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Philadelphia Eagles News: Birds Ranked in Top 10 Most Talented Teams

By Tim Kelly

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Are the Philadelphia Eagles one of the NFL’s most talented teams? 

Bucky Brooks of the NFL Network is apparently pretty high on the Philadelphia Eagles heading into the 2015 season, which seems rare from national pundits. Earlier this week, Brooks ranked the Eagles’ running back corps as the six most dangerous position group in the entire NFL. And Brooks wasn’t done complimenting Chip Kelly‘s squad from there.

Citing his experience as a scout for the 2003 Carolina Panthers, Brooks wrote that he believes he understands how a championship roster that lacks one of the few elite quarterbacks in the game is built.

So he constructed a countdown of the game’s most talented rosters, without taking the quarterback position into account. Such a countdown really played into the favor of the Eagles, who checked in at number nine on the countdown.

"Chip Kelly has ruffled some feathers with his bold personnel moves, but skeptics can’t question the depth of talent on the Eagles’ roster. The offense will place the NFL’s reigning rushing king (Murray) behind one of the most talented O-lines in football. The melding of a one-cut runner and a group of blue-chip blockers (Peters, Mathis, Kelce and Johnson — who’s still a bit raw, but I’m willing to bet on his athleticism and potential) should produce fireworks in the Eagles’ zone-read system. On defense, Cox and Barwin are disruptive playmakers capable of wreaking havoc at the point of attack. Their ability to create pressure could allow Maxwell to flourish as a CB1 in a new defense. And if Alonso can get back to his rookie form after a season lost to injury, Philly fans will quickly learn to love the athletic linebacker. Parkey led the NFC in scoring as a rookie."

The Eagles’ biggest question mark coming into the season is probably Sam Bradford‘s health, and beyond that, how well he can produce in Chip Kelly’s offense if he stays healthy. If you take Bradford, and the quarterback position as a whole out of the equation, you begin to realize how talented the rest of the roster is. 

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The Eagles have a very talented front-seven, that should improve with the addition of Kiko Alonso.

The secondary is far from a finished product, but the additions of Byron Maxwell, Eric Rowe and Walter Thurmond, among others, should go a long way in improving what was a dismal unit last year.

Offensively, again leaving out the quarterback, the team traded away LeSean McCoy, but adding in both DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to Darren Sproles should help the unit be deeper than it already was.

Receiving-wise, the team lost a very good receiver in Jeremy Maclin, but used their first-round pick to bring in USC’s Nelson Agholor. Agholor will join Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff, who many believe will continue to take steps forward this year. The Eagles also are bringing back both Brent Celek and Zach Ertz at the tight-end position, both of whom figure to play major roles in the Eagles’ offense in 2015.

And while the Eagles’ have questions at both offensive-guard positions, the talent that they have with Lane Johnson and Jason Peters on the outside and Jason Kelce on the inside of their offensive-line still make you think the unit will be pretty effective.

Brooks wrote that the Eagles’ have seven blue-chip players (Connor Barwin, Fletcher Cox, Evan Mathis, Murray, Kelce, Johnson and Peters) and three players that he deemed to be ‘on the rise’ in Cody Parkey, Maxwell and Alonso.

For what it’s worth, the Eagles were the third highest ranked NFC team, falling behind the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. Of course, both of those teams have elite quarterbacks, which the Eagles seemingly lack.

Next: Byron Maxwell Guarantees Philadelphia Eagles Will Play in Superbowl 50

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