👋 Good morning! September is Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Month!

PHLY and ALLCITY is proud to support their mission, and we’re raising money all month long. You can donate — or even learn more about becoming a Big — at bbbsa.org/allcity

OK, we have two other orders of business to take care of here before we get started. You can respond to either of them at [email protected] and I will post some of the best answers (with your permission, of course) next week.

Numero uno, where did we mess up here?

Numero dos, here is a question that I am curious about after listening to our own Andrew Frazier in the office yesterday: How many hours per week (podcasts, reading, trade requests, etc.) are you spending on fantasy football? As someone who plays in two leagues, I think my average number is pretty low. That is probably why my teams never win, to be honest. But if you consider yourself a real fantasy sicko and are willing to share, email me your routine at [email protected]. I would love to know about it.

Oh, and RIP George Raveling.

Some good stuff on the site if you are a Diehard…

(1) Connor Barwin, Player Developer: I loved Connor Barwin as a player. Versatile, tough 3-4 edge-rusher. I do not know him, but I also love everything I read about Connor Barwin the dude. Someone who clearly embraced the city in a bunch of ways.

And as EJ writes, Barwin is writing a new chapter in Philly: Head of Eagles player development, which is important considering the front office seems to be eschewing the middle class. With that strategy, you need to find contributors from the back end of the roster. If last season is any indication, Barwin knows what he is doing in that regard. Some funny anecdotes in there about how much Barwin cares about being the stand-in QB in pass-rushing drills.

(2) PHLY’s Top 20 Philadelphia Flyers prospects list — Summer 2025 edition: One of my favorite biannual reads, Charlie and Alex Appleyard going through the Flyers prospect pool… a much deeper prospect pool than we are accustomed to around here, by the way. Must-read stuff if you are a Flyers fan, I do not think you are getting this anywhere else.

(3) Adoree’ Jackson, CB2 (at least to start): Les cracked me up with this one: “Jackson declared that DeJean has ‘got a little melanin in him,’ which is one of those things you can say in a locker room and pretty much nowhere else, without making the people around you very uncomfortable.

I am usually not too big on preseason predictions. Mind you, I do not begrudge anyone for making them. But instead of saying “11-6, first repeat NFC East champion in two decades, lose to Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game,” I would rather do it this way…

(OK, those are my actual predictions. But please keep reading.)

(1) This team has a wayyyy better chance to repeat than the 2018 team: I have heard and read this very same point get made a bunch, but it needs to be written again. This is not 2018.

As an Eagles fan, sometimes I think the 2017 Super Bowl clouds our memories when it comes to the 2018 Eagles. Basically, because that same group hoisted a Lombardi the year before, we choose to only remember the good parts of that following season: Nick Foles catching fire down the stretch (at Los Angeles, Houston, at Washington), the Double Doink, and playing New Orleans tough in the playoffs. If only Alshon caught that ball… It felt like that group went out on their shield and defended the belt with honor.

And they absolutely did! But for most of that season, that group was just not very good. Those Eagles got outscored 21-0 by Carolina in the fourth quarter, a brutal loss. They lost by a billion in New Orleans during the regular season. They had the weird Foles-Wentz dynamic. They easily could have lost to Chicago in the wild-card round. They easily could have missed the playoffs entirely, but Minnesota choked it away.

Part of the magic of that 2017 team is that they caught lightning in a bottle with free agents and older players. This team nailed the draft four years in a row, leaving the defending champs with the second-youngest roster in the NFL. The quarterback situation is not a situation at all this time, with Jalen Hurts the unquestioned Guy in Philadelphia. He strikes me as a competitive lunatic in all the best ways, someone who is not satisfied with just one. And while Doug Pederson’s coaching job in 2017 will forever be an all-timer, Doug wrote a book and got complacent after the Philly Special. Compare that to, well, this.

(Nick, if you do not know there is a banner ceremony, how do you know the team will not be on the field for it?)

Add it all up, and the chance for sustainable contention is here this time. Does not mean we will get it, but it is here. One problem…

(2) The schedule is so brutal: Oof, look at that thing. NFC North, AFC West, and then Rams-Bucs-Bills? That is no picnic.

I am basing this off vibes and no metric or objective measure, but here is how I would rate the schedules in recent years (1 being the easiest, 10 being the hardest):

I wonder if we are in for the inverse of the 2023 Eagles’ 10-1 start: Some close losses against good teams, but a fundamentally good football team under the hood.

(3) The thing I am most curious about is the offensive identity. It is pretty funny how nobody mentions Saquon Barkley during training camp, the games begin for real, and you remember that the Eagles have maybe the best offensive weapon in the entire NFL. Oh yeah, that is nice.

The Eagles ran the ball 57 percent of the time last season, with Saquon getting close to 500 touches when you include the playoffs. If you are bearish on the Eagles this season, that would be one of the first stats that you would cite. As much as we all hope Saquon is the exception to the rule, there are many (non-Derrick Henry) running backs who have struggled after taking on such a massive workload.

For much of last season, Jalen Hurts played an ultra-conservative brand of football before letting it loose in the playoffs. He seemed dead-set on not turning the ball over. If you have watched Jalen’s pressers from training camp, he seems a little more at ease. Comfortable in his own skin, perhaps. Might that translate to the field. with Jalen turning back the clock to 2022 under Kevin Patullo? Or is it more like last year? This group has the talent to do whatever it wants.

(4) I think the defense might take its lumps initially: We will do a full preview of the Dallas game tomorrow, with injury updates, matchups and everything. But I think that Dak Prescott can have some success picking on the weaker links of this secondary. Add in that there are questions at edge-rusher, safety and that the Eagles are breaking in a rookie linebacker.

This defense was all-time good by the end of last season, but I think it will be back to reality early on this season. Not bad by any means, but closer to average.

(5) I think the defense will improve mightily down the stretch: Jihaad Campbell is someone who should improve with reps. Ditto Drew Mukuba (who probably will not start against Dallas), if he can stay on the field. I trust Uncle Vic to scheme around this group’s weaknesses, while helping some of his star players develop. Like the Eagles’ locker room, I am excited to watch Moro Ojomo this season. And I trust Howie Roseman to make an in-season trade at the biggest position of need.

The high-end upside is still here on defense, with all of the star-power on that side of the ball. I think it just takes a little while, that is all.

Good news on the injury report: We will have more on this in tomorrow’s newsletter.

Penn State 46, Nevada 11: Good teams win, great teams cover. 40+ points is asking a lot, but I am not seeing greatness from James Franklin’s crew yet.

Tyler and Fran have a Penn State podcast that is very good, you should listen in every week as the Lions try to do the impossible: Beat a good team.

I kid, I kid! Anyway, three cupcakes for the Nits before Oregon comes into town for an old-school White Out game. That should be fun. I am hard on Penn State, but no program has been hurt more by FOX and Big Noon Kickoff. The only Big 10 game I want to see at noon is Iowa-Northwestern on ESPN2, before immediately changing the channel.

Oh, and while we are at it, I was pretty disappointed in Arch Manning considering the hype he got. No shame in losing at Ohio State, but Arch was throwing balls 100 mph at receivers six yards away from him. Maybe he will improve down the line. You know who I was impressed by, though? LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who Zach wrote about last year, in a road win at Clemson. Nussmeier, who is two years older than Arch, might end up playing for his pops and Kellen Moore in New Orleans.

Paul George and IShowSpeed: Said it once, and I will say it again: I am sorry for Sixers fans, but this is tremendous content.

I do not actually think this is a big deal. “Hell nah!” might not have been my word choice, but hey, that is Paul George for you. I watched that part of the stream (which had over 2 million views in 14 hours) and PG also had some nice moments with fans in Jim’s and on South Street. I do not think PG is a bad guy. Unintentionally funny in super frustrating ways for his own fans, absolutely, but not a bad guy.

For the uninitiated, the guy interviewing PG goes by IShowSpeed (often just shortened to “Speed”). You might think this all sounds ridiculous, but this guy is an incredibly massive YouTuber and streamer. Like, the WWE put him in the Royal Rumble despite him not being a wrestler whatsoever. So, it is not a surprise that Paul George would show up on his YouTube channel. The guy went to the NovaCare Complex later and the Eagles rolled out the red carpet for him. They let him interact with Saquon and Howie Roseman two days before opening night.

Must be nice to be Speed. While taking a photo with Roseman in the practice facility, Speed literally asked Howie who he was. Legit LOL. He also asked Paul George, “What are you doing in Philly?” And PG is rightfully like, “Seriously?”

As someone who does at least modicum of preparation for every podcast appearance big or small, I am personally in awe of Speed’s off-the-cuff interview style. He has millions of people watching him interview Paul George, despite the fact that he seemingly has no idea or interest in who Paul George is. That is the dream.

Union win! I mentioned it in passing yesterday, but the Union got a HUGE win in Cincy this past week. On the road, against the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, and down a man for 35 minutes. All of that, and they still won. What a magical first season for Bradley Carnell in Chester.

I know that I do not write about the Union in detail all that much, but this is a good summary of the game and context from Matthew Doyle at MLS.com. After spending a bunch of money, Cincy was supposed to be one of the league’s best teams and they have been. Contrast that with Philly: After moving on from Jim Curtin and not spending much money at all, the Union were supposed to be nothing special. Despite the lack of expectations, the Union currently own the best record in MLS and have a real shot at the Supporters’ Shield (best regular-season record).

I do not like that owner Jay Sugarman does not spend a ton of money, but man, he lets sporting director Ernst Tanner do his thing. And “do his thing” in this case means “run quite a franchise.” Per Doyle, the Union needed this win to prove their bona fides against good teams. Heading into the match, they were…

Make it 3-5-3 now.

The Phillies are back in action, following their big night on the town in Milwaukee. Maybe they took a boat out on Lake Michigan and drank some light domestics. Maybe they played 18 at Erin Hills or Whistling Straits. Maybe they held their annual fantasy football draft.

Regardless of what the Phillies did on Tuesday, fun’s over. It is Aaron Nola against The Dreaded Jose Quintana (NBC Sports Philly, 7:40 p.m.). I would like to play Kevin Long (minus the big cast he is wearing, that does not look like fun) and give my scouting report for Quintana: Don’t swing, guys. It’s very likely a ball!

And for those of you who want to feel good, America’s Game: The 2024 Eagles airs tonight (8:00 p.m., NFL Network). Jerry Jones gets “America’s Team,” Jeffrey Lurie gets “America’s Games.” Good trade, imo.

Your tentative Wednesday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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