Jacksonville Jaguars: Comparing Nick Foles’ current situation to his Eagles championship team

Wide Receivers

The main difference between the 2017 Eagles receiving corps and that of the current Jaguars is legitimate NFL experience. The Eagles had Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith starting at receiver for Super Bowl LII. Jeffery was in his sixth season and had made a Pro Bowl already in his career, while Smith was playing his seventh season for his third different team.

The Jacksonville Jaguars receivers are rather young and inexperienced. The lone “veteran” receiver in the starting line up is Marqise Lee, who made his NFL debut in 2014. The other main receivers for Jacksonville this season, Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook and D.J. Chark, all have two years or less in the league and will be looking for a breakout season with their new quarterback.

The Eagles had a similar player in 2017 in Nelson Agholor. Agholor struggled mightily his first two seasons in the NFL but flourished during the Super Bowl run with Wentz and Foles. The Jags will hope that one of their young receivers has a similar breakthrough, and can become a reliable target for their new franchise quarterback.

Running Backs

Unlike in Philadelphia, Foles is slated to have a true workhorse running back in Jacksonville with Leonard Fournette. That is assuming he is able to stay healthy and stay on the field, which has been a struggle for the third-year back, who played in only eight games a season ago.

Fournette proved during his rookie season in 2017 that he was productive as a lead back, rushing for over 1,000 yards. The Jags brought in a couple of backs in free agency in Alfred Blue and Thomas Rawls this offseason, but will undoubtedly look for Fournette to return the form that he displayed his rookie season.

Foles lacked a true workhorse back in his Super Bowl season with the Eagles but had much better depth at the position. LeGarrette Blount started 11 games for Philly that season but did not produce enough to become the true lead back, causing the Eagles to make a move.

Philadelphia gave a fourth-round pick to Miami to acquire running back Jay Ajayi in the middle of the season and added him to the fold that already contained Blount, as well as young contributors Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement.