Expect More 12 Personnel Than Expected with a "Professional" Zach Ertz still Present
Zach Ertz wanted to be traded or released, preferably released so he could negotiate a deal with a team that he wanted and wanted him.
Nothing materialized.
Training camp began a month ago and nobody really knew if the Eagles’ veteran tight end would show up if he would get any meaningful practice reps if he would be traded weeks into camp, or even if he would express his unhappiness by would simply go through the motions at practice.
Ertz, as he has done throughout a career that is now in its ninth year, was a professional the entire time.
He practiced hard. He took meaningful snaps. He was, by all accounts, helpful to his younger teammates in the locker room.
He was, in short, the same guy he’s always been before the situation with his contract became acrimonious.
He hasn’t spoken to the media, but on a few walk-bys close to reporters after practice, he was asked once if he would talk and said, “it’s not my call,” then another time he said he was “just taking it day by day.”
Ertz continued walking on both occasions.
He also became more and more involved in Nick Sirianni’s offensive installations.
He will be a big part of the offense, provided of course, he is not traded between now and the Sept. 12 opener against the Atlanta Falcons, something that isn't expected at this point.
General manager Howie Roseman being Howie Roseman, though, one can never be 100 percent of that.
Ertz's presence, as August nears an end, has been a most unexpected development for a head coach that wanted to play more three-wide receiver sets than two tight end ones.
The coach knows what he has, though, and will be playing more 12 personnel than he expected earlier this summer.
“It's a good problem to have, right?” said Sirianni. “Really good problem to have because you got two really good players right there.”
Ertz and Goedert have been among the team leaders in catches during team periods in practice and are near the top of in terms of targets during camp and preseason games combined.
“You always want to get your best players on the field, and so that doesn't mean - just because we want to be a little bit more 11 than 12, it doesn't mean you don't mix it in and work through it,” said Sirianni.
“Again, we're looking at all our different packages to give the defense different looks to look at. When we have two tight ends like that, that 12 personnel will cause people some fits.”
Ertz and Goedert are one of the top 1-2 tight-end punches in the NFL.
Neither was able to stay healthy last year, so their numbers weren’t what they had posted together since Goedert entered the league in 2018 as a second-round draft pick.
If they stay healthy, they could get back to being what they were in previous seasons. Especially Ertz, who put up some of the worst numbers of his career last season.
The one good thing about having two veteran tight ends is that they can help the young WR group develop at a less pressurized pace.
And the good thing about having the ability to go 11 personnel more often could, in turn, help Ertz and Goedert stay healthy since they both don’t have to be on the field for more than 50 percent of the offensive snaps, which was the case the past three years.
Tight ends as good as what the Eagles have are also solid security blankets for any quarterback, let alone someone like Jalen Hurts, who made just four starts last year and played in a mere 10 snaps in the preseason.
Hurts had three completions in the preseason, two of them went to Hurts, one to Goedert.
That is a trend that will continue now that Ertz is here and looks very much invested in what the team is doing.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
