Three weeks into Eagles training camp, the noise is already turning into arguments.
Philadelphia has logged 12 practices and a preseason game, and there’s still a long stretch ahead before cutdown day. Joint practices against the New England Patriots are next up, with two more preseason games and another full week of work still waiting beyond that.
In other words, plenty can still shift. But camp has already given enough to spark a few hot takes - and a few that actually hold water.
Start with Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who has been one of the sharpest players on the field. He’s been around the ball constantly and keeps showing up in the right spots when plays need to be made. Against Jihaad Campbell on Saturday night, Trotter Jr. stood out as the better player in that moment, which naturally leads to the obvious question: should he be starting over Campbell?
Not so fast.
The Eagles used a first-round pick on Campbell for a reason. He’s bigger, more athletic, and has the kind of physical upside that can change a defense.
Trotter Jr. has absolutely earned respect, and he looks like someone who belongs in an NFL starting lineup. That chance may come in Philadelphia next year.
For now, though, he’s not jumping Campbell on the depth chart. If there’s an injury, he’s the one ready to step in.
The better way to view it: the Eagles have three good off-ball linebackers, and that’s the real takeaway.
The quarterback battle behind Jalen Hurts is a different kind of mess. It’s a competition nobody seems eager to win, with Andy Dalton trying to give Tanner McKee the job and McKee not exactly seizing the moment. Cole Payton hasn’t done enough to force his way into the conversation over Dalton or McKee, and if the Eagles wind up keeping both of them, it shouldn’t come as a shock.
Neither Dalton nor McKee has been particularly sharp in camp, though the offense has been vanilla enough that it’s hard to get too worked up about preseason production. The real answer may come during the joint practices this week, where there should be a better read on who can actually handle live competition. Dalton is the front-runner for QB2, but McKee still has a path if he strings together a strong week.
And there’s the blunt reality of the whole thing: if Jalen Hurts gets hurt, the Eagles aren’t winning games anyway.
Safety might be the spot where the roster already looks more settled than people think. If the Eagles add someone before the season, that wouldn’t be a surprise, but Marcus Epps and Michael Carter have both played well enough to keep Howie Roseman from feeling like he has to make a move.
Epps may already be the starter, especially after the Eagles didn’t play him with the other starters in the preseason opener. Carter got into that game and remains his biggest competition.
Carter has made a smooth transition to safety and has been one of the more encouraging developments this summer. Along with Epps and Andrew Mukuba, the Eagles appear to have a solid trio in place. The only real question is whether they keep three safeties or four.
Then there’s Stowers, whose summer has been more about waiting than breaking through. His blocking issues were expected, but the bigger problem is that he hasn’t been getting open the way his athletic profile suggested he would. Through three weeks, he’s simply not ready to help this offense in a meaningful way.
He has been better over the last week, but the preseason opener made the flaws obvious. Stowers needs more game reps and more chances against NFL defenses.
He’s on track to be TE3, though the Eagles may end up keeping four tight ends just so they don’t have to make him a healthy scratch right away. That’s not the ideal outcome for a second-round pick, but it’s the practical one.
For now, the Eagles are just hoping he gives them something later in the season.
At receiver, the picture is starting to take shape. DeVonta Smith is WR1.
Dontayvion Wicks is WR2. Makai Lemon, once healthy, is expected to be WR3 because he’s a first-round pick.
Darius Cooper has done enough this summer to lock down a roster spot, which gets the group to four.
That leaves one real fight: Hollywood Brown or Elijah Moore.
The Eagles are not carrying six receivers. There’s no need to burn a 53-man roster spot on a sixth wideout when a practice squad elevation can handle game-day depth. So the decision comes down to Brown and Moore, and at this point Moore has earned the edge.
Brown will get every chance because of the $5 million guaranteed on his deal and the fact that he’s a former first-round pick with a track record in the league. If he can consistently separate and create yards after the catch, he’ll make the team - and if he does, he’d likely be WR4.
That’s why the upcoming joint practice matters so much. If Lemon is limited or can’t go, who steps in?
Brown, Moore, or even Cooper? That answer may tell the Eagles plenty about how the rest of the receiver room should be sorted out.
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ZaDarius Smith is back in the news, and for Eagles fans it brings a familiar mix of what-ifs and unfinished business. After spending last season in Philadelphia and appearing in five games before retiring, the veteran edge rusher had been tied to a potential return to Cleveland, where he previously worked with Kevin Stefanski, only for his next step to shift in a different direction after a workout.
Now the Falcons are the team making the move, a sign of how quickly the edge-rush market can change when injuries and suspensions start thinning a depth chart. For the Eagles, it is another reminder of how brief Smiths stint in Philly was and how often his career seems to send him back into the spotlight just when one landing spot looks settled. [Read more 🡒]
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Jalen Lemons path has been slowed by a hamstring injury that has kept him out since Aug. 4, though he is close to getting back on the field, while the tight end picture also carries some real intrigue with Stowers trending toward a healthy scratch as the TE3 for Week 1. Elsewhere, Bell, Payton, Morris, Wisniewski, Bernard and James-Newby are all being judged not just on talent, but on how quickly they can turn their development into something the Eagles can actually use once roster cuts arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Camp Picture Is Getting Clearer At Wide Receiver
The Eagles twelfth training camp practice offered another look at a receiver room that is slowly starting to take shape, even as the injury report continues to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Makai Lemon, Tank Bigsby and Johnny Wilson were all sidelined, while DeVonta Smith and safety Cole Wisniewski were among the players working on a limited basis as Philadelphia keeps sorting through who can stack full practices ahead of the 2026 season.
Smith was back in a helmet and getting in some position work after the hamstring issue that had slowed him, a small but encouraging step for a passing game that still needs its top targets available and sharp. Lemon, meanwhile, stayed out of the full session but kept moving on the side field, running routes and going through the catch circuit as the Eagles continue to monitor a camp picture at wide receiver that is becoming clearer even if it is not settled yet. [Read more 🡒]