Roob's Observations: Can Someone Explain Why The Eagles Need A New Stadium?

Roob's Observations: Can someone explain why the Eagles need a new stadium? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Do the Eagles really need a new stadium? Do the Eagles have enough at safety? And if Jalen Hurts has this many issues, how does he keep getting to Super Bowls?

We have questions and we have answers in this week’s Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Offseason Observations.

And can you believe how fast the offseason is flying by? The draft is in just 18 days, training camp is just 3 ½ months away and the season opener is in five months. And the next Roob’s Obs is only a week away!

WHY DO THE EAGLES NEED A NEW STADIUM?  It was weird hearing Jeff Lurie speak Sunday about starting the process of researching what a new Eagles stadium might look like. The Eagles don’t need a new stadium. This will be the Eagles’ 24^th year at the Linc, and unlike the 24^th year of the Vet – which was 1994 – it’s in impeccable shape, beautifully maintained, offering all the amenities fans could ever need. Lurie said, “We want to maximize fan amenities and attract the best possible environment for Philadelphia.” They already have that. What could they possibly improve on? Sight lines are great, concessions are fine, the concourses are nice and wide, there are elevators and escalators everywhere, parking isn’t ideal but it’s good enough. Are we really going to spend $10 billion just to add a few more suites for rich people and a retractable roof that we don’t need so everything costs more? If this is all about trying to lure a Super Bowl to Philly, who cares? We don’t need a Super Bowl. How does it serve Eagles fans to spend $10 billion to have the Chiefs and Seahawks playing in South Philly? And if the Eagles happen to be in the Super Bowl when it’s in Philly, that’s great, but it won’t make it any easier for Eagles fans to get tickets. Really, I don’t understand any of this. The Linc is just fine. 

IT WASN’T JUST JALEN: I thought it was important last year that every time I mentioned Kevin Patullo’s struggles as a play caller, I made it clear he wasn’t the entire problem. It was Patullo, it was overall offensive predictability and a lack of imagination, it was injuries and sub-par play on the offensive line, it was an inconsistent running game much of the season, it was A.J. Brown’s distractions and at times it was Jalen Hurts as well. It was a little bit of everything, and anybody who tries to pin the Eagles’ offensive issues in 2025 on any one person or one thing was just not paying attention. It was a group effort. That was obvious. That, and I would never consider a Super Bowl MVP quarterback who has strong feelings about what the offense should look like a negative. Don’t we want a decisive, strong-willed guy running the show? Would you prefer a quarterback that doesn’t have strong opinions about what plays he’s running? Also, it strikes me as really shady for anybody who has a Super Bowl ring thanks largely to Jalen Hurts to criticize him. He’s not good enough for you? Give the darn ring back. That’s all I’ve got on that.

CRUSHING IT VS. WINNING TEAMS: The Eagles have by far the best record vs. winning teams in the NFL since 2021, Nick Sirianni’s first season. At 25-16 vs. winning teams over the last five years, they’re one of only three teams that’s over .500. Their .610 winning percentage vs. winning teams is by far the highest in the NFL during that span. The Chiefs (24-20, .546) and Bills (20-16, .556) also have winning records. Their .610 winning percentage is highest by an NFC team vs. winning teams in any five-year span since the Rams went 16-10 (.615) from 1999 through 2003. 

DO EAGLES NEED MORE AT SAFETY? As it stands now, Marcus Epps and Drew Mukuba are the projected starting safeties, and that’s a bit of a precarious tandem. Mukuba was okay in 10 starts last year before he tore his ACL in Dallas in Week 11, and Epps was OK in five starts after Mukuba got hurt and Sydney Brown didn’t work out. But they both were playing across from Reed Blankenship, an established consistent veteran safety, which made their life easier. Now Blankenship is a Texan, and an Epps-Mukuba tandem raises the question whether they can function productively as a duo without Blankenship in the mix. There will likely also be a rookie draft pick in the mix, and maybe he’ll be good enough to compete for a starting spot. Mukuba did as a rookie 2^nd-round pick. But it’s clearly a position that carries some big question marks. Before Blankenship there was Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins so you really have to go back to 2013, when Nate Allen and Patrick Chung were the starters, to find a safety combo that was this concerning. 

THE OLDEST AND YOUNGEST: The oldest Eagle with a rushing touchdown is Ollie Matson, who was 36 years, 231 days, when he had a four-yard TD in the Eagles’ 37-28 win over Washington at District of Columbia Stadium (later RFK) in 1966. The youngest is Allie Sherman, who was 20 years, 241 days, when he had a four-yard rushing TD in the Eagles’ (actually the Steagles’) 28-14 win over the Giants at Shibe Park in 1943. Eighteen years later, Sherman became head coach of the Giants. The oldest Eagles QB to throw a touchdown pass was Sam Baker, who was 38 years, 336 days, when he threw a 58-yard TD pass to John Mallory in the Eagles’ 34-14 loss to the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl in 1968. The youngest was Sherman, who was 20 years, 256 days, when he threw a 4-yard TD to Ben Kish in a 42-14 loss to the Giants in 1943 at the Polo Grounds. Oldest Eagle with a TD catch is Matson, who was 36 years, 203 days, when he had a four-yard TD catch from King Hill in the Eagles’ 35-34 win over the 49ers at Kezar Stadium in 1966. The youngest was Jeremy Maclin, who was 21 years, 153 days, when he caught 40- and 51-yard TDs from Donovan McNabb in a 33-14 win over the Bucs at the Linc in 2009. Maclin is the 2^nd-youngest player in NFL history with two 40-yard TDs in the same game. Donte Moncrief of the Colts was 21 years, 116 days, when he had 48- and 79-yard TDs from Andrew Luck in the Colts’ 49-27 win over Washington at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2014. 

JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: Jalen Hurts is one of only six quarterbacks in NFL history to take five teams to the playoffs before his 28^thbirthday. Daryle Lamonica took six teams to the playoffs before his 28^thbirthday – the Raiders twice and Bills four times. Josh Allen with the Bills, Lamar Jackson with the Ravens, Patrick Mahomes with the Chiefs and Joe Flacco with the Ravens also reached the postseason five times before turning 28. So Hurts is the first to do it with an NFC team.

CAN SAQUON BUCK THE TREND AT 29 YEARS OLD? Saquon Barkley turned 29 in February, and he’s at an age now where very few running backs have elite seasons. In Eagles history, 13 running backs have rushed for at least 1,200 yards and the oldest was Brian Westbrook, who was 28 when he ran for 1,333 yards in 2007. In NFL history, there have been 356 seasons of 1,200 rushing yards and 311 of them were by backs 28 or younger. Only 29 different RBs have rushed for 1,200 yards after turning 29, including Hall of Famers like Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton , Jim Brown and Curtis Martin. Saquon’s 1,140 yards last year were actually the 3^rd-most in Eagles history by a running back 28 or older, behind Westbrook in 2007 and Steve Van Buren in 1949, when he ran for 1,146 yards at 29. I fully expect Barkley to have a bounce-back season in Sean Mannion’s offense in 2026, especially if Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens can stay healthy. I think somewhere in the 1,500-yard range is realistic. He will be fighting some overwhelming analytics, but if he could rush for 1,140 last year with a banged-up offensive line in a stale offense, no reason he can’t really go off again in 2026.

DEVONTA’S CRAZY CONSISTENCY: With 916, 1,196, 1,066, 833 and 1,008 receiving yards in his first five seasons, DeVonta Smith is the first Eagles wide receiver with 800 yards in five straight seasons. And he did it in his first five seasons. DeSean Jackson and Harold Carmichael are the only other Eagles WRs who had five total 800-yard seasons in their Eagles careers. Smith is one of 19 wide receivers in NFL history with 800 or more yards in each of his first five seasons. Fourteen of them had 800 yards in their sixth season. 

WHO ARE THE FIVE SUPER BOWL MVP EAGLES? Can you name the five Super Bowl MVPs who’ve spent time with the Eagles? Two of them are easy – Jalen Hurts and Nick Foles. The others? Richard Dent was MVP of the Bears’ Super Bowl XX win over the Patriots in New Orleans after the 1985 season and finished his career with the Eagles in 1997. Mark Rypien was MVP of Washington’s 37-24 win over the Bills in Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis after the 1991 season. And Joe Flacco was MVP of the Ravens’ 34-31 win over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans and spent the first two months of 2021 with the Eagles, although he never got in a game. 

NOBODY ELSE HAS DONE THIS: The Eagles are the only NFL team to draft three 1^st-team all-pro corners over the last 25 years: Lito Sheppard in 2003 and Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell in 2024. Eleven teams haven’t drafted any all-pro corners in the last 25 years: The 49ers, Bengals, Browns, Colts, Commanders, Falcons, Giants, Packers, Rams, Saints and Steelers.