The preseason is not for the faint of heart. After going over 6 months without football, we cling to grainy practice footage and exhibition games between backups for sustenance. We’ve wandered through the desert of the NFL offseason hungry for football only to be handed a ketchup sandwich. That ketchup sandwich is the preseason. It’s empty calories with a level of excitement that makes Downton Abbey look like Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. It makes Mister Rogers look like Metallica. That being said, I absolutely love it.
I’m prone to taking an early August contest between the Eagles and Ravens backups too seriously. Writing notes on how many snaps backup defensive lineman Ty Robinson is getting while I navigate the confused and concerned looks from my girlfriend wondering why I’m pretty much watching dudes practice. I love seeing rookies’ flash potential. I love seeing longtime backups get their opportunity to show what they can do. I love jumping to conclusions based on games that mean nothing. Preseason is a drug I can’t seem to kick.
For us fans, the preseason doesn’t reveal much while also revealing everything. Coaches play generally vanilla schemes and rely on bland playcalling to assess talent, so as not to show their cards ahead of the season. Starters who do play in the preseason don’t play with maximum effort. But we get to see highly drafted rookies touch grass in our favorite uniforms for the first time (unless that rookie is Makai Lemon) and the development of second-year players primed to bump up their playing time. We get to find heroes in the rough. Those undrafted rookies or wayward vets getting another chance to show what they can do. Getting attached to dudes like that is like falling in love with a Game of Thrones character who dies two episodes later. The feats of most preseason heroes don’t often transfer to the regular season, but occasionally they make the leap.
That’s what brings us here today, ladies and gentlemen. Today we answer the question that literally no one has been wondering. Who are the greatest preseason players in Eagles history? By Eagles history, we ofcourse mean since 2014 when the NFL started tracking preseason statistics. We’ll look at the heroes in the rough, the highly touted stars, and the wayward veterans who showed up when the lights were dimmest and the stands were at less than capacity. This is your Philadelphia Eagles All-Preseason team.
Quarterback: 2015 Sam Bradford
In 2015, Chip Kelly locked Howie Roseman in a closet in the Novacare Complex and took the wheel. Driving under the influence of power, Kelly flipped future Eagles savior “Well Endowed” Nick Foles, a 2015 4th-round pick, and a 2016 2nd-round pick to Jeff Fisher’s St. Louis Rams for Sam Bradford (a man who played with the largest sleeves known to man). Sammy Sleeves came to Philly with high hopes for a team in desperate need of a franchise quarterback. He had a lot on his shoulders (literally, due to the size of his enormous shoulder pads).
But Sleevey Nicks flashed some signs of excellence. In the 2015 preseason, Bradford played two games to near perfection. He threw for an 86.7% completion percentage, going 13-for-15 to the tune of 156 yards and 3 touchdowns (including throwing 10-for-10 and 121 yards against Green Bay).
Unfortunately, that success didn’t translate to the regular season as Paul Thomas Sleeverson went 7-7 in games he started, throwing for 19 touchdowns (tied for 22nd in the league that season) and 14 interceptions (tied with Eli Manning for 7th-most in the league that season). Chip got fired and Howie eventually kicked down the door of the closet, shipped Sleevie Wonder to Minnesota for a first-round pick, and used the capital from that trade to draft Carson Wentz. The rest is history. But the sleeves will never be forgotten.
Running Back: 2015 Raheem Mostert
In 2015, someone clearly dumped an Alex Mack level of toxic goo into the Philadelphia water supply that turned everyone into a superhero. The same preseason that Sammy lit his sleeves on fire spinning the pigskin, an undrafted running back out of Purdue grabbed lightning in the palm of his hand. Raheem Mostert led the league in yards from scrimmage in the preseason. He was the next Darren Sproles. A versatile back who was a strong runner, a dangerous receiver, and a powder keg of a kick returner. The rare player who was a threat to score every time he touched the ball.
Mostert played in 4 games and ran for 157 yards at 4.03 yards per carry. On top of that, he had 14 catches for 194 yards at a whopping 13.86 yards per reception. The man was the human torch. Unfortunately, Mostert ran into an unstoppable force known as Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. He got cut from the Birds after his legendary preseason performance to make room for running backs DeMarco Murray (PTSD activated), Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, and Kenjon Barner.
Mostert finally caught on in his 4th year in the league, running for 772 yards and 8 touchdowns in Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco offense in 2019. He ran for over 1000 yards and 18 touchdowns with Miami and Mike McDaniel when the vibes were excellent in South Beach in 2023 and is currently mentoring 2nd-year running back Ashton Jeanty on the Las Vegas Raiders.
Wide Receiver: 2018 Shelton Gibson
I don’t know if you remember, but the Eagles weren’t always the best at drafting wide receivers (see: Reagor, Jalen). Enter Shelton Gibson. The 5th-round pick out of West Virginia was the Jerry Rice of Josh Huffs. The Larry Fitzgerald of Marvin McNutts.
In 2018, coming off a Super Bowl he was not a part of, Gibson came out swinging. In 3 preseason games, he caught 9 passes for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gibson looked like he’d become a contributor to an Eagles team looking to repeat. Unfortunately, in three seasons with the Eagles, Gibson failed to make much of a mark. He caught a total of 3 passes for 59 yards. Those are Sean McVay in college numbers.
Tight End: 2018 Dallas Goedert
The same season Young Shelton broke out as a preseason receiver, Philadelphia was introduced to a future legend. It was clear from the jump that Dallas Goedert had the goods. The Man Named After A City played in 3 games and caught 9 balls for 149 yards and 1 TD. Two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win later, he is now one of the top 3 the greatest tight ends in Philadelphia Eagles history.
Defensive Tackle: 2021 T.Y. McGill
First off, T.Y. McGill sounds like the lead character in a Pixar movie about a private detective who’s also a fish who is investigating the lowering water levels in his home pond. It will be called “Up to My Gills” and T.Y. McGill will be voiced by Josh Brolin.
Anyway, dude was a defensive tackle for the Birds who made is mark in the preseason. The year before, McGill appeared in 7 games for the Birds in 2020 and recorded a half sack, 3 QB hits, 1 tackle for loss, and 9 tackles. The following preseason, McGill had 3 sacks, 1 pass defended, and 5 QB hits in 2 games. Unfortunately, he was traded to Washington after the preseason and then to Minnesota later in the year.
Defensive End: 2019 Daeshon Hall
In 2019, all of the clocks in Daeshon Hall’s house were set to Demon Time. The former 3rd-round pick from the Carolina Panthers was signed by Philly in December of 2018 off the Texans practice squad. That preseason, Daeshon went off.
In 4 games, he recorded 10 tackles, 4 sacks, and 11 quarterback hits. Hall got some playing time for the Eagles that season, recording 1.5 sacks, 9 tackles, and 3 quarterback hits that season. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in the last game of the 2019 season and was cut from the team the next year. He never managed to catch his footing again in the league.
Linebacker: 2017 Mychal Kendricks
Can I interest you in a linebacker who was really fast and hit really hard? That was Mychal Kendricks. A player who was fun to watch and occasionally slightly frustrating. But at his best, Kendricks was a human wrecking ball.
That season, Kendricks started at weakside linebacker next to Nigel Bradham and Jordan Hicks. In the preseason (back then a 5-year veteran would still play in the preseason), Kendricks just kind of bullied people. Appearing in 3 games, he got 1 sack, 4 tackles, and two tackles for loss, but also somehow caught 3 interceptions (1 in each game he played) and returned one for a touchdown.
Kendricks played 7 total years in Philly and helped lead us to our first-ever Super Bowl win later that year.
Cornerback: 2023 Eli Ricks
Ricks signed with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama. Ricks was also generally unimpressive. He had long arms and liked to use those for anything but covering wide receivers.
In the 2023 preseason, he flashed some potential, totaling 4 passes defensed and 1 interception returned for a TD. It looked like the Eagles unearthed some solid corner depth behind James Bradberry and Darius Slay. He played for the Birds for two years and was on the Super Bowl-winning roster in 2024. Other than that, he kind of stunk.
Safety: 2015 Ed Reynolds
Where my real sickos at? Ed Reynolds looked like a safety you would want on your team in 2015. He was 6’2”, big-bodied, super physical, and smart, playing for David Shaw’s Stanford team in college. His dad was a linebacker in the NFL. In 4 games that preseason, Reynolds recorded 14 tackles and 2 interceptions. He flew around like a wild man.
Unfortunately, Right Said Ed only played 1 season in Philly and appeared in 6 games, recording 21 tackles and 1 interception.
Not featured: Offensive line, because I need someone to start tracking offensive lineman data in the preseason.