The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles will head back to the NovaCare Complex later this month for training camp. Rookies and veterans are set to report to camp on July 22.
The Eagles don’t have many holes as they enter camp with a bullseye on their back. However, they have a few position battles worth paying attention to at wide receiver, tight end, d-line, and in the secondary.
Among those battles, the secondary competition will be interesting to watch play out as two starting spots will be up for grabs. At the same time, the Eagles will also have a quarterback competition playing out for the third spot on the depth chart behind Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson Facing Stiff Competition From Rookie QB
Veteran Dorian Thompson-Robinson and rookie Kyle McCord will be battling it out against each other to see who takes that spot.
Now the QB3 is usually made inactive on gameday, but if there’s an injury to the two other QBs, that player could be called into action. The Eagles hope that isn’t the case, but they need to be prepared.
Heading into OTAs and mandatory minicamp, the thought was that Thompson-Robinson should be able to win the QB3 over the rookie quarterback. The Eagles acquired the former UCLA star quarterback in a trade with the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Kenny Pickett, who was the backup last year to Hurts.
Thompson-Robinson hasn’t fared well to start his career as he’s a 52.6 percent passer with one touchdown and 10 interceptions on his resume. However, with the Eagles, there’s a chance for a fresh start, and hopefully, playing like the QB we saw at UCLA.
Thus far, that has not been the case. Based on reports from OTAs and mandatory minicamp, the third-year quarterback has been outplayed by McCord.
That’s not good to hear for Thompson-Robinson, especially since McCord was one of the more accurate QBs in the ACC last season, completing 66 percent of his passes. However, OTAs and minicamp are only a snapshot in time.
Thompson-Robinson can surely turn things around, especially when the live action begins in the preseason. He should have the advantage over McCord, and one would hope he plays up to the standard of a third-year player.
The Eagles aren’t going to give these jobs to either of these guys. However, McCord has a safety net as a late-round draft pick. The rookie could get stashed on the practice squad if he makes it through waivers.
Thompson-Robinson, on the other hand, I don’t see the Eagles trying to keep him on the taxi squad if they cut him. They would like to use that spot for another position of need. That being said, the pressure is on the former Browns QB to be at his absolute best this summer.