ESPN’s future power rankings in the NFL rank the Eagles 30th

Apart from a few optimists roaming the Philadelphia area, most Eagles fans aren’t too excited about the fate of their football franchise heading into training camp.

It’s understandable. The Eagles are coming out of an appalling 4-11-1 season in which their Super Bowl-winning head coach was fired and their QB franchise cratered, benched, demanded a trade, sold to Colts and then had his five-story banner ripped from the stadium he used to call home.

There has been no word on Wentz Fathead’s status in Howie Roseman’s office.

But even those like me who have been pessimistic about 2021 usually don’t feel so austere about the team’s chances in 2022 and beyond. Most of us see this season as a kind of ‘gap year’, a season where a new coaching staff will step into the water, learn the ropes, and hopefully get some success. answers to some questions regarding the future of the post of QB and other young players of skill position.

After all, Rome was not built in a day. It took at least a week, right?

The Birds have two first-round picks next year and maybe three if Wentz meets certain criteria at Indianapolis. There isn’t a plethora of top young talent on the roster, but the closets aren’t empty either, and once Wentz’s $ 33.8 million is surpassed, chief executive Howie Roseman will have more flexibility to add more. players.

However, ESPN’s three-year annual power rankings for all 32 NFL teams are far from optimistic about the franchise’s chances of rising from its ashes in the coming seasons, placing the Birds 30th on 32 teams.

Why they’re here: The roster in Philly right now is a unique mix of veterans who can help you win (Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelce, Darius Slay, etc.) and a young core who could be the foundation of the future. With potentially three first-round picks next year, the Eagles can be aggressive if you wish in the next offseason when a more acceptable cap situation awaits them. New head coach Nick Sirianni has a chance to prepare Jalen Hurts this year, but the squad have clear points to level up on both sides of the ball. – Yates

OK, so the paragraph you just read doesn’t have the pessimism I expected for the NFL’s third worst prospect in the next three years.

Biggest Concern: The lack of philosophical alignment and relationship management between the coaching staff and the front office is what has caused this team to sink in recent years, and correcting it will go a long way in putting this organization back on track. competing for a Super Bowl. But do the Eagles have the right pieces in place? – Riddick

Ah yes, here’s something to hold onto … the Howie Roseman effect. Roseman is on his fourth head coach, a number unheard of in the NFL. He probably should have been ousted with Doug Pederson this offseason, but he’s still here, and it’s true he can coexist with any head coach.

Will Roseman and Jeff Lurie stay away from Nick Sirianni and Jonathan Gannon? Will they get involved? If they can’t resist the urge to call Nick into the office every Tuesday and ask him about why he didn’t throw the ball 60 times in a 10-point win, is it? will something really change?

Fair questions, all of them.

What could change for the better: Philly finally has some talented young players promising up front. The Eagles have aged quickly on the perimeter, but a core of Dallas Goedert, DeVonta Smith and Jalen Reagor will be a threat. Goedert is currently in the tight top 10 and Smith has a low threshold. Man knows how to open up. – Fowler

Reagor is always a question mark, although a stint at the slot machine could do wonders for him. Goedert has established himself as one of the top 10 tight ends, but he’s yet to prove he’s a tight end in volume for a full 16-game season. Miles Sanders, after a little seizure in second year, has something to prove in his third year, and it would be nice to develop a third wide receiver somewhere along the line.

The potential is there for a solid attack, but without knowing it for sure it’s hard to bank on its output.

Stat to wit: The Eagles’ medium-term plan revolves around Hurts, but there is cause for caution. Although Carson Wentz performed poorly in 2020, Hurts actually posted a slightly worse QBR than him. That’s no reason to panic – we’re talking less than 150 pass attempts as a rookie – but that doesn’t guarantee Hurts will end up better than Wentz. – Walder

Hurts is in an impossible situation. If Roseman is to be taken at his word, Hurts was never drafted to be their starting quarterback. He was drafted to be a career replacement. That means he has to prove he can be a starting quarterback and, more than that, be better than someone the Eagles could get at the top of the draft. With at least two first-round players at his disposal (and maybe three), Roseman can climb as high as he wants to take next year’s top college prospect or trade for DeShaun Watson, Russell Wilson. or even Aaron Rodgers.

But shouldn’t the fact that the Eagles have the ammo to grab any kind of QB franchise they want this offseason, shouldn’t that rank them higher?

While I don’t see the Eagles as Super Bowl contenders for the next 2-3 years, it’s important to note that things can change quickly in the NFL.

Please have mercy on the poor Kansas City bosses, I guess.