With the Eagles in their bye week, now seems like a good time to answer some questions submitted by readers on Twitter. This will be Part I of a two-part mailbag. It should be noted that there have been many questions surrounding Nick Sirianni’s job security. We’ll get to that in Part II.

Question from @JackDespeaux: Does Davante Adams to the Eagles solve all our problems?

When the Eagles were looking for receivers at the end of training camp, a player like Adams wouldn’t have fit the receiver profile they needed since they already have two star receivers making big money in AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. When healthy, Brown and Smith dominate the targets. The Eagles really just needed a third guy who could make the plays that came his way as a WR3 and be able to start if Brown or Smith were to be sidelined.

They, of course, dealt for Jahan Dotson, which cost them a third-round pick. In four games, Dotson has 5 catches on 9 targets for 25 yards (2.8 yards per target), so he hasn’t really come into his own yet, and I don’t know if he will. But this is the guy the front office identified as the answer, who gave up a decent enough resource to get them, and they won’t give up on him even after a month.

If there is one spot on the trade market that I think they could still address, the obvious answer is edge rusher. But we’re probably still about a month away from something like that happening. The trading deadline this year is November 5th, just for your information.

Question from Taylor (via email): There are rumors that the Eagles might trade for Maxx Crosby. Is there something to that?

I think this nonsense is due to:

Crosby is the “Condor.” I don’t know of any condor emojis, so I think Crosby settled for an eagle. #EmojiAnalysis.

Crosby is 27, he has a very manageable contract until 2026 and is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. Why would the Raiders trade him?

Question from @KingDro12: Of all the rookies, who do you think will be the long-term starter?

Quinyon Mitchell is already a good player in my opinion. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s got instincts, ball skills and he’s a willing tackler. He will be a long-term starter. The choice seems to be a hit.

I think we’ll see Cooper DeJean in that slot soon. He’s behind a bit because he missed the first month or so of training camp, but the Eagles can’t continue to use Avonte Maddox in a prominent role. So we’ll see what DeJean looks like, perhaps as early as the next game in Week 6 against the Browns.

I also thought Jeremiah Trotter, Jalyx Hunt and Will Shipley all showed something in training camp. They all have a chance to start or play an important role at some point, but it’s hard to know until you see them in real games, which we haven’t done yet other than special teams.

Question from @IrishEagles: Other than Cooper DeJean, is there a player who you think could see a significant increase in playing time after the bye?

AJ Brown. Ha, just kidding. I know what you mean.

This will be a very unsatisfactory answer, but perhaps Jack Stoll? Grant Calcaterra can’t block.

By the way, I expect the Eagles to have a tight end in 2025.

Question from @lookitssupergus: Hey Jimmy, first time X user, long time WIP avoider. Big fan of the O-Line, how do you think Cam Jurgens is doing to start the season? I’ll hang up now and listen.

Hey Great Gus, same thing.

Jurgens had some issues with snap counts and illegal rebounds on RPOs. He’s a young, smart player and I think he’ll sort it out. But as a pure blocker, I think he’s been really good so far.

Question from @MatthewTomarch: Where does the Eagles’ obsession with Fangio-style defense come from? For an organization that wants to innovate at all times, it’s strangely conservative in its defensive philosophy, especially given what Brian Flores is running in Minnesota.

One of the philosophies Howie Roseman has discussed in the past is falling behind when trying to copy what other teams in the league are doing.

“I think we spent a lot of time with (Nick Sirianni) and I talk about it all the time. If we want to be like everyone else, we’ll probably end up in the middle of the pack,” Roseman said in 2022. “Sometimes you have to take risks and stand out there and do something different than everyone else.”

They certainly didn’t apply that principle to the hiring of their defensive coordinators. Jonathan Gannon was a Fangio disciple, and when he went to Arizona the Eagles apparently had a Fangio-style defense in mind, and when Fangio himself slipped through their fingers, they found Sean Desai instead, who was a twig on Fangio. tree was.

When they had the chance to get Fangio themselves this offseason, they jumped at it, even though the six teams that fielded Fangio-style defenses last year underperformed. I’ve posted these before (sorry for the repetition), but here are the 2023 DVOA results from the Fangio disciples (and Fangio himself):

• Joe Woods, Saints: 15
• Vic Fangio, Dolphins: 19
• Brandon Staley, Chargers: 26
• Joe Barry, Packers: 27
• Sean Desai, Eagles: 29
• Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals: 32

While Fangio is still good, the simple fact is that offenses around the league often prepare for and have answers for versions of this defense.

Question from @7heReason: The Titans allow the fewest passing yards, 4th in YPA and 3rd in completion percentage. Did the Eagles let the wrong guy go?🤔

My friend is referring to Dennard Wilson, who was the Eagles’ defensive coach and is on track to one day become defensive coordinator. If you recall, in 2022, when Wilson was still in Philly, the Eagles had the No. 5 pass defense in the NFL.

In 2023, he was the Ravens’ defensive backs coach and they ranked 8th in pass defense. In 2024, Wilson got a defensive coordinator job with the Titans, and he’s doing some good things there.

I think that’s a fair question.

Question from @ChrisLuvGoBirds: How much do you attribute Bryce Huff’s lack of production to the fact that he’s just not good, and to what extent is he just a bad fit for Fangio’s defense? If it’s more of the latter and the Eagles don’t generate pressure, can’t Fangio adapt his plan to a player who had 10 sacks last year?

To answer the first part of this question: Huff didn’t do it anything Well, yes. I’ve seen some people dismiss his play on the premise that the Eagles aren’t using him properly. Sure, he’s shown that you don’t want him on the field on running plays, but he always gets opportunities to rush the passer, right? PFF has him down for 3 pressures in 71 pass-rush snaps. That’s not nearly good enough, no matter how it’s used.

As far as adjusting the scheme goes, I think Fangio can and will tinker with it to better fit his staff, but I don’t think he’ll make significant changes to appease a severely underperforming player.

Question from @old_chester: With the new kick-off rules, Jake Elliott is hardly on the field anymore. Why doesn’t he kick kickoffs?

With the new kickoff rules, kickers are at greater risk of being caught in tackles. In my opinion, it’s reasonable to want to keep one of the NFL’s best kickers out of harm’s way.

Question from @ShinStrider_x: Why do you continue to make the FeastingMeter™️ when it’s clearly been broken for 2 years?

Ha, well, in my weekly “Five Matchups” post I always like to show what the opposing team’s offensive line looks like (strengths, weaknesses, injuries, substitutions, etc.) because, you know, the offensive line is kind of a big one thing in football. And then of course I want to show where the Eagles might have an advantage, hence the FeastinMeter™️.

Spoiler: The FeastinMeter™️ will feature few turkey legs in most games for the rest of the season, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away. You can’t just look at the thermometer in the summer and then throw it away in the winter.

Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice

Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports

Add Jimmy’s RSS feed to your feed reader