A look at Eagles throughout history who’ve tried to replace a legend originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Cam Jurgens is the heir apparent to future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce, and Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis are the successors to possible Hall of Famer Fletcher Cox.
The Eagles used the draft to prepare for the retirements of both Kelce and Cox after the 2023 season, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to handle the job.
It’s not easy following a legend, and although Jurgens was hand-picked by Kelce as his replacement and played well at right guard last year and Carter and Davis have both shown signs of dominance at times, it remains to be seen whether they are the long-term answers replacing two all-time Eagles in the middle of the offensive and defensive lines.
With that in mind, we thought we’d take a look at how the Eagles have fared over the years replacing their biggest stars. Some big-time success stories here and some disasters. Let’s take a look:
Steve Van Buren [final year with Eagles 1951]: Not only was Steve Van Buren the leading rusher in NFL history when he retired, he had 1,700 more yards than anybody else. And his 69 rushing TDs were almost twice the next-most in history – Dutch Clark had 36. How do you replace that? You don’t. The Eagles’ leading rusher in 1952 was an undrafted 23-year-old Marine from Hershey named John Huzvar, who ran for 349 yards and a 3.3 average in his one year in Philly, and the Eagles had a different leading rusher every year from 1951 through 1957 as they tried to figure the position out. They finally got somewhat settled with Billy Ray Barnes, a 1957 2nd-round pick from Wake Forest who made Pro Bowls in each of his first three seasons. But can you believe that after Van Buren in 1949, the Eagles didn’t have another 1,000-yard rusher until Wilbert Montgomery in 1978?
Chuck Bednarik [final year with Eagles 1962]: The legendary Bednarik retired at 37 after eight Pro Bowls and six 1st-team…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/look-eagles-throughout-history-whove-204727068.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-05-20 20:47:27
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