Progress reports for Eagles rookie class at the bye week originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It’s way too early to judge the Eagles’ 2024 draft class.
It can take years to fully grade a draft class and we’re just four games into the 2024 season. But since the Eagles have an early Week 5 bye, it’s a good time to take a look at how their rookie class has performed thus far.
Here’s an early progress report on the Draft Class of 2024:
Round 1-22: Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Ultimately, draft classes are usually graded based on the success of the first-round pick. So far, so good with Mitchell. The Eagles’ first-round corner is off to an incredibly encouraging start to his NFL career and is looking like a long-term solution at the cornerback position.
The Eagles brought Mitchell along slowly during training camp. At first he was with the second team, then he got some nickel reps, then he played outside and inside. But by the time the Eagles got to Week 1, Vic Fangio had seen enough. Mitchell has been a full-time starter on the outside for the first four games of his NFL career and the Eagles might just be able to rely on him playing in that position for the next several seasons at least.
Through four games, Mitchell has played more defensive snaps than anyone on the team. He has played 257 of a possible 261. Mitchell, 23, doesn’t have his first interception yet but he has gotten close a few times. In four games, he has 18 tackles and six pass breakups. Just three players in the NFL have more pass breakups — Paulson Adebo, Brian Branch and Denzel Ward each have 7. In the previous two years just two rookies have had 6+ PBUs through 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.
Mitchell has the sixth-shortest odds to be Defensive Rookie of the Year, according to Fanatics Sportsbook:
Jared Verse: +290
Laiatu Latu: +500
Dallas Turner: +850
Kamari Lassiter: +850
Byron Murphy: +1500
Quinyon Mitchell: +1800
The Eagles ended up with their choice of corners with the No. 22 pick and they went with Mitchell over Alabama’s Terrion Arnold, who went 24th to the Lions. Because of that, these two players are always going to be compared.
Quinyon Mitchell: 4 starts, 18 tackles, 6 pass breakups; 25 targets, 13 catches, 187 yards 0 TDs, opposing passer rating of 76.6; 0 penalties
Terrion Arnold: 4 starts, 16 tackles, 3 pass breakups; 27 targets, 15 catches, 143 yards, 1 TD, opposing passer rating of 82.8; 8 penalties for 118 yards, 8 first downs
Mitchell is ranked as the 33rd best cornerback in the NFL by PFF, while Arnold is 94th.
Round 2-40: Cooper DeJean, DB, Iowa
After missing the first few weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury, DeJean has been working to catch up. Had he been healthy all summer, there’s probably a good chance he would have had a significant role on the Eagles’ defense from Day 1. But that wasn’t the case.
Through four games, the second-round pick has played a total of eight defensive snaps. In week 1, he was the Eagles’ extra defensive back in the dime package 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 struggling some early this season, it might not be long before we see the Eagles make the switch to DeJean. During practices, DeJean has mostly worked as the backup nickel but he has worked in with the starters at times.
While DeJean hasn’t yet 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 got hurt, DeJean took over as the punt returner. His first full game in that role didn’t go very well but most of the blame falls on his teammates for two weird plays; one where an opponent was thrown into him and another incident of friendly fire.
With Covey out for at least the next several weeks, it’s expected that DeJean will continue to return punts during his absence. DeJean was an electric return man at Iowa and the Eagles have been looking forward to seeing what he can do.
Round 3-94: Jalyx Hunt, OLB, Houston Christian
The third-round pick was considered to be raw when the Eagles drafted him. Despite an impressive training camp, Hunt hasn’t really cracked the edge rusher rotation but he’s trending in the right direction. Hunt played the first five defensive snaps in his career in Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers.
To start the season, Hunt was actually inactive for Week 1. But then when the Eagles cut Patrick Johnson before Week 2, Hunt was promoted to being active on game days as a core special teams player. He even made a big play in his first game, drawing a penalty on kickoff, to impress special teams coordinator Michael Clay.
In the three games Hunt has been active, he has played 41 special teams snaps. He played a career-high 19 special teams snaps in Week 4.
Round 4-127: Will Shipley, RB, Clemson
It’s very clear that Shipley is the third running back behind Saquon Barkley and Kenny Gainwell. Barkley is off to an incredible start to his season and is playing a ton of snaps. Whatever leftovers there have been so far have gone to the veteran Gainwell.
Shipley has played just five offensive snaps through four games and all five of them have come as the second running back in the Eagles’ 21 personnel package with Saquon Barkley. Four of those snaps came in Week 1 and the fifth came on the first play in Tampa and then Shipley didn’t see the field again. While it was obviously a limited package in Week 1, it worked down in São Paulo against the Packers. Kellen Moore put Shipley in motion and used him effectively as a decoy. It’s a little surprising we haven’t really seen it since.
While Shipley isn’t playing much on offense, he’s a big special teamer with 61 snaps. He is tied for the team-lead in special teams tackles with two. He has also returned three kickoffs for 76 yards (25.3). For reference, Gainwell is averaging 22.3 yards per return on four returns.
Round 5-152: Ainias Smith, WR, Texas A&M
The shifty fifth-round pick really struggled this summer. After missing some time in the spring with an injury, Smith got off to a very slow start in training camp. He was routinely dropping passes and didn’t look comfortable. But by the last week or so of camp, Smith began to make some plays and turned a bit of a corner, enough that the Eagles weren’t just going to flat-out cut him. But just before final cuts, Smith got hurt, injuring his ankle and hamstring.
The Eagles utilized a new rule that allowed them to put two players on Injured Reserve with a designation to return and put Smith and Albert Okwuegbunam on IR.
When Smith got hurt, reports indicated it was a 4-6 week injury. On IR, Smith must miss at least four weeks before being brought back to the active roster. At some point, the Eagles will probably activate Smith’s 21-day practice window but it’s unclear if he’ll be activated to the 53-man roster this season. It could end up being a redshirt season for Smith.
Round 5-155: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB, Clemson
While there was clearly a competition going on for the starting linebacker jobs this summer, Trotter was behind Nakobe Dean, Zack Baun and Devin White. Still, Trotter made the roster as a backup linebacker and core special teamer.
He got his first three defensive snaps in garbage time late against the Bucs but has mostly been a special teams player. Trotter has played 53 snaps on special teams, which ranks seventh on the roster. He’s also tied with Shipley and Nolan Smith for the team-lead in special teams tackles with 2.
Round 5-172: Trevor Keegan, OG, Michigan
Keegan played only left guard during training camp. And while he looked good and seemed to play with a nasty disposition (which you like at guard) he doesn’t offer the versatility of the other backup offensive linemen. Because of that, Keegan is the only offensive lineman on the 53-man roster who has been inactive for all four games in 2024.
In Week 4, without Lane Johnson, the Eagles elected to make Darian Kinnard active instead of Keegan. Kinnard can play both tackle and guard.
Round 6-185: Johnny Wilson, WR, Florida State
The hype train for Wilson slowed down after a really impressive week or so of practices for the 6-foot-6 receiver in training camp. After the Eagles traded for Jahan Dotson, any hope Wilson had of becoming the steady No. 3 receiver faded but he does have a role on offense. It’s pretty clear the Eagles like the idea of the big receiver being a blocking specialist at the position.
Through four games, Wilson has been targeted 6 times but has just 1 catch for 9 yards. But that one catch was an impressive one to move the sticks against the Saints. Other than that, Wilson’s role has mostly been to block. He has played 85 snaps (31%) on offense through four games. He isn’t a big-time special teams contributor; 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 their No. 2 center, which foreshadowed his release at 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 continue developing McMahon.
But McMahon didn’t last long on the practice squad. On Sept. 10, the Rams signed McMahon to their active roster from the Eagles’ practice squad and Jeff Stoutland lost his developmental center. McMahon was inactive his first week with the Rams but was up in Weeks 3 and 4. He has yet to see any game action.
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