The Foles, the Ajayi, the Blangraphs Optimistic Player Profiles
Eagles Special: Superpost
With the Joe Blanton free agency sweepstakes underway and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, Blangraphs takes time to say something nice about every Eagles player!
| 13 | Agholor, Nelson | WR | The Ag had a great year! His run in the Atlanta game added a surprise dimension to the Eagles offense, too. |
| 36 | Ajayi, Jay | RB | Jay is a whole different kind of #36. Brian Westbrook, the previous holder of the number, was a shifty pass catcher. Jay has been the key to the Eagles offense the past few weeks with his bruising runs. |
| 94 | Allen, Beau | DT | Big Time Beau played both sides of the ball last year! Maybe his surprise fullback abilities will shock the Vikings. |
| 38 | Barner, Kenjon | RB | The barnstormer is back! We think of him as a mini-Sproles but Kenjon is actually three inches taller than Darren. Barner will be on return duty and will try to break one like Josh Huff did last year against the Vikings! |
| 96 | Barnett, Derek | DE | He makes it look easy. Barnett looks so comfortable that it's hard to believe he's a rookie. He blocked a field goal and then recovered it himself! |
| 66 | Beatty, Will | T | Beatty was an elite Eagles nemesis for years. He was great for the Giants, and is now a backup for the Birds. He's coming off an injury but could still have plenty of skills. |
| 29 | Blount, LeGarrette | RB | Blount is the ultimate "been there before" player. He's just there to run people over as long as anyone's left to try to stop him. |
| 53 | Bradham, Nigel | LB | Nigel is everywhere! He was the Eagles' top tackler and played the run and pass both really well. |
| 50 | Braman, Bryan | DE | Who knew Braman was a DE? We best know him as a great ST player. |
| 79 | Brooks, Brandon | G | We admit that we're among people who know basically nothing about almost half of the offense - the linemen. It turns out Brooks is awesome, though! And he did not false start all year! |
| 88 | Burton, Trey | TE | Doesn't it seem like Trey is wide open once every game? |
| 87 | Celek, Brent | TE | Brent has caught a TD from McNabb, Kolb, Vick, Sanchez (!), Foles, Bradford, and Wentz. |
| 30 | Clement, Corey | RB | We think Clement is a really smart runner and also showed that he has WR-level receiving skills. Who knows, the Vikings game could be a Clement breakout party. |
| 91 | Cox, Fletcher | DT | The Eagles have plenty of DL to rotate, but Cox is probably not going to come off the field. Who can make him? |
| 75 | Curry, Vinny | DE | Quintessential Curry is flying off the edge and disrupting everything. |
| 41 | Darby, Ronald | CB | Eagles fans are not usually nice to corners, so the media line is that we're "concerned" about Darby. He's young and good and adaptable. |
| 32 | Douglas, Rasul | CB | This rookie has been great when he's played. As a player with the long "oo" sound in his name, maybe he'll get a Rasuuuuul chant going when he picks off Keenum. |
| 57 | Ellerbe, Dannell | LB | We're hoping that Ellerbe can play Sunday, which goes to show how much of a good impression he's made in just a few weeks. Plus he has a really great last name. Ell-er-be. |
| 4 | Elliott, Jake | K | Jake came out of nowhere and became an Eagles hero. The only kicks he ever seems to miss are 30-39 yarders, which we think is just his way of telling Doug to go for the TD. Also, happy birthday Jake! |
| 86 | Ertz, Zach | TE | Ertz is a friend to all QBs. Foles Bradford and Wentz all loved throwing to him. Even Mark Sanchez completed 15 passes to Ertz in one game! |
| 9 | Foles, Nick | QB | Cris Carter says Keenum's advantage over Foles is his "gunslinger ability." We love playing QBs with that quality because the Eagles have a long, proud history of pressuring and intercepting them. The ultimate gunslinger, Brett Favre, had 12 TDs and 20 INTs against Philly. Oh right, Nick Foles -- he's really getting back into form and we want to see a couple of his patented surprise runs on Sunday. |
| 47 | Gerry, Nathan | LB | Nate's been between the practice squad and the active roster. He's a safety-turned-linebacker so he could be in for coverage plays. |
| 18 | Gibson, Shelton | WR | Gibson may have some rapport with Foles since they both played on the second team in practices. He's a rookie who has not yet been on the field much. |
| 52 | Goode, Najee | LB | It's Goode! Najee has gotten snaps most games this year as a role player. |
| 55 | Graham, Brandon | DE | Perennially underrated, Brandon Graham was hard to ignore in the Falcons game. He was the guy pushing a tackle into the backfield on run plays and getting tackles for loss on Atlanta's final drive. He just seems to keep getting better. |
| 24 | Graham, Corey | S | Corey Graham is new to the Eagles, but has been playing more snaps as a wily S/CB hybrid. |
| 54 | Grugier-Hill, Kamu | LB | The famous backup kicker and special teamer, KGH credits some of his kicking technique to his D1 soccer star girlfriend, Erin Smith. |
| 10 | Hollins, Mack | WR | We like Mack because he bikes to home games and practices! He is not normally seen for many snaps in a game but he makes them count. |
| 17 | Jeffery, Alshon | WR | Great hands! Alshon makes the whole offense better. He led the league in two point conversions this year as well. |
| 27 | Jenkins, Malcolm | S | Jenkins took on a leadership role in speaking out against police killings and trying to find ways to improve American society. Not bad! He also is a great safety and I've been told he plays downhill against the run very well. |
| 93 | Jernigan, Tim | DT | He might not get the stats but he can mess up an offensive line! He pushes people around in ways that create opportunities for his teammates. |
| 65 | Johnson, Lane | T | First team All-Pro! Dog mask enthusiast. |
| 14 | Johnson, Marcus | WR | Young WR who likes jambalaya! We do too. He got some catches in week 17 when Nate was playing QB. |
| 8 | Jones, Donnie | P | Jones is great at punting. He has 1110 regular season punts and 50500 punt yards. He's also third on the list of active consecutive game streaks. |
| 22 | Jones, Sidney | CB | The new owner of Brandon Boykin's number! Sidney Jones worked his way through injury and got on the field in week 17. He might even be active for the Vikings game. |
| 62 | Kelce, Jason | C | Not trying to start anything, but he's way cooler than Travis. Also, Jason is a first-team all-pro center and wears a great beard. We love his downfield blocking! |
| 95 | Kendricks, Mychal | LB | Very fast and often very good. Will be facing off against his brother Eric (a Vikings LB) today. |
| 56 | Long, Chris | DE | Chris is a thoughtful activist and also a good DE. He thought of the dog masks, too, so you can decide whether to credit or blame him with that. |
| 45 | Lovato, Rick | LS | Rick Lovato is the Long Snapper. No it's not Mike Bartrum or the magic guy, who is also not Mike Bartrum. The magic guy was really great and you should remember his name, because he was on the Eagles for 11 years. Oh well. They say that being an anonymous Long Snapper shows that you are a good Long Snapper. |
| 23 | McLeod, Rodney | S | At other times the Eagles had McCoy, other McCoy, McDougle, McNabb, McCants, and Maclin. Now the McLeod has the distinction of team Mack. He's good! |
| 51 | Means, Steven | DE | It seems like Steven Means should be on the Bills. His father went to Buffalo state, and Means went to the University of Buffalo. We're happy to have him in Philadelphia, though! |
| 31 | Mills, Jalen | CB | Green haired wizard who will be matched up against Stefon Diggs for the afternoon, good luck Mills! |
| 98 | Qualls, Elijah | DT | Third player in Eagles history with a Q last name (Mike Quick and Bill Quinlan). Was a RB in high school, so maybe he can make some moves on a fumble return. |
| 21 | Robinson, Patrick | CB | Robinson has been a great nickel corner! He leads the Eagles in interceptions with 4. |
| 73 | Seumalo, Isaac | G | Say-oo-mah-low. His dad played with Doug Pederson in NFL Europe! Isaac is a good reserve guard and had two starts this year. |
| 28 | Smallwood, Wendell | RB | Delawarean! Had some great flashes but is now the fifth RB for the Eagles and hasn't been playing much. Look for a reshuffle soon or a trade because he should be on the field for someone. |
| 82 | Smith, Torrey | WR | The master of drawing pass interference calls, also caught the now famous "knee bonker" which led to a late field goal in the first half of the Eagles-Falcons game. Look for a few quick out passes, we predict the first throw of the game to be a short out to Torrey. |
| 7 | Sudfeld, Nate | QB | We hope we don't need to see him play Sunday, but he had a decent inaugural performance in week 17. |
| 97 | Vaeao, Destiny | DT | The DT of destiny. |
| 72 | Vaitai, Halapoulivaati | T | Vaitai has had a bit of a tumultous year, replacing Jason Peters is no small task. He has recently really picked things up in run blocking and we believe he will hold down the left side of the line against the Vikings. |
| 67 | Warmack, Chance | G | Take a chance on me! |
| 26 | Watkins, Jaylen | S | Sammy Watkins' bro. Getting some snaps at CB and S these days. |
| 61 | Wisniewski, Stefen | G/C | The Wiz. Starting guard these days and doing well at it! |
| Reserve/Injured | |||
| Goforth, Randall | CB | He might someday be a safety! But for now he's hurt. | |
| 58 | Hicks, Jordan | LB | With Hicks, Peters, Sproles, and Wentz all year long, the Eagles might have beaten everyone by double digits. That's how it plays out in our minds, anyway. Defensive captain who is grinding his way back from an Achilles injury. |
| 42 | Maragos, Chris | S | Special teams ace and sometime safety! We'll see him next year. |
| 71 | Peters, Jason | T | Peters has long been one of the best left tackles in the game. Unfortunately, he was injured in week 7 but before his injury he offered sage advice to kicker Jake Elliot before his historic 61 yard field goal- "No more misses, bro." |
| 34 | Pumphrey, Donnel | RB | We'll have to wait for the year of the Pump. Donnel was ridiculously successful in college but struggled in preseason and then tore his hamstring. Ouch. He officially approves the title "Pump." |
| Shittu, Aziz | DT | UDFA from Stanford! Was a psych major so he can get inside the other team's minds. | |
| 43 | Sproles, Darren | RB | A hall-of-famer. Has been playing his own style of football for what feels like decades, and we only get the occasional "sort of like Darren Sproles" player. We hope he gets healthy and plays another year on his own terms if he wants to. |
| 6 | Sturgis, Caleb | K | Very anagram-friendly name: our favorite is "rustic bagels." Caleb is a good kicker who had bad injury luck. |
| 59 | Walker, Joe | LB | Unfortunately hurt his knee in the preseason. Backup LB who was chosen from the Oregon ducks after Chip Kelly left! |
| 11 | Wentz, Carson | QB | Come back, Carson!!! QBs never used to be this ready for the NFL! What a year- record for TD passes by an Eagles QB in only 13.5 games. |
| Williams, Dom | WR | Domination coming soon? |
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