A semi-detailed look at the offensive side of the Eagles roster; for the purposes of this exercise I'm including practice squad guys as the line between the 53 man roster and the practice squad (PS) has become all the more thin in the COVID era. PS guys will be notated as such, as well as injured reserve (IR). Here goes nothing:

Quarterbacks

We've said more than enough about Jalen Hurts already. I'm excited to see what comes of him this season; it's pivotal for his career and the future of this franchise; no pressure! The Philly beat was abuzz with consternation regarding Gardner Minshew's up and down camp; his solid preseason showing (74% completion percentage, 7.1 YPA, 93 passer rating) should put those fears to rest. He's QB2 in a walk. Ian Book is Notre Dame's all time QB leader in wins, which might not matter much for his pro prospects but is impressive nonetheless when you consider ND's history at that position; it's literally a century of All Americans, Heisman finalists, national award winners, top draft picks, and so on. Reid Sinnett (PS) was awful in the preseason. Thankfully we won't need him to play this year, but one wonders why he's even taking up a PS slot (QB Factory strikes again!). One also wonders how bad Carson Strong was to make Sinnett look like a real option.

Running Backs

Miles Sanders enters his contract season needing to stay healthy to make his mark; I think he's a Pro Bowler if he manages it. Boston Scott is just a solid player; run game, pass game, return game, he can chip in anywhere. Scoring a touchdown every 14 offensive touches last year might have been his most impressive accomplishment in midnight green. Kenny Gainwell seems limited to the pass game at this point in his career but I'm holding out hope he can expand his impact. Trey Sermon is a guy I'm excited to see in action; his short area burst is nothing short of impressive: not too many 215 pound running backs have a 95th percentile 10 yard dash. There was buzz that Roseman wanted to trade for him this offseason but it turned out he didn't need to. Kennedy Brooks (PS) never flashed in the preseason but unlike his rival Jason Huntley, he at least showed the ability to break tackles. La'Michel Perine (PS) is a good depth play.

BONUS: Hurts, Sermon, Brooks and TE Grant Calcaterra were all teammates at Oklahoma in 2019. They combined for 92% of the passing yards, 80% of the rushing yards and 43% of the touchdowns for one of the best offenses in college football that year.

Wide Receivers

AJ Brown's biggest contribution this season will likely not be in significant direct production but rather as a force multiplier; he'll open up coverage for every other Eagle on the field. I've been more skeptical than most about Devonta Smith's prospects to be a WR1 but minimally he seems to be on track to be a real contributor and a solid WR2. His top shelf route running skills should thrive with more one-on-one coverage this year. Quez Watkins is quietly one of the top slots in the league; he was 68th percentile (all qualifiers, not just slots) in yards after catch per reception, 84th percentile in broken tackles per reception, and 88th percentile in drop rate. The bottom line is that Watkins will catch the ball and then do damage once he does. Zach Pascal would likely have been WR1 or 2 last season due to the glaring lack of talent and experience; the fact that he's WR4 this year shows how far the team has come at the position. Deon Cain (PS) and Britian Covey (PS) are useful players that I expect to see on the 53 at some point; not sure I can say the same about Devon Allen (PS), but his speed is at least worth a scout look. I counted at least eight players that the Eagles liked at this position during camp; that's likely twice as many as they had at this point last year.

Tight Ends

I believe I had commented that Dallas Goedert was a top ten TE; I think I was wrong, he's closer to top 3. No TE this side of George Kittle offers the blend of receiving upside and blocking ability, and that flexibility can make him a nightmare for opposing defenses (I’m not saying he’s Rob Gronkowski, but he can be used similarly). It's possible that no Eagle will be more pivotal to the offense's success outside of the quarterbacks. I believe in Grant Calcaterra's athletic upside; he'll need to add strength and stay healthy to realize it. Jack Stoll might be a developmental prospect, or he might be just a guy; I think we'll find out very soon as he'll start as TE2. Noah Togiai (PS) and Tyree Jackson (PUP) are plus athletes that this team really likes. The odds are excellent we'll see at least one of them on the 53 this year; my money is on Jackson.

BONUS: last season, there were only nine players that A) had at least 3 targets per game, B) started the majority of their team's games, and C) averaged at least 10 receiving yards per target. The Eagles had two of them; Dallas Goedert and Quez Watkins.

Offensive Tackles

Lane Johnson remains one of the team's best and most important players. Since he was drafted, the Eagles win 60% of the time he plays more than half of the snaps; they win 40% of the time when he does not. Perhaps the most impressive accomplishment I can list is that Lane did not miss a snap due to injury for the first five years of his career. We can only hope that Jordan Mailata is on the same track, but his All Pro caliber season last year gives real hope for that outcome. Together they form one of the top OT combos in the league. Andre Dillard was a disappointment as far as first round picks go, but he's certainly overqualified as a backup LT option. Rooting for a speedy recovery from the broken arm. Jack Driscoll seems to be the team's choice as the backup RT but I think his long term future is at guard; there are some real Todd Herremans vibes there. Le'Raven Clark (PS) is just a guy in the big picture, but he's fine as an OT3.

Offensive Guards

The specter of injury still hangs over the head of Landon Dickerson; I really hope it works out for him as he has All Pro upside. However, he missed some time this preseason and, as we know, had four of five college seasons cut short due to injury. As I've said before, Isaac Seumalo may never be a star but is just a really good player. Sua Opeta is another success story at the Oline Factory, going from a workout warrior undrafted OG to a starting caliber player. I suspect he'll get a deal to start here next season, as both he and Seumalo are free agents after 2022. Josh Sills was the surprise addition to this group on cutdown day, but he's got excellent size (6-6, 325), strength, a nasty streak and guard-tackle versatility. My guess is that in a couple years we'll be talking about Sills in the same way we're currently talking about Opeta.

Centers

Jason Kelce is the finest center of our time. What he offers in athleticism, attitude and intelligence is all but unprecedented for the position in the history of the league. More study needs to be done to compare Kelce to the all time greats, but my guess is that he'll get short shrift due to the fact that the Eagles were middling as a franchise for much of the first half of his career. Replacing him, whenever that happens, will be a huge task. It's comforting that Cam Jurgens seems to have a solid start. His athleticism in the preseason was impossible to miss. Like Kelce, Jurgens was a skill position player (a tight end) in high school that made the move inside in college. There was significant hand wringing over his selection in the spring, but I felt that was misplaced. Getting a potential replacement in house for an all timer before the need becomes dire always seemed smart to me, and in any case is how the Eagles seem to do business; they've done this with Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Jason Peters (twice), Brent Celek, Zach Ertz, Brandon Graham, and almost certainly others I can't remember. They likely regret not doing so with Brian Westbrook. They have no other full time centers on the roster, but Seumalo, Dickerson and Sills all have college starting experience, so I think the depth is fine.

We'll come back and talk about the defense later in the week.