BALTIMORE — The Eagles must have left the good stuff in Sean Mannion’s playbook in the building before their trip down I-95.
Jokes aside, the team opened the preseason with a 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens with the offense struggling mightily to generate any momentum under the Eagles’ new offensive coordinator.
Let’s take stock of where things stand going into joint practices against the New England Patriots next week:
Stock down, the QB2 competition between Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton
It isn’t often I’d start a stock report in a preseason game — even a loss like Saturday night’s — with a stock down, but much of the conversation about this game will revolve around the Eagles’ stagnant offense evoking memories of last season and the shaky quarterback play.
Keeping in line with the team’s recent practice habits, Andy Dalton got the “start” with the Eagles backups and played the entirety of the first quarter in a stagnant showing. Dalton finished 3-for-6 for 20 yards leading a group that didn’t manage a single first down amid miscommunications with receivers and one costly drop from Darius Cooper.
Coming in for the second quarter and playing into the third, McKee wasn’t much better. He went 6-for-10 for 35 yards with a handful more completions but only one first down and zero points to his name as well.
For those ready to overreact, I don’t think the offensive struggles warrant much reason for long-term concern. Nick Sirianni warned they’d be operating off a limited menu of concepts as to avoid tipping teams off to what Mannion’s scheme will look like in the regular season and these are still the early days of a drastically different system.
I do think it’s fair to wonder if the sporadic rotation between Dalton and McKee this summer has had some adverse effects on their ability to find a rhythm operating Mannion’s scheme with the backups.
For what it’s worth, this is what Sirianni said he was hoping to see from the offense going into Saturday’s game.
“You want the operation to be really smooth,” Sirianni said. “You want everyone to be really clean on their assignments and you’re looking for good, fundamental football. It’s not any different than how we treat practice on a daily basis.”
Stock up, Marcus Epps
This one was determined about 20 minutes before kickoff as the team took the sideline. Marcus Epps came out in street clothes, while Michael Carter made a beeline for the bench in uniform. Epps getting the night off, especially considering even Jihaad Campbell was given a couple series of work at the start of the game, is about enough to call the position battle for the safety spot in the Eagles’ nickel defense in his favor. (Cooper DeJean will be the team’s second safety opposite Drew Mukuba in the base defense)
Carter spent most of the first half operating at safety before giving way to the third-team defense in the second half. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio commended Carter’s versatility to play both as a backup nickel corner and safety, and I’d now suspect that’s the role he’ll occupy for the Eagles in Week 1.
Stock up, Markel Bell
Of the guys who actually played who also have a chance to take on a gameday role in the regular season, Markel Bell had one of the more encouraging performances. The rookie third-round pick operated at right tackle in a game for the first time in his career and looked comfortable both in pass pro and making a key seal-out block for a Will Shipley run in the second quarter.
I did notice Bell was at times the only offensive lineman who didn’t line up in a three-point stance on a handful of downs. Perhaps the coaching staff is allowing him to transition to right tackle without the added strain of getting his 6-foot-9, 345-pound frame all the way to the ground?
Stock down, Fred Johnson
At the expense of Bell’s encouraging outing was Fred Johnson, who was called for a holding penalty on the Eagles’ opening drive.
Johnson has had a shaky training camp overall. At the risk of making a bad pun in the wake of his brawl against Moro Ojomo at the end of Thurdsay’s practice, he’ll have to show some fight in what is quickly becoming a true competition for the Eagles’ swing tackle position on game day.
Stock up, Willie Lampkin
The juxtaposition of having Bell line up next to Willie Lampkin for most of the second quarter was a fun one to see, but it also kinda works.
Lampkin got up to the second level a couple of times to flash his capability of chasing down linebackers to clear out running lanes and held up perfectly fine in pass pro against bigger defensive tackles both at center early in the game and at guard next to Bell. Adding Lampkin’s lightning to Bell’s thunder is a fun combo in the preseason, and both guys bolstered arguments that they can contribute in a depth role on game days this season.
Stock up, Ty Robinson
Robinson had a quiet start to training camp, but had a nice swipe move in the first quarter to pick up a sack on the Raven’s opening drive. It’s not going to take much for the 2025 fourth-round pick to convince the Eagles to give him more time to develop; so Saturday’s showing was a big step in the right direction.
Stock neutral, Kelee Ringo
The Kelee Ringo experience was in full force on Saturday. The 24-year-old cornerback got beat by Baltimore rookie receiver Ja’Kobi Lane on an in-breaking route in the red zone for a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter and was called for a bad defensive holding penalty with the Ravens threatening once again in the third quarter.
A few plays after the holding call, though, Ringo came up with an impressive interception in the back of the end zone that flashed the elite physical traits that made him a legitimate candidate to earn a starting spot in the Eagles defense as recently as last summer.
The thing with Ringo has never been about the highs, though, it’s about whether he can limit the penalties and panicked moments when the ball is in the air consistently enough to give him a chance at those special moments.
Stock up, Joshua Weru
It took exactly one play in an organized football game for Joshua Weru to make an impact.
The 6-4, 244-pound edge rusher from Kenya registered a quarterback hit on his first play early in the third quarter and got another pressure later in the drive. Weru’s moments were mostly flashes, but that could be sufficient to garner enough attention across the league to give him a case to make the initial 53-man roster.
No other team had tape on Weru before tonight, and what he showed on tape tonight shows the upside that’s been apparent for those watching closely during training camp.
Stock neutral, Jihaad Campbell
Campbell didn’t move the needle much either way, but it is noteworthy that the Eagles elected for the second-year linebacker to be the only projected Week 1 starter in uniform and active for the game.
Campbell played two series before being replaced by Smael Mondon and did fine; my guess is Fangio wanted Campbell to get a handful of snaps under his belt after missing organized team activities in the spring with a shoulder injury.
Stock up, Deontae Lawson
Undrafted rookie Deontae Lawson was a name I snuck onto my initial 53-man roster projection because of what he may be capable of in the preseason, and he showed exactly that on Saturday.
The former highly touted recruit out of Alabama showed range as a tackler and even registered a pressure in the third quarter when utilized as a blitzer. He’s got long arms and good explosiveness, although he did get overpowered in the run game a couple times.
He’ll need to show more in the coming weeks to earn a roster spot, but it’s at least in play with what he showed Saturday.