With free agency and the NFL Draft behind us, now’s a good time to take a look at how the 2026 Philadelphia Eagles depth chart is shaping up. We’ll start today with the offense before moving on to defense and special teams. After that, we’ll post our first 53-man roster projection ahead of the upcoming season. (For fun, take a look at how the roster looks compared to last year at this time.)
QUARTERBACK
1 – Jalen Hurts
2 – Tanner McKee
3 – Andy Dalton
4 – Cole Payton
It will be very interesting to see how Hurts fares
in the Eagles’ new look offense under Sean Mannion. McKee is entering the final year of his rookie contract and he’ll either be QB2 or traded to another team. Dalton will either be QB2 (if McKee is traded) or the emergency third quarterback. Payton’s roster spot isn’t necessarily guaranteed; he was picked three spots ahead of where Kyle McCord was last year and the Eagles waived the latter. But the Eagles would probably prefer to keep the rookie around in a developmental capacity.
RUNNING BACK
1 – Saquon Barkley
2 – Tank Bigsby
3 – Will Shipley
4 – Dameon Pierce
Barkley struggled to replicate his historical 2024 success last year in large part due to poor performance from the Eagles’ offensive line. If the blocking is better this year, he could have a strong season. Bigsby looked really good as RB2 but went underutilized. His usage ceiling is capped with Barkley ahead of him … but the Eagles need to make an effort to keep him involved. The coaching staff likes Shipley as a dirty work guy (special teams contributions, pass blocking) who theoretically provides pass-catching ability. Pierce is an interesting flier to take a chance on.
FULLBACK
1 – Carson Steele
Steele is officially listed as a running back on the Eagles’ website roster page but he has fullback experience, so, we’re putting him here. The Eagles were planning to utilize Ben VanSumeren as a fullback last year before he got hurt on the very first snap of the 2025 NFL season. They then used Cameron Latu as a fullback at times. To be determined if we’ll continue to see FB usage with Mannion calling the plays.
WIDE RECEIVER
1 – DeVonta Smith
2 – Makai Lemon
3 – Dontayvion Wicks
4 – Marquise Brown
5 – Darius Cooper
6 – Johnny Wilson
7 – Elijah Moore
8 – Britain Covey
9 – Danny Gray
10 – Quez Watkins
11 – A.J. Brown
DeVonta has proven more than capable of handling a WR1 workload when A.J. Brown hasn’t been available (see: the Eagles-Buccaneers Wild Card game from the 2023 season, among other examples). It should be a career year for Smitty. The Birds are clearly counting on the rookie Lemon to handle a big workload from the jump. The Eagles have signaled that they’re expecting Wicks to be a real contributor in 2026 after trading for him and signing him to a contract extension. Hollywood Brown could end up ahead of Wicks as WR3 but for now we’ll pencil him in as a rotational player as WR4. One would be remiss to sleep on Cooper, who was a total long shot to make the 53-man roster at this time last season. Cooper is not afraid to do the dirty work that could help him stay around. Wilson missed the entire 2025 season due to injury but his big frame makes him appealing as a blocker, so, we’ll see if he manages to stick. Moore is a good “break glass in case of emergency” option to keep around on the practice squad; his lack of special teams experience hurts his chances of making the roster and being active on game day. The Eagles might try other options at punt returner before defaulting to Covey once again. Gray is realistically pushing for a spot on the practice squad. Some will be surprised to realize that Watkins returned to the Eagles on the practice squad last season and is still under team control. A.J. Brown is going to be traded after June 1.
TIGHT END
1 – Dallas Goedert
2 – Eli Stowers
3 – Johnny Mundt
4 – Grant Calcaterra
5 – Cameron Latu
6 – E.J. Jenkins
7 – Stone Smartt
8 – Dae’Quan Wright
Goedert is entering his age 31 season. Will he give the Eagles more as a blocker than he did last year? I have Stowers listed as TE2 here but I’m not so sure he’ll actually see the second-most tight end snaps as a rookie. I’m not sure how much the coaching staff will trust him to play. Mundt seems like a good bet to make the team as a blocker and special teams guy. Felt like both the Eagles and Calcaterra could’ve benefited from moving on but the depth tight end is back for at least one more summer. Latu is a specials teams beast with fullback flexibility but he’s been a non-factor as a pass-catcher. Jenkins and Smart are fighting uphill battles to stick around. Wright is the Eagles’ most intriguing UDFA signing, in my view. He could open some eyes in the preseason.
OFFENSIVE TACKLE
1 – Lane Johnson
2 – Jordan Mailata
3 – Fred Johnson
4 – Markel Bell
5 – Cameron Williams
6 – Myles Hinton
7 – John Ojukwu
Lane is entering his age 36 season. He’s still playing at an elite level but the Eagles have to expect he could miss some games. Mailata is looking to bounce back after not his best season in 2025. Big Fred figures to be the Eagles’ swing tackle once again. Bell might be able to win a backup job at either left tackle or right tackle with Fred being the other top backup at the other position. Williams showed more promise than expected as a 22-year-old late last season. He needs to prove he’s improving, as does Hinton. Ojukwu has to be in contention for the most anonymous player on the Eagles’ roster.
OFFENSIVE GUARD
1 – Landon Dickerson
2 – Tyler Steen
3 – Willie Lampkin
4 – Micah Morris
5 – Hollin Pierce
6 – Jaedan Roberts
The Eagles are looking thin at guard, especially when one considers that Dickerson (who was rumored to possibly retire at 27 years old) didn’t sound very optimistic about his future when speaking after the 2025 season. And then he signed a reworked deal that lopped off the final season of his contract. If he can get back healthy, that would be huge. If not, yikes, because who’s stepping up to replace him? Steen gets too much guff; he’s a perfectly acceptable starting guard in the NFL. Lampkin could also factor in as center depth but he was playing guard in the preseason last year. Though quite undersized, he’s strong and intriguing. Morris probably isn’t ready to play in the NFL as a rookie but the Eagles are betting on his upside. Pierce could also factor in at tackle but he’s a long shot, as is Roberts.
CENTER
1 – Cam Jurgens
2 – Drew Kendall
3 – Jake Majors
Jurgens making the Pro Bowl last year was a joke since he wasn’t very good. We’ll see if the stem cell treatment he got down in Medellin helps get him healthier. PHLY’s EJ Smith noted that the Eagles are bullish on Kendall’s potential. If Jurgens falters, Kendall could rise up the depth chart. Even if he’s not starting, Kendall could be a key interior offensive line depth piece as the top backup option at both guard and center … the way that Brett Toth used to be before leaving in free agency this offseason (underrated loss). Majors is probably in the camp body crew.
