What They’re Saying About the Eagles

Plus: Which former Eagle has a daughter heading to the Summer Olympics?

Malcolm Jenkins. (Jeff Fusco)

Malcolm Jenkins. (Jeff Fusco)

This week’s roundup of the best Eagles links around the web.

Carson Wentz was seen on the 9th street beach in Ocean City over the weekend (h/t: Crossing Broad):

And then joined Sam Bradford, Chase DanielZach Ertz, and others in San Diego:

Malcolm Jenkins is the most underrated safety in the league, opines Solomon Wilcots of NFL.com.
He can do it all. He’s a heady player. He’s got the mind of a quarterback playing the safety position in the secondary. That’s why you see him making plays in terms of interceptions, getting tackles, and the guy has a nose for the endzone. He gets his hands on the ball, that’s right, he’ll return it for a touchdown. He’s got four touchdowns so far in the career in 63 PDUs (Passes Deflected).
In a 2013 re-draft of the top pick, offensive tackle Lane Johnson would be the first overall selection, according to Brian Baldinger of NFL.com.
Lane Johnson was the third OT taken in 2013, but he’s the best of the bunch

Lane Johnson has been extremely durable and played well in his first three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. In the games where he has played left tackle, Johnson has shown he can be a top-flight player at the position.

If you look at the top two teams in this draft — Kansas City and Jacksonville — they were both looking for a guy to anchor the left tackle position for a decade. Neither the Chiefs’ No. 1 overall pick (Eric Fisher) nor the Jags’ No. 2 pick (Luke Joeckel) have proven to be that guy. However, Johnson (the fourth overall pick in 2013) certainly has been.

Patrick Maks of ClevelandBrowns.com takes an early look at the Eagles, especially at a crucial matchup.

The stakes: Like the Browns, the Eagles enter this year with a new head coach and new coaching staff looking to make a turnaround after a string of disappointing seasons. Week 1, of course, is a chance for both teams to make good on the work they’ve put in over the offseason. Perhaps making this game more interesting is how these teams struck a major trade — Cleveland and Philly swapped first-round picks and a bevy of others — one week before the NFL Draft and whether it could shape the direction of both organizations this season and in years to come.

Matchup to watch: Cleveland’s WRs vs. Philadelphia’s DBs

The Browns made an effort to bolster their wide receiver group over the offseason by scooping up four rookies — Corey Coleman, Rashard Higgins, Ricardo Louis and Jordan Payton— in the draft. While roster spots are still up for grabs, it should be intriguing to see how Cleveland’s wideouts match up against Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins and an Eagles secondary that finished 28th against the pass last season.

Offseason storyline: The Doug Pederson era. After Chip Kelly and his innovative offensive strategies didn’t yield the results they wanted, the Eagles turned to Pederson, previously the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs and a former Philadelphia quarterback. Pederson was key in getting the most out of Kansas City QB Alex Smith and looks to do the same with Sam Bradford, Chase Daniel and Carson Wentz.

Jason Peters is a top 10 offensive tackle, pens Cameron DaSilva of FoxSports.com.

10. Jason Peters, Philadelphia Eagles

Jason Peters has never been the best pass-blocking left tackle in the NFL, but he’s more than a handful when blocking for his running backs. At 6-foot-4, 328 pounds, Peters isn’t the tallest tackle in the league, but he has the size, strength and athleticism to move linebackers downfield and push defensive lineman off the ball. He earned his third straight Pro Bowl selection and the eighth of his career, which will be nine after next season. If he can avoid injuries, which he suffered from in 2015, he’ll once again be among the best left tackles in the season in 2016. The Eagles need to appreciate Peters while they have him because he’s truly one of the best players on the roster and may not be in the league much longer as he’s 34 years old.

Former safety Brian Dawkins was named to an all-time team, from the great Paul Zimmerman aka “Dr. Z” for the MMQB.

But I can’t just neglect the dominant safetyman of our era, the Eagles’ Brian Dawkins, who does everything—blitzes, hits with real force, locks on to tight coverage downfield, and, here’s the thing that swings the election for him, seems to have an electric effect on everybody around him.

Former Eagles QB Randall Cunningham‘s daughter, Vashti, is heading to Rio as the youngest track and field athlete to represent the United States in the Olympics since 1980, writes Paul Myerberg of USA Today.

It’s an achievement made remarkable for her youth: Cunningham is the youngest U.S. track and field athlete to reach the Olympics since 1980.

“I’m very appreciative, just to be able to go to the Olympics this year,” Cunningham said. “So I’m more thankful than disappointed. It was a relief to qualify and just know that I was top three. At the same time, I still wanted to win. I always want to win.”

The trip to Rio caps a remarkable opening act in her budding professional career, which began on March 21, one day after Cunningham took the gold medal in the high jump at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland.

Yet losing has its benefits — particularly when it comes with the silver lining of nonetheless punching her ticket on the U.S. team for Summer Games.

Cunningham began to tire near the end of the second day of competition, noting how her “legs lost some juice” as the event reached heights above the Olympic standard. Her father, who doubles as her coach, noticed the same; he “wants to ratchet it up” in training, Cunningham said.

“I’ll just keep working until Rio so that doesn’t happen,” she said.

Even though the Eagles have a hatred for the Giants, Phil Sheridan from ESPN.com writes that the team’s biggest division rival is the Dallas Cowboys.

The answer to this is often different for Eagles fans and Eagles players. For fans, the answer is always the Cowboys. This goes back to the 1970s, when the Eagles were dreadful and the Cowboys were strutting around as “America’s Team.” The Eagles and Cowboys duked it out for the NFC East title in 2013 and 2014, making the Cowboys a big rival for the current players as well as their fans.

After Patriots quarterback Tom Brady traveled with the Boston Celtics to try and persuade Kevin Durant to play with the team, Charlie Bernstein of Football Insiders looks at who the Eagles might use in possible recruiting pitches.

Philadelphia Eagles- The Eagles don’t seem to have a great direction right now so it would be best for them to bring in some Philadelphia legends.  TNT analyst and former 76ers forward Charles Barkley would be of great influence, as well as the great Dr. J [Julius Erving] and Allen Iverson.  From the football side of things, Terrell Owens and Ron Jaworski would be great ambassadors.

Jenkins was also on ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ on Sunday. Here are some of his highlights, courtesy of Nick Piccone from PhillyInfluencer.com.

https://vimeo.com/173365283