The Eagles were on on Saturday after getting five-straight days of practices in, four of which included live reps, and one of which included live-drills with full tackling.
After a week of work, here is a deep-dive into the practice stats — which I have been tracking each day:
Quarterbacks:
Carson Wentz:
Reps: 129
Stats: 58/87, 9 TD, 2 INT
Analysis: Wentz has had a very good start to camp, although his play did dip slightly as the week went on. The reason for that, however, seemed to be the play of the offensive line as opposed to Wentz consistently poor throws. What is encouraging is how well Wentz did in the red zone drills, which is where the majority of his nine touchdowns came from. While Wentz has always been great in the red zone during his career, he wasn’t great in training camp last year in the red zone. That wasn’t the case this week and it could be a sign he is ready to step his game up to even a higher level inside the 20.
Nate Sudfeld:
Reps: 81
Stats: 34/48, 2 TD, 0 INT
Analysis: Sudfeld started to separate himself from Hurts as the week went on in terms of reps, going from a nearly 50/50 split the first few days to ending the week with close to 30 more reps. Sudfeld looked more comfortable than Hurts in the intense, live, 11-on-11 drills the team ran on Friday, which is probably the main reason he is the No. 2 right now. The issue with Sudfeld is that even on the days he plays well, or looks better than he did the previous days, there aren’t many big plays being made. Sudfeld has just two touchdowns on 48 throws, and was not good in the red zone. Sudfeld feels like the safe option at this point, but he needs to show more of an ability to make big plays when under center.
Jalen Hurts
Reps: 52
Stats: 19/28, 5 TD, 2 INT, 3 Rushing TD
Analysis: Hurts had an outstanding start to week, as he was almost unstoppable in the red zone and displayed great touch on his passes down the field. He had probably the best throw of training camp so far when he hit receiver John Hightower town right right sideline for a 40-plus yard touchdown. He has also been plenty active as a runner, taking off and showing his speed when he needs to. While he has looked like a rookie at times, the main difference between Sudfeld and Hurts is that Hurts makes plays. He has totaled eight touchdowns so far, with Sudfeld only coming up with two. Hurts is going to make some mistakes, but it is hard to imagine any defense would rather face Hurts.
Wide Receivers:
Ranked by targets:
Dallas Goedert: 14 targets, 10 catches, 1 TD
Joshua Perkins: 13 targets, 8 catches, 1 TD
Greg Ward: 13 targets, 9 targets, 1 TD
Zach Ertz: 11 targets, 6 catches, 1 TD
John Hightower: 11 targets, 7 catches, 2 TD
Quez Watkins: 11 targets, 5 catches, 2 TD
Jalen Reagor: 7 targets, 7 catches
Deontay Burnett: 7 targets, 7 catches
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: 6 targets, 4 catches
Rob Davis: 5 targets, 3 catches
Noah Togiai: 5 targets, 5 catches, 1 TD
DeSean Jackson: 5 targets, 2 catches, 1 TD
Marcus Green: 4 targets, 3 catches
Caleb Wilson: 4 targets, 4 catches, 1 TD
Manasseh Bailey: 2 targets, 0 catches
Analysis: One noteworthy trend that is forming is the majority of the top players in targets being tight end and receivers. Overall, four-of-the-top-five players in targets are either tight ends or running backs. Last year by comparison, at the end of camp, four-of-the-top-five players in targets were receivers. Perhaps things will change as camp goes on, but for now, the Eagles have been mostly a dink-and-dunk offense in camp despite adding so much speed on offense.
There are likely two reasons for this trend.
The first is that the offense has been missing their best receiver, Jackson, for the majority of team reps as he has been in-and-out of practice. As a result, their receivers have mostly been young players in team drills. The other reason is that the offensive line was not great the first week, and the pressure coming from the defensive line is resulting in plenty of check downs to get rid of the ball.
It is also noteworthy how much work the young receivers are getting. Hightower and Watkins each have 11 targets, and Reagor getting seven despite missing Friday’s practice. Hightower and Watkins have both been getting a decent amount of reps with the first-team offense. It also shouldn’t be overlooked that the top receiver in targets is Ward with 13. Yes, the fact that Jackson has been mostly on the sideline is part of the reason why, but Ward getting more targets than any other receiver reinforces what we saw at the end of last year — Wentz trusts Ward.
Burnett definitely helped himself this week at practice, catching all seven passes thrown his way. At just 22-years old Burnett is an intriguing prospect, as he looks lighting quick on the field and has displayed some great hands. The numbers game is going to make it tough for him to make the roster, however.
One week in, the depth chart at receiver seems to look something like this: Jackson, Ward, Arcega-Whiteside, Reagor, Hightower, Watkins, Burnett, Davis, Green, Bailey. At tight end, it is pretty clear — Ertz, Goedert, Perkins, Togiai, Wilson.
Running Backs:
Total Touches:
Corey Clement: 26 (16 carries, 10 catches)
Elijah Holyfield: 19 (10 carries, 9 catches)
Miles Sanders: 9 (7 carries, 2 catches)
Michael Warren: 9 (7 carries, 2 catches)
Boston Scott: 6 (6 carries, 0 catches)
Adrian Killins: 6 (2 carries, 4 catches)
Analysis: No position has been impacted more by injuries than the running backs, as the clear-cut top two — Sanders and Scott — only practiced two of the five days. When they were on the field, the pecking order was very clear, with Sanders getting about 70% of the touches by running backs with the first-team offense, Scott getting the majority of the rest and Clement sprinkled in.
The clear takeaway from the first week at running back is that Clement is making this team. He has been getting considerably more touches than any of the other backs, and working with both the first-and-second team. There also seems to be a big gap between Holyfield and the other backs. The majority of Killins’ touches (four) came on Friday’s practice, helping him make up some ground in what was otherwise a quiet first week of practice. The Eagles seem to be interested in what he can do as a pass catcher, but have been hesitant to give him the ball on the ground.
One week in, the depth chart seems to look something like this: Sanders, Scott, Clement, Holyfield, Warren, Killins.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!