{"id":184303,"date":"2024-08-08T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=184303"},"modified":"2024-08-07T19:40:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:40:09","slug":"3-things-to-watch-in-the-eagles-preseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/08\/08\/3-things-to-watch-in-the-eagles-preseason\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things to Watch in the Eagles Preseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first Eagles preseason game will see them travel to take on the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>. It\u2019s the first taste of football Eagles fans will get after months of wallowing in the dread of last season\u2019s collapse. While the stars likely won\u2019t see much time on the field, there should still be a few crucial things to watch. The Eagles have several training camp battles ongoing, and performances in the preseason will factor in. The turnover of the roster and coaching staff won\u2019t be on full display against the Ravens. However, it\u2019s the first chance for fans to see the potential plans to get the team back on track. Here are three things Eagles fans should pay attention to on Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Battle at Right Guard<\/h3>\n

With Jason Kelce retiring and Cam Jurgens moving to enter, Tyler Steen was expected to take over at right guard this season. However, it hasn\u2019t gone according to plan for Steen or the Eagles. He was sat down for ten days<\/a> in training camp because of an ankle injury. He came back to practice this week, and he\u2019s been working with the second unit. Former New York Jets<\/a> Tackle Mekhi Becton has been getting reps with the first team. Some believe that this is a sign that Becton has already outright won<\/a> the starting right guard job.<\/p>\n

Becton is a massive human who struggled to stay healthy over his tenure with the Jets. Becton\u2019s potential is still very good as a powerful offensive lineman who could have a career renaissance at right guard. However, with his injury history, it\u2019s likely the Eagles will still have to rely on Steen as well. Losing Jason Kelce will surely have an impact on the Eagles offensive line. However, if they can find gold in Becton, it can go a long way in maintaining one of the best offensive lines in the league.<\/p>\n

Johnny Wilson<\/h3>\n

There have been a couple of pleasant surprises from Eagles training camp the past couple of weeks, with Johnny Wilson being one of them. A sixth-round pick<\/a> in the 2024 draft, Johnny Wilson is a massive receiver. He stands at 6\u20196\u201d and 238 pounds, and many believe his performances have landed him in the conversation as the Eagles’ third wide receiver<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There weren\u2019t many expectations for Wilson going into training camp, but the hype he\u2019s garnered has been concrete. At the very least, he will be a fun watch for fans during the Eagles preseason because of his stature and potential. The Eagles’ third receiver spot is a spot that is important for Kellen Moore\u2019s new offense. If Wilson makes plays in August, he could certainly find himself on the field a lot in September.<\/p>\n

Reserve Edge Rushers<\/h3>\n

With the first unofficial Eagles depth chart<\/a> out, Bryce Huff and Josh Sweat are the listed starters on each edge. While that may not change before the start of the season, many Eagles fans are interested in the depth at edge rusher. Nolan Smith was an exciting prospect<\/a> last year that fans are still eager to see. Eagles rookie<\/a> Jalyx Hunt and veteran Patrick Johnson have been the other surprising Eagles standouts from training camp so far. \u00a0These three will be crucial in providing the depth on the defensive line the Eagles covet. Nolan Smith will want to meet the first-round hype placed on him. If he can break out in his second year, his versatility would be a great addition to this Eagles defense.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts Going into Eagles Preseason<\/h3>\n

Fans can\u2019t wait to put the horrific end of 2023 behind them with a new year of Eagles preseason. While the scars of last season still have fans a little apprehensive, this Eagles team is as talented as any in the league. The linebackers and secondary will also be something to watch, as they were big problems last season. \u00a0With many changes to the roster, there will still be some wrinkles to iron out. Yet, after the way 2023 ended, those changes should bring excitement to a team that looked stale before.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Bill Streicher – USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eagles Preseason: The Eagles and their fans are expecting a big turnaround in 2024, and it all starts in the preseason against the Ravens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4564,"featured_media":184309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,54],"tags":[6759,32517,32309,6169,9720,46,9848],"class_list":["post-184303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eagles","category-editorials","tag-bryce-huff","tag-jalyx-hunt","tag-johnny-wilson","tag-mekhi-becton","tag-nolan-smith","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-tyler-steen"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}