“Dallas’s Trash Is Philadelphia’s Treasure”: Jalen Hurts Sent Warning Shots by Ryan Clark, Kellen Moore Questioned After Uneven Offseason

Like many NFL teams, the Philadelphia Eagles also have a lot of eyes on them. After relying on disastrous offensive schemes last year, the team decided to get not only a new running back, but also a new offensive coordinator. That’s right, the Birds now have Saquon Barkley and Kellen Moore on the offense. But Ryan Clark doesn’t see how that makes any difference when it comes to helping Jalen Hurts.

Ryan Clark took over a segment of NFL’s Get Up and expressed his opinion on what these changes mean for the previously stale Eagles’ offense. While there’s no doubt about Saquon Barkley being one of the best running backs in the league presently, Clark has doubts about the Eagles reaching the Super Bowl with Kellen Moore calling the plays.

Damien Woody of the show pointed out how Moore might be “able to provide Jalen Hurts with a lot of answers to the test,” and added, “Clearly when you watch this Philadelphia team on offense last year they were very ordinary, very stagnant, they didn’t have a lot of answers..”

But Woody’s assessment forced Ryan Clark to quip about the Eagles situation with Kellen Moore in charge of the offense. “Well, I guess Dallas’ trash is Philadelphia’s treasure,” said Ryan Clark in reply to Damien Woody. Moore spent 1 year as the Cowboys QB coach and the next 4 years as the Cowboys offensive coordinator and finished his Cowboys OC tenure with a 38-28 record before moving on to the Los Angeles Chargers.

But before diving into what Kellen Moore is exactly changing in the Eagles, it’s necessary to understand what happened last year. Heavily relying on tush-push and Jake Elliott’s kicking skills, the Eagles were able to stay afloat till the moment they saw Tampa Bay Buccaneers in last season’s wild card, losing by 32-8. Though Hurts had a broken finger in that game, there have been concerns with team’s offense throughout the season.

The Eagles saw a 10% decline in their EPA (expected points added). They went from generating 31.1 EPA at the start of 2022 season to negative (-13.9) in 2023, which ranked dead last in the NFL. Also, Jalen Hurts’ quarterback rating went from 121.1 (first in the league) to 78.8 (30in the league). Not to mention team’s constant failure of scoring touchdowns in the end zone. It was monumentally bad.

The team unequivocally struggled with getting downs in the end zone. They ranked 20 on first downs, 27 on second downs, 28 on third downs and 29 inside the 20-yard line, averaging 1.7 yards per play. But can they fix it this season? What is Kellen Moore doing to revive their dwindling offense?

A new Jalen Hurts under Kellen Moore

So, what’s the big deal this year? Reportedly, the Eagles have changed about 95% of their play executions. Note: They didn’t change the plays, but rather how it’s being executed. For Jalen Hurts, this has been a huge learning curve since he’s played with different offensive coordinators throughout his time in the Eagles. Hurts described it as a “fun” process.

“It’s been a lot of new inventory in, the majority of it, probably 95 percent of it being new,” said the quarterback. “And so, it’s just been that process. It’s been a fun process because you get to see what works for other people. And the number of coaches that I’ve had since I’ve been here, I’ve been able to take in a lot of new knowledge and new understanding.”

But how long can he keep changing plays or modifying them? So far, it has led them to nothing but confusion. It was apparent last year when Jason Kelce threw a tantrum on live TV. But Kelce isn’t here, and neither are the old play calling tactics of Brian Johnson.

Nick Sirianni, the Eagles HC explained what exactly the team’s approach to handling offense this year is. “Even though we might be running a similar play, his progression maybe a little different,” the coach said. “The way a route detail is taught as far as, hey, this has to happen on this play, that might be a little different. There’s naturally going to be differences in everybody’s offense.”

Hurts has worked with Shane Steichen, Brian Johnson and now it’s Kellen Moore. The Eagles have left no stone unturned in their off season. They paid their receiver, got a running back, got a new OC in Kellen Moore and finished it off with a new DC Vic Fangio. With all these changes, do you think that Eagles will have a successful season this year?