With the first full week of the Philadelphia Eagles training camp completed, maybe it’s a good time to take a look at five players who have impressed, and five who have not.
Stock up
📈 Jalen Hurts: He’s fast, he has a strong arm, he seems to be confident with the ball in his hands, and he has received good reviews for his behavior off the field. There are things to work on, in particular his accuracy and his willingness to go through his progress before he cries out of the box, what can be expected of a rookie quarterback who can make plays with his legs .
The wisdom of selecting a quarterback in the second round may still be in doubt, but Hurts has engaging physical tools, and has a chance to be a good player.
📈 The rookie receivers: We’ll be hitting Jalen Reagor, John Hightower, and Quez Watkins together:
- Reagor is an athletic freak who can reach the top of a defense, or catch shorter passes and get yards after the catch. His speed and jumping ability have been on full display early on. If you were a stranger and you landed on the Eagles’ training ground, and you have no idea who one was, you could quite easily identify Reagor as superior physical ability over the other players on the field.
- Hightower has been a smooth route runner who has done a very nice job catching the football.
- Watkins’ hands were not as good as Hightower’s, but he is very straightforward and has shown his impressive speed.
Reagor will start from day 1. To determine if the other two boys can come on the field, but they are off to stimulating start.
📈 JJ Arcega-Whiteside: First and foremost what I respect about Arcega-Whiteside is that he is fully aware that his rookie season was a disappointment, and he took responsibility for it. At the same time, he seems willing to put it in the past, and not let it affect his confidence going forward.
“I was not good enough,” he said. “You turned on the TV and you could watch it. Mar 2019 is in the past. I look back now and I think, ‘Man, I’m a completely different person player than I was then. ‘ I laugh about it, because I do not even know who that was.
“That’s what happens to some people. Some people get into the NFL and things move fast and it’s hard to stop. Others are kicking off their first year. i look at that and I’m not even the same man. That I do not even worry about anything happened last year. I was not good enough. But it will definitely be different this year. “
His head is in the right place.
On the field, his route running has improved, and he has made a number of difficult catches, without bad drops (I can remember that). There’s still reason to view Arcega-Whiteside with some skepticism, but he has said all the right things, and he has played well in practice. That had to happen for him, and it has, what a good start.
On a side note, it appears that perhaps new broad receiver coach Aaron Moorehead does he know what he is doing?
📈 Malik Jackson: When the Eagles signed Jackson last offseason, they thought he and Fletcher Cox would form one of the best interior line-up duos in the league. As you know, that did not last long after Jackson suffered a week injured in a Lisfranc injury, ending his season.
Now calm and healthy, Jackson seems like the player the team had hoped they would get last year because he has a standout camp. If Cox, Jackson and Javon Hargrave can play to their potential, the interior of the defensive line could be the strength of the team.
📈 Nickell Robey-Coleman and Will Parks: Robey-Coleman (as the nickel) and Parks (as the big nickel) figure to be key pieces in the Eagles defense this year, and both have shown it well in camp so far.
Robey-Coleman had sticky coverage on everyone he encountered, while Parks brought infectious energy to the defense when he was on the field.
Stock part
📉 Andre Dillard: Dillard has not been 100 percent healthy in the camp, and although he has not played badly in general, there are still some apparent glimpses of his quest to anchor against power rush. On Sunday, Dillard had to leave practice early, go to the medical tent, and then finally within the facilities of the team.
The Eagles need to decide whether Dillard will benefit more from maximizing his rehearsals, even if not 100 percent, or whether they would be better off getting him fully healthy before he can get his job in.
However, this has not been an ideal match for a player like Dillard, who is returning from a rough rookie season and is counted on to protect the blind side of Carson Wentz.
📉 Jordan Mailata: Mailata is in his third training session in the NFL, and he is still regularly beaten by third-string pastrushers. His combination size and athleticism is great, but at some point there should be better results.
📉 Sidney Jones: Jones has missed the last three practices, with a day off in between. While it may not be fair to the media or fans to question a player’s tolerance for injuries, Jones may have unleashed all the benefits of the doubt in that area.
Back in March, Howie Roseman acknowledged that the Eagles needed a big move for Darius Slay, as they spent a few Day 2 picks in the 2017 draft at corners that did not pawn them. Of course, Jones was one of those corners.
Roseman makes a sort of apology, however, from Jones.
“I think when we were looking for those guys who came out, just talking about Sidney, we knew the level of talent that Sidney had shown in college, and we also knew that he was dealing with an injury, and that we take a chance on a boy who had to recover, “Roseman said. “And we felt like we could have redshirted him, that we could get him back to where that was. And we saw flashes of it. But we had to get more consistent with it and I think Sidney knew this was a pivotal year. is for him, pivotal offseason, because even last year he was of something again. That’s great for him. “
Maybe Jones is not realizing how important this year is, as Roseman assumed.
📉 Derek Barnett: Like Jones, Barnett has struggled to stay healthy, although, unlike Jones, he is widely regarded in the Eagles’ organization as a tough player with a great work ethic.
However, Barnett is a very important player for the Eagles in 2020 and beyond, and the fact that he has not yet trained in pads as a result of an ankle injury is a major concern. The time for Barnett to produce a quality season from start to finish is now, and his absence from training camp could hinder the possibility of that.
📉 Rasul Douglas: Douglas can make plays on football and he’s a good tackle, but in this scheme his lack of long speed is a killer. i believe that Douglas may find more success in another defense, and think Roseman should be sought to trade him for depth at running, linebacker, or tight end.
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy’s RSS feed to your feed reader
.
