Our ranking of the top 10 most critical Eagles players going into next season goes out of this world with out next entrant.
Planet Ertz exploded in his second NFL season with 58 receptions, 702 yards and three touchdowns. The 24-year-old player out of Stanford University continued to express his physicality and athleticism by making some incredibly difficult catches.
Ertz finished third on the team last year in all of the stats mentioned above finishing only behind the released Maclin and Jordan Matthews. With Maclin reunited with Andy Reid In Kansas, the tight end may well emerge as one of the biggest receiving prospects in the team. With Celek hitting 30 and only having two years left on his contract, more and more responsibility is being placed onto the shoulders of Planet Ertz.
With Quarterbacks often viewing Tight Ends as their best friend due to their versatility, and ability to fight off defenders. This is where Ertz is going to come into his own. Whilst he remained a situational player in 2014, if the offense around him gets improved, tweaked and revitalised then his numbers may boost further. He has shown the natural talent and has the build of a Kelly prototype. He has experience with the Chip Kelly offense now and has come up against some of the best in the game. He simply has to build on this and piece all the jigsaw chunks together. If Ertz is going to have a breakout season, it’s this one. If he doesn’t improve then he may well remain a situational player for the remainder of his career.
With the starting Quarterback position still under much doubt with trade rumours flying around more frequently than burgers being bought in McDonalds, it will be down to the tight ends to provide a sense of security and comfort to whoever takes the reigns. If it is indeed Bradford at the core then it means that Ertz is the kind of player to relieve pressure from the QB, giving him time to throw and stop him being hit..a big factor when you consider Bradford’s injury record.
So the bottom line is this. Ertz has shown flashes of brilliance over the last two years and has emerged as a consistent receiver. If he can work on his blocking, block shedding and become more of a commander in the trenches then he could well be among the best Tight End’s in the league when it comes to numbers.
