Off-Day Eagles Stock Market Report
PHILADELPHIA - We are through eight practices and Nick Sirianni's offense is completely installed at Eagles training camp.
The players get to take a little breather on Friday in advance of a Saturday morning practice at the NovaCare Complex and a Sunday-night session open to the fans at Lincoln Financial Field.
From there the preseason opener looms on Thursday, August 12 when the Pittsburgh Steelers cross the state to take on the Eagles at the Linc in the first August game for Philadelphia since 2019. The Steelers got back in the swing early, topping the Dallas Cowboys in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton on Thursday, 16-3.
The slight lull means the return of our Eagles stock-market report with the Bulls, Bears, and stagnant stocks over the last week of practices which saw the pads arrive for the first time.
THE BULLS
CB Zech McPhearson - The rookie fourth-round pick out of Texas Tech has continued to show a nose for the football this summer.
It's been an almost daily occurrence to see McPhearson get his hands on the football at practice and when it came to Darius Slay's latest maintenance day, McPhearson stepped in to get some valuable first-team reps in place of Craig James, who has also played pretty well this summer.
RELATED: t's No Longer "Slay and Pray" at CB for Philadelphia Eagles ...
LT Jordan Mailata - We are at 4-4 when it comes to days with the first team in the left tackle competition between Andre Dillard and Mailata.
The latter has done much more with his opportunities, however, with the highlight being a pancake block of Brandon Graham, not exactly a common sight around the NCC. Dillard, meanwhile, has struggled in his work, and most, at this point, have called the race for the seventh-round pick in 2018.
The Eagles will likely keep the competition going into the preseason and have quietly noted Dillard is playing through some kind of hand/finger injury.
Jalen Reagor made the catch of camp so far, a one-hander he pulled in with Darius Slay in coverage.
Philadelphia Eagles
WR Jalen Reagor - A rocky start at camp due to some off-the-field issues turned on Thursday when Reagor made a leaping one-handed stab that would have made Odell Beckham Jr. blush.
Reagor was dressed down at practice by head coach Nick Sirianni a day earlier for a mental error and responded with a chip on his shoulder and a very good session.
There were still some consistency issues and a dropped touchdown during one-on-one work in the red zone, and the 2020 first-round pick still needs to stack together positive days but the flash of talent was impressive.
It was the kind of catch that could be just the kind of confidence-builder Reagor needed.
WR Quez Watkins - With DeVonta Smith nursing a knee sprain, Watkins has been the biggest playmaker at WR, often flashing his 4.37 speed and manufactured touch ability.
THE BEARS
LT Andre Dillard - Dillard has been left for dead in the LT competition by everyone but the Eagles and if a comeback story is going to be authored it needs to start very soon.
LB Davion Taylor - This isn't about Taylor's play on the field, which was impressive early in camp.
The second-year pro showed up to Thursday's session with a boot on his right leg to help stabilize what has been described as a calf injury.
Davion Taylor leaves the practice field with the training staff.
John McMullen
A real dark horse to win the second LB job next to Eric Wilson, Taylor is the type of developmental prospect who needed as many August reps as possible, and now they are being greatly curtailed. Furthermore, the strength of Taylor's game is speed, and players like that need their legs to be at an optimal level and clicking on all cylinders.
HYBRIDS Genard Avery and Joe Ostman - Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has unveiled the hybrid-rusher/OLB role we got an inkling was coming back in the spring, something that seems tailor-made for veteran Ryan Kerrigan, who has been limited a bit with a thumb injury.
Neither Avery nor Ostman flashed all that much with additional opportunities and rookie Patrick Johnson may be the default setting behind Kerrigan.
STAGNANT STOCKS
QB Jalen Hurts - Remember, stagnant is not necessarily a bad thing especially if you are starting at a high level and Hurts is here for the second consecutive week.
You'd like to see more improvement with intermediate accuracy but Hurts continues to be an excellent deep thrower and a playmaker with his legs. If the consistency throwing the football ever arrives Sirianni might even name him the starter one of these days.
RELATED: Philadelphia Eagles Nick Sirianni Still Not Naming Jalen Hurts ...
DE Josh Sweat - Here's a better example of stagnant not being a bad thing. Sweat was the best player in camp Week 1 and if he wasn't in Week 2, he was awfully close.
CB Steve Nelson - Competency is the best word to describe Nelson. He's just a solid NFL outside CB but he has shown he will struggle against deep speed and the Eagles are giving him a daily dose of that with Reagor, Watkins, and John Hightower.
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 or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
