Eagles Expectations: Who Performs Better and Worse?

[Danger]

Quite simple, we as a fan base seem to have a general consensus of how players are going to do this season, who do you think exceeds these expectations, and who falls short?

Exceeds:

• Nelson Agholor - Dude's got no where to go but up, he no longer has pressure on him being the 4th option and has had sufficient time to clear his head.
• Chris Long - Call it a hunch, but I think he's going to wind up being a key component of this defensive line playing next to talents like Jernigan and Cox.

Flops: 

• Brandon Graham - I still haven't yet bought into B Rex. He had one season with 8.5 sacks and suddenly we praise him as a great player? He was playing next to Cox and Logan who likely commanded more attention than he did. I think he's reached his peak potential and if he can replicate the season he had last season then I'll consider him a solid player, but he's not a must retain type of player.
• Wendell Smallwood - He does everything ok, but nothing great, or even necessarily good. Sure he can consistently get you 3-5 yards, but he has no explosiveness and he's best suited for being the kind of guy you just bring in to run the clock down at the end of the game.

[Phire]

Exceeds:

• Nelson Agholor.
  • Because when you've got nothin', you ain't got nothin' to lose. Or something like that. He has nowhere to go but up. The first time he catches a football we're all going to shed a tear. If Agholor somehow finds a way to play worse... dear lord.
• Jason Kelce.
  •  Similar logic to Nelson. I refuse to believe Kelce doesn't feel the heat with some of the younger guys on the roster hungry for playing time. He knows he needs to get stronger and bigger, and I'm hoping he finds a way to become effective again.

Flops:

• Wendell Smallwood.
  • People seem to love him but I'm just not seeing it. He seems average. Not that fast, not that quick, not that powerful... I'm really not sure what's there to be excited about. I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he isn't anything more than okay either.
• Mychal Kendricks.
  • I don't think he even has expectations anymore but whatever he has left is drained this year.

[ninjapirate]

Exceeds:

• Rasul Douglas
  • I think he ends up starting a lot of games for us this year. Guy doesn't have perfect long speed but his instincts are going to let him make quite a few plays to make up for the occasional coverage lapse. Think he ends up being a good second corner in a bobby taylor mold.
• Timmy Jernigan
  • Seems like a forgotten guy because Howie pretty much stole him for nothing from the Ravens. Playing on our DLine with our scheme I feel will bring out the best in him. Could even push double figure sacks as teams give fletch the attention.

Flops:

• Zach Ertz
  • I think with the addition of the wide receiver options he will get a lot less looks this coming season. I don't think he lives up to his pre-season hype once again.
• LeGarrette Blount
  • He seems to be getting a little over hyped by the fan base. He isn't going to get 18 touchdowns here and he probably won't be that effective a runner outside of short yardage situations. If he is used properly he is a great player but I think he will be asked to do more than he is capable of and it will hurt him. 

 

[Phire]

I like the Jernigan pick, forgot we even had him.

[Scalamania]

Exceeds:

• Torrey Smith
  • I think a lot of people have already forgotten or written Torrey Smith off so I don't think there's much of an expectation for him to do anything. However, I believe that he instantly become the vertical threat that we've been missing and has himself a pretty productive year.
• Vinny Curry
  • He's got to be feeling the pressure of us signing long and then drafting Barnett in the first. It's do or die for Curry this year and I think he goes out there and exceeds expectations and has himself a decent year.

Flops:

• LeGarrette Blount
  • He came from one of the most potent offenses in the NFL and played for probably the best coached team in the NFL. I think the situation here is less then ideal for Blount - especially if Doug decides we're going to pass the ball 50 times a game again this year. I think he'll have his fair share of goal-line touches but that's about all I expect out of him.
• Jordan Matthews
  • The forums favorite punching bag - this is finally the year that we all accept that Jordan Matthews is a fraud. He's been the leading receiver for the past two years on a team that didn't really have any other weapons. That changes this year with Jeffery and Smith in the lineup and the inevitable decrease in targets he will see. 

[Hockey5djh]

I'll go with new names here....

Better

Torrey Smith - As a field stretching player on a team with a QB who can chuck a deep ball i'm expecting a lot more than most people from Smith. At just 28 its not like he's ancient and Wentz will be much better than anyone pretending to be a professional QB in SF. I'm expecting Smith to be closer to the 800+ yards and 15+ yards per catch guy that he was in Baltimore.

Jordan Hicks - While Hicks has been a rising star for the Eagles and a playmaker in the middle I believe this season he takes the next step. With a more penetrating force like Jernigan in the middle it will be left up to Hicks to clean up the gaps in the line. I think this season Hicks gets closer to that 80/90/100 tackle number that Elite MLBs produce.

Worse

LeGarrette Blount - Blount is 30 years old and coming off career highs in carries (299), yards (1,161), and TDs (18). I don't think he sniffs those numbers with the Eagles. His career averages fall more in line with a 150 carries for 750 yards and 6 TDs line which should be our expectations for him this season IMO. That said I believe that a majority of fans would be disappointed with those numbers.

Donnell Pumphrey - He's Sproles 2.0, but we still have Sproles 1.0. Despite all the "plays we're designing around him" and other type of things coming out of OTAs you would think he was our first round pick. I'm just not buying it. If he's lucky I think Pumprey gets 50 total touches and part of me thinks that might be too generous.

[Hockey5djh]

Oh hey Remix....