The Philadelphia Eagles missed out on the playoffs for the second straight season, causing them to fire Chip Kelly and bring in Doug Pederson to be their head coach. Philly underwent a major overhaul of their roster this offseason, but they still expect to make the playoffs. These three players will determine how successful the Eagles are this season:
3) Lane Johnson
Offensive tackle is perhaps the most important position in the NFL, and the Eagles have tabbed Johnson as their long-term left tackle. He's current the right tackle with Jason Peters on the left side, but Peters is often injured - including the quad injury he suffered during training camp this week. His role will be Johnson's sooner rather than later, and Johnson needs to step up and produce for the Eagles to be good.
2) Ryan Mathews
Mathews is taking over as the starting running back after Philadelphia traded away DeMarco Murray, and he's more than ready to take over that role. He averaged over five yards per carry in his first year with the Eagles - a career high - and managed to find the end zone six times. Pederson's offense is designed to put his running backs in space to make plays, which is right in Mathews' wheelhouse. He needs to deliver as the featured back for Philly to do anything this year.
1) Sam Bradford
All of the criticism of Bradford is warranted, and he essentially isn't anything more than a placeholder for Carson Wentz. Still, he's this team starter, and they will go as far as he takes them. Bradford passed for 3,725 yards and 19 touchdowns in just 14 games last season, and set a career high in yards per attempt. Another year like that, and Philadelphia will be in excellent position at the end of the year.
Back to the Philadelphia Eagles Newsfeed