Here’s a look at the Super Bowl prospects of the Philadelphia Eagles, who finished the season 7-9:
Eagles Super Bowl barometer: Middle of the pack.
Assessing the foundation: The Philadelphia Eagles appear to have taken a step in the right direction with the hiring of vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas, who worked for 16 years in the Baltimore Ravens scouting department under Ozzie Newsome. Douglas will be in charge of setting up the draft board and will largely lead the personnel charge. “He's got a way of looking at and evaluating players that is different than what we've done in the past,” executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said, “and quite frankly, we needed that.” The key will be to ensure that Douglas is fully supported. Harmony in the scouting department has been hard to come by under Roseman to date.
The jury is still out on head coach Doug Pederson. Given all the moving parts in 2016 (the starting quarterback was traded eight days before the season; both the offensive and defensive schemes were overhauled, etc.), evaluating the rookie coach’s performance is a little tricky. It will be much more cut and dried moving forward. Pederson is officially on the clock, starting now.
Judging the quarterback: Carson Wentz did enough in his rookie season to bolster management’s faith that they have found a long-term solution at the all-important QB spot. It wasn’t all pretty, though. After a fantastic start, in which Wentz threw seven touchdowns to one interception in his first five games, he threw nine TDs to 13 interceptions in the final 11 and finished with a 79.3 quarterback rating, which ranked 25th in the NFL. There are some mechanical glitches to be resolved, and there were enough curious moments in his first 16 games to hold back from calling him a slam-dunk prospect. But he was also working with a limited group of receivers and behind a makeshift offensive line for much of the season, yet still managed to impress on several occasions. Overall, the optimism surrounding Wentz is warranted.
Realistic ways the Eagles can improve their chances to contend for a Super Bowl:
Sign an impact wide receiver, or two: Wentz was held back significantly by the lack of playmakers on the outside. The Eagles desperately need a deep threat to stretch the field. Free agents DeSean Jackson and Kenny Stills would do the trick.
Draft a difference-maker at cornerback: The Eagles haven’t drafted a cornerback in the first round since 2002 when they selected Lito Sheppard with the 26th overall pick. They followed that up by grabbing Sheldon Brown in the second round. That was the last time this team invested high picks in the cornerback position, and hit. It’s no surprise that corner has been an issue for them in recent years. With a quality class of cornerbacks in April’s draft, this is a good time to restock.
Improve the pass rush: Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s attack is predicated on the front four generating pressure on its own, and that didn’t happen consistently enough in 2016. Starting defensive ends Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin combined for just 10.5 sacks, and the Eagles finished in the middle of the pack with 34 sacks. They could use a big bump in production out of Vinny Curry -- who was handed a five-year, $47 million deal last offseason and had only 2.5 sacks in a reserve role this season -- but won’t bank on that alone. Look for the Eagles to actively try to upgrade the defensive end position this spring.