By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
The Eagles wrapped up voluntary workouts last week and will begin the next phase of their offseason this week when mandatory minicamp kicks off on Tuesday.
Despite still being spring, these voluntary OTAs were the first chance the team and the media got to see the Eagles in an organized setting in 2017 and, as we learned with Jalen Mills last year, observations from these voluntary workouts can do a good job of showing which rookies have a chance of standing out and which veterans have an opportunity to take a step forward in the coming fall.
Risers
- Nelson Agholor: Maybe this will finally be the year Agholor develops into a useful wide receiver. According to reports, the third-year wide out hasn't been as flashy as he was in his first two seasons in the NFL, but he has been a reliable target for Carson Wentz and could be a decent third or fourth receiving option.
"Agholor continues to look competent. Had that deep over-the-shoulder reception I already talked about. Seemed like he beat Rodney McLeod in zone coverage on the play. Didn’t see any mistakes from him other than a drop on a really tough play. The throw was tightly contested and he almost came up with it in the back of the middle of the end zone. It would have been really impressive if he did but he couldn’t hold on as he fell to the ground."
- Rasul Douglas: For the second straight year, it seems like the Eagles have a rookie cornerback impressing at the spring practices. Last year it was Mills who was turning heads, and now Douglas has been cited for his work covering Alshon Jeffery:
"Good news: Third-round corner Rasul Douglas is impressing early, which could help quell temptation to push [Sidney] Jones."
If Douglas can remain with the first-team defense and win a starting job out of the gate, that would be huge for an Eagles team that has been desperate for cornerback depth for the better part of a decade. Then adding in Jones to the pair of Douglas and Mills in 2018 certainly becomes tantalizing.
- Derek Barnett: I wasn't expecting much out of Barnett this year, but he's faced off against Lane Johnson during these workouts and fared pretty well, according to onlookers:
"I really like what I’ve seen from Derek Barnett. He doesn’t look like your average 20-year-old rookie. Barnett beat Lane Johnson cleanly quite a few times. The No. 14 overall pick notched a couple would-be sacks on Wentz’s blindside. It’s not just Barnett’s pass-rushing that’s stood out. He showed great awareness to sniff out a screen during one first team rep today. If he continues to look this good, it’s going to be hard for the Eagles to keep Barnett off the field."
Defense in the NFL is all about creating pressure on the quarterback and if the Eagles have found a rookie who can do that consistently, it sets them up well for the long-haul. Barnett lining up next to Fletcher Cox and opposite Brandon Graham would be a scary assignment for any offensive line in the league.
Fallers
- Marcus Smith: There are very few things that actually excuse Smith from attending these sets of workouts, outside of an extreme family emergency and no longer being on the roster. Smith has not done anything in his three years as an Eagle to ensure himself a roster spot and should not feel comfortable on the right side of the roster bubble.
Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Smith no longer carries a cap hit that makes it more expensive to let him go than to keep him on the roster. That fact, combined with the additional depth the Eagles brought in at his position this offseason makes this move even more puzzling.
- Shelton Gibson: Hailed as the next Desean Jackson on draft day, it hasn't taken long for people to realize just how raw Gibson is, but his name continues to pop up among those underperforming:
"During drills, with no defenders on the field, Gibson dropped three passes. He also triple caught a fourth pass that would have been easily knocked away in any sort of competitive situation. In team drills, in four media-attended practices, I cannot recall Gibson making a single catch."
As a fifth-round pick, the Eagles certainly aren't counting on Gibson to be an immediate contributor and right now it looks like he's an early candidate to spend the year on the practice squad.
As the Eagles finally get their whole squad in the door tomorrow and the intensity starts to ramp up a bit, it should be easier to see which guys are struggling to adjust to the pace of the game in the NFL.
