A late-round rookie elbowing his way into the third receiver spot, a veteran offensive lineman fading out of favor and a running back not named Saquon Barkley who’s going to have a significant role on offense.
We’re a week and a half into Eagles training camp, the preseason opener in Baltimore is five days away and the Eagles are just 32 days from boarding a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (I’m guessing) for the 4,750-mile flight to São Paulo.
This is the time of the summer where Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations has to pick things up and start getting into regular-season mode.
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So here we go!
1A. The more I see of training camp, the more I’m convinced Kenny Gainwell is going to not just have a role on offense but have a significant role. And that’s not a knock on Saquon Barkley. If anything, I get the sense Kellen Moore believes that giving Gainwell, say, seven or eight touches per game will help Barkley stay healthy and explosive the entire season and help keep defenses off-balance. Even in 2019, Ezekiel Elliott’s biggest season in Dallas with Moore as his offensive coordinator, Tony Pollard got seven touches per game and had 562 scrimmage yards. I think this year goes the same way. Gainwell is having a very good camp, and he’s a guy who’s just been consistently solid since he got here – 4.3 rushing average, 86 catches and 1,500 scrimmage yards as a backup. This is a contract year for Gainwell and considering Howie Roseman’s track record re-signing running backs – he never does – and Gainwell’s desire to be a RB1 somewhere probably his last year here. But expect it to be a good one.
1B. Did you know Gainwell is one of only two players in NFL history drafted in the fifth round or later with at least 200 rushing yards, a 4.3 rushing average and 20 receptions in each of his first three seasons? The other is Hall of Famer Terrell Davis, the Broncos’ 6th-round pick in 1995. Pretty good company.
2A. I’ve been super impressed with Florida State rookie Johnny Wilson’s ability to come into camp as a 6th-rounder, pick up the offense and make plays when he’s gotten the opportunity. Normally, I wouldn’t think a guy like Wilson would be a candidate for playing time and I still think he’s a longshot to win the third receiver spot. But if he can keep building on his good start to camp, no question he could work his way into the mix. It’s not like anybody else has estabished themselves as the favorite. So far, Wilson has shown a good feel for using that 6-foot-6 ½ frame and combine-record 84 ½-inch wingspan to his advantage. He looks comfortable getting out of breaks and and running the entire route tree. Wilson has caught the ball well and hasn’t backed down against corners drafted much higher than him. We’ve seen tall receivers in the past who don’t play tall. Wilson seems to. It’s not easy for WRs drafted as late as Wilson to even make the 53-man roster. The only receivers taken in the sixth round or later who’ve caught 20 passes in an Eagles uniform in the last 50 years are Ron Johnson, Tony Woodruff, Travis Fulgham and Quez Watkins. But Wilson looks good. Can’t wait to see him in the preseason games. There’s something there.
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2B. Fulgham’s entire absurd Eagles career was essentially squeezed into five games, but he still has a higher career yards-per-game average as an Eagle (41.3) than Nelson Agholor, Brian Westbrook, Cris Carter, Keith Byars, Jason Avant, Chad Lewis, Calvin Williams, Reggie Brown, Todd Pinkston, L.J. Smith, Riley Cooper, Brent Celek, Ricky Watters, Duce Staley and Darren Sproles.
3. If Julio Jones doesn’t play again and Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox and Jones all one day make the Hall of Fame, the 2023 Eagles would become the first team to have three future Hall of Famers all in their final seasons in 46 years – since the 1979 Cowboys with Cliff Harris, Roger Staubach and Rayfield Wright. Wright actually signed with the Eagles before 1980 training camp and practiced for a few days at West Chester before announcing his retirement, so technically he didn’t finish his career with the Cowboys. If you’re a stickler for these things, then you have to go back to the 1974 Washington Football Team, with Deacon Jones, Sonny Jurgensen and Mount Laurel’s Dave Robinson all retiring at the same time. The only other teams with three Hall of Famers retiring the same year: The 1963 49ers (Leo Nomellini, Joe Perry, Bob St. Clair), 1964 Giants (Frank Gifford, Andy Robustelli, Y.A. Tittle), 1967 Colts (Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker) and 1972 Cowboys (Philly’s Herb Adderly, Lance Alworth, Mike Ditka).
4. Eagles with at least 80 catches, 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns in consecutive seasons from 1933 through 2001: Nobody. Eagles with at least 80 catches, 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns in consecutive seasons since 2002: DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
5. In general, I think the word “leadership” is overused to the point of being almost meaningless. But I think true leadership does take many different forms that have nothing to do with rah-rah locker room speeches. And when I see A.J. Brown making it a point to challenge Quinyon Mitchell day after day and trying to get under his skin because he knows it’ll help prepare him for what he’ll see during the regular season, to me that’s true leadership. A.J. doesn’t have to do that. But he sees something special in Mitchell, and he’s out there day after day doing everything he can to help develop it because he knows that’s best for the team. You love to see it.
6. Yeah, Nolan Smith looks fine. He’s showing great bend around the edge, an explosive first step, a variety of pass-rush moves and an ability to use one move to set up another move. The thing is, Smith showed all of that last summer, too. The 1st-round pick from Georgia had a really strong training camp as a rookie, which made his sporadic early usage – just 61 snaps through 10 games – and overall lack of production – one sack, one tackle for loss, three QB hits – surprising. So it’s hard to get too excited because Smith is doing all the same things he did last year, when he was unable to translate his training camp production into the regular season. With 36-year-old Brandon Graham expected to take a much smaller role this year – his 23 snaps per game could be cut in half – and Bryce Huff not expected to match Haason Reddick’s 51 snaps per game – the Eagles will need Smith to play at least 30 to 35 snaps per game behind Josh Sweat and Huff. So far so good, but Smith needs to do it in the regular season. Anything short of seven or eight sacks and steady pressures and QB hits would be disappointing.
7A. We’ve spent so much time this summer talking about Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Isaiah Rodgers and Kelee Ringo and all the other young corners we’ve probably neglected the one veteran. But Darius Slay is having an outstanding camp and looks fast and healthy, and that’s notable because he had knee surgery in December and clearly wasn’t anywhere close to 100 percent when he came back for the Tampa playoff game after missing the last four games of the regular season. Slay, 33, is the Eagles' only outside corner older than 26, and he’s at an age where outside cornerbacks generally decline. And maybe that’s about to happen. The only corners 33 and older to start at least 10 games in a season for the Eagles since 1960 are 35-year-old Bob Howard in 1979 and 33-year-old Troy Vincent in 2003. But so far, so good. Slay is giving A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith good work every day, and it's a high level of competition. My guess is that this is Slay’s last year with the Eagles, that some combination of Mitchell, DeJean, Rodgers and Ringo takes over next year. But it would be a big positive if he could muster up one more big year. The young corners have all been impressive, but having a six-time Pro Bowler holding it all together would be huge.
7B. Since 2000, the Eagles have had five different Pro Bowl cornerbacks – Vincent five times, Asante Samuel and Slay three times, Lito Sheppard twice and Bobby Taylor once. Only the Patriots (eight, including Samuel) and Seahawks (six) have had more.
8. When the Eagles signed free agent Matt Hennessy on March 13, it looked like he’d be the Eagles’ top backup interior lineman and the top candidate to back up Cam Jurgens and maybe even a candidate to start if Jurgens struggled at center or if Tyler Steen struggled at right guard. Hennessy started 22 games at guard and center for the Falcons over the last three years. Then they signed former 1st-round pick Mekhi Becton on April 29 and immediately started giving him guard reps. Then on June 3 they signed Max Scharping, with 33 starts at guard since 2019. Then on Tuesday they signed Nick Gates, who has 29 starts at guard and center since 2019. See a pattern? Hennessy doesn’t even get 2nd-team reps at center anymore – he’s fallen behind rookie 6th-round pick Dylan McMahon. Does not augur well for his future.
9. What a weird end to Rashaad Penny' career. Penny retired last week at 28 after just six seasons. I was so excited to see him healthy last year after the Eagles signed him. Here’s a guy who in limited playing time with the Seahawks had six games with at least 139 rushing yards, averaging at least 6.8 yards in each one, and seven rushing TDs of at least 30 yards. Imagine him in a rotation with D’Andre Swift and Boston Scott? Then he gets to Philly and nothing. Three carries for nine yards against the Vikings, two carries for eight yards against the Cowboys, then 6-for-16 in mop-up duty on the last day of the season against the Giants. His seven-yard run on his final carry of the season – and I guess of his career – was his longest run as an Eagle. Penny signed with the Panthers in free agency but only made it through a few days of camp before announcing his retirement. Penny had so many injuries in his career and I guess he never really bounced back from the last one, a broken leg five weeks into the 2022 season, although all he talked about last summer was how great it was to finally be healthy. Penny retires with a 5.6 career rushing average, 2nd-highest in NFL history by a running back with at least 350 carries, behind only Hall of Famer Marion Motley, who averaged 5.7 with the Browns from 1946 through 1955. A weird footnote in Eagles history.
10. Dallas Goedert catching three touchdowns during open practice at the Linc Thursday was interesting and encouraging because it tells you getting Goedert more involved in the red zone is a priority for Kellen Moore and Jalen Hurts. Goedert has been a very good tight end for a while now. Since 2020, he has the 7th-most receiving yards of any NFL tight end but only the 16th-most touchdowns. Just 13 in four years. With his size, hands, route running ability and chemistry with Hurts, Goedert should be a bigger weapon down at the goal line, and I think with Jason Kelce gone we might see fewer QB keepers in the low red zone and more Goedert and Saquon Barkley. Goedert has just 15 career drops on 424 targets, and his 8.5 yards per target is 5th-highest among 54 active tight ends with at least 100 career targets. He should be a red-zone weapon. Keeping Hurts healthy has to be a huge priority for the offensive coaches, and if the Eagles can score from close in without putting Hurts at undue risk it just makes sense. And throwing to Goedert seems like a very good way to do it.
11. I’m not sure who voted in the NFL.com top 100 players, but anybody who voted for Lamar Jackson over Patrick Mahomes … what are you thinking? And I’m a huge Lamar Jackson fan. He’d be my No. 2 QB. It’s easy to compare since they both became starters in 2018. And in those six years, Mahomes has 77 more total touchdowns, nearly 9,000 more combined passing and rushing yards, twice as many Pro Bowls (six to three) and 13 more postseason wins (15 to two). And three Super Bowl MVPs to none for Jackson, who hasn’t reached a Super Bowl. One more interesting note: In Jackson’s six playoff games, the Ravens have averaged 16 offensive points per game. In Mahomes’ 18 playoff games, the Chiefs have averaged 30 offensive points per game. Mahomes has won more Super Bowls than Jackson has won playoff games. Heck, Mahomes has three Super Bowl wins in six seasons, and Tom Brady won three in his first 13 seasons. Jackson is terrific. But come on.