What Will the Eagles Offense Look Like Under Sean Mannion? Don't Expect a Scheme Overhaul

Same Framework, Fresh Eyes

Every offseason brings the same question in Philadelphia: will the offense change? And every offseason, the host delivers the same answer — sort of. On Friday's Birds 365, McMullen was emphatic that while Sean Mannion comes from the McVay-Shanahan coaching tree, the Eagles are not installing a West Coast-style offense.

"If he's a smart guy — and everybody says he's a smart guy — he's going to adapt to what he has around him, just like Kellen Moore did," it was noted. He pointed to Moore's career arc: his offenses in Dallas looked nothing like his offense in Philadelphia after week five, which looks nothing like his current offense in New Orleans. Good coaches adapt.

Stop Trying to Make Jalen Into Someone Else

McMullen was characteristically blunt about the ongoing debate over Jalen Hurts' style of play. Fans and media who want the Eagles to install a Shanahan or McVay-style passing attack are, in McMullen's words, missing the point entirely.

"Why does everyone want Jalen Hurts in a Shanahan-McVay style offense? I think it would be a disaster," it was noted. He drew a sharp parallel: Kyle Shanahan shipped a top-five draft pick (Trey Lance) in favor of seventh-round pick Brock Purdy because Purdy was the better fit for his system. "He doesn't want to run RPO stuff. So he shipped off a top-five pick for a seventh-round pick because he was a better fit for his offense."

The logic cuts both ways. If you want that style of offense, you need a different quarterback. But as McMullen noted, "It's very unlikely you get a quarterback that's better than Jalen Hurts."

Priority One: Get the Legs Back

The single biggest area of improvement McMullen identified has nothing to do with new concepts or scheme changes. It's about getting Jalen Hurts to be a running threat again.

"My two biggest things are: improve the running game, and convince whoever the problem was — Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, Jeffrey, I don't care who — that we need this guy's legs back in the game more consistently," it was noted. "If I'm Sean Mannion, I'm pushing for that the day I get in the building."

The key isn't raw rushing attempts — it's making defenses believe Hurts will run, which puts them in conflict and opens up the entire offense. Last season, defenses figured out Hurts wasn't going to run as much, and the offense suffered accordingly.

The Malik Willis Blueprint

Guest Kaden Steele offered the most compelling positive comparison for what Mannion could bring. When the Packers lost Jordan Love to injury, Mannion's QB room adapted the offense for Malik Willis — a dual-threat quarterback with limitations as a pure passer. Instead of asking Willis to throw 30-plus times, they ran a scheme emphasizing efficiency and his legs.

The results were dramatic. Willis went 18-of-21 for 288 yards in one start against Baltimore. The Packers changed who they were offensively to fit the quarterback they had — exactly what good coaching looks like.

"Jalen's a better player than Malik Willis," Steele noted. "There's that archetype of this dual-threat quarterback that maybe can't throw the ball 30 times a game... I think it's better when Jalen throws 18, maybe 22 times a game. And he's just more efficient."

Evolution, Not Revolution

McMullen pushed back hard on the idea that "evolution" means doing something entirely different. He compared it to Tom Brady's career arc — Brady at 28 wasn't the same quarterback as Brady at 44, not because the scheme changed, but because experience allowed him to understand defenses better and manipulate them more effectively.

"People need to change their default setting on what evolution means," it was noted. "Jalen Hurts has improved dramatically from 2021, when Todd Bowles could just flush him right or left and the play was over. That's evolution. Getting better at what you already do well."

Expect the Eagles' offensive framework to remain largely intact. Mannion will bring new ideas and fresh perspectives — that's the whole point of hiring from outside the organization — but the foundation will still be built around maximizing the players on the roster, not forcing them into an unfamiliar system.

The Roster Reality

Steele raised an important caveat: the Eagles' offensive roster could look significantly different by September. A.J. Brown may want out. Dallas Goedert could depart in free agency. Lane Johnson is aging. The offensive line needs Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson to bounce back.

If the talent thins, the Eagles will need something they haven't needed in years — a genuine schematic advantage. That may be the real reason they went with Mannion's upside over a safer option. Getting more out of less could be the defining challenge of the 2026 season.

Listen & Watch

Hear the full offensive breakdown on Birds 365, available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.