Adam Schefter Names Biggest NFC Threats to Philadelphia Eagles
Adam Schefter joined The John Kincade Show for his weekly Wednesday appearance. He spoke about the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFC favorite, and their approach to the preseason.
When asked to name a challenger or a sleeper that the Eagles might have to worry about, Schefter gave a great rundown of the landscape of the NFC.
Challengers to the NFC Favorite
It’s no surprise that the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers were the first teams that the league’s best insider brought up. He named them in the top tier of the conference with the Eagles. His next answers weren’t as obvious.
“I think there’s a group of teams in a tier below them that I think have a real chance to be competitive, and I would say that would be like Seattle, maybe New Orleans.” -Adam Schefter
The Seahawks surprised the NFL with a 9-8 season in 2022 and an NFC Wild Card berth. Rookies Tariq Woolen and Kenneth Walker III jumped into roles as key contributors quickly. Geno Smith, Pete Carroll, and company will look to take the next step in the post-Russell Wilson era.
The New Orleans Saints finished in the top 10 in most major defensive categories last season. They added veteran quarterback Derek Carr to sure up their offense, and they have a great opportunity to win a wide-open NFC South.
Detroit Lions
After pointing out the Seahawks and the Saints, Schefter mentioned a team that’s become the darling pick of the NFL preseason. The Detroit Lions, however, have won one playoff game in the Super Bowl era.
“They have done a great job of retooling and rebuilding that roster, and they do have a lot of talent…Let’s see them have some success first before we’re anointing them as the next great NFC team.” -Schefter
He’s reiterated all summer that NFL teams that enter the season as favorites don’t always have the smoothest rides against more surprising competition.
“The NFC doesn’t have a lot of great teams, but it’s got some good teams. In this league, any good team is capable of having a week or a run over the course of a month or two.” -Schefter
When the Eagles first started to hit their stride in 2017, the talk in Philadelphia surrounded the Green Bay Packers as a seemingly insurmountable NFC favorite. Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone, and the Packers missed the postseason.
The Eagles deserve to be the preseason NFC favorite because they don’t have as many question marks as their competition. However, every NFL team is vulnerable at any given time.
Watch the full interview below.
Watch The John Kincade Show live on the 97.5 The Fanatic YouTube page on weekday mornings from 6am-10am.
Revisiting Every Eagles Roster Battle Now That Pre-Season Is Almost Over
Safety
Entering camp, we assumed it was a 3-way battle for the two safety spots between Reed Blankenship, Terrell Edmunds, and Sydney Brown. Blankenship quickly established himself in one of those spots. To the point that we have yet to see him in the pre-season games because they trust him that much. So that is one Safety spot taken care of. The question is who will grab the other? Before camp, we would have assumed it would be either Brown or Edmunds.
Instead, and somewhat surprisingly, it has been a 3-way race for that second spot. Forgotten after a few years of underwhelming play, K’Von Wallace has come on strong to make a case to be the second starter. So it is between him, Brown, and Edmunds now to start alongside Blankenship. And when Tim McManus joined us last week, he said he could see it being Wallace in that spot. But he also said it could be Brown getting more and more time as the season goes on.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Linebacker
Nakobe Dean has held onto the starting spot he had coming into camp. The same cannot be said about Nicholas Morrow. Not because he has looked bad in camp, he has actually looked decent. But because the Eagles added Zach Cunningham and Myles Jack. Plus Christian Elliss has surprised people by making a strong case for the job.
Jack is already out after he retired a week after joining the team. He saw the writing on the wall that he was falling further and further back on the depth chart. But Cunningham looked great in both games and is now getting most of the first-team reps. It looks like Cunningham is running away with it, and Christin Elliss may be behind him. For Morrow to make the squad, it might have to be by convincing the Eagles to keep an extra linebacker.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Running Back
There was no question as to which 4 guys would make the roster for the Eagles. We knew it would be D’Andre Swift, Rashaad Penny, Kenny Gainwell, and Boston Scott. The question is who would take the reins as the lead back?
It was never going to be Scott. He is great as a depth piece. But is not quite lead-back material. The battle was mostly between Gainwell and Swift. Gainwell took over for Sanders as the guy getting the most touches in the playoffs. But Swift coming in gave them a more dynamic back who could contribute in the passing game, unlike anyone they had last year.
Swift has probably flashed the most so far this Pre-Season. But don’t expect it to be like last year where Miles Sanders was by far the most used back most of the season. There should be a good mix of Swift and Gainwell, with Penny getting in there as well. If someone has the hot hand, they will ride them more. But from what we have seen in camp, it does not feel like anyone of them are set to get lead-back type usage.
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Punter
This is one battle that has officially been resolved. Ty Zenter was cut, leaving Arryn Siposs as the only Punter left on the roster, for now. But even though he beat Zentner, that does not mean he is the Eagles’ punter. His competition now is every punter who gets cut in the next week. Because even if he was better than Zentner, Siposs has still been bad himself.
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Right Guard
We assumed this would be a battle between Cam Jurgens and Tyler Steen. But it never really was. Cam Jurgens was treated as the starter from the jump. He got all the first-team reps. And in the games, he sat on the bench alongside the 4 other Offensive Line starters. Steen to his credit has looked great in camp. But he never really had a job to win. It was always going to be Jurgens’ job unless he showed up and looked incapable of playing Guard. And he has looked great to this point. So he will be the RG this season.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Backup Cornerback
We know who the starters at CB are. Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and Avonte Maddox. No one was going to supplant any of those 3. But there was a question of who would be the first corner off the bench in case of an injury. Would it be the rookie Kelee Ringo? The former 2nd round pick Greedy Williams? No on both fronts. Ringo has struggled a bit, and Williams has already been cut.
Instead, second-year UDFA Josh Jobe has run away with that job. They had him battling with AJ Brown in the open practice. And while Brown got his, Jobe was doing a great job keeping up with him. He has been playing with the first team anytime Bradberry or Slay couldn’t go. Which tells us everything we need to know. Jobe will be the go-to guy on the outside anytime there is an injury.
What will be interesting is who the backup in the slot will be. That was going to be Zech McPherson, but he is out for the year. Maybe opening up a role for Mario Goodrich.
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Slot WR
Last year, Quez Watkins disappointed in the slot WR role. There were too many bad drops, and mistakes in key moments. And the production as not there to make up for it. So in the offseason, the Eagles brought in Olamide Zaccheaus. Quez did not take kindly to it, or to Eagles fans saying they needed an upgrade over himself.
But instead of moping, or forcing his way out, Quez did what you should do when challenged. Play better, and prove your value. Injuries have kept him out of both pre-Season games, but in camp practices, he apparently was playing very well. Enough to maybe keep his role as the starting Slot WR.
He still may get less targets than last year though, just because Zaccheaus is good enough to demand more playing time than Zach Pascal got last year. But at the very least, it feels like Watkins has kept his role.
(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
