Roob’s Eagles Observations: Why hasn’t Howie Roseman rehired anyone yet? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Thoughts on why Howie Roseman hasn’t re-signed anyone yet, Nolan Smith’s jump from Year 1 to Year 2, and a look at AJ Brown’s chances of making a third straight Pro Bowl.
It’s a week 16 edition of Roob’s 10 Random Eagle Observations and I can’t even imagine a week without Roob’s observations!
1. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how efficient Jalen Hurts has been throwing the ball, but he’s also quietly been very good at running the ball, and we’re not talking about Brotherly Shove or short yardage plays, but outside. field. Hurts appears fast, which hasn’t been the case in recent years late in the season while battling lower leg injuries. The pattern we’ve seen in the past is that Hurts is fast and explosive in training camp and perhaps for the first half of the season before wear and tear takes its toll and he loses that dimension of his game. But Hurts has managed to keep his ankles and legs healthy this year and it shows. Had a 35-yard run in the Panthers game – 2North Dakota-the longest of his career- and a 23-yarder Sunday against the Steelers. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2020, he’s only had one other run in December of at least 23 yards. So two of his three longest streaks in December came in the last two weeks. The Eagles know that if they are going to win a Super Bowl they need Hurts to be close to 100 percent healthy, and they have done everything they can to make that happen. That’s a good consequence of running the ball 37 times per game. You’ll keep Hurts out of harm’s way on 37 snaps each Sunday. The Eagles even put Hurts on a carefully designed program during the mini-break after Thursday’s game against Washington aimed at strengthening his legs and lower body, and it appears to have paid off. Hurts looks healthy and fast and that makes him more dangerous late in the season than he has been since he was a rookie. That’s good news for the Eagles and bad news for whoever they face.
2. If the Eagles finish the season with the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL, they will become the first team ranked No. 1 in pass defense with two rookie defensive backs starting eight or more games since the 1955 Steelers. Steelers team went 4-8 and ranked 11thth overall out of 12 teams in overall defense, but were number one in pass defense with rookie starters Richie McCabe at corner and Dick Doyle at safety. McCabe only started five more games during his Steelers career and Doyle never played for the Steelers again. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are expected to have longer careers with the Eagles than McCabe and Doyle did with the Steelers.
3. Ricky Watters is the only Eagle with two 100-yard rushing games in a season against Washington. In Week 6 of 1995, he had 139 yards in a 37-34 win at Vet, and in Week 13 he had 124 yards in a 14-7 win at RFK. The only other players with 120 yards against Washington twice in a season are Jim Brown with the Browns in 1963 (162 and 125) and Tiki Barber with the Giants in 2006 (123 and 234). Saquon Barkley scored 146 in the first Eagles-Commanders game this year.
4. Why hasn’t Howie Roseman rehired anyone yet this year? The Eagles have plenty of candidates for contract extensions. Josh Sweat, Zack Baun, Milton Williams and Mekhi Becton are among the Eagles not signed beyond this year, and they can’t afford to lose some of them. Isaiah Rodgers and Kenny Gainwell also won’t be signed after 2024. Most years, Roseman will sign two or three guys during the season, long before they hit free agency and the Eagles lose exclusive negotiating rights. But he hasn’t this year, and if you’re wondering why you just have to look back to 2022, when the Eagles got off to a similarly fast start and Roseman also passed over extensions during the season. At the Combine in Indianapolis after the season, he explained why: “Usually we like to sign guys early and sign guys during the season. And because of how well we started, how well we did and how many free agents we had, we thought it would create a different dynamic if we started picking one guy over another. “We understood that could cost us in the end, but we felt it was worth it because of the opportunity to potentially win a championship.” The concern was that hiring some guys but not others could hurt the vibe of the locker room. It’s a risky move, because guys like Baun and Becton have seen their value rise every week. But locker room chemistry is so important to this team that it makes sense.
5. The Eagles are the only NFL team with two linebackers with three sacks, eight tackles for loss and one interception. The only other year they’ve had two linebackers with those numbers since the NFL started tracking tackles for loss in 1999 was 2013 with DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks.
6. Nolan Smith’s jump from one sack last year to 5 ½ so far this year is the biggest increase by an Eagle from Year 1 to Year 2 since 1998, when Al Wallace had 6.0 sacks after not recording a sack as a rookie (when I played in only one game). The only other major increase from Year 1 to Year 2 was defensive tackle Andy Harmon, who had 7.0 sacks in 1992 after going sackless as a rookie in 1991.
7. Can AJ Brown make the Pro Bowl for the third straight season despite missing three games? He should. Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown are locked in, but there are four WR spots for each conference and Brown’s competition for the last one will come from Terry McLaurin and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. With three weeks remaining, Smith-Njigba is 85 for 994 with 5 TDs, McLaurin is 68 for 969 with 11 TDs and Brown is 56 for 946 with five TDs. But Brown leads the NFL with his 16.9 yards per catch (minimum 50 receptions), and his 12.3 yards per target are nearly 1 ½ yards more than anyone else in the league. And his 86.0 yards per game is 5th-highest in the NFL and 3third-highest in the NFC. If McLaurin, Smith-Njigba and Brown continue at their current pace, Brown will finish with 1,204 yards, Smith-Njigba with 1,207 and McLaurin with 1,176. How valuable is Brown? The Eagles are 11-0 this year when he plays (and 38-10 since he got here). The only Eagles wide receiver to make three consecutive Pro Bowls is Mike Quick, who did it five years in a row from 1983 to 1987. Brown should join Quick this year, and Quinyon Mitchell could certainly boost his chances by closing again to McLaurin on Sunday. .
8. Jalen Hurts is 43-11 in 54 starts since Nick Sirianni’s roots grew in the underground.
9. With the Lions, Vikings and Eagles all 12-2, this is the first time in NFL history that three teams in the same conference are 12-2 or better after 14 games. In fact, it is the first time in nine years that even two have done it: the Panthers and the Cardinals were 12-2 in 2015. Before that 2007 (Patriots and Colts in the AFC, Packers and Cowboys in the NFC) . The most wins ever by a team other than the No. 1 seed is 14 by the 1986 Bears, 1998 Falcons and 2004 Patriots, all in 16-game seasons. The 1986 Bears finished 14-2 but were seeded second.North Dakota behind the Giants 14-2. The Bears lost at home to Washington in the conference semifinals and the Giants beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI in Los Angeles. The 1998 Falcons finished 14-2 and were a No. 2 seed behind the 15-1 Vikings, but they came to Minneapolis and beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game before losing to the Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami. Thank you, Dennis Green. And the 2004 Patriots finished 14-2 and were the No. 2 seed in the AFC behind the 15-1 Steelers, but they won the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh.
10. The Eagles are 22-5 over the last three years in one-possession games, a winning percentage of .815. The last team above .800 in any three-year span in one-possession games is the 2012-2014 Colts, who went 19-4 (.826). The Eagles are 7-1 this year in one-possession games, tied with the Vikings and behind only the Chiefs, who are 10-0. Their only loss by one possession was 22-21 to the Falcons in the home opener in Week 2.
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