The degree of difficulty in repeating as Super Bowl champions is well documented. Only nine teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, have done it since they started playing the big game in 1967.
The Eagles are the next team that has a chance.
It will take hard work, talent and a little bit of luck for that to happen. Only the players know for sure if they are working every bit as hard this offseason as they did a year ago when they were coming off an embarrassing end to the 2023 season.
Coach Nick Sirianni said he believed that was the case and there’s no reason not to believe him.
We’ll have to wait and see about the luck part of the equation.
What we know for sure is that the Eagles are once again loaded with talent.
There’s any number of different ways to prove that point and for this example we’re going to look at the latest Pro Football Focus rankings by position. The web site recently came out with its rankings at each position, grading the top 32 at every spot.
We’re going to take a look at the offense today and the defense in another story.
The offensive positions that were graded were quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, center, guard and tackle.
The Eagles ended up with six players in the top five and seven in the top 10.
The PFF rankings listed Jordan Mailata first at offensive tackle and A.J. Brown first at wide receiver. Saquon Barkley was second at running back behind Baltimore’s Derrick Henry.
Jalen Hurts was fifth at quarterback behind Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Buffalo’s Josh Allen. For the record, Hurts is 5-0 against those two over the last two seasons.
Landon Dickerson was listed fifth at guard and Lane Johnson was listed fifth at tackle. The other Eagles’ player in the top 10 was tight end Dallas Goedert at No. 8. Center was the only position the Eagles didn’t have a player in the top 10. Despite making his first Pro Bowl last season, Cam Jurgens was ranked 12th at center.
The Eagles’ six players ranked among the top five at their position was two more than any other team and seven players in the top 10 was also two more than any other team.
Baltimore had four players ranked in the top five (Jackson, Henry, center Tyler Linderbaum (2) and tight end Mark Andrews (4). The Ravens’ other player in the top 10 was tight end Isaiah Likely at No. 9.
Kansas City, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit and Cincinnati all had two players ranked in the top five.
Here are some other interesting findings from the PFF offensive position rankings:
DeVonta Smith was ranked 17th at wide receiver.
The Eagles’ six top five rankings were six more than the other three teams in the NFC East.
Washington had three players among the top 10 with quarterback Jayden Daniels at No. 6, tackle Laremy Tunsil at No. 8 and wide receiver Terry McLaurin at No. 10.
Dallas had two players in the top 10 with both guard Tyler Smith and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb at No. 6.
The Giants’ top-ranked offensive player was wide receiver Malik Nabers at No. 12.
The Eagles will play seven of the top 10 quarterbacks in the PFF top 10. That list includes Mahomes, Allen, Daniels (twice), Matt Stafford, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff and Geno Smith.
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Bob Brookover can be reached atrbrookover@njadvancemedia.co