Dallas Goedert breakout inbound?
Arguably one of the biggest spring standouts so far has been TE Dallas Goedert. Whether it’s plucking balls away from Sidney Jones or catching touchdown after touchdown, Goedert has been the name on the lips of just about everybody who has attended a spring practice.
It took a while for Goedert to get going last year, but he ended his rookie year with 334 yards and 4 touchdowns, becoming a focal point of the Eagles red zone offense. His development from year one to year two is leaving coaches purring. Is a breakout inbound? Don’t write it off…
Another offseason, another running back war
One name fans have been excited to see all offseason is Penn State’s Miles Sanders. But this year’s second-round selection is yet to participate in an offseason practice, battling a lower-body injury. Doug Pederson cited that he wants to be careful with Sanders, which makes sense given the time between now and week one…but as if the running back position didn’t have enough to fight for.
It’s assumed Sanders and Howard already have their roles secured. But the RB3/4 roles are hanging in the balance. Wendell Smallwood’s growth will be under the microscope, while Corey Clement is battling a return from a disappointing sophomore slump, that could be attributed to lingering injury problems.
There will be a lot of eyes in the Eagles backfield this offseason and with good reason. We haven’t even touched on Josh Adams or Boston Scott. The competition will be extremely intense. Don’t be surprised to see a few twists and turns along the way.
JJ Arcega-Whiteside is flashing early
Perhaps the biggest standout of the entire spring has been rookie wideout JJ Arcega-Whiteside. The Stanford product has been electrifying and is already on the same page as his quarterback. Benefitting from absences of Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor early on, ‘JJAW’ has taken to OTA’s like a duck to water, leaving Pederson very impressed.
“This kid has deceiving speed, long speed, No. 1. He’s big. He’s physical at the top.” Doug Pederson told reporters during June’s OTA’s. “You can see some of his separation when there’s contact at the top of routes where he can separate. Got a really good first step quickness at the line to release, and he’s a big — just a big body. We’ve seen him in the red zone a little bit and being able to you know [work] some back shoulder throws and some of the things you’ve seen on tape in college. He’s been impressive that way.
But I would say that he’s still learning, learning how to run routes, learning how our quarterbacks throw and the timing of things. But he’s had a really good spring.”
It’s not yet known what kind of role Arcega-Whiteside will have as a rookie, but the potential is seemingly sky-high.
Continued on the page below.
