CT’s Top 3: Most Pressing Questions For The Eagles Defense

Today's the day folks! The Philadelphia Eagles are reporting to Training Camp at the NovaCare Complex, with their first practice scheduled for tomorrow. It's the unofficial, kind of official, start to football season, and with all of the questions surrounding this organization, it couldn't have come soon enough.

While today is technically the start of camp, we still have one more day to wait for true Eagles news, so for one more taste of mid-summer content, today on Kincade And Salciunas we got into another couple of lists from the national media, ones that have the roster as high as #2 in the entire NFL.

It's a fair question posed by Andrew Salciunas in that clip: how can this roster be so highly touted with so many questions on the defensive side of the ball? To highlight the fairness of his, and others', concern about that unit of the team, let's go through my biggest 3 questions on the Eagles defense right now.

The calling card of the paramount example of what a Nick Sirianni-led football team was what the 2022 Eagles team was able to produce in getting after the quarterback. Securing a whopping 70 sacks as a team, (15 more than the next closest defense) that version of the birds wreaked havoc on the pocket like few others have.

While this year's team will most likely not come close to equaling that level of production, they have questions to answer in the wake of Haason Reddick's departure this offseason. Can Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith, and others on the edge get the job done? It will be a huge determining factor of success level.

There's no doubt that "Big Play" Slay will be the top corner on the outside when the 2024 season starts for the Eagles, but there is plenty of question about who will start on the opposite side. The Eagles spent 2 premium picks in this year's draft on defensive backs, selecting Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo (22 overall) and Cooper DeJean of Iowa (40 overall).

Mitchell seems to be a probable choice, but starting a rookie is a bold choice. Could it be James Bradberry, or Kelee Ringo, or Isaiah Rodgers? There are very few choices to rule out right now

The linebacker position is thin. That isn't changing anytime soon, and Dean having a solid season probably won't be enough to change it either. What it can do, though, is change the dynamic of the future of the position. The Eagles have been behind the 8 ball for years at linebacker, and Dean was supposed to remedy that when he was selected out of Georgia.

Unfortunately, injuries and slow development have hampered him from reaching those expectations. This certainly feels like a major campaign for Dean to determine his future with the team.

Every year in Eagles camp, there is some random player who wins the hearts and minds of Eagles fans. Someone who goes from a relative unknown to everyone's favorite player. They smash onto the scene in camp and in preseason games and have fans frothing at the mouth to make the final 53-man roster.

The truth is that player usually does not make the roster, or really ever make it in the NFL. There are outliers, but often times that player who comes out of nowhere in Eagles camp doesn't end up going anywhere.

I am talking about guys like Paul Turner, Rasheed Bailey, Tyree Jackson, and Dane Evans. Often times it is skill players. It is hard for Offensive Linemen to stand out too much. It has happened.

Jordan Mailata is the rare example of that type of guy working out. Alex Villeneuve was a darling as a Lineman, got cut, and made it elsewhere. So sometimes it pans out, and fans were right to fall in love.

Related: Eagles 53-Man Roster Projection Following Mini-Camp

But the vast majority of the guys we fell in love with were WRs, or pass rushers. Those are the guys who have the chance to stand out in camp, or in preseason games by putting up big numbers.

Someone in the second half of preseason games has to get targets. Getting a chance to play against 2nd string, or 3rd string corners or Linemen, might give those players a chance to beat up on their peers a bit. It is why Paul Turner, who never did much in the NFL, was so explosive in Eagles camp.

But who will be that guy this year? Which guy on the fringes of the Eagles roster are fans going to swoon for? Which players can be the standouts at Eagles camp? Whose name will have Eagles fans upset when they inevitably miss the cut?

Speed does not always play in the NFL, but it can play in camp. It is easy to see someone as fast as John Ross impressing in camp with his straight-line speed. With a few long TDs in practice or a pre-season game, Eagles fans will fall in love and think he is going to have a breakout season at 28 years old, 7 years after being drafted.

He is a long shot to make the team, even with a good camp. We have seen him struggle in the NFL. He has had a lot of shots and didn't make use of any of them. But he has the skill set to be a guy who looks good in practice.

Eagles fans love a tall WR. Wilson is tall, with decent speed. Like Ross, he has some traits that could make him stand out in practice.

Does he have the skills to be an NFL WR, we don't know. But he easily could have a big pre-season game and win the hearts of Eagles fans who are crazy enough to be locked into the second half of the 3rd Pre-Season game. Then it is just a matter of if he can crack the roster. But I could see him being a practice squad guy unless he is so good he forces their hand.

An RB from Georgia, of course, Eagles fans will fall in love. I doubt we see much of Barkley or Gainwell in the pre-season. Someone has to get carries. Will Shipley will get a good chunk, but so will UDFA Kendall Milton.

Milton was a fine back in College. There is nothing overly special about him, but he is solid. If he gets a ton of carries in these games, I won't be shocked if he puts up big numbers. I doubt he makes the team though. Barkley, Gainwell, and Shipley are locks. Will they keep a 4th RB? I doubt it. But Eagles fans might fall in love with him anyway.

Ngata was a camp darling last year. He impressed in camp but then was relegated to the practice squad. He will get another chance to be a camp darling this year. But it will be an uphill battle to make the roster yet again. There are a lot of WRs competing for a few spots.

At one point he was a highly touted College recruit. we never quite saw it, which is why he was a UDFA. But the traits that had him highly regarded going into College are still there, and can still show up on a practice field.

Rodgers is already a camp darling and camp hasn't started. There were Eagles fans who swore the Eagles did not need to draft a corner because they had Rodgers. Thankfully the Eagles disagreed and drafted 2 of them.

Rodgers was a good corner for the Colts. But he is no lock to make the team. Cornerback is the busiest position on the team. 4 spots, Slay, Mitchell, Ringo, and Dejean, are locks. That leaves 7 other guys competing for maybe 2 spots. Rodgers having success in the past gives him a leg off, but I can see him getting cut, and I can see Eagles fans losing their mind about it.

Here is a camp darling who might have a chance to break tradition and actually make the team. Smith was compared to Deebo Samuel when he was drafted. The skillset speaks to a guy who would be the perfect WR3 on this team.

But again, cracking the team as a WR may be tough. They need a WR 3 though, so if he impresses in the slot, he does have a chance. of all the WRs here, I think he has the best chance to actually be something.

As a former 1st round pick, Smith does not fit the criteria of the traditional camp darling. He is a lock to make a team and comes in with high expectations. But he is a guy where his skillset has not yet matched production. I can foresee him having a huge camp, making people very excited.

Does that mean he will also be great in the season? Maybe, maybe not. We won't know until the games start. But Smith's big camp had people thinking he would make an impact last season, and he never did. I will be surprised if he is not one of the camp standouts this season too. It is just a matter of if it carries into the season again.