Giglio: Concerned about defense, Eagles need Jalen Hurts to play at MVP level

Early takeaways from the first two Eagles Training Camp practices are in and Joe Giglio has two main ones, allowing him to come to the conclusion that Jalen Hurts needs to play at an MVP level in 2024.

Giglio's two main takeaways from Eagles Training Camp so far:

1. "Jalen Hurts looked good again...And that's important."

2. "This defense is a major work in progress."

"And that's why I believe that the Eagles need Jalen Hurts to be an MVP level player this year," Giglio said on Friday's 94WIP Midday Show with Hugh Douglas. "We all hope he's better than he was last year, we all hope he bounces back and has a really good season, I don't think that's enough. After being out there yesterday, after watching and listening to what was said about the defense in particular, I need Jalen Hurts to play at an MVP level this season for the Eagles to get to where they want to go."

New Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio addressed the media before practice on Thursday and Giglio says the most concerning thing he heard all day was that Bryce Huff is not yet ready to play every down.

“He has the talent," Fangio said when asked about Huff playing every down. "It will be a work in progress. Does it look like he can do it today? No. But I do think potentially he will.”

The Eagles signed Huff, 26, to a three-year deal this offseason worth $51 million with $34 million guaranteed, their most expensive free-agent signing.

In four seasons with the New York Jets, Huff has played on passing downs only, playing 30-percent, 51-percent, 20-percent, and 42-percent of the team's snaps respectively from 2020-2023.

In a survey of NFL personnel conducted by ESPN.com , the Eagles had zero players ranked in the top 10 at their position on defense.

The Eagles will enter 2024 with a very young and unproven defense, across the board. Their defensive line consists of a second-year promising player Jalen Carter and a third-year Jordan Davis, the latter of the two enters the season with many question marks. While the defensive ends of Huff, Josh Sweat and Milton Williams (and even veteran Brandon Graham) will have a lot of work to do in terms of getting to the quarterback one season after the Eagles finished with just 43.0 sacks, 19th in the NFL.

The projected starting linebacking core of Nakobe Dean, Devin White, and Nolan Smith may be the most worrisome position group on the team.

And in the secondary, the Eagles have undergone a major revamp. While veteran Darius Slay remains as the backbone, Fangio will have to figure out how the secondary rotation will go with Slay, rookie first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell, rookie second-round pick Cooper DeJean, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Reed Blankenship, Avonte Maddox, Isaiah Rodgers, and James Bradberry (at least for now).