Eagles beat writer Sheil Kapadia was asked to come up with a couple possible surprises in the team's starting lineup:

"It's difficult to come up with a second one, but I'll go with Zach Ertz. I know that won't "shock" anybody, but the TE situation is a fascinating one to monitor. We won't know until the season starts how much the offense misses DeSean Jackson. But if teams continue to play man coverage against the Eagles, and guys don't get open, Kelly will have to feature Ertz more. He's a superior option to Brent Celek in the passing game at this point.

"If I'm putting money down, I still say Celek starts and plays more snaps - primarily because he's a much better run blocker. But the TE situation is one to keep an eye on."

For Ertz, snaps may be the only thing standing in the way of a breakout season. Ertz averaged 2.8-32-.56 over the final nine games of the season (including the Eagles' sole playoff game) and that included two goose eggs in Week 10 and Week 14. That equates to 6.6 fantasy points per game, which is what Martellus Bennett averaged as the #10 TE in fantasy football. With Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson gone, Ertz could play a lot in the slot, though the arrival of WR Jordan Matthews may limit Ertz’s snaps there.

Eagles beat writer Geoff Mosher sees tight end Brent Celek as vet with shaky job security.

Celek turns 29 after the season and had his role changed in Chip Kelly’s offense, catching just 32 passes last year, his fewest since his second season.

Kelly drafted Zach Ertz with a high second-round pick last year. Ertz caught 36 passes for 469 yards last year and is expected to have an increased role this season.

Everyone kept waiting for the Eagles to use their TEs more last year, especially when WR Riley Cooper was struggling early on. While it never really happened, many feel this will be the year, especially for Ertz. We rank Ertz 13th among TEs. We all know by now this is a pretty top-heavy position with a lot of parity after that. Ertz is certainly among that group. But until the Eagles show they are going to use him more, he'll come with some risk.

ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski has some concerns about Eagles HC Chip Kelly's offense and QB Nick Foles heading into 2014. For one, the quarterback and the scheme will not sneak up on anyone this year.

"I will guarantee you this: every pass that he threw last year was studied and watched by 30 personnel guys with the three teams in this division.They studied Nick Foles to every possible nuance: Where is his foot when he is coming out from under center? Does his heel come up a split second before the snap? Does he flick his hand to get into position before the ball is snapped? They will study every nuance of his game on coaches tape, on television to hear his voice inflection, to see where he turns. Is the ball snapped when his head is looking downfield rather than left to right? All these things, they will have broken his game down. Nick has to make that adjustment. Now that teams have adjusted to him, does he adjust to what they do?

"It's the same thing with the system: the familiarity with the system for the Eagles is great but now all the teams are studying that system. What does Chip do? Does he take this offense to the next level?

Jaws believes Kelly only utilized about half of his playbook last year, and can use more now that the players and assistants are better versed in the scheme.

With DeSean Jackson off the roster, the former Eagles signal-caller believes that the style of attack will be altered.

"It was a vertical passing game. It was an explosive offense, big plays down the field...I think what [Kelly's] going to do instead of the vertical passing game, which was so effective last year, I think he tweaks it a little bit. I think it's going to be more of a horizontal game, sideline to sideline. Spread it that 160 feet on sideline to the other. Work in between the linebackers, maybe a safety will roll down, there's space in there. The offense might not be as explosive but it can be more efficient with that style of offense."

Both concerns (opponents studying the system and the loss of D-Jax) are valid, but Kelly seems ahead of the game scheme-wise, and the offense will compensate for the loss of Jackson by leaning on other playmakers. Darren Sproles, Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff are new arrivals, and the emergence of Zach Ertz should not be overlooked. We believe that Foles has top 5 potential in 2014.

Eagles RB LeSean McCoy on QB Nick Foles:

"Nick, he wants to play, he wants to get better," McCoy said, via CSNPhilly.com. "He’s playing lights-out even in camp, but he still wants to be at a higher level. He’s at that peak where people know him like, ‘Man, this Foles, is he that good?’ Because you see the stats, you see the numbers. I think this is the year he blows ‘em out like, ‘Yeah, I’m Nick Foles. I’m Philadelphia’s quarterback. I’m the guy.’ And this is the year he blows it away."

Foles posted the #3 PPG in 2013 and in 11 starts (including the playoffs) he averaged 23.1 FP, which was second only to Peyton Manning. DeSean Jackson is gone, but the return of Jeremy Maclin, the arrival of Darren Sproles and Jordan Matthews and the likely emergence of Zach Ertz should offset that loss. The only other question mark is his limited body of work. Sometimes quarterbacks take a step back in their second year as a starter — it’s also Chip Kelly’s second year as head coach — though Foles played at such a high level that even with a step back, he should still be a solid QB1.

It makes sense for Eagles HC Chip Kelly right now to get as many snaps for his receivers as he can. But when the season starts Sept. 7 against the Jags, Kelly’s most experienced (and therefore most reliable) offense will feature Brent Celek and Zach Ertz. I would anticipate that two tight-end offensive packages will be the bread and butter of the Eagles’ attack earlier in the season until Jordan Matthews is ready to see an uptick in playing time.

Last year, Kelly went with experience over upside when he designed his offense around three-wide formations featuring DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper and Jason Avant, with Celek at tight end. Even though he used the 34th overall pick on Ertz, Kelly gradually eased the rookie tight end into the offense and didn’t feature more two tight-end formations until later in the season.

The same thinking can be applied be applied to the start of this season, with Kelly using Celek and Ertz more at the start of the year until Matthews and Josh Huff are ready.

Ertz averaged 2.8-32-.56 over the final nine games of the season (including the Eagles' sole playoff game) and that included two goose eggs in Week 10 and Week 14. That equates to 6.6 fantasy points per game, which is what Martellus Bennett averaged as the #10 TE in fantasy football. With Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson gone, Ertz could play a lot in the slot, though the arrival of WR Jordan Matthews may limit Ertz’s snaps there. If he can take a step forward in the blocking department, it will help his overall fantasy outlook.

Between Darren Sproles, LeSean McCoy, Jordan Matthews, Jeremy Maclin, Riley Cooper and tight ends Zach Ertz and Brent Celek, there will be enough pass-run options within this offense to keep opponents honest, and the Eagles figure to be better in short-yardage situations.

Look for them to play their "12" personnel package (two tight ends) more as well.

The two-TE package is important for Ertz who may not be able to beat out Celek for in-line TE duties.

Eagles beat writer Geoff Mosher on Nick Foles's newfound arm strength: "Nick Foles had some zip on his fastball. He made a few throws that spiraled tighter than I’m accustomed to seeing from him. On one deep pass in team drills, he fired a laser to Maclin down the right side despite tight coverage from Bradley Fletcher. Maclin almost came up with the catch, but the ball bounced off his fingertips as he nearly sprawled. Earlier, Foles found Maclin down the left seam in a zone between Connor Barwin and Nate Allen. Just real good placement."

This is the second report we've seen lauding Foles's arm strength. He posted the #3 PPG in 2013 and in 11 starts (including the playoffs) he averaged 23.1 FP, which was second only to Peyton Manning. DeSean Jackson is gone, but the return of Jeremy Maclin, the arrival of Darren Sproles and Jordan Matthews and the likely emergence of Zach Ertz should offset that loss. The only other question mark is his limited body of work. Sometimes quarterbacks take a step back in their second year as a starter — it’s also Chip Kelly’s second year as head coach — though Foles played at such a high level that even with a step back, he should still be a solid QB1.

On several occasions Wednesday, Eagles QB Nick Foles attempted to stretch the field with deep throws both in seven-on-seven drills and full team 11-on-11. One missed connection though was on a 50-yard pass over the middle that was just out of the reach of a diving Jeremy Maclin. Among the other positives from Foles' impressive showing this spring is that his arm appears to have gotten stronger during the off-season.

Nick Foles posted the #3 PPG in 2013 and in 11 starts (including the playoffs) he averaged 23.1 FP, which was second only to Peyton Manning. DeSean Jackson is gone, but the return of Jeremy Maclin, the arrival of Darren Sproles and Jordan Matthews and the likely emergence of Zach Ertz should offset that loss. The only other question mark is his limited body of work. Sometimes quarterbacks take a step back in their second year as a starter — it’s also Chip Kelly’s second year as head coach — though Foles played at such a high level that even with a step back, he should still be a solid QB1.

When asked how Eagles QB Nick Foles as improved, HC Chip Kelly had this to say:

"Just a better command and an understanding of what's going on. You know, lining guys up. Coaches were lining everybody up last year. But now Nick has really got a great command of what we are doing offensively to kind of and you can just see it.

"There's a lot more confidence in how he's playing and now it's just a matter of refining the little things for him, footwork, hand offs, carrying off fakes. Not the minor details; they are really major details, but he's not worried with where he's going with the ball. It's just how is he going to do that; how can he manipulate the safety, but he's still going to throw the ball to his left."

Nick Foles posted the #3 PPG in 2013 and in 11 starts (including the playoffs) he averaged 23.1 FP, which was second only to Peyton Manning. DeSean Jackson is gone, but the return of Jeremy Maclin, the arrival of Darren Sproles and Jordan Matthews and the likely emergence of Zach Ertz should offset that loss. The only other question mark is his limited body of work. Sometimes quarterbacks take a step back in their second year as a starter — it’s also Chip Kelly’s second year as head coach — though Foles played at such a high level that even with a step back, he should still be a solid QB1.

Eagles TE coach Ted Williams on Zach Ertz:

"Going into this season, I think he's utilized the offseason very, very well in terms of the training program he's been indoctrinated into. He's getting bigger and stronger. I think he's weighing in in the mid (2)40s. He appears to be stronger. He's fundamentally better as a blocker than he was a year ago because he's worked at it and he wants to be better at it.

"The question is now: Can you take all of that training and all of that learning and translate it into something that's effective on the field?"