July is almost upon us which means we are one step closer to Eagles training camp. During the calm before the storm, we like to delve into the team and see if we can make any bold predictions for the upcoming season. We did just that last offseason and, well, it didn’t go so great..
Here are the PSN writers’ & fans’ bold predictions from last year:
The JJAW Express
Steve Beavon
JJAW will have a phenomenal breakout year.
Bryan Cameron
I’m saying that JJAW goes for 600 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns to finish his sophomore season.
I need a new co-host.
The Sanders Show?
Morgan Burkett
Miles Sanders will finish top in five all-purpose yards and become the first thousand-yard rusher since LeSean McCoy in 2014.
Close on the 1k! Sanders finished with 867 yards in 12 games, on pace for 1,152 in 16 games. As far as all-purpose yards? He finished 42nd, as his receiving prowess was almost non-existent.
The Steel Curtain 2.0
Nick Faria
10-6 and top 5 defense.
There’s a ton of issues on this roster, not only for this season but in the next couple of years after. For arguably the first time in his career, Carson Wentz is dealing with a very questionable offensive line to start his season. The only reason I think this team can make the playoffs is that the defense should be a lot better. I compare it to the 2008 Steelers: an excellent defense but awful o-line that gets bailed out by a superb QB. I think the Eagles season will play out very similar
Welp.
The Eagles were 20th in points allowed, 19th in total yards allowed, 15th in passing yards allowed, and 23rd in rushing yards allowed. All while watching one of the worst performances in team history on offense (not just Carson).
Huge Cox Year … … sorry
Liam Jenkins
Fletcher Cox had a statistical down-year in 2019, despite still looking great on tape. This was largely due to the fact he was having to do all of the heavy lifting by himself while battling a lingering injury. This time around, the Eagles have stacked the position to the brim with talent. A four-man rotation of Cox, Jackson, Hargrave, and Ridgeway should be enough to give interior linemen nightmares and take some much-needed strain off the shoulders of Cox. With that in mind, I predict Cox will post his second 10+ sack season of his career in explosive fashion.
15 games with 6.5 sacks. He played 68% of the snaps in those 15 games, his lowest since 2017 when he played 59% of the snaps in 14 games. This looks like a make or break year for Fletch as he will enter a contract year after this season.
No Sweat
Chris Infante
We were supposed to come up with one bold prediction but I’m going to cheat and do two in one because they kind of go hand in hand.
Derek Barnett’s body just refuses to allow him to play healthy. With his status for Sunday still up in the air, Josh Sweat has a golden opportunity to steal the starting job from Barnett. Now Sweat’s knees are not anything special either, he’s had chronic knee issues for a long time, but if he can stay healthy then I believe he takes the starting job from Barnett and produces the first 10+ sack season for an Eagles defensive end since 2011 (Jason Babin).
Along with that, there’s room for another player to assume the “Josh Sweat role” in which high production is seen in limited snaps. Casey Toohill has been raved about this training camp and made the rare jump from seventh-round pick to 53 man roster. He is extremely athletic and has the “Toohills” (tools, sorry) to excel in a limited role. Toohill will make his impact this season with a five sack rookie year while playing less than 40% of the defensive snaps.
I cheated. So what.
While Sweat did not post a ten sack season, he did have six sacks and three forced fumbles in 38% of the snaps. Pretty good production. However, if he wants to stick around for the long haul he’ll need to prove his health will allow him to play a majority of the snaps. Jim Schwartz’s defensive line rotation is gone.
On the Toohill side, the Eagles didn’t even give me a chance with this one. He was waived during pre-season cuts and was claimed by the Football Team. He only played in 29 snaps all season for Washington in eight games, collecting two tackles.
For the fan predictions, check out the next page.
