Mailbag: Which Eagles players could exceed or fall short of expectations?

The Philadelphia Eagles have trimmed their roster down to 53 players and their first regular season game is less than a week away. With that in mind, let's answer some questions about the team and beyond. This is Part II of a two-part mailbag (Part I here).

Question from @barackchain: One player exceeds expectations, one player falls short?

After watching Nakobe Dean make plays all summer, I feel like he has a chance to surprise some people who have already let him down. Then again, over the last dozen or so years of covering Eagles training camps, I've seen plenty of linebackers perform well in the summer but play poorly in the fall. Dean also has to prove he can stay healthy. We'll see, but Dean had by far the best summer of his career.

As for underachieving expectations, it depends on whose expectations we're talking about. The team paid Bryce Huff $17 million a year, so it's going to be tough for him to prove he's worth all that money. However, I'm not so sure that fans' expectations for Huff are particularly high. I think there are some fans who think Mekhi Becton will come in and just start throwing people around, but I think his adjustment to a new position might not be so smooth at first.

Question from @Footba11Joe: ​​Who are the two inside linebackers in Brazil's starting lineup and which two linebackers do you think will have the most games in the starting lineup by the end of the season?

Devin White, Zack Baun and Dean will all play a fair amount of snaps, and I'm curious to see what packages Vic Fangio and Bobby King have in mind for each of them. Which linebackers are on the field may depend on what personnel the Packers enter the game with next Friday night, and isn't necessarily indicative of who the two real top players are.

I have to say, though, that I think Dean had a better training camp than White.

Question from @twitrunner8: Which young defensive player not named Jalen Carter do you think has the chance to have the biggest impact?

I love Quinyon Mitchell's temperament on the court and think he has a chance to make good plays right from the start. I can see him making his share of plays, at least in the beginning.

He could start as an outside corner and then move inside to the nickel slot. A huge role. They're asking a lot of him as a rookie because they think he can handle it.

As a side note, I thought the Eagles did a terrible job of getting some of their rookie defensive players in the game early last season. Guys like Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo were benched in favor of guys like Derek Barnett, Terrell Edmunds, Justin Evans and Josh Jobe. Let the young guys get a taste of things first.

I look at the Chiefs' 2022 season when they had three rookies in their secondary in CB Trent McDuffie, CB Jaylen Watson and S Bryan Cook who all played a lot of snaps. When the playoffs came around, they were ready.

Question from @ChrisLuvGoBirds: Who will have a better NFL career – Nolan Smith or Jalyx Hunt?

Phew, it's interesting that this is actually a legitimate question.

Smith was considered a first-round steal a year ago and had a quiet rookie season. Before 2024 training camp, the assumption was that he would have to take a significant step forward in his second year. I didn't expect that.

Hunt came into training camp as a third-round developmental project from Houston Christian and likely won't see much time on the field as a rookie behind four other fullbacks.

I thought Hunt was better in training camp. He was fast and physical and played with confidence. It's really hard to guess who will have the better NFL career before Hunt has even played in a real NFL game, but I think his career is off to a better start than Smith's so far.

Question from @hubie1182: How concerned are you that Jordan Davis is not elite and may be more of a Linval Joseph than a game changer?

When he was drafted, Davis' minimum requirement was thought to be just a good run stuffer. However, he was also very good as a run defender in the first half of the 2023 season, but his performance dropped off in the home stretch and his physical fitness was questioned.

In addition to his endurance issues, Davis has not yet developed into the pass rushing force he could with the extremely rare combination of size and athleticism that he is blessed with. I just didn't see much of his pass rushing repertoire in his first two seasons in Philly and this summer.

It usually takes a little longer for a central defender to develop into a great player than a player in other positions, but it will soon be time for him to make his breakthrough and reach his enormous potential.

Question from @ChipReiderson: Tio Jimmy, awesome as always. Am I stupid for worrying about the Eagles relying on a defensive system that most of the league's playmakers and quarterbacks seem to have already figured out?

By my count, five “branches” of the Fangio tree — plus Fangio himself — ran NFL defenses last season. Here's how these guys fared in defensive DVOA in 2023:

• Joe Woods, Saints: 15.
• Vic Fangio, Dolphins: 19.
• Brandon Staley, Chargers: 26.
• Joe Barry, Packers: 27.
• Sean Desai, Eagles: 29.
• Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals: 32.

Maybe these Fangio disciples just aren't very good. Maybe Fangio's defense is so strong that teams spend a lot more time preparing for it than if Fangio ran it alone. Maybe the quarterbacks have gotten better at dealing with it because of all the counterattacks. Maybe it's a combination of all those things and it's just “solved,” as you put it.

It is also true that in 2024, fewer teams will play with Fangio's defense because half of the above players have been fired.

It will be interesting to see if Fangio can adapt/reinvent his scheme. But to answer your question, no, you are not crazy to be so worried.

Question from @DaveFash2: Historically, RPO play has suffered when Hurts is out. Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee are obvious downgrades to Hurts, but which of them gives the Eagles the best chance to run the offense without having to throw out a huge portion of the playbook?

Pickett is more mobile than McKee, so he can be more dangerous with his legs, although of course he's not exactly Lamar Jackson. But I actually think the offensive playbook would be more limited with Pickett at quarterback because the Eagles would lose the vertical element of their passing attack. McKee is a better passer in the middle to deeper areas of the field than Pickett.

Question from @ftandru: Who is more likely to catch a pass this year? Ben VanSumeren or Albert Okwuegbunam?

Oh, I like that.

In case you missed it, VanSumeren hinted after the Eagles' final preseason game against the Vikings that he could potentially play some sort of role on offense.

Albert O., on the other hand, remained on the 53-man roster for the entire year in 2023 and did not have a single catch. This year, he will begin the season on the injured list.

Reluctantly, I take Albert O.

Question from @DrewSportsNews: If you could pick 5 NFL teams – and if one of those teams wins the Super Bowl you get $100,000 – which 5 teams would you choose?

Chiefs, 49ers, Ravens, Lions and Bills, in that order. I would put the Bengals at number 6 and the Eagles at number 7.

Question from @BadgerVMD: A recent “criticism” of Howie that is circulating nationally and in the hipster community of NFL content creators is that his praise is due to recruiting talent with good names (Georgia players, etc.). Is there any validity to questioning this strategy or is it overblown?

I'm curious who specifically is saying that. Since becoming GM again in 2016, some of his first picks have come from North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Washington State (WSU's only first-round pick in the last 10 drafts), and Toledo. Two of his first three picks this year came from Toledo and Houston Christian. Heck, Quinyon Mitchell was the only first-round pick this year who didn't come from a power conference (or Notre Dame). Howie isn't above criticism, but it's not worth deciding whether this particular “criticism” is valid when I think the premise is so silly.