The Philadelphia Eagles are not short on talent and Howie Roseman will be the first to let you know it after the work he has put in building the roster that brought a Super Bowl championship to the City of Brotherly Love this past season.
The rest of the league knows this as well, and the idea of the Eagles beefing up their roster even more with a surprise training camp standout is nightmare fuel for the rest of the league.
With the preseason officially upon us, one of those training camp standouts in Philadelphia is performing at a level that makes him too impactful to give up to another team. That puts him in a position to force Nick Sirianni and the coaching staff to give him serious consideration when filling out the 53-man roster, or at least on the practice squad.
Eagles WR Elijah Cooks Forcing Coaches to Notice Him with Camp Play
Elijah Cooks, a former undrafted free agent who spent the 2024 season on the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad before joining the Eagles on a reserve/futures contract in 2025, is showing out at training camp.
Elijah Cooks two impressive catches to close the practice. Both red zone catches.
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) August 5, 2025
The summer of Cooks continues.
Thought Moro Ojomo and Tanner McKee had good days. Same with Cooper DeJean. #Eagles
While there is still plenty of work to do before any projections of Cooks making the 53-man roster should be made, the big-bodied wide receiver has been one of the team's surprise performers thus far at training camp. And he should get plenty of opportunity to prove himself in the preseason, since guys like AJ Brown and DeVonte Smith won't be getting much run.
And if there's any position where a surprise Eagle can catch on with a depth spot on the roster, it might be at wide receiver. Brown, Smith and Jahan Dotson are obviously locks on the 53-man. But beyond those three, things get very murky. The first unofficial depth chart of the preseason doesn't carry much weight, but it does highlight just how much ambiguity exists behind those top three.
- Starters: AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jahan Dotson
- Second String: Johnny Wilson, Terrace Marshall, Ainias Smith
- Third String: Elijah Cooks, Giles Jackson, Avery Williams
- Fourth String: Darius Cooper, Ife Adeyi, Taylor Morin
The top six names are certainly the most likely to make the active roster. But a 2024 sixth-round pick like Johnny Wilson isn't a lock to make it, and neither is Terrace Marshall, who received just $25,000 guaranteed on his one-year contract this offseason.
But if Cooks can't crack the active roster, fans will hope that the hype around him stays quiet. That way the Eagles would have the ability to sign him to the practice squad after waiving him.
Either way, fans won't have to wait much longer to get a closer look at Cooks, as the preseason kicks off for the Eagles on Thursday night when they host the Cincinnati Bengals.