Dallas Goedert at Ground Zero on Eve of Season of Expectations

Much is expected of Philadelphia's talented tight end and appears poised to deliver

PHILADELPHIA - Expectations have reached a fevered pitch for the Eagles on the eve of Sunday’s opener in Detroit and Dallas Goedert might be at the top of the list when it comes to individual player forecasts.

The fifth-year tight end is already regarded as one of the NFL’s best at his position and now the numbers are expected to follow after the acquisition of a true WR1 in A.J. Brown along with the presumed development of quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Nick Sirianni offense in Year No. 2.

Goedert “loves the sound,” of a 1,000-yard season but also realizes that the number in the left-handed column trumps all others, so his goals within the offense are more esoteric.

“If I could have 200 catches, 2,000 yards, that would be an ideal year for me, but that’s not always possible,” Goedert said this week. “ For me, I care about my catch percentage, stuff like that. Anytime Jalen (Hurts) needs somewhere to go, I want to be that guy for him and whatever I can do to help the team win, whether it’s catching the ball, blocking.

“I’m down to do it all.”

Goedert does sense opportunity with opposing defenses presumably game-planning to stop Brown first, however.

“We haven’t been able to play with each other against a defense long enough to get a really full feel for it,” Goedert said when asked about Brown’s presence. “But I’m excited to go out there and see what we can do, watch him be the physical specimen that he is.”

Because so much is expected of Goedert he’s very in tune with what’s expected of the entire team.

In recent weeks the Eagles have seemed to morph from potential contenders in the NFC East to a legitimate Super Bowl threat, something bolstered even further when the reigning champs, the Los Angeles Rams, laid an egg on Thursday night against Buffalo.

“I think every year I’ve been here we’ve had high expectations,” Goedert said. “Probably the years we had the highest expectations have been our worst year and the lowest expectations have been up there near the best. 

"It’s really just about coming in here and getting better each and every day, taking it week by week, and not looking too far into the future.”

And that means a Lions team coming off a 3-win season in which one of its many losses was a 44-6 drubbing at the hands of the Eagles at Ford Field on Halloween, the demarcation line between Philadelphia’s poor start in 2021 and the run toward the postseason.

Calling Sunday a trap game might be a bit much, but Goedert wants everyone to know any expectation starts with the first step.

“You can’t look at last year too much. We have a new team, they have a new team,” the star TE said. "The biggest thing is they’re going to be ready to go. They had a tough year last year, they’re hungry for more this year.

“They were on 'Hard Knocks,' all that stuff. They’ll be ready to go. It’s Week 1, opening in Detroit, they have a lot to prove this year. We know it’s going to be a battle. We have to go in there, keep our head down, keep that dawg mentality, knowing that not every play is going to be perfect, but get ready for the next one."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen