The NFL season is right around the corner. A little over two months away and coming around the final turn before it’s here. This is right around the time you and your friends start talking about who’s over paid or who’s going to have a big season. But one topic I always like to figure out is who is going to have “the breakout” season. As an Eagles fan, I hope the whole team out produces what they have done in the past. But that’s not reality. So I decided to pick my top three Philadelphia Eagles players to have break out seasons.
Who is due for a breakout season?
Avonte Maddox
Last year, due to injuries, our Cornerback position was a revolving door of players. For a few games it was just hard to watch. Maddox was hard to watch early on when Philly started him. He just looked lost. After the bye he started getting some footing under him and confidence. He started to be more aggressive by jumping routes and breaking up plays. At times, he reminded me of former Eagle Asante Samuel. I’m not saying Maddox is him. Just the style of play. He now has a full offseason of practicing and training with the team behind him. This I think this sets up Maddox to potentially win one of the starting corner jobs. He only had 2 INT’s last year, which was second on the team. I can see him getting 5-7 INT’s this year setting him up for his breakout season.
Dallas Goedert
Now you’re probably saying “Jimbo he was tied for third in TD’s.”. Ya I know, but only 33 catches for 334 yards. That’s not bad for a rookie Tight End, especially when the guy in front of you caught 116 balls. He probably could of had more if we had a better deep threat. That would help take pressure off him, Alshon Jeffery, and Ertz. This year’s offense is stacked thanks to the addition of Desean Jackson. That signing alone, I think, helps Goedert have a breakout season. Obviously it’s going to be almost impossible for Ertz to have another record setting year. So I see some of those balls coming Goedert’s way. Maybe in the range of 40-50 catches with 450 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.
Derek Barnett
This player here I loved the day we drafted him. I know some Eagles fans are tired of us drafting Defensive Ends. But when you have a chance to draft a player who broke Reggie White’s college sack record, you take him. He had a good rookie campaign. It started to look like last year he was taking it to the next level. Then he got hurt, only playing 6 games. His rookie season he had 5 sacks in 15 games. Last year in 6 games he already had 2.5 sacks. That’s why I think this could be the breakout season for him. Everything points to it. He’s going to have to take on more snaps with Michael Bennet and Chris Long gone. He should be on the opposite side of Brandon Graham, who is dominate already. Part of me wants to say that a 10 sack season may be a stretch. But having only 2.5 sacks in 1/3 of a year makes me think its possible. A realistic number I can see him having for a breakout season is 7.5+ sacks, plus a few forced fumbles.
So with only being two years removed from winning the Super Bowl, it’s nice to wonder which young players will have breakout seasons for your team. These three players, I think, will help take this team back to the Super Bowl and hopefully more.
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