Welcome to our first edition of Roob’s Eagles Training Camp Day-Off Bonus Observations!<\/p>\n
In addition to our regularly schedule weekly Obs, we\u2019ll be posting 10 bonus obs after every day off throughout training camp. And there are a bunch of them.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll start today with our thoughts on Jalen Carter\u2019s meeting with the media Wednesday, a day after he signed the contract that makes him the highest-paid interior lineman in NFL history.<\/p>\n
1. I was impressed with the way Jalen Carter handled himself when he met with the media Wednesday to chat about his new contract, his expectations and his motivation. Carter came across as incredibly humble and team-oriented and said all the right things about the $152 million contract and his future. Probably the best interview Carter has done since he got here in 2023. \u201cYeah, my goal wasn’t to always just come out and, \u2018Oh, let me just be the highest-paid defensive tackle.\u2019 My goal was to build team chemistry and win a championship.\u201d I guess that\u2019s easy for anyone to say after getting a $152 million contract, but he really did come across as humble, genuine and believable. I just think if you spend enough time around Jordan Davis you\u2019re going to figure out how to do the right thing the right way, and maybe Carter has reached that point. Davis is such a compelling mentor for Carter. If Carter can put the off-the-field stuff behind him I really believe he can be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Reporting in outstanding shape despite going through a drawn-out contract negotiation throughout the summer speaks highly of him: \u201cI give him a lot of credit,\u201d Nick Sirianni said. \u201cHe’s focused so much on football. He came back in\u00a0phenomenal\u00a0shape with his weight, with his conditioning test. Even with that contract still looming, he worked his ass off, and I’m proud of him for that. It shows you the type of guy he is and he’ll continue to be and excited for him to play ball.” How can you not be excited to see him play?<\/p>\n
2. When you\u2019re Darius Cooper and you\u2019re undrafted and low man on the depth chart and the Eagles just added four wide receivers this offseason, you really have to find ways to stand out in limited reps. Cooper sure did that Wednesday. He made a number of good catches, most notably a diving snag of a Jalen Hurts pass down the middle of the field. What was particularly impressive was that Cooper held onto the ball after landing hard. These are the things Cooper did to make the team last year, but the WR room is deeper this year and it won\u2019t be easy for him to stick. But if he keeps making plays like that, especially in the preseason games, he\u2019s going to force the Eagles to make a very difficult decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3. Great stuff from Vic Fangio when asked about Moro Ojomo in light of huge contract extensions for Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter: \u201cHowie needs to save some money for him, too.\u201d Vic was laughing, but he knows it\u2019s going to be next to impossible for the Eagles to keep Ojomo, the former 7th-round pick whose six sacks last year were 7th-most by an interior lineman and most by a 7th-round pick 25 or younger since Mark Smith of the Cards had 9.0 in 1998. Ojomo is still only 24 years old, but he\u2019s entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract and with another big season he will price himself way out of the Eagles\u2019 range. Ojomo is so talented and has so much upside I\u2019d be shocked if he doesn\u2019t have a big year. The problem is the Eagles already have so much money tied to defensive tackle, and Roseman never over-spends on one position because that means he\u2019s not spending enough somewhere else. The bad news is Ojomo will likely be a victim of Roseman\u2019s incredible run of outstanding draft picks. The good news is a 3rd-round comp pick is a pretty good consolation prize.<\/p>\n
4. We\u2019ve seen a huge emphasis on throwing to the backs the first couple days of practice and I don\u2019t know if that will carry over into the season \u2013 it seems like every year we talk about the Eagles throwing more to the backs, but it never happens \u2013 but this offense does have space for short, high-percentage passes to the backs and yards after the catch and the Eagles definitely have some backs who are good at it. Saquon Barkley had 91 catches as a rookie, and his 358 receptions since 2018 are 4th-most among all NFL running backs. Tank Bigsby only has 11 catches in 50 games as a pro, but he\u2019s been catching the ball well and picking up yards after the catch so far at practice. Will Shipley caught the ball well at Clemson \u2013 85 receptions in three seasons \u2013 and even Dameon Pierce caught 30 passes in his big rookie season with the Texans. The Eagles are one of only two teams that hasn\u2019t had a running back with 300 yards in a season since 2021 \u2013 they haven\u2019t had one since Miles Sanders under Doug Pederson in 2019 \u2013 so it just hasn\u2019t been a big part of the offense. But it seems like the Eagles have the scheme, the play caller and the personnel to change that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
5. That backup center competition might not be the most riveting thing going on at camp, but it’s notable that Jake Majors has been running with the 2nd-team offense at center with Drew Kendall over at right guard and Willie Lampkin at center with the third group. The Eagles claimed Lampkin last summer after the Rams tried to sneak him through waivers, but he spent the year on Injured Reserve and never practiced. Majors spent last year on the practice squad after the Bucs cut him. He played his college ball at Texas, where he started a school-record 56 games. Back-up center is kind of important since nobody knows if Cam Jurgens can hold up for a full season. We figured Kendall, a 5th-round pick last year who was exclusively a center at Boston College, would be No. 2, and if not him it would be Lampkin, who had such a good camp last year with the Rams. Will be interesting to see if the Eagles work Kendall or Lampkin in there with the 2nd-team o-line or if they just stick with Majors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
6. Count Mike Quick as a fan of Dontayvion Wicks. Quick, the only wide receiver in Eagles history to make five straight Pro Bowls, said when the Eagles acquired Wicks in April he went back and watched film of Wicks with the Packers last year and was very impressed with what he was able to do with limited reps and limited targets. \u201cThey only threw to him when they had to,\u201d Quick said while watching practice Thursday. \u201cBut he was making plays all over the place.\u201d When Mike Quick talks about wide receivers you listen.<\/p>\n
7. Speaking of conditioning, Sirianni has added more of an emphasis on conditioning this summer since Sean Mannion\u2019s offense will require everyone to run more. Outside zone means Mannion wants to stretch the field horizontally as well as vertically and that means offensive linemen \u2013 and really everyone \u2013 will be on the move more than in previous Nick Sirianni schemes. For the receivers, backs and tight ends this is business as usual. These guys are always running. But for the linemen, it\u2019s a different world, and it will require a higher level of fitness so they can still be effective at the end of a long drive or late in the fourth quarter running two-minute or four-minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
8. Howie Roseman was discussing defensive tackle depth before practice Wednesday and after mentioning Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo, he brought up one other name \u2013 Byron Young, who played well last year. He did say, \u201cWe\u2019ve got a young group behind that that we\u2019re really excited about,\u201d but still it\u2019s notable that Roseman never mentioned Ty Robinson, the 4th-round pick last year who barely played as a rookie. Worse, Robinson has been lining up with the third team at practice and was even working with the developmental group after practice. Assuming the Eagles keep Uar Bernard on the 53 to make sure they don\u2019t lose him, Robinson\u2019s only path to the 53-man roster is as a sixth lineman \u2026 if the Eagles keep six. But he\u2019d have to beat out Gabe Hall, who initially made the 53 last year, and intriguing rookie free agent Zion Wilson, who starred at East Carolina. Vic Fangio had little to say when asked Thursday about Robinson: \u201cToo early. Especially with the d-lineman, off-season, we don’t have pads on. We’re not going to have pads on here for another few days. Too early.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s not unheard of for a 4th-round pick to not make it to Year 2. Donnel Pumphrey got cut in 2018, Trevard Lindley in 2011. Jamaal Green in 2005. But that\u2019s just two in the last two decades. It\u2019s rare, but Robinson is going to have to start showing up to avoid seeing his name added to that list. If I was putting together a 53-man roster today, Robinson wouldn\u2019t be on it.<\/p>\n
9. Has anybody ever derailed their own career more spectacularly than Haason Reddick? His holdout with the Jets in 2024 wound up costing him about $5 million, ABC News in New York estimated, and that\u2019s money he can never make up. Reddick, a Pro Bowler and double-digit sack producer with the Ealges in 2022 and 2023, wore out his welcome here and was traded to the Jets, where he sat out training camp, asked for a trade and managed just one sack in 10 games after he finally reported. He spent last year with the Bucs and had 2 \u00bd sacks in 13 games. After averaging 12 \u00bd sacks from 2020 through 2023, he had just 3 \u00bd in two seasons after leaving the Eagles. Reddick, a Haddon Heights and Temple graduate, is now 31 and not currently in a training camp. I doubt he\u2019ll play again. Had a terrific career considering he was a walk-on at Temple, but if he did a few things differently he\u2019d still be playing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
10. Uar Bernard is an intriguing athlete with traits off the charts, but it\u2019s clear this is a very long-term project and it\u2019s going to be quite a while before Bernard has any chance to contribute. \u201cThe PP Plan, lots of patience and lots of persistence,\u201d Fangio said when asked how the Eagles will try to bring Bernard along. \u201cThe day he put on a helmet here was the first time he ever put on a helmet. He hasn\u2019t had shoulder pads on yet. That would be a new experience for him. Everybody, including himself and us, needs to temper any expectations down. He’s got a process to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to our first edition of Roob’s Eagles Training Camp Day-Off Bonus Observations! In addition to our regularly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6107,69,71,70,6444],"class_list":["post-257449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-eagles-blog","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-roobs-observations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257449","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=257449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}