10 Eagles who have to be much better in 2024

10 Eagles who have to be much better in 2024 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles used 67 players this year, and 44 of them started at least one game.

And the list of guys who can look themselves in the mirror and know they did their job to the best of their ability all year is awfully short.

A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, D’Andre Swift. The offensive line. Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. Jake Elliott and Braden Mann. Anybody else on defense? Kelee Ringo? Maybe a few others. Not many.

So just about everybody on the team has to be better in 2024 if the Eagles are going to look more like the team that started the season 10-1 than the one that finished 1-6. Same with the GM, same with the coaches, same with everybody.

But we’re going to focus on players here, and we put together a list of 10 Eagles who have to be better in 2024. I only included players under contract in 2024 and players who are likely to be back.

Reed Blankenship

The second-year safety started out fine, but like so many other defensive starters, his play dropped off dramatically the second half of the season. He did lead the Eagles with three interceptions, but his tackling and coverage grew worse as the season went on. Through Week 11, quarterbacks had a 79.9 passer rating throwing at Blankenship, which ranked 13th out of 46 safeties targeted at least twice per game. After that, it was 135.0, which ranked 48th out of 51 safeties targeted twice per game. The Eagles are so light at safety – especially with Sydney Brown likely out for the start of 2024 – they need Blankenship to play at a consistently high level next year.

Jalen Carter

Carter was playing at an all-pro level through about a month and a half, but he just couldn’t keep it up, and his play really dropped off the second half of the season. First six games: 3 ½ sacks, five tackles for loss, five QB hits, seven QB hurries, two forced fumbles. Last 11 games, 2 ½ sacks, three tackles for loss, four QB hits and two QB…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/10-eagles-much-better-2024-231801790.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-01-23 23:18:01

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