3 Most Underrated Eagles From the 2023-24 NFL Season

2. Sydney Brown

As the season progressed, the Eagles had to depend on a ton of young guys, especially on the defense, with players getting banged up in the secondary. 

One of those young guys that Philadelphia called upon was rookie safety Sydney Brown, who was asked to do a lot of different things this season and made plays. Heading into this season, the Eagles didn’t envision Brown playing a lot of snaps with the team having Terrell Edmunds and Reed Blankenship at safety.

However, the team traded Edmunds to the Tennessee Titans for Kevin Byard. Also, Blankenship missed a couple of games because of an injury. 

Enter Brown, who played extremely fast, which was an issue at times, but he also made plays when available. The former Illinois standout had 45 combined tackles, three pass deflections, a forced fumble, a tackle for loss, and an interception.

Brown’s first career interception happened in Week 17 against the Arizona Cardinals, where he returned Kyler Murray’s errant pass for 99 yards and a touchdown. It was one of the few exciting plays we saw from the Eagles’ defense.

However, Brown’s rookie season sadly ended in Week 18 against the New York Giants as he suffered a torn ACL. It was heartbreaking to see the rookie go down as he made plays in the secondary. Eagles hope Brown will make a quick and full recovery as he could evolve into one of the future building blocks of the defense.