Now that Philadelphia Eagles training camp is over, let’s highlight the biggest winners, losers, and I don’t knows from 18 days of practice and two preseason games.
Ojomo looked great all throughout training camp, even when Jalen Carter missed some practices early on. He was disruptive both as a pass-rusher and run defender. It’s a bit much to suggest the Eagles won’t miss a beat going from Milton Williams to Ojomo, who is a player with one career sack and two career TFLs in 29 games played. But it’s hard not to feel good about Ojomo having a breakout season. I’m expecting the statistical production to pick up this year.
Back in early June, Vic Fangio said Campbell wouldn’t be ready to practice until August. But the Eagles’ 2025 first-round pick was ready to take part in team drills on the first day of training camp (July 23). By the final day of training camp (August 20), Campbell was elevated to the first-team defense next to Zack Baun. It looks like the rookie is going to be a Week 1 starter after showing real promise this summer. And it’s not like Campbell won the job by default; the Eagles had other off-ball linebackers playing well (pretty shocking concept). It’ll be interesting to see exactly how Vic Fangio utilizes Campbell as a rookie. His pass rushing potential is especially intriguing.
Steen took all the first-team right guard reps in camp. Was he perfect? No. But Steen stayed healthy (unlike last year, which opened the door for Mekhi Becton to replace him) and he played well enough to prevent the Eagles from considering other options at his position.
Q was already pretty great as a rookie but he looks primed to be even better in Year 2. Mitchell, who came up with multiple interceptions, was a lockdown cornerback throughout camp. And that’s with regularly going up against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Mitchell repping at both outside cornerback positions suggests the Eagles could have him shadow star wide receivers this season.
BGN commenter xXVolksWestyXx posed this question to me on Thursday (related: I recently asked for your most controversial Eagles opinions in The Feed):
My answer: Saquon Barkley will be even better than last year.
Topping a year where he set a new NFL record for single-season rushing yards (including playoffs) is an insanely high bar to clear. And history does not bode well for players coming off such major workloads (see: Christian McCaffrey in 2024).
Betting on the exception is dangerous. But I think Barkley might actually be the exception.
He looked better to me in camp this year than he did last year.
Going to repeat this from Day 11 of my practice notes:
Let’s be clear: I don’t think Carter has been dogging it at practice by any means. But it feels like he can hit an entirely different gear when he really wants to do so. Today was one of those days where Carter decided to be a game-wrecker (well, practice-wrecker). He strip-sacked Hurts. He knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage. He continued to shine in 1-on-1s. During training camp, it can be easy to overlook players we already know are great at the expense of paying attention to guys with more to prove. But it bears repeating that Carter is a force to be reckoned with.
Carter was chatting it up with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, before practice one day (pictured below courtesy of Bleeding Green Nation photographer Holden Blanco).
I’m sure Carter is aware he’s eligible for a massive contract extension after this season. He looks ready to go out and dominate again.
McKee is currently dealing with a finger injury but, assuming it’s not serious, he’s a big winner from this summer. For QB2 standards, McKee looked sharp in practice. He was awesome in the Eagles’ first preseason game. So much so that the team didn’t want to risk injury to him by resting him their second preseason game. If I’m the Eagles, I’m not entertaining trading him until after the 2025 campaign. They’re competing to win Super Bowl LX. Jalen Hurts averages 1.5 missed games per season. There’s no great option behind the Eagles’ starting quarterback if McKee is gone.
No one improved their standing on the team more than Darius “The official Brandon Lee Gowton training camp crush” Cooper did this summer. The undrafted rookie free agent entered camp as a long shot to even make the roster. Now he’s clearly on it after taking a good number of first-team reps and being regularly targeted by Jalen Hurts. The question now is: what does Cooper’s snap count look like? The Eagles will have him behind A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Jahan Dotson. He’s also going to be below Dallas Goedert in terms of the target pecking order. But that doesn’t mean Cooper can’t make the most of his limited opportunities and work his way into a bigger role. Sleep on him at your own peril.
Dotson didn’t have an overly flashy camp but he was consistently solid. He’s clearly viewed as the Eagles’ No. 3 wide receiver. Jalen Hurts seems comfortable throwing to him now, which is important since he only averaged . Dotson is also in the mix to return punts for the Eagles. He should be more useful than the non-factor he was for the vast majority of last season.
I’m not totally sold on Shipley as a runner but he certainly can contribute as a pass-catcher. And whether you like him or not, we know the Eagles view him as RB2; they rested him in the second preseason game while AJ Dillon played. Shipley is the new Kenny Gainwell.
Uche showed the most juice of any Eagles edge rusher behind Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. He wasn’t considered to be a lock for the roster when the team signed him to a one-year deal but he should make it and have a rotational role in this defense.
Trot Jr. took the majority of first-team off-ball linebacker reps this offseason. And he looked really good while doing it. He clearly processes the game well; he always seems in be in the right position. Unfortunately for Trot Jr., the Eagles drafted a really talented player in Campbell that’s poised to play over him. Trot Jr. will have to live with being an important depth piece, just like Oren Burks ended up being for the Eagles last season.
Mondon Jr. showed promise that he could eventually develop into a starting caliber player. Or at least be a playable backup. Again, it’s wild that the Eagles not only have really good starting linebackers but quality depth behind them.
The Eagles felt comfortable trading Thomas Booker away in part due to Hall’s development, which Fangio has commented on multiple times. The 2024 UDFA signing looks like he can be a solid rotational defensive tackle.
The Eagles set the table for Ringo to start in 2025. They designated Darius Slay as a post-June 1 cut. They opted not to re-sign Isaiah Rodgers. They brought in Adoree’ Jackson as a low bar for Ringo to clear.
And yet … Ringo failed to seize the opportunity. His struggles prompted the team to demote him out of taking first-team reps by the end of camp.
It might be premature to write off the 23-year-old Ringo entirely. Nolan Smith’s outlook wasn’t very favorable at this time last year when he was playing well into the Eagles’ third and final preseason game. Maybe Ringo gets better over the course of the 2025 season if/when he’s forced into action.
But it’s currently not looking good for Ringo, who is now apparently dealing with a quad injury on top of not performing well.
I’d argue Ricks had a better offseason this year than he did last year. But he’s now behind Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Adoree’ Jackson, Jakorian Bennett, Mac McWilliams, and Kelee Ringo on the depth chart. He was the Eagles’ seventh CB last year. Are they really going to keep him again as he enters a contract year and doesn’t really offer special teams value?
Wilson really turned it around after a rough start to camp but now he’s out for the 2025 season due to a season-ending injury. Very unfortunate development.
With Dean missing all of training camp, it looks like he’s going to begin the regular season on the reserve/PUP list (physically unable to perform). If that’s the case, he’ll be ineligible to play until Week 5 at the very earliest. Maybe the combination of injuries and/or struggles will give him a path to playing time. If that’s not the case, what’s his role? Is Dean definitely the top backup behind Baun and Campbell? How close to the very good player we saw last year will he be upon returning? Doesn’t seem like Dean is in a great spot entering a contract year.
ALMOST ALL OF THE EAGLES’ DEPTH OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
The Eagles’ offensive line depth is a concern entering 2025. From the outside, at least, it looks to be unsettled. Who is the swing tackle? Is there one guy or do the starting tackle spots have different primary backups? Who is going to starting Week 1 at left guard if Landon Dickerson isn’t ready? There are a lot of questions here. None of the backups are inspiring much confidence. Brett Toth has looked OK at guard but he can’t play center and he’s not necessarily a roster lock. Kendall Lamm has been shaky. Matt Pryor can play guard but not tackle. Kenyon Green has struggled to stay healthy and play well. Trevor Keegan hasn’t stood out in a good way. Drew Kendall (who has extremely limited guard experience) and Darian Kinnard might be the most promising players?
It looked like DTR had a real chance to be the Eagles’ emergency third quarterback this season. He had some good practices where he outshined rookie Kyle McCord. But then DTR really struggled in the Eagles’ second preseason game. Since then, McCord has taken the vast majority of the Eagles’ QB2 reps with McKee missing time. DTR’s days appear to be numbered.
For a guy with such prolific college football production, you think he might’ve done something noticeable this summer. Instead, he was pretty invisible. Practice squad seems like the best case scenario for APR.
Nick Sirianni sounded excited about Williams when he spoke at the NFL owners meetings. Williams gave the Eagles nothing to get excited about this offseason. He missed spring practices due to injury and then failed to stand out in practices and preseason games. He didn’t look good on offense and he did nothing special as a returner.
Despite missing multiple practices and the Eagles’ first preseason game due to a shoulder injury, Mukuba appeared to be pulling in the lead for the starting safety job following his performance against the Cleveland Browns. But then Mukuba picked up a hamstring injury during the penultimate training camp practice. I don’t know how serious it is. If it’s not too bad, maybe he’ll still start Week 1. But maybe the missed time is just too much for Fangio.
Brown didn’t seem to have a bad camp but I don’t know that he had a good one, either. Maybe he’ll benefit from Mukuba missing time and solidify himself as the top safety next to Reed Blankenship. I don’t know how anyone could feel very confident about that outcome, though.
I don’t know if Dickerson is definitely playing Week 1. He’s pretty tough, so, I don’t want to doubt him. But even if he does suit up, one must wonder the extent to which he’ll be hampered.
I don’t know exactly where DeJean is going to play. The Eagles had him as their outside cornerback in base defense reps during the spring. Then they shifted him to safety in base defense reps for most of training camp. But then they moved him back to outside cornerback late in camp with no one stepping up for the CB2 job. DeJean might be the Eagles’ best bet to start full-time on the outside … though Fangio didn’t seem keen on that idea, especially since there’s no obvious answer at nickel cornerback in that scenario. Is it fair to wonder if moving DeJean around so much might be messing with his development? He didn’t have the strongest camp; he got beat a decent amount.
As the first first-team cornerback in 12 of the Eagles’ 18 training camp practices, Jackson seems to be the Eagles’ starting cornerback. But he didn’t exactly play well this summer. And Devin White took a lot of first-team reps last year before never actually playing a regular season snap for the Eagles. I’m not saying it’s an identical situation here and that Jackson will definitely get cut. I don’t know if Jackson will last long as a starter if he does stick around, though. And then his value as a backup who doesn’t play special teams is limited.
Bennett had a nice pass breakup in the Eagles’ second preseason game. But that was after the Cleveland Browns’ wide receivers gave him some problems in the joint training camp practices. There’s reason to believe that the very-soon-to-be 25-year-old Bennett can get better as he adjusts to the Eagles’ system. He might have the most upside of the Eagles’ CB2 options. He might just be more of a backup caliber player, though. I don’t know.
McWilliams has taken some first-team cornerback reps. He’s unlikely to be the Week 1 starter but he might eventually get a crack at the CB2 job if no one else is able to lock it down. To even be somewhat in contention for a starting role as a Day 3 pick is a good outcome for him. But I don’t know if that’s necessarily a great outcome for the team.
Smith looks better than he did last year, which isn’t saying a lot since he had a pretty rough camp as a rookie. I don’t know if I really believe he belongs on the roster, though. To be clear, I think he will make it. But his best catches have come on very short patterns that don’t look very impressive. Maybe I’m not giving him the proper credit he deserves for those. I just don’t know how his game translates against higher levels of competition. Also, I think it stands out how Smith has been outshined by Darius Cooper. Smith might be the team’s top punt returner option, so there is potentially that.
For the most part, Ojulari had a very quiet summer. He did have a nice sack in the Eagles’ second preseason game. And multiple Eagles reporters noted that he stood out in the joint training camp practices against the Browns. So, there are some signs of life here. But I don’t know that I feel confident about him being an effective rotational edge rusher.
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