Gowton's take so far

Eagles training camp: 14 winners, 7 losers, and 10 IDKs from the first week

It’s been ... one week since you looked at me the Philadelphia Eagles held their first training camp practice to gear up for the 2024 season. Let’s take a look at some winners, losers, and IDKs from the first five days of action down at the NovaCare Complex.

Disclaimer: The Eagles only held one padded practice and it’s obviously early in camp. There’s still plenty of time for players to change their outlook — for better or worse — over the next few weeks.

WINNERS

JALEN HURTS

Hurts has looked much better than he did during spring practices. Judging him against his stated standard as a “triple threat,” he’s had success in all three regards. 1) As a passer, Hurts has been very accurate; there haven’t been many off-target throws. 2) As a runner, Hurts looks faster than he did the last time we saw him play. 3) In the mental aspect, Hurts has largely been decisive and he’s avoided putting the ball in harm’s way. There are still times when he’s been holding onto the ball longer than you’d like to see but the positive outweighs the negative thus far. Hurts is off to an encouraging start.
DEVONTA SMITH

Two uncharacteristic drops aside, DeVonta has been awesome. Makes difficult catches look easy, wins at all levels of the field, it’s all there. Hardly unexpected but still good to see.
A.J. BROWN

Same deal with DeVonta. Elite talent who’s hard to stop. Graduated to a level where he’s so good that it’s not even interesting to talk about.
JALEN CARTER

To steal a line from my friend Sheil Kapadia, there’s no expectation for Carter that’ll have me saying “Settle down, he can’t do that.” Carter looks primed to absolutely wreak havoc on opposing offensive lines. He’s a powerful force to be reckoned with.
ISAIAH RODGERS

Between spring practices and camp so far, Rodgers has looked like the most qualified contender to start at CB2 across from Darius Slay. Rodgers has demonstrated straight-line speed, quickness, mental acuity, and ball skills. He arguably made the best play of any DB this summer by breaking up a Kenny Pickett deep pass (which was baited) to Joseph Ngata in the end zone. We’ve yet to see how he holds up against the run but there’s no data from his past that indicates it’s an issue for him.
QUINYON MITCHELL

We don’t yet know if Mitchell will be the starting CB2 in Week 1. It’s possible he will. But even if he’s not, he’s still going to have a role on this defense. The Eagles utilizing Mitchell as a nickel and dime defender indicates that the coaches have a plan for him. Mitchell had his best day of practice on Day 5 when he locked down A.J. Brown during multiple 1-on-1 reps.
DEVIN WHITE

White’s explosiveness stands out in stark contrast to linebackers of Eagles past. He’s looking like the Eagles’ top option at his position.
NOLAN SMITH

Smith terrorized Fred Johnson with back-to-back on Day 4. We need to see him continue to win against higher-level competition but there are signs that Smith can bring some pass rushing juice off the bench.
JALYX HUNT

Hunt has surpassed very low expectations entering camp; he looks more advanced than expected.
MILTON WILLIAMS

Williams has been active as both a run-stopper and a pass rusher. It’s a big season for him as he enters a contract year. Williams looks ready to step up.
WILL SHIPLEY

After some early spring struggles, Shipley has settled in nicely. The rookie running back looks real natural catching the ball. He even got some first-team red zone reps on Day 5. Shipley could be a role player in this offense.
GRANT CALCATERRA

Calcaterra is running away with the TE2 job. He’s made a number of solid catches. It also helps that no one else in the tight end room appears to be seriously challenging him as Dallas Goedert’s top backup.
JOHNNY WILSON

Wilson’s been relatively quiet in team drills but the fact that he’s getting first-team reps seems like a good sign for his stock. He’s been more present in 1-on-1.
BRITAIN COVEY

Covey has made a habit of getting open and being a reliable option. He might actually have a role in the offense this year. Covey is also the top punt return contender, especially with Cooper DeJean missing chances to overtake the job.
Related
Can Britain Covey earn a role in the Eagles’ offense?

LOSERS

COOPER DEJEAN

Unfortunate to begin his rookie campaign on the active/NFI list. If his reported recovery timeline holds up, he’ll miss at least 11 practices and one preseason game. DeJean will still have some time to show he deserves to be on the field but he’s behind the eight ball.
TYRION DAVIS-PRICE

TDP dropped a pass and fumbled in non-contact spring drills. He’s had at least four drops over the past two practices. Not making a convincing case for the Eagles to keep a fourth running back.
AINIAS SMITH

Smith’s also had some drops in addition to some muffed punts. Wilson, who was drafted after him, has apparently leapfrogged Smith on the depth chart.
OREN BURKS

The veteran linebacker hasn’t practiced since Day 1. “You can’t make the club in the tub.”
C.J. UZOMAH

He’s looked slow and his hands haven’t been great. That might not matter much if he’s just mostly going to be a run-blocking TE3 ... but you’d at least like to see him be a functional pass-catcher.
MATT HENNESSY

PHLY’s Bo Wulf said he liked what he saw out of Hennessy in OL vs. DL 1-on-1. I didn’t see all of those reps since I was split between those drills and 7-on-7, which take place concurrently. I saw Hennessy get beat badly to allow pressure in a team drill setting. And it doesn’t seem awesome for him that the Eagles have only continued to sign potential interior options since they originally signed him. See: Mekhi Becton, Max Scharping, and now Nick Gates.
WILL GRIER

I actually think Grier has done some nice things with his very limited reps. He was good in the preseason last year and he could light it up again this summer. But, outside of the end of practice developmental period, he’s not even getting a chance to play. He’s not a contender to make the roster.

I DON’T KNOWS

JAMES BRADBERRY

Credit to Bradberry for being honest about his situation. And he’s had some good moments in coverage. But I’m still not really buying him being on this roster. Can he handle tackling as a safety? Is he going to provide special teams value as a backup? I still think the Eagles would like to trade him before Week 1. But maybe he’ll end up sticking around? I don’t know, hence his placement in this section.
TYLER STEEN

It’s possible that Steen will be back on Thursday night. If not then, he could be back for their next practice on Sunday. Missing two or three practices is hardly a death knell for his chances of starting at right guard. But the missed time certainly doesn’t help him. It’d be especially nice for him to not be missing padded practice reps.
MEKHI BECTON

Becton’s size is definitely intriguing; he looks like he can be a force as a run blocker. Pass protection is more of a question mark, though. I don’t want to write him off for getting dominated by Jalen Carter, who is special, but he needs to show more to steal a starting job.
CAM JURGENS

I can’t say Jurgens has jumped out to me in a big way, for better or worse. But my BGN Radio co-host Jimmy Kempski had him as his MVP of practice one day (looked great out in space blocking in the second level) and his LVP the next day (got beat badly by Marlon Tuipulotu). So, seems like some inconsistency for Jason Kelce’s replacement.

SAQUON BARKLEY

Still waiting for Barkley to have a highlight moment that makes everyone say “Wow, there’s Saquon Barkley!”
PARRIS CAMPBELL

To his credit, Campbell’s been getting open and catching all the short targets thrown his way. But he hasn’t done anything special in team drills. He hardly has a lock on the WR3 job.
JOHN ROSS

Ross has been getting a good amount of first-team reps but hasn’t stood out a ton. He did get open deep for a touchdown but he was overthrown. Again, hardly locking down the WR3 job.
BRYCE HUFF

Hardly panicking because he’s going up against high-level tackles and it’s not like Haason Reddick always dominated in practice settings. But it would be nice to see Huff stand out sometime soon.
KENNY PICKETT

I definitely think Pickett looks better than Marcus Mariota, which is admittedly a pretty low bar to clear. But with Tanner McKee getting his first taste of second-team reps on Day 5, perhaps there’s a legitimate QB2 battle after all.
NAKOBE DEAN

Dean has been praised for looking good as a run defender/blitzer, which is nice. But he’s still not very present in coverage, except for when he’s noticeably getting beat. And Dean has yet to take one of the first first-team linebacker reps in 11-on-11. Those have exclusively belonged to White and Zack Baun so far. I can buy Dean as a backup/rotational LB3 but less so as a full-time starter.

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