The Linc - Eagles’ perfect first-round scenario in the 2023 NFL Draft

Mar 30, 2023 - 2:35 PM

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

The perfect first round for every team with multiple first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft - PFF
Pick 10: DI Jalen Carter, Georgia. Pick 30: DB Brian Branch, Alabama. If the Eagles are comfortable with the red flags raised by Jalen Carter’s arrest and the disappointing pro day that followed, they could be the team to halt a draft-day mini-slide and come away with one of the most talented players in the entire draft. Consistently standing out as the best player on the best college defense of all time in 2021, Jalen Carter can be virtually unblockable on the interior. Philadelphia would be able to keep his workload fairly light for the same reason Georgia could — they have elite depth and rotation. At Pick 30, snagging Brian Branch would be another home run for the Eagles. The Crimson Tide defensive back is the best slot defender in the draft and has the versatility to play safety roles. He would be a very clean replacement for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, one of the defenders the Eagles let walk this offseason. Branch’s position in mock drafts is all over the place — from the top 10 to the fringes of the first round — but if he slipped this far, the Eagles would be over the moon.

Eagles’ proposal to allow the No. 0 jersey passes! So, who should wear it? - BGN
The most important development to emerge from this week’s NFL owners meetings? It’s clearly the league approving the Philadelphia Eagles’ proposal for the use of the No. 0 jersey. There was really no good reason to not bring back zero. The question now is ... which player should wear it? Every non-lineman on the Eagles’ roster is eligible to wear the new number. Calvin Ridley was quick to announce he’s going to be sporting No. 0 for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Parris Campbell, who recently signed with the New York Giants, is also going to be wearing it. That’s two wide receivers so far. The Eagles don’t have any new receivers as it currently stands, though. Their players with unassigned jersey numbers (according to their official roster page) eligible to wear zero.

EMERGENCY PODCAST: #JerseyNumberAnalytics, Episode 0 - BGN Radio
Brandon Lee Gowton is joined by special guest Ben Solak from The Ringer and The Ringer Philly Special podcast (with Sheil Kapadia plus others) to discuss the BIGGEST news in the NFL this week … players being allowed to wear the No. 0 jersey. Who on the Eagles should wear zero? What it does it mean for Philly’s plans in the NFL Draft? Is No. 00 next? We try to answer these questions and more. Interact with us on Twitter: @BrandonGowton, @BenjaminSolak, @BGN_Radio, @BleedingGreen. Use discount code BGN15 at RighteousFelon.com for 15% off your order! Same promotion applies at WildRangerPet.com.

Good Hands - Iggles Blitz
Nolan Smith is a terrific prospect, but is also complicated. Check out his Combine workout. Watch his highlights. You see someone who should be a no-doubt Top 10 pick. Smith finished his career with 21 TFLs, 11.5 sacks and 3 FFs. Those numbers don’t even match Will Anderson’s production from the 2021 season. Georgia prospects have to split reps because of their depth. The scheme also doesn’t let them just attack up the field. He also missed part of the 2022 season with a torn pec. Still, you have to consider that level of production when you’re judging an edge rusher. One thing helping Smith is character. He was a team leader at UGA and is highly regarded. This is the kind of person you want in your organization. In theory, I’d love Smith on the Eagles.

2023 NFL free agency: Seven teams with roster holes, what’s next - ESPN+
LINEBACKER. What could be next: Adding a veteran. Roseman is comfortable waiting out the market before adding pieces to his roster. Last year’s Eagles are a perfect example; they signed White in the second week of free agency, added corner James Bradberry in May and traded for safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson nine days before the start of the season. In this case, though, I’m not sure Roseman needs to wait for some unexpected release or cap casualty over the summer. While veterans Eric Kendricks and Bobby Wagner have already hit the market and signed elsewhere, Zach Cunningham and Myles Jack remain free agents. Both were released, so they wouldn’t influence Philadelphia’s standing in the compensatory pick chase. With former Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell now working in the Eagles’ front office, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jack ended up in midnight green.

Jeffrey Lurie: ‘We’re never satisfied’ - PE.com
He wanted the ball one more time. Jeffrey Lurie mentioned it twice as he addressed the media late on Tuesday afternoon as the NFL Annual Meeting wrapped up here, thinking back to the moment in Super Bowl LVII, late in the fourth quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. Give the ball back to quarterback Jalen Hurts and an Eagles offense that moved the ball up and down the field in that game and, well, what could have been. “Minute forty-three. One timeout. Let’s roll,” Lurie said, and every Eagles fan in every corner of the world nodded in agreement. “I think about a minute and 43 (seconds) left in the game, and one timeout, we got the ball at the 25-yard line, what would have happened. I would have liked that opportunity because we were built for it.” The Eagles rolled throughout the 2022 season until that point when a holding penalty was called on cornerback James Bradberry and the Chiefs retained possession of the football with a first down and eventually ran out the clock and, ohhhhhhh, you know the rest. Until that moment, it was a dominating season for the Eagles – “Incredible 2022-2023 season, nothing short of incredible,” Lurie said – and it was “heartbreaking to not win that game,” he said.

Who’s ready to get hurt again? - The Good Phight
I am a fan of both the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles, and if you had told me a year ago that those teams would play in the World Series and Super Bowl, I would have probably been really excited. The Phillies hadn’t made the playoffs in ten years, so to not only get to the postseason, but to make it all the way to the final round? Sounds amazing! As for the Eagles, yes, they were coming off a playoff season, but there were still a lot of questions about the quarterback, and as of March 2022, the roster didn’t look like it was championship caliber. To hear that they’d make the Super Bowl, I’d think I was in for a magical ride. I don’t want to say it wasn’t great to have both the Phillies and Eagles play for championships. I’ll always take a season in which my team plays for the championship over one in which it doesn’t. But it was considerably less great to watch them both fall short in the final round. (I do not follow the Union, but I sympathize with their fans who got a bonus serving of championship disappointment)

Who were the best quarterbacks in the NFL in 2022? - Big Blue View
The biggest negative total adjustment in total EPA (-43.1) is for Jalen Hurts. This comes primarily from his receivers (-22.4) and blocking (-12.3). Hurts’ unadjusted season EPA was twice that of Jones’, but their adjusted EPAs are almost identical. If you are a believer that Hurts was greatly helped by the team around him, there’s your evidence. [...] What the adjustments do explain, though, is how Jones got a $40M per year 4-year contract. The adjustments are the meat left on the bone that Schoen and Daboll saw, not just in Jones’ development, but in the factors around him that held him back. They’re betting they can do something with that, but they were unlucky in getting their hands on Jones in his fourth year rather than his first or second. The Eagles were more fortunate. They have had time to see what Jalen Hurts can do with a Pro Bowl-caliber offense around him, and that’s why he’ll probably get a contract $10M+ per year more than Jones got even though their adjusted EPAs are about the same.

Giants co-owner John Mara likens coach Brian Daboll to ‘Bono walking around New York City’ right now - NFL.com
New York Giants coach Brian Daboll endeared himself to Big Blue fans in his first season, not only spearheading a surprising playoff berth with a still-rebuilding club but doing so with a fiery and frank persona that meshes well with the fanbase. Giants co-owner John Mara joked this week on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he’s warned Daboll things could turn quickly if losing piles up. “We kid him, I mean, right now, he’s Bono walking around New York City,” Mara said. “But I’ve told him, I’ve said, ‘In this business, it doesn’t take long to go from Bono to Bozo. So don’t get your head too big right now.’ But he has been great.”

Cowboys pet peeve: People who want to move on from quarterback Dak Prescott - Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys hold the 26th overall pick going into this year’s draft. The odds of finding a future replacement for Prescott with that are dismal, and the cost of trading up is prohibitive. To not be in a similar situation next year would mean that this season went very poorly. Their draft capital can be much more wisely invested in improving the roster around the quarterback. They have already taken an important step by trading for Brandin Cooks, who has a good chance of being a major contributor to the receiving corps. It is just irritating, at least to me, to see people who think the Cowboys can easily upgrade the quarterback position. This is both a severe undervaluing of what Prescott brings to the table and an equally inaccurate overestimation of the likelihood of drafting a viable replacement. While the team should always be looking for a developmental QB late in the draft to maybe catch lightning in a bottle again, and for what it is worth the team has expressed interest in taking a quarterback late this year, they are wedded to Prescott for the foreseeable future. And when they do have to find a replacement, there is a real chance we will soon be longing for the level of play he provides now.

Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson is the can’t-miss prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft - SB Nation
Anderson’s quickness off the snap is tremendous. Not only does he time his jump well, but he’s very fast in his first step and has the pure speed needed to wreak absolute havoc in opposing backfields. When Anderson beats you with speed off the snap, it’s game over. He’s a flexible athlete who turns the corner very well and does a great job of getting low on outside speed rushes. His mobility in space and closing speed makes him a dangerous tackler in the open field, too. Not only is Anderson super explosive, but he maximizes it with how hard he plays. He has a very high playing speed, and his motor is also apparent in his hand activity, as he stacks and sheds blocks well and strings together moves to get into the backfield. He has a deep arsenal of techniques like shucks, swipes, rips, ghost moves, and swims that he uses to get into opposing backfields and generate pressure. It helps that Anderson has proven himself against current and future NFL talent, too. In his three seasons at Alabama, he dominated to the tune of 34.5 total sacks and 58.5 tackles for a loss. Statistical production is far from the end-all, be-all when evaluating a prospect, but when you put up those numbers in a powerful conference like the SEC, NFL teams can’t help but take notice.

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