An early look at six Eagles upcoming training camp battles

Training camp is a couple of months away, but the Philadelphia Eagles' roster is mostly set, with perhaps a few tweaks to come. Let's take an early look at some of the camp battles we'll have to look forward to.

1) CB2: Quinyon Mitchell vs. "the field"

Darius Slay will be the Eagles' CB1 for the fifth straight season, while rookie first-round CB Quinyon Mitchell will compete with a handful of other guys to start opposite him. Mitchell's biggest threats:

• Kelee Ringo: Ringo is a second-year player who played one defensive snap during the first dozen games of the 2023 season, but started four games down the stretch. He's 6'2 and he runs a 4.36 40, so the physical attributes are certainly there.

• Isaiah Rodgers: Rodgers was a sixth-round pick of the Colts in 2020 out of UMass. He played in 15 games for the Colts in 2022, starting 9. He had 34 tackles, a forced fumble, and three pass breakups. In 2021, he had 49 tackles, 3 INTs, and 7 pass breakups. During the 2023 offseason, he was busted by the NFL for gambling, was suspended indefinitely, and released by the Colts. The Eagles scooped him up as a pure stash move, and Rodgers was reinstated by the league this spring. Rodgers has the body type (5'10, 170) and some skills that scream slot corner, but he mostly played on the outside with the Colts, and was a good player for them.

• Cooper DeJean: DeJean will get reps at multiple spots in training camp, while Mitchell will likely be parked at outside corner, which gives Mitchell a leg up on DeJean for the open CB2 job. DeJean's path to starting is probably at slot corner, which is the next battle on our list.

• James Bradberry: No inside info here, but Bradberry will probably be released after June 1.

• Eli Ricks, Josh Jobe, and Zech McPhearson: Longshots. These guys will be fighting more for roster spots than starting jobs.

Prediction: As we noted in our projected rookie roles, it would have to be viewed as a disappointment if Mitchell didn't win a starting job.

2) Slot CB: Cooper DeJean vs. Avonte Maddox

DeJean's path to starting is much more likely to come in the slot than it is at outside corner or safety, as explained in our rookie roles piece. He is an extremely versatile player who played outside corner, slot corner, safety, and even some linebacker at Iowa. Slot corner often encapsulates all of those positions.

Maddox is kinda-sorta the incumbent, though the team did release him earlier this offseason before re-signing him to a deal at a much lower cost. He has been a good slot corner for the Eagles when healthy, but he missed 14 games in 2023 with a torn pectoral muscle, and he missed games at three different junctures during the season in 2022. He also missed three games in 2018, four games in 2019, and six games in 2020.

In 2022 and 2023, the Eagles were unprepared with capable backup options in the slot. In 2024, they have more depth there, and a legitimate contender in DeJean to take Maddox's starting spot.

Prediction: This is maybe a little bit of a copout, but Vic Fangio can play matchups with DeJean and Maddox. Does the opponent have a big bully in the slot? DeJean would probably match up better with that kind of player. Do they have a smaller, shifty guy? That's probably Maddox's music.

3) RG: Tyler Steen vs. Matt Hennessy vs. Trevor Keegan

At the start of 2023 training camp, there was an open competition for the starting RG job between Steen and Cam Jurgens, which was quickly won by Jurgens. Steen never looked fully comfortable at guard during the summer, but he looked good when he got reps at LT, his position in college at Alabama. During the 2023 season, Steen had extended action in just one game, against the Cowboys Week 9, at RG in relief of Jurgens, and he understandably struggled, when the Cowboys were able to get Micah Parsons matched up on him one-on-one. Otherwise, the team trusted Sua Opeta over him whenever they needed a reserve guard.

In 2024, Steen is once again competing for the starting RG job with Jurgens taking over for Jason Kelce at center. He has two obvious challengers:

• Matt Hennessy: Hennessy was a Falcons third-round pick in 2020, and he understudied as a rookie under Alex Mack. He became the starting center in 2021, starting every game, but moved to LG in 2022 and suffered a knee injury that cost him six games. In 2023 he reaggravated that knee injury and missed the entirety of the season. He has appeared in 41 career games, with 22 starts. His snap counts, by season:

In a weird way Hennessy's center experience could work against him. Should the Eagles need to replace Jurgens in-game with an injury, Hennessy could fill right in off of the bench instead of needing to shuffle multiple positions.

• Trevor Keegan: Keegan spent his entire college career at LG, but he played all three interior line spots in high school and should be able to play both guard spots in the pros. Keegan was part of a stellar offensive line that carried Michigan to a National Championship. He is a rugged, physical guard whose calling card is as a mauler in the run game.

We'll also note here that newly acquired swing tackle Mekhi Becton could maybe get a look at guard, as could rookie sixth-round C Dylan McMahon.

Prediction: The Eagles spent a high pick on Steen (65th overall) in the 2023 draft. So, you know, they like him! He'll have every opportunity to win this job, and now that he has a year of NFL experience under his belt and some legitimate time in practice logged at guard, he'll be in a much better position to win this job than he was a year ago.

4) WR3: Wide open

The top five options on the team for the WR3 job are (in no particular order) Britain Covey, free agent acquisitions Parris Campbell and DeVante Parker, and rookie draft picks Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson.

Smith and Covey best fit the profile of the classic slot receiver, in that they're both smaller, shifty guys. However, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are both weapons out of the slot in addition to the outside, so it's not imperative that the WR3 fits the classic slot receiver profile. When the Eagles signed a big receiver in Julio Jones last season, for example, he quickly became the WR3, even if that didn't exactly pan out.

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Parker (6'3, 215) and Wilson (6'6, 231) are the big boys, while Campbell is a speedster (4.31 40 once upon a time) who does not play like a speedster (career 9.3 yards per catch).

Prediction: The Eagles probably hope that Ainias Smith has a great camp and wins this job, with Wilson chipping in as a threat who opposing defenses have to account for in the red zone. The bad scenario is if those guys just aren't ready to play yet and they have to play guys like Parker and/or Campbell.

Of the five options above, I'll go out on a limb and project Smith to start, but with little confidence.

5) TE2: C.J. Uzomah vs. Grant Calcaterra vs. Albert Okwuegbunam vs. UDFA McCallan Castles 

This is not a super compelling group.

• C.J. Uzomah: Uzomah has been a starter for most of his career, as he has played in 106 games with 82 starts. He isn't much of a threat as a receiver, but he is one of the biggest tight ends in the league at 6'5, 271, and is a good run blocker. For example, in 2023 he finished fourth in PFF's run blocking grades behind George Kittle, Charlie Woerner, and Will Dissly.

• Grant Calcaterra: Calcaterra had 5 catches for 81 yards as a sixth-round rookie in 2022. He had 4 catches for 39 yards in his second season in 2023. Positive contributions can come slowly for young tight ends in the NFL — and Jalen Hurts doesn't exactly like throwing to guys not named A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, or Dallas Goedert — but Calcaterra still didn't make a second-year leap.

• Albert Okweugbunam: Albert O played 57 snaps  on the season — one target, which he dropped — before landing on IR near the end of the season with, I dunno, a hangnail? The Eagles traded for Okwuegbunam at final cutdowns last year, so this will be his first full camp with the team.

• McCallan Castles: Castles is an undrafted rookie free agent who had 22 catches for 283 yards and 5 TDs for Tennessee in 2023. He has some run after catch ability and is a willing blocker who needs some refinement. Jack Stoll unexpectedly won a job as a UDFA in 2021. Again, this is not a super compelling veteran group McCallan is competing with, so he has a chance.

Prediction: The Eagles likely signed Uzomah for a role similar to the one Stoll had with the team over the last three seasons. He'll block, and get probably get very limited targets in the passing game if he makes the roster. But for now, he'd probably be penciled in as the No. 2 tight end behind Dallas Goedert.

6) QB2: Kenny Pickett vs. Tanner McKee

This offseason, the Eagles traded the equivalent of a fourth-round pick for Pickett, who was a Steelers first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft. He started 12 games both in 2022 and 2023, with a 7-5 record in each season. His passing stats:

While Pickett hasn't turned the ball over at a high rate (particularly in 2023 when he threw just 4 INTs), his 13 TD passes in 24 career starts is an abnormally low number, as is his career 6.3 yards per pass attempt. The Steelers' offense averaged 14.7 points per game in Pickett's 12 starts in 2023. Pickett suffered a high ankle sprain late in the season, but when he was well enough to play again, the Steelers continued to start Pickett's backup, Mason Rudolph, rather then insert Pickett back into the starting lineup.

McKee balled out in the preseason games last summer as a rookie, and easily beat out incumbent QB3 Ian Book for a spot on the 53-man roster. Thereafter, we didn't see McKee again. He dressed for all 18 Eagles games as the "emergency quarterback," but the team never needed him to play. We (as in, the media) also didn't get to see McKee play in competitive sessions the rest of the season because our access to the good parts of practice ends once training camp is over. As such, it's unknown how well he performed day-to-day from September to January.

Prediction: Pickett will enter 2024 training camp as the favorite to be Jalen Hurts' primary backup, and McKee will likely have to impress while getting limited practice reps. Put me down for Pickett to win the backup job, but it shouldn't be viewed as a given that he's just better than McKee.

Honorable mention: S

We'll see how quickly Sydney Brown recovers from his January ACL tear, and whether he can push Reed Blankenship for a starting job opposite Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. (We'll also see if the Eagles sign one of the many unemployed veteran safeties with recognizable names.)

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