Vikings at Eagles Depth Chart Preview 2023
Sept 14, 2023 10:45:44 GMT -6
Reignman and Funkytown like this
Post by Danchat on Sept 14, 2023 10:45:44 GMT -6
After a highly disappointing outing against the Bucs, a game that was supposedly one of the easiest matchups on the schedule, the Vikings will need to play much better to topple the NFC Champs on the road... on a Thursday night. Let's see how Philly stacks up:
Line: Eagles -6
Super Sim Calculated Line: Eagles -9
Injury Report
Eagles
FS Blankenship - Out
CB Bradberry - Out
DT Cox - Questionable
RB Gainwell - Out
Vikings
OLB Davenport - Questionable
C Bradbury - Out
LT Darrisaw - Questionable
* My Thoughts *
It's not hard to see why the Eagles offense broke out last year, as they built a strong foundation around Hurts. Despite a rocky first game against the Patriots, I expect Hurts to be a catalyst for the offense with his running and passing ability. He's surrounded by one of the best O-lines in football, which practically has zero weaknesses with long-time vets Kelce and Johnson still playing very well, Mailata in his prime, and Dickerson ascending as an above average guard. The only question mark is 2022 2nd rounder Cam Jurgens, who had a rough game against the Patriots.
The Eagles run game was puzzling week one, as Kenneth Gainwell was used as the feature back. This was an odd decision as he's consistently been their 3rd string / passing down back, and they signed Penny and traded for Swift, presumably to soak up Miles Sanders' reps. Both Penny and Swift are dynamic players capable of elite play for small stretches of time, but both are incredibly fragile. Frankly, I'd rather face Gainwell than the Swift/Penny duo... or they may opt to give Boston Scott more run. Fantasy players beware!
Receiving-wise, the Eagles are stacked. AJ Brown provided a massive jolt to the offense last year with almost 1500 yards, a trade so bad for the Titans that it was a major factor in getting their GM fired. DeVonta Smith was just as big a factor as Brown, as he took a massive step up in his sophomore year. These two are far scarier than the Evans/Godwin duo from last week (and it helps that they have a much better QB throwing to them). Goedert somehow caught zero passes for them last Sunday, but he's a dynamic threat who will test the Vikings defense in the intermediate range. It will be a more difficult test than Otton and Kieft were last week. Lastly, they still have Watkins playing a near-every down role but he rarely touches the ball, using running deep routes to clear room for the others. That didn't stop him from catching a deep TD against us last year, though.
Defensively, the Eagles lost their DC and a bunch of talent. They opted to keep the CB room together and spent 2 1sts on the front seven, but the LB and S positions are looking worse for wear. They play a 4-3 but many times go with 3 DTs and an OLB on the field. This gets Cox, Davis, and Carter on the field at the same time, which is going to be a nightmare for our iOL. Their top pass rushers Reddick and Sweat got 10+ sacks last year and have better backups than any other team in the league, with the hyper-efficient Graham still playing well near the end of his career, Williams as a quality run stuffer, high upside in 1st rounder Nolan Smith, and even Barnett on the bench who is good enough to start for other teams. This is an embarrassment of riches.
The spending of resources on DL/OLB comes with mostly ignoring LB. Promising sophomore Nakobe Dean is on the IR, which puts former Viking UDFA Christian Elliss into a starting role. Paired with the mediocre Cunningham, and this is a unit that the Vikings should be able to exploit. There are no excuses not to feed Hockenson over the middle of the field.
The CB unit was looking good before Bradberry got concussed, as this puts Jobe into a starting role. He was a highly regarded prospect but flunked athletically and has never started a game before. They still have Slay, who conquered Jefferson last year in 1-on-1 coverage, and nickel CB Avonte Maddox.
At safety, Blankenship was earning near-elite grades in his first 400 snaps as a UDFA out of Middle Tenn. St. Unfortunately he's hurt too, which likely puts Evans at FS and Edmunds at SS. Both are below average starters but not terrible. 3rd rounder Sydney Brown could factor in as well, as I would anticipate they hope he passes one of these veterans at some point.
Prediction: Eagles 31, Vikings 24
I do think the Vikings will take advantage of some of the Eagles' weaknesses on defense and O'Connell adapts his playcalls to avoid relying on our iOL to try and contain these monsters. Still, I think our defense bends and breaks against too much talent on this Philly offense. Flores' blitzes will lead to open receivers, and I'm unsure about the likes of Pace or Metellus being able to spy Hurts. With Davenport likely out again, getting pressure with 4 rushers is going to be very difficult and I like Smith's and Brown's chances of getting open against our DBs.
Your thoughts?
Line: Eagles -6
Super Sim Calculated Line: Eagles -9
Injury Report
Eagles
FS Blankenship - Out
CB Bradberry - Out
DT Cox - Questionable
RB Gainwell - Out
Vikings
OLB Davenport - Questionable
C Bradbury - Out
LT Darrisaw - Questionable
* My Thoughts *
It's not hard to see why the Eagles offense broke out last year, as they built a strong foundation around Hurts. Despite a rocky first game against the Patriots, I expect Hurts to be a catalyst for the offense with his running and passing ability. He's surrounded by one of the best O-lines in football, which practically has zero weaknesses with long-time vets Kelce and Johnson still playing very well, Mailata in his prime, and Dickerson ascending as an above average guard. The only question mark is 2022 2nd rounder Cam Jurgens, who had a rough game against the Patriots.
The Eagles run game was puzzling week one, as Kenneth Gainwell was used as the feature back. This was an odd decision as he's consistently been their 3rd string / passing down back, and they signed Penny and traded for Swift, presumably to soak up Miles Sanders' reps. Both Penny and Swift are dynamic players capable of elite play for small stretches of time, but both are incredibly fragile. Frankly, I'd rather face Gainwell than the Swift/Penny duo... or they may opt to give Boston Scott more run. Fantasy players beware!
Receiving-wise, the Eagles are stacked. AJ Brown provided a massive jolt to the offense last year with almost 1500 yards, a trade so bad for the Titans that it was a major factor in getting their GM fired. DeVonta Smith was just as big a factor as Brown, as he took a massive step up in his sophomore year. These two are far scarier than the Evans/Godwin duo from last week (and it helps that they have a much better QB throwing to them). Goedert somehow caught zero passes for them last Sunday, but he's a dynamic threat who will test the Vikings defense in the intermediate range. It will be a more difficult test than Otton and Kieft were last week. Lastly, they still have Watkins playing a near-every down role but he rarely touches the ball, using running deep routes to clear room for the others. That didn't stop him from catching a deep TD against us last year, though.
Defensively, the Eagles lost their DC and a bunch of talent. They opted to keep the CB room together and spent 2 1sts on the front seven, but the LB and S positions are looking worse for wear. They play a 4-3 but many times go with 3 DTs and an OLB on the field. This gets Cox, Davis, and Carter on the field at the same time, which is going to be a nightmare for our iOL. Their top pass rushers Reddick and Sweat got 10+ sacks last year and have better backups than any other team in the league, with the hyper-efficient Graham still playing well near the end of his career, Williams as a quality run stuffer, high upside in 1st rounder Nolan Smith, and even Barnett on the bench who is good enough to start for other teams. This is an embarrassment of riches.
The spending of resources on DL/OLB comes with mostly ignoring LB. Promising sophomore Nakobe Dean is on the IR, which puts former Viking UDFA Christian Elliss into a starting role. Paired with the mediocre Cunningham, and this is a unit that the Vikings should be able to exploit. There are no excuses not to feed Hockenson over the middle of the field.
The CB unit was looking good before Bradberry got concussed, as this puts Jobe into a starting role. He was a highly regarded prospect but flunked athletically and has never started a game before. They still have Slay, who conquered Jefferson last year in 1-on-1 coverage, and nickel CB Avonte Maddox.
At safety, Blankenship was earning near-elite grades in his first 400 snaps as a UDFA out of Middle Tenn. St. Unfortunately he's hurt too, which likely puts Evans at FS and Edmunds at SS. Both are below average starters but not terrible. 3rd rounder Sydney Brown could factor in as well, as I would anticipate they hope he passes one of these veterans at some point.
Prediction: Eagles 31, Vikings 24
I do think the Vikings will take advantage of some of the Eagles' weaknesses on defense and O'Connell adapts his playcalls to avoid relying on our iOL to try and contain these monsters. Still, I think our defense bends and breaks against too much talent on this Philly offense. Flores' blitzes will lead to open receivers, and I'm unsure about the likes of Pace or Metellus being able to spy Hurts. With Davenport likely out again, getting pressure with 4 rushers is going to be very difficult and I like Smith's and Brown's chances of getting open against our DBs.
Your thoughts?
... and neither is this Chris guy.