Eagles stock up, stock down after first few training camp practices

The pads haven’t even come on yet.

So everything you’re about to read deserves this caveat: It’s early. Very early.

But we’ve now seen three Eagles training camp practices this summer. They kicked things off last Wednesday, and then practiced again on Friday and Sunday.

There’s still a long way to go this summer, but since Monday is a walkthrough day, it’s a good opportunity to take a step back and reflect a bit. Here are some “stock up” and “stock down” players through the first three days of camp:

Stock up

RB D’Andre Swift

One of the biggest storylines so far in training camp is the amount of passes Swift has caught out of the backfield. One reason for that is because Swift has 156 receptions in the first three seasons of his NFL career. The other is that the Eagles haven’t thrown to their running backs a ton under Nick Sirianni. The thought here is that Swift’s ability could change that. Sure, there aren’t pads yet, but Swift has made some impressive catches already. There was one he soared to catch on Day 2 and on Day 3, he caught a deep pass off a wheel route 30 yards downfield.

CB James Bradberry

Even before Bradberry’s interception off Marcus Mariota on Day 3, he was already off to an excellent start. Bradberry is just so steady and has had several pass breakups throughout the first week. Bradberry turns 30 in a few days but he doesn’t look like an aging player.

DT Jordan Davis

The second-year nose tackle revealed that he still weighs around 340-345 pounds but he is clearly in much better shape this summer. The entire team seems impressed with his conditioning level and there’s no question that he’s a starter in Year 2. Not only is Davis playing the nose tackle role in the five-man front but he’s also staying on the field in the four-man front. That’s a welcome development. He's already made some splash plays.

OLB Nolan Smith

Sure, it’s fair to say that this is the time of year a 240-pound edge rusher should look impressive. But there’s no denying that Smith has look quick off the ball on the edge. He's already disruptive. And because Haason Reddick missed a couple days of practice, Smith has gotten an opportunity to work in with the first team. No, he’s not beating Lane Johnson yet but those will be valuable reps and learning experiences for the young first-round pick. We also could have included Jalen Carter in the “stock up” category but we gave the early edge to Smith.

S Reed Blankenship

While the other safety spot has seen a rotation between Terrell Edmunds and K’Von Wallace, Blankenship has seen every first-team rep through three practices and looks extremely comfortable. It was during training camp last summer when the then-UDFA began to turn some heads and Blankenship picked up with that this summer. He’s just always in the right spot.

The offensive stars

Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert are the key components to the Eagles’ passing offense and all four of them have looked good early. Sometimes star players will get overlooked during training camp because we already know they’re good. “DeVonta made another crazy sideline catch? Of course he did.” But these four are going to be incredibly important for the Eagles again in 2023 and it’s worth noting that all four of them are off to hot starts.

Stock down

QB Marcus Mariota

If we really want to oversimplify things, over the last week Mariota has participated in three practices: two of those days were not good and one was. Mariota struggled on Days 1 and 3 but was pretty good on Day 2. He finished off Sunday’s practice with an interception to Bradberry on a weird play that might have just been a miscommunication. Of course, Mariota is in his ninth NFL season and he’s played a lot in his career, so we won’t get too worried about a couple shaky practices … and there have been some good moments as well. But we’ll continue to keep an eye on him throughout the summer.

LB Nicholas Morrow

While Nakobe Dean has taken every first-team rep with the Eagles’ defense, we’ve seen that other linebacker spot with a bit of rotation. While Morrow has started all three days with the first-team, we’ve seen Christian Elliss rotate in and it looks like there’s a competition brewing for this spot. Morrow hasn’t been too bad early on but he has given up a few passes. Meanwhile, Elliss picked off a pass on Day 1 in team drills.

WR Devon Allen

This is a great time for receivers to stand out. We’ve seen good things from Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus, Joseph Ngata and Deon Cain and all Allen can do is watch. He’s on the Active/NFI list with a calf injury and has missed three practices now. Allen was already a long shot but he really can’t afford to miss much more time.

CB Josiah Scott

Since Avonte Maddox (toe) missed a lot of team reps over the course of the first few days, it was extremely notable that Zech McPhearson was taking the bulk of the work as the first-team nickel as he cross-trains at the new position. Scott actually played the position for the Eagles last year and he has gotten some first-team reps this spring, but he’s clearly behind McPhearson. And he's been in coverage for a lot of receptions already. It’s a crowded cornerback room and Scott is probably on the outside looking in.

OL Tyler Steen

Sirianni is still calling it a competition for the right guard spot but through three days, it’s been all Cam Jurgens with the first team and Steen with the twos. A couple years ago when there was a left tackle competition, it was Jordan Mailata one day, Andre Dillard the next. This hasn’t been like that at all. On top of it all, Steen has been guilty of a couple pre-snap penalties already.

OL Brett Toth

With Jurgens taking all the reps at right guard, Toth has taken over as the second-team center. He’s had several bad snaps — into the ground and high ones — to Mariota, which hans’t helped the veteran QB. But it’s also worth wondering about Toth’s spot on the roster if he only gets to play one position this summer … a position that might not be his strongest.

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