Progress reports for the Eagles’ rookie class in the bye week – NBC Sports Philadelphia

It’s far too early to judge the Eagles’ 2024 draft class.

It can take years for a draft class to be fully evaluated, and the 2024 season is only four games into the season. But with the Eagles having a bye in Week 5, it’s a good time to take a look at how their rookie class has performed so far.

Here is an initial progress report on the Draft Class of 2024:

Round 1-22: Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo

Ultimately, draft classes are typically evaluated based on the success of the first-round pick. So far so good with Mitchell. The Eagles’ first-round corner has had an incredibly encouraging start to his NFL career and appears to be a long-term solution at the cornerback position.

The Eagles progressed Mitchell slowly during training camp. First he was with the second team, then he got some reps, then he played outside and inside. But by the time the Eagles reached Week 1, Vic Fangio had seen enough. Mitchell has been a full-time starter at wing for the first four games of his NFL career, and the Eagles could count on him to play that position for at least the next few seasons.

Through four games, Mitchell has played more defensive snaps than anyone else on the team. He played 257 of a possible 261 games. The 23-year-old Mitchell doesn’t have his first interception yet, but he’s come close a few times. In four games he had 18 tackles and six pass breakups. Only three players in the NFL have more pass breakups – Paulson Adebo, Brian Branch and Denzel Ward each have 7. Over the last two years, only two rookies have had 6+ PBUs in four games: Devon Witherspoon (7) in 2023 and Devin Lloyd (6) in 2022.

According to Next Gen Stats, Mitchell has allowed 13 catches on 25 targets for 187 yards but no touchdowns. Opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 76.6 when targeting him.

According to Fanatics Sportsbook, Mitchell has the sixth-least odds to win Defensive Rookie of the Year:

Jared Verse: +290

Laiatu Latu: +500

Dallas Turner: +850

Kamari Lassiter: +850

Byron Murphy: +1500

Quinyon Mitchell: +1800

In the end, the Eagles had their pick of cornerbacks at No. 22, and they chose Mitchell over Alabama’s Terrion Arnold, who went 24th to the Lions. This is why these two players are always compared.

Quinyon Mitchell: 4 starts, 18 tackles, 6 pass breakups; 25 targets, 13 catches, 187 yards, 0 touchdowns, opponent passer rating of 76.6; 0 penalties

Terrion Arnold: 4 starts, 16 tackles, 3 pass breakups; 27 goals, 15 catches, 143 yards, 1 touchdown, opponent passer rating of 82.8; 8 penalties for 118 yards, 8 first downs

Mitchell is ranked the 33rd best cornerback in the NFL by PFF, while Arnold is ranked 94th.

Round 2-40: Cooper DeJean, DB, Iowa

After missing the first few weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury, DeJean is working to catch up. Had he been healthy all summer, he likely would have played an important role in the Eagles’ defense from day one. But that wasn’t the case.

The second-round pick has played a total of eight defensive snaps in four games. He was the Eagles’ extra defensive back in week one, but since then that job has belonged to Kelee Ringo. Vic Fangio and the coaching staff wanted DeJean to focus on one job: nickel corner. And with Avonte Maddox having some issues early this season, it may not be long before the Eagles move on to DeJean. During practice, DeJean served primarily as a substitute, but at times he also worked with the starters.

While DeJean hasn’t played much on defense, he has played 75 special teams snaps, which ranks fourth on the team and first among rookies. In Week 3, when Britain Covey was injured, DeJean took over the role of punt returner. His first full game in that role didn’t go very well, but much of the blame lies with his teammates for two strange plays; one in which an enemy was thrown into him, and another friendly fire incident.

With Covey out for at least the next few weeks, DeJean is expected to continue returning punts during his absence. DeJean was an electric returner at Iowa and the Eagles were excited to see what he could do.

Round 3-94: Jalyx Hunt, OLB, Houston Christian

The third-round pick was considered rough when the Eagles drafted him. Despite an impressive training camp, Hunt hasn’t really mastered the edge rusher rotation, but he’s trending in the right direction. In Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers, Hunt played the first five defensive snaps of his career.

Earlier in the season, Hunt was actually inactive in Week 1. But when the Eagles waived Patrick Johnson before Week 2, Hunt was promoted to game-day active player as a key special teams player. He even made a big play in his first game, converting a penalty on kickoff to impress special teams coordinator Michael Clay.

In the three games in which Hunt played, he played 41 special teams snaps. In Week 4, he played a career-high 19 special teams snaps.

Round 4-127: Will Shipley, RB, Clemson

It’s clear that Shipley is the third running back behind Saquon Barkley and Kenny Gainwell. Barkley is off to an incredible start to the season and has played a ton of snaps. What was left so far went to the veteran Gainwell.

Shipley has played just five offensive snaps in four games, and all five came with Saquon Barkley, the second running back on the Eagles’ 21-man roster. Four of those snaps came in Week 1 and the fifth on the first play of the game in Tampa, and then Shipley didn’t see the field again. While it was obviously a limited package in Week 1, it didn’t work in São Paulo against the Packers. Kellen Moore put Shipley in motion and effectively used him as a decoy. It’s a little surprising that we haven’t really seen it since.

While Shipley doesn’t play much on offense, he is a big special teams player with 61 snaps. He is tied for the team lead in special teams tackles with two. He also returned three kickoffs for 76 yards (25.3). For reference, Gainwell averages 22.3 yards per return on four returns.

Round 5-152: Ainias Smith, WR, Texas A&M

The shifty fifth-round pick struggled mightily this summer. After missing some time in the spring due to injury, Smith had a very slow start to training camp. He regularly dropped passes and didn’t seem comfortable. But around the last week of camp, Smith started making some plays and managed a little, enough so that the Eagles weren’t just going to flat out shut him down. But just before the final cuts, Smith was injured, injuring his ankle and hamstring.

The Eagles took advantage of a new rule that allowed them to place two players on injured reserve with designation to return and place Smith and Albert Okwuegbunam on IR.

When Smith was injured, reports suggested it was a four- to six-week injury. If placed on IR, Smith will be sidelined for at least four weeks before being reinstated to the active roster. At some point, the Eagles will likely activate Smith’s 21-day practice window, but it’s unclear whether he will be added to the 53-man roster this season. It could be a redshirt season for Smith.

Round 5-155: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB, Clemson

While there was clearly competition for the starting linebacker positions this summer, Trotter was behind Nakobe Dean, Zack Baun and Devin White. Nevertheless, Trotter was on the roster as a backup linebacker and core special teamer.

He got his first three defensive snaps late against the Bucs, but was mostly a special teams player. Trotter has played 53 snaps on special teams, ranking seventh on the roster. He also ties Shipley and Nolan Smith for the team lead in special teams tackles with 2 points.

Round 5-172: Trevor Keegan, OG, Michigan

Keegan only played left defense during training camp. And while he looked good and seemed to play with a bad personality (which is what you like as a guard), he doesn’t offer the versatility of the other backup offensive linemen. Because of this, Keegan is the only offensive lineman on the 53-man roster to be inactive in all four games in 2024.

In Week 4, without Lane Johnson, the Eagles opted to use Darian Kinnard instead of Keegan. Kinnard can play both tackle and guard.

Round 6-185: Johnny Wilson, WR, Florida State

The hype surrounding Wilson slowed down after about a truly impressive week of training for the 6-foot-1 receiver in training camp. After the Eagles traded for Jahan Dotson, any hope Wilson had of becoming the stable No. 3 receiver faded, but he does play a role on offense. It’s pretty clear that the Eagles like the idea of ​​the big receiver being a blocking specialist at the position.

In four games, Wilson was targeted six times but only had one catch for 9 yards. But it was an impressive catch that gave the Saints the win. Other than that, Wilson’s role was primarily to block. He played 85 snaps (31%) on offense in four games. He doesn’t contribute much on special teams; Wilson has played just 17 special teams snaps in four games.

Round 6-190: Dylan McMahon, OL, NC State

Despite a somewhat encouraging summer, the Eagles never gave McMahon consistent reps as the No. 2 center, foreshadowing his release during the final cuts. But the Eagles saw enough in McMahon that they signed him to their practice squad after he cleared waivers. Their hope was to further develop McMahon.

But McMahon didn’t stay on the practice squad long. On September 10, the Rams signed McMahon from the Eagles’ practice squad to their active roster and Jeff Stoutland lost his development center. McMahon was inactive in his first week with the Rams, but was active again in Weeks 3 and 4. He hasn’t seen any game action yet.

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