good group.

Coming soon: a look at the defense and special teams units.