Training camp is my favorite time of year to cover the NFL.
It’s not like it used to be, but it’s still a real ordeal. There’s nothing like spraying on sunscreen and walking in the heat to attend one training session after another in the summer.
As always, I am very excited to get Eagles training camp underway, which will kick off with the first practice of the summer on Wednesday morning.
So here are 10 things – in no particular order – that I’m looking forward to watching over the next few weeks:
1. Competition for cornerbacks
There are plenty of position battles that will take place with the 2024 Eagles, but none of them are more exciting than the cornerback battle because of the level of talent that has accumulated at the position. We saw it this spring and now the real battle begins. The Eagles’ cornerbacks were a weakness in 2023, but it’s now a clear position of strength. Regardless of who wins the two open starting jobs, the Eagles should be in good shape.
We know Darius Slay will be a starting cornerback in 2024. The veteran is entering his 12th NFL season and is the only cornerback with a guaranteed starting spot. But that leaves the other starting cornerback spot and the nickel corner spot wide open.
At outside cornerback, it’s Quinyon Mitchell vs. Kelee Ringo vs. Isaiah Rodgers. I was impressed with all three during a limited viewing window during OTAs. The Eagles selected Mitchell 22nd overall and would probably love to see him run away with the position. But if he doesn’t, they have two other extremely interesting options. Ringo has a year of NFL experience under his belt and is actually younger than Mitchell. And Rodgers showed no signs of rust this spring after a one-year suspension. He has NFL experience and is ready to compete.
And at nickel cornerback, it’s really going to be Cooper DeJean versus Avonte Maddox versus Tyler Hall and maybe even Eli Ricks. But really, it seems like it’s going to come down to DeJean versus Maddox, even though DeJean is expected to start camp with a hamstring injury. While Maddox has the experience, the Eagles cut him this offseason before bringing him back. And they’re also giving him work at safety. DeJean is a rookie second-round pick, so he won’t be given a job, but he could win it over Maddox.
2. Kellen Moore’s attack
This offense is going to be different in 2024. Nick Sirianni admitted the offense was stale by the end of 2023, and he’s right. The Eagles fired Brian Johnson and brought in Kellen Moore to replace him. But the big difference is that Moore is now running that side of the ball with an offense he’s installing — one that Jalen Hurts said is 95 percent new.
We saw signs of this new offense in the spring. More pre-snap motion, different formations, different personnel packages. But now we’re really going to start seeing the full offense take hold. It’s worth noting that the Eagles’ offense was clearly behind the defense in the spring, which isn’t surprising. It’s also not something to worry about in the spring. But we’re going to have to see improvements over the next few weeks of training camp.
All eyes will always be on Hurts, but that’s especially true this year in a new offense. Hurts has spoken before about his desire for continuity with the coaching staff on that side of the football, but that obviously won’t happen this year. He has a new offense to perfect, and we’ll likely get a good sense of how comfortable he is in that offense this summer.
3. Saquon Barkley
This one is pretty straightforward. The Eagles’ most exciting new player is the former No. 2 overall pick. The 27-year-old is a two-time Pro Bowler, but it’s fair to wonder what version of Barkley the Eagles will have in 2024. Can he return to his prime or is he no longer that type of player?
It was a bit unusual for Howie Roseman to sign a running back to a three-year, $37.75 million deal, but the Eagles believe they’ve found an inefficiency in the market and identified a way to really improve their offense in one of the few places they could with a starter. When Barkley is at his best, he’s capable of some mind-blowing plays. Hopefully we’ll see some of those this summer.
4. Young defensive linemen
Fletcher Cox retired this offseason and the Eagles traded Haason Reddick. With Brandon Graham returning for his 15th and final NFL season and Josh Sweat returning for his seventh, all eyes will be on the young players on offense.
Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Milton Williams, Bryce Huff and Nolan Smith are all expected to be key pieces for the Eagles in 2024 and perhaps beyond. And they all have some questions to answer about themselves.
5. Nick Sirianni’s role
In an interview with Eagles reporters after the spring, Sirianni admitted it was difficult to hand over control of the offense to Moore this offseason, but he did it because he knew it was in the best interest of the team.
This spring, I tried to keep tabs on Sirianni during practices and noticed he was dividing his time a little differently, which was also happening behind the scenes in the meeting rooms. Sirianni, as he pointed out after the season, is still the Eagles’ head coach, but his day-to-day role changes a bit with Moore’s arrival. The Eagles no longer run Sirianni’s offense, so he has to use his time a little differently.
Sirianni isn’t the only head coach in the NFL, and it’s not crazy to think this setup could work. But it’s going to take some getting used to, for him, his players and those who observe practices on a daily basis.
6. James Bradberry safe
The Eagles said this spring that Bradberry had playing time at safety, but we never got to see it because he was injured. In the end, maybe it doesn’t really matter. Will Bradberry be on the roster this year as a safety? I still don’t think so. But I’m curious to see how he’ll approach the position. Bradberry played eight seasons in the NFL as a cornerback, but maybe he can actually play safety.
I still believe Bradberry won’t make the Eagles’ 53-man roster when the season starts. But maybe he can prove he has some versatility at the position this summer and maybe Howie Roseman can get a trade done.
7. The role of Mekhi Becton
The Jets selected Becton with the 11th overall pick in 2020, and while he showed promise, he never quite lived up to that draft status. He was a starting left tackle and really didn’t want to play any other position. That’s why it was so remarkable this spring to see Becton take snaps at right tackle and then left guard.
Given his usage during OTAs, I’m very curious to see where Becton will play this summer. Will he be the Eagles’ center and get snaps on both sides of the line? Or will the Eagles move him to guard and potentially even compete for the starting right guard spot?
At 6-foot-7, 363 pounds, Becton is absolutely massive. Even on a line with Jordan Mailata, Becton’s size still stands out. He could end up being a big part of the roster in 2024 and I can’t wait to see him in action.
8. Launch strategy
No one really knows what to expect with the NFL’s new kickoff rules, which makes this a very intriguing situation. The Eagles aren’t going to give away their full strategy, but they have to practice it at least a little bit. And we’ll see the best players behind them returning kicks.
In the spring, the Eagles used two separate kickoff returners, one on each side. They’ll likely use a bunch of different combinations in practice and preseason games.
9. Cam Jurgens in the center
It’ll be a little weird being in training camp this summer without Jason Kelce. But the future Hall of Famer has officially retired after the 2023 season, and the Eagles are moving forward with Jurgens as his replacement.
After a year at right guard, Jurgens is back in his most natural position as he takes over at center. He had the chance to play alongside Kelce in 2023 and that experience should really help Jurgens progress. The 2022 second-round pick out of Nebraska was drafted to potentially replace Kelce and is finally getting that chance.
But this won’t be the first time Jurgens has had extended work at center with the first-team offense. In 2022, Kelce missed most of training camp after getting a cleanup on his elbow and Jurgens ended up replacing him for most of the summer and performed well. That was two years ago, so now Jurgens should be even more prepared for the job.
10. CJGJ Energy
There’s no doubt that CJ Gardner-Johnson is a character in his own right. We saw him during the 2022 season, but we haven’t seen him in training camp yet. The Eagles traded for CJGJ just before the start of the 2022 season, after camp ended. But we’ve heard plenty of stories about how chatty Gardner-Johnson is on the practice field and the energy he can bring.
I’m looking forward to it. You need players who are willing to put in the work and can maintain a competitive level throughout a long, grueling and sometimes tedious training camp.
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