One perceived Eagles’ training camp competition never materialized this summer.
The TE2 job that formerly belonged to Jack Stoll was expected to be a battle between three players: veteran free-agent signing C.J. Uzomah, 2023 trade-pickup Albert Okwuegbunam, and 2022 sixth-round pick Grant Calcaterra.
If past was prologue, Uzomah, who had played at a high level in Cincinnati before netting a big-money free-agent deal with the New York Jets seemed the odds-on favorite.
Not only was Uzomah, 31, the most proven option, his 6-foot-6, 262-pound frame seemed like a nice complement to star TE Dallas Goedert, one of the few real two-way players left at the position.
The thought there being that the ability to play Uzomah in-line would enable the Eagles to play Goedert as a flex receiver more often, taking advantage of the South Dakota State product’s playmaking skills more often and helping alleviate the deficiency at WR3 at the same time.
Past Uzomah was the tease-like potential of Okwuegbunam and his 4.49 speed on a 258-pound frame.
Consistency has always been a hiccup for Okwuegbunam dating back to his Denver days and that had continued this summer before an abdomen injury put him on the injury list.
That leaves Calcaterra but the truth is it never was a competition.
Calcaterra arrived at training camp as the TE2 and that status had never been threatened even when the third-year player missed a few practices with a banged-up shoulder.
Perhaps it was offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who has liked using 12 personnel in the past with two receiving threats versus the more conventional thought process of blocker and pass-catcher, or maybe it was the now-somewhat famous mustache.
49ers star George Kittle saw Calcaterra’s new mustache at Tight End University and quickly nicknamed Calcaterra "Farva.” a nod to the cult classic comedy “Super Troopers” and Kevin Heffernan’s portrayal of Trooper Rodney Farva.
Congrats to Loyola basketball and their star center, Officer Farva from "Super Troopers" pic.twitter.com/RxIufzLIvO
— The Heckler (@The_Heckler) March 21, 2021
For what it’s worth Calcaterra loves the movie and embraced the nickname.
Eagles on SI asked Calcaterra what really clicked after practice on Sunday.
“It's hard to say. I think with anything, it's just getting those repetitions and I feel like I got a lot of reps this offseason and during camp,” Calcaterra said. “And you just get more comfortable with the offense and your own game the more repetitions you get.”
From there the chemistry started growing and never stopped.
“I think I just took advantage and built chemistry with Dallas and the offensive line and Jalen [Hurts], and Kenny [Pickett],” said Calcaterra. “And so I just feel like it's just constant daily improvement and treating every day independently and just being the same guy every day. Getting those repetitions and trying to do something with them."
