Philadelphia Eagles training camp begins at the end of July, so over the next few weeks we'll detail what we need to see from each positional group heading into the 2026 season. We'll continue on today with the interior defensive line.

Previous training camp previews

Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver
Tight end | Offensive tackle | Interior OL
Edge defender

First, the depth chart:

• After an outstanding season in 2024, Jalen Carter had a disappointing follow-up season in 2025, with just 33 tackles, three sacks, and seven batted passes in 11 games. 

Carter had shoulder issues throughout the 2025 season. He was a late Week 6 scratch in a game the Eagles' defense got bullied, by the Giants of all teams. And then later, after a game in which he played poorly and the Eagles' defense got bullied again against the Bears, he had a procedure on both shoulders. In fairness, he did block two kicks in games the Eagles might have otherwise lost.

As we noted in our Eagles dumpster fire last year, Carter led all NFL interior defensive linemen with 1,068 snaps played in 2024. Much like a heavy workload probably caught up to Saquon Barkley on the offensive side of the ball in 2025, the same thing may have happened to Carter on defense.

This offseason was the first that Carter was eligible for a contract extension, and nothing has gotten done yet. He skipped voluntary OTAs, and was present at a mandatory minicamp but did not participate in team drills. 

Nick Sirianni was asked if that was injury and/or contract related, and he declined to answer. 

Unlike a lot of other teams around the NFL, the Eagles have largely avoided contract drama during training camp. Carter is a "hold in" candidate. (In case you're unfamiliar what "hold in" means, a common thing players with contract beefs have done in recent years is show up to camp so they don't get fined, but they don't participate.)

The Eagles have plenty of star players on defense, but Carter is the guy who stirs the drink. We know what the defense looks like when Carter is at his best, and we saw at times last season that it's not as scary without him.

It will be very interesting to see if Carter is a full participant in camp, and how the Eagles handle the situation if not.

• Jordan Davis was great last season. He finished with 72 tackles (nine for loss), 4.5 sacks, six batted passes, and the biggest play of the Eagles' season, a blocked kick against the Rams that he also scooped and scored for a TD. His 72 tackles were good for third in the NFL among interior defensive linemen. He also became recognized as a leader in the locker room.

Davis was rewarded with a new contract that makes him the the fourth-highest paid interior defensive lineman in the NFL.

It took Davis years to get his body into shape, and able to play a lot of snaps throughout the entirety of a season. But when he finally did, he proved to be a difference-making player, mainly against the run.

The next tests are whether he has been able to stay in good shape and build on his breakout season; and if he can become more impactful as a pass rusher.

• During 2025 training camp, Moro Ojomo was by far the top "stock up" vote getter in our annual "stock up / stock down" training camp media poll. Side note: The media nailed the stock down guys in that poll, lol.

And sure enough, Ojomo had a breakout season, collecting 38 tackles, six sacks, and 12 QB hits while playing 66 percent of the team's defensive snaps. The Eagles were hopeful that he could capably fill in for Milton Williams, who had departed in free agency last offseason, and Ojomo delivered.

Ojomo is entering into the final year of his rookie contract in 2026. I'm sure the Eagles would like to get something done with him, but the smart play from Ojomo's camp is probably to wait until free agency next offseason, and cash in, like Williams did. This could be his last season with the Eagles, because the team may not be able to afford him in addition to all the other star players on defense that they're going to have to pay over the next few years.

• Here's where we'll note that Carter, Davis, and Ojomo are probably the best iDL trio in the NFL. However, just like the Eagles have depth concerns on the interior of their offensive line, they also have a dearth of ideal depth on the interior of their defensive line.

• Byron Young played in every Eagles game in 2025, logging 338 snaps during the regular season and 12 in the playoffs. He had previously played just 99 snaps in his first two seasons after the Raiders selected him in the third round of the 2023 draft.

Young finished the season with 37 tackles and 2.5 sacks, and he has one inexpensive season left on his contract. He's an acceptable rotational interior defensive lineman who Vic Fangio seems to like, and he still has a chance to improve. He's presently the first guy off the bench along the interior D-line.

• The Eagles selected Ty Robinson with one of the first picks on Day 3 of the 2025 draft. If you watched Robinson's college highlight reel, you saw a quick, agile bully with a great motor. 

Unfortunately, as we showed in a film breakdown of Robinson this offseason, he looked nothing like that guy as a rookie. Sometimes rookies are thinking too much, and not just playing. Maybe that's what happened with Robinson his rookie season? Sometimes when guys go long stretches without playing in real games they're out of rhythm. Maybe that played a part? Whatever the case, he looked tentative, unconfident, and overmatched. 

It's not uncommon for interior defensive linemen to take a few years to get their NFL "sea legs." But as an older prospect coming out of college, there was hope that Robinson's transition to the NFL would be a little easier. It didn't play out that way, and Robinson should be expected to show drastic improvement in camp this year.

• Late in the seventh round of the 2026 draft, the Eagles took a flier on Uar Bernard, an absolutely jacked prospect from a small village in Nigeria with similar physical measurables to Myles Garrett. Of course, Bernard has never played football. If you're reading this, you all know that story already, so we won't rehash it all here.

However, during minicamp in June, I had a chance to watch Bernard closely, working against the third-string offensive line. He got handled with ease, which is perhaps to be expected. However, I thought that what he might show right off the bat because of his pure athletic measurables was an explosive first step off the ball at the snap. But that's just not there yet.

It's going to be a long process for Bernard, and my expectation is that he will have a rough camp. It doesn't matter if he's 6'4, 306 and chiseled. He is going to get bounced around because the guys he's going up against have some level of learned technique, and he is starting from scratch. I remember years ago when Jordan Mailata got dominated every day by Joe Ostman. Remember him? And Mailata at least had impressive highlights playing a football-adjacent sport. Bernard doesn't.

However, it'll be fun to watch if Bernard can have some occasional moments where he looks like a football player who can make some plays in the future.

• One of the camp breakouts last year was Gabe Hall, who spent his rookie season on the practice squad, but played well during the summer both in practices and in the preseason games. He made the initial 53-man roster, but was waived after Week 1 and spent another season on the practice squad.

He did appear in two games — Week 1 vs. Dallas and Week 18 against Washington — but only played 13 total snaps.

Hall has become something of a forgotten guy on the Eagles' roster. He'll have to build on what he did in camp a year ago to make the roster this season, and there's opportunity there since Robinson has disappointed.

• Ta'Quon Graham has been in the league for a while. He played for five seasons with the Falcons, appearing in 51 games, with 16 starts. He has 88 career tackles and one sack.

Graham has long arms and good athleticism:

Graham has five NFL training camps under his belt, so he could be a sleeper to stand out a bit. 

• Zion Wilson has an interesting background. He originally enrolled at East Carolina as a walk-on offensive lineman, but in three seasons there he couldn't get on the field. 

He was a member of their practice squad both in 2021 and 2022, and in 2023 he played three snaps on offense, and 51 on special teams.

In 2024, he flipped to the defensive side of the ball, but played zero snaps on defense, and 70 on special teams. So, to summarize, in his first four years of college, he played three snaps in the regular offense/defense.

However, in 2025, out of nowhere, he had 42 tackles (10 for loss) and seven sacks. Wilson is 6'3, 316, with a squatty build and some quickness:

This offseason, Wilson intended to transfer to Virginia, but the NCAA denied his sixth-year waiver. And so, the Eagles snapped him up. Interestingly, per Ryan Fowler, Wilson's deal included a $25,000 signing bonus and $225,000 guaranteed. Here's how that compares with the rest of the Eagles' UDFA signings (h/t Dave Zangaro):

A guarantee of $225,000 means Wilson will very likely at least make the practice squad.

• Above we noted that Carter, Davis, and Ojomo probably form the best iDL trio in the NFL. There are three important positional groups on their roster where they are arguably best in the league — iDL, OT, and CB.

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