The Linc

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Execs, coaches, scouts rank NFL’s top 10 running backs for 2025 – ESPN
1. Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles. Highest ranking: 1 | Lowest ranking: 2. Age: 28 | Last year’s ranking: 4. Barkley got greedy in 2024. He clearly wanted every first-place vote in our 2025 poll. And he got all but one of them. Barkley’s Super Bowl-inspired run in 2024 harkens back to then-New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman taking serious heat for selecting a running back with the second overall pick despite plenty of good quarterbacks available in the 2018 draft. Barkley was just that good. And just maybe, that pick wasn’t so bad and Gettleman looks smart? Let’s just say scouts around the league who once forecast Barkley as a transcendent player can admire those old scouting reports with a low-key fist pump. “It was almost like this was expected — he was always expected to be this,” an NFL personnel director said. “You can call it confirmation bias. Everybody thought he was a great player [at Penn State] and he proved what people thought he would be. It just took some peaks and valleys. And he was in a bad offense [in New York].” When including the regular season and playoffs, Barkley’s 2,504 rush yards and seven scrimmage touchdowns of 60-plus yards are the most in a season in NFL history. His speed was constantly on display, reaching at least 20 mph on nine touchdown runs, per Next Gen Stats. No other player had more than two. “He can go another few years with high-level play behind that [offensive] line,” the director said.

Eagles schedule preview: Buffalo Bills – BGN
This season should be Super Bowl or bust for Sean McDermott. He is the fourth longest tenured head coach and the three who were hired before him, Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, and Mike Tomlin have all won the Super Bowl. Putting this game in Week 17 was a really poor choice by the NFL schedulers. The Bills have wrapped up the AFC East before Week 17 three times in the past five seasons; they should do it again this year. The NFC East has been far more competitive, and the Eagles face a potentially brutal schedule, but it shouldn’t be a shock if both these teams are pretty much locked in on their playoff seeding at kickoff. This game could have had a lot more juice earlier in the season, even by just a few weeks.

Eagles Anti-All Quarter Century team – PhillyVoice
WR: Jalen Reagor, Miles Austin, Riley Cooper. I remember during the 2020 NFL Draft, Justin Jefferson somehow fell into the Eagles’ laps at pick 21. While the Eagles were on the clock, I can remember furiously typing up the pick, as if it was going to be Jefferson, as he was pretty clearly the best player available, and at an obvious position of need for the Eagles. Instead they selected Reagor, a pick that was widely panned at the time, and aged even worse. The Eagles thought Jefferson was a high volume slot receiver, and they wanted a field-stretching outside receiver. As it turned out, Jefferson could do pretty much everything, and Reagor basically nothing. That will go down as one of their worst ever draft selections.

Spadaro: Eagles have an enviable situation along offensive line – PE.com
In a league that places the highest priority on unearthing offensive line talent to develop, the Eagles have the ideal situation. They have four of five starters – all Pro Bowl players – signed for seasons to come. They have great competition for the open starting right guard job, including young veteran Tyler Steen, who has played very well when on the field in his two Eagles seasons; former first-round draft pick Kenyon Green; and versatile veteran Matt Pryor, who has six seasons, 92 games played and 39 starts in his NFL career. Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland leads the charge, working his players daily with love and intensity, urging them all to improve piece by piece, inch by inch. As it stands now, there are few, if any, teams that can match up with what the Eagles have in the offensive trenches.

Daily Slop – 7 July 25 – ESPN predicts a falloff in Terry McLaurin’s receiving production in ‘25 – Hogs Haven
“McLaurin hauled in 13 TDs (second most among WRs) in 2024 after totaling 24 during his first five seasons. He handled 14 end zone targets (tied for eighth in the league) and caught a league-high 10 of them, which is impressive but also unsustainable. McLaurin has finished exactly 19th at the position in targets three seasons in a row and has never finished higher than 15th in catches. He’ll need more volume to repeat his big TD total.”

Dallas Cowboys WR KaVontae Turpin arrested Sunday morning on two misdemeanor charges – Blogging The Boys
Word began to circulate on Sunday morning that Dallas Cowboys wide receiver KaVontae Turpin was arrested. It was confirmed by Joe Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News that this was in fact the case. Turpin was reportedly booked for two misdemeanors in possession of marijuana (less than two ounces) and unlawful carrying of a weapon. It goes without saying that this is not ideal for any player on the Cowboys. With regards to Turpin specifically, it should be noted that this is not his first off-the-field issue. While playing at TCU he was arrested on assault charges. This led to his dismissal from the team.

3 keys to a successful season for the New York Giants – Big Blue View
Other than quarterback, where Russell Wilson will start with veteran Jameis Winston backing him up and rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart waiting for an inevitable call to action, Skattebo — as a rotational running back — is the only offensive newcomer expected to play regularly. Does Wilson, with help from a vastly-improved — on paper — defense, still have enough left to push the Giants from last season’s 16.1 points per game to a middle-of-the-pack 22 or 23 ppg? If not, does the wildly erratic Winston have the ability to do that? If they end up turning to him, what will the Giants get from Dart in his rookie season? Not every rookie quarterback begins his career the way C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans or Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders did during the past two seasons. Some begin the way Eli Manning did in 2004, going 1-6 as a starter and completing an Anthony Richardson-esque 48.2% of his passes. The Giants, with one of the worst offenses in football the past two seasons, have bet big that the quarterback was the problem. If they are going to be successful in 2025, they better be right.

NFL trivia: Your in-5 daily game, Monday edition – SB Nation
We’re back for another day of the SB Nation in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.