It was nice to hear for the first time last week from Kevin Patullo, the Eagles’ new offensive coordinator.
Truth is, however, he’s a familiar face in the team’s practice facility who will be calling plays for a lot of other familiar faces when the Eagles season begins Sept. 4 against the Dallas Cowboys.
He must prove he can push the right buttons at the right time, but he’ll be relying on the same cast that departed offensive coordinator Kellen Moore rode to a Super Bowl title and a head-coaching job in New Orleans last season.
The only change among the starters is expected to be at right guard, where Tyler Steen’s status as the leading candidate to replace Mekhi Becton was confirmed by the way the first-team offense has lined up at OTAs.
Vic Fangio, on the other hand, will have a far greater challenge in his second season as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Gone from the NFL’s top-ranked defense that was so dominating in the team’s Super Bowl LIX rout of the Kansas City Chiefs are three starters and seven of the team’s top 16 players in terms of defensive snaps.
The list of significant losses is long:
_Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson led the team with six interceptions and accounted for 12 picks in his two seasons with the team while playing with an edge that was admired by his teammates.
_Cornerback Darius Slay started 82 games, including nine in the playoffs, and made three Pro Bowls and two Super Bowls during his five seasons in Philadelphia.
_Edge rusher Josh Sweat capped his successful seven-year run with the Eagles by posting 2 1/2 sacks in the Super Bowl, giving him 48 for his career with the team.
_Defensive tackle Milton Williams contributed two sacks in the Super Bowl to go along with the five he had in the regular season when he emerged as a menacing sidekick to Jalen Carter.
_Edge rusher Brandon Graham’s retirement became official Monday and, despite the injury that kept him out of nine games last year, his presence on the field and off should not be underestimated.
_Reserve linebacker Oren Burks proved to be the teams’ most valuable reserve in the postseason, stepping in for the injured Nakobe Dean at linebacker and contributing 25 postseason tackles, including three for a loss. He also had a sack.
The Eagles also lost defensive back Avonte Maddox, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and edge rusher Bryce Huff, who went from last season’s most expensive free-agent addition to an inactive afterthought on Super Bowl Sunday in New Orleans. His trade to the San Francisco 49ers for a mid-round draft pick became official Monday night pending a physical. Jonathan Jones of NFLonCBS reported on X that the pick is a conditional fifth-rounder that could turn into a fourth-rounder based on Huff’s performance.
All totaled, Fangio’s defense lost players that contributed a total of 4,198 defensive snaps last season. That was 36.5% of the team’s defensive snaps in the regular season. The Eagles’ departed players were on the field for 41% of the team’s defensive snaps in the postseason, playing 1,228 of the team’s 2,992 defensive plays.
The Eagles also lost 15 1/2 of their 41 regular-season sacks and 5 1/2 of their 16 postseason sacks.
Fangio, for the first time this offseason, will be asked to address all those offseason losses when he speaks to the media ahead of the Eagles’ OTA practice in South Philadelphia. The Eagles returned to the practice field Monday and have just three more workouts left before their summer break ahead of the start of training camp.
In addition, we’ll find out how he thinks first-round pick Jihaad Campbell will fit into his system and what he thinks about the competitions at safety (second-round pick Andrew Mukuba against Sydney Brown) and cornerback (Kelee Ringo against Adoree’ Jackson).
His plans for second-year cornerback Cooper DeJean are also of interest. Based on last week’s observations it appears as if he could play some on the outside and move inside in the nickel package, which was the Eagles’ most used defense last season.
The longtime defensive coordinator will also get a chance to weigh in on what are likely to be expanded roles for Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo following the departure of Williams. His opinions about veteran edge rushers Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche will also be welcome.
Fangio will likely be questioned about the entire rookie defensive class, which also includes defensive tackle Ty Robinson, cornerback Mac McWiliams, linebacker Smael Mondon and edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland.
Fangio has been around long enough to know that just because the Eagles’ defense dominated last season doesn’t mean much the next season. That said, in his first season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011, he had a defense that finished second in points allowed and fourth in yards allowed.
The following season, the 49ers again finished second in points allowed and third in yards allowed en route to playing in the Super Bowl. The following year they were third in points allowed and fifth in yards allowed and lost in the NFC Championship to the Seattle Seahawks.
And even in his fourth and final season with the 49ers, they finished fifth in points allowed and 10th in yards allowed, but by then the offense had taken a huge step back.
Now, Fangio will attempt to keep the defensive dominance going with the Eagles. He’ll address the challenge for the first time Tuesday.
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Bob Brookover can be reached at [email protected]