6 Young Eagles Players Under Pressure To Step Up Next Season

The Eagles saw a lot of talent walk out the door this offseason. Some, they let go because they were free agents and would cost too much. See Josh Sweat and Milton Williams. Some places they wanted to get younger, see Darius Slay. Others they intentionally moved off from, like CJ Gardner Johnson.

The Eagles are still very talented, but those holes still need to be filled by someone. Either players who were here last season, or new arrivals via draft or free agency. With their limited resources in free agency, Howie arguably did as good of a job as you can expect. It is hard to replace that much talent in one off-season.

Still, if the Eagles are going to get back to the heights, they need some guys to step up.

Nolan Smith has already taken a massive step. After a rough start to his career, he came back with a vengeance. He racked up 6.5 sacks after the bye week, then added 4 more in the playoffs.

Now he is the guy off the Edge. Sweat is gone, Graham is gone, and Huff might as well be gone with how little impact he had last season. It is Smith and Jalyx Hunt. And Smith needs to be the main guy.

The depth behind them is not ideal. Azeez Ojulari is a solid rotational pass rusher, and Antwaun Powell-Ryland is an interesting rookie. But unless Huff has a surprising bounce-back year, a lot of pressure is on Smith and Hunt to step up, play a ton of snaps, and be good vs both the run and the pass. Smith played great last year, and Hunt showed a ton of promise. But now the heat gets turned up on both of them.

The Eagles not only parted ways with Darius Slay, but they also saw their primary backup CB walk in free agency. No Slay, no Isaiah Rodgers. Leaving them looking for a new 3rd cornerback.

Quinyon Mitchell will also be outside. Cooper Dejean will play outside when they only have 2 corners on the field, but they usually operate out of the nickel. Meaning someone else is going to need to step up. Right now, the options are Kelee Ringo or Adoree' Jackson, with Eli Ricks as the wild card.

One of them needs to step up. Having a corner as good as Q does not mean much if the QB can just pick on the other guy across the field. Ringo has mostly only played special teams. He only saw the field on defense when they emptied the bench. Jackson is a journeyman. Ricks played 9 snaps last year, but played over 200 snaps in his rookie season.

To me, the fact that the Eagles kept Eli Ricks on the 53-man roster all last season, despite him being inactive most weeks, is interesting. Ringo contributed to special teams, so keeping him around had value even if he only played a few snaps on defense. But Ricks gave them nothing, and they kept him anyway. It tells me they like his upside as a corner.

Whoever it is, one of them needs to be a least passable. Expecting them to be as good as Slay is unfair. But can they not be a problem? Can they be good enough that teams can't pick on them all game long? That is what matters. The term Cs get degrees fits here. Go out there and get a passing grade. If they get an F, it could be a problem.

I don't think Green will swoop in and steal the job from Steen like Mekhi Becton did last year. So Steen needing to step up.

His job is easier than some of the other guys on this list. Of everyone we will talk about, he has the least pressure. He will be the 5th-best player on that line. He gets top play between Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgens. Jeff Stoutland is designing the blocking scheme.

You can't just put anyone in that spot like some fans think. The player does need to be good. But we have seen Steen in that role, and at worst, he was fine. You can make an argument that he is not a big step down from Becton. Still, the O-Line is a vital part of this team. So he needs him to step up and get the job done.

The rookie with the honor of having the most pressure in year 1 is Drew Mukuba. Jihaad Campbell has the built-in injury excuse, and there are other LBs who can step up if he has a learning curve. But Mukuba kind of needs to be the starting Free Safety day 1.

Sydney Brown has a skill set. But it is not the same skillset CJ Gardner Johnson brought to the table. Same with Reed Blankenship. They needed a true cover Safety. Someone they can trust to drop back deep in coverage, and hold down the fort. Mukuba was that guy in college. He was a playmaking safety who excelled when asked to drop back.

Unfortunately, with the Eagles not having another guy like that, Mukuba does not get much of an adjustment period, unless they sign Justin Simmons. He needs to step in right away and fill that role.

Is it fair to him? No. Safeties already have a bit of a curve, and Vic Fangio's system can be hard to grasp. Luckily, one of Mukuba's best assets is his brain, and he should be able to pick up the concepts quicker than most. But the Eagles are relying on him to do just that.