10 Philadelphia Eagles who must shine in Washington for Week 1

The Philadelphia Eagles have to adjust expectations for Josh Sweat.

Talent alone doesn’t lead to success. More often than not, one also needs the right connections, help, and a bit of luck, the perfect storm if you will. That’s precisely what defensive end Josh Sweat got in training camp. The only difference was that, instead of an investor or instead of help from a friend, Sweat benefited from the injuries his teammates sustained.

The first opportunity Sweat got came when Derek Barnett injured his hamstring. That opened the door for the Florida State product as did an injury to left tackle Andre Dillard, who suffered a bicep injury. Matt Pryor took over for the latter, and Sweat took advantage of both developments, dominating both Pryor and Jordan Mailata in team practices and their scrimmage.

That propelled him into the limelight and possibly the Eagles’ first-team defense. He now needs to show he can take on tackles other than Pryor, and he’ll definitely get that opportunity against Washington’s Cornelious Lucas in Week 1.

All offseason we talked about how improved the Eagles wide receiver corps was. Last season, their most productive player at the position statistically was Alshon Jeffery, and he missed most of the season. This year they have rookies Jalen Reagor and John Hightower. Both made waves in training camp, but J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is the guy that’s under the most pressure to perform.

Arcega-Whiteside was hampered by injuries in 2019 and he finished the year with ten receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown. That would have been a really good one-game stat line, but it’s beyond mediocre for an entire season, especially from a second-round draft choice. JJ needs to live up to the expectations this team had for him.