It’s Okay To Have Questions About The Eagles For This Coming Season

As the Eagles approach the beginning of training camp practice this Wednesday, there has been about as much talk on this team as there has been about the terrific play of Trea Turner. Perhaps that is a good thing as they enter the season as heavy favorites, not only in the NFC East but the NFC as a whole. The anticipation isn't as quiet as the chatter, as another run to the Super Bowl is expected. 

The questions surrounding this team have been mostly positive ones: How many games will they win? Who is the second-best team in the NFC? Can they beat the Chiefs or Bills or Bengals in the Super Bowl?  

Those very well may be the biggest questions for right now. And that's fine, as optimism probably isn't a wrong feeling to have right now. But if we are going to be a little more realistic, there are plenty of on-field questions that are as legitimate as Super Bowl hopes. Most of the pondering about this team will lean heavily on the defensive side of the ball. 

While there is a pretty good amount of depth along the defensive line, it is littered with younger, unproven players who will need to play to potential in order to try and match the terrific season that group put together a season ago. In Nakobe Dean, the Eagles are relying on a player to run their defense who didn't see the field very much at all last season. And his fellow linebackers are virtual unknowns here. The cornerbacks are proven, but also on the other side of 30 years old. They are backed by safeties who have absolutely no proof of being every down players. 

And then there is the coaching staff. Painfully young, two brand new coordinators, perhaps different schemes, trying to fit new players into their roles. 

There are health concerns when it comes to your two new running backs. Depth issues at wide receiver, tight end, and a little on the offensive line. Can the wonderful seasons that were turned in by so many on both sides of the ball, be matched? Most likely not. So where does that leave this team? Of course, time will tell, as it always does. Time not defined by the month-plus that training camp entails, but when it really matters, this year that being on Sept. 10 at New England. 

Yes, this should be a special season for the Eagles. And I'm a firm believer that it's going to be. But questions - serious ones will need to be answered in the next five or six weeks, also. Even before the season begins. 

Eagles training camp is a very interesting time of year for Philly fans, as the city prepares for another season. There’s a lot that we think we know heading into the team’s first action of the year, and there’s a lot still to find out. The roster looks strong, and the defending NFC Champions seem poised for another good season, but there is more to look at than just the stars. Especially in Philadelphia, it seems that every year the fan base, media, and organization fall in love with some lesser-known names that ball out in training camp.

Sometimes those guys end up never making little to no impact in the regular season (shoutout Paul Turner, the GOAT of Eagles training camp darlings), and sometimes they end up playing a big role in the team’s success in the coming year. From young players ready to take a jump in production, to some new names that might have their share of the headlines for the next couple of weeks, here are 5 potential camp darlings for the Eagles in 2023.

Bradley has carved out a nice role with the Eagles since the team selected him in the 6^th round back in 2020. Over 3 years in the NFL, the local kid has been a solid special teams player, drawing compliments from the coaching staff on that front. This year, though, is a turning point in his young career. The Eagles are once again thin at linebacker, which gives Bradley an opportunity to go into camp trying to earn more defensive snaps. Or we could find out that he is a career special teams player, and not a starting or rotational linebacker in the NFL. Whatever the result, there is an opportunity for Bradley, and that sets the stage for a guy who could become a headline in camp.

The Eagles selected Brown in the 3^rd round of this year’s draft, and the Illinois product plays another position of need for the birds – safety. Now, Howie Roseman could make a move any day and turn this into a moot point by acquiring a veteran safety, but as things stand now, Brown has a chance to compete for a starting spot in camp. With CJ Gardner-Johnson’s departure from the team this offseason, Brown could see his first NFL training camp turn him into a fan favorite if we start reading tweets from beat reporters about good performances.

Nolan Smith may be the least talked about 2023 1^st round pick in the entirety of the NFL. Jalen Carter has been the headliner grabber so far from this draft class (both good and bad), and the flurry of news about the 9^th overall pick has overshadowed his Georgia teammate to this point. Smith is a talent in his own right though, and with Brandon Graham another year older and Derek Barnett coming off a major injury, Smith living up to his 1^st round pedigree would be huge for the Eagles. The guy is an athlete, and if we start getting those “look how much of a monster this kid is” reports, Smith could become this fan base’s favorite rookie quickly.

Arguably the coolest name on this Eagles’ training camp roster, Zaccheaus spent his first 4 seasons in the league with the Falcons. He has put up a respectable 8 touchdowns in his career, and with Quez Watkins coming off a rough season and Zach Paschal leaving for Arizona, the 3^rd WR spot is definitely up in the air. Atlanta has not exactly been a good team recently, and yet Zaccheaus has 3 TDs in each of his last 2 seasons. This fan base has started to sour on Watkins, and if Zaccheaus shows out in camp, he could become the people’s choice for the new complement to AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Jurgens was basically handpicked by Jason Kelce to be his heir at the center position, but Kelce, who apparently has access to the fountain of youth, has shown no signs of needing a replacement. That sets up Jurgens to potentially replace Isaac Seumalo at guard this season and join one of the best starting offensive lines in football. This city loves Jason Kelce, and Jason Kelce seems to love Cam Jurgens. By the transitive property of fandom, then, we should all love Jurgens, right? Well, if he starts making some noise in camp, I think this fan base will latch on to Jurgens as one of the next generation of great Eagles linemen.