The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the most stacked rosters in the NFL.
While they may have lost multiple key players over the last year to retirement and free agency, the team is still stacked with top-5 performers at their respective positions all over the roster, with the offense specifically loaded with stars like Lane Johnson, AJ Brown, and Saquon Barkley, who could all end up in the Hall of Fame one day, depending on how the rest of their careers shake out.
And yet, every player on the Eagles roster isn’t necessarily a household name, even if they could be by the end of the season, with a certain backup tight end, a shiny new rusher, and an athletic wonder in a contract year all having the potential to break out in a major way with strong showing this fall.
These Philadelphia Eagles players could have a breakout 2024 season.
3. Grant Calcaterra
When the Eagles reunited Grant Calcaterra with Jalen Hurts in the 2022 NFL draft, it felt like a pretty big deal.
Sure, Grant Calcaterra wasn’t selected until the sixth round, only played with QB1 for a year at Oklahoma, and actually medically retired from the sport in 2019 in order to pursue a career in firefighting – yes, the Danny Watkins alarm sounded hard on draft night – but after a strong showing at SMU in 2021, executives like Howie Roseman were encouraged enough by his performance to take a flyer towards the end of Day 3.
The results thus far have been incomplete.
Slotting in as a back-of-the-roster performer capable of pulling double-duty on special teams, Calcaterra largely found himself third on the depth chart in 2022-23 due to the presence of Jack Stoll as a blocking specialist behind Dallas Goedert, catching just nine passes for 120 yards over his professional career. While some of that may come down to inexperience, growing pains, or the fact that Brian Johnson didn’t use multiple receiving tight ends very often in 2023, the jury is very much out on Calcaterra’s long-term upside heading into his third season with the team.
Fortunately, with Stoll now a member of the New York Giants, Calcaterra has a chance to establish himself as TE2 behind Goedert, with Albert Okwuegbunam, C.J. Uzomah, and rookie E.J. Jenkins his competition for the position.
Could Albert O, Uzomah, or even Jenkins win out in the end and take the number two spot in time for Week 1? Sure, but considering the strong commentary centered around Calcaterra coming out of camp, he is undoubtedly a player to watch moving forward.
2. Will Shipley
After spending a half-decade with Darren Sproles as a fixture of their offense, remaining relevant as the team transitioned from the Chip Kelly show to the Doug Pederson era, the Birds have been looking for an heir apparent for the Kansas State product ever since, with performers like Donnel Pumphrey and Kenneth Gainwell drafted on Day 3 to potentially fill the role of a do-it-all pass-catching scatback on third downs to varying degrees of success.
Will Shipley is the next in a long line of pass-catching specialists who can do damage out of the backfield and he might just be the most interesting one of all.
With Saquon Barkley widely expected to become the most prolific rusher employed by the Eagles since LeSean McCoy, with the Penn State product having essentially kept the New York Giants relevant for years due to his unique offensive talents, there isn’t a need for a true 1B in Kellen Moore’s offense this year. While Gainwell will likely continue to serve as RB2 behind Barkley when he needs a break, Shipley has the unique ability to contribute on third downs, with the 5-foot-11, 200-pound pass catcher having caught 85 balls for 602 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver at Clemson, with 2,747 more yards on the ground as a rusher.
Play him in the slot, play him next to Barkley in the backfield, or just slide him in as a change-of-pace performer who can contribute on special teams and Shipley feels like a Wawa commercial away from becoming the ultimate Philadelphia favorite.
1. Milton Williams
Since coming off of the board at pick 73 in the 2021 NFL draft, Milton Williams has sort of become the Eagles’ forgotten defensive tackle, losing his hype to Jordan Davis in 2022 and Jalen Carter in 2023 following an encouraging rookie season.
And yet, after starting ten games in 2023, Williams has a chance to take a step forward in a major way in 2024, especially with Fletcher Cox retiring after a decade in the trenches with the Birds.
Standing 6-foot-3, 290 pounds, Williams looks the part of a modern-day defensive tackle, but he’s got the athleticism of a defensive end, with his 3-cone drill, broad jump, vertical jump, and 40-yard dash all ranking in the 99th percentile, according to Mockdraftable. With Davis filling up the zero tech spot directly over the center, Williams has the potential to become a force playing over guards and may even see some time at defensive end a la Brandon Gram in some defensive sub-packages, allowing the Eagles to have optionality up front in a way few other performers on the roster can boast.
If the Eagles’ defense rebounds in 2024, Williams will likely play a notable role in that success.
