The Eagles responded to two key criticisms of the 2025 iteration of their team on Sunday afternoon in Minnesota against the Vikings. The Eagles took to the air — with the syncronized synergy of Jalen Hurts to AJ Brown and Devonta Smith taking center stage. Before the afternoon was over — Hurts had once again delivered his deep ball with precise precision — resulting in Devonta Smith’s biggest game of his career with nine receptions for 183 yards and a score including a 79-yard touchdown catch. The play was the longest reception by an Eagles receiver in over a decade.
AJ Brown added four receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Hurts became the first Eagles quarterback in franchise history to complete 82% of his passes for at least 325 yards with no interceptions going 19 for 23. On the other side of the ball after a tough week including a Za’Darius Smith untimely retirement— the Eagles defensive line had Wentz running for most of the day creating two interceptions.
The scoring opened with a 37-yard touchdown to AJ Brown in the first quarter on 4th down. Then in the second quarter Eagles pressure helped to create a Jalyx Hunt 42-yard touchdown return to put Philadelphia ahead 14–3. At the 8:17 mark of the third quarter — Hurts found Smith for that 79-yard strike to bring the lead to 21–9. The Vikings pulled to 21–19 before Hurts found AJ Brown again for 26-yards and a score. After the Vikings pulled to 28–22 — on the final drive of the game for the Eagles — Hurts found Brown again for 45 yards to help to run out the clock.
Carson Wentz is now 0–2 as a starter vs the Eagles.
Tampa, Florida — No shade? No Sweat. With all of their stars on the field — the Eagles may have finally slayed the dragon at Raymond James Stadium — beating the Bucs and former Eagle Haason Reddick. In 105-degree heat — the Eagles jumped out to a 24–3 lead in the first half thanks in part to a Sydney Brown return on a blocked a punt twenty-one yards for a touchdown. The Eagles also added two red-zone shovel-passes from Hurts to Dallas Goedart as well as a sweep from Saquon Barkley in the third quarter on a perfectly executed Tush-Push fake.
For a team with one of the most difficult early-season schedules in NFL — has now started 4–0 for the 3rd time in Nick Sirianni’s tenure. The last NFL team which started 4–0 and not made the NFL playoffs was the 2016 Denver Broncos.
A promising start nearly turned into another last-minute Buccaneers comeback in the fourth quarter as two seventy-plus yard pass plays to Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka helped to being the home team within 31–23. In the last five minutes of the game — the Eagles made three big plays to help to secure the win — turning Tampa Bay back on multiple drives. A scrambling Baker Mayfield forced a ball into the endzone that was intercepted by rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell with five minutes left. Then Moro Ojomo sacked Baker Mayfield in order to setup a third and 23 with less than two minutes remaining. Finally on 4th and 10 — Andrew Mukuba delivered a monstrous hit on Buccaneers Tight End Cade Otton to end the contest.
In addition to allowing Tampa Bay back in the game in — the Eagles will also have to work on the eight penalties for eighty-three yards that included a taunting penalty from Cooper DeJean in the first quarter and a second Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalty by Jaylx Hunt during the game.
When the Eagles and Chiefs meet Sunday in Kansas City, they won’t be the exact same squads that met in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans about seven months earlier, a memorable night for the Eagles as they pounded the two-time reigning champions by a 40-22 score that wasn’t even that close.
The Eagles are trying to rebuild a top-ranked defense that lost about half its starters in the offseason to free agency or trades. The Chiefs are trying to repair the left side of an offensive line so decimated by injuries come playoffs that coach Andy Reid had moved his All Pro left guard to left tackle and filled the left guard spot with a third-stringer.
Amazingly, the Chiefs still made it to the Super Bowl despite their offensive line issues, but the short-armed Joe Thuney was no match for the length of Eagles EDGEs Josh Sweat, Jalyx Hunt and the team’s other pass rushers who teed off on Patrick Mahomes.
Pressures like this were common throughout the game:
And like this..
The Chiefs remade their o-line this offseason, trading Thuney to the Bears and moving 2024 second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia to guard after the former BYU lineman struggled as a rookie and couldn’t get on the field past Week 1. They also used a first-round pick on Ohio State OT Josh Simmons, who was a big-time recruit out of California and one of the most athletic linemen in his class. Simmons suffered a knee injury in October and missed the rest of the season, including Ohio State’s run to a national title.
Simmons won the starting LT job and lined up alongside Suamataia last Friday when the Chiefs opened their season in Sao Paolo against the Chargers, a game they’d lose 27-21.
How improved are the Chiefs on the left side compared to February? It’s a complicated answer. At very least, they have a left tackle who’s actually a left tackle. At left guard, though, Suamataia is nowhere near Thuney’s level.
The film from Week 1 showed that both young linemen have some progress to make, and the Eagles are probably happy they get to face them earlier in the season.
The Chiefs showed some communication breakdowns – especially against some stunts and line games, which the Eagles do occasionally – and some technique breakdowns for both linemen.
Pressure on Mahomes came early for the Chargers – like the first third-down sceanario, a 3rd-and-6 that saw Simmons driven back into the pocket, forcing Mahomes to throw off his back foot with a lot of traffic in his face.
Both Simmons and Suamataia were driven back to collapse the pocket, making Mahomes release quickly and off the mark at the first-down marker.
Here’s a schemed pressure with the Chargers overloaded on the left side of the line.
The Chargers executed a T/E stunt and delayed LB blitz but the real pressure simply came from the DT getting inside Suamataia and then riding him back into Mahomes, who was hit while he threw incomplete.
Side note: This is also the play where Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy and TE Travis Kelce collided on a mesh concept leading to Worthy’s exit from the game with a dislocated shoulder. He’s listed as doubtful to play Sunday.
Here’s a pressure from just a three-man rush – a three-man rush!
Simmons gets beat badly off the snap by the edge rusher, forcing Mahomes to step up and then scramble to his left. Naturally, the LB who looked like a blitzer but was actually a dropper and spy saw Mahomes the whole way and was able to outflank Mahomes to make the QB stop dead in his tracks and try to reverse course before getting sacked.
Every so often, the Chiefs like to go under center and run play-action bootlegs, getting Mahomes out of the pocket, where he’s a sensei with his ability to hurt defenses with a pass or run. There were two instances where the under-center play action did nothing to help Mahomes avoid pressure from the left side.
Here’s one:
Simmons badly missed his punch on the EDGE defender, who beat him with a hand swipe and then went into QB pursuit mode. Sure, Mahomes picked up the first down, but he took a major knock at the end of the run.
The Eagles don’t have Sweat anymore but Jalyx Hunt and Josh Uche took turns last week lining up over Cowboys LT Tyler Guyton while Jordan Davis lined up over LG Tyler Smith and had one of the best games of his career, although his best rushes came against Cowboys C Cooper Beebe.
Andy Reid is notorious for not helping out his offensive tackles so he can make the most of his five outlets on every pass play. We’ll see if he makes any adjustments Sunday afternoon or if the Eagles once again dominate the left side of KC’s offensive line.
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The Philadelphia Eagles’ 2024 preseason is now just a week away. Let’s preview the action.
Eagles’ Three Opponents
The Eagles have three opponents this preseason, one of which is at home and two of which are on the road. Let’s take a look.
At 7:30 PM EST on Friday, Aug. 9, the Eagles visit the Baltimore Ravens for their first contest. Baltimore had won 24 straight games in the preseason with their last win ironically being at home against Philadelphia, then they lost two straight to end the streak in 2023.
At 7:00 PM EST on Thursday, Aug. 15, the Eagles will visit the New England Patriots for their second preseason showdown. We’ll presumably see rookie quarterback Drake Maye take some snaps for them, so it could be a packed crowd.
The Eagles will finish their preseason slate during a 1:00 PM EST game against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, Aug. 24 at Lincoln Financial Field. Minnesota hasn’t won a preseason contest since Aug. 24, 2019.
Eagles’ Preseason Struggles
Since winning the Super Bowl in 2017, the preseason has not been kind to the Eagles record-wise. Though a win-loss record doesn’t mean that much when you’re tracking individual results, it hasn’t been pretty.
Philadelphia has a 3-11-2 record in the preseason following their Super Bowl victory. With a minus-156-point differential in that span, they’re losing each game by just under 10 points—that’s especially surprising considering how low-scoring the games tend to be.
Below are their season-by-season results since 2018 (with the exception of 2020, which was canceled). Their point differential is in parenthesis:
2023: 0-2-1 (Minus-15)
2022: 1-2 (Minus-40)
2021: 0-2-1 (Minus-43)
2019: 1-2 (Minus-20)
2018: 1-3 (Minus-38)
Considering their struggles (and the dominance of the Ravens), don’t expect the Eagles to sweep the slate or anything. Based on their last five showings in the preseason, the opposite is probably more likely.
Four Eagles to Watch
PHOTO: —
This preseason, there are plenty of players to look out for—here, we’ll highlight four in particular. That list consists of offensive lineman Mekhi Becton, running back Will Shipley, wide receiver Johnny Wilson, and edge Jalyx Hunt.
Becton is an interesting one due to his potential. The New York Jets’ top draft pick from 2020, his athleticism is what makes him stand out. He could hold a decent role with the Eagles in 2024 depending on injuries. He’s probably not an instant starter, but he could certainly work his way up there.
Taken in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Shipley has reportedly impressed the Eagles’ coaches. While Saquon Barkley clearly has the starting running back spot taken, the former could take some reps from Kenneth Gainwell during the season as the second-string running back. Shipley could be a solid option for the Eagles, so he should get some usage in the preseason.
Wilson is a big receiver who was taken in the sixth round of the 2024 class. He should be allowed to take over during preseason—it’ll be interesting to watch. Parris Campbell seems to be the firm third-string wideout behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, but Wilson could get some snaps in the regular season.
Hunt was drafted in the third round of this past draft by the Eagles as a highly athletic threat on the edge. He should get some reps in the regular season and perhaps get a sizable role pretty soon for a third-round pick.
With only a month left until the start of the 2024 regular season, Eagles football is very close. The preseason should serve as a small taste of what’s to come.
Today marks the first day of the NFL season with an actual game being played.
I was lucky enough to share that day with the Eagle’s open practice.
Hall Of Fame Game
The Eagles might not have had any relations to this year’s Hall of Fame class, including Steve McMichael and Devin Hester, giving the Bears their second appearance at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in the last six years. But they might soon, with some Eagles greats who have recently retired, like Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce.
Perhaps the Eagles will end their 18-year absence one day, with 17 nominees in the 2024 class. Or once either of these recently retired players hits eligibility five years from now.
FletcherCox: 6x Pro Bowl / 1x All-Pro / HOF All-2010’s Team / Super Bowl 52 Champ
Jason Kelce: 7x Pro Bowl / 6x All-Pro / Eagles-Record 145 Consecutive Starts / Super Bowl 52 Champ
Open Practice!
On the other side of Thursday was the Eagles open practice, and if you’ve been as impatient as I have for football season, then today was a pretty good day.
Nearly 50,000 fans showed up at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday, and almost 75% of the Linc was filled for practice.
For once, the Eagles won’t host the Vikings in the regular season to start their year; instead, it’ll come one week earlier in their final preseason match.
Regardless if the Eagles starters see any real action in the coming weeks, there are plenty of names to look out for, but they might not even see much of the playing field this season.
Jalyx Hunt
After cutting Barnett late last season, the Eagles’ defensive line depth weakened. After acquiring Huff and moving on from Reddick, they would need more insurance in the defensive end position. Enter the Eagles’ third-round pick.
If Vic Fangio is committed to playing those who deserve playing time, we may see more rookies play than we have in the past. While that opens the door for the rookies, it could also limit some of the other playmakers on the roster.
Isaiah Rodgers
The Eagles had Rodgers tucked away on the suspended list for most of last season, and now that the year is beginning, we’re finding out the Eagles have a massive logjam in the secondary.
Multiple rookies, Mitchell and DeJean(injured), as well as plenty of other sophomores and veterans, are vying for a roster spot.
Looks like Isaiah Rodgers will get the first stab at outside cornerback today. Kelee Ringo in with the twos. #Eagles
The problem between the 2022 and 2023 Eagles defense. (Other than not being able to get a single stop most games). Was the change in production from the defensive line.
From having four 10+ Sack players. (Reddick, Sweat, Hargrave & Graham)
To only a single 10+ Sack player. (Reddick)
The 2022 Eagles might’ve fallen short of the Bears 72 Sack record in 2022. But they were nowhere close to repeating that total, only recording 43 sacks last year. Ranking 20th league wide.
There’s plenty of reasons as to what might have fully derailed the Eagles season. Giving up an average of 30.3 points in the final 6 games of the season, including a 32 point defeat to the Buccaneers in the Wildcard round. Somehow, the team that gave up the least passing yards in 2022, with an average of 171.6 yard against per game. Became the team that gave up the 3rd most, with 255.7 passing yards against in 2023.
Overuse Down The Stretch
The Eagles defensive line finished the season injured and not as deep as it started. After playing multiple overtime games, the Eagles were never the same following the win against Buffalo. Where the Defense played 95 Snaps, and what seemed like the point of no return for the season.
Below is the DL and its share of snap counts across the season
Player
Total Snaps
Snap %
Snaps Played Vs Buffalo
Haason Reddick
862
74.18%
83
Josh Sweat
828
71.26%
81
Fletcher Cox
684
58.86%
22
Jalen Carter
563
48.45%
76
Jordan Davis
519
44.66%
62
Milton Williams
494
42.51%
Missed Game
Brandon Graham
395
33.99%
26
Nolan Smith
188
16.18%
11
Marlon Tuipulotu
162
13.94%
32
Derek Barnett
99
8.52%
Cut/Signed with HOU
Kentavius Street
87
7.49%
Traded To ATL
Moro Ojomo
68
5.85%
Missed Game
Had the Eagles not over-relied on their starters and played more of their depth. Perhaps the major burnout at the end of the year would have saved them from not being able to get off the field. Add on the fact they traded away Street and Cut Barnett at the trade deadline. The Eagles defense was without 2 more players to pick up the snaps.
This Years Additions
Much like the last few seasons, the Eagles have successfully drafted players before their predecessor’s had retired. From Kelce to Jurgens. Cox to Davis/Carter.
Now that the Eagles have gone and made acquisitions throughout the offseason. They’ve been able to add Bryce Huff, Jalyx Hunt and Julian Okwara to the OLB position. With the expectation Nolan Smith will also see a larger role in his 2nd season, similar to his fellow Bulldog teammates.
But with countless DBs and only so many roster spots available. It feels like the Eagles further additions could come along the defensive line. (When haven’t they). Additions such as Genard Avery, Ndamukong Suh, Robert Quinn, Linval Joseph have all been acquired throughout the last few seasons.
You can’t always prevent injuries, and if defense wins championships. Then depth could be necessary down the stretch. Could a name like Chase Young come up in a few months if the Saints finally blow it up? Or perhaps the Eagles go big game hunting and see if the Chargers are committed to a rebuild, and are interested in shopping Khalil Mack?
There’s still a long way to go till the Week 9 Trade Deadline. But Eagles training camp begins next week, and then we’ll finally get our first taste of the Eagles season to come that is just around the corner.
Last week I discussed 3 new Eagles who could make an impact in 2024. From new faces on the defense, and changes to the offense. There isn’t many reasons to doubt what the 2024 Eagles should bring.
With Training Camp and Preseason starting in the coming weeks. We’ll get a closer look at some of those players still vying to make a final roster spot before the 53 mans are due August 27th. While we might not see much of some of the Eagles veterans during those preseason games. There’s still a bottom line to expect from some players that have been around the organization for most of their careers.
Josh Sweat
Entering the offseason, it wasn’t clear if the Eagles were going to keep Josh Sweat or Haason Reddick in the future, as both would have been on expiring deals after this season had they not made a move for Bryce Huff.
Now, there’s more expectation from Sweat with a contract season looming. The Eagles drafted Sweat with the 130th pick in the 2018 Draft. Did they expect him to put up an 11 Sack season in 2022? Or 11th in Pressures last season?
The Eagles made a statement keeping Josh Sweat for the final year of his deal. With the additions of Bryce Huff and Jalyx Hunt, some pressure might be off of Sweat, but the Eagles should expect to see something similar to his 2022 season if they’re going to continue with Sweat in the picture.
Jake Elliott
We need to make one thing abundantly clear. The Eagles probably weren’t even close to being 10-1 if not for Jake Elliott’s performances last season.
Throughout the year, Elliott made 30/32FG’s, and 45/46XP’s.
Some impactful kicks that saved games include:
The Eagles only points in the 2nd half against the Patriots Week 1. With kicks made from 56, 51 and 48 yards.
The Commanders Week 4 Overtime game, that frankly didn’t need Overtime. From 54 yards.
To give the Eagles a chance in OT to beat the Bills, was this 59 yard FG.
Elliott scored 15 of the Eagles 33 points in the Week 16 win against the Giants. Going 4/4 FG including 3XP.
Makes sense why the Eagles locked up Elliott to a 4-Year extension worth $24M this offseason. Now under contract until 2028.
Darius Slay
Coming into his 5th season on the Eagles. Slay has seen it all. From the Nate Gerry seasons, to the start and end of the Gannon Era, and then most of whatever Sean Desai and Matt Patricia brought to the table.
Slay missed 4 games near the end of the Eagles season, including the games against the Seahawks, Cardinals and Giants. Perhaps if the Eagles had their true CB1 to end the year some of the defensive lapses that cost them games could have been prevented.
However with a new year brings new opportunity. And if Slay ends up as a Captain again, there’s going to be higher standards for a presences many doubted during the turmoil of the Eagles collapse. And with all the new Cornerbacks looking to make their own roster spot.
If the 6x Pro-Bowler is able to return to form, the Eagles secondary could become one of the best in the league after this years draft class.
The Eagles report to Training Camp in 11 days. Where we’ll get another weeks look at the team before their open practice on August 1st.
Heading into Day 2 of the draft after selecting CB Quinyon Mitchell in the first round, it felt a lot like the Philadelphia Eagles would address their offensive line, wide receiver, or maybe even linebacker with their two second-round picks at 50 and 53. However, just eight picks into Round 2, the Birds were suddenly on the clock at pick 40 after trading up with Washington. They then double dipped at defensive back, selecting Iowa’s Cooper DeJean.
Pick 40: Cooper DeJean, DB, Iowa
We’ll get to DeJean in a moment, but first let’s look at the trade, and the value of each pick according to the trade value chart:
Eagles got
Commanders got
Pick 40 (500 points)
Pick 50 (400 points)
Pick 78 (200 points)
Pick 53 (370 points)
Pick 152 (31 points)
Pick 161 (27 points)
731 points
797 points
The Eagles gave up 66 points of value to move up, or roughly the equivalent of a fourth-round pick. In other words, you could say that the Eagles paid a premium of a fourth-round pick to make that deal. They did it because they felt they were getting a player they had rated as a first-round player at pick 40.
“He was a first-round player for us,” Howie Roseman said. “You know, Jeffrey [Lurie] said this tonight, you know, it’s rare for us to be picking in the 20s and to get two first-round players. You know, both those guys were first-round players for us. We didn’t have 32 first round guys, so when you get that opportunity to get two first-round guys, especially picking where we were, we felt like it was an opportunity and it was obviously an area we wanted to address. We felt like we addressed a lot of the areas of our football team through free agency, but that was one area we could address [in the draft].”
If the Eagles had just sat tight, they might not have had another cornerback worth of a mid-second-round pick reach them. And personally speaking, while I liked McKinstry, Lassiter, and Melton, I found DeJean to be a much more intriguing prospect than any of them.
DeJean is an extremely versatile player who can play outside corner, slot corner, safety, or even some linebacker. He was also one of the best punt returners in college football, and he’s an outstanding gunner. He is simply a ridiculous athlete and was a great college football player.
In 2022, DeJean had 75 tackles, 5 INTs (3 pick-sixes), and 8 pass breakups. Here are all five of those picks:
In 10 games in 2023, he had 41 tackles, 2 INTs, and 2 punt return TDs (one didn’t count).
DeJean’s 2023 season was cut short when he fractured his right fibula in practice. He missed most of the pre-draft process, and he likely slid in the draft as a result. It will be interesting to see what kind of plan the Eagles have for DeJean, who Vic Fangio can plug in wherever he sees fit.
Roseman wasn’t very revealing about their specific plans for DeJean.
“He’s such a good player,” Roseman said. “You know, I think whatever he does he’s going to do at a high level. Obviously we’ll get him in here, and like everything else on this team, see how the pieces fit when [Fangio] and his staff get their hands on these guys.”
The Eagles’ secondary depth chart now looks something like this:
Defense
1
2
3
4
5
CB
Darius Slay
Cooper DeJean
Josh Jobe
James Bradberry (likely cap casualty)
S
Reed Blankenship
Sydney Brown
Mekhi Garner
S
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Tristin McCollum
CB
Quinyon Mitchell
Kelee Ringo
Isaiah Rodgers
Eli Ricks
SCB
Avonte Maddox
Zech McPhearson
Tyler Hall
Mario Goodrich
Tiawan Mullen
The Eagles’ pass defense in 2023 was atrocious, and the Eagles have put significant resources toward fixing that, beginning with the addition of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in free agency, and then the selection of a pair of highly-rated defensive backs in Mitchell and DeJean in the first two rounds of the draft. They also still employ Darius Slay, and they have other young players in the pipeline like Kelee Ringo, Isaiah Rodgers, Sydney Brown, and Reed Blankenship. This is a group that can grow and mature together.
Grade: A-
Trade: The Eagles moved back from Pick 78 to Pick 86
Among that group of players, I thought that Puni, Lloyd, and Isaac would have all made sense for the Eagles at that juncture. Smith and Jones would too, if the Eagles hadn’t already drafted two defensive backs.
Side note: The Eagles traded what became “Pick 86” to the Texans last year for a fourth-round pick that was used to select Kelee Ringo. They then re-acquired it, and traded it away again.
Pick 94: Jalyx Hunt, EDGE, Houston Christian
Hunt was a safety at Cornell who transferred to Houston Christian and became an edge rusher. The Eagles announced him as a linebacker. He’ll likely play the SAM position.
The last two seasons (21 games) at Houston Christian, Hunt had 13.5 sacks and 5 forced fumbles. He had an impressive Combine performance.
I won’t pretend to have watched Houston Christian games, so we’ll let Lance Zierlein of NFL Network do the heavy lifting on the scouting report here:
Hunt is a small-school edge defender possessing notable athletic traits and the potential to get bigger and stronger. He currently lacks the lower-body anchor and general play strength to go up against NFL opponents, but the team drafting him is likely to view him as a developmental prospect in need of time to build his frame and his game. Hunt’s speed is obvious as a pass rusher and in run pursuit, but proving he can survive against a downhill running attack could be the difference between challenging for a rotational role or hoping to become a designated pass rusher.
The Eagles have plenty of short-term depth on the edges in Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith, Brandon Graham, and Zack Baun. Hunt is developmental prospect and likely won’t get much playing time as a rookie. The Eagles will hope that they can get the most out of his raw athletic ability long-term.
“He’s got freaky tools in his body,” Roseman said. “He’s an explosive guy. If you watch his best plays, he’s doing things that are unique. He can bend. He can close. He can finish. He’s long. He’s an extremely smart kid obviously coming from Cornell.
“You know, we feel like we got a good edge rush group. He doesn’t have to come in here – we’re going to develop him like we talk about. This is a perfect developmental guy for us because of the tools in his body and his character and work ethic, and we think we can really find something with him. That’s on us. That’s on how he’s going to work.
“You know, you can say, well, that’s the third round and you’re a good team, why are you doing that? Because these guys are hard to find. We believe in edge rushers and we just felt like there was a tremendous buy-in from our staff about this player. Obviously from the coaching staff, from the front office we thought this guy had tremendous tools. When you get guys like that it’s exciting to see what they can become. Again, we feel like we like our edge group. We didn’t have to add there, but it’s exciting to get a guy like this.”
Because Houston Christian games aren’t exactly easy to find, I can really only have so much of an opinion on this player.
The pessimistic view is that the Eagles have had their share of third-round developmental types who have busted in the past, like Davion Taylor, Curtis Marsh, Bryan Smith, etc.
The optimistic view is that two of the three draft analysts we mentioned above in the DeJean section had Hunt rated at least 24 spots higher than where he was drafted.
