Eagles mailbag: Is Milton Williams ready to be a starter?
As we wait for free agency, its clear theres still a ton of interest in the Eagles this offseason.
We got a ton of questions and broke down the mailbag into several parts. If we didnt get to your question, sorry about that. But if its not below, check Parts 1 or 2.
Part 3:
Theres a very good chance Williams is a starter in 2023, his third year in the NFL. Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave are set to be free agents and it seems highly unlikely the Eagles will be able to retain both. If Jordan Davis is penciled in as a starter (and he should be) that leaves one or two open starting spots at the defensive tackle position. Even if the Eagles use a high-round draft pick on one, my guess would still be that Williams gets the first crack at a starting gig.
Hes ready for it too. Williams struggled with a couple injuries early in his second NFL season in 2022. He played through turf toe and a hyperextended elbow and his level of play suffered because of it. That showed up in the stat sheet. In his first six games of the season, Williams didnt have a sack, a TFL and had just one QB hit.
The final 11 games of the regular season, Williams had 4 sacks, 29 tackles, 9 TFLs and 5 QB hits. He played some of his best football down the stretch and he probably didnt play enough in Super Bowl LVII; he got just 12 defensive snaps. But theres a lot to like about Williams as a rotational player and theres no reason to think he wouldnt at least be a solid starter if given the opportunity in 2023.
Im in the minority on this one. Because Im aware that Quez Watkins didnt have a great season in 2022 but I still think hes a decent option as a No. 3 receiver. Thats not to excuse his play last season or his drop in the Super Bowl. He needs to be better. But this is a 24-year-old former sixth-round pick who had 647 receiving yards in 2021. When used correctly as a deep threat and not as a gadget guy Watkins has been fine.
Watkins numbers dropped in 2022 but he had 2 more catches of 40+ yards, giving him 5 from 2021-22. Over the last two seasons there have been 25 players in the NFL to have at least 5 catches of 40+ yards. The only player to accomplish that feat on fewer targets than Watkins (113) was DeSean Jackson (51), who is one of the greatest deep threats in NFL history.
Maybe Watkins really is better suited to play outside but in Nick Siriannis offense, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith get snaps inside too. I cant see the Eagles spending big money on a third wideout so maybe it could come in the form of a draft pick if they want to upgrade. But unless its a Day 1 or 2 pick, Watkins should at least have the ability to compete for the WR3 job. And there’s only one football to go around. Bringing in another big-time receiver might change the dynamic that worked well in 2022.
You know the history. The Eagles havent taken a cornerback in the first round since Lito Sheppard in 2002. But there are plenty of reasons to think that could or at least should change in 2023. Not only is James Bradberry likely leaving as a free agent but Darius Slay is 32 now. Its time to start planning for the future at a very important position on the defense. While the Eagles will always lean toward the lines with top picks, theres plenty of evidence of stud cornerbacks taken in the top 15 stepping in and playing well recently. Think about Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain II and Jayce Horn.
The top three cornerbacks in this years draft, according to most, are Christian Gonzalez from Oregon, Joey Porter Jr. from Penn State and Devon Witherspoon from Illinois. The order of those three changes depending on who you ask. But theres a very good chance that the Eagles top cornerback is available when theyre on the clock at No. 10. It would likely be very tempting unless they think the level of talent doesnt drop off much to the second tier to guys like Cam Smith, Deonte Banks, Emmanuel Forbes and Kelee Ringo.
Its possible. But Im at the point with Howie where a trade in either direction wouldnt shock me. I know thats not a definitive answer but thats how he views and moves around the draft board. Its all about maximizing value. So without a pick from Rounds 4-6, it would make a ton of sense to trade back and acquire more picks.
But would anybody be shocked about a trade-up? Say there are four quarterbacks taken in the top 10 (very possible) then that means good players will slide down the board. Weve seen Roseman get aggressive in trade-ups for guys who slide a bit like Jordan Davis or Andre Dillard. Thats in play too. And then a few years ago in 2018, Roseman traded down from 32 into the second round and then traded back up to draft Dallas Goedert at 49. Its all on the table.
I think this is more likely than the Eagles just selecting Robinson at No. 10 but still wouldnt bet on it. The way the Eagles view value at positions, at least this way the Eagles would pick up some extra value before getting a running back. But I still find it tough to believe theyd draft a running back in the teens. Now, if Robinson happens to be on the board at No. 30 then thats a different story.
I like Derek Carr. Think hes a pretty good quarterback and with how bad the NFC South was in 2022, adding him in New Orleans should make them the favorite to win that awful division. Once you get past that, anything is possible.
Yeah, aside from the obvious, Sirianni values competitiveness. Thats why they brought a mini hoop with them to the combine, its why Sirianni plays Rock-Paper-Scissors withe these guys. They want competitive, high football character, high football IQ players. Thats not a crazy departure from what most teams want but Sirianni really wants it.
The defense will look different in 2023 for a few reasons. One of them is strictly personnel. They have so many free agents on that side of the football and they wont be able to bring them all back. Its hard to imagine theyll have as much talent this season as they did last year. So theres a chance that the defense doesnt perform as well in 2023 and if that happens, it wont mean Sean Desai isnt a good defensive coordinator. Hell very likely be working with less talent than Jonathan Gannon had in 2022 and that will be important to remember when the defense hits a rough patch next season.
While a lot of the philosophy wont change on defense Nick Sirianni hired Desai because he fits his vision of defense there will be some changes from Gannon to Desai, who is a truer disciple of the Vic Fangio scheme.
While I thought Dennard Wilson was a really strong candidate to be promoted, that doesnt mean Desai wont do a good job. At the combine last week in Indianapolis, I heard a ton of good things about him and his approach to teaching and defense. Looking forward to seeing what the final product looks like.
This is a question I cant really answer. Itll be up to the Eagles and other NFL teams to really take a deep dive into Carter and figure out his legal situation and his maturity level and then figure out how hell fit into an NFL locker room. But just looking at the player that would be a home run. Carter was a dominant player at Georgie and putting him on the line next to Jordan Davis and in front of Nakobe Dean and basically recreating that Georgia defense at the next level is a fun thought.
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