Four Eagles Named In Back Half Of PFF’s 2019 Top 101 Players

Embed from Getty Images

By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

On Tuesday, Pro Football Focus released the back half of their 2019 Top 101 players list, naming all the players named 50-101.

In the back half of the list, four separate Eagles can be found – and there are sure to be more in the top half.

The first Eagle on the list is center Jason Kelce.

Kelce was once again the best center in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Make that three seasons in a row where he has been the cream of the crop at his position. Surely something for the Hall of Fame voters to take note of.

Kelce finds himself rising up the list once again as he lands at 53 this year, an improvement from his 64 rank on the 2018 list.

Kelce played every offensive snap this season and, though he took a step back in his pass blocking, maintained his dominance in the run game.

He will ponder retirement once again while the Eagle hope that he returns to maintain an elite right half of an offensive line.

For the sixth time in his career, defensive end Brandon Graham finds himself on the list.

Despite dropping 10 spots from 50 to 60, Graham remains a favorite of the analysts at Pro Football Focus for his ability to collapse the pocket and pressure quarterbacks even if he doesn’t come away with a sack.

In fact, many of Josh Sweat’s sacks in his breakout campaign this season came from Graham flushing the pocket from the other edge and forcing the quarterback to scramble into Sweat.

Over the regular season, Graham tallied a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, eight and a half sacks and 50 tackles.

The Eagles will lose Vinny Curry this offseason, but have all of their other defensive ends under contract for 2020.

The next player on the list may surprise many Eagles fans: tackle Jason Peters.

Coming in at 72, Peters was once again one of the more dominant offensive tackles in the league in 2019. He will continue to carry concerns about his health and lost step that has caused him to become more and more prone to false starts, but he is among the best when he is healthy.

PFF has just 25 pressures given up by Peters over the course of the entire season, one where he did not miss too much time.

This is Peters’ fifth time on the list and it is no surprise that 2016 was the last time he was on it as that was the last season he was able to maintain health and finish the season. What is surprising is that he actually went up from his rank of 78 in 2016.

Peters’ highest ranking was arriving at number 11 on the list in 2011.

Peters is a free agent this offseason, but wants to continue playing. With first-round pick Andre Dillard waiting in the wings, it would seem unlikely the Eagles bring Peters back unless he is willing to compete for the position at left guard.

The final member of the Eagles to make the list is a tight end, but not the one who made the list in 2018. Instead, Dallas
Goedert makes his first appearance on the list.

Goedert appears at 75 and was the last man standing in the Eagles receiving corps at times.

He caught 58 passes for 607 yards and five touchdowns in 2019, but what really earned him a place on the list is how incredibly well-rounded he has become.

The biggest knock on him when the Eagles drafted him last offseason was that he was not a good blocker and was only fit for a role as a pass catcher. In 2019, he proved that wrong.

While he doesn’t have the size, Goedert was almost an extra offensive lineman on the field this season and was among the best blockers in the league outside of those who play on the offensive line.

This was just Goedert’s second in the NFL and his improvement has been incredible, even if it was not in the areas that fans get excited to see. If he can continue to improve like that, the Eagles may have the greatest tight end combo the league has ever seen.

Pro Football Focus will continue to name numbers 1 through 49, so more Eagles may find themselves on the list. One who will certainly see himself appear on the list is Brandon Brooks, and it would be a surprise if he were not in the top 20.