The Eagles are coming off their second NFC East title in three years in 2019. However, an improved Cowboys team is favored to win the division this year with the Eagles trying to keep up.
The Eagles focused on their top needs this offseason, especially on defense and at wide receiver. Let’s look at their new additions.
Key Additions: DT Javon Hargrave, LB Jatavis Brown, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, S Will Parks, WR Jalen Reagor and CB Darius Slay
Key Departures: RB Jordan Howard, RB Darren Sproles, WR Nelson Agholor, OT Jason Peters, OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, DT Timmy Jernigan, LB Nigel Bradham, LB Kamu Grugier-Hill, CB Ronald Darby, S Malcolm Jenkins
With some much needed additions on defense, let’s look at the Eagles starters for the 2020 season.
Offensive Starters:
- QB: Carson Wentz
- RB: Miles Sanders
- WR: Alshon Jeffrey
- WR: DeSean Jackson
- WR: Greg Ward
- TE: Zach Ertz
- LT: Jason Peters
- LG: Isaac Seumalo
- C: Jason Kelce
- RG: Matt Pryor
- RT: Lane Johnson
Defensive/Special Teams Starters:
- LDE: Brandon Graham
- DT: Fletcher Cox
- DT: Javon Hargrave
- RDE: Derek Barnett
- LOLB: Duke Riley
- MLB: T.J. Edwards
- ROLB: Nathan Gerry
- CB: Darius Slay
- CB: Avonte Maddox
- S: Rodney McLeod
- S: Jalen Mills
- K: Jake Elliot
- P: Cameron Johnston
Strongest Position: Defensive Tackle
The Eagles beefed up the defensive tackle position this offseason with the signing of Javon Hargrave. They still have Fletcher Cox, who remains an every-down beast, and the addition of Javon Hargrave will give him more space and opportunities to be more effective this season. For depth, the Eagles have Malik Jackson, who is going to rotate in and out after only playing in one game last season. He looks to return to his 2017 form, where he set a career-high in sacks (8) and made the Pro Bowl.
Weakest Position: Linebacker
The Eagles linebacker core is a huge question mark. Nathan Gerry is coming off his first season as starter, where ehe performed well with 78 tackles and 2.5 sacks. However, T.J. Edwards has only four career starts, while Duke Riley hasn’t started a game are since 2018 with the Falcons. The land is going to heavily relied of Gerry as Edwards and Riley are going to need time to adjust to the pace. With how the defense has seen improvements this offseason, the linebacker position was kind of left in the dust with no additional help.
The Eagles have a tough challenge ahead of them. The Cowboys are the team to beat in the NFC East with a new head coach in Mike McCarthy and new receiver, CeeDee Lamb, while making multiple moves on defense. The Eagles are trying to keep up with the Cowboys and the reliability of Carson Wentz is low due to his injuries. The Eagles will be fighting for a playoff spot this year, but it will be as a Wild Card and there is a high likelihood that they miss the playoffs.
