June 16, 2026
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
Quinyon Mitchell (27) and Cooper DeJean (33) are already All-Pros.
It's slow season. Time to rank things.
The Eagles are taking a six-week break before training camp and the 2026 season takes over Philly sports. The Sixers and Flyers are preparing for a draft pick in the early 20s — a clear sign of a season that was neither bad, nor particularly good. And the Phillies and Union are in the middle of their respective seasons as the marathons continue.
It's a perfect time to fantasize about how these five local pro teams can make championship cases — and their best bets will be if some of the 25 players below pan out.
Our sports team voted for the top 25 players who are right now under contract in Philly and under the age of 25. We took the three individual lists (from Evan Macy, Nick Tricome and Geoff Mosher) and averaged out the rankings below.
Which young athletes are we most excited for? Take a look at our top 25 under 25 for 2026:
Geoff Mosher: After years, and years, and years, of trying to draft a top-flight cornerback but failing miserably, the Eagles hit a home run in the 2024 NFL Draft when they patiently waited at 22nd overall to select the first cornerback taken in that draft. And what a find Mitchell has become.
In his first year, he started at outside corner and helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl. Last year, he emerged into a lock-down corner who often traveled against the opponent's best wide receiver and whose coverage was so air tight that his defensive coordinator felt comfortable playing more man defense and more single-high safety looks with the deep safety rolled to the opposite side, often leaving Mitchell alone in 1-on-1 coverage. Mitchell made All Pro.
This year, Mitchell enters his third season as one of the elites at his position in the entire sport, and by next offseason, he'll probably be paid like one. The only knock against Mitchell is that he has zero career interceptions in the regular season, but yet somehow he's tied for the most in the playoffs over the past two seasons, with four in five games
Nick Tricome: The Sixers have their issues, but Edgecombe isn't one of them. In fact, if they don't make him the third overall pick last summer, the dilemmas they face now are probably a whole lot worse.
He was a lifeline, an immediate star who shifted the leading strength of the Sixers to the backcourt between himself and a well-established Tyrese Maxey, and away from an aging Joel Embiid.
He was a draw, who exhibited heroics from Night 1 in Boston, had those black No. 77 Iverson-era jerseys flying off the shelves, and then rose to the occasion against the Celtics again for that playoff comeback that kept fans holding on to hope for just a bit longer after years of thinning patience – even though it just led directly into a second-round sweep from the Knicks in the end.
And now he's the immediate future.
New top exec Mike Gansey has the unenviable job of trying to figure out how to salvage a contender out of what is otherwise a limited Sixers core, but whatever direction he takes, Edgecombe is almost assuredly going to be a part of it.
Geoff: Remember what I wrote about decades of bad drafting at cornerback before Quinyon Mitchell? The Eagles had the same problem at safety after letting Brian Dawkins walk out the door after the 2008 season. This year, DeJean will play safety when the Eagles are in their run defense, about 25-to-30 percent of the time. When he's not a safety, the versatile DeJean will take his customary place at nickelback, where he has flourished over the past two seasons.
Like Mitchell, DeJean helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl as a rookie, then made All-Pro in his second season alternating between outside corner and nickelback. There doesn't appear to be a position in the secondary that DeJean can't play. He's that good, and he also will be in line for a major payday after the 2026 season.
DeJean has become a fan favorite in Philly, and should be a key piece of Vic Fangio's defense for the long haul.
Nick: Fans were keeping an eye on Michigan State all year, just waiting for the Spartans' season to end so that Martone could sign on the dotted line and make the jump into the NHL. As the sixth overall draft pick last summer, he was a source of hope that the Flyers were trending in the right direction and that he would be one of their future stars.
But few probably saw him coming over to help get a sudden playoff push over the finish line when his name was called by Philadelphia last June.
Nevertheless, there he was, flying down the wall with speed and power, planting himself in front of the net with strength, and looking to score the second the puck fell to his stick.
Martone joined the Flyers in late March and fit right in, making them younger, faster, and a lot more threatening, by looking every bit the star scorer everyone was hoping he'd become, which pushed the Flyers into the playoffs after nearly six years away, and then past the rival Penguins in a rollercoaster of a first-round series that got Philly to start believing in the Flyers again.
There should be a lot of No.94 jerseys around the sports complex for a long time to come.
Geoff: Don't let the second half of 2025 fool you – Campbell has the athleticism and playmaking ability to become a star in the middle of the field for Fangio's defense. Now that Nakobe Dean isn't in his way, Campbell can back onto the field as a starter and continue to show the potential he displayed when he started the first eight games of the season while Dean was still rehabbing from surgery.
Campbell finally broke the franchise's drought of taking an off-ball linebacker in the first round, something the Eagles hadn't done since 1979 before drafting Campbell 31st in 2025. The former Alabama star has excellent range and can run with tight ends and slot receivers. If he improves in the downhill element of the game – shedding tackles, wrapping up ball carriers – he can team with Zack Baun to create one of the NFL's top off-ball LB tandems.
The biggest obstacle to Campbell breaking out will be his health. He's coming off a shoulder surgery for the second straight season, this time the opposite shoulder as last year. But if he can avoid injuries and fine-tune his run defense, Campbell has all the ingredients to be another stud linebacker on an outstanding defense.
Nick: The sophomore slump bit Michkov pretty bad. He arrived to training camp behind the eight ball in his conditioning, which left him a step behind on the ice once the season started for a good while. First-year head coach Rick Tocchet limited his ice time in various spots because of it, which drew ire from fans who wanted to see a key piece of the rebuild play, and led to a hyperspeculative social media fire that general manager Danny Brière eventually had to step in and put out in an address with the media.
Then of course, with the Flyers banged up and struggling against Carolina in the playoffs, Tocchet sat Michkov for that last Game 4, citing a need to make up for speed and defense. It didn't work. They got swept.
In an otherwise huge year for the Flyers, Michkov left it unhappy with the individual effort he turned in, even though a bad season from him still resulted in 20 goals and 51 points for a second-year and still developing skater.
But it might've lit a fire under him, because after his exit-day press conference in Voorhees last month, Michkov immediately stepped back on the ice to keep working.
"I mean, I'd rather him not skate. I want him to take a break," Tocchet said the day after. "But I'm not gonna tell him what to do, because him going and shooting pucks yesterday is something he knows, it's something that...it's almost like a vengeance tour, and I love that."
And Philly will love that, too, if the work pays off.
Geoff: Enjoy this Cinderella story for as long as you can, because 2026 could be its final chapter.
The Eagles got a steal in the seventh round of the 2023 draft when they took Ojomo out of Texas at 249th overall. For whatever reason, Ojomo's stock tumbled during draft weekend, and the Eagles were the fortunate ones to grab him before some other team did.
After a redshirt season in 2023, Ojomo joined the interior pass-rush rotation in 2024, playing 37 percent of the snaps behind Jalen Carter, Milton Williams and Jordan Davis. After Williams left in free agency, Ojomo took on a larger role and thrived, with 6.0 sacks and 12 QB hits in his third season while playing 66% of the defense. He was top-15 among NFL iDL in pressure percentage (6.9%).
Ojomo has improved each season and enters the last year of his deal. He's likely to score it big on the free-agent market like Williams did after the 2024 season as long as his arrow continues to point up. His long arms make him very tough for guards to block and disruptive at the line of scrimmage.
If 2026 is his last season with the Eagles, Ojomo could leave on a high note if he can help the Eagles make another Super Bowl run.
Nick: If Foerster never gets hurt in December, with what was originally thought to be a season-ending injury, the conversation around him is probably about how he had broken out into a 35-40 goal scorer.
At that point, he was easily the Flyers' best two-way winger, and was really starting to tap into a scoring touch as one of the only forwards on the roster who was willing to shoot first and had a powerful enough shot to justify it.
He returned just in time to complete the playoff push, and was the one to score the lone and deciding shootout goal against Carolina to officially punch the Flyers' postseason ticket.
Foerster slips out of the spotlight sometimes because of his understated personality, but quietly, he's a real star in the making for the Flyers.
Geoff: Obviously, this is more of a projection than other Eagles in our top-10, but Lemon was one of the 2026 NFL Draft's most pro-ready wide receivers and he'll have the chance to show his potential right away. After DeVonta Smith, Lemon could already be the team's second-best wide receiver and his ability to play the slot will be significant for an offense that hasn't featured a bona fide slot wideout in several years.
Also, Lemon's ability to create yards after the catch in space should be a great complement for the new offense that first-year OC Sean Mannion is installing. As a rookie, Lemon might not produce the kind of stats that will jump off the page, but he's more likely to show that he has true WR2 potential in years going forward.
Adam Aaronson: Barlow emerged from two-way player to starting power forward in his first year in Philadelphia, solidifying himself as perhaps the last great find Daryl Morey made before his ouster. Barlow is a terrific athlete with a strong frame, and that makeup combined with strong feel for the game makes him a high-caliber role player in today's NBA.
Barlow is still very young, but it will be hard for him to experience significant on-court growth without making a substantial leap as a three-point shooter. He is just about a non-shooter now, and that will put a serious cap on his utility in high-leverage minutes and games for as long as it remains true. Regardless, on a team desperate for athleticism and depth, Barlow was a godsend in his fourth NBA season.
| Francisco Renteria | Phillies OF prospect |
| Bruno Damiani | Union forward |
| David Jiricek | Flyers D prospect |
| Hunter McDonald | Flyers D prospect |
| Darius Cooper | Eagles WR |
Evan: I was sort of surprised this offseason, researching Phillies prospects and seeing Miller consistently placed ahead of Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford in prospect rankings — two highly touted Phillies draft picks (who we'll touch on in just a bit) slated to make their MLB debuts in 2026.
But if you look at performance in the minors, Miller produced and seemingly did it all. A lot of Painter and Crawford praise was based on potential and projections, but Miller is a hitter who can do it for power and for average, and a plus defender in the infield.
The issue currently is his back, which required surgery earlier this month and threatens his 2026 season — which hasn't started yet as he's been sidelined all year. The Phillies really want a healthy Miller for spring training next February and if they get one, he might be the opening day third baseman or shortstop in 2027.
Evan: Crawford is lightly hitting in the majors, and that's not surprising — if it was easy everyone would be able to do it. But he lacks power, and his defense has been good but not spectacular. But he was a first round pick for a reason, and he has shown flashes all year, particularly in some clutch spots.
The key for Crawford as a big league hitter is turning his speed into more of an asset. Getting on base, walking more and being aggressive between the bases is the recipe for Crawford to have staying power. He is one of the fastest players in the entire league but he only has eight steals this season (as of mid June). If Crawford can get his wheels turning more he could be a dangerous man in the 8-9 hole of the batting order.
Nick: Drysdale emerged as a much more complete defenseman this past season, positioning himself better, keeping the gap to puck carriers tighter, and moving it for the Flyers with his passing and skating up the ice quicker.
He scored a career-best eight goals this season, matched a career-high 32 points that he hadn't reached since 2022 in Anaheim, and went well above 20 minutes of ice time most nights.
Drysdale solidified himself as a top-four defenseman, and one who the Flyers seem set to keep with a new contract this summer.
Evan: In 13 games this season, the one-time Phillies top prospect is 1-7 with a 6.43 ERA. Every time he trots to the mound, he basically needs to have five or six runs of support to have any chance of helping the Phillies win. It's gotten pretty ugly. But it's also very early.
There is a history of pitching prospects starting slow and finding their footing. The Phils obviously expect Painter to fall into that camp and there are some metrics to support that optimism. His BABIP is high, .333, implying some bad luck on where the ball is being hit. He also has an 87.2 average exit velocity against him, which is tied for 68th slowest of 369 pitchers. He's not getting decimated — but he has allowed a killer 12 home runs.
The Phillies are invested in seeing whether or not he can turn this around. Fans are too.
Nick: Wood throws some absolute heat, and because of his college draft status from last summer, he looks to be on the prospect fast track, as evidenced by his recent promotion to Double-A Reading.
The velocity he can deliver and the visible fire he competes with on the mound would say to most that he would go straight into the Phillies' bullpen, but the organization does view him as a starter, likely for a post-Zack Wheeler rotation.
The Phillies' rotation is pretty crowded right now, though, but if he stays on track to make it up to the majors later this summer, there's a clear impact his overpowering fastball can have in the bullpen right now.
Evan: He's probably the best homegrown guy the Philly Union have ever developed, and the question is now about whether he'll spread his wings onto a bigger stage in Europe.
Born in Philly, Sullivan burst through on the Union's impressive 2024 team, and starred in the Supporters' Shield squad in 2025. Over those two campaigns the midfielder had seven goals and 15 assists and proved to be one of the better decision making passers in all of MLS.
The potential is there for him to take a leap to a European league, and to become a mainstay on the USMNT someday.
Geoff: Like Makai Lemon, Stowers' usage this year as a rookie will probably be limited but by the end of the year, he should have made enough plays on athletic ability alone that demonstrate the promise he'll have in the Eagles' offense going forward.
The Eagles picked Stowers in the second round to eventually be the next in line of their modern pass-catching tight end lineage, following in the footsteps of Brent Celek, Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Stowers is still learning the ins and outs of the position after changing from quarterback to tight end midway through his college career, but his elite athletic testing and productive seasons at Vanderbilt showed the foundation of an ascending prospect.
Stowers will work to become a better blocker, but for now, he can help the Eagles on third downs and in red zone passing situations.
Evan: I really didn't know how to rank Bigsby. As far as potential goes, he showed some impressive flashes when he got a rare carry backing up Saquon Barkley. But unless Barkley gets injured and misses serious time, Bigsby is going to be a back up and how exciting is that?
Adding even more negatives to his standing is his contract — he's playing the last year of his rookie deal in 2026 and will hit free agency in 2027. So he's positionally blocked and also likely to star with a new team if he does impress in Philly at all. Still, he's 23 and is really talented, has speed and pretty impressive field vision. He's an asset for an offense that will look different this year and maybe he'll find the field more under new OC Sean Mannion.
Nick: Bonk played in that last regular-season game against Montreal and sure looked ready for the NHL, turning in his first goal, an assist, and a plus-1 showing.
The former 22nd overall pick from 2023 looks set to chase after a spot on the Flyers' blue line in training camp, with the puck-moving poise and fluid skating that appear to be developing him toward becoming a dependable two-way defenseman.
Geoff: The biggest thing going for the second-year pro from Texas is that he has the trust of Fangio, which isn't always easy to get.
Even after an injury marred preseason last year as a rookie, Mukuba found his way into a starting role once by the season opener. He's the quintessential Fangio safety in that he's light, can run, can cover and – if needed – can play nickelback. Versatility is key for Fangio, who is a master of spinning his safeties post-snap to create a different look for the QB.
Mukuba shook off some rough moments early in his rookie season to become a steadier piece of an emerging Eagles secondary but missed the final six games and the postseason because of a fractured ankle. He will need to stay healthy to fully recognize his potential, but his playmaking ability was on display very early.
Nick: The 2023 third-rounder made it up to the NHL way ahead of schedule, then never left after he was initially supposed to be up with the Flyers for just a weekend.
His high motor, fearless approach to checking (despite being undersized), and advanced hockey IQ quickly made him a regular to the Flyers lineup that Rick Tocchet couldn't go without down the stretch.
Then in the playoffs, Tocchet, at Keith Jones' suggestion, moved Barkey inside to center, and he held his own without much issue, which is going to lead the Flyers to make a decision on what position he's really going to play long-term.
So far, Barkey is trying to end up as maybe one of the biggest steals of the 2023 draft class.
| Player | Last year | This year |
| Jalen Carter | 1 | Turned 25 |
| Tyrese Maxey | 6 | Turned 25 |
| Jared McCain | 7 | Traded to OKC |
| Nolan Smith | 9 | Turned 25 |
| Mick Abel | 10 | Traded to MIN |
| Jett Luchanko | 11 | Did not receive votes |
| Jalyx Hunt | 14 | Turned 25 |
| Nakobe Dean | 15 | Turned 25 |
| Orion Kerkering | 20 | Turned 25 |
| Cam York | 21 | Turned 25 |
| Ricky Council IV | 24 | Waived by Sixers |
Nick: In the absence of Foerster, and before Martone arrived, the Flyers needed a strong wing presence along the wall who would always be looking to work his way into open ice to shoot.
Bump got a call-up, did a solid job bridging the gap, and played so well in other aspects of the game that Tocchet even lamented needing to find a more consistent role in the lineup for him somehow.
Bump is physical in puck battles, is cool under pressure, and can place a quick shot anywhere he needs to if he sees the lane to get it through.
And it might add up to a lot more goals for him and the Flyers next season.
Geoff: Some of this ranking is based on Bell's draft status, the organization's track record of developing studs at this position, and that Bell has two excellent mentors in Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata.
The massive Bell (6-9, 345) won't have to play right away unless there's an injury, but he at least get a year's worth of seasoning from the Eagles' two veteran OTs along with new OL coach Chris Kuper. If he does play early, Bell should be ready. He comes from a winning program, as the former Miami right tackle played in the college football national title game, and has such a massive frame that punishing run blocking should already be an area in which he thrives.
Adam: After what Edwards showed as an undrafted rookie in 2024-25, there could have been a reasonable hope that his sophomore year would lead to a much higher ranking than this on a list of this sort. While the hometown product's second season was not without impressive moments, flashes and stretches, it was largely a year of stagnancy despite some considerable opportunities.
In order to move up on this list next year, Edwards must find a way to consistently impact games as a defender – right now, he only does it in spurts – and find some sort of offensive utility beyond spotting up on threes. Edwards will never be an NBA-level creator, but perhaps he can find some more chances to show off the dribble-drive game which helped make him an elite recruit at Imhotep Charter.
Evan: The Phillies can't develop homegrown outfielders. Rookie Justin Crawford is struggling. Before that, first round picks Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley and Cornelius Randolph were major flame outs. The team is desperate for outfield help and it feels like they are every year.
Nori might not immediately be the solution, but after his breakout few weeks with Team Italy in the WBC, Nori will be given every opportunity to get on the big league roster and put an end to the troubling trend. If he can finish the season strongly with a call up to Triple-A, the stage could be set for him to play his way onto the team next spring.
Nick: Berglund is the Flyers prospect who probably had the biggest jump in stock this past year without actually making it to the NHL. But he might be a lot closer to it now.
Berglund turned in an excellent showing as the captain for Sweden on the way to winning gold at the World Juniors, then signed on with the Phantoms in the AHL before the season's end after a steady showing as a pro for Färjestad in the SHL.
The 2024 second-rounder plays a highly complete and responsible two-way game as a center, which GM Danny Brière has spoken bullishly about for almost a year now.
He might be a hidden gem on the way, at a position where the Flyers badly need one.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
