August 07, 2025
The Philadelphia Eagles will play their first preseason game Thursday night in Philadelphia against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' most important offensive starters have sat out the entirety of the preseason each of the last two seasons, and I don't expect that they'll play this year either. The defensive starters played briefly in the first preseason game last year, but they were also new to Vic Fangio's scheme.
The starters aside, there are roles to be earned, and roster spots to be made, so here's what I'll be watching.
Howie Roseman has already made one trade during training camp this year. Another one could be on the way if some of the backup edge defenders don't step up and show something soon.
The regular season starters will be Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. Smith likely won't play on Thursday night, and Hunt may not either. Thereafter, the Eagles have a collection of cheap players who will have a chance to show something.
• Josh Uche has been the best of the bunch so far, displaying impressive quickness and a pass rush plan.
• Azeez Ojulari garnered the biggest contract from the Eagles this offseason, but has been disappointing in camp so far, and he has not made many plays.
• Ogbo Okoronkwo has shown a nice get-off at the snap, and he has a chance to make the team as a situational pass rusher, but he may not be a very good run defender, and he doesn't have much NFL experience dropping into coverage, though he did do that some in college.
• Patrick Johnson has been around a while, mainly as a special teamer who has not gotten much playing time in the regular defense.
• Antwaun Powell-Ryland is a sixth-round rookie. He hasn't popped yet.
• Ochaun Mathis is an under-the-radar player who has had a nice start to camp.
Can one or more of those guys make some plays and make the the team feel better about their edge depth?
Johnny Wilson and Ainias Smith, both 2024 draft selections, have been outplayed so far this summer by Elijah Cooks, who signed a futures contract earlier this offseason, and Darius Cooper, an undrafted rookie free agent from Tarleton State.
In order to beat out the drafted players, Cooks and Cooper probably need big preseason game performances in addition to what they have done in practice.
Conversely, if Wilson and Smith can make plays in the preseason games, their iffy practice contributions will likely be forgiven by the front office.
To this point in training camp, Brown appears to be in the lead to start at safety for the Eagles Week 1. He has stayed healthy and hasn't made any egregious mistakes, while Andrew Mukuba has missed six days of team drills with a shoulder injury.
Unlike the other starters, Brown is likely to play, since he is still fighting for a starting spot. (Mukuba is unlikely to play, per Vic Fangio.)
The concern with Brown is that he can play a little out of control and/or sometimes out of position. In that sense, it's not the worst thing for him that he hasn't been a standout, either positively or negatively. But certainly, if he were to make a play or two Thursday night he'd help his chances of (a) beating out Mukuba, and (b) perhaps preventing the Eagles from signing a guy like Justin Simmons or trading for some other safety.
After Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra, there's a wide open competition for one or two open spots at tight end. Here's how I'd rank the backups' chances of making the team heading into the first preseason game:
Jenkins made the most of his preseason opportunities last year. He made some plays, stuck on the practice squad, and was eventually called up to the 53 during the season.
Tanner McKee will likely start, but we've already seen him perform well during the preseason.
I'm more interested in getting an initial look at McCord, the sixth-round rookie, and Thompson-Robinson, who the Eagles could try to showcase in hopes of dangling him as trade bait.
For what it's worth — and not exactly a super high bar here — Thompson-Robinson is the best QB4 I've ever covered in an Eagles camp, by a mile.
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