The Philadelphia Eagles are days away from facing the Washington Commanders and hope their players will step up to help them win.
Philly has their usual suspects who need to play well, like Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Zack Baun. The question is: what about the underrated players that the Eagles fan base doesn't talk about?
Three of those guys are ready to make a massive impact and help the team secure its first win of the season. Here are the guys who can step up for the Eagles.
Which underrated players on Eagles could affect outcome of Commanders game?
Marcus Epps, S
Too often, Eagles fans focus on Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the secondary as the stars of the game. How about the kind of impact that Marcus Epps can make in the game?
Last season, Epps finished with 21 tackles and one tackle for loss in 12 games and four starts. He played a pivotal role in replacing Andrew Mukuba late in the year after Mukuba fractured his ankle.
Epps beat out Michael Carter II for the starting safety job, so it's on him now to replace Reed Blankenship and get the job done. If Epps can improve from his play last year, he might be able to impact this Commanders game in ways no one thought possible.
Tyler Steen, RG
In his first full season as the starter at right guard, Steen allowed 36 pressures, two sacks, and one quarterback hit in 589 pass-blocking snaps. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 71.6, ranking 17th out of 81 guards. He also got a pass-blocking grade of 74.0 and a run-blocking grade of 71.8.
Steen didn't get enough credit for his regular-season work with the Eagles. It may not have been his best performance, but he played every game, stayed healthy for Philly, and was effective.
The Eagles need their offensive line to come up big in the Commanders game and get the running game going. Steen will play a key role in making sure that happens.
Tank Bigsby, RB
Bigsby was dynamic last season for the Eagles, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Unfortunately for him, he only had 58 carries in 16 games with Philly after being traded there from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Entering the 2026 season, the hope was that the load would be taken off of Saquon Barkley and Bigsby would get more involved in the offense. There's no telling what Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is thinking, but he would be wise to include Bigsby more often.
Read more: Eagles can't afford to let Commanders' Jayden Daniels take over Week 1
The Eagles need to take advantage of Bigsby's speed and let him cut it loose on the outside. Even involving him in the passing game will only enchance the Eagles' performance against Washington. The key is get Bigsby the ball between 10 to 15 times in the game and they should have a true weapon on offense.
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