Projecting first-year roles for each of the Eagles’ 10 rookie draft picks

In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected 10 players, some of whom are likely to get playing time as rookies. Here we'll look at each of the Birds' additions, and project their roles as rookies.

Round 1: LB Jihaad Campbell

I suppose the first question that should be asked about Campbell is, "Where is he going to play?"

Campbell was recruited as an edge rusher out of high school, but he moved to linebacker at Bama, with some occasional reps on the edge.

He has prototypical off-ball linebacker size at 6'3, 235.

Change his position to edge defender, and, well, he doesn't. As you can see, 99 percent of NFL edge rushers would outweigh him, 78 percent would be taller, and 92 percent would have longer arms.

He does not have ideal size traits on the edge.

I also thought the following video by Ted Nguyen did a nice job of highlighting Campbell's strengths and weaknesses. Notably, one of his strengths is in coverage. Nguyen concluded — and I agree — that Campbell's skill set is much more suited to off-ball linebacker than on the edge. It's not that long. Just five minutes. It's worth a the watch if you didn't see it in our draft grades.

However, because Campbell possesses that Zack Baun-like OBLB/EDGE versatility, he's yet another player in the Eagles' defense who can allow Fangio to get creative in his scheme disguises.

At linebacker, Baun will start (duh), and Nakobe Dean will almost certainly begin the season on the PUP list as he continues to recover from a torn patellar tendon suffered in the playoffs. That leaves an open starting spot, which presumably would be filled by Campbell, if healthy. However, Campbell had surgery in March for a torn labrum in his shoulder, so his availability to participate in training camp when it begins in late July is in question.

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Appearing on 97.5 the Fanatic, Adam Schefter suggested that there are concerns beyond the torn labrum.

"He's recovering from surgery on one shoulder," Schefter said. "There are teams that believe he will need surgery on his other shoulder after the season. And there are teams that believe that he has a knee issue, over time, degenerative."

Howie Roseman and the Eagles do not have long-term concerns about Campbell's health.

"This was a top 10 player on our board," Roseman said. "We do not have any long-term concerns about his health. We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team. We have a lot of confidence that this guy is going to be here and play at a high level for a long time."

In 2025, it's just the one shoulder that Campbell is currently rehabbing that could keep him off the field. When exactly he is ready, we'll see, I suppose, but torn labrums typically take a minimum of four months — and sometimes longer — to heal.

If Campbell is not ready to go by Week 1, or if he has missed enough of camp that he's simply not ready to play yet, like Cooper DeJean wasn't for the first month of the 2024 season, then Jeremiah Trotter could be the short-term starter. The Eagles were ready to have Trotter and Oren Burks split snaps in the playoffs after Dean went down, but when Burks immediately played well, Vic Fangio decided to just stick with him.

But certainly, whenever Campbell is mentally ready to play without physical restrictions, I'm sure Fangio will be eager to get him on the field.

Round 2: S Andrew Mukuba

Mukuba is primarily a safety, but he doubles as a slot corner, in a similar mold as C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

"He's going to start in the safety room, and at the end of the day we're looking to add competition to that position," Roseman said, when asked if he would play safety or slot corner.

Mukuba is smart, tough, instinctive, and a ballhawk, as he had five INTs and a forced fumble in 2024. He's also a hitter. The downside is that he's only 5'11 and 186 pounds (Combine measurements), though I imagine the Eagles will try to get him to put on more muscle.

After trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the Eagles had one definite starter in Reed Blankenship, and then a question mark at the other spot. The leader in the clubhouse to start at safety in 2025, heading into the draft anyway, was Sydney Brown, who has ideal physical traits, but who the Eagles have demonstrated that they do not yet trust to play an important role in the regular defense.

In short, Brown is gifted with better physical attributes, while Mukuba profiles as a smarter defender. As long as the physical differences aren't drastic (they're not, in my opinion), my bet is that Fangio will prefer the more instinctive player. If we were to handicap the 2025 starter at safety opposite Blankenship, with the roster as currently constructed, I would lean heavily toward Mukuba.

The question is whether or not the Eagles will add another veteran safety to the mix, like, ohhhh, sayyyy, Justin Simmons, who played for Fangio for three years in Denver. Simmons could serve as training wheels for Mukuba for one season, and allow Mukuba to ease into a starting role. For now, pencil in Mukuba as a starter, pending the addition of some other vet.

Round 4: iDL Ty Robinson

Along the interior of the Eagles' defensive line, Jalen Carter will play a ton of snaps again in 2025, while Moro Ojomo will pick up some of the available snaps left over by the departure of Milton Williams in free agency. It will be interesting to see if and how much Jordan Davis' workload increases. I mean, it better increase, considering the Eagles exercised his fifth-year option for 2026.

Beyond that, the Eagles don't have much in the way of experienced depth. Here are their other interior defensive lineman, and how many career snaps they have played:

• Thomas Booker: 372
• Byron Young: 99
• Gabe Hall: 0

Robinson is an older prospect at 24 years of age, so you're not typically going to have those guys sit while they grow behind the scenes. You might take that approach with a 20-year-old Kelee Ringo, but not a guy like Robinson. Unless he's just brutally bad in camp, he will very likely be a part of the D-line rotation immediately, and his versatility to play multiple spots will only help him see the field.

Round 5: CB Mac McWilliams

Quinyon Mitchell will start at one outside corner spot, and Cooper DeJean will start in the slot. At the open outside cornerback spot vacated by Darius Slay, the top two contenders to start are Ringo and Adoree' Jackson.

Part of McWilliams' appeal is that he has inside-outside versatility, but because the Eagles don't have any other backup slot corners likely to make the team, I imagine that's where McWilliams will get the bulk of his work in training camp. He is also a contender to be a part of the punt and kick coverage teams because he's a physical tackler and he has 4.41 speed.

I like McWilliams' chances of being active on gameday, but his contributions will initially have to come on special teams.

Round 5: LB Smael Mondon

We covered the linebacker hierarchy above in the Campbell section, and Mondon isn't likely to have a significant role early on. However, because he is such a good athlete and he's a better prospect in coverage than Dean and Trotter were when they came out, I wonder if Mondon can carve out a role in sub-packages on obvious passing downs. It's also worth noting that Georgia often used Mondon as a QB spy, and the Eagles play in the same division as Jayden Daniels. He should also be a core special teamer.

Random recollection: I remember listening to an interview with Nolan Smith on Chris Long's podcast shortly after the 2023 draft, and Smith was talking about how much he loved playing special teams. Smith noted that he was mad that the younger Mondon beat him out for a spot on one of Georgia's special teams units. I want to say it was punt coverage? That always stuck with me for some reason.

Round 5: C/G Drew Kendall

Kendall has a variety of opportunities to get on the field as a rookie.

To begin, the Eagles didn't already have a backup center off the bench before they drafted Kendall, so his selection filled a hole. In 2024, whenever Cam Jurgens went down, LG Landon Dickerson moved to center, and Tyler Steen filled in at guard. Kendall has to show that he is worthy of filling in directly for Jurgens so that Jeff Stoutland doesn't have to juggle the O-line and have multiple spots manned by new players.

Also, when Kendall was selected, the Eagles listed him at center and guard, even though he only played center at Boston College. It's likely the Eagles will cross-train him at both spots as a rookie, and if he shows early on that he can play, maybe they'll allow him to compete with guys like Steen, Kenyon Green, Trevor Keegan, and Matt Pryor for the starting RG job?

My bet is that he makes the team as a backup center and guard and is active on gameday.

Round 6: QB Kyle McCord

Jalen Hurts was the Super Bowl MVP, so it's safe to assume his spot as the starter is safe. After the Eagles traded Kenny Pickett to the Browns, Tanner McKee bumped up to QB2, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, acquired in the Pickett deal, filled in as the QB3.

McCord will battle it out with Thompson-Robinson for the QB3 job. All he really has to do is keep it close and he'll win that battle. It's not totally out of the realm of possibility that McCord could challenge McKee for the QB2 job, but McKee (a) is good, and (b) has a two-year head start in both in the NFL and in the Eagles' playbook, so that feels unlikely.

Round 6: OTs Miles Hinton and Cameron Williams

Let's lump these two guys together, since they're both competing for backup OT spots.

The Eagles carried 11 offensive linemen on their 53-man roster for most of the 2024 season. Their O-line depth looked like this, with departing players bolded in red:

Mailata, Dickerson, Jurgens, and Johnson will all start for the Birds again in 2025. Steen may or may not start, be he's at least a lock to make the team. I would also probably consider fifth-round C/G Drew Kendall something close to a lock to make the team as well, assuming he's not awful in camp. So that's six spots taken.

Keegan, Toth, and Kinnard will have to earn their way back onto the roster in 2025, and they'll have competition from rookies like Hinton, Williams, and undrafted free agent Hollin Pierce, as well as from vets like Kendall Lamm, Kenyon Green, and Matt Pryor.

My guess is that the Eagles will go heavy on the O-line again in 2025, and they'll find room for Hinton and Williams as long as they at least show something in camp. They have shown in the past that they will keep extra linemen on the roster, even if as many as three of them are inactive on gameday.

If I'm handicapping whether Hinton or Williams has a better chance of seeing the field first, I'd probably go with Hinton, who started more games in college and has LT/RT versatility, while Williams played exclusively at RT at Texas and only had 16 career starts

Round 6: EDGE Antwaun Powell-Ryland

The Eagles have decent depth on the edge, with Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Azeez Ojulari, Bryce Huff, and Josh Uche. And yes, I'm including Huff here, who will be on the team in 2025 because of his albatross contract. The Eagles have to hope that he is significantly better in 2025 than he was in 2024, when he was almost unplayable.

The Eagles' edge defenders are all of the speedy-but-light variety. There's no Brandon Graham-like player in that mix. If Powell-Ryland were a bigger edge, I'd like his chances of getting on the field a little more, but he too is on the smaller size.

He'll be competing with guys like Uche and Patrick Johnson for a roster spot, but if he makes the 53 he probably won't find much playing time as a rookie.

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