On their way to a Super Bowl win in 2024, the Philadelphia Eagles got major contributions from many of their young players. And yet, there are still plenty of additional young players on the roster waiting for their chances to make an impact. Here are eight young Eagles who should have a bigger role in 2025 than they had in 2024.
• QB Tanner McKee (24): By trading 2024 QB2 Kenny Pickett to the Browns for a fifth-round pick and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the Eagles signaled a strong vote of confidence in McKee as Jalen Hurts' primary backup. McKee was a 2023 sixth-round pick, and after impressing in each of his first two preseasons he got a chance to play in a couple of regular season games in 2024. He looked the part, completing 30 of 45 passes for 323 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 117.2.
• RB Will Shipley (22): Shipley showed intriguing burst as a runner his rookie season, and he was a productive receiver out of the backfield during his time in college at Clemson. He's an ideal fit in Kenny Gainwell's former role as a two-minute offense back as well as the primary backup to Saquon Barkley. The question he will have to answer is whether the team can trust him in pass protection. The Eagles may need their RB2 to carry a little more of the load in 2025 since Barkley had a whopping 482 touches in 2024.
• RG Tyler Steen (24): Steen lost training camp battles for the starting RG job in each of his first two seasons in the NFL. He lost to Cam Jurgens in 2023, and Mekhi Becton in 2024. In 2025, his primary competition (so far) appears to be 2022 Texans first-round pick Kenyon Green, who the Eagles traded for in free agency. The Eagles could also select a lineman in the draft who could compete for that spot as well. But 2025 is probably Steen's best chance of breaking through.
• EDGE Jalyx Hunt (24): Hunt was viewed as something of a developmental prospect with a high ceiling when the Eagles selected him out of Houston Christian in the third round of the 2024 draft. For the first 10 games of his rookie season, Hunt played a grand total of 42 snaps, all of which came in garbage time blowouts.
But when Bryce Huff went on IR with a wrist injury, Hunt got an opportunity to play meaningful snaps, and he never looked lost. When Huff returned from IR, Vic Fangio had seen enough good things from Hunt that he remained in the edge rusher rotation, while Huff rode the bench. Over the final 10 games of the season (playoffs included), Hunt played 279 snaps, or just under 28 per game. In those 10 games, he had 31 tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles.
With Josh Sweat leaving for the desert in free agency and Brandon Graham likely to retire (I think?), Hunt is well positioned to earn a starting role on the edge in 2025.
• iDL Moro Ojomo (23): Ojomo was a regular part of the Eagles' D-line rotation, and actually got more playing time than Jordan Davis. Vic Fangio said that he liked what he saw from Ojomo in 2024 both as a pass rusher and run defender. He is viewed by the Eagles as a three-down defender. With Milton Williams leaving in free agency, Ojomo could reasonably get the second-most snaps among the Eagles' defensive linemen, with only Jalen Carter getting more.
- MORE EAGLES
- A look at the history of the 32nd overall pick, and the rest of the Eagles' draft slots
- Eagles 2025 free agency tracker
- Philadelphia Eagles 2025 depth chart
• LB Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. (22): Trotter only played 110 snaps in the regular defense his rookie season, almost half of which came in the Eagles' meaningless Week 18 game against the Giants. Trotter seemed poised to split snaps with Oren Burks in the regular defense in the Divisional Round against the Rams after Nakobe Dean tore a patellar tendon, but Fangio said afterward that Burks "was doing OK," so he left well enough alone. With Burks leaving in free agency, Trotter should move up a rung on the linebacker totem pole, and he'll have a chance to earn a temporary starting role early in the season while Dean continues to rehab his knee.
• CB Kelee Ringo (22): When he was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, Ringo was one of the youngest rookies in the NFL. He's still only 22 years of age, and Howie Roseman has said that the team would give him time to grow. Ringo has been a good special teams player, but his time to ascend as a cornerback is now. With the release of Darius Slay and Isaiah Rodgers leaving in free agency, the CB3 job alongside Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean is right in front of him.
• S Sydney Brown (24): Brown tore an ACL in the regular season finale against the Giants in 2023. He missed the entirety of training camp last summer as well as the first four games of the 2024 season. When he returned to the field, he was the fourth safety behind Reed Blankenship, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and, curiously, Tristin McCollum. Certainly the team is holding out higher hopes for Brown than McCollum, and with CJGJ being shipped off to Houston, a starting spot has opened up.
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