There are a few different ways to be a breakout candidate, and there are a few different ways to break out. You can be a young guy who’s developed for a couple of years (Milton Williams), or you can be a guy who’s found himself in a new spot (Zack Baun). You can break out by having a great season (again, Zack Baun), or you can break out by taking over for someone who’s not on the team anymore (Cam Jurgens).
The Philadelphia Eagles have a whole bunch of young guys on their roster and a whole bunch of guys who left in the offseason. If this team is going to be as good as they’ve set themselves up to be, then there are going to be a whole bunch of these guys who actually do have a breakout season.
The Eagles' defensive line could have the best first names in the NFL
Six of the Eagles’ key players left in the offseason: Milton Williams, Darius Slay, Josh Sweat, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Mekhi Becton, and Brandon Graham. Those are some big losses. Luckily, Jalyx Hunt, Kelee Ringo, Tyler Steen, Reed Blankenship, and Moro Ojomo are there with an opportunity to fill their shoes.
Jalyx Hunt:
We know that Nolan Smith Jr. rocks. He plays much bigger than he is, and he can wreck games… not in the traditional sense, but in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, he crushed the Packers’ left guard, Elgton Jenkins, and took him out of the game purely by being physical. He’s a certified beast, and he’s got top-tier talent.
Jalyx Hunt, on the other hand, didn’t have a consistently dominant season. He was great in the postseason, but in the regular season? Not so much.
That’s not a knock on him, though. The dude was a rookie, and he was a safety in the Ivy League 15 minutes ago, so it’s totally fine that he wasn’t at the ‘consistently be able to annihilate the NFL-caliber offensive linemen across from you’ level right away. That being said, it would be huge if he had one of those ‘Who the hell is Jalyx Hunt?’ years.
On top of that, how sick would it be if the Eagles had an awesome player named Jalyx? There have to be five total Jalyxes in the world, and the Eagles would have the best one. That’d be really cool.
Kelee Ringo:
It’s not a coincidence that the Eagles' last two teams that went to the Super Bowl have had a pair of cornerbacks playing at stupid-high levels. In 2022, it was James Bradberry (second-team All-Pro) and Darius Slay (Pro Bowl). In 2024, it was Quinyon Mitchell (OROY runner-up) and Darius Slay (somehow no awards).
Kelee Ringo’s situation is very straightforward: the Eagles drafted him as a 20-year-old in 2022 so they could turn him into a starter when Darius Slay left. Well, that exact situation has come to life.
Last season, Slay got targeted on 16.6% of his snaps in coverage, and Mitchell was targeted on 12.7% of his. Teams were actively not throwing into Quinyonamo Bay, and I imagine that’s going to be the case again this season, especially if it’s an unknown like Ringo on the other side.
One thing is for sure, and that’s that he’ll get tested over and over again. If he can be a lockdown corner this season, that’d be unbelievable. If he can just hold his own, that’d be just fine. Hopefully it’s more of the former, but it feels like the Eagles might’ve used up all of their ‘hitting on corners in the draft’ luck up last season.
Tyler Steen:
This isn’t Tyler Steen’s first shot at the starting right guard job. Last year, he had a good shot at it, but because of some injuries and Mekhi Becton being super sick, Steen lost it. If he does break out this season, not only is it going to be great for just this year, but it’ll also mean that the Eagles' offensive line will stay intact for the next handful of years.
Remember how great Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks were from 2016 to 2019 when they played next to each other for four straight seasons? That was awesome. Since then, the Eagles have had a new right guard every single season… and Lane Johnson has still been playing at an All-Pro level.
A breakout season by Steen would make him the last starting guard that Johnson would ever have to play next to, and it would also have some big-time effects on how the Eagles act in next year’s offseason.
Reed Blankenship:
Reed Blankenship is a sneaky candidate for a breakout season. He’s going into his fourth season in the NFL, and this is his third season as a starter… But this is the first season the Eagles are trusting him to be the dude in the room.
In 2023, the safety room was a mess, and the Eagles brought in Kevin Byard (yuck) to help tighten everything up. That was a phenomenal failure. Then, before the 2024 season, they brought back C.J. Gardner-Johnson. That worked incredibly well.
When they traded C.J.G.J. to the Texans and let Darius Slay go to the Steelers, that was the team saying, ‘Alright, Reed. This is your defense now, big dawg.’
Blankenship’s been a good safety over the past couple of years. There have been times when you can see why his athleticism turned him into an undrafted free agent, but those times are becoming rarer and rarer.
Now is the time for him to not only become one of the premier safeties in the NFL, but also be the leader on the defense. Luckily, being in Fangio’s defense gives you a whole lot of opportunities to be the best safety in the NFL, and he was awesome his first year in the complicated scheme.
Moro Ojomo:
Milton Williams was set up for a big 2024, and then he capitalized on it. Moro Ojomo is in a similar boat: he’s not going to be lining up with Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham, but he's still going to be playing next to Jalen Carter. Any job in the world is going to be a whole lot easier when Jalen Carter is right next to you.
Accountant? He’ll make sure no one bothers you while you cook the books. Maid? He’ll lift the entire sofa to let you vacuum under it. Baker? His nickname is “Breadman.” Every. Single. Job.
He’s going to help Ojomo have that breakout season, and he’s going to need to have that breakout season to make up for a less-than-deep defensive line.
Milton Williams played 501 defensive snaps (48%) last season, and Ojomo played 388 (37%). He’s definitely going to have a big uptick in playing time, but at least it’s not going to be like going from 10% to 45%. If he can hold up, he’ll be a rockstar and end up getting waaaaay overpaid by the Patriots.