5 Eagles Backups Worth Watching On Sunday

Usually, I write an article about important matchups the Eagles need to win. But since the Eagles are resting their starters, that feels somewhat pointless. So instead, let's look at some of the Eagles' backups who are worth watching out for on Sunday.

Tanner McKee being great has become a bit of a meme. People love to joke that is a future Hall of Fame. But the joke is not completely without merit. Anytime McKee has gotten the chance to play, he looked good.

This year, his only real playing time came vs the Raiders after the Eagles pulled their starters. He went 3 for 3 with 33 yards. Last season, he played twice, once in relief of Kenny Pickett, who was already filling in for the injured Jalen Hurts. Then he started vs the Giants in the final week of the season in a similar situation to this game. On just 45 attempts in those 2 games, he threw 4 TDs, completed nearly 70% of his passes, and gained 323 yards.

McKee clearly has some juice. This game could be a bit of a tryout if he wants to be a starting QB somewhere else. It won't be in Philly, but there are QB desperate teams in the league, and a trade might be on the table in the off-season. Maybe he can even lead the Eagles to a win and help the Eagles secure the 2 seed without playing their starters.

Regardless of how McKee plays, it won't earn him a bigger role with the Eagles next season. But a player who can make a case for a bigger role here next season is Darius Cooper.

AJ Brown's future here is not guaranteed. There are significant rumblings that he could be traded. Jahan Dotson is a free agent and likely will not be back. Could the UDFA step into a bigger role? The Eagles liked him enough to keep him around all year. He has flashed a little bit in his very limited playing time, and he was incredibly productive at Tarleton State.

Cooper has a chance to make his case to be part of this Eagles offense next season. He and Dotson will be Tanner McKee's main options in the passing game vs a terrible Commanders defense.

The Eagles added a trio of tackles during the draft. Two in the 6th round, Cam Williams and Myles Hinton, and then Hollin Pierce as a UDFA. None of them contributed even as a backup so far this year, but those additions were clearly not for this year. All 3 were projects, with the Eagles hoping to strike gold again as they did with Jordan Mailata in the 7th round not too long ago.

Lane Johnson is not long for the NFL. He may have 1 or 2 years left before retirement. Chances are they eventually use a 1st round pick to take his replacement. But once upon a time, the Eagles drafted Andre Dillard to replace Jason Peters, and Mailata still eventually stole the job from him.

Cam Williams will have the first chance to make that case. The Eagles activated the rookie Tackle, and he will presumably get a chance to play. Nothing he does will make the Eagles commit to him as the eventual Lane Johnson replacement, but he can at least start to make them think about it.

Campbell is very different from the rest of this list because he has actually started games for the Eagles this year. But the 1st-round pick eventually ceded playing time to Nakobe Dean. Dean will likely take back over in the playoffs, but Campbell is the future at Linebacker for the Eagles.

He has played very well when given the chance. Campbell is probably the Eagles' best player who will actually take the field on Sunday. And it will be a preview of next season, where he will likely take over as the starter next to Zack Baun full-time.

There was a decent amount of hype behind the Ty Robinson pick. But because the Eagles DT group has been so great, Robinson has hardly seen the field. Sunday is a chance for Robinson to show what he can do though, with the hope likely being that he will have a bigger role next season.