Ten Predictions for Eagles Season: Who Leads the Offense and Defense?
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Ready, set, go…the starting line to the NFL season is in sight now.
So, without further ado, here are 10 predictions for the Eagles' season:
Most yards rushing: Miles Sanders. Surprising? Perhaps. Injuries have limited him to 12 games in the past two years.
Still, he had 754 yards, just 30 fewer than Jalen Hurts. Another game played and Sanders probably finishes with the most ground yards.
A bad hamstring that kept him out of nearly three works of practice is concerning, but the feeling is Sanders will find a way to be as available as he can because this is a contract year and Nick Sirianni never flinches when asked who his top back is. It’s Sanders and nobody is even close.
Give the fourth-year RB 950 yards this year.
Most yards receiving: DeVonta Smith. This is a tough one because the Eagles have three players who can top 1,000. In addition to Smith, A.J. Brown and tight end Dallas Goedert can do it. Rolling with Smith here, though. Why, because Smith has gotten bigger, strong, and faster since his rookie season.
“I feel more explosive with everything I’m doing,” he said in Miami. “I look in a mirror I feel like I look a little built, a little bigger.”
Give the second-year WR 1,050 yards this year.
Most touchdowns rushing: Jalen Hurts. While Boston Scott is a good threat inside the 5, Hurts is dangerous from different areas of the field. The QB had a ridiculous 10 TDs last year. Give him eight this year.
Most touchdowns receiving: Dallas Goedert. He had four last year, which was the second highest on the team behind Smith’s five. The tight end’s career-high is five set in his second season. This feels like the year he becomes Hurts’ favorite red-zone target. Give him 7 touchdowns.
Total yards/total TDs for Hurts: 4,400 yards, 34 TDs. Last year, those numbers were 3,928 and 26, with him throwing for 16 and running for 10 more. This year, he should be better, for many reasons, including the addition of WR A.J. Brown and that he is returning to the familiarity of the same offense.
The 34 total touchdown prediction will break down like this: 26 passing scores, eight rushing.
Most sacks: Josh Sweat. It feels too easy to say Haason Reddick. He’s had 23.5 sacks in the past two seasons, and he will line up all over the place. Put him down for another double-digit sack season, his third in a row, with 10.5. For me, though, Sweat will collect more because all he's done is get better each year since entering the league in 2018.
Put him down for 11 sacks.
If both go for 10-plus, they will be the first Eagles duo to go over 10 in the same season since 2011 when Jason Babin had 18 and Trent Cole 11.
Most tackles: T.J. Edwards. The man in the middle of the Eagles’ defense had 125 last year despite not being inserted into the starting lineup full-time until midway through the year.
Kyzir White had a career-high 144 with the Chargers last year and will give Edwards a run for his money. Safety Marcus Epps could be in the tackles race, too.
Most interceptions: James Bradberry. Playing on a one-year deal, and after a season in which he notched four in New York, the free-agent CB will finish with four.
Five of the players who helped the Eagles compile 12 picks a season ago are gone – Rodney McLeod, who had two to finish behind team leader Darius Slay’s three, Alex Singleton, Eric Wilson, Steve Nelson, and Anthony Harris.
Record: 11-6 and win the NFC East. They won nine games with a roster that isn’t as good/ Granted they played some pretty bad quarterbacks over the final few weeks, but still, this roster is built to win.
Postseason: The Eagles will beat the Minnesota Vikings at home in the opening round of the playoffs, before bowing to Green Bay in Lambeau Field in the divisional round.
PREDICTIONS FOR EVERY NFL GAME
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
