The Philadelphia Eagles are going to look a lot different in 2024 than they have in recent seasons. While the cast of players remains the same, with quarterback Jalen Hurts still leading the way, Kellen Moore is changing the look of the offense.
After spending last season with the Los Angeles Chargers, Moore was brought in by the Eagles to replace Ben Johnson. He will be third offensive coordinator in three seasons in Philadelphia, as their offense needed a facelift.
Jalen Hurts has commented on how different the offense looks during offseason workouts. He estimated that 95 percent of what they are doing is new. This new system is a blend of what Nick Sirianni was running previously and what Moore is bringing along with him.
Even the small portion of the offense that wasn’t changed feels new. As Jalen Hurts shared, some of the plays may look the same but the reads are different. Change in responsibility and some of the details have a learning curve on even the familiar parts of the offense.
“The X’s and O’s, the lines on the paper, they very well may be what they are supposed to be, but how I coach and how I detail these routes, how I coach the quarterback, what I want his timing to be, where I want him looking, where I want his eyes. Are receivers reading routes or are they not reading routes? Are there alerts on this, are there checks and adjustments built in on this or is this something the quarterback has to do? That’s what makes a system a system,” he said.
It is going to take some time for the Eagles to adjust and get up to speed with all of the changes. There is continuity within the lineup, as Hurts is surrounded by familiar faces in A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. Running back Saquon Barkley is the only real change to the skill position players.
But, the timing of things has been a little off. That is what makes these offseason practices so important as it provide the players time to make mistakes and learn from them; better to be doing that in practice in June than a game in the regular season.
One of the big changes is pre-snap motion. After being last in the NFL in that category in 2023, they will be much higher on the list in 2024. Impeccable timing and chemistry will be needed for that kind of misdirection to be successful.
