THREE-FOR-THREE: A Midseason Look at Eagles Studs, Duds, and More

A midseason Eagles report card at the halfway point of the Eagles season seems too trite.

So here’s something maybe, hopefully, a little different.

A three-for-three, if you will:

THREE STUDS

Brandon Graham. Third in the league with seven sacks, the veteran DE needs just three more to post the first double-digit sack total of his career. He has 11 QB hits, nine tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovered. In eight games.

He is the team’s MVP at this stage of the season.

Darius Slay. The cornerback has been everything the Eagles had hoped when they traded for him in March.

Teams are no longer picking up huge chunks in the passing game like they did last year when Philly allowed 27 touchdowns, 241 passing yards per game, and was ranked 19th in the NFL in pass defense. Is it a coincidence that the pass defense, with Slay, is ranked fifth, gives up 209 yards per game, and 11 touchdowns through eight games?

I think not.

Rodney McLeod. The veteran safety has made losing Malcolm Jenkins less of a talking point, with sound leadership and terrific play. With the defense scuffling along without any turnovers in the first three games, McLeod made the Eagles’ first interception in San Francisco, triggering a three-turnover onslaught in their 25-20 win that night against the 49ers.

McLeod scored the first TD of his nine-year career with last Sunday’s 53-yard, scoop-and-score fumble recovery. It was his second fumble recovery of the season, and he is second on the team in tackles with 55.

THREE DUDS

Doug Pederson. Throw his new-look offensive staff of Rich Scangarello and Marty Mornhinweg in here, too. There is very little creativity in play design and the game-planning is has been uneven at best.

Perhaps the virtual offseason and all the injuries have impacted these areas, but other teams are in the same boat.

The head coach and his staff need to emerge with some fresh looks and consistency after the bye.

I mean, a fourth-and-goal fade pattern to Hakeem Butler against the Giants?

DeSean Jackson. Injuries have wrecked another season for the 33-year old and he may have well played his last game with the Eagles. If so, his reunion tour will have spanned just seven games over two years, with just two touchdowns, both of which came in his first game back with the team last year against Washington.

Alshon Jeffery. The foot is better now, 10 months after surgery. Now the calf is injured. The veteran WR can still return to help the team in a reserve capacity if he is so inclined. The question is, how inclined is he with a mega-salary that is fully guaranteed?

Maybe a better question is how inclined are the Eagles to let him return with the receiver group sorting itself out?

THREE SURPRISES

Travis Fulgham. Too easy. The out-of-nowhere receiver has been targeted 44 times in five games with 29 catches, 435 yards, and four touchdowns. He could be playing his way into team MVP honors if he can maintain his production over the final eight games.

Jordan Mailata. The gigantic Australian had a rather unsightly training camp, getting beaten repeatedly by practice squad DE Joe Ostman. Then he got put into the lineup on Oct. 4, performed well, and now looks like he will be, at minimum, the team’s reserve swing tackle, if not the starting left tackle when Jason Peters leaves at the end of the year and if he is able to beat out Andre Dillard next summer.

Nate Herbig. From three offensive snaps last year to 504 and counting this year. The 22-year-old former UDFA from Stanford has proven his value, too, with the ability to go back and forth from left guard to right guard. When the day comes that Jason Kelce retires, don’t be surprised if Herbig is the next center.

THREE HEAD-SCRATCHERS

Carson Wentz. Bad, good, now bad again. Will the real quarterback please stand up over these next eight games?

Perhaps the good news is that Wentz can’t get any worse, can he?

He leads the league in interceptions with 12, is second in fumbles with four, 31st in completion percentage in the NFL, 30th in passer rating, and owns the most turnover-worthy plays in the league so far.

What gives?

Zach Ertz. The tight end never got his contract extension and maybe it affected him, maybe it didn’t, but something was up. The tight end never looked himself – not even close – before injuring an ankle in the second half against the Ravens and being put on IR.

Perhaps Ertz will redeem himself and help this team win some games when he is eligible to come off IR on Nov. 22 against the Browns.

Nickell Robey-Coleman. How can one player look so good in training camp, consistently being the only one in camp who could cover DeSean Jackson, yet make so little impact when the games count?

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