The Eagles opened their preseason account on Thursday night with a disappointing 27-10 loss to Tennessee. While there’s only so much you can take from the first preseason outing, who were the biggest winners and losers from the matchup?
Winners
DE Daeshon Hall
With defensive end depth lighter than ideal, former Texas A&M Aggie Daeshon Hall decided to make a statement. One of the biggest underdogs at his position, Hall blew up for 6 tackles (3 TFL’s) and 2 QB hits. The man was a complete monster and with Joe Ostman out for the year, the Eagles could use every contributor they can get their hands on. Josh Sweat didn’t look like the demon he was described to be this offseason, but it was Daeshon Hall who took on a devilish persona in week one, consistently wreaking havoc in the backfield.
OT Andre Dillard
The Eagles first-round pick was cool, calm, and collected in his first taste of NFL action. Playing in 58% of snaps, Dillard was smooth throughout, very compact in his stance and well to anchor and sustain contact throughout the night. It’s early days, but Dillard is showcasing why the Eagles went out of their way to trade up for him.
TE Dallas Goedert
50 receiving yards for last year’s second-round pick is a fairly standard number by this point, but it’s impressive by preseason standards and Goedert looked like a Transformer once again. The Titans had trouble bringing down the big-bodied pass-catcher, who was a nightmare matchup over the middle in the opening phase of the game.
LB L.J Fort
The former Steelers linebacker played with great burst, flying around the field and making plays just about everywhere. The Eagles are in dire need of someone to step up at linebacker and Gerry struggled at times, while Fort was delivering ferocious hits and flying sideline-to-sideline. it was a solid night for the offseason acquisition who could force his way into a bigger role with continued play at that level.
WR Marken Michel
A 75-yard touchdown thrust the former Calgary Stampeder into the spotlight, but some crisp route-running in the second half did not go unnoticed (at least, by me. We’ll have a film breakdown soon, don’t worry!).
Michel was listed as the primary backup to Nelson Agholor prior to last night’s game, which says a lot about how the Eagles view the former Stampeder. Michel did wonders for his stock last night and if he can keep that level of play going into next week, there could be every chance we see Michel make the final cut.
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