Section 215
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Eagles Armchair: Tight Ends Offseason Preview

By Tucker Bagley

Jan 3, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz (86) carries the ball during the second quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O
Jan 3, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz (86) carries the ball during the second quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O /
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With the 2016 NFL calendar set to kick off on March 15, I will spend each Monday previewing a different position group for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Last week, I took a look at the offensive line. Up this week, the tight ends:

POSITIONAL PREVIEW

WHO’S HERE

Active Roster: Brent Celek, Zach Ertz, Trey Burton

WHO STAYS

As of right now, Ertz is coming into his own, and if new coach Doug Peterson can maximize his impact in the Eagles new offense, Ertz will become a bona fide star. He’s here for the long haul.

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Burton has excelled at special teams during his first two years in the NFL but has struggled to get on the field with the offense. He had a 43-yard catch against the Lions on Thanksgiving and has shown flashes of potential during preseason games.

Like Ertz, Burton could benefit from a more complex offensive scheme that could allow him to line up in the backfield, as an H-back and at tight end. He’s a perfect complementary tight end.

WHO GOES

Celek has made it known that he wants to retire with the Philadelphia Eagles, but his contract may not allow him to do so. He has just one year left on his deal, with a cap hit of $6 million. With Ertz’s emergence at the end of the season, Celek started to take a back seat to the Stanford product and may not be worth his salary. Expect Howie Roseman to approach the veteran about a potential restructure that could lower his 2016 number and give him some more money down the road.

WHO’S AVAILABLE

Draft: After a stellar performance in the National Championship, Alabama’s OJ Howard will be the most talked about TE during the pre-draft process, and if he declares for the draft, he could be the first tight end off the board.

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Arkansas’s Hunter Henry is currently the top tight end on many draft boards, but with the Eagles second round pick belonging to

St. Louis

Los Angeles, they won’t be in a position to potentially draft Celek’s replacement early in the draft.

With other pressing needs around the roster, expect the Eagles to avoid tight ends in the draft, but they could be influential players in the undrafted free agent pool.

Free Agency: There are a lot of big names tight ends available in free agency, but most of them will not be attractive options for a rebuilding team like the Eagles. Guys like Vernon Davis and Antonio Gates are at the tail end of their career while Coby Fleener and Jermaine Gresham could be high price options for contenders.

If Celek is let go, the Eagles could go after a cheap, unproven tight end such as James Hanna or Brent Celek’s little brother, Garrett.

Either way, don’t expect the team to pursue any tight end that the casual fan will readily know.

DID YOU KNOW?

Zach Ertz led all tight ends with 37 catches and 459 yards during the last five weeks of the 2015 season. He had 79 more yards than any other TE during that span. After hearing for two-and-a-half years about Ertz’s star potential, it seemed like he finally started to put all of the pieces together down the stretch.

With all of the struggles that the Eagles wide receivers had this year, Pederson could give Ertz a much bigger role to help out the passing game.

SECTION 140

Watching Reid and his offense navigate the final minutes of their game Saturday night was painful. Not only did it bring up memories of Super Bowl XXXIX, but every single person in the building knew how mismanaged the situation was, yet Reid still said after the game that they were running their hurry-up offense.

Somewhere, Chip Kelly Smirks.

Speaking of Kelly, he was hired by the San Francisco 49ers last week and will be given a second shot at coaching in the NFL. His offense could reinvigorate the career of Colin Kaepernick, but it will be interesting to see how he meshes with the 49ers’ front office. The current regime was able to force out Jim Harbaugh, and it would be prudent of Kelly to steer clear of the personnel department if he wants to remain employed.

Also, the tweet is a Scott McKenzie reference for those of you under the age of 50.

Jeff Maehl. Always go with Jeff Maehl.

PARTING THOUGHTS

  • Last week’s hiring of Pederson didn’t bother me as much as it did many people. The previous day, I ranked him third out of the Eagles coaching candidates, behind Tom Coughlin and Duce Staley. Coughlin has a Hall of Fame resume and Staley just seemed like a guy who could rally the troops and surprise some people. Pederson is a conservative hire and with how things transpired, it seemed like the team settled for him after being turned down by a few candidates, but he’s young and unproven. With the guys he has worked with, he deserves a fair shot.
  • However, one guy who has had enough chances is Steve Spagnuolo. Yes, he coached here a decade ago, and yes, he was the defensive coordinator for the Giants when they won the Super Bowl in 2007. But since then, his career has taken a tailspin. He has coached the worst defense in NFL history. And the third-worst defense in NFL history. He 10 games in three years as a head coach and has had a defense finish in the top-20 just once. The game has apparently passed him by, and there is no evidence that he deserves another shot.

Next: Eagles Will Hire Doug Pederson As Next Head Coach

Check back with Section 215 each week for news, analysis, and thought-provoking opinion. Feel free to share your thoughts on every article in our comments section below.

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