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What if the Philadelphia Eagles were actually correct in firing Doug Pederson?

By David Esser

Dec 20, 2020; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson reacts against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2020; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson reacts against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Philadelphia Eagles Nelson Agholor
Dec 26, 2020; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Nelson Agholor (15) scores on an 85-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium. The Dolphins defeated the Raiders 26-25. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Player development.

This somewhat goes hand in hand with play-calling and assistant hires, but the Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the worst teams in the NFL in terms of player development over the last couple of seasons. Outside of Jordan Mailata and maybe Dallas Goedert (he was a second round pick after all), there’s really no-one you can point to and say, “Yeah, the Eagles developed the heck out of that guy!”

Part of this falls on the front office for not always drafting the right players, or continuing to re-sign veterans who eat up minutes. However, there’s been multiple instances of the Eagles coaching staff “failing” a player in recent years.

Specifically on the offensive side of the ball, Nelson Agholor is a pretty obvious example. A first round pick back in 2015, Pederson was tasked with helping develop Agholor into a legit WR1 candidate later down the road. Things were looking up in 2017, but Nelly started falling off in 2018, and then more dramatically in 2019.

Agholor left the Eagles this past offseason, and went on to have the best year of his career with the Las Vegas Raiders (896 yards, 8 TDs).

It’s tough to blame this on anyone other than Pederson and his staff. Agholor was a guy that the Eagles front office really wanted to keep around (picked up his fifth-year option in 2019), but it was the coaching that ultimately led to his departure. Nelly is clearly a very talented WR, and would instantly be an upgrade to the Eagles’ current receiver room. That’s on the coaching staff for failing to properly use/develop him.

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