Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp Preview: Position Battles On Defense And Special Teams

While we’ve already taken a look at the offensive position battles that will be most interesting in camp this season, there’s also plenty to watch on the defensive side of the ball. There’s even a battle to be watching for the special teamers in camp this season.

What players should fans be watching in camp? Let’s take a look:

Punter:

Fans have expressed quite a bit of frustration over the punter position for several years now, basically since the team let Cameron Johnston walk in free agency in an apparent cap saving move following the 2020-21 season.

Arryn Siposs has been essentially a league average punter, but perhaps what’s been most frustrating to fans is that he’s had no competition at the position. The only other punter who was with the Eagles at any point during the last offseason or season was Brett Kern, who was brought in as an injury replacement. Siposs did not have any competition in camp.

That will be different this offseason. Ty Zentner, one of the Eagles priority undrafted free agents signed in the minutes immediately following the draft, averaged just under 45.5 yards per punt while with Kansas State last season. Now, he’ll have a chance to take control of the Eagles punting job. Siposs averaged 45.6 yards per punt last season and under 44 yards per punt the year before that. That’d seemingly start out both of these guys with the same range to start the competition.

Who will the competition push to take the largest step? Fans will surely be watching.

Defensive Tackle:

The Eagles have some great depth at defensive tackle. There’s already spots on the roster for Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis and first-round pick Jalen Carter. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone not considering Milton Williams a lock for a roster spot, either, which leaves the Eagles with four spots at the postion already accounted for.

Cleaver usage of Cox and Williams on the outside could allow the Eagles more flexibility with their depth on the line and there are some intriguing names competing for spots at defensive tackle. Among them, are Marlon Tuipulotu, Moro Ojomo and Kentavius Street. There may only be one spot available for any of the three and all of them have the talent to win an NFL roster spot.

The returning option is Marlon Tuipulotu. Selected by the Eagles in the 2021 draft, Tuipulotu has really had an uphill battle for playing time his whole career. He was selected in the same draft as Mitlon Williams and Cox and Javon Hargrave had been in front of him every season. With Hargrave now gone, Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis both fell to the Eagles in the first at the position. Despite so many bodies in front of him, he carved out some playing time in each of the two seasons. He actually showed a lot of promise during the 2022 campaign after Jordan Davis was injured but wound up sidelined by his own injury. If he can build on where he was and returns from injury well, he might have the inside track.

The two newcomers challenging him include Moro Ojomo, the Eagles seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, and Kentavius Street, one of the free agents the team brought in during free agency. Ojomo was thought by many to be a potential pick on day two of the draft and just fell into the Eagles lap. If he shows that potential in camp that had some scouts so high on him, he could carve out playing time of his own. Street has been a rotational player in the league for several seasons now. He’s been able to put up some solid numbers with playing time but it remains to be seen if he can carve out playing time in such a deep positional group.

Cornerback:

The top of the cornerback positional group is locked in with Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox as the clear starters. Kelee Ringo, selected by the Eagles after they traded up in this year’s draft to get him, seems likely to have a spot secured, though the team could opt to have him play both corner and safety to keep more potential corners on their 53-man roster.

There are plenty of corners on the roster after that, but it’s likely that four of them will be competing for just two, maybe three, spots.

The Birds went out in the early stages of free agency and found themselves a potential steal by signing Greedy Williams to a small contract. Williams struggled in his most recent season and has dealt with injury issues at the same time, but he was a first round pick for a reason and did have some promising play with the Browns before the injuries. He may not be able to get back to that form but the Eagles are not in a position where they need to keep him around if he isn’t pulling his weight, meaning that he will need to preform well in camp for a spot on the roster, his name won’t help him here.

The Eagles also have two returning corners that will need to earn their spots. Josiah Scott, acquired via trade prior to the 2021 season, served as the team’s top backup in the slot last season and was overmatched much of that time – so much so that they moved safeties down to fill the slot and went to three-safety sets to work around needing to have him on the field. He will need to improve this year, particularly with the team now training former fourth-round pick Zech McPhearson to play in the slot. McPhearson had been the team’s primary backup for the outside receivers last season but was not often needed. He’s looked excellent in his drills so far this offseason.

The next most likely player to push for a roster spot is Eli Ricks. A priority undrafted free agent in this year’s draft, Ricks was thought to be a first-round pick prior to the 2022-23 college season. He’s got raw talent and just hasn’t developed it. If he can start to make that progression, he could push for a spot.

The team carried Josh Jobe last season, but he was not impressive in preseason and was basically the last secondary player the Birds looked to off the bench, so a newcomer to the roster (including Ringo) is likely to push him to the outside looking in.

Safety:

At this point, almost the entire safety positional group is something to watch for fans. Beside perhaps last year’s UDFA standout Reed Blankenship, there may not be a second player guaranteed a roster spot.

The one who likely has the best inside track is Sydney Brown, a third-round pick of the Eagles just a few months ago. For Brown, the biggest thing to watch will be how well he transitions to the NFL. He was a top player in the B1G, so how well and quickly he can adjust to the higher level of play in the NFL. If it goes well and as the Eagles hope, Brown could come out of training camp with a starting spot of his own.

Terrell Edmunds, signed in free agency and a five-year NFL starter for the Steelers, would be the player competing for the other starting role and is likely the presumptive starter at this point. He hasn’t been a big play sort of player, but he’s been a solid defender in Pittsburgh since they drafted him. How he adjusts to a new defense will be key to the Eagles defense as a whole as he will likely server as a starter or the first safety off the bench unless further moves are made.

For depth, the Eagles could look to play the aforementioned Kelee Ringo at safety, but it’s unclear if that will be the case. Without him, the Eagles current other options at safety, looking to try and secure that fourth safety spot are free-agent signee Justin Evans, incumbent K’Von Wallace, and second-year man Tristain McCollumn who splits time between corner and safety.

Many fans are probably aware of Wallace and the high expectations put upon him since the team drafted him in the 2020 draft. He immediately garnered comparisons to Brian Dawkins due to the position and school matching, but he has yet to show much of anything to suggest he’d just be handed a bigger role – there’s a reason he’s only used when there are injuries. With the defensive coordinator and defense changing again, Wallace will have to earn his spot. He will be competing mostly with Justin Evans, who was a promising young safety for the Bucanneers in 2017-18 and saw his career derailed by injuries after that. If he can stay healthy and get back to the level he was at back then, he should find himself with a roster spot, but that’s a pretty big if.

RELATED READING: Eagles Training Camp Preview: Offensive Position Battles

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