Philadelphia Eagles 2020 camp profile: Can Derek Barnett finally break out?
Here are what has to be considered reasonable expectations for the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans.
At this point, everyone has to be sick of the “this is Derek Barnett’s breakout season” narrative. That’s been the tale since 2018 as, again, Philly moved on from both Michael Bennett and Chris Long, and frankly, looking back, they moved on from both a year too early. Barnett has to step up as he’s now the guy.
“96” will start on the opposite side of the defensive formation from Brandon Graham, who may be in his final season with the team. Quite frankly, this figures to be the best season of Barnett’s career, but it won’t be because of something he’s doing.
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Opposing offenses will now be tasked with trying to decide who to block between Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson, and Javon Hargrave rotating in and out of the lineup. That will make life easier for the fourth-year defensive end.
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Count on him tallying close to ten sacks. Count on an extension by Eagles vice president and general manager Howie Roseman as overreaction will ensue. We may need to admit that what we’ve seen from Barnett to this point is all that he’s capable of, but fortunately, for the next two seasons at least, he may not need to be anything special. If he just does his job on a loaded defensive line, the numbers will come. The results will take care of themselves.