Inside The Eagles' Developmental Process

From designated periods to Saturday meetings, the Eagles' developmental program has excelled under the stewardship of Connor Barwin.

Former Eagles edge rusher Connor Barwin is now the team's head of football development and strategy. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA -  With no way to move up or down the NFC playoff seedings the Philadelphia Eagles listed quarterback Jalen Hurts as out for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the New York Giants and 10 more key contributors as doubtful.

The plan is to rest as many important pieces as possible in advance of a Wild Card Weekend matchup with either the Green Bay Packers or the Washington Commanders.

That means Sunday’s game with the Giants will be crucial for the development of the younger players, something that is always going on behind the scenes at the NovaCare Complex.

The man in charge of the Eagles’ developmental program these days is Connor Barwin, once a Pro Bowl edge rusher for the team who has climbed the ladder in the organization to become the team’s head of football development and strategy,

One of Barwin’s duties under that umbrella is running Nick Sirianni’s developmental program.

Against the Giants, you’re likely going to see Tanner McKee handing the football to Will Shipley and throwing it to Johnny Wilson, Ainias Smith, and E.J. Jenkins. Tyler Steen and Darian Kinnard will be among those protecting McKee.

On the defensive side expect to see Jalyx Hunt rushing the passer a lot as Moro Ojomo tries to push the pocket. Rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr. figures to get extended playing time at linebacker and Kelee Ringo, Tristin McCollum, and Sydney Brown will be attempting to make things difficult for Giants QB Drew Lock.

“He's been outstanding,” Sirianni said when asked by Philadelphia Eagles On Si about Barwin.”Really always enjoy my interactions with him. Have a lot of interactions with him. Gives me great perspective on different things.

“I lean on him a lot on different things as a former player. And I do that same thing with [Wide Receivers Coach] Aaron Moorehead, tapping into that. ‘Hey, what would you think here as a former player?’”

Along with that player-centric understanding is Barwin’s desire to help younger players. 

“It's good having that [playing] perspective, and Connor is so committed to, how do we continue to help guys get better. Which speaks the same language as I do," said Sirianni.

“That's why we have so many good conversations about it. [I] Really value his opinion. Really value his insight. Really value him in this organization.”

Sirianni’s commitment to always carving out time for down-roster players can be traced back to his time as the offensive coordinator for Frank Reich in Indianapolis.

“We did that some in Indy. … That was big with Frank," the coach said.

And Reich got much of that as the OC under Doug Pederson in Philadelphia when Duce Staley was tasked with running the developmental program. The whole thing has come full circle.

“They had done that before I got [to Philadelphia] as well, so it was good when we meshed those things together,” said Sirianni. “It's just so important. When you're on the scout team and you're not getting a lot of the reps with the starters, then you don't rep your plays, right? You're doing what a card says."

Mental reps can only take you so far.

“It's a lot different running a play when you hear it in the huddle and have to go process it and go do it, one of our plays, as opposed to looking at a card [that says], ‘Do this.’ It's just different,” Sirianni said.

To do that reps have to be allocated to everyone even though the deep reserves spend more time on the scout team. 

“We’ve got to try to put them in positions to develop,” Sirianni said. “Like I've said to you guys, one thing I learned really early on, it was college, was recruit, retain, develop. Very early on from [former Mount Union Head] Coach [Larry] Kehres.

“In the NFL, that's the same deal, right? Scouting takes the place of recruiting, and [General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff do a great job of that, as you can see by our roster.

“Then our job is to develop them into [the] players that they're capable of being. That's their job as well. That's why you look for certain things that really matter to the development.”

The goal is to find unique avenues to make everyone better from 1 down to 53 and the practice squad.

“You just try to continue to find ways to do different things to develop them,” Sirianni said. “From extra meetings – don't want to give away everything we do, but another thing we do is every Friday or Saturday, at the discretion of the position coach, there is an extra meeting also with just the scout team player to go through your reps at practice as well, both from the scout team and from the developmental periods.”

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