Who’s QB2? How should we feel about the rookies? Any more new faces? Biggest Eagles questions after offseason workouts

The offseason program is over and the next time the Eagles get together at the Jefferson Health Training Complex it will be for training camp — the official start to the 2026 NFL season.

The longest stretch of downtime around the league is right now, so it’s a good time to take stock of what we just saw during organized team activities and mandatory minicamp.

The workouts allowed for a first look at new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s offense and a few new key players for the Eagles, but they also left some lingering questions about the team during the break.

Here are some of the things we’re still thinking about:

The short answer: Longer than will probably be allowed.

Eagles fans read and watched analysis here and probably elsewhere that told them Mannion’s offense was little match for Vic Fangio’s defense during the recent practice sessions open to reporters.

What’s the reaction going to be if the offense looks sloppy a few practices into camp? It’ll be an outsized one, for certain. But it shouldn’t be.

There are a few reasons why:

Football is football, and some players will say as much, but there are going to be some growing pains before the offense is firing on all cylinders.

Plus, while the focus of many will be on the play-calling and what the playbook looks like, it may all just come down to the health and force of the offensive line anyway.

That’s not what the question asked, though. How long should the probationary period be? The view here is that drawing major conclusions about Mannion’s offense won’t have enough context until at least three games into the regular season. Patience levels are personal, right?

» READ MORE: Some important context for the great shotgun debate and the Eagles moving forward under Sean Mannion

Is it possible that the A.J. Brown trade was such a foregone conclusion that the biggest roster storyline in an otherwise pretty standard offseason program was the backup quarterback position?

Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee are splitting reps behind Hurts, Nick Sirianni says, but the coach wouldn’t commit to saying McKee is the backup quarterback, the spot on the depth chart he held last season. He doesn’t have to commit to anything in June or even July or August.

But the fact that Dalton took so many reps with the second-team offense was interesting.

It’s fair to wonder if McKee will be on the roster by the time camp breaks and the Eagles are crunching numbers to get to their initial 53-man roster. The Eagles used a fifth-round pick on quarterback Cole Payton after sending a seventh-round pick to Carolina for Dalton.

It’s hard to imagine they will keep four quarterbacks on the roster and it’s hard to imagine them wanting to expose a fifth-round pick to waivers unless Payton has the type of uninspiring training camp sixth-round pick Kyle McCord had last year.

The guess here is that Howie Roseman is hopeful McKee puts some good play on tape in the preseason and the Eagles get some draft value back in a trade for their 2023 sixth-round pick who is entering the last year of his contract.

» READ MORE: The Eagles have to get more daring on offense this season. Nick Sirianni has to let them.

It shouldn’t be.

But their first three picks were hampered by injuries.

First-round pick Makai Lemon, who will be asked to contribute in a big way right away with Brown out of town, missed some time with a hamstring injury but is expected to be ready for camp. Sure, he didn’t get a ton of on-field reps, but it wasn’t like he was on an island somewhere while the Eagles were installing stuff in the meeting rooms.

Eli Stowers, the second-round pick out of Vanderbilt, did not stand out in early workouts despite the Eagles raving about his athletic traits after selecting the tight end at No. 54. He then wore a sleeve on his right leg during the final workout of minicamp and sat out some drills.

Markel Bell, the big tackle the Eagles took in the third round, also missed the last practice of minicamp.

As for Stowers, Sirianni continued to have a lot of good things to say about him on the last day of the spring session. The former college quarterback is still only a few seasons into playing tight end, and while the Eagles are high on him — “He has an unusual skillset at the tight end position with the matchups that he is going to be getting,” Sirianni said — they also know he has a lot of work to do.

It’s way too early to be alarmed about the rookie class.

» READ MORE: Julian Lurie is the future of Eagles ownership. But how much do we really know about him?

Roseman kind of answered that question just hours after the final on-field workout finished when he signed former Bills edge rusher A.J. Epenesa. That move made some more sense on Tuesday, when the Eagles placed free agent signing Joe Tryon-Shoyinka on the reserve/retired list.

Epenesa, who was drafted one spot after Hurts in 2020, originally signed with the Browns but that deal did not finalize after Epenesa’s physical. Edge rusher was one spot, however, where the Eagles needed some more talent for some bottom-of-the-depth-chart competition. There’s a clear trio at the top in Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, and Nolan Smith, and then there’s Arnold Ebiketie. Epenesa, who had six-plus sacks in three consecutive seasons from 2022 to 2024, figures to be in the mix for a roster spot.

Where else could the Eagles upgrade?

Safety might be the only position on the team that still has some question marks. The Eagles plan to use Cooper DeJean at safety in their base defense with Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen manning the outside corner spots. But that leaves around 75% of the reps next to Drew Mukuba for someone not named DeJean. Right now, it’s Marcus Epps’ spot to lose. But Epps is 30 and was available as a practice squad addition last August.

Behind Epps is Michael Carter II, who has played mostly nickel, and J.T. Gray, another 30-year-old with mostly special teams experience. Then there’s a mix of young and unproven players.

Fangio has expressed confidence in Epps, and thinks Carter has the chops to play safety, but don’t be surprised if Roseman adds some more talent to the group before camp.

Listen to the latest episode

There was closure. There were opportunities to set records straight and start fresh. There was a chance for the Eagles to take the new philosophies and personnel acquired during the offseason, and give it all a test run on the field. What did the team find out about itself? How well prepared are the Eagles to hit the ground running in training camp once they return from their offseason hiatus later in the summer? The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg watched this week’s mandatory minicamp practices at Eagles headquarters, and analyze what they saw. Listen here.

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