Just under a month into training camp, Lane Johnson outlined the best-case scenario for the Eagles offense in 2026.
It was a lofty aspiration — but not unrealistic, given the success of the offense just two years ago. It centered on its star running back, Saquon Barkley, who accumulated over 2,000 rushing yards in the 2024 regular season and broke Terrell Davis’ single-season rushing record (combined regular season and postseason) by Super Bowl LIX.
“I think all in all, the more productive we are in the run game and stuff feeds all of that, that we’ll see the Saquon of two years ago,” Johnson said on Aug. 19.
That ideal won’t fall on Barkley alone. To recapture his productivity of two years ago, the Eagles are going back about 30, tapping an offshoot of an offensive scheme that rose to popularity around the time the running back was born.
Sean Mannion, the Eagles’ first-time, 34-year-old offensive coordinator, spent most of his playing and coaching careers learning from pupils of the Shanahan/McVay tree. These days in the NFL, “Shanahan” refers to Kyle, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, but he is preceded by his father Mike, the two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Denver Broncos who helped Davis reach that record in 1998.
Kyle Shanahan (left) and father Mike (pictured in 2010 while with Washington) pointed the way to the current run-game concepts in vogue around the NFL. Alex Brandon
When Mike became Broncos head coach in 1995, he named Alex Gibbs offensive line coach. Gibbs, who died in 2021, was a proponent of the wide-zone blocking scheme in the run game that would go on to serve as the foundation for the modern West Coast offense.
His influence lives on in offshoots of the scheme around the league. Mannion called his first exposure to the system in 2017 under Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay “a very exciting point in my football life.” Now, Mannion has the opportunity to make it his own, all while helping breathe new life into an Eagles rushing attack that stagnated in 2025.
“I’ve seen it from afar, but now, actually studying it and working it and trying to put myself in the system, I feel like it’s going to open up some things that I may not have been able to show as much in my career,” Barkley said.
The man seeking to help Barkley elevate his game is a quarterback by trade. But Mannion’s expertise isn’t limited to the passing game. According to offensive line coach Chris Kuper, who played for Shanahan in Denver, the Eagles offensive coordinator “loves the run game,” too.
“The run game is a big part of what we’re going to do,” Kuper said, “And [Mannion’s] got passion for it. And that makes me feel good as an O-line coach, because I think we’re going to be really good at running the ball.”
Todd Gurley thrived with wide-zone concepts while with the Rams. Tony Avelar
In the (wide) zone
When Barkley learned that the Eagles offensive scheme in 2026 would have Shanahan/McVay roots, he fired up Todd Gurley’s film.
Gurley spent five of his six seasons in the NFL with the Rams, including two standout seasons in 2017 and 2018. He led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in both seasons, earning a pair of All-Pro honors and an NFL Offensive Player of the Year nod in 2017.
Dean Davidson, the author of the Wide Zone Warriors Substack, watched those years in real time. A native of St. Louis whose memories of the Rams commence with the collapse of the “Greatest Show on Turf” era, Davidson was enthralled with the quick work McVay did to turn the team around. At the time, Davidson had just joined the staff of a struggling high school football team and was looking for inspiration.
“I was trying to figure out how [McVay] took that team from the dumps that they were in my entire life that I could remember to that point to Super Bowl favorites in what seemed like overnight,” said Davidson, who is now the offensive line coach at Obion County Central High School in Troy, Tenn.
At the core of the scheme that fascinated Davidson was the wide-zone run. Its intent is in its name. The blocking unit aims to stretch the defense on the front side of the run, while simultaneously cutting off defenders on the back side.
As Gibbs explained at his 2015 offensive line clinic in Cincinnati, the running back’s aiming point is the backside of the tight end — and if there is no tight end to the weak side of the formation, it would be to the imaginary backside of the tight end. After three steps, the running back would know whether he should hit the edge on the front side or make a single cut up the middle of the field. By the fifth step, he would make his cut.
One of the challenges of defending the wide zone run is the distance that defenders have to cover in order to maintain their gap integrity, Davidson explained.
“Everybody’s moving so far in one direction that the gap that you’re responsible for as a defensive lineman or a linebacker, maybe even a safety, it might still be between the same two offensive linemen, but those two offensive linemen on a given snap could be like 10 yards laterally somewhere else,” Davidson said. “So forcing them to maintain their gap integrity while moving so far laterally, it’s a very difficult challenge.”
It’s a challenge the Eagles offensive line enjoyed creating throughout training camp. Cam Jurgens said the scheme “lets you be a little bit more of an athlete” given how quickly the front side blocking unit must fire off the ball laterally toward the sideline.
The goal, according to Kuper, is for the defense to defend every blade of grass on the field. That task, ideally, would tire out the defense as the game wears on, Lane Johnson said. After Johnson, Jurgens, and Landon Dickerson had a full offseason to recover from the ailments that plagued them last year, they are up to the assignment.
“We’re getting to really run, stretch the field, cover some yardage,” Johnson said. “So in that way, it tires out defenses. Makes them cover each gap.”
Lane Johnson (65) and his fellow offensive line cohorts are getting behind the wide-zone scheme Sean Mannion has introduced in Philly.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The wide zone could be at the foundation of the Eagles’ rushing attack, but in all likelihood, it won’t be the only style of run in their playbook. When Gibbs was designing the Broncos’ run game 30 years ago, he only believed in coaching zone runs — primarily wide zone and some tight zone, in which the running back’s landmark is typically behind the center.
David Gibbs, his son and the secondary coach at Arizona State, explained that his father didn’t believe teams could excel at executing both zone schemes (blocking a certain area of the field) and gap schemes (blocking a specific defender or gap). But the game has evolved, the younger Gibbs said.
“You have to be able to do both, because the defensive linemen are so good,” he said. “They’re so big, athletic, strong, and the reality of it is defensive linemen are just more athletic than offensive linemen, in my opinion. And so you can’t give them the same schemes all the time.”
Brett Kollmann, an NFL Media analyst, called the Rams’ 15-6 loss to Vic Fangio’s Chicago Bears in 2018 “one of the defining games of the last decade” that prompted an evolution of McVay’s scheme. At the time, the Rams’ rushing attack was wide-zone heavy. Fangio’s solution was to stack bodies on the line of scrimmage in a 6-1 “tilt front,” putting a body in every gap and forcing the running back to cut back into a defender.
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots would follow the same blueprint to stop the Rams in the Super Bowl that season. To counteract the defense’s penetration at the line of scrimmage, McVay would eventually introduce more “counter” runs, a gap scheme that calls for two pulling blockers to create a pair of gaps on the play side.
The incorporation of different types of runs gives defenses more to process, according to right guard Tyler Steen, which in turn forces them to slow down.
“One minute you’re going wide zone and D-tackles and D-ends are running,” Steen said. “The next minute, you’re going ‘duo’ and you’re going downhill. So I think that gives defenders a lot to think about. And so it kind of makes it easier on the O-linemen, because [the defense doesn’t] know what to play.”
Saquon Barkley often found running room hard to come by for an Eagles offense that grew predictable in 2025. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Keeping defenses ‘on their toes’
After the Eagles’ 34-17 loss to the New York Giants in Week 6, Johnson tried to surmise the state of the Eagles offense.
As he spoke at his stall, he used some form of the word “predictable” three times.
“I don’t know if we’re predictable, but it seems a lot harder than what it needs to be,” Johnson said. “Maybe moving forward have a little bit more variety, hitting the perimeter some and doing a little bit more of that.”
Johnson emphasized that he wasn’t trying to point fingers, and at the end of the day, the Eagles needed to execute better. Still, his analysis was a harbinger of things to come for the shotgun-heavy offense that seldom disguised its intentions.
The Eagles are set to take a different direction under Mannion. Like other offshoots of the Shanahan/McVay tree, Mannion emphasizes the importance of the marriage between the run and the pass — more specifically, the play-action pass.
When runs look like passes, and vice versa, offenses are less predictable, Johnson said.
“I think setting up with the play action is just going to be a whole lot tougher to distinguish what we’re doing,” Johnson said during mandatory minicamp. “Whole lot harder to catch on [to] tells with stuff that we’re doing. So I think this stuff, we can disguise it more.”
The key to pulling that off is keeping the presentation the same. If the Eagles are running wide zone, for example, and building the play-action pass off of it, the blocking unit is executing the same assignment. Johnson stressed the importance of keeping a “low hat” to sell the run, and if the linebackers bite down, the quarterback can target the vacant middle of the field.
Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion (right) is introducing variety to an offense seeking to keep defenses off-guard. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Marry that with motions, and the defense is confronted with another layer of complexity to decipher. Even the quarterback’s alignment under center can further disguise the intent of the offense on any given play, Jurgens explained.
“I feel like that’s just another way to keep defenses on their toes,” Jurgens said during mandatory minicamp. “You get a little less predictable. And so I feel like it kind of gives us a little better angles as well. Defenses can’t cheat things, ‘cause they don’t know where we’re going to go. You can set up a lot of your plays a lot better.”
Kollmann is aware of Jalen Hurts’ historical lack of targeting the middle of the field. Dating back to his rookie season before he became the full-time starter, Hurts has targeted the short middle of the field (a maximum of nine yards from the line of scrimmage) on 8.3% of his pass attempts, according to an Inquirer analysis. The league average is 14.5%. From 10 to 19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage over the middle, Hurts’ attempt rate drops to 4.6% (closer to the 7.4% league average).
But Kollmann said that conflating “hasn’t” with “can’t” isn’t necessarily fair. He said he believes that the Eagles lack of a wide-zone, play-action game in the past is to blame for not helping free up that area.
“When they are so shotgun heavy, and therefore when their play action game is really just kind of faking inside zone, that’s the kind of run fake that doesn’t really draw linebackers in, because they can see the ball the entire time,” Kollmann said.
The fake from under center requires a quarterback to turn his back to the defense, shielding the ball from the view of the linebackers. They can’t see it, so they step up, theoretically giving the offense more room to operate over the middle.
It’s easier said than done for any quarterback, as they must temporarily take their eyes off of the pass rushers seeking to take them down. But according to Josh Grizzard, the Eagles passing game coordinator, Hurts has been a “natural” with turning his back to the defense and selling the fake.
“When you have the runs and they look like the keepers and they look like the play passes, then the goal would be for those guys to see the same thing,” Grizzard said. “And then if you can get that second level of the defense to step up, then you have an ability to now push the ball down the field and be able to marry the run and the pass as well as create explosive passes.”
How many runs are designed for Jalen Hurts in the new offense remains an open question. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The backside threat
Speaking of keepers, will the quarterback designed run game return to the Eagles offense in 2026?
By December of last year, Hurts was averaging 1.1 designed runs per game in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus. He averaged 3.6 designed runs per game in his first four seasons as the starter.
The modern West Coast offense hasn’t necessarily needed a mobile quarterback to thrive, as evidenced by the success of Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford with the Rams. But the 2026 Eagles offense isn’t going to be a carbon copy of other schemes around the league from the same tree, and Mannion is well-aware of Hurts’ rushing ability.
“Jalen has a unique skill set in that way,” Mannion said. “So that’ll certainly be a part of what we do, but we’re looking again at all areas as an offense to really attack defenses on a weekly basis. He is uniquely skilled in that way. That will be a part of it, but it won’t be the only part of it.”
Zone reads aren’t totally foreign to this coaching tree. In 2012, while Mike Shanahan was Washington’s head coach and Kyle was his offensive coordinator, the team drafted Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick.
The rookie quarterback would go on to rush for 815 yards and seven touchdowns, all while throwing for 3,200 yards. His production on the ground wouldn’t persist far beyond 2012, though. Washington took a more conservative approach with Griffin III as a rusher, especially as he dealt with injuries that began during a rookie season that was ended by a serious knee injury.
Robert Griffin III (10) was a rushing threat in the Washington offense before injuries curtailed his effectiveness.
Still, Davidson said a backside threat is important in the run game, whether it’s a quarterback run or a bootleg. In the case of the bootleg, which the Eagles incorporated throughout training camp and the preseason, the quarterback exploits the unblocked defensive end who flows with the running back, rolling out unabated in the opposite direction and completing a pass on the move.
“If you’re just under center or even the pistol, and you don’t have anything that keeps the defense on the backside, then it’s a lot easier for them to chase [the ball] down [in wide zone],” Davidson said. “But if they know that they have to defend boot on the other side of the field or defend a quarterback run on the other side of the field, it can really slow the defense down.”
Time will reveal the contents of Mannion’s playbook. While it may contain odes to his influences, it could also include all of the plays he would’ve liked to run throughout his nine-year career as an NFL backup quarterback and two seasons as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers.
Whatever the offense becomes will be unique to the Eagles, Kuper said.
“Those webs of guys kind of break out, and they kind of make it their own, and that’s what our goal is,” Kuper said. “This is going to evolve into Sean Mannion’s offense. This is going to be a derivative, maybe.
“There’s going to be flavors of what you’ve seen throughout the league, and some of his mentors, but this will be our offense.”
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On Tuesday, at a “Breakfast with the Birds” event hosted by Jefferson Health, the Eagles great announced that he was “officially done.” Graham, 38, retired in March 2025 following the Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl LIX. But the Eagles re-signed Graham after Week 7 last season as they lacked depth on the defensive line.
On Tuesday, Graham put to rest any question whether he would return to the Eagles in 2026.
“But let me tell you this, [the Eagles] are in great hands,” Graham said. “Jordan Davis, I’m telling you, he is a guy that’s going to get the defense going. On offense, I can’t wait for Jalen [Hurts] to prove them haters wrong as always and get us back to the promised land.
“I’m going to still be around. … I’m still giving wisdom, helping the guys.”
When Graham called it quits the first time, The Inquirer put together a list of his best moments on and off the field. Just like Graham did for the Eagles, we are running it back with another list of No. 55’s most memorable moments:
His tearful goodbye
When Graham announced his retirement in 2025, the Eagles all-time leader in games played took to the podium to say his goodbyes. Just as Jason Kelce did a year prior, Graham fought through tears to thank his coaches, teammates, and the city.
“And finally, to Philadelphia,” Graham said. “We didn’t start so tight. As you know, you made me work for this, and I appreciate you for that. Through the struggles, the injuries, and the moment where I had to prove myself over and over again, you never let me get comfortable.
“You held me accountable. You kept that chip on my shoulder. You pushed me to be better, and when the time came, we celebrated together two times. This city is built on hard work, resilience, and unmatched passion, and you bring the same energy to every game, every moment, every season.”
Two photographs from Super Bowl LII are hanging in many a sports bar in Philadelphia: Nick Foles catching the touchdown pass on the “Philly Special” and Graham’s strip sack of Tom Brady.
The latter helped clinch the Eagles’ first Super Bowl in franchise history, cementing Graham as an all-time great. When asked about the play in 2023, Graham said it “changed my life.” Like many Eagles fans, Graham admitted he watches the play to cheer him up when he’s having a “bad day.”
Before the Eagles’ 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs last season, Graham reunited on the field with Brady, who was in town for Fox’s broadcast of the game.
Mason Spencer (right), 8, of Langhorne, presented Brandon Graham with the Mason Spencer Man of the Year Award in 2025.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
Winning the Mason Spencer ‘Man of the Year Award’
In December 2019, Mason Spencer received a kidney transplant at just 3 years old. Following his operation, Spencer met with Graham four times. The two quickly formed a friendship.
“I consider BG my friend,” Spencer said. “The reason I’m awarding this to him is for his kindness and his charity.”
In 2025, after Graham missed out on the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honors players for their philanthropy and community impact, Spencer awarded him with the “Mason Spencer Man of the Year Award” — fit with a custom superhero trophy.
The award’s significance was not lost on Graham.
“I’m glad that I can be a service to him and his family,” Graham told The Inquirer. “Especially during a time nobody wants to go through. It’s a beautiful thing when you have support behind you and you have people that’s fighting with you. So for him to go through everything he had to go through, it’s so cool that he can still think about others.
Brandon Graham had to take on a new role when he unretired during the 2025 season and rejoined the Eagles.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Learning a new position
After unretiring in 2025, Graham expected to contribute as an edge rusher — as he had through his first 15 years in the league. However, with Jalen Carter sidelined for multiple weeks following a shoulder procedure, Graham was tasked with consistent snaps at defensive tackle for the first time in his career.
The veteran was game for the challenge and learned from Davis — who is 12 years younger than him.
“When I’m watching him, man, I’m learning as I’m going,” Graham told The Inquirer. “Because they’re the ones running everything over there. They know what’s going on. So I’m just picking their brain and just asking them what they think when I go.“
Added defensive tackle Moro Ojomo: “It’d be similar to maybe someone writing with their right hand and then starting to write with their left hand. It’s not as easy as you may think it is. There are similarities, but it takes some time, and, definitely, if anyone can do it the way he’s doing it, it would be him.”
Brandon Graham with former Eagles quarterback and Chiefs backup Carson Wentz after the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, 2025.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Retearing his triceps during the Super Bowl
In a win over the Los Angeles Rams in November 2024, Graham tore his triceps. He had already announced that the season would be his last, so it appeared Graham’s playing career would end at So-Fi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
However, the Graham made a surprise comeback to suit up for Super Bowl LIX just 11 weeks later.
Following the Eagles’ 40-22 win over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, Graham celebrated in the locker room. He embraced general manager Howie Roseman, who drafted him in 2010, took a selfie with Hurts, and danced with fellow Detroit native Avonte Maddox. He also made sure to FaceTime fellow team legend Jason Peters.
To any onlooker, it would be difficult to tell that Graham was dealing with significant pain. During the game, Graham actually retore his triceps.
Brandon Graham’s second public goodbye to football came on a stage at a Jefferson Health “Breakfast with the Birds” event Tuesday morning.
“I’m officially done,” Graham, 38, told the crowd. “Y’all are hearing it from me first. But let me tell you this, they are in great hands. Jordan Davis, I’m telling you, he is a guy that’s going to get the defense going. On offense, I can’t wait for Jalen [Hurts] to prove them haters wrong as always and get us back to the promised land.”
Graham’s first retirement from the game came in March of 2025. After coming back from injury early to play in the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory, the franchise leader in games played decided to end his playing career after 15 seasons with the team that drafted him in the first round out of Michigan in 2010.
But Graham’s initial retirement lasted just seven months. The Eagles, needing defensive depth, signed Graham for the rest of the 2025 season after Week 7. He played a limited role on the defensive front, but made important contributions after changing positions and taking on a role as an interior lineman while the Eagles dealt with the absence of Jalen Carter.
Graham, who stripped Tom Brady late in the team’s first-ever Super Bowl victory, registered two sacks in a shutout victory over Las Vegas in Week 15. He finished his final regular season with three sacks and eight total tackles in nine games.
He remained open to the possibility of coming back for a 17th season, but said at a recent PHLY Sports event that his return needed to be before the season, not joining a season in progress like in 2025.
Brandon Graham’s strip-sack of Tom Brady during Super Bowl LII lifted the Eagles to their first title. David Maialetti
The Eagles retooled their edge rushing corps in the offseason, most notably by trading for Jonathan Greenard and signing him to an extension worth nearly $100 million. They have an ascending young player in Jalyx Hunt and another, Nolan Smith Jr., who is entering his fourth NFL season. Howie Roseman also added some veteran depth in Arnold Ebiketie and A.J. Epenesa.
“Communication between BG, the Eagles, and me has always been consistent,” Roseman said in July. “BG was the first draft pick I ever made as GM. Those conversations, obviously between us and every player, we’re going to keep between us and the player. I want to be consistent with whoever that is that we do that. But obviously you’re talking about one of the greatest Eagles players and an unbelievable person. Last year, his ability to come back in and help us was huge for our football team. But again, those conversations we’ll keep private.”
Graham ends his NFL career as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played with 215. He played in another 13 postseason games. His 5½ playoff sacks add to a career regular season total of 79½.
“I’m going to still be around,” Graham said at the event Tuesday. “I’m still around. I’m still giving wisdom, helping the guys.
“It’s an adjustment for me, but it’s a great adjustment because it’s all about my kids and my family, trying to make sure I’m there for that. Just spreading the love everywhere.”
DeVonta Smith steps onto the field, a white Gatorade towel wrapped around his head and his practice jersey draped over a black long-sleeve shirt. He flashes a determined look as he holds a play sheet in his left hand and a coach’s headset in his right.
Nothing was going to stop Smith — who was sidelined with a hamstring injury — from staying involved during the dog days of training camp.
He knows this season is different. He knows his mindset needs to reflect that.
For the first time since his rookie season, Smith is a No. 1 wide receiver. He excelled in that role in college and had a record-breaking first season — his 916 receiving yards set the Eagles rookie record for — but he’s lived in the shadow of A.J. Brown for the last four years. The Eagles traded Brown to the New England Patriots in June, which immediately placed Smith back atop the depth chart again.
Is he ready for his close-up?
“The guy was built to do this,” said James Madison coach Billy Napier, who recruited Smith when Napier was the wide receivers coach at Alabama. “DeVonta, he’s not motivated by normal things. This guy’s in a pursuit to be the best that’s ever done it. …
“Eagles fans are going to have fun watching Smitty in this role, I can promise you that.”
DeVonta Smith (6) and A.J. Brown (11) thrived together for a perennial Super Bowl contender, but Brown is now a Patriot. David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
He has the backing of his current teammates and coaches, too. Smith never led the Eagles in receiving yards when Brown was on the team, but he’s eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in three of his last four seasons and is the all-time franchise leader in postseason receiving yards with 665.
Jordan Mailata put it best when asked about Smith, whom the Eagles took with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2021 draft.
“He’s always been a No. 1 receiver,” Mailata said, referring to Smith’s skill and leadership style. “Nothing has changed for Smitty.”
But now he actually has the title. And with training camp finished — plus the drama from the Brown situation mostly settled — that reality has sunk in inside the Eagles facility. There’s a sense that Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy when he was a No. 1 wide receiver with the Crimson Tide in 2020, has been waiting for this chance his entire career.
“I think he’s always seen himself as [the No. 1],” Eagles wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead said. “I think in this building, you’ve always seen him as one. You just had another guy that was a one. There’s something about that that’s probably a little bit fun for him. To be able to know that he’s in that spot right now.”
As if his role increasing wasn’t enough of a challenge, Smith also has to learn a new offense. After things went stale under offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo last season, the Eagles replaced him with Sean Mannion, who is installing a new scheme rooted in his background in the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay offense. Coach Nick Sirianni said at the scouting combine that he expects his WR1 to be “on the rise” in the new offense, but it’s up to Smith to deliver on that.
How have the results been so far?
“It speaks to him that he missed a little time in camp, but right when he came back, the first thing we felt, we were like, ‘Yeah, this is who we missed,’” Moorehead said.
Eagles coaches have praised Smith’s (6) leadership as the team adapts to a new scheme. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Learning a new playbook has never been an issue for Smith. Napier recalls Smith, then a sophomore in high school, skipping Alabama’s spring game — which would have been an opportunity for him to network with his future teammates and coaches — so that he could study the Tide’s playbook in his office.
“He stayed in my office the entire day. He never went to the game,” Napier said. “He’s consumed with being the best he can be. He’s blue-collar. He’s tough.”
So, how do those who knew him with Alabama think he’ll look in the Mannion offense, specifically?
“Oh, it doesn’t matter what offense he’s in,” former Alabama associate head coach Burton Burns said. “Whatever offense DeVonta’s in, he’s going to figure it out, he’s going to learn it quick, and he’s going to thrive.”
“Look, he’s played for lots of different systems, lots of different coordinators,” Napier said. “He’s going to learn his playbook and give the organization everything he has. It’s the best thing about him. He’s a playmaker, regardless of the system.”
Above all, Smith’s coaches have praised his ability to rise to a challenge — which is fitting for the task he faces in 2026. Early in his recruitment, Alabama balked at extending Smith an official offer, hoping it would motivate him to add weight to his slender frame. He not only rose to that challenge but wound up a five-star recruit, then set seven school receiving records and won two national titles with the Crimson Tide.
“He just kept working and working until we had to take notice,” Burns said. “He’s just got this quiet demeanor about himself that creates a lot of confidence.”
DeVonta Smith has seemed to accept the scrutiny that comes with a more prominent role in 2026. Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
He’s meeting his goals ahead of his most difficult task yet this season. Moorehead said at the beginning of the offseason that he challenged Smith to ramp up his leadership as his role increased. Moorehead said Smith has done a “great job” with that, mentoring young receivers like 2026 first-round pick Makai Lemon and helping his teammates learn Mannion’s concepts.
“He’s been through a lot of wars here,” Moorehead said. “He’s not afraid to say that it’s not right — and he’s always been like that. I think that’s the Alabama in him, but I think even more so now he’s able to just take charge. He’s done a great job as far as leadership goes in the room of just helping everybody.”
Philly sports fandom has some simple rules: Root for Philly teams and boo everyone else.
But there are exceptions to all rules, and in Philly those exceptions include showing support for local athletes who are with other teams (within reason) — and for some players who once played for the city but now are on opposing rosters.
In the NFL, all 31 other teams have at least one person on the roster or staff who fits the criteria. Most have several, but we chose one and only one notable Eagles or Philly connection to each of the 31 other teams in the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr.
Harrison, a wide receiver, was a four-star recruit from St. Joseph’s Prep. Upon finishing his career in the Philadelphia Catholic League, Harrison, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, held PCL records for career receiving yards (2,625) and touchdowns (37) which still stand.
Marvin Harrison Jr. was a star for St. Joe’s Prep before taking his talents to Ohio State and the NFL. TIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Atlanta Falcons: Jahan Dotson
Dotson, another receiver, spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Eagles. He averaged 14.1 receiving yards per game and had one touchdown in his two seasons with Philly. The Nazareth Area High School alumnus also played at Penn State and finished his college career with 183 receptions for 2,757 yards and 27 total touchdowns.
Baltimore Ravens: Marcus Brady
The Ravens added Brady to their coaching staff as passing game coordinator in February after he spent two years with the Los Angeles Chargers. But in 2022-2023, Brady was a senior offensive assistant for the Eagles.
Buffalo Bills: C.J. Gardner-Johnson
After stops in Houston and Chicago during the 2025 season, Gardner-Johnson joined the Bills ahead of the 2026 season. Gardner-Johnson played for the Eagles in 2022 and returned in 2024 to help Philly to its second Super Bowl, matching his career high with six interceptions during that regular season. His first six-interception season also came with Philly in 2022. Gardner-Johnson’s teammates, Dion Dawkins and Christian Benford, also have Philly ties, playing collegiately at Temple and Villanova, respectively.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson had multiple stints with the Eagles. David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Carolina Panthers: Jaelan Phillips
Part of the Eagles roster last season, Phillips is now in his first season as an edge rusher with the Panthers. During his one year in Philly, Phillips played in eight games with two sacks and 28 tackles.
Cincinnati Bengals: Ke’Shawn Williams
While backup quarterback Joe Flacco is among the notable local names in the NFL as a native of Audubon, N.J., there’s even more local talent in Cincinnati. Williams is from Philadelphia and played high school football at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, where he also competed in track and field and basketball. Williams signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2025, before being picked up off waivers by the Bengals. His one touchdown in the 2026 preseason came against the Eagles at the Linc.
Ke’Shawn Williams (13) starred at receiver for Springside Chestnut Hill before his career eventually took him to the NFL. LOU RABITO / Staff
Cleveland Browns: Andrew Berry
In his sixth year with the Browns, the executive vice president of football operations and general manager also had a stint working with Cleveland from 2016-2018 as vice president of player personnel. But between 2018 and returning to the Browns in January 2020, Berry served as VP of football operations with the Eagles in 2019. His twin brother, Adam, is in his fourth season with the Eagles and was recently promoted to assistant general manager ahead of the 2026 season.
Chicago Bears: D’Andre Swift
Swift is a former Eagles player and one with Philly roots. He played for the Eagles in 2023, but also graduated in 2017 from St. Joe’s Prep. As a freshman, he helped the Prep win the 2013 Class 4A state championship, and in 2016 was named the Catholic League Player of the Year after he ran for over 1,500 yards and scored 34 total touchdowns as a senior.
D’Andre Swift first became known to Philly fans when he starred for St. Joe’s Prep. LOU RABITO / Staff
Dallas Cowboys: Sam Howell
Yes, even the Cowboys have Philly connections, with ex-Eagles staffer-turned-Dallas defensive coordinator Christian Parker among the most notable. There’s also Howell, the Birds’ third-string quarterback from last season, who signed with the Cowboys in the offseason after the Eagles didn’t extend his contract. Howell is the backup quarterback in Dallas behind Dak Prescott, with his only season as a starter in the NFL coming in 2023 with the Washington Commanders when he threw for 3,946 yards and 21 touchdowns as a rookie.
Denver Broncos: Mike McGlinchey
The 31-year-old offensive tackle played football and basketball at William Penn Charter High School. McGlinchey started as a tight end at Penn Charter before switching to tackle. He was a first-team offensive lineman in 2012 for the Pennsylvania Sports Writers AAAA All-State football team.
Mike McGlinchey was a standout in multiple sports at Penn Charter. Steven M Falk / Staff Photographer
Detroit Lions: Avonte Maddox
Part of the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX team, Avonte Maddox joined the Lions for the 2025 season. Maddox spent seven seasons with the Eagles at cornerback after being selected in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL draft.
Green Bay Packers: Javon Hargrave
The defensive tackle spent the 2020 through 2022 seasons with the Eagles after starting his career in Pittsburgh in 2016. Hargrave recorded 23 regular-season sacks during his three seasons in Philly, including a career-high 11 in the 2022 season, helping the team reach Super Bowl LVII.
Houston Texans: DeMeco Ryans
Ryans is in his fourth season as head coach of the Texans, but his NFL career began as a standout linebacker from 2006-2015. He played four seasons (2012-15) with the Eagles, racking up 334 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, five sacks, and five interceptions.
Before he was a coach, DeMeco Ryans was a productive player for the Eagles.
Indianapolis Colts: Shane Steichen
Before he was head coach of the Colts, Steichen served as offensive coordinator of the Eagles in 2021 and 2022. Under his guidance, the Eagles had the NFL’s top rushing offense with 5,224 rushing yards and 57 touchdowns, helping lead the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Grant Udinski
Hired in February 2025, Udinski is entering his second season as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator. Udinski’s coaching career started in Carolina with a stop in Minnesota, but his origins go back to the Philly area. Udinski is a Doylestown native who went to high school at Central Bucks West High School.
Kansas City Chiefs: Andy Reid
The longest-tenured coach in Eagles history, Reid spent 14 seasons in Philly before becoming head coach of Kansas City, where the future Hall of Famer is now entering his 14th season. Before leading the Chiefs dynasty, Reid posted a 130-93-1 regular-season record in Philly, including a 10-9 postseason mark.
Andy Reid (left, with owner Jeffrey Lurie) came to Philly in 1999 and presided over a successful tenure of Eagles football that included one Super Bowl appearance. KRT
Las Vegas Raiders: Nakobe Dean
Starting his career with the Eagles in 2022 after being selected in the third round, the linebacker is entering his first season playing outside Philly. In his 47 games played with the Eagles, Dean piled up 226 tackles and 7.5 sacks, with his career-high 128 tackles helping Philly to its second Super Bowl in 2024.
Los Angeles Chargers: Teair Tart
A defensive tackle, Tart was born and raised in Philly, where he attended West Philadelphia High School. Initially, Tart’s focus was on basketball, but he made the switch to football in his junior year, helping lead his team to the Public League championship game the following year, in 2014.
Teair Tart (left, with West Philadelphia High football coach Karl “Bubb” Patrick) rose to prominence as a player in West Philly.Karl Patrick
Los Angeles Rams: Brian Johnson
The senior offensive assistant for the Rams, Johnson held his first NFL coaching position with the Eagles in 2021 after spending years coaching at the collegiate level. Johnson was the quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022 before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023. He spent the past two seasons with the Commanders before being hired by the Rams ahead of this season.
Miami Dolphins: Kyle McCord
A recent acquisition by Miami from Green Bay, the backup quarterback’s career started in Philly at St. Joe’s Prep, where he played alongside Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. The Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior, McCord passed for 1,582 yards and 21 touchdowns to lead St. Joe’s Prep to the Class 6A state championship and a 6-0 season. The Mount Laurel, N.J., native was drafted by the Eagles in the sixth round in 2025. He spent the season on the Eagles practice squad before signing a reserve contract with Green Bay.
Kyle McCord played for St. Joe’s Prep and was on the Eagles’ practice squad. CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
Minnesota Vikings: Carson Wentz
There was once a time when Pennsylvania was known by Eagles fans as “Wentzylvania.” Now a backup quarterback for the Vikings, Wentz spent five seasons in Philadelphia, from 2016-2020, after the Eagles traded up to select him second overall in the draft. Before a knee injury altered the course of his career, Wentz led the Eagles to an 11-2 start in 2017, helping put them on a path to their first-ever Super Bowl win, before Nick Foles finished out the job.
New England Patriots: Christian Barmore
While there is the obvious A.J Brown tie between the Patriots and Eagles, there are other local connections between the two teams. Barmore, a defensive tackle going into his sixth season with New England, hails from Philly. Playing his high school career at Neumann Goretti, the four-star recruit was first-team All-Philadelphia in the Catholic League Blue Division and helped lead his team to an 11-1 record and a trip to the state quarterfinal before committing to Alabama.
Neumann-Goretti’s Christian Barmore committed to Alabama then embarked on a successful pro career. AKIRA SUWA
New Orleans Saints: Kellen Moore
In his second season as head coach of the Saints, Moore had a stint as the offensive coordinator for the Eagles in their Super Bowl LIX win. That was his only season with the Eagles, leaving shortly after the season and joining the Saints in February 2025.
New York Giants: Abdul Carter
Selected third overall in the 2025 draft by the Giants, Carter grew up in Philadelphia, playing youth football for the North Philly Aztecs, before attending La Salle College High School. Carter was a four-year varsity starter and the team MVP his senior year, when he led the Explorers to a 9-2 record. He went on to play at Penn State, where he earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous All-American honors in 2024.
Abdul Carter was a standout for La Salle before moving on to Penn State. YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
New York Jets: Frank Reich
In his first season as offensive coordinator with the Jets, Reich has decades of experience, including a stop in Philly. Reich was offensive coordinator for the Eagles in 2016 and in 2017, when the team won its first Super Bowl. Reich, who left Philly to become a head coach in Indianapolis and Carolina, is returning to the NFL after a stint at the collegiate level as interim head coach and senior adviser at Stanford for the 2025 season.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Cameron Johnston
Punters deserve recognition, too, like the veteran Johnston who is in his ninth year in the NFL. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Johnston spent three seasons with the Eagles from 2018-20. Since his NFL debut in 2018, Johnston ranks in the top 10 among punters in punts, punting yards, and net punting yards.
Cameron Johnston has stuck around in the NFL after his tenure in Philly. Corey Perrine / AP
San Francisco 49ers: Colt Anderson
Anderson is in his 16th season in the NFL, the last seven as a coach. The second-year assistant special teams coach with the 49ers had a nine-year playing career as a safety, which included four seasons with the Eagles from 2010-13, when he played under Chip Kelly and Reid.
Seattle Seahawks: Josh Jobe
After spending two seasons with the Eagles in 2022 and 2023, the cornerback is entering his third season with the Seahawks. Jobe played in all 17 games with the Eagles in his final season here, making three starts. Since arriving in Seattle, Jobe’s career has only improved, with his best season coming when he was a full-time starter in the Seahawks’ Super Bowl title-winning 2025 season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Kenneth Gainwell
The running back is entering his first season with the Bucs after a season with the Steelers, but the majority of his NFL career to date was spent with the Eagles. The fifth-round pick was with the Birds from 2021-24, which included a standout game in the NFC divisional round on Jan. 21, 2023 against the Giants. Gainwell logged a career-high 112 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown in the 38-7 rout.
Kenneth Gainwell’s (14) game against the Giants in the 2022 playoffs remains a highlight of his career Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Tennessee Titans: Kylen Granson
Granson spent the first four seasons of his career as a tight end with the Colts, before stopping in Philly for the 2025 season on the road to Tennessee. While with the Eagles, Granson played in all 17 regular-season games, starting three, where the blocking specialist recorded seven catches on nine targets for 40 yards as a rotational tight end.
Washington Commanders: Marcus Mariota
Mariota and the Commanders will open their season against the Eagles, but there was once a time when the backup quarterback was on the other end of that matchup. A second-round pick in the 2015 draft, Mariota’s long career included a stop in Philly in 2023, when he played in three games. Mariota is in his third season as a backup to Jayden Daniels in Washington. With Daniels injured, Mariota started a 29-18 loss to the Eagles in Week 16 last season.
Before the Eagles won two Super Bowls, before they established themselves as a franchise that expects and is expected to compete for a championship every year, before they built the defense they have now — a defense that might be the best in the NFL this season — there was a moment that scarred everyone who cheered for or cared about them.
It has been 35 years since that fateful 1991 Week 1 game at Lambeau Field, since Randall Cunningham threw an incomplete pass on the first play of the second quarter, since a low and late hit from the Packers’ Bryce Paup crumpled Cunningham’s left knee and tore two ligaments in it. The Eagles won that day, 20-3, but everyone knew: Randall was done for the season, and so was his team.
The sadness and frustration in the aftermath of Cunningham’s injury weren’t just for him but for the hopes and dreams of a fan base that hadn’t celebrated a Super Bowl yet and believed it would. That’s how spectacular Cunningham could be. More importantly, that’s how good that Eagles’ defense — with Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons, Wes Hopkins, et. al. — was. Sure enough, the next 15 games were one long exercise in what-might-have-been.
Coached by defensive coordinator Bud Carson, its members hand-picked by Buddy Ryan, that ‘91 unit remains mythological here. It led the NFL in rushing defense and passing defense. It turned every opposing quarterback into Napoleon Dynamite’s Uncle Rico. It ranked first in sacks, first in completion percentage (44.7%!), third in interceptions, and fifth in points allowed.
Now, will the 2026 Eagles’ defense be as great as the 1991 Eagles’?
No.
Will it have to be?
Probably not.
The Eagles’ 1991 defense led by Reggie White (92) and Jerome Brown (99) was forced to carry a team that trotted out a makeshift offense.
First things first: The comparison isn’t as crazy as it might first sound. Yes, that ‘91 defense had White, who was one of the five best defensive players in league history, and was overflowing with talent and ferocity at every level of its alignment: defensive line, linebackers, secondary. Plus, those guys could play with a brutality that, in the modern NFL, would result in most of them being suspended before halftime of the regular-season opener.
In Cunningham’s absence, Jim McMahon, Jeff Kemp, Pat Ryan, and Brad Goebel all were, at one time or another, the team’s No. 1 quarterback. The Eagles didn’t have a running back who rushed for more than 450 yards or a skill-position player with more than 950 receiving yards, and there could be no more compelling evidence for that defense’s dominance than the Eagles’ record that season. Somehow, they went 10-6.
Keep in mind, though: It was just two years ago, in Vic Fangio’s first season as their coordinator, that the Eagles had the league’s best defense for the first time since ‘91: first in total yardage, first in passing yardage, 10th in rushing yardage, second in points. That group saved its best performance of that season for the 40-22 romp over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, when the Eagles intercepted Patrick Mahomes twice, sacked him six times, and didn’t allow Andy Reid’s offense to cross midfield until less than three minutes remained in the third quarter.
Zoom out, too, and consider the prime three years of that Ryan/Carson defense, 1990 through 1992, and these two seasons the Eagles have had under Fangio.
YEAR
POINTS
TOTAL YDS
PASS
RUSH
1990
12th
12th
25th
1st
1991
5th
1st
1st
1st
1992
6th
6th
12th
5th
2024
2nd
1st
1st
10th
2025
5th
13th
8th
22nd
Those comps aren’t far off, and they will be even closer if this season’s defense turns out to be better than 2024’s. It’s not a stretch to think it will be.
The secondary already has two All-Pros in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean — both rookies in ‘24 — and now has an outside corner, in Riq Woolen, who has the size and talent to deliver the quality of coverage that Darius Slay provided. At linebacker, Zack Baun is also an All-Pro. Jihaad Campbell was a first-round pick. Based on those who have observed him during training camp, edge rusher Jalyx Hunt, who led the team in both sacks and interceptions last season, looks like the product of an experiment that spliced the genes of Hugh Douglas and Brian Dawkins. (An overstatement, to be sure, but Hunt is an intriguing and improving player.)
The defensive tackle rotation — Jalen Carter (with two healthy shoulders), Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo — is so deep and so good that it will create one-on-one matchups for anyone the Eagles line up on the outside. And if Jonathan Greenard and Nolan Smith Jr. are on the field, the Eagles should win those matchups most of the time.
The greatness of this Eagles defense will begin in the trenches with Jordan Davis (90) and Jalen Carter (98). David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The most important questions the Eagles have to answer this season don’t have much to do with their defense, if any of them have anything to do with the defense at all. They will have a new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion, who will be calling plays in the NFL for the first time. Jalen Hurts will have to adjust to playing in a system with which he was completely unfamiliar, and there’s no way to know how he’ll fare in it. The offensive line should be better than it was last season, but it’s hard to see yet how the Eagles won’t be worse at wide receiver and tight end.
Again, questions, lots of them. And while we’re doing the then-vs-now thing, it is fitting that the quality of Hurts’ backups — Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton — have become a popular discussion topic and cause for concern. But none of those potential issues presents the same complications that arose all those years ago once Cunningham went down and stayed down.
Part of the reason that the ‘91 defense was so great was that it had to be just for that team to have a chance each week. Everyone remembers the “House of Pain” game, a 13-6 victory over the Houston Oilers on Monday Night Football in which Reggie & Co. pretty much left bodies strewn about the Astrodome, as if they’d fought off a zombie apocalypse. Not everyone remembers that the Eagles actually gained fewer yards that night (240) than the Oilers did (247). As awesome as that defense was, that offense was just about as bad.
This defense shouldn’t have to meet that same skyscraper-high standard. Barring a worst-case outcome, it will just have to be what it can be. It will just have to be great enough.
The two-time defending NFC East champion Eagles begin their season Sunday, with the Washington Commanders coming to town for the Week 1 opener at the Linc (4:25 p.m. Fox). With that in mind, let’s meet every member of the 53-man squad. Players are listed by expected order on the Eagles’ depth chart.
Quarterbacks (4)
Jalen Hurts
College: Oklahoma | Years pro: 6 | 6-1, 223
Another year, another new offensive coordinator and play caller for Hurts, who has dealt with constant change since he was in college. All eyes are on the quarterback as the Eagles enter 2026 with a revamped offense under new coordinator Sean Mannion. How will Hurts take to running an offense that has him taking more snaps from under center, utilizing more play action, and one that may even ask him to run a little more often? How will he deal with a wide receiving corps that doesn’t have A.J. Brown anymore? There are a lot of question marks hanging over the offense, and Hurts is under the spotlight. — Neiburg
Andy Dalton struggled in the preseason. Could he still be a trade target?Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Andy Dalton
College: TCU | Years pro: 15 | 6-2, 220
The Eagles traded a seventh-round pick for Dalton in hopes that the 38-year-old could compete for the No. 2 job behind Hurts or, if Tanner McKee outperformed him in camp, could be used as trade bait to a quarterback-needy team. Neither happened, and so Dalton enters the 2026 season either second or third on the depth chart. Dalton has played a lot of football, but he’s four years removed from being a starter. — Neiburg
Tanner McKee
College: Stanford | Years pro: 2 | 6-6, 231
Coach Nick Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman are hesitant to name a backup quarterback, so McKee will either be the No. 2 or No. 3 guy behind Hurts on the depth chart. It’s a clear battle between him and Dalton, who might have the edge due to his experience. McKee has shown flashes over the years — tossing 269 yards and two touchdowns in a meaningless game against the Giants in 2024 — but he hasn’t quite jelled with Mannion’s offense. — Novozinsky
Cole Payton
College: North Dakota State | Years pro: 1st | 6-3, 232
Payton, a rookie fifth-round pick from North Dakota State, fell victim to the QB battle in front of him this summer. He saw some garbage-time action in the preseason, but it wasn’t nearly enough to showcase his dual-threat potential. Roseman and Sirianni (rightly) gave his reps to Dalton and McKee, who are still battling for the QB2 job. — Novozinsky
Saquon Barkley’s effectiveness in Sean Mannion’s offensive scheme will be a major storyline. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Running Backs (3)
Saquon Barkley
College: Penn State | Years pro: 8 | 6-0, 233
The offense took a step back last year in part because Barkley could not come close to replicating his 2024 season, when he became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Doing it again would have been a big ask, but Barkley’s ability to pile up yards was hampered by an offensive line that was injured and an offensive scheme that couldn’t find ways to get him the ball in space. This year, the Eagles are implementing a wide zone running scheme that should favor Barkley and a running game that will be pivotal to the team’s success. — Neiburg
Tank Bigsby
College: Auburn | Years pro: 3 | 5-11, 215
The Eagles acquired Bigsby a few weeks into the 2025 season and the backup running back was one of the few bright spots on offense. He rushed 58 times for 344 yards (5.9 per carry) but had more than four carries in only three games. A new-look rushing attack could ask for Bigsby to spell Barkley more often this year. — Neiburg
Will Shipley
College: Clemson | Years pro: 2 | 5-11, 209
Shipley enters his third season with the team as the third-string running back behind Barkley and Bigsby and as a key special teams contributor, particularly at kick returner. He won’t likely have ample touches on offense, but he acquitted himself nicely in the preseason, both as a runner and as a receiver. Mannion could find a role for him in the offense in certain situations. — Reiner
is DeVonta Smith ready to embrace WR1 status?David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Wide receivers (6)
DeVonta Smith
College: Alabama | Years pro: 5 | 6-0, 170
With A.J. Brown shipped off to the Patriots, all eyes are on Smith as the Eagles’ WR1. Prominent members of the organization, including Sirianni and Roseman, have stated they believe Smith is ready to take on a bigger role in the offense. Smith, who turns 28 in November, could be the team’s leading receiver for the first time since 2021. He missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury, but he is expected to be available for Week 1. — Reiner
Dontayvion Wicks
College: Virginia | Years pro: 3 | 6-1, 206
The Eagles acquired the 25-year-old Wicks from the Green Bay Packers this offseason. He made the most of his opportunities throughout camp, and with Makai Lemon sidelined for a significant portion of the offseason with a hamstring injury, Wicks made his case for the WR2 job. Wicks’ best season came in his rookie year in 2023, when he racked up 581 yards and four touchdowns on 39 receptions. The two seasons that followed paled in comparison. Wicks will look to prove he’s capable of taking on a greater workload in the Eagles offense. — Reiner
Can Makai Lemon recover from a low-impact preseason and training camp?Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Makai Lemon
College: USC | Years pro: 1st | 5-11, 192
Fans and pundits will be looking at Lemon under a microscope this season — and for good reason. The 22-year-old rookie was drafted in hopes that he could help replicate Brown’s production in the aggregate, alongside the Eagles’ other weapons. Lemon isn’t off to the best start, missing the majority of training camp then struggling in his lone preseason appearance (3 yards on three catches and a drop that led to an interception). — Novozinsky
Darius Cooper
College: Tarleton State | Years pro: 1 | 5-11, 210
Last year’s training camp darling earned a roster spot by doing a lot of what Sirianni called the “dirty work.” The Eagles asked Cooper mostly to be a blocker and play special teams. He was targeted just 11 times on 212 offensive snaps. Cooper had a good start to training camp but seemed to fade a little down the stretch. That being said, there’s an opportunity for Cooper to have a bigger role in the offense this year. — Neiburg
Hollywood Brown is a former 1,000-yard receiver who is looking to revive his career in Philly. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Hollywood Brown
College: Oklahoma | Years pro: 7 | 5-9, 170
Roseman signed Brown to a one-year deal in free agency worth $5 million guaranteed after Brown followed up an injury-shortened 2024 campaign by catching 49 passes for 587 yards and five touchdowns last year with Kansas City. He’s not the same receiver he was when he broke into the league as a 2019 first-round pick with Baltimore, but Brown could be a reliable third or fourth option despite being invisible at times during his first training camp in Philly. — Neiburg
Elijah Moore
College: Ole Miss | Years pro: 5 | 5-10, 178
Out is A.J. Brown, in is his college friend and teammate. The Eagles signed Moore to a one-year deal to add some depth to the position group. The 2021 second-round pick then went out and earned his spot with a strong training camp. Moore’s 2025 season with the Bills and Broncos was rocky, and he came to the Eagles facing a career crossroads. He could have a revival, especially if Lemon struggles early and the Eagles ask Moore to be their slot receiver. — Neiburg
Video: unCovering the Birds: Is tight end the biggest area of concern?
Tight ends (4)
Dallas Goedert
College: South Dakota State | Years pro: 8 | 6-5, 256
Goedert is back with the Eagles for a ninth season after the team signed the 31-year-old to a one-year deal. Goedert is coming off a productive 2025 season where he had more touchdowns (11) than he did in the previous three seasons combined. Goedert will again be relied on in the passing game, but the Eagles will need him to give a little more as a blocker in a run scheme that asks more of the tight ends than the previous one did. — Neiburg
Johnny Mundt
College: Oregon | Years pro: 8 | 6-4, 245
Blocking from the tight end spot was a struggle at times for the Eagles in 2025, so they tried to rectify that by signing Mundt, who has become one of the better blocking tight ends in the NFL over the last few seasons. What’s more, he’s also experienced in the Eagles’ new style of offense, having played on multiple teams that deploy some version of the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay offense. — Neiburg
Eli Stowers’ ability to make a Year 1 impact is in question. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Eli Stowers
College: Vanderbilt | Years pro: 1st | 6-3, 239
The Eagles selected Stowers with their second-round pick in part because it’s past time they started planning for the future at the position. Stowers is a former quarterback who transitioned to tight end in college after a shoulder injury. The Eagles loved his athleticism and think they’ll eventually be able to take advantage of some mismatches when he’s running routes, but it’s unclear how involved the rookie will be in the offense early in the season. — Neiburg
EJ Jenkins
College: Georgia Tech | Years pro: 1 | 6-6, 245
Jenkins was one of the bubble offensive skill players who made the initial 53-man roster. He has been with the Eagles for most of the last three years, primarily on the practice squad, and he has appeared in 14 games between the regular season and the postseason. Jenkins checks the box as another “Y” tight end responsible for lining up inline and blocking, a coveted role in the Shanahan/McVay offense. — Reiner
Jordan Mailata returns as one of the Eagles’ most reliable players. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Offensive linemen (9)
Jordan Mailata
College: N/A | Years pro: 8 | 6-8, 365
While most of the offensive line was hampered by injury last season, Mailata was one of the unit’s healthiest members, starting in all 16 games that the starters played (not including Week 18). He has seemingly improved with age — according to Pro Football Focus, Mailata conceded two sacks in 2025, the second-lowest total of his career (he gave up one sack in 2024). Two years ago, he earned second-team All-Pro honors. Can he earn leaguewide acclaim in 2026? — Reiner
Landon Dickerson
College: Alabama | Years pro: 5 | 6-6, 332
Dickerson admitted that last season, he returned to action too quickly after undergoing meniscus surgery. He had a full offseason to recover from his various injuries, which included traveling to Colombia to receive stem cell therapy to manage his pain. Now, Dickerson says he’s healthy as he aims to bounce back in his sixth season as the starting left guard. Can he get back to the standard he established from 2022-24 when he was an original-selection Pro Bowler for three straight years? — Reiner
A healthy Cam Jurgens would be a mark in the Eagles’ favor in 2026. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Cam Jurgens
College: Nebraska | Years pro: 4 | 6-3, 303
Chronic back pain slowed Jurgens at times in 2025, though he still was named to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season. Like Dickerson, Jurgens sought to rid himself of that pain by flying to Colombia for stem cell therapy treatment during the offseason. Jurgens says he’s feeling a lot better, and he appears to be moving around a lot better, too. The new running attack should fit his athletic profile. — Neiburg
Tyler Steen
College: Alabama | Years pro: 3 | 6-6, 321
Steen is heading into his second season as the starting right guard. He was solid in his first season, conceding just two sacks, according to PFF. His teammates have lauded his improvement throughout training camp as he heads into a contract year. Steen will have an opportunity to play his way into a pay raise, either in Philadelphia or elsewhere. — Reiner
Lane Johnson said 2026 will probably be his last go-round. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Lane Johnson
College: Oklahoma | Years pro: 13 | 6-6, 325
Johnson’s reign at right tackle is nearing its end. During training camp, Hurts’ 36-year-old protector said that 2026 will “probably” be his final season. Johnson played just 10 games last season, as he was sidelined with a Lisfranc foot injury. The six-time Pro Bowl, two-time All-Pro right tackle will have an opportunity to end his career on a high note in a new offense featuring a different blocking scheme in the run game, so long as he can stay healthy. — Reiner
Fred Johnson
College: Florida | Years pro: 7 | 6-7, 326
Johnson has been a quiet mainstay in his previous three seasons with the Eagles, appearing in all 57 of the team’s games from 2023-25 (51 regular season, 6 playoffs). He’s mainly played on special teams units but has also earned 14 starts as the swing tackle during his time in Philly, including eight last year. Whether he serves as the primary tackle backup this season remains an open question — the team is high on rookie Markel Bell — but Johnson will provide veteran depth no matter his place on the depth chart. — Novozinsky
Markel Bell could be the Eagles’ starting tackle of the future. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Markel Bell
College: Miami (FL) | Years pro: 1st | 6-9, 346
The Eagles identified Lane Johnson’s heir apparent when they selected Bell in the third round of the draft. Throughout camp, he made the transition to right tackle, as he had primarily played at left tackle in college. Bell will have the opportunity to develop this season behind Johnson. If the 14-year veteran gets hurt, the Eagles don’t necessarily have to turn to Bell right away, as they also have Fred Johnson in a reserve role. — Reiner
Drew Kendall
College: Boston College | Years pro: 1 | 6-4, 308
The Eagles drafted Kendall, a college center, in the fifth round last year and then started cross-training him at guard. A year working behind some veteran offensive linemen and getting in an NFL training facility has done wonders. Kendall is bigger, stronger, and looks ready to step in if called upon to play any of the three interior offensive line positions. — Neiburg
Willie Lampkin was one of the stories of training camp for the Eagles. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Willie Lampkin
College: North Carolina | Years pro: 1 | 5-11, 290
The Eagles claimed Lampkin at the end of camp last season after the Los Angeles Rams waived him with an injury designation. He spent the entire season on injured reserve. Finally healthy, Lampkin impressed throughout the preseason despite his undersized stature and earned himself a spot as a depth interior lineman on the initial 53. Can the Eagles find a way to get him on the field in specialized personnel packages this season? — Reiner
Micah Morris
College: Georgia | Years pro: 1st | 6-5, 334
It’s easy to see why the Eagles, in search of offensive line depth, used a sixth-round pick on Morris this year. He has the body type and athleticism to play guard in the NFL. Morris showed some flashes during training camp and in preseason contests. He’s likely the last guy on the depth chart and won’t be called upon to play much, but the 23-year-old could be an intriguing prospect for the future. — Neiburg
Jalen Carter (left) and Jordan Davis are both looking to deliver in 2026 after earning huge offseason contract extensions. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Interior defensive line (5)
Jalen Carter
College: Georgia | Years pro: 3 | 6-3, 314
He got paid. Now can he bounce back? Last season, Carter generated a career-low 7.7% pressure rate while facing a double-team on a career-low 41.7% of his pass rushes, according to Next Gen Stats. This came after his wildly successful 2024 season, during which he helped propel the Birds to a Super Bowl win. Now recovered from injury and 10 pounds lighter, Carter should be one of the top defensive tackles in the league this season. — Novozinsky
Jordan Davis
College: Georgia | Years pro: 4 | 6-6, 336
It’s clear that Davis has a different mindset entering this season. Look no further than the fact that the Eagles named the 26-year-old a first-time captain on Friday. Davis, who inked a three-year, $78 million extension in March, is going to be a force in Vic Fangio’s defense once again this year. He’s coming off a career-best 72-tackle and 4.5-sack season and should replicate that this season. — Novozinsky
Moro Ojomo had a strong training camp for the Eagles. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Moro Ojomo
College: Texas | Years pro: 3 | 6-3, 292
Ojomo watched Carter and Davis — who sit ahead of him on the depth chart — become two of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the league this offseason. The 2023 seventh-round pick is using that as motivation. The trio of Carter, Davis and an extra-motivated Ojomo have a chance to form the best DT trio in the NFL this season. — Novozinsky
Byron Young
College: Alabama | Years pro: 3 | 6-3, 292
Young is sort of the otherguy along a defensive interior front that could be among the best in the NFL with Carter, Davis and Ojomo. But Young has more than held his own when the Eagles have called his number. He played in all 17 games last season and tallied 37 tackles. He had three tackles for loss and four quarterback hits while playing 30% of the defensive snaps. With a healthier Carter, Young could see fewer snaps, but the Eagles certainly like what they have with their No. 4 defensive tackle. — Neiburg
Ty Robinson was a preseason standout. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Ty Robinson
College: Nebraska | Years pro: 1 | 6-5, 288
Robinson has been on “life support” for the past year, according to Fangio, as he struggled to get on the field in his rookie season. His defensive coordinator said he “came to life” as training camp progressed. Robinson led the Eagles with three sacks in the preseason. He will have the opportunity to make an impact in a depth role behind the top trio of Carter, Davis, and Ojomo. — Reiner
Edge rushers/outside linebackers (5)
Jonathan Greenard
College: Florida | Years pro: 6 | 6-3, 263
Greenard was the biggest acquisition of the offseason. The Eagles during draft weekend sent two third-round picks to Minnesota to acquire Greenard and a seventh-round pick, and then quickly signed the 29-year-old to a four-year deal worth nearly $100 million. But Greenard missed all of training camp after suffering a pectoral injury late in the offseason and his availability for Week 1 is uncertain. When he’s healthy, the Eagles will need Greenard to consistently get after the quarterback. He had at least 12 sacks in 2023 and 2024 before his injury-shortened 2025 season. — Neiburg
Video: unCovering the Birds mailbag: Analyzing Jalyx Hunt’s productive training camp
Jalyx Hunt
College: Houston Christian | Years pro: 2 | 6-3, 252
Hunt arguably had the best training camp of any Eagles player this summer. The 25-year-old edge rusher lived in the backfield during training camp, sweeping past the Eagles’ best offensive tackles with ease. With Greenard potentially injured to start the season, look for Hunt to take his reps and thrive. He had a 6.5-sack season last year. It’s not a stretch to say he might double that this year. — Novozinsky
Nolan Smith Jr.
College: Georgia | Years pro: 3 | 6-2, 238
Smith re-injured his triceps last season, forcing him to miss over a month of game action. His production declined, going from 6.5 sacks in 2024 to three in 2025. Now healthy, Smith had a strong performance in training camp opposite Hunt while Greenard was sidelined. He’ll look to take his game to the next level with the opportunity for a contract extension looming. — Reiner
Former Penn State and Temple star Arnold Ebiketie (17) is looking to make his name as an Eagle. Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Arnold Ebiketie
College: Penn State | Years pro: 4 | 6-3, 256
After four years with Atlanta, Ebiketie hit free agency and found a team in the Eagles who needed to fill out the depth chart on the edge. His playing time dropped off a bit in 2025. He was on the field for 35% of the defensive snaps after playing 49% a year earlier. The Eagles have some workhorses at the top of the depth chart in Greenard, Hunt and Smith, but Ebiketie may need to play a little more if Greenard isn’t ready for Week 1. — Neiburg
A.J. Epenesa
College: Iowa | Years pro: 6 | 6-6, 260
It was a weird offseason for Epenesa. The Browns signed him to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million before balking at the deal weeks later, reportedly due to a failed physical. Now, he finds himself on a loaded Eagles defensive front — and he couldn’t be happier. The 27-year-old looked sharp in camp too, recording a handful of sacks and nabbing an interception on Day 2. — Novozinsky
Zack Baun is a linchpin of the Eagles defense. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Inside linebackers (4)
Zack Baun
College: Wisconsin | Years pro: 6 | 6-3, 225
Three years ago, Baun arrived in Philadelphia as an expected special teams ace and a prospective edge rusher. Since then, he’s become an All-Pro, two-time Pro Bowl, Super Bowl champion inside linebacker and one of the most important players in Fangio’s defense. After Nakobe Dean signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency, Baun is set to take on green dot responsibilities as the on-field defensive play caller this season. — Reiner
Jihaad Campbell
College: Alabama | Years pro: 1 | 6-3, 235
Campbell made an immediate impact in his rookie season, playing in all 17 games and recording a decent stat line of 80 tackles, one interception and three pass deflections. Can he have an even stronger sophomore year? He’ll have help in the room — Campbell, Zack Baun and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. form one of the deepest linebacker corps in the league. — Novozinsky
Is this the year Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (54) breaks through on defense? Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
College: Clemson | Years pro: 2 | 6-0, 225
Trotter heads into his third season with the Eagles as the next man up behind Baun and Campbell. But the 2024 fifth-round pick has demonstrated in the preseason that he could start in any other defense. He finished behind Robinson with two sacks in the preseason, plus one tackle for a loss. Should either Baun or Campbell go down this year, the Eagles ought to feel comfortable with Trotter taking their place. — Reiner
Smael Mondon Jr.
College: Georgia | Years pro: 1 | 6-2, 224
The 2025 fifth-round pick played just 14 defensive snaps last season but was a core special teamer. That shouldn’t change much in 2025 unless the Eagles suffer a few injuries. Linebacker is arguably their deepest position. Mondon seems to be developing nicely and held off a few challengers for a roster spot. — Neiburg
Quinyon Mitchell (27) and Cooper DeJean are seeking to build on All-Pro seasons. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Cornerbacks (6)
Quinyon Mitchell
College: Toledo | Years pro: 2 | 6-0, 193
In his rookie season, Mitchell proved he was a stud in the making, being named to the All-Rookie team and finishing second in Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He took it another step last year when he was named an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler. Can Mitchell keep leveling up in Year 3? Can he prove that he’s the best cornerback in the NFL (and deserves to get paid like it)? — Novozinsky
Cooper DeJean
College: Iowa | Years pro: 2 | 6-0, 198
DeJean followed up an impressive rookie season by being selected as a first-team All-Pro and being named to the Pro Bowl. DeJean is arguably the best nickel corner in the NFL, but he’s taking on a new job for 2026: safety. DeJean will play on the back line when the Eagles are in their base defense and return to the slot in nickel and dime packages. — Neiburg
Video: Riq Woolen amazed after meeting ‘swole’ Eagles legend Brian Dawkins
Riq Woolen
College: UTSA | Years pro: 4 | 6-4, 210
Woolen’s career with the Seahawks got off to a hot start. He was a Pro Bowler and All-Pro in his rookie season in 2022 and was a key member of their Super Bowl team last season. So, how did the Eagles manage to sign him to a one-year deal in free agency? Well, his inconsistency made him an occasional liability for Mike Macdonald in Seattle. Let’s see if the 6-foot-4 corner can find stability in Fangio’s defense. — Novozinsky
Jonathan Jones
College: Auburn | Years pro: 10 | 5-9, 190
Jones is expected to be the Eagles’ top backup cornerback. He spent last season with the Commanders — Philly’s Week 1 opponent — and signed a one-year deal, $2-million contract with the Eagles in March. He had 78 starts in his first 10 seasons, so he brings a wealth of experience if an Eagles corner goes down this season. — Novozinsky
Kelee Ringo remins a valuable secondary backup and special-teamer. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kelee Ringo
College: Georgia | Years pro: 3 | 6-2, 207
Last training camp, Ringo was in competition with Adoree’ Jackson for the starting outside cornerback job opposite Mitchell. This year, Ringo wasn’t in the picture, with Woolen signing a prove-it deal in the offseason to command that post. Ringo isn’t even the first outside cornerback off the bench — that’s Jones’ job. But the 24-year-old cornerback is a valued special teamer, hence his roster spot. — Reiner
Mac McWilliams
College: UCF | Years pro: 1 | 5-10, 191
McWilliams looks like a more well-rounded version of his rookie self. He earned occasional reps with the first-team defense throughout training camp and made some plays when doing so. He won’t start if the cornerback room stays healthy, but don’t be surprised if he climbs up the depth chart and earns snaps. — Novozinsky
Can Andrew Mukuba (24) bounce back from the injury that prematurely ended his 2025?Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Safeties (3)
Andrew Mukuba
College: Texas | Years pro: 1 | 5-11, 186
Mukuba saw his rookie season cut short in late November when he fractured his fibula. Now healthy, he will look to stay on the field in his role as one of two starting safeties in his sophomore season. Despite missing the last two months of the 2025 season, Mukuba did not see any preseason action, reinforcing the confidence that the Eagles have in him to do his job come Week 1. Fangio lauded Mukuba’s improved “knowledge and knowhow of the defense” in training camp. — Reiner
Marcus Epps
College: Wyoming | Years pro: 7 | 6-0, 198
Epps is expected to serve as the starting safety alongside Mukuba in Week 1. It was a tough battle between him and Michael Carter II this summer, but Epps experience and institutional knowledge — he was a key starter on the Eagles’ 2022 Super Bowl team — won him the job. Now comes the hard part for Epps: Can he keep the job all season? Carter will be gunning for it every week. — Novozinsky
Michael Carter II will have a key role after a productive training camp and preseason. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Michael Carter II
College: Duke | Years pro: 5 | 5-10, 184
With Mukuba and Epps the likely Week 1 starters at safety, Carter figures to serve as the next safety off the bench. He is the expected backup to DeJean at nickel cornerback, too. Fangio also revealed that Carter will be the sixth defensive back on the field in the dime package. Even though it always seemed like Epps was the frontrunner for the starting safety vacancy this offseason, Fangio said Carter did “nothing but [help] himself” with his performance in camp. — Reiner
Specialists (3)
Jake Elliott
College: Memphis | Years pro: 9 | 5-9, 167
Elliott is coming off of another shaky season in which he went 20-for-27 on his field goal attempts (74.1% conversion rate; his second-lowest rate of the regular season). He is 48-for-63 over the last two regular seasons (76.2%). Still, the Eagles displayed their confidence in the 31-year-old kicker this offseason by restructuring his contract in 2026, agreeing on a $1 million pay cut but guaranteeing $5 million. He did not have any competitors in camp, further reinforcing that the job is his to keep so long as he can establish consistency. — Reiner
Braden Mann (10) and Jake Elliott (right) are back, but will have a new teammate doing the snapping on kicks. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Braden Mann
College: Texas A&M | Years pro: 6 | 5-11, 198
Mann had a good offseason. The 28-year-old punter got paid in March, signing a four-year, $14 million contract extension, and he looked rock solid in training camp. He’s a practice squad success story, with the Eagles initially picking him up from the Steelers in 2023. — Novozinsky
Rocco Underwood
College: Florida | Years pro: 1st | 6-3, 240
The Eagles had stability at long snapper from 2000-2024, with Mike Bartrum, Jon Dorenbos and Rick Lovato all being good enough to earn multiple contracts. They’re hoping Underwood can be that next guy — though things aren’t off to the best start. Underwood, who has shown potential in the past, winning the 2024 Patrick Mannelly Award for the nation’s best long snapper, had a rough start to training camp due to a few bad snaps. He’s since turned it around, but it’s hard to forget those early mistakes. For now, they’ll have to deal with his possible inconsistency and bank on his potential. — Novozinsky
Riq Woolen had made up his mind. In early December 2019, the 6-foot-4 athlete — who had spent the final few games of that season at cornerback, despite playing wide receiver his whole life — walked through the door of the UTSA coaches’ room, ready to tell the new staff that he wanted to revert to his old position.
His decision made sense. NFL defensive backs are approximately 5-foot-11 on average, according to Stathead data, and wide receivers typically are taller, so Woolen figured his best shot of making the league was on offense.
Then a former Eagle changed his life.
“He walks in the door, and I’m like, ‘What the frick? This dude looks like a basketball player,’” said Nick Graham, UTSA’s cornerbacks coach who played defensive back for the Eagles in 2007. “So then I watched his film with him, and I was like, ‘Oh hell yeah, you don’t need to move back to receiver. If you stay at corner, you’ll be a league guy, no doubt.’”
Graham’s gambit paid off. Two seasons and one successful combine performance later, Woolen was selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. The decision continued to pay off in Seattle, where Woolen became a Pro Bowler and All-Pro in 2022 and a key member of their Super Bowl team last season.
And yet, when Woolen finally hit free agency this spring, league-wide interest was low because of his inconsistent play in 2025.
Riq Woolen burst on the scene as a rookie in Seattle but was allowed to leave in free agency four years later. Lindsey Wasson
That’s when Eagles general manager Howie Roseman stepped in. In signing Woolen to a one-year deal worth up to $15 million, Roseman utilized a strategy that has worked well for him: Sign an underappreciated, perhaps disgruntled, player to a one-year deal and hope it pays off.
Linebacker Zack Baun — who signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in 2024 — went from an afterthought with the New Orleans Saints to a two-time Pro-Bowler under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, running back LeGarrette Blount, and cornerback Patrick Robinson, all of whom signed one-year deals in 2017, helped the team to its first Super Bowl win that season.
Can Woolen, 27, be Howie’s next one-year wonder in Philadelphia?
“I’d bet on Howie for sure, and I’d bet on Tariq for damn sure,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said.
Before examining Woolen’s likelihood of living up to that, we must first dive into how he got here. Critical mental errors over the last two seasons were his downfall. Woolen experienced a nadir in Seattle’s 2025 season opener, when he gave up a 45-yard completion near the sidelines and a touchdown in the end zone on the San Francisco 49ers’ game-winning drive. In the first six weeks, Woolen ranked near the bottom of the league in passer rating against (116.3). He corrected this in the final 12 weeks, climbing up to the sixth-best number among cornerbacks (57.2).
The damage had been done, though. The fluctuating nature of Woolen’s play was the final straw for the Seahawks. Those closest to Woolen believe coach Mike Macdonald’s regime didn’t trust him as much as Pete Carroll’s — which is the driving force behind the “big chip on his shoulder” this season.
“The thing that I’m excited for him is the clean slate,” Graham said. “He’s going to a place where he’s wanted. I know the first regime in Seattle wanted him … I don’t know that it was like that with the second one.”
Riq Woolen (27) won a Super Bowl in Seattle, but some trust might have eroded with Mike Macdonald’s coaching staff. Kevin Ng, Kevin Ng-Imagn Images
On paper, Fangio’s scheme should reignite his Pro Bowl form. Woolen had one of the best seasons in recent years in man coverage — according to Next Gen Stats, his 27.6% completion rate allowed in man coverage was the lowest by any defender to face 20-plus targets in man since at least 2018. The Seahawks deployed man coverages on just 15.2% of their defensive snaps, which was the sixth-fewest in the NFL, according to Sharp Analytics. The Eagles, meanwhile, used man coverage on 24.5% of their snaps last season.
If this trend continues (and Woolen stays consistent), Fangio could have one of the best cornerback trios in the league in Woolen, along with Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, who are Pro Bowlers in their own right.
How has the chemistry been with that group so far?
“It’s pretty cool because it’s just learning how to fit in with these guys,” Woolen said. “I know my personality. I get along well with everybody. So just being able to become close with these guys, that’s all I really care about.
“I’ve got to be the best version of myself, and for me to do that, I’ve got to be comfortable with them, and they’ve got to be comfortable with me, and they’ve got to get to know me, and I’ve got to know them.”
Unlocking the “best version” of Woolen is no simple task. This offseason was a microcosm of his career — with peaks during OTAs, when he looked like the team’s best defender, and the valleys on Day 1 of the Eagles’ joint practice in New England, when A.J. Brown and the Patriots wide receiving corps torched him (before Woolen redeemed himself with a pair of interceptions on Day 2).
Riq Woolen spent training camp getting adjusted to Vic Fangio’s scheme. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Fangio perhaps put it best when asked about Woolen in early August.
“At times he can get a little lazy or sloppy with his technique and have a bad down or two, but he’s still showing everything that I think he can do,” Fangio said. “He’s just got to get in such great shape and calloused to football that those don’t happen.”
Graham has a different interpretation of Woolen’s work ethic — and believes that, under Fangio’s defense and direct coaching style, he’ll earn an even bigger contract next season.
“I think that Riq makes stuff look so easy sometimes that you almost think it’s lazy — but it’s really not,” Graham said. “I know Vic coaches hard … but he’s probably Santa Claus compared to me. Because [Fangio’s] still talking to pros. I coached extremely hard. So I don’t think that type of stuff bothers him. But I think there is a next level … I think he’s a $15 to $20 million per year corner, long-term.
“I think other people believe that, too, but you know how the league is — it’s very small. Somebody says something [about a player], and then that’s gospel. He’s excited to go prove all these people wrong.”
It’s unlikely Woolen will be an Eagle for long. The team handed out a massive extension to defensive tackle Jalen Carter this offseason and still needs to extend Mitchell and Cooper. Nevertheless, it’s clear his teammates are ecstatic to have him — even if he’s just a one-year wonder.
“A lot of people [across the NFL] talk bad about him, and I’m like ‘What are you talking about?’” said Jordan Mailata. “He’s a f—ing tree. He’s built like a tree, son. We watch the film of practices, you can see the impact that he has on that defense, just being able to be on the island. All day every day, the ground he can cover, he’s f—ing big.”
The draft was set to begin last week when Jeff Killian reminded the members of his fantasy football league that he could fax them a rule book if they needed a copy. A hand went up.
“Umm,” Jack DeStefano, 32, said. “I don’t have a fax machine.”
Of course. Killian, 63, meant he would email the seven-page document. That’s what happens when you’re the commissioner of a fantasy league that started in 1986.
The league began after someone went to California on business and returned to the AT&T office near the King of Prussia Mall with a stack of papers detailing something called “Fantasy Football.”
They found eight guys, rented a room at a hall in Chester County, and launched the Vince Lombardi Memorial Football League. The league members faxed their lineups on Friday night to the commissioner and then waited until Tuesday to see how their team performed.
It seems harder every year to find someone who doesn’t play fantasy football as it is estimated that 40 million people will play this season. But it’s hard to find a fantasy league that’s been around as long as the VLMFL where players once scoured newspaper box scores to tabulate their stats long before smartphones relay that information in real time.
Jeffrey Jaskol (left, foreground) and Ken Leidheiser laugh at a story being told by Leidheiser during their fantasy football draft at the Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern on Aug. 28.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The game was a mystery then — “People said ‘Fantasy what?’,” original leaguemate Ken Leidheiser, 69, said — but the VLMFL figured it out. They created their own rules and have stayed true to them for 40 seasons.
Two original members are still in the league while the majority of the players have been involved since the late 1980s or early 1990s. They drafted Bo Jackson, Dan Marino, and Randall Cunningham and won championships with the Bears defense.
“I can still remember watching a game years ago on Monday Night Football where Jerry Rice caught a touchdown so I could beat my big rival,” said 77-year-old Lee Bye, who retired from the VLMFL after 30 seasons and seven championships for the Bye Boys. “That still sticks with me after all these years. Here it is after midnight and I’m jumping around in my basement.”
Some teams are now managed by second-generation fantasy footballers as the 60-something OGs have infused the league with their number-crunching sons.
And everyone is within six degrees of AT&T, where inaugural champ Paul DeStefano, 68, still works.
“I’m not in it for the money,” said DeStefano, who manages the five-time champion Fabulous Thunderbirds with his son Matt and once staged a parade down his street after winning it all. “It’s the camaraderie. It’s sitting up at night for Sunday Night Football and my wife says, ‘Why are you still up?’ I go, ‘Because I need 5 more yards from my running back and I have to watch the game until the end.’ You think you can control it. The next morning, I’ll be exhausted at work going, ‘Why the hell did I stay up for the game?’”
Jeffrey Jaskol (right), and his sons Adam (left), and Andrew (middle) work to make a selection in their fantasy draft.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The old days
It’s easy now to stay informed as there are websites, podcasts, TV shows, and social media accounts dedicated to fantasy football. The game is impossible to ignore. But in the early days, information was the great separator between the VLMFL’s Have and Have Nots.
They read NFL previews in Sports Illustrated, studied newspaper articles, and looked anywhere for information that is now seemingly everywhere. Fantasy magazines, which started printing in the late 1980s, were gold. It was survival.
One leaguemate once used his first-round pick on Bills running back Robb Riddick, only to be told that he suffered a serious knee injury days earlier. Better luck next year.
“We were scrambling,” DeStefano said. “We were literally going through pages trying to figure out who’s a guy we need. Some guys were football savvy and some guys wanted to be in because they wanted to be a part of what we were doing. Fourth-round came, they didn’t know anybody and they’d be asking us for a running back. Of course, we didn’t help.”
To add a player during the season, a leaguemate had to call Greg Swerdlow’s apartment in Bedminster, N.J., where the commissioner changed the greeting of his answering machine to say it was the “VLMFL Transaction Hotline.” They left their waiver claims after the beep as the moves had to be recorded by Friday at 5 p.m.
The commissioner listened to his voicemails, wrote down everyone’s adds, and then determined who had priority if two teams left messages claiming the same guy. They rang Swerdlow’s apartment a second time as he changed his voicemail greeting to a list of transactions while his roommate’s yellow lab barked in the background.
“So the tradition was you would get your transactions through a dog barking,” said Swerdlow, 61.
The opposing players faxed their starters to Swerdlow by 8 p.m. on Friday and then sent them to their opponent as if they were baseball managers exchanging lineup cards. They spent Sunday looking for glimpses of their players long before Sunday Ticket and RedZone allowed them to see it all. They’d see a highlight on the 6 p.m. news or a touchdown catch on a postgame show.
But there was no way to know for sure if you won until you opened the newspaper on Monday morning. They agreed that USA Today would be their paper of record as it used the Elias Sports Bureau for statistics while The Inquirer — which many had delivered to their home — did not.
So they counted their own scores and then waited for Swerdlow, who created a computer program to input scores, to fax over the official tallies.
“You had to be careful at the office not to leave stuff on the fax machine in case your boss saw it,” Leidheiser said.
Jeff Killian (right) talks with the group before the 41st Annual VLMFL draft party at Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern on Friday, August 28, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Their own rules
Killian, the current commissioner, joined the league in 1989 after hearing about it at DeStefano’s Christmas party. Killian played fantasy baseball and already spent his Sundays watching football. He was in.
And then he watched as the first eight selections in the VLMFL draft were quarterbacks. Killian panicked.
“So we drafted a good NFL quarterback, not a fantasy QB,” Killian said. “We drafted a great NFL quarterback, but he sucked in fantasy. We drafted Phil Simms. I still own the worst record in the history of the league: 1-15. I didn’t win until Week 10.”
But Killian was undeterred. He dug in and learned the league’s scoring system, which has been fine-tuned over the years but remains true to the original idea: big plays are king. A 60-yard interception return for a TD is worth 26 points. A 50-yard rushing TD is worth 14 while a goal-line plunge is worth just three.
Each team starts a quarterback, two running backs and two receivers along with a defense and kicker. Tight ends count as receivers and there is no “flex” spot.
It’s not a dynasty league and the 12-team draft is not an auction. VLMFL keeps it old school, so much that you wonder if they’ll add fullbacks next year. Kickers and defenses are more valuable in the VLMFL than most other leagues, which is why big-footed Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys went in the fourth round.
“It’s different from every other league,” Swerdlow said. “People will say, ‘You’ve been in a league since when?’ Then you tell them about the rules. ‘Those rules are crazy.’ Yeah, we didn’t have all of society’s model to build our league off.”
The league season runs the entire NFL regular season with the champion being the first-place team after Week 17. The VLMFL, unlike most leagues, does not do a playoff to crown a champ.
The trophy — a 30-inch wood base topped with a gold football player — arrived in the early 1990s and a new winner is inscribed each year. It had to be repaired twice and there’s still some magic marker marks on the base left years ago by someone’s kid. Like the league, the trophy keeps going.
“I think it was Matt, Paul’s son,” Killian said. “But we’re not sure.”
A photo provided by Paul DeStefano of his team’s “parade” after they won the fantasy league trophy.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Draft night
The league that held its first draft 40 years ago at the old Mile Post Inn gathered last Friday at the Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern. They golfed in the afternoon and then had dinner in a private room before drafting. Each team had their own table with laptops open and papers spread as if they were NFL GMs.
“This is the best day of the year,” said 67-year-old Jeffrey Jaskol, who drafted for his team, The Lost Tribe, with his sons Andrew and Adam.
Leaguemates were heckled for drafting Cowboys and someone cursed when Chargers QB Justin Herbert was snagged. Titans running back Tony Pollard — “I have to go way down on my list,” someone shouted — and Commanders QB Jayden Daniels — “Are you kidding me,” another yelled — were met with jeers.
“We only see each other one night a year. Some of these guys I see once or twice a year,” Leidheiser said. “It’s a once-a-year meeting. I do it just for the competitive fun of it. Plus it’s like a fraternity of guys. We’ve known each other for more than 30 years.”
Lee said he used to worry every year that someone in his family would die and force him to miss draft night. That’s how much he loved the barbs they traded. He kept the yapping going one season when he learned other VLMFLers were attending the same Eagles game. He got in early, tracked down their seats and left them notes reminding them that he was the champ.
“They’d get a hot dog and come back to that,” Lee said. “The camaraderie was the thing that was so much fun. It built more and more every year.”
Anthony O’Brien works the phone during their fantasy football draft party.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Fantasy football, which is thought to have been created in 1962 by an Oakland Raiders owner, was still a foreign concept in 1986, but Leidheiser was sold because it reminded him of the rosters he built in beer-league softball in Wayne. He enjoyed playing GM and was soon hooked.
But now he says he sits back at the draft and follows the lead of his son Korey, a 30-year-old who works in data analytics. The results have never been better, the dad said.
“We were in college and we realized most of these guys were doing it by hand and my brother and I could look up stats online,” said Korey, whose brother Kyle is now running his own squad. “It’s all numbers, right? It just depends on what you’re adding up.”
The best part about the league, Jaskol said, was how it evolved over the years to include so many kids of the old-timers. Then his two sons started teasing him for having a fancy for past-their-prime running backs and overdrafting Eagles.
“And I said I loved this,” Jaskol said.
The league donated money one year to a leaguemate whose house burned down and toasted a longtime member after he died in 2019. The league stays connected through an email chain — “Sage Advice,” Killian wrote in a subject line last week — and meets after the season for another night of smack talk. It’s what keeps the league going after 40 seasons.
The league’s championship trophy on display during the fantasy draft.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The VLMFL started before fantasy football became mainstream and the game that everyone now plays once seemed to belong to the guys who traced their league back to an AT&T office.
People got married, had kids, switched jobs, and moved away. So much has changed in their lives since 1986, but the VLMFL feels mostly the same when the guys gather to draft at the end of every summer. That’s what keeps them coming back. The old fantasy league became more than just a league. But you no longer need a fax machine to play.
“It’s really cool how 70% goes back over 30 years. That’s what makes it fun. You’re seeing the same people and you’re telling the same jokes,” Killian said. “I play about 100 rounds of golf a year. But I won’t play on a Sunday again until the Super Bowl is over.
“I don’t care if someone invites me to Merion this fall. I won’t go on a Sunday. My buddies laugh at me all the time and say, ‘I can’t believe you’re going to sit at home and watch football all day and it’s going to be 80 degrees and sunny.’ Have fun.”
