August 08, 2024
We are now 10 practices into Philadelphia Eagles training camp, so as I do each year I polled the Eagles' media contingent on which players have looked good so far throughout camp, and which ones have not looked so good.
For this exercise, I asked 22 Eagles media people, all of whom have attended every practice (or close enough to it in almost all cases) to identify one player whose stock is up and one whose stock is down.
On the stock up front, six players received at least two votes.
| 📈 | Votes |
| QB Jalen Hurts | 4 |
| DT Moro Ojomo | 4 |
| WR Johnny Wilson | 3 |
| LB Zack Baun | 3 |
| CB Quinyon Mitchell | 2 |
| RB Kenny Gainwell | 2 |
For full disclosure, my vote was for DeVonta Smith, who has often been the best player on the field. Smith is already a really good player, but he has never really had a banger training camp. This year he is crushing it. I'm anticipating a big season.
I also considered Johnny Wilson, who for now is a serious contender to be the WR3, pending an outside wide receiver acquisition.
Jalen Hurts' appearance at the top of this list also makes sense, as he has been very accurate and has not yet thrown an INT despite taking plenty of shots down the field.
Four other players got one vote each. In alphabetical order:
Here are the players in the past who have gotten at least four "stock up" votes:
| Year | Players with at least 4 "stock up" votes |
| 2017 | Marcus Johnson (13), Nelson Agholor (4), C.J. Smith (4) |
| 2018 | Kamu Grugier-Hill (4), Matt Pryor (4) |
| 2019 | Sidney Jones (10), Miles Sanders (7) |
| 2020 | John Hightower (4) |
| 2021 | Quez Watkins (7), Josh Sweat (4) |
| 2022 | T.J. Edwards (5), Britain Covey (5) |
| 2023 | Cam Jurgens (5), Reed Blankenship (4) |
The biggest "false positives" were Sidney Jones in 2019, and John Hightower in 2020. However, the first 10 or so practices of camp were predictive of good seasons for Miles Sanders in 2019, as well as Nelson Agholor, who had his lone impact season in 2017, and Josh Sweat, who had a breakout Pro Bowl season in 2021. Also, guys like Marcus Johnson, C.J. Smith, and Britain Covey were players who entered camp as longshots, but deserved to make the team and did. The last two seasons, T.J. Edwards' and Cam Jurgens' training camp performances earned them starting jobs.
On the "stock down" side, four players got at least two votes.
| 📉 | Votes |
| WR Ainias Smith | 9 |
| LB Nakobe Dean | 5 |
| WR Parris Campbell | 2 |
| RG Tyler Steen | 2 |
Smith has indeed had a rough camp as a rookie, but in fairness he may be affected by a shin fracture that required surgery. Because of that injury, maybe he's a candidate to be stashed on IR?
Dean has probably had his best camp so far, as he has made plays in the run game and as a blitzer, but his coverage has been alarming. Linebackers have to be able to cover in the modern NFL to get on the field. Dean is behind Devin White and Zack Baun in the LB pecking order.
My vote was for Parris Campbell, who entered camp as the leader for the WR3 job, but may not even make the team. To be clear, I had low expectations for Campbell heading into camp, but his fall from potential starter to potential cut screams "stock down." I also considered Matt Hennessy, who was never really even in the starting RG competition and who has barely even gotten any reps at center, a bad sign for his chance of even making the team.
Steen's appearance on this list also makes sense, as his grasp of the starting RG job is slipping away.
Four players received one vote each. In alphabetical order:
Here are the players in the past who have gotten at least four "stock down" votes:
| Year | Players with at least 4 "stock down" votes |
| 2017 | Patrick Robinson (14), Shelton Gibson (10) |
| 2018 | Corey Nelson (7), Isaac Seumalo (5), Chance Warmack (5) |
| 2019 | Clayton Thorson (9), Jordan Mailata (7), Mack Hollins (5), Stefen Wisniewski (4) |
| 2020 | Sidney Jones (11) |
| 2021 | Andre Dillard (12), Jalen Reagor (4) |
| 2022 | Gardner Minshew (6), Jaquiski Tartt (5) |
| 2023 | Nicholas Morrow (7), Nakobe Dean (4) |
Patrick Robinson had one of the worst starts to camp that I've ever seen, but after a switch from outside corner to the slot, he got better as the summer progressed and ended up becoming one of the best slot corners in the NFL that season, making a HUGE play in the NFC Championship Game along the way.
Otherwise, our stock down picks have been very predictive of bad seasons.
So, for the most part, like most Philadelphians, we can identify a struggling player when we see one.
MORE: Eagles 2024 training camp battle tracker
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
