The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off a championship high but now looking ahead to defending their title in 2025. Next year’s team will have several differences from the Super Bowl champion roster they fielded a year ago and those aren’t limited to the players on the field.
The Eagles’ coaching staff was shuffled when offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was hired as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. Nick Sirianni decided to promote from within to replace Moore and tabbed passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo to lead Philadelphia’s offense.
Patullo has a lengthy history with Sirianni, dating back to the days when the latter was the offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts. After seven seasons, Patullo will get his opportunity at running the offense and there could be a few philosophy changes when Philadelphia defends their title next fall.
With change comes new expectations and several players could be impacted. As Patullo takes over, there are several players on the Eagles’ offense who could be on thin ice and will be looking to make a positive impression as the offseason program begins.
1. Jahan Dotson, WR
Dotson was a late addition to the Eagles roster after he was acquired from the Washington Commanders in exchange for a third-round pick and two seventh-round picks in 2025. By adding the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Philadelphia thought they had a solid complement to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. But it didn’t pan out as Dotson learned his new surroundings.
Dotson was held without a catch in his debut with the Eagles – a win over the Green Bay Packers in San Paolo, Brazil in Week 1 – and didn’t have his first multi-catch game until Week 3. He also had just four games with multiple catches all season and didn’t really make an impact outside of a seven-catch, 94-yard performance with the Eagles’ reserves against the New York Giants in Week 18.
The metrics told the same story. Dotson’s 0.55 yards per route run were the third-lowest on the team ahead of Parris Campbell (0.38) and Johnny Wilson (0.23) and was the lowest among 112 qualifying receivers with 20% of the league lead in targets according to Pro Football Focus.
There are a few reasons why Dotson could have struggled. Picking up a playbook after spending an entire offseason preparing with the Commanders is a difficult task for any player and the Eagles offense already has an established third target in tight end Dallas Goedert. The passing volume of the Eagles was also cut drastically last season as Jalen Hurts attempted 24 passes per game compared to 31.4 passes in 2023.
By having the opportunities decreased by roughly 25 percent, Dotson may not have had the chance to make a bigger impact. Still, Philadelphia’s passing game had the potential to be wide open and it didn’t stop Brown (2.61 yards per route run), Goedert (2.18 yards per route run) or Smith (2.03 yards per route run) from having efficient seasons.
It’s a condemning amount of evidence that Dotson will have to step up in his second year in Philadelphia.