Super Bowl LVII was one of the best championship games in NFL history and it happened to be between the two best teams in the league. With how the playoffs are setup, that isn’t something that you see too often. It’s a gauntlet to be able to make it to the Super Bowl and it’s even harder to win on the league’s biggest stage.
When team’s get there, you see others starting to copy the strategies of those teams, as it’s a copycat league. Both teams have laid out a blueprint on how to smartly build a team to get there. Here are five ways that the Vikings can learn from the Eagles Super Bowl appearance.
Invest in quarterback
The Eagles are the one team in the National Football League that values the quarterback position at a different level. They won the Super Bowl with Nick Foles starting due to the injury to Carson Wentz and right after signing Wentz to a large extension, they drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round.
The pick at the time seemed insane to some. Why take a developmental quarterback on day two right after signing Wentz to that extension? It’s simple. You can never have too many quality quarterbacks on your roster.
The Green Bay Packers of the 1990s were notorious for that. Despite having Brett Favre, they developed Mark Brunell and Matt Hasselbeck, both of whom they traded for multiple draft picks. The New England Patriots did that with multiple guys as well with Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett.
Making that investment is always a smart one because you never know what you will get. Skylar Thompson and Brock Purdy started playoff games this season as rookie seventh-round picks and acquitted themselves well.
Don't be complacent with skill position players
The Eagles entered the 2022 offseason with an emerging star at wide receiver in DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert as a star tight end. What they didn’t have was a true alpha on the outside. Instead of standing pat or taking another rookie, they decided to be really aggressive and go get A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans.
The addition of Brown was such that it changed the offense for the better and helped Hurts take that next step. It’s a similar strategy to what the Buffalo Bills did by getting Josh Allen wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a major trade. Having a quarterback is the first step and you finish it off by getting him top-tier weapons that helps create advantageous matchups in the open field.
Build the trenches relentlessly
While the Eagles did a great job of getting their quarterback and surrounding him with weapons, the heart and soul of this team is in the trenches. Howie Roseman is obsessed with investing in the offensive and defensive lines and it shows when you look at their roster.
The offensive line has multiple top-100 picks and they took chances on hyper athletes most notably former rugby star Jordan Mailata.
On defense, they have done the same thing. Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox and Jordan Davis are all top picks while also taking a chance on first-round talent Josh Sweat in round four due to knee issues. They also invest there in free agency. Haason Reddick was a major signing this offseason and he was excellent for the Eagles. They also massively invested in Javon Hargrave who was excellent for them over the course of his contract. They also made late-season depth signings with both Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph.
The trenches are the easiest way to play offense and defense because their success can set the table for a lot of different things you can do on both sides of the ball.
Running back by committee
The Eagles do a great job investing major amounts of money into the premium positions. Cornerback, offensive tackle, wide receiver and edge rusher are the positions that the Eagles have a massive amount of their cap dollars invested in. One position that they don’t is at running back.
We know the phrase running backs don’t matter and the Eagles subscribe to that somewhat. Instead of having one guy that they focus on, they have a stable of running backs that they rotate in and out with Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. It’s not that they don’t value talent at the position, they just don’t pay them big money.
Continuity
It’s one thing to have talent and be able to bring it in and develop, but you also need to be able to keep those players. That is one thing that the Eagles do well. Even with their coaching changes over the past few seasons, the continuity they have had, especially in the trenches,
The offensive line has stayed very consistent over the last few seasons. Mailata and Johnson have been constants at tackle and the same can be said with Jason Kelce at center.
On defense, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham have been there for what feels like forever and Josh Sweat and Javon Hargrave have been constants for the better part of the last three years. Having the same players next to you, especially in the trenches, helps immensely due to chemistry and consistency.
