The Philadelphia Eagles officially wrapped up their spring workout program last week. Now we’ll take a look at the winners, losers (today’s focus), and I don’t knows that stood out from four media-attended practices.
Disclaimer: These were non-contact drills (no pads) and four practices is a pretty small sample size. There’s still plenty of time for players to change their outlook — for better or for worse — over the course of training camp and preseason games. For historical context, here’s a look at the “losers” from this time last year.
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LOSERS
ANDY DALTON
There’s a case to be made that Dalton was a spring ‘winner’ relative to expectation. It was previously thought that he was going to be no more than the Eagles’ third quarterback. But the 38-year-old passer was Jalen Hurts’ primary backup in three of their four media-attended practices. He had a good showing on one of those days, too. But even on his best day, Dalton’s lacking arm strength was apparent as he barely completed some out routes that were tightly contested by defenders. And aside from that one day, Dalton struggled. Inaccurate passes were an issue and he threw multiple interceptions. If the Eagles determine QB2 based on merit (as opposed to experience), Dalton is on track to lose to Tanner McKee. And if Dalton isn’t the Eagles’ backup, does he even make the roster? Are they going to risk cutting Cole Payton? Or using an extra roster spot to keep four quarterbacks?
MAKAI LEMON
It’s official: the Eagles’ 2026 first-round pick is already a BUST. That’s actually not at all what I’m saying here. Lemon was an active target with the starters in his first and only media-attended spring practice, which was good to see. But then Lemon suffered a hamstring injury that caused him to miss at least half of the Eagles’ spring practices. It sounds like Lemon will be full go once training camp begins in late July. Perhaps he hits the ground running there and never looks back. Entirely possible! For now, it’s disappointing that he missed a chance to maximize building on-field chemistry with Jalen Hurts. The Eagles are heavily relying upon their rookie wideout to help replace A.J. Brown’s production. The team needs Lemon to stay healthy and be ready to handle a major workload in this offense.
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ELI STOWERS
Stowers had a very quiet spring, in part because he finished minicamp with some kind of undisclosed injury (compression sleeve on his right leg). It would’ve been nice to see Stowers thrive more in this passing camp setting since his receiving ability is supposed to be his biggest strength. It’s not like he was struggling to handle the rigors of physicality and blocking in non-contact practices. It’s obviously incredibly premature to sour on Stowers’ long-term outlook but I think it’s fair to have reservations about his ability to contribute in 2026. Barring major injuries, I believe Stowers finishes no higher than third in Eagles tight end snaps this season behind Dallas Goedert and Johnny Mundt.
COLE WISNIEWSKI
Man, another pick from the Eagles’ 2026 draft class ending up on this list?! Yep, this group of rookies struggled to stay healthy this spring (even ‘winner’ Markel Bell missed the final day of minicamp). Wisniewski missed the majority — if not all — of the Eagles’ full team drill activity during spring practices. He did participate in some individual drills, which is better than nothing at all. But there was thought that the Day 3 rookie could be a dark horse in the Eagles’ safety battle but he’s instead going to begin training camp behind the eight ball.
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TY ROBINSON
Despite the fact that Jalen Carter did not participate in team drills this spring (thus creating opportunity for younger players to get reps higher on the depth chart), Robinson spent time working on the third-string defensive line next to Uar Bernard, who has never even played football before. It would’ve been nice to see Robinson, who turned 25 last month, mixing in with the starting defense. But the first-team fill-in reps instead went to Byron Young. Gabe Hall also appeared to be ahead of Robinson on the depth chart. Seems like the 2025 fourth-round pick could be in jeopardy of not making the Eagles’ 53-man roster. Or he could be a healthy scratch again even if he does make the cut.
BRANDON JOHNSON
Johnson saw limited reps in spring drills before getting waived by the Eagles earlier this week. It seemed like he was on the upswing by the end of last season but now his time in Philly is over.
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