Here is your Philadelphia Eagles Season Preview with everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 season. By Alex Merson
The Philadelphia Eagles come into the 2023 season with high hopes and expectations, after they lost out in the Super Bowl last season by the smallest margins. The team has made some big moves as they look to keep the momentum from the previous season going and had what seems to be a rather successful draft to help build on their success.
The Eagles beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship game last time out, before losing out to the Chiefs in one of the best Super Bowls of recent years. The main goal will be lifting their second ever Super Bowl, with the last coming just 5 years ago when Nick Foles did the impossible and beat Tom Brady.
Changes This Offseason
Their superstar QB Jalen Hurts signed a 5-year, $225 million deal in the offseason, as the Eagles hope he is the man to lead them for many more years to come. He also has great options around him, the wide receiver room is the best in the league, with AJ Brown as the main star.
They also bought in DeAndre Swift from the Lions in the running back slot, who has shown potential so far in his career. The defence is also stacked all over, and with some good draft pickups it will be hard to score many points for opposition teams.
However, the team lost both of their coordinators in the offseason to head coach roles, and it is former Eagles QB coach Brian Johnson who is now the offensive coordinator, and former Seahawks associate head coach Sean Desai has taken the reigns as the defensive coordinator. Losing one coordinator is always tricky to replace, so losing both with certainly knock the Eagles back a few steps. If they can get these changes right, the Eagles will have another great shot to win the NFC once again, as the division is getting weaker and weaker.
2023 Eagles Schedule:
- Week 1: Sunday, September 10 at New England Patriots
- Week 2: Thursday, September 14 vs. Minnesota Vikings
- Week 3: Monday, September 25 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Week 4: Sunday, October 1 vs. Washington Commanders
- Week 5: Sunday, October 8 at Los Angeles Rams
- Week 6: Sunday, October 15 at New York Jets
- Week 7: Sunday, October 22 vs. Miami Dolphins
- Week 8: Sunday, October 29 at Washington Commanders
- Week 9: Sunday, November 5 vs. Dallas Cowboys
- Week 10: BYE
- Week 11: Monday, November 20 at Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 12: Sunday, November 26 vs. Buffalo Bills
- Week 13: Sunday, December 3 vs. San Francisco 49ers
- Week 14: Sunday, December 10 at Dallas Cowboys
- Week 15: Sunday, December 17 at Seattle Seahawks
- Week 16: Monday, December 25 vs. New York Giants
- Week 17: Sunday, December 31 vs. Arizona Cardinals
- Week 18: TBD at New York Giants
Coaching Staff:
Nick Sirianni, Head Coach.
Brian Johnson, Offensive Coordinator.
Sean Desai, Defensive Coordinator.
Michael Clay, Special Teams Coordinator.
Players in:
Via Trade:
DeAndre Swift, RB
Robert Quinn, DE
Free Agents:
Rashaad Penny, RB
Greedy Williams, CB
Marcus Mariota, QB
Justin Evans, S
Nicholas Morrow, OLB
Terrell Edmunds, S
Kentavius Street, DE
Olamide Zaccheaus, WR
Dan Arnold, TE
Dennis Kelly, T
Draft Picks:
Jalen Carter, DT, Rd 1 Pick 9
Nolan Smith, OLB, Rd 1 Pick 30
Tyler Steen, T, Rd 3 pick 65
Sydney Brown, S, Rd 3 pick 66
Kelee Ringo, CB, Rd 4 pick 105
Tanner McKee, QB, Rd 6 pick 188
Moro Ojomo, DT, Rd 7 pick 249
Players Out:
Jason Hargreave, DL
Andre Dillard, OT
TJ Edwards, LB
Kyzir White, LB
Marcus Epps, CB
Miles Sanders, RB
Marvin Wilson, DT
Andre Chahere, CB
Jarrid Williams, T
Projected Eagles Starters:
Offence:
QB: Jalen Hurts
RB: DeAndre Swift
WR1: AJ Brown
WR2: Devonta Smith
TE: Dallas Goedert
LT: Jordan Mailata
LG: Landon Dickerson
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Tyler Steen
RT: Lane Jonhson
Defence:
DE: Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat
DT: Jalen Carter, Fletcher Cox
LB: Nakobe Dean, Nicholas Morrow, Harrison Reddick
CB: Darius Slay, James Bradberry
S: Terrell Edmunds, Reed Blankenship
The roster as a whole is certainly one of, if not the best in the league, with talent all over the field on both sides. There is a mix of both young talent, with some older players who can lead the way. The offensive line is heavily favoured as the best around, being led by 35-year-old Jason Kelce, brother of Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce. Hurts has options all over the field when throwing, and his ability to run the RPO (Run Pass Option) makes it very tough for defences to stop.
As a negative, the safety spot looks a little weak, having lost both Marcus Epps and CJ Gardner Johnson in the offseason, Edmunds and Blankenship both have questions marks on how well they can truly perform. Blankenship was an undrafted rookie and impressed heavily considering not being drafted, playing 45% of snaps and catching an interception. Edmunds has had 5 decent years in Pittsburgh but will now need to step it up to help the Eagles lift the Lombardi.
2023 Star Player:
Jalen Hurts, QB
Coming out of college, many people was uncertain that Jalen would ever reach the heights of being a top quarterback in the league. He was the leading force in Alabama until being benched in the Championship game at half time after a poor start and was replaced by now Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagoliova.
He was then transferred to Oklahoma, and after an impressive season was taken by the Eagles in round 2 of the 2020 draft. However, since becoming a starter he has been nothing short of impressive, and had a season for the ages last season by throwing for over 3700 yards, and rushing for another 760 on the ground.
After a stellar post season, he reached Super Bowl and missing out on lifting the Lombardi trophy against the Patrick Mahomes’ led Chiefs by a minimal amount. In the off season, Hurts was rewarded from his incredible season, signing a 5-year, $225 million contract extension, as the Eagles made sure they would keep their franchise for years to come. His dual threat ability is key to their success and dominates teams.
2023 Breakout Player:
Jalen Carter, DT
Jalen Carter was poised to be selected as a top 5 pick in this year’s draft, however troubles off the field which saw him taken away by police during the combine meant he would drop into the Eagles hands at number 9, after a trade to move up one spot and get the man they wanted. Carter is a two-time College Football national champions with the Georgia Bulldogs and a unanimous All-American in 2022.
In college, Jalen dominated on defence, in his last year at Georgia he recorded 32 total tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles during the Championship winning season. He joins an already stellar defence and was college teammates with two of the Eagles’ 2022 draft picks – Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean. Carter will undoubtably be a key piece in the Eagles team this year and is expected to shine bright in this upcoming season.
Eagles Season Expectations:
Win the Super Bowl
This may be bold; however the Eagles came so close last year, and this year the hope will be to do one better and win it all. There is no denying that the NFC is rather weak when compared to the AFC side, and the Eagles have another great opportunity to get to the Bowl and go one step further.
In the NFC East, there is some tough tests with the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, who are improving year by year, but with the firepower the Eagles contain on both offence and defence, they will be heavily favoured against both sides. If they do reach the Super Bowl again, whoever they come to face will be a very tough game, however from going toe to toe with the best quarterback in the league last time out, they will feel they can get the better of whoever they play.