PHILADELPHIA — Perhaps it was the moment Dallas Goedert found himself underwater, diving for lobsters in Southern California with other NFL players that he realized how much he’s already changed from a 23-year-old South Dakota kid who had never even been to the East Coast.
Goedert popped out of the water during an offseason vacation lobster-less.
“I didn’t catch any,” he said on Tuesday.
He’ll catch plenty in 2019.
Well, not lobsters.
The second-year tight end was the star of the Eagles’ first Organized Team Activities (OTAs) workout at NovaCare Complex on Tuesday, catching everything thrown his way, including an acrobatic sideline catch and a heady play where he scored a touchdown when a pass was deflected off Zach Ertz and he caught it.
Goedert showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie last season, as the Eagles’ top 2018 draft pick finished off the season with 33 catches for 334 yards and four touchdowns and had already emerged as the team’s best blocker at tight end.
Yes, it is early, but even so, Goedert looked like a different player on Tuesday. He feels different, but that’s on purpose.
Goedert didn’t go back home to South Dakota for the offseason; he spent it in Southern California with other NFL players, working out, catching passes, getting ready for his sophomore season in Philadelphia.
He didn’t go out to California with an eye toward becoming a master Lobster fisherman. That was just a side trip that, in the end, he didn’t even find all that fun after he came up empty-handed.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Goedert had other goals in mine anyway. Namely: getting bigger, faster and stronger. Mission accomplished. Goedert has added muscle, reduced fat and feels like he has a faster 40-time now, too.
“I feel good out there,” Goedert said. “That’s the main thing."
“It’s a lot easier out there" than last year, he added. "I’m not thinking as much, just being able to kind of play free, having a year with the offense made it a lot easier going out there. Now I can just focus on things I want to get better at than learning the playbook.
The Eagles have made it plainly obvious that Goedert is going to be a more significant part of the offense this season, even if it doesn’t actually appear to be plainly obvious on paper.
The Eagles have Ertz and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery coming back, and they’re the two top offensive options for quarterback Carson Wentz. Nelson Agholor came back, and the Eagles signed old friend DeSean Jackson, too. Plus, Howie Roseman added two new running backs — Jordan Howard and rookie Miles Sanders — and drafted another wide receiver (and red zone weapon) J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.
If everyone stays healthy, touches won’t exactly be plentiful for anyone. But Goedert will get them. He needs to. The Eagles offense is often at its best when running “12 personnel” packages. That is, two wide receivers, one running back and two tight ends.
“I’m not going to give away all our secrets here,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said at the NFL Annual Meeting in March. “I’ll just tell you this: there’s things that we’re going to do, we’re going to implement this spring in our 12 personnel to hopefully give us an advantage in the fall.”
If the Eagles are doing 12 personnel, it’s because of Goedert, and it makes sense both if Pederson wants to run the ball (Goedert is an impressive and improving blocker) or pass it. Goedert appreciates the planned attention to him, even in a crowded offensive group.
“It feels good,” Goedert said. “Obviously it puts more on me, making sure I’m knowing the playbook as well as I can. But that’s exciting. I want to be on the field as much as I can, do whatever I can to help this team win. The more I can help the team, the better.”
Ultimately, the best version of the Eagles offense involves a heavy dose of Goedert, even in an offense with Ertz, Jeffery, Jackson and Agholor.
Pederson and offensive coordinator Mike Groh admitted at various points last season that they should’ve been more active in getting Goedert on the field, and targeting him. That’ll be even harder this year with the aforementioned weapons.
But Goedert isn’t the same player as a year ago. He watched a lot of film from his 2018 season since it ended, and it feels like he’s watching different person.
“Man, I feel like I’ve grown so much since last year,” Goedert said. "Seeing some of those clips from the early games ... it looks like a whole new player out there. Like he had no idea what he was doing.
“I’m excited to keep building on that."
Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZackBlatt. Find NJ.com on Facebook.