Projecting who will win the Eagles’ open starting jobs, and additional takeaways

Offense

Ten starting spots are locked down, on offense:

• QB: Jalen Hurts
• RB: Saquon Barkley
• WR1, or WR2: DeVonta Smith
• WR3: Marquise Brown
• TE: Dallas Goedert
• LT: Jordan Mailata
• LG: Landon Dickerson
• C: Cam Jurgens
• RG: Tyler Steen
• RT: Lane Johnson

There is only one unresolved spot, at wide receiver, and maybe not even one depending on how the A.J. Brown situation plays out.

If Brown doesn’t get traded, then that’s one fewer spot the Eagles will need to sort out this season. #Analysis. The offensive starters would pretty much be set, barring any surprises.

Of course, if you’re a regular reader you already know that the strong sense here is that Brown will be traded. If indeed he is dealt, DeVonta Smith would become the clear WR1 and focal point of the Eagles’ passing offense, a role that he is more than built for, in my opinion.

However, the Eagles would then need a WR2 to fill Smith’s role. Presently, the only player on the Eagles’ roster who could pass for a WR2 is Marquise Brown, who the team signed in free agency this season. That would be a stretch. Marquise Brown is not an ideal WR2 at this stage of his career, and the Eagles would be highly likely to address that spot one of two ways:

1) They could select a receiver high in the draft, if the board fell that way. By the way, doing so would be a fairly obvious tip-off that the Eagles already have a handshake agreement on an A.J. Brown already in place with the Patriots, to be executed after June 1.

2) A Patriots receiver could be included in a deal for Brown, or the Eagles could seek a trade partner separately for a new WR2.

The WR3 role is a better fit for Marquise Brown, who would be viewed as the top contender for that spot. His biggest threats currently on the roster are either Darius Cooper, an undrafted free agent who had 9 receptions as a rookie; or Elijah Moore, who was released by the receiver-challenged Bills last season before landing on the Broncos’ practice squad. That’s not exactly strong competition.

Defense

11 of 12 starting spots (we’ll use 12 to account for nickel and base defenses) are set on defense, with wiggle room to upgrade on the edge:

• EDGE: Nolan Smith
• iDL: Moro Ojomo
• NT: Jordan Davis
• iDL: Jalen Carter
• EDGE: Jalyx Hunt
• LB: Zack Baun
• LB: Jihaad Campbell
• CB: Quinyon Mitchell
• CB: Cooper DeJean
• CB: Riq Woolen
• S: Andrew Mukuba

The only clear open spot is at safety, opposite Mukuba. 

During his owners meetings interview session, Howie Roseman made it clear that the Eagles will be adding safety help at some point.

“I think we have some guys either that we brought back or that we signed that we have confidence in who can play the position,” Roseman said. “And again, I go back to, we don’t play for a long time, we don’t go to training camp for a long time.

“We still have a draft, we still have a lot of players who are available, more players will come and go after the draft. So, like any other position, it’s hard for me to talk about the totality of the position when I know we’re going to add to that position. In some shape or form, we will add to that position.”

The Eagles re-signed Marcus Epps and retained Michael Carter after Carter agreed to a far lower salary. Those guys can play safety, as Roseman noted, but they’re better suited as backups, in my view.

I was recently looking at depth charts around the NFL to see if there were teams with a surplus of players at safety. And holy crap, that is a weak position, league-wide.

The Eagles still don’t value the safety position very highly, or they would have re-signed Reed Blankenship for the modest contract he got from the Texans. So, if you have a favorite safety prospect in the upcoming draft, I wouldn’t get your hopes up that the Eagles will select him in the first round.

However, it’s a strong safety class, so the Eagles could maybe take one on Day 2, or they could trade for an expendable vet from another team that selects a safety early in the draft. My bet is on the latter.

Additional takeaways

• This time last year, we perceived that there were five open starting jobs:

1. RG: Tyler Steen was gearing up for his third straight camp battle, but with weaker competition than in 2023 and 2024.
2. TE: It did not look like Dallas Goedert would be back.
3. LB (temporarily): Nakobe Dean was almost certainly going to start the season on PUP list, and it wasn’t a sure thing that he would return to form whenever he was healthy enough to play.
4. CB: The Eagles were hoping Kelee Ringo would emerge after two years developing behind the scenes, and they signed Adoree’ Jackson as a backup plan in case Ringo wasn’t ready.
5. S: The Eagles traded Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, leaving a hole opposite Blankenship.

We’re not saying the roster is better now than it was this time last year, but there’s arguably less to figure out.

• Because the Eagles only have two open starting spots, they do not have to reach for needs in the draft.

• They do also need a long snapper, I suppose.

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