ClutchPoints
As one of the true Super Bowl contenders in the NFC, right up there with the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks, the Philadelphia Eagles are a team loaded to the gills with star power.
Sure, they just said goodbye to AJ Brown and came up short of acquiring Myles Garrett due to their belief in Jalen Carter, but the Eagles still have Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, and about a dozen other players who will finish top-10 in Pro Bowl fan voting this fall because of their respect around the league.
And yet, because football is such a grueling, physical game, a team is only really as good as its 53rd man, with even practice squad players routinely playing meaningful roles by season’s end, especially since the NFL has allowed veteran players to remain in the building even if they don’t make the standard roster.
Fortunately, while the Eagles have been willing to make big swings for veteran players, be that through free agency, like with Barkley, or via trade, like 2026’s acquisition of Jonathan Greenard, Howie Roseman has practically created an NFL version of a farm system through the draft and strategic marginal free agent additions, allowing the Birds to replace stars with homegrown players with ease.
Milton Williams leaves in free agency? Moro Ojomo stepped up as a seventh-round pick and put up admirable production as the Eagles’ third interior lineman. Josh Sweat pursues a reunion with a now-fired Jonathan Gannon in Arizona? Roseman calls upon a college Ivy League safety to fill his role as a third-round pick, and he somehow outplays a first-round pick out of Georgia who played his college ball with Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
So, with football summer rapidly approaching, when those bottom-of-the-roster guys will see their dreams come true or get dashed based on their production, here are a few young players who have a chance to be hidden gems for the Eagles in 2026 and beyond.
When the Los Angeles Rams waived Willie Lampkin with an injury settlement last summer, they likely expected to place the undrafted free agent out of North Carolina on their injured reserve after he cleared waivers.
Instead, the Eagles swooped in, and Roseman took on Lampkin’s UDFA contract, bringing him into the fray as a very interesting offensive line – and maybe more – prospect.
Standing 5-foot-10, 270 pounds, Lampkin is one of the smallest offensive linemen you will ever see. He doesn’t have particularly long arms, didn’t put up generational numbers at the 40, bench press, or broad jump, but in the run game, Lampkin’s tape is about as good as you will see from an interior lineman, opening holes in the Tar Heels’ zone blocking scheme while becoming a certified weapon as a blocker in space.
As a pure interior lineman reserve, Lampkin is worthy of a 53-man roster spot, but for a coach with vision, be that offensive coordinator Sean Mannion or even special teams...
