“The Philadelphia Eagles need to get younger.”

Heard that a lot over the offseason, didn’t we? I’d say a majority of Eagles fans probably agreed with it. It’s a veteran team with older guys in key positions.

Football Outsiders did a special contribution for ESPN in which they ranked every NFL team by their talent under the age of 25, and the Eagles understandably placed very low on the list, way down at 29th.

Here’s a portion of the blurb they wrote:

The Eagles’ second-round draft selection of quarterback Jalen Hurts epitomizes their commitment to depth over star power, but their recent inability to draft a blue-chip player will catch up with them if they cannot turn that trend around. Their lone first-round pick from 2017 and 2018, Derek Barnett, has peaked with just 26 hurries and 6.5 sacks in his best of three career seasons. And after one year, the team’s 2019 draft looks particularly poor. First-rounder Andre Dillard blew 7.8% of his rookie blocks, the highest rate among left tackles with 300 or more snaps played. His need to further develop might have prompted the team to re-sign 38-year-old Jason Peters if they hadn’t already done so to replace injured veteran Brandon Brooks at right guard. Second-round wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside found the field for just 486 offensive snaps in a healthy season and was inefficient with a -12.3% DVOA when he was targeted. Fourth-round defensive end Shareef Miller did not play a single defensive snap. And fifth-round quarterback Clayton Thorson is no longer with the team. Among their five picks, only running back Miles Sanders showcased his potential, and his workhorse consideration for 2020 relies more heavily on his excellent receiving (20.0% DVOA) than his demonstrated rushing efficiency (-6.6% DVOA).

The Eagles would likely have repeated as the last-place team in the under-25 rankings if not for their success in the later rounds. Cornerbacks Avonte Maddox and Sidney Jones excelled in relief of presumed starters Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills, posting impressive 56% and 67% respective coverage success rates. One of them is likely to start across from newly acquired veteran All-Pro Darius Slay. With 16 hurries and four sacks, defensive end Josh Sweat outpaced the more heralded Barnett in half as many snaps. And the team must like either unproven sophomore linebacker T.J. Edwards or rookies Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley, because one of them almost certainly will start with just Duke Riley and Jatavis Brown as veteran options at off-ball linebacker.

In the time since the article was written, Jatavis Brown retired, so cross him off the linebacker list.

This yearly exercise is basically a referendum on Howie Roseman’s drafting, which has not been stellar. He didn’t exactly help his case on paper with the April selections of the Jalens, but we’ll see if one of Hurts or Reagor contributes on a consistent basis. Davion Taylor or K’Von Wallace panning out would also help Howie’s case.

The Eagles were ranked 32nd on this list last year, so the good news is that they’ve improved! Go Birds!