Three biggest unknowns on the Eagles' depth chart
We're less than a week away from Eagles training camp, when all eyes will be on the quarterback position. Barring injury, though, we have a pretty good idea of what we're going to see under center. Carson Wentz will get a chance to accelerate his apprenticeship, but Sam Bradford will almost certainly be the starter until the Eagles are out of the playoff hunt. Until then, here are three positions that have the most to prove between now and Week 1, with the team's 2016 fate potentially hinging on the answers they provide.
1) Linebacker
Over the last 11 weeks of last season, no team in the NFL was as bad as the Eagles at stopping the run, and it wasn't particularly close. Opponents rushed for 1,588 yards against them during that stretch, 133 more than the next-worst team (Dallas, who played one more game). They allowed 5.0 yards per rush, tied with the Saints for the worst over that stretch. They played eight of those games without Jordan Hicks, but it's a stretch to blame the struggles entirely on the absence of the rookie middle linebacker. Hicks was healthy in Week 7, when the Panthers gashed the Eagles for 204 yards in a 27-16 win, and he played most of the next week's win over the Cowboys, who finished with 134 yards.
The reality is the Eagles' place near the top of the run-defense rankings after six weeks was, at least partially, a reflection of their schedule, which included games against lackluster rushing attacks such as the Giants, Saints, Redskins and Falcons, all four of whom finished the season averaging 4.0 yards or fewer per rush (the Eagles allowed an average of 4.5 YPC for the year). They also faced a Jets team that was without leading rusher Chris Ivory.
A healthy Hicks would likely leave the Eagles better off at middle linebacker than they were with Kiko Alonso and DeMeco Ryans, but he doesn't have the top-notch speed and athleticism of a guy who can single-handedly make up for the shortcomings of those around him. Mychal Kendricks does have that kind of athleticism, but he has yet to play with the kind of technical consistency that a top-end defense needs. Might Jim Schwartz be the guy who helps him put it all together? If he is, and if Hicks stays healthy, the Eagles' ability to stop the run should greatly improve. But the health has been a question mark for both players, and there isn't much behind them.
2) Receiver
Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz have put up solid numbers early in their NFL careers, but for the Eagles offense to reach its potential, one of the two will need to take the next step and become a weapon that forces opposing coordinators to gameplay around.
The Eagles made a lot of changes this offseason, but they didn't do much to address the lack of speed that was so apparent throughout 2015. Chris Givens can run fast in a straight line, but so could Todd Pinkston. We saw Andy Reid's offense produce adequate enough results without a true No. 1 target during his first couple of years in Kansas City. Neither Nelson Agholor nor Josh Huff did much in 2015 to count on either as this year's breakout star. There's enough youthful unknowns to hold out hope that the unit takes a big step forward this year, but we're going to have to see it to believe it.
3) Running back
In terms of sheer personnel, this position probably has the most uncertainty. Ryan Mathews averaged 5.0 yards per carry and was the Eagles' most effective running back last season, but he has missed multiple games because of injury in all but one of his six NFL seasons, including three games last year and 10 in 2014.
The Eagles really like Wendell Smallwood, and the rookie out of West Virginia certainly showed an impressive burst during post-draft mini-camp and OTAs. He'll be one of the more interesting players to keep an eye in a training camp in which there is expected to be a good amount of live hitting. Kenjon Barner will continue to get opportunities, but Darren Sproles remains the only real known commodity in the group.
Running back is a position that affords plenty of opportunity to mix and match, as the Chiefs showed last year after Jamaal Charles went down. But an injury to Sproles or Mathews would really leave the team in a bind. This could be a situation in which the Eagles search the waiver wire for a veteran after the third preseason game.