The Philadelphia Eagles opened training camp on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex practice facility in South Philly. The Eagles finished the 2020 season at the bottom of the NFC East with a 4-11-1 record. Super Bowl winning coach Doug Pederson was fired and former franchise quarterback Carson Wentz was traded to the Indianapolis Colts following a dysfunction-filled campaign. Prior to last season, Philadelphia had made the postseason three years in a row. The Eagles have a new coach in Nick Sirianni, who put together the youngest staff in the NFL led by defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. They return 15 starters from last season's team. Here's a 53-man roster projection:
QUARTERBACK (2): Jalen Hurts, Joe Flacco
Nick Mullens, the former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller, will vie for the No. 3 QB spot this summer. He's coming off surgery to his throwing elbow. His form will help inform the Eagles' decision of whether to keep two or three quarterbacks. Hurts has four career starts and could benefit from another veteran being in the room.
RUNNING BACK (4): Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, Kerryon Johnson, Boston Scott
The Eagles brought Jordan Howard back on a one-year deal this spring. He'll compete with Johnson and company for a roster spot. They're intrigued by the versatility of rookie Gainwell, who can line up all over the field.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, Travis Fulgham, Quez Watkins, JJ Arcega-Whiteside
This is a young group. There is not a player older than 25 in the room currently, and the wideouts projected to get the most playing time this season -- Smith, Reagor, Ward and Fulgham -- have a combined 32 NFL starts. They could use another veteran to complement first-round picks Smith and Reagor, who are expected to lead the way.
TIGHT END (2): Dallas Goedert, Richard Rodgers
Zach Ertz remains on the roster but it's hard to envision him playing in Philadelphia in 2021 given his strained relationship with management over a lack of productive contract extension talks. Caleb Wilson, Jason Croom and Hakeem Butler are among the tight ends competing for a roster spot in training camp.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jack Driscoll, Nate Herbig
Dickerson is recovering from ACL surgery with the hopes of being ready for the regular season. He adds high-end depth to a talented but aging group, with three of the five starters (Johnson, Brooks, Kelce) north of 30 years old.
For this exercise, we'll project tackle Le'Raven Clark (Achilles) begins the season on the physically unable to perform list.
DEFENSIVE LINE (10): Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Derek Barnett, Ryan Kerrigan, Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, Tarron Jackson, Hassan Ridgeway, Marlon Tuipulotu
As with the offensive line, several of the key contributors (Graham, Cox, Kerrigan) are 30 or older. Philadelphia is hoping younger players such as Sweat and rookies Jackson, Williams and Tuipulotu step up and provide a bridge to the future.
LINEBACKER (6): Eric Wilson, Alex Singleton, T.J. Edwards, Shaun Bradley, JaCoby Stevens, Davion Taylor
Defensive lineman Genard Avery is reportedly attempting a position switch to linebacker, and could be an option here. The Eagles signed Wilson to a one-year deal in free agency in hopes he could be an every-down linebacker and give this corps a much-needed boost.
CORNERBACK (6): Darius Slay, Steven Nelson, Avonte Maddox, Zech McPhearson, Michael Jacquet, Craig James
The recent signing of Nelson solves the riddle of who will be playing outside corner opposite Slay. Depth remains a question mark, but the back end is more settled than it was a week ago.
SAFETY (5): Anthony Harris, Rodney McLeod, K'Von Wallace, Andrew Adams, Marcus Epps
McLeod is hoping to be back for the start of the regular season after tearing his ACL in December, but that is no lock. There's a lot riding on Harris, the former Minnesota Vikings player who signed a one-year, $4 million deal in free agency.
SPECIALISTS (3): Jake Elliott, Arryn Siposs, Rick Lovato
With Cameron Johnston now a member of the Houston Texans, the punting duties fall to Siposs, the former Australian rules football player. Elliott made 73.7% of his field goal attempts last season, more than 10 percentage points lower than any of his other three seasons in the NFL.