Hot Takes for Jalen Hurts, More Eagles Stars Ahead of Training Camp

The Philadelphia Eagles enter the 2024 season with high expectations despite a disastrous finish to the 2023 campaign. The 1-6 slide included a first-round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs.

The frustrating thing for Eagles fans is that the talent was there for better results. It was mostly the same roster that went to the Super Bowl the previous season. However, failed execution and questionable coaching on both sides of the ball held them back.

Head coach Nick Sirianni survived the offseason, but much of his staff is going to look different. Kellen Moore has come in to run the offense while Vic Fangio will be calling the shots on defense.

But much of the Eagles success is still going to depend on the performance of the Eagles' biggest stars.

Here are three bold predictions for what this season will hold for some of their biggest names.

Jalen Hurts 2023 season was disappointing. He was still voted into the Pro Bowl, but he was not nearly as efficient or productive as he was in 2022 when he was the MVP runner-up.

Was that 2022 season an aberration? Is 2023 a more true indication of who Hurts is as a quarterback?

Those are the kind of questions he's going to face this season. His passer rating dropped more than 12 points. His QBR dropped from 68.3 (fourth in the league) to 60.1 (12th).

It's been well-documented at this point that Hurts and the Eagles struggled against the blitz for much of the season. That came to a head in the playoff game where Hurts was under pressure in under 2.5 seconds 13 times, according to Next Gen Stats.

That's partially on Hurts, but it's also on coaching. There has to be more answers available to Hurts to combat that kind of quick pressure.

Those are the kind of fixes that a good relationship between new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Hurts can help bring.

It should also be noted that Hurts played through a bone bruise in his knee that inevitably affected his play. With an offseason to recover, he should have full mobility back going into the season.

That can make all the difference for Hurts. He's never going to be one of the best pure passers in the league. But when he can unleash his running ability within an offense that accentuates his strength, he's able to play like he did in 2022.

As noted previously, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense were vexed when blitzed last season. According to Pro Football Focus, Hurts completed just 62.5 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions when facing blitzes last season.

Blitzes can obviously put pressure on quarterbacks across the league, but Hurts' numbers dropped significantly.

Moore has to give Hurts quicker and better answers when facing the blitz. Utilizing Saquon Barkley in the pass game is one thing the Eagles can go to that they didn't necessarily have last season.

Barkley's pass-catching chops were an element to his game that wasn't used to its potential in the Giants offense. With limited receiving options it was easier for teams to key Barkley and keep him contained as a receiver.

However, the running back had 91 receptions for 721 yards in his rookie season with the Giants. With A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith attracting attention as downfield threats, Barkley could become a vital safety valve for Hurts when teams inevitably dial up pressures.

Barkley should have better receiving production than he has had in previous seasons. That makes him a candidate to lead the league in yards from scrimmage while unlocking the next level for the Eagles offense.

Right now, Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown are the true stars on the Philadelphia Eagles roster. DeVonta Smith isn't too far behind, but the first three are virtual locks to be Pro Bowlers if they are healthy.

Jalen Carter is going to emerge as the team's star on the defensive side of the ball this year.

Carter will enter his second season with the Eagles on the heels of a rookie season that saw him collect six sacks. The former Georgia Bulldog got off to a hot start with 4.5 of his sacks coming in the first eight games.

Had he stayed on that trajectory, he would have flirted with a 10-sack season and established himself as one of the better interior pass-rushers in the league. Instead, his productivity waned as the season wore on.

He wasn't the only one. His dip in production coincided with the Eagles collapse.

He's spent this offseaosn thinking a lot about what went wrong.

"My first year was OK," Carter said, per Charean Williams of NBC Sports. "It wasn't how I wanted it to end. A lot of stuff that I seen on film is stuff I need to fix. It's OK. We here now, and I'm ready to be better than last year."

Many players hit a developmental roadblock in their sophomore campaign. However, it appears that Carter hit that in the middle of his rookie season and is set to build on the positives.

The disruptive defensive lineman could hit the 10-sack mark this season and establish himself as a star in a new era of Eagles defense.