The Eagles Offseason Signings

Start The Philadelphia Eagles entered their second offseason under Chip Kelly without any glaring holes on the team. Philadelphia Eagles The offense was one of the best in the NFL in 2013, Philadelphia Eagles setting a single-season franchise record for points scored. Philadelphia Eagles The defense was one of the NFL's most improved during the second half of the season, Philadelphia Eagles at one point surrendering 21 or fewer points in nine straight games. Philadelphia Eagles That means the Eagles didn't have to look to fill four or five starting spots for the future this offseason. Philadelphia Eagles They added one new starter on the defensive side of the ball and took away one starter on the offensive side of the ball. Philadelphia Eagles The rest of their additions were purely value pieces, Philadelphia Eagles and that's what you like to see a contending team do during the offseason. Philadelphia Eagles The following slides will highlight six different acquisitions for the Eagles, Philadelphia Eagles three underrated moves and three overrated moves. Philadelphia Eagles The Eagles may or may not have added an extremely valuable offensive weapon in multi-talented running back Darren Sproles, who was acquired for a fifth-round draft pick. Sproles, 31, isn't an ordinary running back. He's never carried 100 times in a season and at 5'6'', it's highly unlikely that he could carry the load if LeSean McCoy went down with an injury. Sproles was signed for his abilities as a receiver and a return man. Chip Kelly's offense is all about creating mismatches and a shifty, elusive player with Sproles' speed will be a nightmare for defensive coordinators. My only concern is that Sproles is past his prime, maybe even significantly past his prime. It's hard to imagine a 31-year-old running back not being on the decline and Sproles' numbers in 2013 indicated that he is. Although he caught 71 passes, he averaged just 4.2 yards per carry and scored just four total touchdowns. He also averaged just 6.7 yards per punt return and 21.3 yards per kick return. Those are easily the worst combined return numbers of his career. Sproles benefited from a top-10 quarterback in NFL history and an offensive genius in Sean Payton. He still plays with a very good quarterback and a potentially brilliant offensive mind. It's just a stretch to think that Sproles doesn't see his numbers decline again in 2014. Flash back to the postseason in the wild-card round after the 2013 season. With the Saints clinging to a 13-7 lead midway through the third quarter, Drew Brees and company faced a 3rd-and-12 from their own 42-yard line. Brees promptly hit rookie receiver Kenny Stills for a 14-yard gain and a first down, beating little-used Roc Carmichael for the key gain. Carmichael had only been inserted into the game when Bradley Fletcher had to leave with an injury just a play earlier. That one play led to the Saints' second touchdown of the game, giving them a 20-7 lead in a game they would eventually win 26-24. Although the Eagles chose to keep veterans Cary Williams and Fletcher as their starters for another year, they greatly increased their depth by adding Nolan Carroll from the Miami Dolphins. In 2013, Carroll allowed just a 47.8 completion percentage and a 65.0 passer rating. Only one cornerback in the NFL bettered both marks last year. Although Carroll has an outside chance to defeat Fletcher and earn the number two starting cornerback spot, he'll likely be the fourth corner (Brandon Boykin has the nickel spot locked up). The difference between a seasoned veteran like Carroll and an unproven player like Carmichael is tremendous. In fact, if Carroll had been covering Stills in that playoff game, there's a chance the Eagles would have stopped the Saints and won the game. The Eagles tried everything they could to convince their fan base that they made the right decision in signing veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins instead of Pro Bowlers Jairus Byrd or T.J. Ward. I'm certainly willing to give the franchise every benefit of the doubt. But at this point, I remain unconvinced that Jenkins will be able to cure the Eagles' woes at safety. In 2013, Jenkins rated as one of the worst safeties in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. He surrendered a 103.3 passer rating and missed 16 tackles. No safety in the league rated worse on both marks. Jenkins' biggest asset is his versatility. Originally drafted in the first round as a cornerback, he switched to safety after his rookie year. The Eagles will be able to use Jenkins to cover in three and four wide receiver sets instead of replacing him with another defensive back. While I appreciate Jenkins' versatility, I still remain largely skeptical about the signing. He's just not very good at safety. Let's hope Billy Davis' scheme is able to bring out the best in him. The Eagles signed outside linebacker Bryan Braman with the intent of using the 27-year-old to improve their special teams. After all, the Eagles allowed arguably their best special teams player from the past few seasons, Colt Anderson, to walk in free agency this offseason. Braman's biggest asset is his abilities on special teams but he's been a very pleasant surprise on the defensive side of the ball during OTAs. At least one Eagles writer, Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com, thinks Braman could push for serious playing time as Connor Barwin's backup at the "jack" linebacker position. The Eagles lacked serious depth on defense in 2013, but they managed to stay relatively injury-free. If Barwin, one of the most important defenders on the team, suffers an injury, Braman is going to need to be able to step in and fill the void. The Alex Henery hate reached a breaking point following the team's postseason loss to the New Orleans Saints. The third-year kicker missed a 48-yard field goal in the team's eventual two-point playoff loss, capping off easily the worst year of his short career. In 2013, Henery proved to be inconsistent. He couldn't handle any field goals of longer than 50 yards. And his distance on kickoffs consistently ranked among the worst in the NFL. Naturally, the Eagles brought in competition for Henery this offseason. The new kicker, Carey Spear, is known as Murderleg. and a cool nickname is about all he brings to the table. Spear has been thoroughly outplayed by Henery in camp, to the point where Henery appears to have the job all but locked up for a fourth straight year. It's been bad enough that the Eagles should look at bringing a veteran into training camp because Spear clearly can't give Henery the competition he desperately needs. Philadelphia Eagles The Jordan Matthews bandwagon has been through the roof since the Eagles drafted the Vanderbilt wide receiver in the second round of the draft. Matthews, a cousin of the legendary Jerry Rice, Philadelphia Eagles has already been called the best wide receiver at camp by Eagles reporter Jimmy Kempski. Philadelphia Eagles He's big, fast, strong, intelligent and an extremely hard worker. Matthews is expected to open the season as the slot receiver, per Chip Kelly, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him emerge as the go-to receiver for Nick Foles by the end of the season. Philadelphia Eagles I'll go as far as to say that Matthews has almost no bust rate. Philadelphia Eagles He could easily win Offensive Rookie of the Year. He'll be a Pro Bowler within three years. Philadelphia Eagles I wouldn't be surprised to see him become the best receiver in the draft. Philadelphia Eagles The sky is the limit for Matthews, especially if remains in Kelly's offense, Philadelphia Eagles.

Three takeaways from The Philadelphia Eagles' camp

Philadelphia Eagles There is a commitment to improving the special teams play. Last year, of course, was Chip Kelly’s first in the NFL. Philadelphia Eagles That meant enormous changes for the Eagles, from the way they train and practice to the styles of offense and defense they play. It is understandable that Kelly would focus on special teams more after spending a season in the league. The Eagles added Bryan Braman, Philadelphia Eagles a linebacker who excelled on special teams in Houston, and cornerbacker Nolan Carroll, Philadelphia Eagles an excellent gunner on coverage teams. Safety Chris Maragos was a special teams regular for Seattle last year. Darren Sproles, who will see plenty of time on offense, is a first-rate return man. Of course, the Eagles also brought in kicker Carey Spear to compete with Alex Henery. But it has already become clear that Henery is way ahead of Spear when it comes to field goals. Philadelphia Eagles Ideally, the Eagles would like to see Henery improve his kickoffs, getting closer to the league average for touchbacks. “The top [kickers] in the league are in the 70s [percentage-wise],” special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said. “We’re looking at the 60s as a pretty good number, I think. Alex has been very accurate over his career on field goals, 48 yards or less. There were only two guys who were ahead of him in the National Football League.” Ultimately, the Eagles are willing to trade some short kickoffs for that acumen on field goals. If Henery can improve a bit on kickoffs, that will help. But so will covering those kickoffs better. That’s where Braman, Carroll, Maragos and Jason Phillips come in. Phillips was added last year as a core special teamer, but tore his ACL in training camp. Nick Foles has the strongest arm, by far, of the four quarterbacks here. You have to go back to Donovan McNabb’s rookie year, when Koy Detmer and Doug Pederson were in camp, to find as wide a margin between one quarterback and the rest. In fairness, Mark Sanchez is still on a “pitch count” after surgery to repair his right shoulder last year. Matt Barkley, who was coming back from shoulder surgery last year, does not exactly have a cannon for an arm. For 15 years of McNabb and Michael Vick, the Eagles always had a quarterback with a high-caliber arm. It may be that arm strength is not as important as other attributes in Kelly’s offense, but the coach says otherwise. “We focus on everything,” Kelly said. “There's not one thing that we look for and say, ‘You know, he has a quick release but it's OK, he doesn't have a very strong arm.’ I think you want the whole package in terms of what you're looking for. I think it's a combination of how accurate a thrower he is; and I'm not going to say, ‘Hey, I want to take this guy, he can get it out of his hands really quick but he's inaccurate when he throws the football.’ So there's a lot more that goes into it than one thing.” There looks to be enough speed on offense even with DeSean Jackson gone. When they were teammates, Jeremy Maclin was the possession receiver while Jackson was the big-play guy. Coming off his second ACL tear, it isn’t reasonable to expect Maclin to become the game-breaking burner that Jackson was. But Maclin has decent speed and still hasn’t played in Kelly’s offense. So it remains to be seen how the coach utilizes Maclin’s skill set. Sproles and rookies Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff all have very good speed. While Sproles is a running back and not a wide receiver   something Kelly made a point of emphasizing several times   he is a guy with a history of making big plays in the passing game. Matthews and Huff will likely contribute more as the season goes on, they become more comfortable and Kelly becomes more familiar with their potential. Philadelphia Eagles Riley Cooper, the other starting wide receiver, Philadelphia Eagles got plenty of deep balls thrown to him last year. He benefited from defenses focusing on Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles but it looks as if there are enough weapons for Kelly to put strain on defensive coordinators even without Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles.