Ertz inherits the red zone, and the Eagles need him to be something he hasn't been in years

Dallas Goedert caught 12 touchdown passes last season. That number lived almost entirely in the red zone, where his size and hands made him the offense's most reliable finisher inside the 20. He's now out multiple weeks with an MCL sprain, and the player stepping into that role is Zach Ertz — a reclamation signing, currently listed Active, who has spent recent seasons trying to hold a roster spot rather than anchor a passing game.

The gap between what Goedert was doing and what Ertz can reasonably provide isn't subtle. Goedert ran 89 routes last year and caught 64 of them. Ertz is a practice squad-level reclamation at this point in his career, a player the Eagles brought back on a thin roster rather than a genuine plan. He's a fine veteran presence. He is not a 12-touchdown tight end.

What makes this harder is the context around it. I noted when the Goedert injury broke that it removed the offense's most reliable finisher. That was true then. What's clearer now, a couple of days later, is that there's no obvious internal fix. E.J. Jenkins is the only other tight end on the depth chart. The Eagles lost A.J. Brown before the season, Landon Dickerson is on injured reserve, and the offense has been shedding pieces faster than it can replace them.

Hurts is good enough to manage through some of this. Barkley and DeVonta Smith are still here. But the red-zone math just got considerably harder, and the Eagles are going to need Ertz to do something in the next few weeks that he hasn't been asked to do in a long time.