Over the next few weeks leading up to training camp, we\u2019ll be counting down the top 25 most important Eagles for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
25. Eli Stowers<\/a> If Jalyx Hunt takes the same jump in Year 3 that he took in Year 2 \u2026 watch out.\u00a0<\/p>\n When the Eagles drafted Hunt in the third round of the 2024 draft out of Houston Christian, he was considered a raw prospect. He was someone who was a safety at Cornell just a few years earlier. But Hunt became a rotational piece in the Super Bowl year and followed it up with a huge season in Year 2.<\/p>\n Hunt last season led the Eagles in sacks (6 1\/2) and interceptions (3) \u2014 just proving how uniquely talented he really is. He\u2019s the first Eagles player to ever do that.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s had a nice progression,\u201d defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said this spring. \u201cI see him growing his game in all aspects. I think he can and will rush better. He’ll play the run better. It’s just the natural progression. He’s had a good progression.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn his rookie year, he didn’t play a lot early. Then when [Brandon Graham] went down, he started playing more, and I thought for a guy with his background, was kind of a perfect year for him. He ended up playing a good bit if you remember in the playoffs, et cetera. Then last year played a lot, did good. Yeah, I think he’s just ready to keep getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s amazing how much growth we\u2019ve already seen from Hunt in his two years in the NFL. In his first two NFL games, Hunt didn\u2019t see a single snap on defense. By the end of his rookie season, he was a legitimate part of the edge rusher rotation.<\/p>\n And then last season, Hunt was the Eagles\u2019 most productive edge rusher. In addition to his 6 1\/2 sacks, Hunt also led the group with a pressure rate of 17.3%.<\/p>\n 2024: 241 snaps (25%), 1 1\/2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 0 INTs, 1 TFL, 2 FFs This offseason, the Eagles went out and traded for Jonathan Greenard to be their top-of-the-rotation edge rusher. But don\u2019t sleep on Hunt\u2019s ceiling in 2026.<\/p>\n Greenard called Hunt a \u201cfreak\u201d and marveled at watching Hunt\u2019s pick-6 against the Vikings last year.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an athlete and how young he is and where his game could really go is crazy,\u201d Greenard said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the next few weeks leading up to training camp, we\u2019ll be counting down the top 25 most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7353,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-228726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-eagles-analysis","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
24. Marcus Epps<\/a>
23. Dontayvion Wicks<\/a>
22. Tyler Steen<\/a>
21. Moro Ojomo<\/a>
20. Drew Mukuba<\/a>
19. Jihaad Campbell<\/a>
18. Nolan Smith<\/a>
17. Jalyx Hunt<\/p>\n
2025: 693 snaps (62%), 6 1\/2 sacks, 14 QB hits, 3 INTs, 9 TFLs, 2 FFs<\/p>\n