Eagles Training Camp Stock Market
PHILADELPHIA - The first off day for the players at camp seems like the right time to take an early temperature of the team so we are breaking out the Eagles Stock Market feature and will continue to update the bulls and bears, as well as the stagnant stocks, on the ESE (Eagles Stock Exchange), each time Nick Sirianni presses the pause button this summer.
The Bulls:
DE Josh Sweat - The lanky Sweat has arguably been the best player in the entire camp and certainly seems ready to break out in what is a contract year. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has said that he considers both Sweat and Derek Barnett as starters and the position as a whole (Brandon Graham, Sweat, Barnett, and Ryan Kerrigan) might be the deepest on the team.
Gannon has also been toggling Sweat between the right and left sides to try to take advantage of matchups and the Florida State product has offered a bit of a Montez Sweat-like presence when it comes to batting down balls especially when Jalen Hurts or Nick Mullens are under center.
CB Steve Nelson - Nelson might not be an $8 million-plus cornerback per Pittsburgh’s evaluation. What he is, however, is an NFL starting corner who has come in from Day 1 to offer both physicality and competency.
If DeVonta Smith thought SEC CBs were the same as NFL defenders he’s gotten an early education from both Darius Slay and Nelson on how teams are going to approach the slender rookie.
LB Davion Taylor - Before a quad injury knocked the second-year prospect out of practice on Saturday night, Taylor was getting plenty of first-team reps and making them count. He’s by far Gannon’s most athletic linebacker and it’s clear that the DC wants to get as much speed on the field as possible.
Taylor can get to 20 or 21 MPH on the GPS and can run stride for stride with receivers 30 and 40 pounds lighter.
It remains to be seen if the ultra-raw Taylor, who got a late start in the game due to his Seventh Day Adventist faith, can handle the mental and technique parts to the equation but if the Eagles can turn Jordan Mailata into a legitimate left tackle from square one who’s to say they can’t turn Taylor into a playmaker at a position of need?
The Bears:
WR Jalen Reagor - The second-year player is off to a rocky start because of some personal issues which resulted in him failing his conditioning test early and being held out of team drills due to some lower body tightness that a team source tied to the off-the-field issues.
RELATED: Jalen Reagor Trying to Put Anguish Behind Him, Returns to Team drills
Reagor finally got back into team drills on Saturday night and spent some time in the slot. Nick Sirianni really needs Smith and Reagor to step up and become playmakers for this offense so a smoother start would have been nice but there is still plenty of time to turn thins around.
K Jake Elliott - A day after explaining that he thought he would be getting over his consistency issues from 2020, Elliott missed field goals from 33 and 49 yards on Saturday night, coincidently also a day after his new boss, special teams coordinator Michael Clay, said: “consistently hitting the 49 and under is where we want to make our money at.”
RELATED: Jake Elliott Ready for Bounce-Back Season
RG Matt Pryor - The big man was back with the first team after Brandon Brooks went down with a tweaked hamstring and Pryor has struggled mightily against a talented front on the other side.
With Nate Herbig cleaning up his weight issues and offering impressive versatility on the inside and Landon Dickerson looming, don’t be surprised if Howie Roseman tries to spin off Pryor for a late-round pick in an O-Line deficient league.
Stagnant Stocks:
QB Jalen Hurts - So far the Eagles’ presumptive QB1 has looked like the same guy he was in his first four NFL starts, an intriguing playmaker who lacks accuracy throwing the football.
RELATED: Criticism of Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Starts with ...
When it comes to the latter, Hurts is fine and throws strikes when he locks on receivers. When he tries to look off, the consistency on his throws drops off the table. The concern, of course, is you simply can’t stare down receivers in the NFL.
WR DeVonta Smith - Those thinking that Smith’s slight frame wouldn’t be an issue in the NFL would have gotten an education during the first four days of practice with Slay and Nelson getting very physical with the young WR and often throwing him off his game in tight spaces like the red zone. And remember the pads don't even come on until Tuesday of next week.
The good news is Slay is the first one there to coach Smith on how to get off the line against press coverage talent like himself.
S K’Von Wallace - With Rodney McLeod starting on the PUP list and Week 1 uncertain for the veteran, Wallace is getting the first opportunity to be the contingency, receiving more first-team reps than Marcus Epps.
You have hardly noticed Wallace out there and there is good and bad to that. The former says he’s not making any major mistakes and the latter is the realization that he's not making any splash plays.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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 and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
