It’s the age-old argument between fans and analysts covering the Philadelphia Eagles. Should the organization play starters during meaningless preseason games, or rest up for when the real battle begins?
Head coach Nick Sirianni has not announced yet whether the team will play their starters Saturday against Baltimore or not, but the expectation is that we won’t see a lot of the starting line-up of the defending conference champions much during August.
In reality, should Sirianni decide to sit his starters or not, the Eagles have earned the benefit of the doubt from their fanbase. In two years under Sirianni, Philadelphia has been extremely healthy as an organization thanks to a laid-back practice approach. The old phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” may be true here, but there are plenty of reasons why sitting the starters make sense on Saturday.
New investments for the Eagles warrant safer concepts
Philadelphia used Jalen Hurts and the starting offense just once during the preseason last year. The first-team offense scored a touchdown on the opening drive and that was it from them until September.
This season, there’s even more of a reason to sit the starters thanks to the latest investments made by the front office.
Hurts is now the highest-paid player in Philadelphia Eagles’ history. Putting him in harm’s way at any point in the preseason isn’t a very smart thought process, and goes against why the Eagles gave him that money in the first place. It also doesn’t help that Baltimore is one of the rare teams that push to win every preseason game and there’s no reason to put your franchise quarterback in danger at all when you’re a month out of the regular season.
The baseball model
It may be hard to find the similarity here but hear me out. The two participants in the World Series in October/November usually start the next season very slowly in Major League Baseball. They played longer than anyone the season before so there’s clearly no concern as to why championship teams start slow the following year.
Philadelphia is much like a baseball team in that they played longer into the NFL season than every other team outside of Kansas City. Therefore, making sure the team is fresh to start the season off well is of paramount importance. With Hurts and several of the older veterans needing to be healthy to facilitate another successful season, the need to see them in the preseason is lower than it has ever been in years past.
Let the young bucks play
Unlike in many years following a Super Bowl appearance, the Eagles have a lot of young unproven talent at almost every single position. It might be portrayed as a bad thing, but the reality is that this youth movement gives the team the perfect excuse to not play their veterans during the preseason.
Whether it’s a rookie like Tanner McKee, Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, or Josh Jobe, there are plenty of interesting young prospects that need the time more than some of the more consistent starters on the roster.
It’ll ultimately be up to Sirianni and the coaching staff, but it’s pretty clear that the Eagles won’t be looking to force their vets into positions that could hurt them in the long run.
For more Philadelphia Eagles news, turn to PhillySportsNetwork.com
AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File
