By means of the Nick Sirianni period, the Philadelphia Eagles have demonstrated an odd, although now predictable, story arc.
Get to the Tremendous Bowl with an important offensive play-caller.Promote the alternative from inside with iffy to icky outcomes when stated nice offensive play-caller will get a head teaching gig, andSubsequently run again to the concept that a constructive offensive identification truly does matter within the NFL.
After Sirianni’s 2022 Eagles barely misplaced Tremendous Bowl LVII to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs with Shane Steichen because the offensive mastermind, Steichen obtained the Indianapolis Colts’ head job, and Sirianni promoted quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson to be Steichen’s alternative.
It didn’t work, and Sirianni then tapped former Los Angeles Chargers OC Kellen Moore to get the job performed. Moore obtained the job performed sufficient for the Eagles’ second Tremendous Bowl win on the finish of the 2024 season, and naturally, Sirianni changed Moore with cross sport coordinator and affiliate head coach Kevin Patullo when Moore grew to become the New Orleans Saints’ head coach.
Everyone knows how THAT went.
Now, with former Inexperienced Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion as the brand new OC, there are numerous inquiries to reply. How will the passing sport work with out A.J. Brown, and the way will the run sport work with out the legend that’s Jeff Stoutland? Remarkably for a man who has performed what he’s performed, Jalen Hurts nonetheless has numerous uncertainty to his identify, and Mannion’s offense — primarily based extra on the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan tree than something Hurts has run earlier than — makes that uncertainty legitimate, at the very least in a short-term sense.
If Mannion turns what was a catastrophe of an offense round, it’s all good. Sirianni certainly has sufficient underqualified acolytes to advertise when Mannion turns into a head coach in 2027. If not, for as a lot as Sirianni has achieved in half a decade, the questions will land firmly on his head.
The Eagles will want greater than the correct of teaching to achieve their Tremendous Bowl goals in 2026; they’ll additionally want big-time performances not solely from Hurts and all the opposite gamers of whom such issues are anticipated; however there may be additionally a necessity for lesser-known guys to step up into new and larger roles.
To that finish, I’ve recognized three Hidden Gems for the 2026 Eagles — one underrated veteran, one underrated free agent or traded participant, and one underrated draft decide.
Underrated veteran: EDGE Jalyx Hunt
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 28: Jalyx Hunt #58 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after a sack within the fourth quarter of the sport in opposition to the Buffalo Payments at Highmark Stadium on December 28, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Picture by Nic Antaya/Getty Pictures) Getty Pictures
With all of the offensive agita, there are only a few questions concerning the Eagles’ protection coming into the 2026 season; Vic Fangio had all that on lock as normal. Dropping edge-rusher Jaelan Phillips to the Carolina Panthers on a four-year, $120 million contract with $80 million assured was lower than splendid, however the Eagles weren’t going to pay that form of cash for that form of participant. Not over that size of time. As an alternative, they traded with the Minnesota Vikings for Jonathan Greenard, and signed him to a two-year, $60 million contract with $50 million assured. Greenard can deliver rather a lot when he’s wholesome, however the true crucible on the subject of the success of the crew’s edge disruption in 2026 falls on third-year man Jalyx Hunt.
Hunt transformed from security to EDGE at Cornell, after which confirmed sufficient at Houston Christian within the 2022 and 2023 seasons for the Eagles to take him with the ninety fifth decide within the third spherical of the 2024 draft. Hunt was an athletic mission at first, which is one purpose he had simply 343 defensive snaps in his rookie season. Nonetheless, he managed 4 sacks and 19 pressures, confirmed up with drive in Tremendous Bowl LIX, and displayed sufficient game-readiness to be extra of a consider 2025 with 722 snaps, seven sacks, and 60 pressures.
Hunt jogs my memory of a younger Danielle Hunter in some methods. When Hunter got here out of LSU within the 2015 draft, he was way more of an athlete than he was a nuanced soccer participant. However when he matched soccer acumen with basic athleticism, all bets had been off. Hunt has stuffed out his palette of pass-rush strikes, and we may even see how excessive his ceiling actually is within the new season.
“Just keep doing what he’s doing,” Fangio stated in Could when requested how Hunt can up his sport even additional. “He’s had a nice progression. I see him growing his game in all aspects. I think he can and will rush better. He’ll play the run better. It’s just the natural progression. He’s had a good progression. In his rookie year, he didn’t play a lot early. Then when BG [EDGE Brandon Graham] went down, he started playing more, and I thought for a guy with his background, it was kind of a perfect year for him. He ended up playing a good bit if you remember in the playoffs, et cetera. Then last year, [he] played a lot, did good.
“Yeah, I think he’s just ready to keep getting better and better.”
Underrated traded participant: WR Dontayvion Wicks
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 9: Dontayvion Wicks #13 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs with the ball throughout necessary minicamp at Jefferson Well being Coaching Complicated on June 9, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Picture by Mitchell Leff/Getty Pictures) Getty Pictures
Can the Eagles’ offense operate and not using a true X iso receiver? The man who can beat the opponents’ finest cornerback alone to 1 facet of the sector?
We’re about to search out out, as a result of final season, A.J. Brown was that man. In 2025, Brown lined up because the X iso receiver on 148 snaps, greater than twice as typically as every other Eagles receiver — DeVonta Smith ranked second with 77 X-iso targets, after which, the entire thing form of fell off a cliff.
Now, with Mannion in control of the passing sport, which may not be as a lot of a difficulty. Final season, the Packers ranked sixth within the NFL with a 50% fee of condensed formations, through which no receiver was performing because the X iso receiver, and the Packers have lengthy insisted — for higher or worse — that their passing sport can operate at a excessive degree extra by scheme than having that dominant exterior man.
(First-round decide Makai Lemon, by the way in which, lined up exterior simply 28% of the time within the 2025 season for USC. Simply saying).
Which is the place the commerce for former Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks is available in. Final season, the 6’1”, 206-pound Wicks caught 30 passes on 44 targets for 332 yards and two touchdowns. Calf and ankle accidents, in addition to concussion points, restricted his time on the sector in 2025, which is why he wasn’t capable of replicate his 2024 manufacturing, when he caught 41 passes on 80 targets for 454 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Nonetheless, when your yards per catch stays precisely the identical from one season to the following (11.1), and your catch fee will increase from 51.3% to 68.2%, that’s a very good factor.
“Me and Sean built a relationship, just like [with] Coach Mahaffey,” Wicks stated of his new residence with Mannion and former Inexperienced Bay receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey. “Relationships play a big part in things, so I felt like that was a big part of the reason [for] the trust for me to be here and for them to bank on me.”
Howie Roseman defined why Wicks was a consideration earlier than the Brown commerce even occurred, and why the Eagles gave him a one-year, $10.5 million contract extension with a max worth of $12.5 million.
”You see his talent set,” Roseman stated of Wicks. “He is a physical, explosive player at the top of routes. He can play inside or out, so he is a guy we had our eye on.”
Sirianni has admired Wicks’ talents to the same diploma.
So, possibly Wicks isn’t the best A.J. Brown alternative, as he lined up because the Packers’ X iso receiver simply 15 occasions final season. However given the curiosity from coaches who’ve labored with him earlier than to deliver him into the fold, and what the brand new passing sport could appear to be, that is probably not the legal responsibility it may have been in earlier seasons.
Underrated draft decide: Guard Micah Morris
Jun 9, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles heart Willie Lampkin (61) and guard Micah Morris (76) drill throughout minicamp at Jefferson Well being Coaching Complicated. Obligatory Credit score: Invoice Streicher-Imagn Pictures Invoice Streicher-Imagn Pictures
Howie Roseman’s love of massive guys from Georgia in any draft is a narrative that handed meme standing a very long time in the past with Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, however Howie was again on it in 2026, when the Eagles took offensive guard Micah Morris with the 207th decide within the sixth spherical.
The lateness of Morris’ decide stunned me, as I believed he had late second-day potential. Final season, the 6’4”, 330-pound Morris allowed no sacks, two quarterback hits, and two quarterback hurries in 426 pass-blocking snaps. The truth is, Morris by no means allowed a sack in 5 seasons with the Bulldogs, together with the final three as a starter.
And when Morris eyes you with the appropriate leverage, you’d higher have aspirin on the prepared.
Now, the Georgia reunion can proceed with Davis and Carter exhibiting Morris the nuances of cross professional in follow.
”Effectively for starters, it was not enjoyable, I’ll inform you that a lot,” Morris stated after he was drafted on going through Davis and Carter again within the Bulldogs days. “It was not fun at first. But it prepared me for this moment. It just provided me with the chance to learn from the best, and develop. Obviously I’m just giving them a look, just being scout team, but I’m also perfecting my craft and working against first-round draft picks, elite NFL players, All-Pro players. Just being able to do that at a young age, at that point, [against] All-American college players, just being able to give my best against them and try to hold my own against them so whenever it is my time, I’ve been through the hardest that there is to offer.”
In fact Roseman appreciated Morris’ potential; Morris is a giant dude from Georgia!
“There’s a lot to like about him,” Roseman stated. “He’s got great size. All of his testing is through the roof. He started every game for Georgia this year. He’s got incredible experience playing in the SEC. He’s got all the ability, and now he’s got to apply that as he gets an opportunity to come here. Another guy just, as we were going through it, stood out on our board for where we were and obviously an important position, so we took him.”
Proper now, the Eagles are projecting Landon Dickerson (nice when he’s wholesome) as their left guard, and Tyler Steen (meh) as the appropriate guard. Which signifies that Morris could have to attend for a Dickerson damage or a extremely unhealthy sport from Steen to get any significant regular-season reps, however the preseason ought to inform you numerous as to how he matches within the post-Stoutland period.
