Two games is a small sample size in an NFL season, but that’s what the Philadelphia Eagles have under their belt.
The players that have gotten off to strong starts are obvious, and they played a massive role in a 2-0 start. Not every player is going to have a strong start to the season, yet there have been players with high expectations that have been disappointments.
Who have been the biggest disappointments so far this year? These are Eagles players that need a turnaround to their season — fast.
Cam Jurgens (LG)
Jurgens playing left guard isn’t fair to him, especially since he’s never played that position prior to Sunday. The Pro Bowl center looked out of his element against Jeffery Simmons, but also had trouble acclimating himself to the position.
Through two games, Jurgens has allowed a 5.2% beat rate and a 3.9% pressure rate while allowing one sack. All things considered, that isn’t horrible considering he’s playing left guard now.
There are plays that show Jurgens can turn things around, but left guard isn’t doing him any favors. Three penalties already isn’t helping him either.
Makai Lemon (WR)
Another player the Eagles haven’t really helped early in the year. How many plays behind the line of scrimmage are the Eagles going to give Lemon? They’re not helping his confidence.
Missing time in the spring and summer hurt Lemon. What the Eagles have to do is ease him in, and they can accomplish that by playing Darius Cooper more. This isn’t a knock on Lemon, but he needs to build his confidence.
Lemon has four yards through two games. Not iddeal for the WR3 playing over 60% of the offensive snaps.
Arnold Ebiketie (DE)
The Eagles have made Ebiketie the No. 3 pass rusher with Jonathan Greenard out. Ebiketie is getting paid a solid amount of money on a one-year deal to be more productive than he has been.
In 42 snaps, Ebiketie has more missed tackles (1) than pressures (0). His speciality is supposed to be a third-down pass rusher, but hasn’t gotten to the quarterback yet.
This is why the Eagles need Greenard back. Ebiketie would be better in limited snaps, and there’s a better rotation with Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, and Nolan Smith. Still, the Eagles thought they would get more from Ebiketie.
Jordan Davis (DT)
Davis just isn’t playing enough for some reason. This is a reminder he’s making $26 million a year and is one of the highest paid defensive tackles in football.
Davis has nine tackles through two games, but a pressure rate of 4.5%. Thaat’s far off from last season, when he was at 7.6%. He has played just 46.34% of the snaps as well.
The Eagles are paying Davis big money and didn’t pay Moro Ojomo. Buyers remorse?
Marcus Epps (S)
Epps won the second safety job coming out of camp, but he’s been subpar through two games. Three missed tackles on Sunday didn’t help, but he’s also been a liability in coverage as well.
The Eagles are acting fast at safety, already brining in Kenny Moore and moving him from the slot to potentially replace Epps. Michael Carter is also getting an opportunity for more snaps going forward.
Epps may not be a starter for long. The leash is very short.
