25 intriguing Eagles to watch at 2025 OTAs

The Eagles kicked off their OTAs on Tuesday but Wednesday is the first time reporters will get a glimpse of full-team practices this spring.

While these spring practices don’t include contact and are not nearly as important as training camp practices, which will come in late July, at least it’s football. And that’s pretty exciting. The Eagles have six OTA practices this year and one day of mandatory minicamp.

It’s important to remember that every spring practices is not open to reporters so we won’t be able to get a complete picture of what is going on before training camp. But there will still be takeaways from watching these practices.

Obviously, it’s always fun to watch Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts and Jalen Carter. But we already know those players are great.

Here are 25 Eagles, who aren’t yet stars, I’m excited to see this spring for various reasons:

S Sydney Brown: The third-year safety will have to fight off rookie Andrew Mukuba for a starting job but he’s in the mix. Brown (5-10, 211) was a third-round pick in 2023 and has mostly played special teams. But he is a big hitter and plays a hair-on-fire brand of football.

LBs Jihaad Campbell/Nakobe Dean: Lumping Campbell and Dean together because they’re both coming back from injury and not sure if either will be able to participate this spring. Campbell, the rookie first-rounder, had shoulder surgery in March and didn’t participate in rookie camp. Dean is coming back from a torn patellar tendon suffered in the wild card game against the Packers.

S Lewis Cine: The Eagles added Cine to the roster late in 2024 with the expectation that he would be able to compete for a roster spot in 2025. Cine was the 32nd overall pick out of Georgia back in 2022 but has been limited to just 11 games in three seasons because of injury. It’s unrealistic to think that Cine will suddenly live up to his draft potential in Philly but it’s fun to think about.

DT Jordan Davis: The Eagles picked up Davis’s fifth-year option for the 2026 season so he’s around at least two more years. Conditioning is always going to be a big deal with the former first-round nose tackle so it’s always going to be something to watch in the spring to make sure Davis is in the shape the Eagles want him in.

RB A.J. Dillon: The former Green Bay Packers running back signed with the Eagles in free agency after missing the entire 2024 season with a neck injury. Dilllon (6-0, 247) had some productive years with the Packers before missing last season but will need to earn his roster spot in Philly.

OG Kenyon Green: Part of the return in the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade, Green was drafted out of Texas A&M with the No. 15 overall pick in 2022. While Green played 27 games with 23 starts with the Texans, he struggled and hasn’t lived up to his potential. Another intriguing project for legendary offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.

OT Myles Hinton: We didn’t include all of the Eagles’ draft picks, especially because the Eagles drafted three offensive linemen on Day 3. But Hinton is intriguing to me as a potential swing tackle early in his career and could be competing with veteran Kendall Lamm for that role.

OLB Bryce Huff: The Eagles have Huff under contract for two more seasons after a really disappointing year in 2024. Huff signed a three-year, $51 million deal and ended up being a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. Will the Eagles get something out of Huff in 2025 or will they eventually trade him before the start of his second season in Philly?

OLB Jalyx Hunt: The third-round pick from Houston Christian began his rookie season on the inactive list in Week 1 but ended up being a legitimate pass rusher during the playoffs. After having just 1 1/2 sacks in his rookie season, Hunt had 1 1/2 sacks in the playoffs. He seems poised to take another big step forward in his career in Year 2.

CB Adoree’ Jackson: The 29-year-old played the last four years with the New York Giants after spending the first four years of his career in Tennessee. It’s very possible Jackson’s best ball is well behind him but he still has speed and joins a team that moved on from Darius Slay and lost Isaiah Rodgers. Jackson figures to push Kelee Ringo for a starting job.

OT Kendall Lamm: The 32-year-old signed with the Eagles in free agency after his 2024 season ended early with a back injury that required surgery. Lamm has been in the NFL for a decade and has played in 119 games with 44 starts. He could be the backup swing tackle (an important position) in 2025.

WR Terrace Marshall: The soon-to-be 25-year-old receiver was once a second-round pick back in 2021 but has had a disappointing NFL career. Marshall’s best season came in 2022, when he had 28/490/1. Last season with the Raiders, Marshall had just 3 catches for 41 yards. He’s a long shot to make the Eagles’ roster but should be fun to watch this spring and summer.

QB Kyle McCord: The Eagles drafted McCord in the sixth-round and he is the front-runner to be the No. 3 QB in 2025 behind Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee. McCord (6-3, 218) looked the part in rookie camp but will have to hold off Dorian Thompson-Robinson for his roster spot.

S Andrew Mukuba: The second-round pick out of Texas will be competing with Sydney Brown for the starting safety job next to Reed Blankenship. Mukuba (5-11, 186) might be undersized but has play-making ability and shares some similarities with Gardner-Johnson, whom he might replace.

DT Moro Ojomo: Now entering his third NFL season, Ojomo could be poised for a big jump in 2025, especially after the free agent departure of Milton Williams. Ojomo improved in Year 2 and the former seventh-round pick could make another jump in Year 3 of his career.

OLB Azeez Ojulari: The former New York Giants edge rusher has struggled to stay healthy in his NFL career. Various injuries have limited Ojulari to 46 games out of 68 games in his first four NFL seasons. But Ojulari has been productive with 22 sacks and if he can somehow stay healthy in 2025, could provide a big boost to the Eagles’ edge rusher rotation that lost Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham this offseason.

CB Kelee Ringo: Ringo won’t turn 23 until late June and already has two NFL seasons under his belt. He’s the top candidate to replace Darius Slay as the Eagles’ starting cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell in 2025. Ringo (6-2, 207) should get the first crack at this job this spring.

DT Ty Robinson: The Eagles traded out of the third round in April but took Robinson with No. 111 pick early in the fourth. Robinson (6-6, 310) had a really productive 2024 season at Nebraska and has a chance to earn a spot in the Eagles’ DT rotation as a rookie.

RB Will Shipley: We didn’t get to see much of Shipley in his rookie season because he was behind Saquon Barkley and Kenny Gainwell on the depth chart. But Gainwell left in free agency and Shipley could beat out A.J. Dillon for the RB2 position this season. Even though he didn’t play much in 2024, Shipley did show some flashes as a rookie. He looked good in the blowout win in the NFC Championship Game against the Commanders.

WR Ainias Smith: This time last year, Smith was a fifth-round rookie who was unable to practice coming back from a stress fracture in his leg. Smith got behind and didn’t have a great rookie season after a really shaky start to training camp. He’s firmly on the bubble going into Year 2 but maybe a full offseason will help him.

OG Tyler Steen: For the second straight year, Steen is the top candidate to be the Eagles’ starting right guard. Last season, he ended up losing that gig to Mekhi Becton in training camp. Maybe Steen can hold onto that job in 2025.

LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.: If Campbell and/or Dean aren’t able to be on the field this spring, Trotter is the likely candidate to line up as a starter next to Zack Baun in the middle of the Eagles’ defense. While Trotter played just 104 defensive snaps as a fifth-round rookie last year he acquitted himself well on special teams and showed promise.

OLB Josh Uche: While Ojulari is the bigger-name pickup at the edge rusher position, Uche was another low-risk, high-reward signing at the position. Uche is still just 26 and was a second-round pick in 2020. He hasn’t been very productive in his career save an 11 1/2-sack season back in 2022 with the Patriots. He has 20 1/2 career sacks.

FB Ben VanSumeren: Not only is VanSumeren coming back from a knee injury that ended his 2024 season early but he’s also at a new position full-time. VanSumeren, who was signed as an undrafted linebacker a few years ago, is now a full-time fullback for the Eagles and even switched his jersey number to 43. While BVS is a big-time special teams contributor, it’ll be fun to watch him on offense this spring and summer.

RS/RB Avery Williams: The Eagles officially list Williams, 26, as a return specialist but he has played on both sides of the ball during his NFL career. With the Eagles, Williams will play on offense in addition to his return duties. Nick Sirianni at the NFL owners meetings in March seemed especially excited about Williams and that’s enough for us to keep our eyes on him.