July 31, 2024
The Philadelphia Eagles are five practices into their 2024 training camp, so we are a ways away from a more full evaluation of individual players and the team as a whole. Still, here are some players who are off to good starts, and some who are not.
📈 QB Jalen Hurts: Hurts has been very accurate as a passer, as balls rarely hit the ground during his reps, and he has yet to throw an interception. His deep throws in particular have (mostly) been on the money. He also looks healthy, and more like the runner that he was in 2021 and 2022 than he was in 2023 when he was playing through lower-body injuries.
If there's one gripe it's that there have been a decent number of coverage sacks, and maybe Hurts is at least partly to blame on those because the ball isn't always coming out quickly? But overall, the Eagles have to be very happy with the way Hurts is throwing the football and seeing the field this summer after he had a concerning spring.
📈 WR DeVonta Smith: We all know that Smith is a budding star player because we have already seen him play well in games that matter for three seasons. However, Smith has almost sort of oddly never really crushed it in training camp, until now. This summer he is getting open at will and making more than his share of impressive catches, and has often looked like the best player on the field.
📈 CB Isaiah Rodgers: If the season began today (it doesn't), my bet would be that Rodgers would be the starting CB2. He's both quick and fast, and he does a really good job of locating the ball and getting his hands on it. He's simply a good, young player with experience who made a mistake that didn't even hurt anyone. Why did the Colts release this guy?
📈 RB Will Shipley: Shipley looks comfortable as a receiver, and he has made his share of catches through the first week of camp. He doesn't look like a rookie to me. But also, his speed has been impressive. He ran a 4.39 at Clemson's pro day, and that has translated to the field, in my opinion. I'm curious to see what kind of role he'll carve out as a rookie, but it appears that the Eagles intend on getting him involved.
📈 TE Grant Calcaterra: Calcaterra isn't wowing anyone like DeVonta Smith, but he has made the plays that have come his way. More importantly, Kellen Moore stated that Calcaterra is the TE2, so it appears that he'll have a bigger role in 2024 than he did his first two years in the league.
📉 LB Oren Burks: Burks has been sidelined for the entirety of camp so far with a knee injury, while Ben VanSumeren has been an obvious standout in special teams drills. When camp began I would have had Burks on the initial 53, and VanSumeren off of it, but I think that has flipped.
📉 OG Matt Hennessy: When the Eagles signed Hennessy in free agency, it was expected that he would compete with Tyler Steen for the starting RG job. However, the team has since signed Mekhi Becton, Max Scharping, and Nick Gates. They also drafted Trevor Keegan and Dylan McMahon. Becton, Scharping, Keegan, and even Darian Kinnard have gotten first-team reps at guard, but Hennessy has gotten none. He does not seem to be a serious contender for that role.
📉 WR Ainias Smith: Smith is a Day 3 rookie and he was recently recovering from a stress fracture in his shin, but he has struggled fielding punts and has been nearly invisible in the regular offense. There's time for Smith to make plays, but he is off to a slow start.
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