10 Players to Watch, 5 We Can't Watch as Eagles Prepare to Host Steelers

PHILADELPHIA – It’s been two years since the Eagles played an exhibition game.

The last time they did was Aug. 29. They lost 6-0 to the Jets.

Clayton Thorson was the quarterback that day, completing 12 passes for 84 yards.

Donnel Pumphrey had three carries for three yards.

Cornerback Josh Hawkins and linebacker Chris Worley notched an interception each.

And, of course, Doug Pederson was still the coach.

Basically, the game was a stinker, hardly worth the gas money to travel back and forth from the Meadowlands.

So much has changed, and the fact that there weren’t any preseason games in 2020 due to the raging global pandemic, offers more than just a smattering of curiosity heading into Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers (7:30/NBC10) at Lincoln Financial Field.

Here are 10 Eagles to watch, with the caveat of not knowing how many snaps they will get, followed by five players we won’t see but wish we could:

Jalen Hurts. OK, the most obvious of all. How much we will be able to tell remains to be seen. Nick Sirianni is expected to keep the game plan as vanilla as vanilla gets. Still, it will be a good test to see what Hurts can do in the limited plays he will be allowed to run and the decisions he makes against the Steelers’ defense.

Josh Sweat. The defensive end, in a contract year, has been one of the best players on both offense and defense in the 11 training camp practices.

Derek Barnett. Rinse and repeat the words written about Sweat.

Travis Fulgham. The last time the big-bodied WR played the Steelers, he had 10 catches for more than 150 yards and a touchdown. Of course, that game counted. This one doesn’t.

Jalen Reagor. It would be very helpful to the WR’s own psyche and help ease the fans’ angst if he were to have at least one splash play on Thursday.

Milton Williams. The third-round rookie defensive lineman is just that, a defensive lineman and not just an end or tackle. He has played all over the line in camp, so it will be interesting to see where he lines up and what sort of impact he can make.

Zech McPhearson. The fourth-round rookie cornerback figured to get plenty of work after Darius Slay likely takes an early seat. He’s impressed in camp, not let’s see how it translates under the lights.

Jordan Mailata. Now that he has taken hold of the left tackle job with Andre Dillard slowed again by injury, he has to continue to build on the promise he showed last year.

Jason Huntley. Any of the running backs could be spotlighted here but singling out Huntley because he has shown positive flashes in camp and has the requisite speed Sirianni likes. Keep an eye on his pass blocking, if given the chance, because that’s just as important as catching the ball and quickness.

Tyree Jackson. The 6-7, 250-pound tight end target has shined in camp, but that was getting second- and third-team reps. It would be nice to see him get some snaps against Pittsburgh’s first team and maybe he will, should Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert see limited time.

Genard Avery. Many have written off the hybrid linebacker/defensive end, but with Ryan Kerrigan out a week following thumb surgery, he will get plenty of opportunity to show that his demise was premature.

5 WHO WON’T PLAY

DeVonta Smith. The first-round rookie WR got hurt on just his fourth day of practice. Color me concerned, especially after the big concern coming out of Alabama was his weight.

Andre Dillard. It’s the second year in a row the former first-round pick has been hurt in training camp. Granted, the knee sprain won’t cost him the season like a torn biceps did last summer, the left tackle candidate needs all the reps he can get.

K’Von Wallace. Last year’s fourth-round pick, the safety picked a bad time to injure his groin – just 48 hours before kickoff, especially since he was in line for first-team snaps.

Davion Taylor. Last year’s third-round pick, the linebacker played sparingly as a rookie, but was getting first team reps early in camp, and doing well with them, before a calf injury shelved him.

JaCoby Stevens. The rookie sixth-round pick made his first splash play of camp, notching an over-the-middle interception, then the next day he was out with a hamstring injury that has the linebacker week-to-week.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.