March 24, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Will WR Darius Cooper (41) be the next great UDFA signing story for the Eagles, like T.J. Edwards and Reed Blankenship before him?
The Eagles have done a good job over the past few years of finding some diamonds in the rough and developing them into impact starters.
In 2019, they signed LB T.J. Edwards, who went undrafted out of Wisconsin. Edwards started four games his rookie season, started all 12 games he played the following season, and entrenched himself as a permanent starter at a position the team regularly neglected, helping the Eagles get to the Super Bowl in 2022.
The Eagles were good with letting Edwards walk in free agency to the Bears after the 2024 for a very modest contract. In Edwards' last year, the Eagles were already sowing the seeds for their next hidden gem. That year, they had signed S Reed Blankenship as a rookie free agent out of Middle Tennessee State, bolstering another position they had been neglecting.
Blankenship started four games that season in place of an injured C.J. Gardner-Johnson, even getting his first career interception off Aaron Rodgers and starting the team's first-round playoff win against the Giants. He became the franchise's first rookie free agent on defense to start a playoff game.
By his second year, Blankenship had become the starter. He would start no fewer than 15 games in each of his next three seasons from 2023 to 2025, one-upping Edwards by helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2024.
Again, the Eagles were cool with the short-term development and didn't bend over backward to retain Blankenship, who signed a three-year deal wort $24.74 million deal with the Texans earlier this month.
As they currently sit, the Eagles again have a strong enough roster to make another playoff run, but they also have depth issues in critical areas that could help be solved – either currently or for the future – by developing another Edwards or Blankenship.
In honor of March Madness, we'll look at contenders to be the next great Cinderella story for the Eagles:
Cooper, an undrafted rookie from Tarleton State in Texas, defied the odds by making the 53-man roster at a position that wasn't short on talent. He opened eyes with a tremendous training camp, showing good body control and contested-catch ability, along with a veteran-like understanding of how to get open. By end of camp, he was taking first-team reps – unheard of for an Eagles undrafted rookie wideout.
Cooper wasn't as raw or unrefined as most rookie free agents are, and he has ideal size and strength (5-10, 210) for the position. The Eagles got him on the field for 13 games as a rookie, and he caught nine passes for 92 yards. If he develops into a legit starting receiver, it would help ease the sting if they trade A.J. Brown. He's clearly the team's top candidate to become another Edwards or Blankenship, the offensive version.
An undrafted rookie from Oregon who started his college career at Duke, Johnson didn't make the 53 last year but did have a good camp and preseason, mostly playing nickelback on the second and third teams. There just wasn't any room in a crowded, talented secondary for an undrafted rookie. But you could've made an argument that he outperformed fifth-round rookie Mac McWilliams.
The Eagles elevated Johnson from the practice squad for the last three games of the season and started him – at safety – in the "resting starters" season finale. He left that game with an ankle injury. With such little depth at safety right now, and with Cooper DeJean always in consideration to move around, there should be an opportunity for Johnson to build off his rookie season and make the 53 this time. Becoming an Edwards or Blankenship type would be further down the road, if possible.
Campbell wasn't even an Eagles UDFA signing; he was drafted by the Titans in the sixth round in 2022. He got placed on Injured Reserve that September and missed the whole season. In 2023, he bounced around the Titans' practice squad and active roster before again landing on IR, and then again in 2024 with a torn ACL.
Last August, he signed with the Eagles to essentially be an extra body for the final preseason game while starters and key reserves sat. But Campbell made enough of an impression to sign back to the practice squad. A story by The Athletic detailed how Campbell became a scout team legend.
The former Ole Miss LB has talent and athleticism, just not ideal size, per his TrueMedia spider chart:
Unfortunately for Campbell, the road to a starting position is obstructed by two high-level starters in Zack Baun and 2025 first-round pick Jihaad Campbell, along with drafted backups Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Smael Mondon Jr. The potential to become the next great LB story for the Eagles is unlikely, but he'll be someone to watch.
Pierce, the mammoth former Rutgers OT, has one thing already going for him – massive size. He's 6-foot-8, 341 pounds and with 36-inch arms. He has an 88 1/4-inch wingspan. After their success converting Mekhi Becton from a massive tackle to a Super Bowl champion guard, it made sense for the Eagles to take a flyer on Pierce. Unfortunately for Pierce, former OL coach Jeff Stoutland – who craved road graders with this kind of size – is no longer coaching the 0-line, so that could hurt Pierce's cause.
If Pierce were exceptionally bendy or twitchy, he probably would've been drafted. But you can't coach size, and if he can acclimate to the new offense, maybe there's a chance he develops into someone who can challenge to be a depth piece in 2025 and perhaps grow into a larger role down the road. The Eagles have a history of backup o-linemen playing in big postseason games.
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