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11 Comments (6 conversations)
Jahman
Great article EJ !! Interesting about the lack of RPO’s which used to be our bread and butter.
EJ Smith
AuthorThanks for reading, Elijah. Always good to know another EJ is out there thinking about RPOs like I am, lol!
Jason Harris
Hell yes, they need to get Brown the ball more. He can be a dominant force and they’ve got him out there doing cardio for three hours.
EJ Smith
AuthorCompletely agree. Appreciate you reading, Jason.
Sam B
I’m glad you mentioned the lack of RPOs, EJ. Hopefully that is something they can utilize more often to help get the offense going.
The biggest issue to me seems to be the offensive line not performing up to their standards. In addition to what you mentioned, Lane Johnson has missed a good portion of the last 2 games. I also wonder how much of a drop-off there has been due to the departure of Mekhi Becton during the offseason.
EJ Smith
AuthorThanks for reading, Sam.
There’s certainly been a drop-off from Becton to Tyler Steen, but I’d say in general there’s just not as many difference-making plays from the interior three compared to last season.
Kevin
Great piece, EJ. Bringing up RPOs is a great call; it’s just so frustrating to imagine what a creative play-caller could do with this group of skill guys. RPOs though are not only a good solution to some of the issues the offense has been facing, but also something that has worked well for this exact personnel before. Why did they get rid of them? It’s not like we’re pointing to the 2025 Rams’ offense and saying “do that” but rather pointing to the Eagles’ 2022 offense with these exact same guys and saying “why can’t you just do that again?”
Can’t help thinking of how the 2017 coaching staff went and watched tape of 2013 Nick Foles to see what had worked well for him in the past. These current coaches should go watch some Jalen tape from 2022 and ask themselves why they seemed to trust him more then than now.
EJ Smith
AuthorIt’s a great question, Kevin. The league certainly evolves and that may be part of why we haven’t seen as many RPOs, but you combine that with the lack of play action and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why there’s been such a noticeable departure.
Thanks for reading!
James
I hadn’t read EJ’s work before he joined Phly, but I’ve been really enjoying the articles 👍
EJ Smith
AuthorThat’s very kind of you to say, James. Appreciate you reading!
Jim Kempner
EJ, I’ve been wondering about playing your best 11 on defense. With Nakobe back, playing 3 LBs on base, as in the old days, would allow any of the three to blitz, or with one DE dropping back, just rushing 4, except one is a random LB. All three LBs can do it.
Maybe even on Nickel, with Mukuba picking up the slot receiver?
Just thinking out loud.