Earlier this week, Pro Football Focus put out their annual list of the “top 101 players” from the season. Even in what seemed like a down and disappointing year, seven Eagles made their 2019 list, up from the four players that made the list in 2018.
Here's a look at the seven who received the much-deserved recognition, along with PFF's insight for their selections:
75) TE Dallas Goedert
"At times this season, Dallas Goedert was the last man standing in the Philadelphia Eagles receiving corps, as everybody else was struck down with injury at one time or another. Goedert wasn't as productive as some other tight ends on this list, but he earned impressive PFF grades in every facet of play we grade, topping at least 70.0 in every category. As a run blocker, he was a significant boost to a powerful offensive line, and he also made several impressive highlight-reel catches over the season."
72) T Jason Peters
"As impressive as it is for quarterbacks to be playing late into their 30s and into their 40s, imagine the same thing happening at tackle, where 250-pound plus players are coming at you every snap. Somehow, Jason Peters is still playing at a very high level late into his 30s. Peters surrendered just 25 total pressures over the season and had good grades as both a run blocker and pass protector. As has been a trend with him lately, he did miss some time through injury, but he still racked up 936 total snaps over the entire season (including playoffs)."
60) DE Brandon Graham
"Brandon Graham will forever be one of the league's most underrated players because he is the poster child for pass-rush production in the form of pressure over sacks. Graham again finished with fewer than 10 sacks, but he had 67 total pressures over the course of the year. Graham ended the season with an overall PFF grade of 84.2 and makes the PFF Top 101 list for the sixth time in his career. He also registered 38 defensive stops and was once again solid against the run in most games."
53) C Jason Kelce
"Jason Kelce played every snap of the Eagles' season — all 1,163 of them — the most of any center in the NFL this season, before adding 64 more in the wild-card loss. Kelce's run blocking is one of the most important elements in the Eagles' ground game, and his ability to make tough blocks on the move separates him from other centers. He ended the year as the top-graded player at his position once again, even if his pass blocking slipped a little this year to a PFF grade of 67.6."
Kelce was the highest-graded player at his position, with an 81.0 grade.
44) DT Fletcher Cox
"Much like Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox wasn't quite able to live up to his performance from a season ago. However, even after taking a step backward this year, he was still one of the most dominant interior forces in the league. He finished the year with 56 total pressures, adding four more in the team's wild-card defeat in the postseason. Cox also tallied 23 defensive stops and an overall PFF grade of 89.5, having posted the best game of his season when it mattered most — the playoffs — albeit in a losing effort."
34) T Lane Johnson
"At his best, and when healthy, Lane Johnson is one of a few right tackles who can make a case to be seen as the best in the league. When he went out of the lineup, there was a noticeable drop in play despite his backup, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, actually performing reasonably well. Johnson had the best run-blocking grade (92.6) of any tackle in football this season, and he allowed only one sack across 454 pass-blocking snaps. Injury limited him to just 12 games, however, and that's what keeps him from being among the very best players on this list, because in pure grading terms, this was the best season of his career."
5) G Brandon Brooks
"Brandon Brooks tore his Achilles at the tail end of the 2018 season — in January 2019, to be exact — so playing to even a respectable level this year would have been an achievement. Instead, Brooks went ahead and had the best season of his career and was the best offensive lineman in football fresh off the back of an injury that almost invariably affects performance in the first year a player returns from it. Brooks surrendered just one sack and 19 total pressures all season, and he earned the best run-blocking grade in the NFL among guards. He won PFF’s Bruce Matthews Award as the league’s best lineman and continued to get even better, despite being one the most underrated players in the league.–PFF"
Brooks was the highest-graded player at his position, with a 92.9 grade.
This list seems much fairer compared to the one they released in 2018, but there were still a few subs. In a shocker, Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz didn't make the cut even though they both had very solid seasons. We'll have to wait to see if PFF comes around on both of these guys for the 2020 season.
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