Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp: Week 1 Stock Report
The Philadelphia Eagles opened training camp Sunday, and things are happening!
Okay, so that's somewhat of an overstatement. As of this writing, the Eagles are exactly three practices into camp, which—between the fact there's no live pass rush, no tackling, little hitting or even contact to speak of—turns out is not a whole lot of action. And yet jobs are changing hands every day.
Again with the overstatements.
It's certainly too soon to say any player's stock is falling, so for this particular edition, we'll focus entirely on whose stars are rising. And as always at this time of year, this will focus for the most part on players who shine in the passing game, as offensive and defensive linemen are still participating very little in what resembles actual football.
Despite the early nature of workouts, though, it's not quite as if nothing has happened. The following players are certainly making names for themselves at this early juncture.
Stock Up: Nolan Carroll
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Technically, Nolan Carroll is supposed to be in a heated competition against rookie Eric Rowe for the No. 2 cornerback job. However, listening to the coaching staff speak, you would think Carroll already has the job won.
Carroll has been running with the first-team defense since the spring and has been the recipient of high praise from head coach Chip Kelly the entire offseason. But when Kelly revealed the Eagles turned down trade offers for the sixth-year veteran, it put everybody on notice that the organization truly believes in his progress:
"I think Nolan really grew in his year in this program. If you ask any guy, any of these players, you talk about our competitions in the weight room and all those other things, the guy who won them all was Nolan. He set the tone for the defensive back group. His game really stepped up and we are excited to see where he can take that next step into becoming a full-time starter out there.
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Carroll has appeared in 74 games in the NFL, including 27 starts, so you would think by now he's a known commodity. For whatever it's worth, the Eagles truly believe they are beginning to see the potential for more.
Stock Up: Sam Bradford
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Let's not waste any more time delving into the guy people really want to hear about. We're talking about Sam Bradford, of course, and thus far, the news is almost entirely positive.
Bradford is far more impressive than his numbers with the St. Louis Rams would lead you to believe. In particular, the former No. 1 overall draft pick has an impressive arm. He can flick the ball downfield with ease, not to mention amazing touch and accuracy, while the fifth-year veteran also shows tremendous anticipation on the short and intermediate routes, putting some zip on the pass if necessary.
Perhaps most important of all, Bradford looks healthy. He's running around with ease and has shown no visible signs of the back-to-back ACL injuries that caused him to miss all but seven games over the past two seasons.
Bradford has made some questionable reads or left throws on the field, but he's still learning Philadelphia's system and no doubt shaking off the rust. Besides, the good has far outweighed the bad, which is a huge positive this early into camp.
Stock Up: JaCorey Shepherd
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The big winner in the Eagles' trade of Brandon Boykin? So far, it sounds like sixth-round draft pick JaCorey Shepherd. The Kansas product got the first crack at replacing Boykin as the club's nickel cornerback, and listening to Kelly talk about the rookie, it seems the club has a lot of faith in Shepherd to win the job:
"When you turn the tape on, he's a legitimate football player. What we saw on tape is what we saw during OTAs and minicamp and the offseason program. He's explosive. He's got great ball skills, really quick in and out of cuts. He seems like he's got a real knack to being around the ball all the time, showed up a lot when you turn the tape on. We were surprised that he was still around in the sixth.
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To Kelly's credit, there was a strong sense Shepherd was one of the steals of the draft, the feeling being he only fell that far due to hamstring injury. That being said, replacing Boykin—hands down one of the best slot specialists in the NFL—is a tall order for a rookie.
So far, the team is impressed with the young man, with safety Malcolm Jenkins adding Shepherd has stood out the most among rookies, but we won't know for sure until the games begin.
Stock Up: Zach Ertz
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We've already talked about Zach Ertz quite a bit this offseason, and it doesn't appear he's going away anytime soon. The third-year tight end has been a dominant presence in the Eagles' passing game thus far into training camp, not that it should come as much of a surprise at this point.
Ertz is 6'5", 250 pounds and runs a 4.76 40, per NFL.com, which is deceptive for his route-running ability. There's no question about the 2013 second-round pick's receiving ability, as he finished 11th and 12th among all tight ends in receptions and yards respectively a season ago.
Ertz is demonstrating once again at camp that he has the potential to be the next intimidating, Pro Bowl tight end. What will get him there is if he improves as a blocker. So far, that's almost impossible to gauge, but at a certain point, if he becomes so much more of a threat than starter Brent Celek in the passing attack, it may become too much to ignore.
Stock Up: Raheem Mostert
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Between DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles, do the Eagles need anymore running backs? Probably not, but it turns out they may have one in undrafted rookie Raheem Mostert out of Purdue, who Kelly gushed the organization is "really, really impressed with."
"Mostert did a really good job, and we are excited about him," Kelly said. "He's a real speed guy and could factor in the kick return game. He was the 100-meter champion in the Big Ten. I think he's an interesting guy to keep an eye on here in this preseason camp."
You know what's better than a practice report from a guy with a strained view almost 100 yards away from the action? The head coach playing the role of hype man, that's what.
So I've kept an eye on Mostert, and his speed is impressive. He's beaten coverage deep and raced past defenders in the open field. When Mostert accelerates, you can tell the difference.
Obviously, cracking the roster at running back won't be easy. Then again, in three short days, this kid became my new favorite dark horse to make the 53-man roster. Don't sleep on Mostert.
All quotes and camp observations are the author's.
