In Roob’s Eagles Observations: How Kellen Moore can make life easier for Kenny Pickett originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Getting a little more aggressive with Kenny Pickett, the Pro Bowl case for Jordan Mailata and a forgotten incredible season by an Eagle more than 50 years ago.
Here’s a fresh batch of holiday Observations to help get you to Eagles-Cowboys kickoff Sunday at the Linc.
1. One thing that needs to change Sunday if the Eagles are going to get into any sort of offensive rhythm vs. the Cowboys is Kellen Moore’s trust level in Kenny Pickett. I get that he’s not Jalen Hurts and I get that he hadn’t played in over a year and I get that all of a sudden you have to tear up the game plan and call sheet and start from scratch and you don’t want to ask too much of your backup. But if Pickett is going to play, you have to have enough faith in him to allow him to fire away here and there to keep defenses off balance, and Moore didn’t do that enough in Washington. While Pickett was in the game, the Eagles had 24 first downs, and 17 were Saquon Barkley runs (for 33 total yards), one was a Pickett scramble (for one yard), one was a Kenny Gainwell run (for one yard) and just five were pass plays, including the 45-yarder to A.J. Brown, the 20-yarder in the fourth quarter that Barkley dropped and one sack. That’s a 79-21 run-pass ratio on first down, and that’s essentially telegraphing what you’re going to do to the other team. With Pickett in the game, the Eagles averaged 1.8 yards on 1st-down running plays and 7.4 yards on 1st-down pass plays. The Commanders loaded the box as soon as Hurts left the game, and the Eagles were too slow to adjust. A loaded box means 1-on-1 opportunities for A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Eagles still scored 26 points with Pickett in there, but too often their lack of success on first down – 35 rushing yards on 19 1st-down carries – led to untenable second and third downs, which is why they were 2-for-15 on third down once Pickett entered the game. Pickett isn’t a great quarterback, but you can’t get so conservative with him in there that it suffocates the offense.
2. Nolan Smith has been a beast lately. His 6 ½ sacks this year – all in the last 11 weeks – are 4th-most in Eagles history by a player 23 or younger. Defensive tackle Corey Simon had 9 ½ as a rookie in 2000 at 23, Mike Mamula had 8 at 23 in his second season in 1996 and interior lineman Andy Harmon had 7 in 1992, also his second season. Over the last six weeks, Smith has 4 sacks, 8 QB hits and 4 tackles for loss.
3. The Packers are really scary.
4. With Saquon Barkley making a run at Eric Dickerson’s rushing record, we’ve all kind of ignored the fact that Barkley is most likely going to lead the NFL in scrimmage yards for a second time. Barkley has 2,114 scrimmage yards through 15 games, 161 more than Derrick Henry and nearly 500 more than anyone else. He needs 33 yards to break the Eagles record of 2,114 set by LeSean McCoy in 2013. Shady in 2013 was the last Eagle to lead the league in scrimmage yards. Others are Steve Van Buren in 1947 and 1948 (1,087, 1,041 in 12 games), Wilbert Montgomery in 1979 (2,006), Ricky Watters in 1996 (1,855) and Brian Westbrook in 2007 (2,104). The only players to lead the NFL in scrimmage yards with two teams are Eric Dickerson (Rams in 1983, 1984 and 1986, Colts in 1988), Marshall Faulk (Colts in 1998, Rams in 1999) and Christian McCaffrey (Panthers in 2019, 49ers in 2023). Barkley led the NFL in scrimmage yards as a rookie in 2018 with 2,028.
5. If Jordan Mailata doesn’t make the Pro Bowl this year, they should just get rid of the whole thing. He’s the best offensive tackle in the NFL, and even missing four games with that shoulder injury, he richly deserves his first Pro Bowl honor. ProFootballFocus isn’t the end-all, be-all, but their blocking stats are the most comprehensive available, and they list him with 736 snaps, one sack allowed and no quarterback hits. His 94.4 run block grade is highest among all offensive tackles, his 91.8 pass block grade is 2nd-highest behind Tristan Wirfs of the Bucs and his 95.7 overall grade is the highest among all players at every position on both sides of the ball. Nothing against Lane Johnson. He’s still one of the finest right tackles in the game, up there with Penei Sewell and Zach Tom, and he’s sure deserving of his sixth Pro Bowl nod. But Mailata has never been recognized, and he’s been one of the top left tackles in the game for four years now. We’ll find out Thursday morning if anybody has noticed.
6. The Eagles have 82 rushing touchdowns over the last three seasons, the 5th-most in NFL history in any three-years span. Jalen Hurts has 42 of the 82, with 13 by Saquon Barkley, 11 Miles Sanders, 7 Kenny Gainwell, 5 DeAndre Swift, 3 Boston Scott and 1 Gardner Minshew. That’s the most rushing touchdowns by any NFL team in a three-year span since the Chiefs had 89 from 2003 through 2005 – 47 Priest Holmes, 30 Larry Johnson, 10 Derrick Blaylock, 2 Trent Green. The Chiefs also had 82 from 2002 through 2004. The only other teams over 80 in a three-year span are the 49ers with 83 from 1947 through 1949 and the Packers – 92 from 1960 through 1962, 85 from 1961 through 1963, 81 from 1962 through 1964.
7. He doesn’t throw many touchdowns, but he doesn’t throw many interceptions, either. He’s not a scrambler, but he’s got a respectable 4.3 career rushing average (when you remove kneel downs) and he’s turned a surprising 36 of his 78 career non-kneel down rushing attempts into first downs. He’s only averaged 181 passing yards in his 24 career starts, but he’s won 14 of them. Kenny Pickett doesn’t do anything particularly well, but he also doesn’t do anything particularly poorly. His strengths are his toughness, intelligence and work ethic, and those may not be reasons to draft him in the first round, but they should make him a decent backup. With a full week practicing with the starting offense and a game plan tailored to him and not Jalen Hurts, I expect Pickett to play OK Sunday against the Cowboys. He’s not going to go out there and win a game on his own, but with this defense and this offensive line and these skill guys, he doesn’t need to.
8. You can’t overstate how much the Eagles miss Brandon Graham’s contributions on the field. He was playing at such a high level when he got hurt – 3 ½ sacks, 20 tackles, 6 QB hits, 7 tackles for loss in his first 11 games this year. He was playing as tough, physical and productive as at any point in his 15-year career. There’s a reason ProFootballFocus has him ranked 19th of 149 edge rushers who have played at least 100 snaps. He was wrecking it. Now, what was a four-man rotation has been whittled down essentially to Nolan Smith and Josh Sweat, although Bryce Huff is eligible to return and had started showing up a little when he broke his wrist and went on IR. Jalyx Hunt is a promising young player but still a project and probably not quite ready for the expanded role he’s been forced into. The Eagles averaged 3.0 sacks per game with B.G. on the field and 1.8 in four games without him, and that’s not a coincidence. You just can’t replace his experience, energy and production.
9. It might seem like Jalen Hurts is hurt a lot, and this is the third time in four years as a full-time starter that he’s missed at least one start in December. But he’s actually been one of the NFL’s most durable quarterbacks. He’s started 62 of a possible 66 games since opening day 2021, and only three quarterbacks have started more games – Patrick Mahomes (66), Josh Allen (65) and Jared Goff (63). And he’s the first Eagles quarterback to start at least 15 games four years in a row since Ron Jaworski from 1978 through 1981. Here’s hoping he heals up quickly.
10. Ben Hawkins may have had the greatest season ever by an Eagles wide receiver, and we never talk about it because the Eagles were so bad in 1967. But Hawkins caught 59 passes for an NFL-best 1,265 yards and a 21.4 average with 10 touchdowns. Along with Lance Alworth in 1965, Don Maynard in 1968 and Warren Wells in 1969, Hawkins is one of only four players since 1960 with at least 90 yards per game, 21 yards per catch and 10 touchdowns in a season. Despite a historic year, Hawkins was inexplicably snubbed for All-Pro, Pro Bowl and even all-conference teams. “I just have to say no comment about that,” Hawkins told reporters covering the Eagles after the 1967 Pro Bowl team was announced. “I won’t say anything about that.”
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