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The Eagles’ seamless transition after losing a couple greats originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
As they began preparing for the 2024 season, the Eagles lost both Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox to retirement.
On Thursday, their replacements — Cam Jurgens and Jalen Carter — were both named as Pro Bowlers for the first time.
There’s no doubt that Kelce and Cox are two of the greatest players in franchise history. They’re no-doubt future Eagles Hall of Famers and both have a shot to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So to lose both in one offseason was a huge blow.
To get this level of play from their protégés is a huge feather in the cap of general manager Howie Roseman.
This is how good teams build rosters. This is the ideal model for maintaining success in the NFL.
The cool thing about the Eagles’ drafting Jurgens and Carter is that they did it before they really needed to. Jurgens was drafted two years before he became a starting center and Carter was drafted a year before he became a starting defensive tackle. That means that both of them got a chance to play with the legends they have now replaced.
So it wasn’t like Jurgens replaced some mythological legend in a Mummers costume — he replaced his buddy Kelce. And it wasn’t like Carter replaced a six-time Pro Bowler and a name in the Eagles history books — he replaced Fletch.
Both Kelce and Cox took their mentorship roles seriously in recent seasons. They saw the value in bringing along their younger counterparts. And even though they’re not in the building every day with them anymore, Jurgens and Carter know they’re still just a phone call away.
The Eagles took Jurgens in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Nebraska. The team identified him as a potential fit to be the center of the future and Kelce agreed. While Kelce has downplayed the talk of picking his replacement, the Eagles did ask him to watch centers coming out of the draft and Jurgens was the guy that most…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-seamless-transition-losing-couple-120000292.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2025-01-03 12:00:00
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