With Eagles training camp drawing nearer, The Inquirer is taking a closer look at the more than three dozen new faces who are expected to report along with the rest of the team on July 28.
Player: Stone Smartt
Position: Tight end
Age: 27
Previous experience: Rookie second-round pick Eli Stowers isn’t the only former quarterback playing tight end for the Eagles in training camp. Smartt, too, was a quarterback even into his college days. He played quarterback at Northern Arizona and Riverside City College before transferring to Old Dominion, where he eventually became a wide receiver.
Smartt went undrafted in 2022. He signed with the Chargers and made seven appearances as a rookie. His highest usage came in 2023, when he was on the field for 28% of the offensive snaps and was targeted 21 times (11 catches). Smartt, who is 6-foot-4 and 226 pounds, signed with the Jets last season and played 15 games, mostly appearing on special teams.
Path to a roster spot: The Eagles have eight tight ends on their current roster. If you’re building a depth chart heading into camp, it’s hard to get Smartt any higher than fifth, and since the Eagles won’t be keeping that many tight ends, Smartt’s odds of making the team out of camp are long. Dallas Goedert and Stowers are locks to make the team. Free agent addition Johnny Mundt figures to have a leg up for a spot due to his blocking ability. Grant Calcaterra is back but has plenty of competition — including from Smartt — to make the team. Smartt should have plenty of chances in camp and in preseason games to show he belongs, but it won’t be easy … or likely.
Fun fact: Smartt has plans for life after football. He has a finance degree and has continued his financial education after college.
Quotable: “One thing that constantly comes back to my mind is helping people and families have money and make that money work for them, and also being able to leave a legacy for their next of kin,” Smartt said recently on a financial podcast.
Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Deontae Lawson (0) reacts during the second half against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Player: Deontae Lawson
Position: Linebacker
Age: 23
Previous experience: Draft experts had Lawson pegged as a Day 3 pick for good reason. He was a standout at Alabama who left Tuscaloosa ranked 10th all-time in tackles (283). An ACL tear near the end of his junior season certainly may have impacted his draft stock. He initially planned to leave for the NFL after that 2024 season but returned to college and had 89 combined tackles in 15 games.
Path to a roster spot: Lawson is long and relatively lanky at 6-3 and 226 pounds.He faces a difficult path to go from undrafted free agent to the roster, but he should, at the very least, be an intriguing player the Eagles try to keep on the practice squad. Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell are the off-ball linebacker starters, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is right behind them. Four seems like the likely number for linebackers on the initial 53-man roster. Smael Mondon Jr., a fifth-round pick last year, is slotted in at that No. 4 spot right now, but Lawson and Chance Campbell are knocking on the door. There could be a fun competition for that fourth spot.
Fun fact: Lawson became one of just 16 players in Alabama football history to twice be named a team captain.
Quotable: “Lawson might not have elite speed or strength, but NFL teams love him as a football player because he plays fast and fiery, and his processing can be a differentiating factor,” The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote of Lawson in this year’s Beast draft preview. “He has the talent to compete for starting reps, but questions about durability cloud his future.”
According to NFL Network analyst Lance Zierlein, Lawson is “much better at slipping blocks than he is at taking them on. … He projects as a run-and-chase Will linebacker with three-down potential but a limited ceiling.”
With Eagles training camp drawing nearer, The Inquirer is taking a closer look at the more than three dozen new faces who are expected to report along with the rest of the team on July 28.
Player: Eli Stowers
Position: Tight end
Age: 23
Previous experience: Stowers, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, has been a tight end for only a few years. He entered college in 2021 as a quarterback, a top 20 recruit nationally at his position. But shoulder injuries forced him to find a new spot on the field. He was 6-foot-4, 215 pounds when he entered college; he’s now 240 pounds and scouts rave about his blend of size and speed. At Vanderbilt last season, Stowers, who won the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy, otherwise known as the “Academic Heisman,” caught 62 passes for 769 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games.
He was named the nation’s top tight end after leading all FBS tight ends in receiving yards per game (64.1). A year earlier, Stowers, a two-year starter at tight end, had 49 catches for 638 yards in 13 games with the Commodores.
Path to a roster spot: Stowers’ spot on the team is secure. His role, however, is up in the air right now. It’s not worth overanalyzing organized team activities and mandatory minicamp workouts in May and June, but Stowers didn’t stand out during practices open to reporters.
Nick Sirianni seems excited about the possibility of lining Stowers up in the slot and creating mismatches, but the tight end’s path to significant playing time in his rookie season includes becoming a better blocker. Dallas Goedert is the unquestioned No. 1 on the depth chart, and the Eagles brought in a blocking tight end, Johnny Mundt, to help fill in an area of weakness from last year. If Stowers proves to be an efficient route-runner who can get open and make plays, he’ll find himself on the field plenty.
Fun fact: Stowers is a son of coaches. His father, Donald, played defensive back at New Mexico State and had a short professional football career before becoming a coach. His mother, Tina, played volleyball at Baylor and later became a coach. While recovering from shoulder surgery in 2021, Stowers learned how to play guitar.
Eli Stowers has drawn comparisons to Travis Kelce.
Quotable: “I’m going to throw a name out here and people may be [like], ‘Are you serious?’ I’m just speaking from a standpoint of his approach to the game, and when I watch him — Travis Kelce was a former quarterback,” former Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews, now a coach at Vanderbilt, said in April when asked for Stowers’ NFL comparison. “You can tell Travis Kelce runs routes like he understands the defensive structure.
“He knows what the defense has given him, and so he knows how to find voids in zone. But then he’s also athletic enough to win vs. man.”
Maximus Pulley (left) signed with the Eagles as a UDFA after three standout seasons at FCS school Wofford.
Player: Maximus Pulley
Position: Safety
Age: 23
Previous experience: Pulley’s rise has been remarkable. He had no scholarship offers out of high school, and Western Kentucky, where he began his college journey, didn’t even have a preferred walk-on spot for him. Pulley tried out for the team in the middle of the season in 2021 and joined the scout team. By the next year, he was a full-time special teamer. He hit the transfer portal after 2022 and landed at Wofford, a FCS program. He started every game with Wofford the next three seasons. Last year, Pulley led the team with five interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns. He was a first-team All-American.
At his pro day, Pulley ran a 4.45 40-yard dash and registered a vertical jump of 41½ inches.
Path to a roster spot: Pulley is a long shot. The Eagles have at least some uncertainty at safety, but Pulley will be starting pretty low on the totem pole. Drew Mukuba is a lock to start, and the Eagles plan to use All-Pro nickel Cooper DeJean at safety in base. Right now, Marcus Epps is next in line to get on the field, with Michael Carter II also in the mix. The Eagles also used a seventh-round draft pick on a safety, Cole Wisniewski, and signed veteran special teams ace J.T. Gray. There’s room for an undrafted free agent like Pulley to make a push, but he’ll also be competing with fellow UDFA Kapena Gushiken — whom Vic Fangio has already name-dropped — for opportunities.
Fun fact: Pulley, a sociology and anthropology major with a 3.64 GPA at Wofford, was named an academic All-American last season.
Quotable: “Coming out high school, I wasn’t really good, but I was always the hardest worker,” Pulley said earlier this year on the Sam Acho podcast. “I feel like I’ve passed over so many people in the football world due to my work alone and my delusion. My mom loves the faith that I’ve always had, but the faith has come more recently. The delusion … I thought I was so much better than I was but I always trusted the work that I did.”
Three-quarters of the seats inside Lincoln Financial Field — er, Philadelphia Stadium — felt the blast of a late-afternoon sun before France and Paraguay kicked off their round of 16 showdown Saturday, the sixth and final World Cup game in the city.
Those weren’t rally towels swinging; they were the giveaway fans, and even those seated on the shaded west side of the stadium used them to try to cool off. Some in the sun left them unraveled and used them as a shade.
Philadelphia set a record Saturday, reaching 101 degrees or higher for the third consecutive day, according to the National Weather Service. The real-feel temperature on the field at kickoff was hotter than the 98 degrees FOX displayed on its television broadcast.
France celebrates after its defeat of Paraguay on a sweltering final day of FIFA World Cup action at Philadelphia Stadium.
The city shone during its three weeks in the world spotlight. Fans have packed the fan festival. The stadium has been full. But the games didn’t come and go without the weather being part of the story.
France’s first trip to Philadelphia, a June 22 group stage game vs. Iraq, featured a lengthy delay at halftime due to lightning from a storm that produced heavy downpours. The scheduled 15-minute break lasted more than two hours. Saturday’s game was played during a record-setting heat wave and kicked off with the threat of severe thunderstorms looming later Saturday night.
The World Cup won’t return to the U.S. until at least 2038. If Philadelphia is among the host cities, will the next version of Philadelphia Stadium have a roof?
France forward Kylian Mbappé walks off the field at the start of a two-plus hour rain delay at Philadelphia Stadium on June 22 for their game against Iraq.
‘I was a purist, but…’
Mount Laurel’sGraig Weidinger, who was tailgating with a group of friends outside the stadium Saturday, knows it’s probably inevitable that the home of the Eagles one day will have the ability to shield the playing field from weather. The team’s lease expires in 2032, and Jeffrey Lurie said earlier this year that the organization is going through “exploratory research” on the idea of a new or renovated stadium.
Many new stadiums and renovation projects in the NFL have included retractable roofs or domes. There are currently 10 NFL stadiums with roofs, and four more are on the way. The Eagles still are at least a year away from coming close to finalizing plans for their future, but data points like the weather during this World Cup could factor into decisions.
Weidinger said he previously was against the idea of the Eagles playing under a roof. He lamented a future where LeSean McCoy doesn’t dash through the snow for 217 yards in a snowy game vs. Detroit in 2013. Or a future where Saquon Barkley isn’t running through a snow globe-like scene pushing the Eagles to the NFC championship game two seasons ago.
“It gives you the memories,” Weidinger said. “You’re not going to have that.”
It is not just the cold that has recently impacted Eagles games. The 2025 season opener was delayed for more than an hour in the third quarter due to a thunderstorm.
“At first I was a purist, but now I’m giving in to the idea,” Weidinger said. “Now that the weather is so extreme each season.”
Eagles fans have long had to resist extreme elements; the question now is whether the rise of extreme heat and cold places more pressure to consider a roofed stadium in Philly.
There will be a faction of fans who strongly resist a roof. Football, they will say, is meant to be played outside. But the current stadium isn’t just a football stadium, and Lurie may have aspirations to make the future one capable of hosting more marquee events.
“For the city, with what they can do, you see the college playoffs going places, the Super Bowl,” Weidinger said. “If you’ve got a roof you can do it all.”
‘The best of both worlds’
By halftime, most of the field and more than half the seats inside the stadium were protected from the sun with shade. The real feel in the city was still 100 degrees when Kylian Mbappé scored his seventh goal of the tournament — and third in Philadelphia — on a 70th-minute penalty kick that gave France its eventual 1-0 win and a ticket to the quarterfinals.
This is the World Cup, and the announced sellout crowd of 68,324 paid a lot of money for tickets, so most of the seats in the sunny east side of the stadium were full. But there were empty seats visible on that side of the field, their owners likely watching from a shadier, cooler spot.
France’s Kylian Mbappe (10) scored the gamewinner on a sweltering afternoon at Philadelphia Stadium, where temperatures approached 100 degrees.
The fan experience, Lurie said in March at the annual league meeting, will be a priority for any future stadium or renovation.
“We’re so focused on fan amenities,” Lurie said. “To me, that’s the No. 1 thing. Just as a boy growing up, you want to have as best a fan experience. The rest is architecture, design, and where it ends up.”
The fan experience was on the minds of Kurt and Trish Neff as they drove to the stadium Saturday from Boothwyn.
Did they find themselves wishing they were driving to a stadium that was air-conditioned?
“Today, right now? Absolutely, yes,” Kurt said.
In that vein, Kurt said he “would be more likely to come to a game sitting in some warmth during the winter for a football game. Sometimes you’re thinking about selling your tickets in January or the end of December.”
Trish, a soccer coach, wanted to play devil’s advocate.
“The weather is part of a coach’s strategy for the game,” she said. “Whether it’s cold or hot, you might change your game plan depending on it. But for the fans, temperature control would be better.”
Perhaps stadium discussions can be like a healthy marriage. There’s always a chance for compromise.
With Eagles training camp drawing nearer, The Inquirer is taking a closer look at the more than three dozen new faces who are expected to report along with the rest of the team on July 28.
Player: Markel Bell
Position: OT
Age: 22 (when camp starts)
Previous experience: Bell’s lone season as a full-time starter was this past one, when the 6-foot-9, 346-pound offensive tackle helped Miami reach the national title game. Bell is sort of a late bloomer. He started playing football in seventh grade. In part because he grew up in a small town in Mississippi, he was a zero-star high school recruit who went to junior college before blossoming into one of the most sought-after offensive line prospects two years later.
Bell was a rotational tackle in 2024 before earning the left tackle gig at Miami last year. He dominated. He did not surrender a sack while playing more than 1,000 snaps. He also was named second-team Academic All-America last season.
Path to a roster spot: Bell’s spot on the 53 is not in doubt. Surprisingly, it was Bell taking first-team reps during OTAs (with Lane Johnson absent) and not Fred Johnson, the swing tackle the Eagles brought back for another season. Sure, OTA reps are relatively meaningless, but it’s a sign the Eagles think Bell possibly could step in right away to that swing tackle role. We’ll see where things stand come training camp, but given recent injuries over the last few years to Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, Bell could see meaningful snaps as soon as 2026.
Fun fact: Bell grew from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-4 during a summer growth spurt between eighth and ninth grades, according to The Athletic.
Quotable: “Typically when you get guys out of high school and they come in the door, they’re not as driven or as focused,” Les George, Bell’s offensive line coach at Holmes Community College, told The Inquirer in April. “They kind of have an idea of what they want to accomplish just based off of what they see on social media or see other people accomplish and they’ll kind of be all-in with it, but Markel was different than any other guy I’ve coached. Extremely focused, very humble. He was a guy that didn’t want to settle for mediocrity.
“I don’t know how to explain it. He’ll make you a better coach.”
Markel Bell practices during rookie camp on May 1.
Player: Joshua Weru
Position: Edge rusher
Age: 22
Previous experience: Football experience? None. Rugby experience? Plenty. Jordan Mailata proved that path is possible. The Eagles signed Weru after he went undrafted. He is one of two players on the training camp roster who come with International Pathway Player designations, the other being seventh-round pick Uar Bernard.
Weru, a native of Kenya, attended Arizona State University last year. He showed off his athleticism at the International Player Pathway program pro day, where he ran a 4.45 40-yard dash (with 1.59 10-yard split) and had a 41.5-inch vertical and 11-2 broad jump. The Eagles are hoping those traits translate into an edge rusher capable of playing NFL snaps.
Path to a roster spot: Nothing is impossible, but Weru’s chances of making the 53-man are long. The Eagles are a bit crowded on the edge, with four shoo-ins and a few players with real football experience pushing for the bottom of the depth chart. Weru, however, will have a chance to make a good first impression on the Eagles and show them why he’s worth carrying on the practice squad while they continue to mold him into a football player.
NFL teams can carry 16 players on the practice squad and have a 17th spot available for players with IPP designations. Bernard seems more likely than Weru to make the 53-man roster, but there’s a world where both of them end up on the practice squad after passing through waivers. One would count toward the normal 16-player practice squad roster, and the other would be the IPP designation.
Fun fact: Weru joined a professional rugby club at age 14 and has represented the Kenyan national team on the international stage.
Quotable: “I’d say my playing style is fast and aggressive,” Weru told a Kenyan radio station. “One of the reasons I enjoy this game is that it’s 100% all the time. I was used to rugby, where the game was longer and it would be too tiring to go 100% every single phase. But in football, especially in the few times we’ve gone full contact, it’s nothing like that.
“The way I think about it is that you’re like a sprinter and a boxer at the same time, you’re going full speed and trying to hit people as hard as possible. I enjoy that, and that’s how I’d describe my playing style: fast and aggressive.”
Eight years ago, at the inaugural Eagles Autism Challenge, team owner Jeffrey Lurie called the family-friendly bike ride that raised money for autism research and programs “a call to action” and “one giant step.”
The event had more than 3,000 participants and raised more than $2.5 million. Eight years later, the combined efforts of the Lurie Autism Institute — launched last year with a $50 million donation from the Lurie family — and the Eagles Autism Foundation have collectively contributed to more than $100 million toward research and clinical care programs around the world.
This year’s Eagles Autism Challenge raised more than $16 million through nearly 40,000 donations and more than 6,500 participants, according to the team.
Lurie, 74, bought the Eagles in 1994. He has lifted the Lombardi Trophy twice after two Super Bowl victories, but his efforts to support autism research and care may be the larger lasting legacy of his tenure.
On Tuesday, ESPN announced that Lurie will be honored with theStuart Scott ENSPIRE Award as part of this year’s Sports Humanitarian Awards during ESPYs award week. The award, named after the late SportsCenter anchor, is given to someone that uses the power of sports to help disadvantaged groups or people.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is one of the world’s leading fundraisers for autism research.
“This honor exemplifies the transformative power of sport and the life-changing impact it can have on people,” Lurie said in a press release. “Stuart was a trailblazer whose legacy was built on integrity, professionalism, and bravery. His authentic character and fearlessness in the face of adversity will live on forever through this distinguished award.
“I have always envisioned that the impact of owning a professional sports franchise could extend beyond the field and into the global health community. The Eagles Autism Foundation and Lurie Autism Institute have been created to support individuals with autism and their families by funding innovative and potentially groundbreaking research rooted in science and data, in addition to providing programming and services to those in need. Autism is a global condition that is not only underfunded and under-researched, but just in the United States alone affects one in 31 children.”
The Sports Humanitarian Awards will take place on Tuesday, July 14 in New York. The show will be featured during ESPN programming and during the ESPYS, which air July 15 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Lurie is the lone representative of Philadelphia’s sports teams this year in both the humanitarian awards and the main ESPYs program. The full list of humanitarian award winners can be found here. Nominees for the ESPYs can be found here. South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo, a guard at Notre Dame, is nominated for best single-game performance for her record-breaking 16-steal game against Akron.
The college basketball season is officially over, which means it’s time for the transactional period to begin. Welcome to the 2026 transfer portal.
More than 1,500 men’s basketball players were in the portal in the first 24 hours after it officially opened on April 7. The portal is open for two weeks, but players do not need to make their commitment to a new school during that window. The next few weeks will be filled with salary negotiations during the yearly NCAA free agency process.
We’ll be tracking it all here, from players moving in and out of — or around — the Big 5 to keeping tabs on Philly-area players at other schools. We’ll also take a look at where some of the top local high school recruits from the Class of 2026 will be playing in the fall.
Big 5 portal entries
Here are the players who were at Big 5 schools during the 2025-26 season but have entered the transfer portal.
Villanova
Acaden Lewis (point guard) started for the Wildcats during his freshman year and averaged 12.2 points, 5.3 assists, and 3 rebounds. (Transferring to Miami.)
Bryce Lindsay (guard) was a redshirt sophomore and Villanova’s best scorer during its nonconference schedule. (Transferring to Indiana.)
Malachi Palmer (forward) was a solid contributor off the bench who started down the stretch after Matt Hodge went down. But Villanova recruited multiple forwards out of the portal. (Transferring to Minnesota.)
Chris Jeffrey (guard), a freshman backup point guard who missed time after knee surgery but had promising moments.
Braden Pierce (center), a redshirt freshman reserve who followed coach Kevin Willard from Maryland, played 6.5 minutes per game and averaged 1.2 points. (Transferring to College of Charleston.)
Zion Stanford (forward/West Catholic graduate) transferred to Villanova from Temple, left the team in March after playing in 10 games. (Transferring to Towson.)
Tafara Gapare (forward), a senior, left the program at midseason after playing in just nine games.
Aiden Tobiason (guard) averaged 15.3 points, second on the team, and led the Owls with 39 steals. He’ll have two years of eligibility left. (Transferring to Syracuse.)
Babatunde Durodola (forward), a sophomore, started as a freshman and was a key rotational player this season. (Transferring to Ball State.)
Jamai Felt (forward) started in 23 games and averaged 4.1 rebounds. (Transferring to Arkansas-Little Rock.)
AJ Smith (guard) averaged 7.8 points in eight games and had his season cut short by a shoulder injury.
Spencer Mahoney (forward) made 13 appearances as a redshirt sophomore. (Transferring to Denver.)
Ayuba Bryant Jr. (forward) appeared in 27 games, averaging 8.1 minutes.
Connor Gal (guard/Great Valley High graduate) played 12 minutes across five games and will have one year of eligibility left.
Dasear Haskins was a key starter for the Hawks this season.
St. Joseph’s
Deuce Jones (guard/La Salle), who led the Hawks in scoring during the first two months of the season, was dismissed from the team in December. (Transferring to Alabama-Birmingham.)
Dasear Haskins (guard/Camden High graduate) averaged 11.1 points and started for the Hawks as a redshirt sophomore. (Transferring to Ole Miss.)
Anthony Finkley (forward/Roman Catholic graduate), a junior, averaged 19 minutes in 35 games. (Transferring to La Salle.)
Kevin Kearney (forward) appeared in 14 games as a redshirt freshman. (Transferring to Manhattan.)
Jaden Smith (center) averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.1 minutes after transferring from Fordham. (Transferring to Ball State.)
Steven Solano (center), a redshirt freshman, played in eight games. (Transferring to Delaware.)
Al Amadou (center/Springside Chestnut Hill Academy graduate) transferred from Marquette and appeared in 11 games. (Transferring to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.)
Penn
Ethan Roberts (forward) has one year of eligibility remaining — the Ivy League prohibits graduate students from playing intercollegiate athletics — and was the Quakers’ leading scorer (16.9 points per game). (Transferring to Notre Dame.)
Cam Thrower (guard), a senior who spent four years at Penn, averaged 17 minutes in 27 games. (Transferring to Elon.)
Dylan Williams (guard) played in seven of Penn’s first 10 games before the senior missed the rest of the season with an injury. (Transferring to Northwestern)
Michelangelo Oberti (center) appeared in 12 games. (Transferring to Boston University)
Alex Massung (guard), who averaged 5.6 minutes in 10 games played. (Transferring to Saint Anselm.)
Bradyn Foster (forward) saw action in Penn’s season opener.
Drexel
Shane Blakeney (guard) was Drexel’s leading scorer, averaging 14.2 points in 33 games as a junior. (Transferring to South Carolina.)
Kevon Vanderhorst (guard) averaged 9.3 points and 2.9 assists while starting all 33 games for the Dragons. (Transferring to Iona.)
Villiam Garcia Adsten (guard), a junior, averaged 17.5 minutes in 32 games. (Transferring to Maine.)
Horace Simmons Jr. (forward/La Salle College High School graduate) appeared in 13 games.
La Salle
Ashton Walker (guard) started 21 games and averaged 8.2 points as a freshman. (Transferring to Monmouth.)
Eric Acker (guard), a junior, appeared in 26 games, starting 10, and averaged 18.9 minutes. (Transferring to Northern Kentucky.)
Nas Hart (forward) played in 20 games as a freshman. (Transferring to Quinnipiac.)
Edwin Daniel (forward) played 31 games (14.5 minutes) and averaged nearly four points and 3.5 rebounds. (Transferring to Stephen F. Austin.)
Villanova coach Kevin Willard directs his team against Butler on Feb. 25.
Big 5 portal additions
These are the players who are transferring to Big 5 schools.
Rumors of Villanova’s interest in 7-foot-3 Italian center Luigi Suigo already were swirling when assistant coach Ricky Harris posted a photo last month on his Instagram page from Milan, not far from Suigo’s hometown of Tradate. Villanova was trying to keep its pursuit of Suigo under the radar, but Harris’s post only fueled the speculation.
Villanova is visiting Suigo in Milan! The staff is all-in on adding the future NBA center! Kevin Willard really wants the cherry on top for this roster rebuild!
Let’s play a little game of Two Truths and a Lie.
No, Villanova didn’t send Harris to Milan to visit its next center. The other things are true, though. And the lie is only a partial one. It wasn’t Harris visiting Suigo, it was Willard. Harris was just in Italy enjoying an offseason vacation, with the bulk of the roster overhaul already done. But it wasn’t Milan where Willard went, it was Belgrade, Serbia, where Suigo played this past season with Mega Basket of the Adriatic League.
“Belgrade was beautiful,” Willard said Monday, nine days after Suigo announced he was leaving the NBA draft and signing with Villanova. “Food was great, people were awesome.”
It was a short business trip, less than 48 hours. Willard had spent the past month reassembling the Wildcats’ roster. Only two players who dressed in a game from last season’s team, Tyler Perkins and Matt Hodge, returned. The staff surrounded them with plenty of talent, but still needed a true center to round out the roster. Any starting-caliber center would have been fine. The offseason had largely been a success even after losing a few top players like Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay to the transfer portal.
“We could have gone in a couple directions,” Willard said of the center spot. “For us, it was like, all right, how are we trying to win a championship here?”
On film, Suigo looked the part of a player who could take the roster to the next level. The size component is obvious. But Suigo is a “really skilled center that can shoot it, that can pass at a high level,” Willard said. “I think one of his best attributes is that he’s extremely unselfish. He’s a great passer.”
Willard wanted more than film studying, though, so he got on a plane and flew halfway across the world to watch Suigo practice in person, to meet with his coaches, to sit down with him for dinner.
“Sometimes you can watch clips and you can get fooled,” Willard said. “When I went over there and talked to him in person, met him in person, and saw him play, it was like, yeah, this kid is the real deal.
“He’s very professional. He knows what he wants. He knows how he wants to play. He knows where he needs to get better at.”
In 26 games with Mega Basket, Suigo, 19, posted averages of 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1 block in 18.8 minutes. He shot 64.9% on his 111 two-point shots, 27.1% on 48 three-point attempts, and 64.7% on 34 free throws.
Draft evaluators had Suigo projected near the end of the first round or early in the second round. Luring a player out of that range surely was costly for Villanova. Willard declined to discuss financials with The Inquirer. But the region’s rich Italian-American culture and the timing of watching the Knicks on their championship run with Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart were added bonuses.
Plus, Suigo was open about wanting to be a top-20 pick throughout the draft process.
“I think he maybe would have gotten drafted late in the first round, but he doesn’t want that,” Willard said. “He wants to make sure when he gets drafted he’s going to play. The big thing is I think he needs to get Americanized a little bit, to American basketball. I think that’s why college will be really good for him. Get in shape a little bit, just kind of get used to American basketball. I think once he does, the sky is the limit for him.”
“We wanted to make sure that we just didn’t get manhandled the way we got manhandled last year against the top teams,” Willard said.
He was talking about national champion Michigan and the two top Big East teams, Connecticut and St. John’s. Willard’s first season at Villanova was a success. A streak of three consecutive missed NCAA Tournaments was stopped, though Villanova lost as a No. 8 seed in the first round because it lacked experience and physicality against a veteran Utah State team.
Tyler Perkins (left) and Matt Hodge (right) will be key contributors again for the Wildcats in 2026-27.
The first additions of the offseason aimed to address that. Villanova signed Oregon’s Kwame Evans Jr. and Ohio State’s Devin Royal. Both players are incoming seniors who averaged more than 13 points in the Big Ten last season. Evans is 6-10 and Royal is 6-6 but is a physical player who averaged seven rebounds in 2024-25 and nearly six last season.
With those two and Perkins and Hodge in the fold, the attention turned to the backcourt, specifically to the point guard spot. Willard said he watched more film to fill this spot than any other position during the offseason. Perhaps, then, he could ace a quiz on Illinois-Chicago hoops. Elijah Crawford scored 14 points and dished out five assists in 26 minutes per game last season. More importantly, his decision-making out of pick-and-roll stood out, as did his 75.3% rate from the free-throw line.
Crawford is the likely starting point guard next to Perkins, with Royal, Evans, and Suigo rounding out the starting five.
Backcourt depth was a problem at times last season. On paper, it won’t be in 2026-27. The Wildcats added Cornell shooting guard Jake Fiegen, who Willard said “analytically, was probably one of the highest-rated guys.” Fiegen shot 41.4% from three-point range on 5.5 attempts per game. He thrived in catch-and-shoot situations, of which he will have plenty with this Villanova roster.
Then there’s St. Bonaventure transfer Buddy Simmons. Willard said the staff was actually watching another Atlantic 10 player when they became enamored with Simmons, a 5-11 guard who scored 16.4 points per game and shot 42.5% from deep. While Fiegen is more of a standstill shooter, Simmons produces off the dribble.
Incoming freshman guard Adam Oumiddoch also is expected to contribute right away. He’ll add to a versatile bench that also includes Hodge, who Willard said is tracking toward being ready for the beginning of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in March.
Evans could play some minutes at center, as could returning redshirt freshman Nico Onyekwere.
Villanova hit the offseason trying to build a roster to compete with Dan Hurley’s UConn program.
“We can play small or we can play really big,” Willard said. “That was my goal. Last year we were kind of hampered in how we could play. This year I think we have so much more flexibility.”
Signing a 7-3 center helps.
But Suigo’s signing should have done more than raise the expectations for the 2026-27 season. Sure, the Wildcats may get some preseason top 25 love. But they also showed they can compete financially with other programs.
“From Father Peter to the board to our alumni and our donors, everyone understands how important Villanova basketball is,” Willard said. “We will never be the highest spender. That’s not in our DNA and it’s not what it is. But I will say that the university understands and financially has been extremely supportive of this program and the women’s program.”
About those expectations …
“I’m the head coach at Villanova,” Willard said. “The expectations are huge every year. I knew that when I took this job. I knew that when I took the Maryland job. It’s just part of the job. It’s what makes this job so great. You want those expectations.”
It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway. The Eagles still are more than two months away from cutting their roster down to 53 players by the Aug. 30 deadline for the 2026 NFL season.
A lot can change between now and then.
It’s almost a guarantee that there will be some player movement on and off the 90-man roster between now and then, and probably even before the Eagles take the field for the first time at training camp at the end of July.
Who’s going to be on that initial 53-man roster? We’re going to make predictions throughout training camp, and since the Eagles just finished their offseason program and have some downtime before camp begins, it’s worth taking a shot at predicting the roster now. Future iterations of this list will be more informed (not that this one isn’t!).
Without further ado, here is our initial 53-man roster prediction for the 2026 Eagles — and a first guess some players who will stick around on the practice squad, too.
How much would Cole Payton’s presence on the roster factor into what the Eagles do ahead of him at QB2?
Quarterbacks (3): Jalen Hurts, Andy Dalton, Cole Payton
Traded: Tanner McKee
Practice squad: TBD
Something’s got to give, right? The Eagles aren’t going to use four roster spots at the quarterback position. They also may be reluctant to expose a fifth-round pick (Payton) to waivers unless his camp is that uninspiring. But Kyle McCord was a sixth-round pick last year and the Eagles were able to pass him through waivers. Still, the Eagles have been rotating Dalton and McKee with the second-team offense throughout the offseason program, which means McKee’s grip on the No. 2 spot has loosened. The Eagles probably are hopeful McKee plays well at camp and in preseason games so they can deal their 2023 sixth-round pick for a draft asset.
As for that TBD spot in the practice squad, if McKee is dealt, count on the Eagles bringing in another body late in camp with the goal of keeping that player on the practice squad.
Running backs (4): Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley, Cameron Latu (fullback)
Count Barkley and Bigsby as locks, but behind them is a real competition for roster spots. Shipley gets the nod here, but we’ll see what happens when camp starts rolling. Pierce and Mitchell bring some experience. Steele, meanwhile, is a fullback. Latu is listed as a tight end by the Eagles, but he transitioned to fullback last year and his best path to the roster is at that position. Whether the Eagles keep a fullback or not remains to be seen, but Latu is a pretty solid blocker and has made an impact on special teams.
Darius Cooper (left) and Dontayvion Wicks are part of a crowded receiving corps.
Wide receivers (6): DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, Darius Cooper, Elijah Moore
Cut: Johnny Wilson, Britain Covey, Danny Gray, Quez Watkins, Erik Ezukanma, Samori Toure
Practice squad: Covey, Wilson
The Eagles have begun life after A.J. Brown. There’s a pretty clear pecking order as things stand right now. The top four receivers seem pretty etched in stone, but there will be healthy competition for the back end of the depth chart. They could end up keeping five instead of six, too. Cooper and Moore slot in on this first pass and get the nod over Wilson, who should be easy to get through waivers since he’s coming off injury.
The Eagles liked what they saw out of Cooper, an undrafted free agent, last season and Nick Sirianni raves about the “dirty work” Cooper and Wilson bring to the table. Having them both may be a little redundant. Moore may be considered a relative long shot to make the team, but he has had his moments in the NFL and could push for a spot for a team that might need some more playmaking at wide receiver with A.J. Brown gone. Covey, meanwhile, could slot in on the practice squad and be called upon in the punt return game.
Can Grant Calcaterra stick on a team with bolstered depth at the tight end position?
Tight ends (3): Dallas Goedert, Eli Stowers, Johnny Mundt
Cut: Grant Calcaterra, Stone Smartt, E.J. Jenkins, Dae’Quan Wright
Practice squad: Wright
If all goes as planned for the Eagles, this position might be the most boring one in camp when it comes to figuring out who to keep and who to cut. Mundt was brought in to provide a big boost in the blocking department, and the Eagles drafted Stowers in the second round. There’s a world where they keep four, but Calcaterra, who has been a mainstay on the team over the last four seasons, seems like a long shot to make the roster given his deficiencies as a blocker and his slot work being superfluous with Stowers in the mix.
Offensive linemen (11): Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson, Markel Bell, Fred Johnson, Drew Kendall, Michael Jordan, Micah Morris, Cameron Williams
The five starters are pretty set unless someone wows in camp and pushes Steen for a spot. Behind the starting unit is more talent than there was at season’s end. The Eagles made a concerted effort to add some depth to the offensive line. They brought back Fred Johnson and drafted Bell. The third-round pick might have first dibs on the swing tackle job. They also added some more experience on the interior in Jordan, who started 20 games over the last two seasons. Having Jordan makes it so that Kendall and Morris aren’t the primary backups on the interior. The Eagles likely will have a decision to make on the two tackles they drafted last season: Hinton and Williams. It seems unlikely both make the team.
Can Uar Bernard progress quickly from major project to a spot on the active roster?
Defensive tackles (5): Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, Uar Bernard
Cut: Ty Robinson, Gabe Hall, Zion Wilson, Ta’Quan Graham
Practice squad: Robinson, Wilson
This is a tricky one. How likely is Bernard to be claimed by another team if the Eagles waive him? Remember, the claiming team needs to put the claimed player on the 53-man roster. The first-time football player has some elite athleticism, but he doesn’t know how to play football. It’s hard to justify keeping a player on the 53 that is unlikely to dress for a single game. But Bernard is unique. Robinson is the roster casualty here, but last year’s fourth-round pick gets through waivers in this prediction and gets onto the practice squad, where he can be elevated for game days. Wilson is an intriguing prospect the Eagles probably would like to keep around.
Edge rushers (5): Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, Arnold Ebiketie, A.J. Epenesa
Cut: Keyshawn James-Newby, Jose Ramirez, Joshua Weru
Practice squad: James-Newby, Weru (IPP)
The first four spots offer little intrigue. There’s an obvious trio at the top in Greenard, Hunt, and Smith, and Ebiketie, who signed a one-year deal worth more than $7 million, slots in as a rotational rusher. The last spot likely will come down to James-Newby, a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, and Epenesa, who signed with the Eagles on the day minicamp ended after his free-agent deal with Cleveland fell through following a physical. We’ll give the nod to the experienced Epenesa and put the rookie on the practice squad for now, where he’ll join Weru, who won’t count against the 17-player limit on the practice squad due to his International Pathway Player (IPP) designation.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. should see a lot of action at LB during the preseason.
With Jihaad Campbell recovering from shoulder surgery, Trotter got a chance to shine during the offseason program. The Eagles have two clear starters and a very capable backup in Trotter. Mondon had some moments on special teams last season. Could Chance Campbell push for a roster spot? Special teams would get him there. But the Eagles went heavy at offensive line in this projection and don’t have the space to keep five off-ball linebackers. Chance Campbell should get through waivers cleanly and onto the practice squad.
The Eagles should have one of the best defensive backfields in the league in 2026. Mitchell and Woolen will man the outside and DeJean, an All-Pro in 2025 like Mitchell, slots into the nickel spot, though he’ll play safety in base. Jones was brought in to provide some more depth on the outside. Ringo has had his chances and seems like a change-of-scenery candidate, but he’s been great on special teams and should earn his spot that way.
Will Marcus Epps (right) break camp manning a de facto starting role at safety?
Safety (3): Drew Mukuba, Marcus Epps, Michael Carter II
Cuts: Cole Wisniewski, Andre’ Sam, Kapena Gushiken, J.T. Gray, Max Pulley, Tucker Large
Practice squad: Wisniewski, Sam, Gushiken
We’re going light here for now since DeJean will play some safety. When the Eagles aren’t in base, which is the majority of the time, Epps is, as it stands, the guy who will play next to Mukuba. Carter II is a converted nickel corner who the Eagles will slot in a backup safety spot. Wisniewski was a seventh-round pick who could have some upside. If the Eagles keep 10 offensive linemen, or five receivers, Wisniewski likely makes the team if four safeties are kept. Keeping four is the more orthodox route. But it’s June, and we’ll start our first roster prediction with a little twist.
Special teams (3): Jake Elliott (kicker), Braden Mann (punter), Rocco Underwood (long snapper)
No cuts, no practice squad. These are the only three specialists on the roster.
The offseason program is over, and the next time the Eagles get together at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, it will be for training camp — the official start to the 2026 NFL season.
The longest stretch of downtime around the league is right now, so it’s a good time to take stock of what we just saw during organized team activities and mandatory minicamp.
The workouts allowed for a first look at new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s offense and a few new key players for the Eagles, but they also left some lingering questions about the team during the break.
Here are some of the things we’re still thinking about:
How long should the probationary period be for the new-look offense?
The short answer: Longer than will probably be allowed.
Eagles fans read and watched analysis here and probably elsewhere that told them Mannion’s offense was little match for Vic Fangio’s defense during the recent practice sessions open to reporters.
Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman speak with Sean Mannion (right) during mandatory minicamp.
What’s the reaction going to be if the offense looks sloppy a few practices into camp? It’ll be an outsized one, for certain. But it shouldn’t be.
There are a few reasons why:
Fangio’s defense might be among the best in the NFL this season.
The Eagles are installing a new offense with new blocking schemes.
Jalen Hurts is taking more snaps from under center.
The Eagles are using more play action and more motion.
Football is football, and some players will say as much, but there are going to be some growing pains before the offense is firing on all cylinders.
Plus, while the focus of many will be on the play-calling and what the playbook looks like, it may all just come down to the health and force of the offensive line anyway.
That’s not what the question asked, though. How long should the probationary period be? The view here is that drawing major conclusions about Mannion’s offense won’t have enough context until at least three games into the regular season. Patience levels are personal, right?
Is it possible that the A.J. Brown trade was such a foregone conclusion that the biggest roster storyline in an otherwise pretty standard offseason program was the backup quarterback position?
Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee are splitting reps behind Hurts, Nick Sirianni says, but the coach wouldn’t commit to saying McKee is the backup quarterback, the spot on the depth chart he held last season. He doesn’t have to commit to anything in June or even July or August.
But the fact that Dalton took so many reps with the second-team offense was interesting.
Quarterbacks Andy Dalton (left) and Jalen Hurts work out during mandatory minicamp.
It’s fair to wonder if McKee will be on the roster by the time camp breaks, and the Eagles are crunching numbers to get to their initial 53-man roster. The Eagles used a fifth-round pick on quarterback Cole Payton after sending a seventh-round pick to Carolina for Dalton.
It’s hard to imagine they will keep four quarterbacks on the roster, and it’s hard to imagine them wanting to expose a fifth-round pick to waivers unless Payton has the type of uninspiring training camp sixth-round pick Kyle McCord had last year.
The guess here is that Howie Roseman is hopeful McKee puts some good play on tape in the preseason, and the Eagles get some draft value back in a trade for their 2023 sixth-round pick, who is entering the last year of his contract.
Is a quiet spring from top Eagles rookies concerning?
It shouldn’t be.
But their first three picks were hampered by injuries.
First-round pick Makai Lemon, who will be asked to contribute in a big way right away with Brown out of town, missed some time with a hamstring injury but is expected to be ready for camp. Sure, he didn’t get a ton of on-field reps, but it wasn’t like he was on an island somewhere while the Eagles were installing stuff in the meeting rooms.
Makai Lemon was bothered by a hamstring injury during minicamp.
Eli Stowers, the second-round pick out of Vanderbilt, did not stand out in early workouts despite the Eagles raving about his athletic traits after selecting the tight end at No. 54. He then wore a sleeve on his right leg during the final workout of minicamp and sat out some drills.
Markel Bell, the big tackle the Eagles took in the third round, also missed the last practice of minicamp.
As for Stowers, Sirianni continued to have a lot of good things to say about him on the last day of the spring session. The former college quarterback is still only a few seasons into playing tight end, and while the Eagles are high on him — “He has an unusual skill set at the tight end position with the matchups that he is going to be getting,” Sirianni said— they also know he has a lot of work to do.
It’s way too early to be alarmed about the rookie class.
Will there be any roster additions before training camp?
Roseman kind of answered that question just hours after the final on-field workout finished when he signed former Bills edge rusher A.J. Epenesa. That move made some more sense on Tuesday, when the Eagles placed free-agent signing Joe Tryon-Shoyinka on the reserve/retired list.
Epenesa, who was drafted one spot after Hurts in 2020, originally signed with the Browns, but that deal did not finalize after Epenesa’s physical. Edge rusher was one spot, however, where the Eagles needed some more talent for some bottom-of-the-depth-chart competition. There’s a clear trio at the top in Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, and Nolan Smith, and then there’s Arnold Ebiketie. Epenesa, who had six-plus sacks in three consecutive seasons from 2022 to 2024, figures to be in the mix for a roster spot.
A.J. Epenesa, seen here as a member of the Bills, is a recent addition to the pass rushing depth chart.
Where else could the Eagles upgrade?
Safety might be the only position on the team that still has some question marks. The Eagles plan to use Cooper DeJean at safety in their base defense with Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen manning the outside corner spots. But that leaves around 75% of the reps next to Drew Mukuba for someone not named DeJean. Right now, it’s Marcus Epps’ spot to lose. But Epps is 30 and was available as a practice-squad addition last August.
Behind Epps is Michael Carter II, who has played mostly nickel, and J.T. Gray, another 30-year-old with mostly special teams experience. Then there’s a mix of young and unproven players.
Fangio has expressed confidence in Epps, and thinks Carter has the chops to play safety, but don’t be surprised if Roseman adds some more talent to the group before camp.
Matt Hodge stared up at the screen Sunday night at a private Selection Sunday watch party and smiled and cheered with the rest of his Villanova teammates when their name and number were called.
Villanova’s return to March Madness, the first NCAA Tournament appearance by the men’s basketball team since 2022, is a first for much of the team, and would be for Hodge, a redshirt freshman, if he didn’t have his right leg heavily wrapped in a brace following surgery last week to repair a torn ACL.
He was understandably dealing with mixed feelings on what was a celebratory night for players, coaches, their families, and program donors.
“It’s fun to get to see our name get called,” Hodge said, “but at the same time I won’t be able to go and I won’t be able to play. So it’s a feeling of regret and of timing.”
His season came to an abrupt end early in the second half of Villanova’s Feb. 28 loss to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. Hodge, a power forward who started in all 29 Villanova games to that point, got the ball in the post against Big East player of the year Zuby Ejiofor and tried to make a move.
Instead, he collapsed to the floor and writhed in pain.
“It was a typical basketball play,” Hodge said. “I just knew the moment I planted my foot and I tried to spin off Zuby, I felt something and I knew right away it was wrong.”
Villanova forward Matt Hodge reacts in pain after suffering a torn ACL during the game against St. John’s on Feb. 28.
His mind went instantly to his younger brother, Jayden, a high school star who suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in early January.
“The first thing I said was, ‘I think I tore my ACL like my brother,’” Hodge said.
Further testing proved his words to Villanova’s athletic training staff true. It’s a cruel result, but Jayden’s experience and recovery have given Hodge someone close to talk to and go through the emotional roller coaster with. The brothers, born in Belgium, came to the U.S. and won a state championship together at St. Rose High School in Belmar, N.J. Jayden, a senior who now plays at Montverde Academy in Florida, is committed to Northwestern.
“I ask him every day for tips and stuff,” Hodge said. “We can go through it together. He’s a little bit ahead of me, but he also tore his meniscus, so in like a week or so I’ll be ahead of him.”
St. Rose’s Jayden (left) and Matt Hodge watch their team play Bishop Eustace during the fourth quarter of a playoff game on March 4, 2024.
Hodge’s recovery right now is mostly just relaxing in the immediate aftermath of surgery. He walks by using crutches and keeps his right leg stiffened. Soon, he’ll begin flexing the knee more and will work on building back strength in his quadriceps since his surgery required a nerve blocker. In about six weeks, he said, he’ll shed his current brace to a walking brace and can begin activities like riding a bike.
It’s a long road back to the basketball court, but Hodge reiterated what Villanova coach Kevin Willard said earlier this month, that the aim is for him to be back to normal basketball activities by mid-to-late October and the goal is to be ready for the beginning of the 2026-27 basketball season.
“I feel like obviously it’s still a long way ahead of me, but I want to have a goal and I think that goal is pretty realistic,” Hodge said. “I’m just working toward that and I know, in my head and deep down, anything is possible. I might not be ready yet, or I might be ready quicker.”
Of course, he wishes he was ready by Friday afternoon, when eighth-seeded Villanova faces No. 9 Utah State in a first-round West Regional game in San Diego. The Wildcats could certainly use him. After missing his freshman season because of an NCAA ruling on his academic eligibility following his high school transfer from Belgium to St. Rose, Hodge had an impressive first season of college basketball.
He averaged 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting nearly 37% from three-point range.
From left, Villanova’s Acaden Lewis, Matt Hodge, Duke Brennan, and Bryce Lindsay after a 79-61 win against Pittsburgh on Dec. 13,
Without him, Villanova’s depth has taken a hit, especially in a frontcourt where only two players, centers Duke Brennan and Braden Pierce, are taller than Hodge, who is 6-foot-8. Villanova starts Malachi Palmer (6-6) at the power forward spot and sometimes has lineups on the court with four guards and one center, harkening back to the early days of Jay Wright. This quartet, however, doesn’t sing the same way as that one did.
Willard has mentioned changing things up. He said again Sunday said he could see Villanova opting to have Brennan and Pierce on the floor at the same time, but they haven’t done so in the three games since Hodge went down. But Villanova’s first-round loss in the Big East tournament featured a rebounding disadvantage of 46-25, and it might be time to adjust against a Utah State team that isn’t huge but attacks the offensive glass.
A win on Friday likely means a date Sunday with top-seeded Arizona, the ninth-best offensive rebounding team in the country that has a 7-2 center and a pair of 6-8 forwards who cause havoc on the glass.
Hodge was at home watching Thursday night as Villanova crumpled under the bright lights. The days after the injury have been isolating, but his family has been in town, his girlfriend is on campus, and his teammates and coaches have been supportive.
The pain is “more mentally than anything physically,” Hodge said.
“I just got to keep my head up now and support the team.”
