As the draft has passed, and OTAs are beginning, NFL teams are in the twilight of roster construction, and unless anything drastic happens, the roster and projected starters you see now will most likely be the week 1 team. With that being said, the reigning NFC champs, Philadelphia Eagles, are through a bittersweet summer, to say the least. While they did overhaul their defense with several defensive college stars in the draft, such as Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, they also lost several key pieces from their previous season, such as C.J. Gardner Johnson and Javon Hargrave. Bleacher Report even put the Philadelphia Eagles in the top five of most players lost in free agency. 

With that being said, the Philadelphia Eagles have a few questions that need to be answered in order to convince their critics that their Superbowl run wasn’t a fluke. 

How will this offense look under a new OC?

Due to the success of the offense, the Eagles’ 2023 offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen, accepted a head coaching job with the Indianapolis Colts. Instead of branching out to other teams as they did with their defensive coordinator, they decided to go in-house and promote their QB’s coach, Brian Johnson as the new offensive coordinator. Brian Johnson has an interesting relationship with his QB, Jalen Hurts, going all the way back since he was a child. Brian and Jalen Hurts’s father, Averion Hurts, are friends and have been friends since Jalen was born. So the chemistry and love are there, but you need more than just sentiment to repeat.

One of the biggest criticisms of the Eagle’s former play caller is the overreliance on screen passes and RPOs where Hurts keeps the ball, leaving him vulnerable for hits that most quarterbacks aren’t supposed to take. According to the analyst, the Eagles used an RPO(Run, Pass, Option) play for 10% of their play calls last season, which was first in the N.F.L. Ultimately, Jalen Hurts controls who gets the ball during this situation, but it is the OC who calls the play in the first place. With a new coordinator and Jalen Hurts’ most recent shoulder injury, it will be interesting to see how often will Jalen Hurts will be put in a position to call his own number.

Will Jalen Hurts Shoulder Injury Linger Into This Season?

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (1) – Young Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer

If you saw the Eagle’s divisional and conference games and compared them to the Superbowl, there’s a clear difference in what type of quarterback we saw. Is that because of his lingering shoulder sprain, which Jalen admits that it wasn’t fully healed come playoff time? It’s hard to say because Jalen was almost perfect in the Superbowl and was carrying the offense, but with shoulder injuries, especially your throwing shoulder, is nothing to play around with. Just ask Cam Newton, who suffered two right shoulder injuries in 2016 and 2018 and admitted that it hadn’t fully healed since 2020.

Maybe I’m being paranoid because it’s two different injuries, with Cam’s being more devastating and everybody being different. Still, you can’t help but wonder if this injury will affect him in any way this season.

Did Howie Roseman do enough to replace the wave of departures?

Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman – Young Kim/Philadelphia Inquierer

This is a no, and are we really surprised? A 1,100-yard pro bowl rusher Miles Sanders, and pro bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. League leader in interceptions safety CJ-Gardner Johnson, both linebackers and our starting guard have all found a new team. The team came into the offseason with a little over 8,000,000 dollars of cap space; retaining at least half of the Superbowl contributors who were on their last contracted year was unrealistic. However, just because I believe he didn’t do enough doesn’t mean he outright failed at replenishing the roster.

Not only did the Eagles acquire two productive running backs to compensate for Miles Sanders, but they also used most of their draft picks to replace the defensive departures. Taking Jalen Carter with the ninth overall pick and Nolan Smith with the 30th overall pick. Also, drafting DBs  Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo. All four rookies are currently fighting for a starting position for the upcoming season which brings me to my fourth question.

Will the Philadelphia Eagles 2022/2023 draft class make an impact?

Eagles 2023 first-round rookies, Jalen Carter, and Nolan Smith Jr – AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Looking back at past drafts, the Eagles don’t exactly strike gold when it comes to drafting defensive players, hence the excitement of the fanbase when we got a little less than half of college football’s championed defense of the Georgia Bulldogs. You have to go back to 2018 to see the last time we drafted an impactful defensive player, that being Avonte Maddox and Josh Sweat.

I have confidence that both draft classes will contribute to the Eagle’s success this season, one way or another. However, with the heavy emphasis on the rotational system that the Eagle’s defense has implemented over the past two years, and the guaranteed starters that the secondary already has, it’s a possibility that no one from this year’s draft class will be a full-time starter by the time the season starts.

Whether it’s the play of the quarterback, the masterminds of the team, or the future of the franchise, there’s always a question to be asked about the state of the Eagles. While it is hard predicting what will happen to a team, finding the answer to questions about a situation that you’re curious about can allow you to come to a more realistic conclusion on how to predict the success of your team in the following season.