Eagles Camp: Star Power, Depth on Full Display As Jalen Carter Looks Like a Steal
The 23rd team on my personal camp trail is the NFC champion Eagles. I saw them Tuesday at a joint practice with the Colts. And they didn’t disappoint …
1. Jalen Carter had his way with Indianapolis’s offensive linemen during the joint practice, which the Eagles see, in part, as a result of getting to go against Philadelphia’s line every day. The No. 9 pick’s combination of strength and quickness is rare, to be sure. But it’s not like that was a secret before the draft—everyone knew how good he was. Most of the questions came off the field, and where Philly deserves credit here is for having the kind of infrastructure in place, and specifically in its locker room, where it rolls the dice on someone like Carter. It’s also helped Carter to have four of his Georgia teammates on hand. And all that is why Philly was probably the ideal place for the mercurial defensive lineman to land.
Carter was seen as a potential No. 1 pick heading into draft season, but he fell to the Eagles at No. 9 due to concerns about his makeup.
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2. The obvious thing here is the depth of the roster—and that starts with how locked in the top guys have been. Jalen Hurts has had a very solid summer, with incremental jumps in how he thinks and sees the game. Being in the same offense for a third straight year will help, too. A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert, Lane Johnson and Fletcher Cox are among the others who’ve stood out through the early parts of camp. And then there’s DeVonta Smith, who had a huge day against the Colts. It’s reflective, too, of the hyperconsistent camp he’s had, who he is as a receiver—an elite route-runner with elite hands (which he showed Tuesday are also very strong) who’s also elite as a person. And while we’re here, Quez Watkins was raised to me as one to watch as a guy who came into camp on a mission. He played a lot last year, but could be in line for more touches this year with the speed he brings to the offense. So, yeah, the core here remains top-shelf.
3. The other place the depth of the roster shows up is in how the second-year guys have been developed, in particular defensive tackle Jordan Davis, linebacker Nakobe Dean, guard Cam Jurgens and safety Reed Blankenship. The first three of those guys were top-100 picks, and all three are starting to show why—Davis with his rare size and ability to move at his weight, Dean with his instincts, and Jurgens in his versatility and power. Blankenship’s a little different. He came in as an undrafted free agent and took advantage of live periods for the third team last summer to make his mark and every opportunity he got thereafter—to the point where he’s nailed down one of the starting safety spots already.
4. If there are questions on the roster, with so many things here set, I’d say they’re at two positions. The first is running back, where the coaches have to figure out how Kenneth Gainwell (who’s had a good camp), Boston Scott, D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny will fit together. And second, on the other side of the ball, Terrell Edmunds, K’Von Wallace, Sydney Brown and Justin Evans are vying for the starting spot at safety next to Blankenship. Really, everywhere else, it sure looks like Philly is pretty set.
5. The changeover in coordinators is worth watching, too. Nick Sirianni will have Brian Johnson as his coordinator on offense. Johnson will call plays, and was in every meeting with Sirianni and then Philly OC Shane Steichen last year, so he’s been groomed and steeped in the system in place (and he goes way back with Hurts, too). The difference on defense promises to be a little more noticeable, with Sean Desai taking Jonathan Gannon’s old spot, and Desai coming from the Vic Fangio (who served as an Eagles consultant last year) school of coaching. The good news, for Desai and Johnson, is with the players they have, neither guy is exactly starting from zero.
