Bleeding Green Nation
Chief among them, how will a new OC affect the Eagles’ offense?
With the NFL calendar in hibernation mode, it’s a good time to be a reflective Eagles fan.
Hop on YouTube. Watch some highlights. Maybe a compilation of Saquon Barkley’s best runs from his 2,000 yard season. Maybe it’s a mash-up of the Eagles’ playoff run. Maybe it’s just re-watching Super Bowl 59 in its entirety.
It’s also a good time to ask questions. With training camp still a little over a week away, there are blessedly few things to worry about for Eagles fans here in mid-July, but that’s not to say there aren’t some question marks about the defending champs.
While there are more than what’s below, here are five questions I’m ruminating on with the NFL news grinder stuck in neutral.
After a brilliant 2022 in which Shane Steichen put together one of the greatest play-calling seasons in franchise history, he departed Nick Sirianni’s staff to take over as head coach of the Colts. In his wake, the Eagles hired QB coach Brian Johnson to replace him. Johnson had never called plays prior to taking over as offensive coordinator for the ‘23 season, and it didn’t go well.
Last off-season, Kellen Moore was brought aboard after Johnson was fired. While the offense, specifically the passing game, didn’t blow anyone’s socks off, it ultimately did function at a higher level and reached new heights in the playoffs, led mainly by the running prowess of Barkley and Jalen Hurts. But after just one season, Moore is gone and the team is once again turning to an untested play-caller, former passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Patullo served as an assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs under Chan Gailey, and then as wide receivers coach with Nick Sirianni in Indianapolis. Brought to Philadelphia by Sirianni in 2021, Patullo has climbed the ladder and now takes over as offensive coordinator, calling plays for the first time in his career.
Will this time be different than Johnson’s failed run as OC two years ago? There’s reason to believe it will.
First, the Eagles still have Barkley. Second, Hurts’ mobility appeared lacking during the ‘23 season, and re-emerged last year as a signature part of his game. Third, the offensive line remains one of the best in football, and even though Hurts will have his fourth play-caller in five seasons, the offense is going to look a lot like it did a year ago. This really is the Hurts/Saquon offense more than it is “Patullo’s” offense.
That said, we won’t know how effectively the Eagles’ offense will function with Patullo as the new play-caller until the regular season gets underway.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility Barkley could approach 2,000 yards again. The offensive line is still extremely good, there are still just as many...
