June 11, 2025
Eagles football, as we know it, is officially gone until the summer. Tuesday’s mandatory minicamp, which earned a perfect attendance, is in the books. The media had its opportunity to see the final of three open practices and to report on all interesting personnel groupings, standout performers and other pertinent observations. The players and coaches will now head their separate ways until training camp begins on July 22 at the NovCare Complex.
Are the defending Super Bowl champs restocked enough for a repeat? That will be the main question going into camp. But even at this time last year, there were questions surrounding the team and its potential, especially coming off the 1-6 implosion over the final seven games of the 2023 season.
Who knew Zack Baun would become the NFL's most unpredictable All-Pro? Who could have guessed that Saquon Barkley would stay healthy enough for a record-setting season? Who wasn't skeptical of the young defensive backs after years of draft misfires at that position?
Here’s a look at the Eagles' biggest questions coming out of the 2025 spring camps and going into July’s training camp:
There’s no question that playing alongside Jalen Carter has its perks, as Carter commanded frequent double teams last year that allowed other interior linemen to get single-blocked. Williams last season feasted off those 1-on-1s and emerged into a dominant force on the interior. PFF gave him the second-highest win rate among interior defensive linemen in 2024, which he parlayed into a massive free-agent deal with New England. You could argue that Williams, who logged five sacks, was every bit as dominant and impactful as Javon Hargrave was for the Eagles in 2022 en route to the Super Bowl, and Hargrave collected 11 sacks that season.
The responsibility now falls on Ojomo in his third season to become a vital piece of the four-man rush. Ojomo was a 2023 seventh-round pick who NFL personnel folks I spoke to felt should’ve gone earlier on Day 3. He has longer arms and bigger hands than Williams but didn’t test as well athletically. Williams’ athletic testing ranked in the 90th percentile whereas Ojomo ranked in the 70th percentile – which shows that Ojomo is still a very good athlete, just not the super freak like Williams.
It’ll be interesting to see how the team handles Ojomo’s spot if he doesn’t quite flourish the way Williams did. It could lead to more pass-rush snaps for Jordan Davis, who caught the coaches’ attention with improvement in that department last year, and for fourth-round rookie Ty Robinson. The Eagles have stocked up with options here, but let’s not just casually dismiss the elite level Williams played at in 2024 and just assume it can easily be duplicated.
Interestingly, this was the same question coming out of training camp last year when it became apparent that Bryce Huff’s transition into Vic Fangio’s scheme wasn’t going seamlessly. The Eagles were fortunate that the ageless Brandon Graham, at 36, found the Fountain of Youth and tag-teamed with Josh Sweat while Huff toiled and while second-year EDGE Nolan Smith was still learning how to convert his tremendous athleticism into a pass-rush plan, until Graham's torn triceps opened the door for Smith's entry into the starting edge tandem.
Sweat is off to Arizona and the retired Graham isn’t walking through that tunnel to rescue the Eagles’ edge rush again. The projected 2025 starting tandem of Smith and Jalyx Hunt has combined for just 11 career NFL starts – 11! – and both are still learning their craft, with Smith slowed this spring as he comes back from torn triceps surgery. Wisely, Howie Roseman signed veterans Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche in free agency, but there’s a reason both guys were available and signed short-term deals.
Generally, teams want at least a three-man rotation of stellar edge rushers, but with Ojulari's injury history and Uche's general ineffectiveness over the past two years – he's on his third team in two seasons – the Eagles need to find out this summer if they're strong enough and deep enough at this spot to be an elite defense again.
He went from undrafted free agent to starter to Super Bowl champion. The only thing missing from the safety’s rags-to-riches story is, well, the riches. Blankenship enters 2025 on the final year of a short extension he signed going into 2024 and will make less than $2 million. His salary is far below the going rate for a safety on a Super Bowl champion who has started 34 games in three seasons. But finding the right number could be tricky for the fourth-year pro and for the team. While he clearly deserves more, the question is: How much?
Blankenship is a good player and leader and has overcome tremendous odds in his ascent to this level. But he’s also limited athletically and hasn’t played as well when not paired in the backfield with an athletic playmaker like C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Don’t forget, the Eagles have tightened their purse strings this offseason and already spent a chunk of up-front money on center Cam Jurgens’ extension. Also, they have a third-round pick from 2023 (Sydney Brown) and a second-round pick from April (Drew Mukuba) waiting in the wings.
No question that Stoutland University's latest alumnus, Mekhi Becton, resurrected his career and helped the o-line retain its status as arguably the sport's most dominant group in 2024. He's gone to the Chargers now, leaving the Eagles to find a new right guard for the third straight season. Stoutland has another first-round reclamation project in Kenyon Green, who was acquired in the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade to Houston, but Green ran with backups during the minicamps – third-stringers, at times – while third-year pro Tyler Steen took the first-team reps and while veteran free-agent pickup Matt Pryor took some second-team reps.
It appears the job is Steen's to lose as the Alabama product enters that critical Year 3. Steen lost the job last year when he sustained an ankle injury at training camp that opened the door for Becton to get the reps. The Eagles would love to see Steen, who played 316 snaps on offense last year, stay healthy, win the job outright and cement himself as the team's long-term plan at right guard, which the Eagles haven't had in a few years.
Stoutland, the sport's best OL coach, also needs his magic touch to get fifth-round rookie center Drew Kendall developed as quickly as possible, as the Eagles don't have an established backup center with snapping experience outside of left guard Landon Dickerson. This spring, with Jurgens still recovering from back surgery, they've gone with Brett Toth as the first-team center. As Jimmy Kempski noted, Toth's snapping has been a disaster at times for the offense. The Eagles would prefer not to slide Dickerson to center, which they were forced to do in the NFC Championship Game against Washington before losing Dickerson mid-game to an injury that forced a hobbled Jurgens back into action.
Because they ran the ball way more than any other NFL team last year, the Eagles used two tight-end formations (known as 12 personnel for 1RB, 2 TE) at a rate more than the league average. Makes sense to go big when you're pounding the rock with that kind of frequency. They also handed the ball off 345 times to Saquon Barkley, which was 50 more carries than his previous high – not even counting the postseason. As Nick Tricome pointed out, good luck trying that again.
The Eagles have talked about evolving offensively this year and new OC Kevin Patullo was promoted from his post as pass-game coordinator. If the Eagles want to evolve, or open the pass game a little more, they'll need a No. 3 receiver to emerge out of Jahan Dotson, Terrace Marshall, Ainias Smith, Johnny Wilson and Danny Gray. It would really be helpful if one from this group were particularly skilled in the slot, as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will occupy nearly all the outside receiver snaps.
If the Eagles aren't comfortable with their best choice at WR3, they can always lean on their tight end group and remain one of the NFL leaders in 12 personnel. Free-agent additions like Kylen Granson and Harrison Bryant join Grant Calcaterra to equip the Eagles with some decent pass catchers at tight end behind Dallas Goedert, but obviously it's tougher to stress a defense vertically when you've got an extra tight end on the field in place of a slot receiver.
Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
