Dallas Goedert Takes Big Step Toward Another Eagles Record With Monster Week 1

PHILADELPHIA – Under the radar might be an understatement, but that’s where Dallas Goedert has flown for so much of his career with the Eagles. Even Saquon Barkley saw it three years ago when he arrived as a free agent.

When you have receivers like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and a quarterback like Jalen Hurts, it happens. Even before Brown arrived in 2022 and Smith in 2021, he shared the stage with Zach Ertz.

“It’s always been A.J. and Smitty,” said Barkley. “He was never really talked about enough. And then I come here and it's always kind of been like me, Smitty, A.J., Jalen and all that.

“I'm super proud of him. He's one of my good buddies. Year nine, came in the same year; felt like we’ve grown a lot closer since I've been here. So happy for him.”

Injuries have probably cost him from being one of the best tight ends in the league. He’s broken a thumb, a forearm, and an ankle. There was a fracture of the glenoid in his shoulder, a couple calf and knee strains, a hamstring sprain, and a concussion.

Still, he has been healthy enough to play in 108 games with 91 starts entering his ninth season. He entered the team’s record book when he caught 11 touchdowns, the most of any tight end in Eagles history, which broke a record that had stood since 1965.

“It's always cool to be in the record book in some capacity, so it's something I'll look back on, be able to tell my kid about,” he said last Friday, two days before the season began. “Right now, though, just looking forward to this year and, you know, shoot, can I break that record, you know?”

Big Step Toward Another Record

Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert talks to reporters after scoring two touchdowns in 38-20 win over the New York Giants in Week 8. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Then came Sunday’s opener. Goedert took a big step toward breaking that record with a pair of touchdowns, including the Eagles’ first of the new season on a 17-yard strike. He added a 43-yard TD later that required him to cover the final 29 yards with his 31-year-old legs.

“Incredible job by Jalen (Hurts) to put a ball in the high back of the end zone where only I could get it, but when I started running, it was just kind of a seam route and it kind of felt like it was splitting like the Red Sea,” he said of his first TD.

On his second, he said: “I kind of felt out of the corner of my eye, the safety overplaying, and I felt like I had that cutback. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That time it did.”

Goedert may have caught a break, when he moved just before the snap. The Commanders’ defenders thought it may have been an illegal motion penalty and didn’t play the play out.

“We had two plays in the huddle,” said Goedert. “Jalen killed it late. Right as he was saying, ‘hut,’ I slid laterally, which is legal. ... I'll probably maybe get told not to do that again, but when it works out, sometimes the coaches let it slide a little bit.”

Goedert finished with a game-high 77 yards, marking the first time in nearly five years that he posted two touchdowns with at least 75 yards receiving. The last time was Dec. 5, 2021, when he had 105 yards receiving and two scores against the New York Jets.

It’s only been one game, but he leads the league in third-down receiving yards with 72 and receiving TDs. Including the playoffs, he has scored touchdowns in five straight games, combining for seven TDs in that span.

“Dallas has been so consistent over my time here and even before that,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “He just has a knack to make plays. … He's a great teammate. He's consistent. Guys love being around him, so it was good to see him have a good game (Sunday). I was pumped for him.”

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