Eagles 2024 Midseason Awards
The NFL season is halfway over and the Philadelphia Eagles are 6-2. It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for the Eagles, but Nick Sirianni has his team on a four-game win streak and in second place in the NFC East heading into Week 10.
Vic Fangio and the defense deserve a ton of credit for turning the season around and playing like a professional defense. It wasn’t pretty through the first four weeks. The offense has dealt with injuries, but the unit has proven to have elite potential heading into the second half of the season. Who deserves a midseason award for the Eagles through Week 9?
Eagles Midseason Rookie Of The Year
The Eagles made eight picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Seven have played in regular season action, whether on offense, defense or special teams. The only draft pick not to appear in a regular season game through Week 9 is fifth-round offensive guard Trevor Keegan.
The rookie who has made the biggest impact is cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. The Toledo product has lived up to the hype of being the 22nd overall pick in the draft. Mitchell impressed the coaching staff and his teammates from day one. He earned a starting cornerback spot, and is playing at an elite level.
Mitchell has been targeted 39 times, and has allowed just 21 completions for only 260 yards. The 23-year-old has allowed an impressively low 74.7 passer rating when targeted, and has yet to allow a touchdown through eight games to begin his NFL career. More importantly, he’s a good tackler. He’s missed only two tackles all year.
Mitchell has had to line up against superstar receivers such as Chris Olave, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, Malik Nabers and Ja’Marr Chase. He held his own against each of them, and has already proven to be a lockdown corner in this league. Mitchell gets the fake award here, but he’ll be in the conversation for the real Defensive Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season.
Eagles Midseason Defensive Player Of The Year
The defense has stepped up after a shaky start to the season. Many guys deserve recognition, but one has stood out the most through the Eagles’ first eight games. Zack Baun has cemented himself as one of the best linebackers in the league in 2024. The former New Orleans Saint has been a pleasant surprise since signing with the Eagles on a one-year deal before the season.
Baun never panned out for the Saints in his four years there to begin his career. Howie Roseman took a chance on the former third-round pick, which worked out well for him. Baun made a name for himself in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers. The 27-year-old made 15 tackles and recorded two sacks. He was all over the field once again in the Week 9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Baun made 10 tackles, had two passes defended, and made a diving interception.
Baun has been targeted 36 times in coverage and has yet to allow a touchdown. He has a career-low 72.6 passer rating allowed when targeted. He has a career-high 79 tackles, good for the 10th most tackles in the NFL.
Eagles Midseason Offensive Player Of The Year
Determining the Eagles’ offensive player of the year through Week 9 is a toss-up. Outside of exceptional offensive line play, two players deserve this midseason award. Quarterback Jalen Hurts turned his season around after a shaky start before the bye week, and running back Saquon Barkley has been nothing short of dominant in his first season with the Eagles. Hurts gets this award.
Hurts started the season on the hot seat. People were wondering where the player who finished second in MVP voting in 2022 was. He had 930 passing yards, a 68 completion percentage, four passing touchdowns, and two rushing touchdowns through the first four games of 2024. More alarmingly, he threw four interceptions, lost three fumbles and was sacked 13 times. The Eagles had a 2-2 record at the time heading into a much-needed bye week.
Hurts found a new gear coming out of the bye week. The fifth-year quarterback has 844 passing yards, a 72 completion percentage, six passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns in the last four games. He’s had a passer rating over 119 in each of those contests. More importantly, Hurts has been able to protect the football during this four-game win streak. He has zero turnovers and has been sacked only eight times.
The Eagles are a much better team when No. 1 is protecting the football and making smart decisions. Hurts has done just that in the last four games, and has the Eagles flying high again.
Eagles Midseason MVP
There’s nobody more deserving than Barkley to be crowned as the Eagles midseason MVP. It’s not a secret how talented the former second overall pick is. The question was, if he could stay healthy for a full season. The former Penn State Nittany Lion dealt with his share of injuries throughout his six-year career with the New York Giants.
The NFL world couldn’t wait to see what a healthy Barkley could do behind an elite Eagles offensive line. Everyone except the Giants organization and their fans. Barkley hasn’t disappointed. The 27-year-old has 925 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns through eight games in 2024. He’s the league’s second-leading rusher, behind Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, and is averaging a career-best 5.9 yards per carry, and 115.6 rushing yards per game.
Barkley is already over 1,000 scrimmage yards for the season, and has two receiving touchdowns. He has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week three times so far in 2024, and has a legitimate shot to win the Offensive Player of the Year award at the end of the season, if he keeps this up. His one blemish this year, was a dropped pass at the end of the game against the Atlanta Falcons. A catch would’ve been the winning touchdown in Week 2, and the Eagles would be 7-1 right now. .
Barkley has been better than advertised. It’s hard to imagine where the Eagles would be without him. He’s a human highlight reel, as the world saw with his backward hurdle over a Jaguars defender in Week 9. Giants fans aren’t happy to see his success with their division rival, but Eagles fans are on cloud nine with Barkley repping the midnight green.
Wrapping It Up
The Eagles look like one of the top teams in the NFC through the midway point of the 2024 season. If they can stay relatively healthy, and keep playing like they have over the last four weeks, the future is bright for the Eagles in the second half of the season. The main hurdle holding them back is their head coach’s head-scratching year. Sirianni needs to make adjustments to help lead the Eagles to the promised land.