QB Friendly Coach Is Key To Eagles Season

New Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has been tasked with fixing the Eagles against the blitz.

Eagles OC Kellen Moore / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

Typically, it's the coach and quarterback who are in the eye of the hurricane when it comes to accountability in the NFL. In Philadelphia, you may want to include GM Howie Roseman and expand to a triumvirate because of the GM's personnel power.

Standing off to the side of that as the Eagles prepare to kick off the 2024 season in Sao Paulo, Brazil against the Green Bay Packers is arguably the most important member of the organization in the wake of last season's historic collapse: new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

The headline with Moore is the low-hanging fruit of motion or perhaps his willingness to use more play-action, along with his reputation of scheming receivers open by using bunch formations or moving pieces.

That's the sizzle of the needed pendulum effect from last season's increasingly static offense.

“Motion, some of it is just distraction pieces, eye candy so to speak,” Moore admitted. “... There’s a balancing act between motioning and shifting and tempo and all these different things of when to use it to your advantage and when to just play ball.”

The substance of Moore's job description after being hired by Sirianni was obvious: fix Jalen Hurts' issues against the blitz something everyone in Philadelphia knows is coming starting Friday night against the Packers.

"I think teams are gonna look at last year's film and until we stop [the blitz] I think those things are going to keep coming," All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson bluntly assessed.

Moore's work has been prepared behind closed doors since the spring, an effort to hand more autonomy to Hurts in the post-Jason Kelce era while making sure the fourth-year starting quarterback is up to speed for what's coming.

It will be Hurts' job in the moment to identify the blitz, communicate protection calls with the aid of center Cam Jurgens, and alert receivers to who is hot on a particular look.

Too often the default was bubble screen last season as the Eagles' season eroded as did Hurts' self-described "eagerness to learn."

Moore, meanwhile, has his own skin in the game with this being his third OC job with three different teams over three seasons.

There's plenty of context to that shuffle starting with Mike McCarthy's self-preservation decision to seize offensive power in Dallas and Moore then hitching his wagon to Brandon Statley, a coach with one foot out in the door with the Los Angeles Chargers.

A failed season by Moore in Philadelphia would likely mean Sirianni is out and a new coach who would more than likely want a clean slate that might include Jeff Stoutland and little else.

There are no obvious excuses either.

Roseman added to the already daunting list of playmakers by bringing in supplemental players whose talent is only trumped by their reputations, deserved or not, including running back Saquon Barkley and WR3 Jahan Dotson.

The New York Giants spent six seasons building the foundation of their offense on Barkley, who will be the third or fourth option in Philadelphia, while Washington used the 16th overall pick on Dotson in the 2022 NFL Draft as a potential difference-maker who will now get only the occasional nod when it comes to progressions in the passing game.

“We’re just excited about the pieces that we have, excited about the coaches that we have,” Sirianni said. “We’re excited to go rip it.”

With Kelce off pitching everything from cereal to buffalo wings and hotel rooms, Hurts reverted to "sponge mode” when Moore arrived with his consigliere, quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier.

“I’ve just really been an open ear to the guidance of my coaches,” Hurts said.

Sirianni is proud of what his offense had accomplished over three straight postseason berths and an NFC championship. The head coach was also aware things got stagnant and Hurts needed a new voice.

Sirianni never questioned Hurts' willingness to grind, however.

"Ever since I've been here, Jalen has been all win, trying to do everything he can do to win," Sirianni said. "To say it's been more -- like he's done everything every year, 2021, '22, '23, he's done everything he can do to help this football team win and put every bit of his heart and soul into it.

"I see the same Jalen, a guy that's working his butt off to help us win this first game, working his butt off to make sure the team is in a good position, and that he's playing his best ball, because we know we need him to play good football for us to have a chance week in, week out."

A receiver is his own playing days, Sirianni has coached QBs in the past but he's never played the position. Moore was a QB at the NFL level and played the position at a very high level in college at Boise State.

Moore understands firsthand what QBs need to identify the blitz and the tools to combat pressure.

"I think every quarterback, at least a lot of the ones I'm familiar with, you go through a process as you grow and mature and get exposed to a lot of football," said Moore. "Jalen is obviously on that path. ... Any quarterback, they have a great feel for what all 11 responsibilities are on the field, so they understand the adjustments that could be made and the tools that we can utilize. So we're continuing to try and build that within the game plans that gives [Hurts] the ability to make those adjustments when we see that they can help us, benefit us in any way."

And if Hurts is truly the sponge he described the Eagles' offense could be in for a special season.

"[Moore] understands situations from a quarterback's perspective," a former NFC coach told Eagles on SI when asked about the OC. "You'll see the play-action stuff and tempo limit blitzing opportunities as much as possible and then he will give the QB the tools they need to succeed whether it's getting the play call in quickly so there's time to survey the defense or making sure the hots are easily identifiable.

"Quarterback friendly is one of those terms thrown around," the former coach continued. "I don't know what it even means but [Moore is] friendly to the position because he knows what quarterbacks want in the moment."

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