There are three key players on the Philadelphia Eagles roster that must perform in 2022. If they do not perform as expected, then the Eagles could very well have another up and down year. One of these players has already been mentioned in the latest edition of Philadelphia Eagles Rundown, which is Jalen Hurts. The other two players are DeVonta Smith, who had a successful 2021 rookie season and their newly added linebacker Hasson Reddick. This article will give reasoning to why these three players are important to the Eagles.
Jalen Hurts
Hurts needs to have a successful season for the Eagles have a chance at a good season and a possible deep playoff run in 2022. The Eagles quarterback needs to fix key issues such as accuracy and decision making. He has gotten new weapons on offense such as A.J. Brown and a familiar weapon in Devonta Smith. Furthermore, he has a running back in Miles Sanders who is one of the stand outs on this roster. Not to mention an improved defense from last year.
Hurts needs to take care of the ball and not throw a lot of bad passes that jeopardize an Eagles drive with turnovers. In addition, he needs confidence, which he should have gotten last season by giving the Eagles a playoff berth. The recent bad media could very well take a toll on his mindset, but hopefully he is not listening to the noise. In conclusion, If the Eagles have issues at quarterback than it could very well put a damper on their season that has high expectations.
DeVonta Smith
It is obvious that Smith has a lot of talent by looking at what he did last season as a rookie. He had 916 receiving yards and five touchdowns last year. The Eagles receiver has speed and his route running ability is a huge strength for this Eagles roster. In addition, he has a lot of weight lifted off his shoulders with the signings of A.J. Brown and Zach Pascal.
If he somehow regresses this coming year then the Eagles could run into the same problems at the receiving position, which is inconsistency. Quez Watkins has had glimpses of greatness, but he needs to prove himself this season that he is as valuable as a lot of people think. Philadelphia also has Greg Ward and Jalen Reagor who have not performed as expected. Furthermore, Reagor could very get cut going into the regular season. Therefore, it is critical that Devonta Smith has an equally great year as he did during his rookie season.
Hassan Reddick
The Eagles have improved significantly on defense as well over the offseason. One of their biggest signings was linebacker Hasson Reddick. He played on the Cardinals for most of his NFL career but recently spent just one year on the Carolina Panthers in 2021. The Eagles are lucky to have him as he is a sack machine which the Eagles struggled at in 2021. He had 12.5 sacks in 2020 and 11 in 2021.
Reddick is also a great tackler as he totaled 68 last season. Furthermore, he can force turnovers especially when it comes to forcing fumbles. Reddick had six in 2020 and two in 2021. In conclusion, he is a great addition especially since the Eagles lost Alex Singleton to the Broncos over the offseason. Reddick has become a critical playmaker to this Eagles defense going into the 2022 season.
These are three key players that must perform for the Eagles going into the 2022 regular season.
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