10 Eagles backups to watch in Week 18 against Giants 

With nothing to play for in terms of seeding, the Eagles are going to rest their star players in Week 18 against the Giants.

But this is a big opportunity for a lot of backups.

“What an opportunity for some of the guys who are going to be playing that maybe don’t get as many reps,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Huge, huge, huge opportunity for some people to do it in an NFL regular season game. Again, this isn’t the first time we’ve been in this scenario. You look back at your notes from that, you always grow from things that you go through with these scenarios but excited for these guys and their opportunity to go out and play.”

Here are 10 Eagles to watch on Sunday against the Giants:

QB Tanner McKee

Last week, McKee had a really strong NFL debut when he got in the game against the Cowboys. McKee completed 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns and his one incompletion was a beautiful pass to A.J. Brown in the end zone but Brown couldn’t keep his feet in. McKee only got in the game last week because Kenny Pickett took another couple hits to his ribs. In this game, expect McKee to get the most snaps of his two-year NFL career. He'll probably make his first career start.

WR Ainias Smith

The fifth-round pick from Texas A&M hasn’t played much at all this season. He has played just a total of 49 snaps all season and has just 3 catches for 6 yards. His last target came in the first win over the Cowboys in Week 10 and he was inactive for the four games before the Week 17 blowout against the Cowboys. Smith had a rough training camp and began the season in Injured Reserve, missing the first six games. It’s possible he could get to return some punts on Sunday too.

WR Jahan Dotson

The Eagles traded away a third-round pick in the move to acquire Dotson from the Commanders and he hasn’t been very productive. On an offense with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Saquon Barkley and even Grant Calcaterra, Dotson doesn’t see many targets. The 24-year-old has been targeted 22 times and has just 12 catches for 122 yards all season. He hasn’t caught a pass since the Panthers game on Dec. 8. Since 2012, there have been 857 receivers with 600+ snaps in a season and Dotson is dead-last in targets with 22. The next closest is Kansas City’s Justin Watson this year with 29 targets. This game is a chance for Dotson to see the football come his way.

RB Will Shipley

The third-string running back suffered a concussion against the Commanders two weeks ago but hopefully he’ll be able to return on Sunday. Shipley, a fourth-round pick from Clemson, has played just 29 offensive snaps this season and has just 20 attempts for 50 yards all season. Shipley almost had his first NFL touchdown against the Bengals but it was called back for a holding penalty. Maybe he can get one that counts against the Giants.

OL Trevor Keegan

You probably forgot about Trevor Keegan. The Eagles drafted the Michigan left guard in the fifth round and put him on ice. Keegan has been on the 53-man roster for his entire rookie season but has been inactive for each of the first 16 games. If the Eagles go far enough to rest a lot of their starters, we might finally get to see Keegan make his NFL debut on Sunday.

LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

The Eagles this season have gotten stellar linebacker play from starters Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean and both of them have stayed relatively healthy. But last week, Dean missed the Cowboys game with an abdominal injury and we saw our first extended look at Trotter. Oren Burks started that game but Trotter played 23 defensive snaps after playing a total of 28 all season before that. Trotter got his feet wet last week but could see even more time in this game.

DE Bryce Huff

The big free agent acquisition missed five games after wrist surgery on Nov. 21 before making his return last week against the Cowboys. Huff played 14 snaps in that game and didn’t find his way into the stat sheet. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio admitted that Huff looked a little rusty. It’s not like Huff is suddenly going to live up to his three-year, $51.1 million deal he signed in March but he could help the Eagles in the playoffs. He just needs to knock off some more of this rust first.

S Sydney Brown

After recovering from an ACL tear, Brown missed the first five weeks of the 2024 season on the PUP list. Since he returned, Brown has played just 37 snaps on defense all season. He has become a key contributor on special teams but it’ll be fun to watch him play safety on Sunday against the Giants. Brown is buried on the depth chart behind the two starters and backups Avonte Maddox and Tristin McCollum. But there are still plenty of reasons to think he could have a bright future in the NFL.

CB Kelee Ringo

Ringo had a big role on defense last season but has played just 59 defensive snaps in 2024 after the Eagles added Quinyon Mitchell and Isaiah Rodgers. Like Brown, Ringo has become a big-time special teams ace. But as Ringo enters the final regular season game of his second NFL season, he’s still just 22 years old and won’t turn 23 until June. Ringo is young and athletic and is still worth keeping around and developing.

CB Eli Ricks

Like Ringo, the added depth at cornerback has Ringo buried on the depth chart. As an undrafted rookie, Ricks played 301 defensive snaps in 2023. This year he has played just three and they came last week in the 41-7 blowout over the Cowboys. Ricks has actually been inactive for 10 of 16 games this season but the Eagles have kept him on the roster. They’re not in the business of tossing aside young and talented cornerbacks.

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