Jahan Dotson leads 5 Eagles players ready to make “the leap” in 2025

For a team to win the Super Bowl, contributions must come from ascending players who see a jump in performance and production from one year to the next.

Last year, a number of Eagles players made “the leap.” Zack Baun. Nolan Smith. Milton Williams. Nakobe Dean (before he got hurt). Mekhi Becton. Without significant improvement from all five of those players, the Birds likely don’t blitz through the NFC playoffs and win Super Bowl 59.

Thanks to the departure of multiple key free agents, the Eagles are depending on younger players to make “the leap” as they defend their title this year. The rookies drafted in April will do some of that lifting, but there are a number of players taken from the last few drafts that head coach Nick Sirianni and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio need to reach another level of production in 2025.

Below are the five players I think are most likely to that.

Jahan Dotson

Acquired in a trade just before the start of the 2024 season, it took Dotson a little bit of time to learn the playbook and garner the trust of Jalen Hurts. Hurts has his favorites, and it’s understandable he would focus in on A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert when throwing the football, or to simply dump it off to Saquon Barkley when the heat is on.

Dotson caught only 12 passes for 122 yards prior to hauling in seven for 94 in the season finale against the Giants as the No. 1 receiver and with Tanner McKee under center. He was relatively quiet throughout the postseason, too, although his lone catch through their first three postseason games was the team’s first touchdown of the playoffs.

He was not targeted against the Rams or Commanders, but in Super Bowl 59, Dotson suddenly had Hurts’ attention. He hauled in the first big pass of the game, a near-touchdown on the team’s second possession that ended in a Tush Push score and gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

Hurts then found him for a nice check-down reception that resulted in a first down in the second quarter. He was targeted three times in the Super Bowl, which isn’t a tremendous amount, to be sure, but it signals more opportunities are coming for Dotson this season.

A former first-round pick, he has the ability to be the team’s best No. 3 receiver of the Sirianni/Hurts era. He’s never going to pile up yardarge or receptions, but could be that security blanket/slot receiver the team has needed that Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus and Julio Jones never became.

Call it a hunch, but I think Dotson has earned Hurts’ trust entering 2025 and doubles last year’s receptions (19) and yardage (216) totals, with a few more touchdowns this year, too.

Kelee Ringo

With the departure of Darius Slay, the competition for the team’s No. 2 corner appears to favor Ringo, now in his third season with the Eagles. Ringo started four games for the ‘23 Eagles as a rookie and was up-and-down, as you’d expect, with one interception, a fumble recovery and a sack, allowing a passer rating of just 86.2. Last year, he played just 11% of the defensive snaps, compared to 17% the season before.

At 6’2” and 207 pounds, Ringo is a taller, more physical corner and who is still very young (he only turned 23 in late June). Howie Roseman signed Adoree’ Jackson this offseason as insurance should Ringo struggle in training camp, but the smart money is on Ringo to earn the starting job entering Week 1.

Tyler Steen

Last summer, the Eagles signed Becton, a former first-round pick-turned-bust from the New York Jets, to provide competition at right guard for Steen, who was drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Most assumed Steen would win the job over the summer, but Becton proved to be a revelation as he made the move from tackle to guard.

With Becton gone in free agency, the Eagles are once again looking to Steen to step forward and grab hold of the starting right guard job this summer. But like last year, the Eagles added a veteran to the mix as a hedge, acquiring Kenyon Green in the Chauncey Gardner-Johnson trade with the Texans. Like Becton, Green is a former first round pick who disappointed during his time in Houston and is on the final year of his rookie contract.

It’s entirely possible history will repeat itself, but Steen has held his own when forced into the starting lineup, and given he’s a former third round pick now taking classes at Stoutland U, I think he will do what he could not do a season ago and assume Becton’s spot along the offensive line.

Moro Ojomo

Entering his third season in Philadelphia, the former seventh round pick emerged as a valuable member of the Eagles’ defensive line rotation down the stretch. He played in all 17 games and earned 37% of the defensive snaps at defensive tackle, playing behind Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams.

But now, Williams is gone and Ojomo stands to benefit. Last season, he generated 31 pressures on 268 pass-rush attempts, according to PFF, with 23 tackles, seven pressures and five QB hits, and notched his first career sack in the playoffs against the Rams.

Look for Ojomo to develop even further in Year No. 3 as both a tackle and edge, taking on a hybrid role in much the same way Williams did during his time in Philly.

Jalyx Hunt

Has Hunt broken out already? With just 1.5 sacks in the regular season last year, it’s hard to argue that the rookie made any kind of “leap” in 2024. However, he emerged as a force in the playoffs, with an additional 1.5 sacks.

Selected in the third round of last year’s Draft, big things are expected of the 24-year-old edge rusher. With Josh Sweat gone, Hunt likely moves into a starting role along with Nolan Smith, and will get a lion’s share of the snaps early on. Fangio is going to need real production from him, about 6-7 sacks this season, with veterans Josh Uche and Azeez Ojulari providing depth.