Philadelphia Eagles: 3 under the radar breakout candidates
By David Esser
Everyone’s favorite thing to predict and project during the NFL offseason, it feels the Philadelphia Eagles community has reached a general consensus as to who they think is going to take the arbitrary “next step” this upcoming season.
Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, K’Von Wallace, Alex Singleton, Jalen Reagor. Maybe even someone like Avonte Maddox if you’re feeling real lucky.
While those are all solid players to hone in on (especially Goedert), there’s a handful of more “under the radar” type names who could equally be in line for a big 2021.
Here’s a look at the top three that came to mind:
Looking at the Philadelphia Eagles top “under the radar” breakout candidates.
Marcus Epps, S
A waiver wire claim during the 2019 season, Marcus Epps had a really rough debut season with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was repeatedly picked on by opposing offenses, and people quickly soured on the player as a whole (myself included).
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However, after a quietly productive second season, and the introduction of a coaching staff/defensive scheme that he has more familiarity with, I actually have Epps penciled in as the Eagles’ third safety heading into the regular season.
Initially drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, Epps’ career began with him learning the notorious Mike Zimmer style of defense. With Jonathan Gannon now in town as the Eagles new defensive coordinator, an ex-Zimmer assistant, the expectation is that he’ll be implementing a similar style of defense to that of which he ran with the Vikings and the Colts.
Such a defensive scheme bodes well for someone with Epps’ skillset and experience, and the Eagles are noticeably light at safety. All good signs for an expanded role (and expanded production), for Epps in ’21.