Philadelphia Eagles: Could rookie Shaun Bradley steal a starting LB job?

Philadelphia Eagles rookie LB Shaun Bradley has impressed in training camp thus far.

Entering into the 2020 season, it was no secret that the Philadelphia Eagles were going to be weak at the linebacker position. They had opted not to pick up Nigel Bradham‘s team option during the offseason, Kamu Grugier-Hill left via free agency, and SS/LB Malcolm Jenkins departed as well.

Following the surprise retirement of veteran free agency signing Jatavis Brown, it was starting to look even bleaker for the Eagles’ LB room. With Nate Gerry the only surefire “starter”, the rest of the depth chart was up for interpretation heading into training camp.

Luckily for Jim Schwartz and the Philadelphia defense, it looks like one of the team’s lesser known draft picks has risen to the challenge of being a contributing LB in 2020.

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Drafted out of Temple University in the sixth round, fans were not expecting a whole ton out of Shaun Bradley during his rookie season. Despite being a tackling machine for the Owls in college, he projected more as a special teams guy in the NFL.

Before Brown retired, some analysts even had Bradley as a potential roster cut during training camp.

However, just two days into padded practices and Bradley looks like a guy who is going to stick on the Eagles roster. His name has popped up repeatedly during the team’s contact practices, and he’s made a majority of his plays on the defensive side of the ball, as opposed to just special teams.

Both Eliot Shorr-Parks (94WIP) and Ed Kracz (Sports Illustrated) listed Bradley as a player who caught their eye during practice, and the rookie linebacker made an eye-popping hit on Dallas Goedert during a scrimmage. It’s plays like this that get you noticed to a coaching staff.

Bradley started his final three years of college football at Temple, proving to be one of the key parts to their defense. He finished his collegiate career with 255 total tackles, 22 tackles for a loss, three interceptions, and three forced fumbles.

Bradley was also regularly hailed as the “leader” in the Temple locker room, something that’s already started to ooze into his time with the Eagles. Despite being a rookie, Bradley has reportedly been one of the more vocal players during practice. That type of energy is something that the Philadelphia coaching staff really values, and will likely be even more important during a season with (likely) no fans.

The Eagles current linebacker depth chart is Nate Gerry, TJ Edwards, and then probably Duke Riley. The team is also expected to use safeties Jalen Mills and Will Parks in the box a healthy amount this year, but even then there is still plenty of room for a guy like Bradley to sneak into the rotation. Riley and Edwards aren’t polished products by any stretch of the imagination, and Gerry has had bits of really bad play during his Eagles career.

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While Bradley might not have been on your radar heading into the season, he should be now. With no preseason games, these training camp practices are all coaches really have to go by, and Bradley has done his part in terms of impressing during them. If this type of play bleeds over into the regular season, he could absolutely find himself getting starting snaps later in the year.

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