The Eagles can live with a few soft spots on the roster. They’ve earned that much. Even with the questions hanging over this group, they still look like a team built to chase a third straight division title and make another run at the NFC in the Super Bowl.
The problem is that the concerns are concentrated where the offense has to breathe: at receiver and tight end. DeVonta Smith now sits in the WR1 spot, and Dallas Goedert is back as the starter at tight end, but beyond those two, the picture gets murky fast.
Smith gives the Eagles a real foundation. He can stretch the field, win in traffic, and make contested catches despite a slim build.
He has stayed remarkably healthy during his Eagles career, and there’s a real hope that the Sean Mannion offense will hand him and Jalen Hurts more easy answers. Still, expecting him to simply absorb A.J.
Brown’s production is a leap.
And after Smith, the uncertainty starts piling up.
The Eagles came into the offseason expecting first round pick Makai Lemon to carry a major load, maybe even open the year as the starting outside receiver opposite Smith. Instead, a hamstring issue kept him out of camp for most of the summer.
He didn’t flash much in the third preseason game, and right now it’s tough to project a meaningful rookie impact. There are even some Jalen Reagor vibes attached to him at the moment.
Dontayvion Wicks had a better summer, and he brings something useful: familiarity with Mannion’s system from his time in Green Bay. He’s expected to work as the slot receiver.
But the production still leaves plenty to be desired. Wicks posted 332 yards in 14 games last season, with a career high of 581 yards as a rookie in 2023, and he averaged only 23.7 yards per game a year ago.
Darius Cooper has been the camp darling, and there’s always a chance a player like that turns into a real surprise once the games count. But plenty of training camp stars disappear when the lights come on.
The veterans on the roster are more of a hope than a solution. Elijah Moore and Hollywood Brown both made the 53-man roster, and the Eagles are clearly banking on one of them finding something close to his old form.
Moore managed 9 catches for 112 yards last season with the Bills and Broncos combined. He’s only 26, so there’s still some time for him to matter.
Brown is 29 and finished with 587 yards on 49 receptions last year, which was 255 more than Wicks.
As Jimmy Kempski noted a couple weeks ago, this isn’t exactly a physically imposing receiver room.
That issue gets even bigger because the tight end depth behind Goedert is thin enough to be a problem all by itself. Goedert is 31, and after him, there’s basically nothing.
Second round pick Eli Stowers was supposed to be part of the answer and give the Eagles another pass-catching option, but his summer has gone badly. He has looked overwhelmed, and it’s possible he won’t even be active on game days this season.
Behind those two are Johnny Mundt, a run-blocking specialist, and E.J. Jenkins, who has spent a lot of time on practice squads. If Goedert gets hurt - which has happened almost every year - the passing game at tight end would disappear.
That’s why the central issue is so clear: somebody other than DeVonta Smith has to become dependable.
The Eagles need one receiver from this crowded, uncertain group to settle in as Hurts’ No. 2 option. They need someone who can move the chains and produce in the 700-800 yard range, giving defenses another threat to account for. Right now, that player isn’t obvious.
If one doesn’t emerge, it’s hard to see how this passing game holds together.
The expectation is that Mannion’s scheme could take some time to get rolling. Howie Roseman seems to have tried to replace Brown with volume instead of star power, which makes sense given the cap situation. What’s harder to explain is the lack of a trustworthy tight end behind Goedert.
The cleanest path forward would be for the Eagles to lean hard on what should be a dominant rushing attack, build the passing game off that, and use the backs more in space. There’s also the hope that another tight end, maybe Zach Ertz, gets added before long.
In Other News...
Jayden Daniels Gives Eagles An Early Week 1 Problem
Week 1 already comes with the usual opening-day uncertainty, and for the Eagles, the first defensive question is how to handle a Commanders attack that looks much different than the one they prepared for a year ago. Jayden Daniels is back as Washingtons offensive leader, and he will have plenty of help around him with additions like Stefon Diggs and Chig Okonkwo joining a group that already includes Terry McLaurin. Even before the first snap, that gives Philadelphia a lot to sort through.
The supporting cast around Daniels adds another layer of concern, especially with players such as edge rusher Odafe Oweh and linebacker Sonny Styles part of the broader matchup picture. Washington has clearly tried to raise its ceiling on both sides of the ball, and the opener is now less about easing into the season than about seeing how quickly the Eagles can answer a more dangerous-looking division rival. For a Week 1 game, that is already a pretty serious test. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Hurts Faces One Eagles Test That Will Define His 2026
Jalen Hurts enters 2026 with a familiar kind of pressure in Philadelphia, where the standard is less about surviving the season than proving he can keep the Eagles offense moving upward. The benchmarks attached to that expectation are straightforward enough: a completion rate at 67 percent or better, something in the neighborhood of 3,800 passing yards, and more touchdown production through the air. It is the kind of statistical line that would signal a quarterback not just managing games, but helping define them.
Sean Mannions arrival as offensive coordinator adds another layer to the evaluation, because Hurts is also expected to run more often in this setup. For an Eagles offense that has leaned on his dual-threat skill set from the start, the question is how the balance will look when the passing game has to carry more of the burden and the ground game becomes part of the equation rather than the whole identity. The numbers will matter, but so will the shape of the offense around him, and whether Hurts can meet those targets while still looking like the player Philadelphia trusts most when the stakes rise. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles NFC East Hopes May Ride On A Few Risky Variables
As the Eagles turn their attention to Washington, the path to a third straight NFC East title looks less like a straight line and more like a series of delicate tests. The run game needs to find more rhythm with Saquon Barkley and the other backs, the offensive line has to hold up under new coaching, and the passing game is still working to get the right mix from a revamped receiver group around Jalen Hurts.
Philadelphia can live with a few rough edges in September if the bigger pieces keep trending up, but the margin shrinks quickly when turnovers start creeping in or depth gets exposed. The secondary is expected to keep playing at a high level, and the rookie class adds another layer of intrigue, with first-round pick Makai Lemon already drawing attention despite being slowed by an injury. For a team trying to stay atop the division, the biggest question is whether all those moving parts can settle in before the schedule starts asking harder questions. [Read more 🡒]