14 I don’t knows from the Eagles’ spring practices

The Philadelphia Eagles officially wrapped up their spring offseason workout program last week. Now let’s take a look at the winners, losers, and I don’t knows that stood out from three media-attended practices (two days of voluntary OTAs and one mandatory minicamp session).

Disclaimer: These were non-contact drills (no pads) and three practices is a pretty small sample size. There’s still plenty of time for players to change their outlook — for better or worse — over the course of training camp and preseason games.

I DON’T KNOWS

LB JIHAAD CAMPBELL

Campbell, who apparently isn’t 100% recovered from offseason shoulder surgery, did not participate in the Eagles’ first two media-attended practices. The 2025 first-round pick did some position drill work as an off-ball linebacker during the team’s sole mandatory minicamp practice before sitting out of team drills.

Vic Fangio said that Campbell “won’t hit the practice field until sometime in August.” Even with a generous interpretation that he returns in full around August 1, he’ll have missed about seven practices. Last year, the Eagles held 16 training camp practices.

And so it seems like Campbell might be behind the eight ball to begin his rookie season. That much isn’t necessarily a death knell. Cooper DeJean was able to eventually get on the field and be a very important contributor the Eagles’ defense despite missing significant time in training camp last year. Perhaps Campbell takes a similar path.

But maybe it takes longer than expected for Campbell to see a lot of playing time. We’ll see.

LB NAKOBE DEAN

Fangio said Dean “won’t be back for a while.” It seems like he might begin the season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list (PUP) after suffering a torn patellar tendon on January 12. If that’s the case, Dean will automatically miss the Eagles’ first four games. It’s possible he’ll be out even longer.

This is a really big year for Dean since he’s set to be a free agent after the 2025 season. And his injury recovery isn’t the only obstacle to him getting back on the field. What if Campbell is shining in his absence? A good problem for the Eagles to have, for sure, but not so ideal for Dean’s personal outlook.

DT JORDAN DAVIS

Somehow, we’re in the eleventy billionth straight offseason of “Jordan Davis is in the best shape of his life!”

No, but, seriously, for real this time!

I’m not even one of the biggest Davis skeptics. I really wanted the Eagles to draft him in 2022.

But it’s hard to ignore the red flags.

The statistical production is very low: 5.5 sacks, eight TFLs, and 10 QB hits in 55 career games played (including playoffs).

While there’s an argument to be made his impact goes beyond the box score, it’s not like he’s a total force out there. If he was, Fangio would have played him much more often. Davis finished fourth on the Eagles in defensive tackle snaps played (445) last season … behind Jalen Carter (1068), Milton Williams (654), and Moro Ojomo (490).

Maybe the best is truly yet to come for Davis. He did play well in the playoffs. And he looked disruptive during some spring practice reps.

Maybe this will be like Dexter Lawrence not really emerging until Year 4.

Maybe. But I don’t know that I feel good about the chances.

WR JAHAN DOTSON

The good news is that Jalen Hurts showed a willingness to throw to Dotson. It’s important for them to build chemistry this offseason. Of course, Hurts often didn’t have A.J. Brown (resting) or DeVonta Smith (absent until minicamp) to throw to.

I don’t know if Dotson looked so good that I feel confident that he’ll be significantly better in 2025. It’s really not a high bar to clear since he finished 112th out of 112 wide receivers in yards per route run last season. He also doesn’t need to — and likely won’t — post big numbers since he’s behind Brown, Smith, and Dallas Goedert in the target pecking order. But it would be nice if he’s mixed in a little bit more than he was in 2024.

EDGE JOSHUA UCHE

Uche didn’t stand out in practice. But he did get some notable mentions during press conferences.

When asked about the edge rusher position, Uche was the first name mentioned by Fangio after Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. He also brought up Uche’s name again, along with Azeez Ojulari’s, in an answer to a broader question about the team’s defensive depth.

Lane Johnson first mentioned Uche when asked if any of the Eagles’ edge rushers are standing out to him. He also talked about how Uche gave him some challenges in the past.

Zack Baun said Uche is among the down-the-depth-chart players who’ve talked to him about going from relative afterthought to a bonafide star. Uche seems to realize the opportunity to reset his market.

Some encouraging signs so far. But going to need to see on-field production before totally buying in.

S TRISTIN MCCOLLUM

Without even being asked about him, Fangio brought up McCollum as a contender for the starting safety job next to Reed Blankenship. The full exchange:

Q: What’s your view of the Drew Mukuba-Sydney Brown competition?

FANGIO: It’s a competition that is going to take a training camp and a few preseason games to sort out. And Tristin [McCollum]’s in that, too.

But McCollum saw fewer first-team safety reps than 2024 undrafted rookie free agent signing Andre’ Sam.

Speaking of …

S ANDRE’ SAM

Fangio was asked the following question earlier this month:

Q: How much did depth have to do with the defense’s success last year, and do you think you have that same depth going into this season?

His answer:

FANGIO: It’s too early to say. I mean, I look at – and I told the players this. I look at this year, very similar to last year in that at this time last year, we had a lot of turnover in personnel from the previous year. You had Baun, nobody knew what he was at this point last year. You had Nakobe, who hadn’t played any meaningful NFL football in his first two years. You had Oren Burks, who we had just signed. You had Isaiah Rodgers, who we had just signed. You had Ojomo, who didn’t play hardly at all his rookie year. We got Nolan, who didn’t play hardly at all his rookie year. We got Chauncey back. We drafted Q, Cooper, Jalyx. We had a lot of question marks at that time. This year, those names are replaced. Ringo, Adoree’, Sydney, McCollum, Ojulari, Uche, Byron Young, Gabe Hall, Booker, Jihaad, all the draft picks – Mukuba, Robinson, Smael, and then the rest of the rookies. Some of those guys in that second list have to become like those guys in the first list, and I don’t know how that’s going to turn out, but I look at us really basically the same one year to the next. The names have changed. Hopefully we’ll get the same results from these new guys that we got from a lot of the new guys last year.

Once again, no mention of Sam.

And, yet, Sam saw more first-team reps than McCollum.

CB ADOREE’ JACKSON

Jackson didn’t have a bad spring. The veteran cornerback is still in the mix for the starting cornerback spot in the Eagles’ nickel defense. But he did get outshined by Kelee Ringo. If that continues, he’ll have to settle for a backup role. Which, as evidenced by Isaiah Rodgers’ performance last year, is still important.

Jackson might be able to provide some value off the field as a veteran who adds levity to the locker room. He seems like a fun personality … and the Eagles notably lost one of those by cutting Darius Slay.

CB MAC MCWILLIAMS

McWilliams split some second-team nickel cornerback reps with Parry Nickerson. The rookie could be a key player if Cooper DeJean gets banged up (knock on wood).

WR AINIAS SMITH

Smith was pretty invisible in the first two media-attended OTA practices before having some nice catches on the final day. All told, Danny Gray and Terrace Marshall stood out more than Smith.

WR DARIUS COOPER

Cooper stood out to me more than I expected from an undrafted rookie free agent wide receiver out of Tarleton State. I don’t know that he’s able to compete for a roster spot but he could be pushing for a practice squad role.

TE HARRISON BRYANT

None of the depth tight ends seemed to create real separation for the TE3 job.

TE KYLEN GRANSON

None of the depth tight ends seemed to create real separation for the TE3 job.

OT MYLES HINTON

Hinton left the Eagles’ final spring practice with some kind of injury. One would hope the rookie will be ready to participate in training camp. We’ll see.