When general manager Howie Roseman added another playmaker to his powerful offense, Vince Young’s infamous “Dream Team” declaration of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 came to mind.
How about Jahan Dotson as the third receiver?
The 2024 Eagles may have more talent than any other team in franchise history, including the unsuccessful 2011 club and the 2017 Super Bowl-winning team.
Jalen Hurts. Saquon Barkley. AJ Brown. DeVonta Smith. Dallas Goedert. Now Dotson is in the mix after the Eagles acquired Washington’s 2022 first-round pick for draft picks in a rare deal with a division rival just two weeks before the start of the regular season.
Dotson had 49 catches for 518 yards and four touchdowns last season. He brings speed and explosiveness and could thrive in an offense where other players demand more attention from the defense.
The 2011 team, which Young called the “Dream Team,” featured quarterback Michael Vick, star running back LeSean McCoy and wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. They finished the season 8-8 after starting 4-8.
The Super Bowl winners had quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Nick Foles, running backs LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi, wideouts Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith and Nelson Agholor, and tight end Zach Ertz. The team had a unique chemistry and several players had career years.
Even the 2004 NFC Championship team led by Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens did not have this kind of depth.
The Eagles have a quarterback who finished second in the MVP voting two years ago, possibly the best collection of wide receivers in the NFL and a dynamic running back.
That’s a lot of options for new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Of course, talent alone cannot lead to victory. The Eagles found that out last season when they started 10-1 and then fell apart, losing six of their last seven games, including a blowout loss to Tampa Bay in the wild-card round.
So Roseman set about reshaping the roster in the offseason. The general manager, known for his smart moves, made a big splash on the first day of free agency by poaching Barkley from the New York Giants. The two-time Pro Bowler adds another dimension to Philadelphia’s running game, which has been heavily dominated by Hurts for the past three seasons.
Hurts has rushed for 2,149 yards and 38 touchdowns over the past three years. Barkley has run for 962 yards and six touchdowns and caught 41 balls, including four touchdowns in 14 games last season.
“Saquon is clearly a special player,” Moore said last month. “Just his acceleration, his speed, his ability to get in the hole. He’s clearly going to be a guy that can be used on all fields. He can be a space player, which we’re excited about in the passing game. He’s going to be able to attack people in a lot of different ways. That’s what’s exciting about it. It’s not just going to be a running game. He’s going to be able to make plays and do other things.”
Brown, a second-team All-Pro in 2023, received a $96 million contract extension in the offseason and Smith, a 2021 first-round pick, received a $75 million deal.
Brown had 106 catches for 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns last season, while Smith caught 81 passes for 1,066 yards and seven touchdowns. Goedert had 59 catches for 592 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games.
The offense suffered a major loss with the retirement of six-time All-Pro center Jason Kelce. Kelce was the anchor of an elite offense and his leadership qualities will be missed in the locker room.
Still, the Eagles are loaded with star quality players. Now they need to go out there and perform because nobody wins anything on paper.
“All of our players in this room have talent. But the best teams have something else. They have something else, and that’s culture,” coach Nick Sirianni said earlier in the offseason. “It’s your daily habits of being connected, being accountable, being extremely detailed, being tough that we want to keep throwing in the bucket.”
“I think sometimes you can lose sight of that, like, ‘Hey, we’re not just going to win games because we’re talented.’ It takes everything. … We know we have the right pieces — Howie’s done an incredible job putting this team together and we have the right pieces here. … But at the end of the day, it’s never just about the most talented — not in football.”
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