Philadelphia Eagles 2020 Season Preview
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/3/2020.
Philadelphia Eagles Free Agency Recap
The Eagles got Javon Hargrave as a 4-3 defensive tackle in Free Agency. They also traded a 2020 third round pick to the Detroit Lions for Darius Slay.
Philadelphia Eagles Draft Recap
The Eagles drafted Jalen Reagor out of TCU in the first round and he is injured. Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts may start earlier than expected with Carson Wentz resting through an injury. Doug Pederson said that if the Eagles opened up on Thursday Night Football next week that Wentz would not be starting. He also stated that Wentz was healthy enough to play. Davion Taylor, their 2020 third round pick out of Colorado, who impressed me at Mobile could not beat out any of the Eagles mediocre linebackers for a starting job. Prince Tega Wanogho out of Auburn may start at left tackle after being a 2020 fifth round pick. The other 2020 fifth round pick John Hightower may start at slot receiver, but this is only due to Alshon Jeffrey being on the PUP and Jalen Reagor being on the reserve list.
Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Summary: Carson Wentz stayed healthy in the regular season. Then the wild card game against Seattle happened and he got injured. Josh McCown was able to beat out Nate Sudfield for the backup job and this year rookie Jalen Hurts beat out Sudfield for the backup gig.
Doug Pederson was a quarterbacks coach on the Eagles and an offensive coordinator with the Chiefs before becoming the Eagles head coach. Peterson will still call plays. Quarterbacks coach Press Taylor enters his third year as the quarterbacks coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and got promoted to passing game coordinator.
Philadelphia Eagles Running Back Summary: Miles Sanders and Boston Scott are two running backs that Philadelphia appears to have hit on in the 2019 NFL Draft. Corey Clement is competing for the third string job.
Duce Staley enters his seventh year as Philadelphia's running backs coach. He's also been promoted to assistant head coach on the Philadelphia Eagles and enters his third season as the assistant head coach.
Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receiver Summary: Alshon Jeffery is going to be Philadelphia's #1 target when he returns, he's on the PUP heading into the season again. Jalen Reagor is also injured at the moment. DeSean Jackson, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and John Hightower. Aaron Morehead takes over for Mike Groh at wide receivers coach after the Eagles promoted Groh to offensive coordinator only to realize he wasn't a fit there.
Philadelphia Eagles Tight End Summary: Zach Ertz will start at tight end, but with the Eagles offering him less on his contract thanks to them having Dallas Goedert emerge makes me wonder if Ertz will lose his morale with the organization or sign elsewhere after his contract is up in 2022.
Justin Peele is a great tight ends coach. Peele has been great with Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Philadelphia has two of the top 20 tight ends in the NFL.
Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Line Summary: Philadelphia's offensive line is weak compared to recent years. Prince Tega Wanogho is starting at left tackle as a fifth round rookie with Andre Dillard on season ending injured reserve. Isaac Seumalo is going to start at left guard. Jason Kelce is the starting center. Jason Peters will start at right guard with Brandon Brooks on injured reserve. Lane Johnson will play right tackle.
Jeff Stoutland the former offensive line coach at Alabama has done an incredible job with the Eagles offensive linemen since making the jump to the NFL. Stoutland did an awesome job with this offensive line early in the season. Things fell apart when Lane Johnson got his 10 game suspension. Philadelphia was 5-0 when all five of their starting offensive linemen were completely healthy during the rookie season where Carson Wentz showed flashes of being that guy. Stoutland got promoted to running game coordinator as he will have that responsibility in addition to being the Eagles offensive line coach.
Philadelphia's offense is going to be weaker than usual this year due to the injuries at both wide receiver and offensive line. Wentz can make this a top 15 offense when healthy. This is probably one of the NFL's worst offenses without Carson Wentz.
Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Line Summary: The Eagles enter year three with their 4-3 defense. Derek Barnettt is the 4-3 right end. Brandon Graham will compliment him at 4-3 left end. Fletcher Cox is back, but joining him will be Javon Hargrave with Malik Jackson.
Jim Schwartz is the Eagles defensive coordinator. Schwartz will do a good job with this defensive line. Schwartz will also be the defensive line coach getting more responsibility on top of the playcalling.
Philadelphia Eagles Linebacker Summary: Philadelphia is extremely thin at linebacker. They drafted three rookies, but none of them could beat out the guys on their roster and its not like they have guys like Nigel Bradham, Jordan Hicks, or Mychal Kendricks anymore.
Ken Flajole is a great linebackers coach for the Eagles. Flajole has coached the defensive line, linebackers, and the defensive backs as a positional coach. Flajole is a future defensive coordinator in my opinion. Not head coach material, but he certainly deserves a shot at defensive coordinator. He's back learning under Jim Schwartz for another year, and if he can get the Eagles to the playoffs with a linebacker core this week, then he needs to be considered.
Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Backs Summary: Darius Slay will be Philadelphia's field cornerback with Avonte Maddox, Sidney Jones, or Rasul Douglas at boundary cornerback. Jalen Mills is moving to free safety next to strong safety Rodney McLeod. The Eagles defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel is the new defensive backs coach.
The Eagles have the ability to be a top 5 defense in sacks. Philadelphia's run defense and pass defense appears suspect for the first time in years meaning Philadelphia will have to rely heavily on their defensive line to win them ball games.
Philadelphia Eagles Special Teams Summary: Jake Elliott is back at kicker. Elliott got cut by the Bengals and Philadelphia signed him. That move paid off. Cameron Johnston returns as a punter. Shelton Gibson is the kick returner. DeSean Jackson is the punt returner. Dave Fipp kept his job as special teams coordinator.
Philadelphia Eagles Worst Case Scenario: The Eagles go 5-11. With as many holes as they have on the roster, this can happen if Wentz misses any time.
Philadelphia Eagles Best Case Scenario: Philadelphia wins the NFC East again. Then they lose in the wild card round.
Philadelphia Eagles 2020 NFL Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
Cable Network |
Result |
Week 1 |
September 13 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 2 |
September 20 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 3 |
September 27 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 4 |
October 4 |
AT  |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
L |
Week 5 |
October 11 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 6 |
October 18 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 7 |
October 22 |
VS  |
8:20 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 8 |
November 1 |
VS  |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
W |
Week 9 |
|
Bye Week |
|
|
|
Week 10 |
November 15 |
AT |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 11 |
November 22 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 12 |
November 30 |
VS  |
8:15 PM EST |
ESPN |
L |
Week 13 |
December 6 |
AT  |
4:25 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 14 |
December 13 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 15 |
December 20 |
AT  |
4:05 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 16 |
December 27 |
AT |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 17 |
January 3 |
VS |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
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