Philadelphia Eagles: Ranking 13 sophomores on their roster

The potential quarterback of the defense and the Philadelphia Eagles’ best weapon in the backfield top this list.

Similar to the running back position, the Eagles are trusting their youth at linebacker with guys like T.J. Edwards. Despite being an undrafted free agent, he stepped up last year. Zach Brown got cut and Nigel Bradham and Kamu Grugier-Hill both had injury concerns during the season. In just 112 defensive snaps, Edwards made 30 tackles and consistently diagnosed run plays as they were developing. He missed just one tackle the entire season. He was also pretty solid on special teams and played 334 snaps with that unit.

Linebackers coach Ken Flajole has been pretty reliable with this linebacker group for multiple years and with other NFL teams in the past. Grugier-Hill was a solid special teams player who became a starter in due time. Nathan Gerry became a solid pass coverage linebacker after having to transition from safety when he entered the league. Even though he misses too many tackles, he still finished second on the team in that category with 78.

Under the guidance of Flajole, Edwards is going to be ready to step up to the task this year as a full-time starter. While he isn’t going to flash much athleticism, he will do his job and make some plays. He helps this defense more than he hurts them.

Is this even a question? Miles Sanders was so much fun to watch last year and that’s a massive understatement. He wasn’t considered much of a receiving threat coming out of Penn State and that was one of his biggest strengths in 2019. He also wasn’t praised for his pass protection but that was another area where he really shined on film.

As a runner, his vision and patience improved dramatically from the beginning of the year to the end. Miles has been active on social media and even talked about a potential MVP season in 2020. While that’s a lot easier said than done, it’s hard not to feed into the hype. Regardless of where he winds up in the MVP race, Miles is set up for what should be a monster 2020 season if he stays healthy. This kid is just getting started.