Former QB Alex Smith shares advice for Shedeur Sanders
Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith shares advice for Shedeur Sanders after his shocking fall in the draft.
Sports Seriously
PHILADELPHIA − As with every draft class, there are certain veterans who are technically put on notice with a potential challenger for his job.
It’s no different for the Eagles, even though they are defending Super Bowl champions. They selected 10 players in the NFL Draft from April 24-26, plus signed seven more undrafted free agents.
Clearly, the Eagles have more depth than most teams, so they don’t necessarily need their rookies to play right away. And with eight of the 10 picks coming in Rounds 4-7, it’s likely that most won’t be ready to do so.
But as we saw last season, the Eagles got major contributions from their top three draft picks in cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who became a starter right away; nickel Cooper DeJean, who became a full-time player Week 6; and edge rusher Jalyx Hunt, who became a significant part of the rotation over the second half of the season.
So it’s possible that first-round pick Jihaad Campbell can have an immediate impact both at linebacker and edge rusher − assuming he’s ready for Week 1 after having shoulder surgery in March. Second-round pick Drew Mukuba could find a significant role either at safety or nickel. If it’s at nickel, then DeJean would likely move to outside corner.
But other draftees could work their way into a role, too. Fourth-round pick Ty Robinson could work into the defensive tackle rotation. Fifth-rounder Smael Mondon, a linebacker, could play if both Campbell and Nakobe Dean (knee) aren’t ready.
Perhaps one of the three offensive linemen taken in the fifth (center/guard Drew Kendall) or sixth round (tackles Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams) will be needed if injuries strike. It’s also possible that fifth-round cornerback Mac McWilliams and sixth-rounder Antwaun Powell-Ryland can find roles, too.
“We want to increase competition on this team,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said about the Day 3 draft picks. “We felt like if we took multiple darts at positions that we liked players at, it increased our chance on hitting one of those players.”
Here, then, are five veterans who could be put on notice − and the draftees who could be replacing them:
Nakobe Dean, linebacker
Dean had by far the best season of his career last season, with 128 tackles. But Dean tore his patellar tendon in the playoffs against Green Bay last January, and there’s a good chance he won’t be ready for Week 1. Expect Campbell to start out there until Dean is ready to return before moving to edge rusher.
But watch out for Mondon, who replaced Dean at Georgia after Dean was drafted by the Eagles in 2022. Dean is entering the final season of his contract. The Eagles have already gave Zack Baun a top-of-market contract, so it’s unlikely that the Eagles would pay both he and Dean. Not with Campbell, Mondon and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. on the roster.
“Nakobe’s like my big brother,” Mondon said. “I came into Georgia as a freshman, and to see Nakobe win the Butkus, I’ve been looking up to him for many years now. So to get here and have him still lead me, it’s been good. It’s been a blessing.”
Jahan Dotson, wide receiver
The third wide receiver on the Eagles has the thankless job of blocking and stretching the field for stars A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and tight end Dallas Goedert now that he has agreed to a reworked contract that will keep him in Philly for the 2025 season.
Sure, there’s the occasional deep ball, as Dotson hauled in a 27-yarder early in the Super Bowl.
But Dotson had just 19 catches for 216 last season after the Eagles traded for him in August. Not surprisingly, the Eagles did not pick up Dotson’s fifth-year option, meaning he can become a free agent after this season.
The Eagles have Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson, 2024 draftees who are entering their second seasons, and could earn a bigger role in the offense. The Eagles also signed free agent Terrace Marshall, a 2021 second-round pick of the Panthers who has played in only 16 games the last two seasons. So there should at least be competition for that role.
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Bryce Huff, edge rusher
Huff isn’t automatically going back into the edge rusher rotation now that Josh Sweat left in free agency and Brandon Graham retired. Huff, whom the Eagles signed to a three-year deal worth as much as $51.1 million in March 2024, was a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. He had just 2.5 sacks last season.
The Eagles replaced Sweat in Graham in free agency by signing veterans Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche to one-year deals. Ojulari is a lock to join Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt in the rotation.
That fourth spot could go to to either Uche, Huff or Powell-Ryland, who had 16 sacks last season at Virginia Tech. The NFL is obviously a big step up from college, especially for someone like Powell-Ryland who’s considered undersized at 6-foot-3, 258 pounds.
Then again, it’s hard to overlook production, especially if he can carry that over to the NFL.
Reed Blankenship, safety
Is it possible that Blankenship could lose his starting job at some point during the season? After all, he has been a full-time starter since 2023 after signing as an undrafted free agent the year before. But the Eagles drafted two early-round safeties over the past two seasons in Sydney Brown (third round, 2023) and Mukuba.
Blankenship is heading into the last year of his contract. Brown is the wild card in that he has only started one game at safety in two seasons, and wasn’t even the third safety last season. If Brown can prove that he’s all the way back from a torn ACL suffered in Jan. 2024, and Mukuba proves that he deserves a spot, it’s possible that the Eagles could decide to move on from Blankenship and turn the position over to Mukuba and Brown.
The question is when.
Tyler Steen/Kenyon Green, right guard
One year ago, it was assumed that Steen would take over at right guard for Cam Jurgens, who started there in 2023 before moving to center to replace Jason Kelce. But Mekhi Becton, a career tackle signed on a one-year contract, won the job.
Steen, the Eagles’ third-round pick in 2023, was expected to be the front-runner again this year. Then the Eagles traded safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to Houston and got guard Kenyon Green, the Texans’ first-round pick in 2022, in return.
Green was a disappointment in Houston. But would a chance to play next to Lane Johnson and learn from offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland tap his potential?
Or could Kendall, drafted as a center, win the job from both of them? The Eagles listed Kendall as a center/guard, and Kendall admitted that the Eagles talked to him about playing there.
“You gotta add value to the team, so the more you can do, the better,” Kendall said. “Whatever the coaches ask me to do, I’m going to do at the highest level possible.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com