Eagles TE Dallas Goedert on balancing touches versus winning

Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert had a good first season in the NFL. His role should increase in year two, but most importantly, he has his priorities in order.

A lot is expected of Dallas Goedert in his sophomore season in the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles landed him in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft at pick 49. No, he wasn’t the first rounder. As a matter of fact, Philly didn’t have a first-round draft selection in 2018, nor did they have a third-round selection. That wasn’t really a cause for concern though.

As much as a premium is put on what teams do in the first round (and it should be), ‘The Birds’ have hit the bulls eye from time to time in the annual selection meeting’s second stanza.

Here a few names worth noting:

Zach Ertz, LeSean McCoy, L.J. Smith, Michael Lewis, Bobby Taylor, Eric Allen, Mychal Kendricks, Vinny Curry, Wes Hopkins, and, believe it or not, Randall Cunningham. Philly’s had their share of difference makers. Here’s the thing though, and this also doubles as a controversial statement. Goedert has the potential to be just as good as the guys on the list, if not better than half of them.

When the 2019 regular season kicks off, Goedert will share the field with another Eagles great the franchise found in the draft’s second round, wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Thinking of Jackson brings us all back to a thought most of us have had all offseason, all those weapons Doug Pederson will have on offense.

Recently, Goedert was asked about sharing touches with so many great skill players (keep in mind he’s not even the top tight end on Philly’s depth chart).

The second-year man, already wise beyond his years, had a response quite a few older veterans can learn from.

"Obviously, I want to be the guy that’s getting all of the touches (and) doing all (of) that, but that’s just not realistic with the team that we have., the skill players we have (and) the weapons we have. I’m just going to go out there and try my hardest. Winning is the number one thing for me. It doesn’t matter if I have the ball or if I’m blocking for somebody downfield."

Goedert, who the fans once affectionately nicknamed ‘Philly’ (his first name shares the name of a division rival), racked up 33 receptions for 334 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie.

If he’s right around those same numbers again, that will mean Philly’s spreading the ball around as most fans would hope they would. Many NFL pundits think we’ll see increases in each of Goedert’s statistical categories seeing as how he figures to play a bigger role in the offense in 2019.

The Eagles have been rolling out a lot of 12 personnel in camp, meaning they’ve had two wide receivers, two tight ends and a running back on the field. That means using a lot of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert at the same time.

Sure, Philly’s second-year tight end wants to be the guy. Most of these guys do. Heck. you should be concerned if they didn’t. Still, it’s good to know he’s got his head on straight. So far, so good at the NovaCare Complex. Clearly this team and everybody on it has their eyes on a much bigger prize than personal accolades.