2 hidden gems on Eagles’ 2026 roster you need to know

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.

G/C Willie Lampkin

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 coach Michael Clay, he has a chance to be even better.

In a league where some of the best fullbacks are former linemen, be that of the offensive variety, like Los Angeles Chargers blocker Scott Matlock, or from the defensive side, like the Baltimore Ravens’ Patrick Ricard, Lampkin could be a certified force opening up holes for Saquon Barkley in space. His best tape comes after the ball is snapped, when he’s pulling in space like Jason Kelce back in the day, and what really is a fullback but a zone blocker capable of neutralizing the first would-be tackler who comes his way? Why not put Lampkin in that role, at least in the preseason, and see what he can do?

And even if Mannion isn’t willing to give Lampkin a shot because of his – presumably – lack of pass-catching abilities, Clay could absolutely unleash the undersized lineman on would-be returnmen on special teams.

In 2025, Lampkin didn’t play a single snap for the Eagles on offense, defense, or even special teams. In 2026, the Eagles would be silly not to give Lampkin a chance to contribute somewhere, as he’s just too good of an athlete to sit on the bench, even if he doesn’t necessarily have a perfect NFL position.

DT Ty Robinson

In 2025, fans had big expectations for Ty Robinson, the third player the Eagles selected in the NFL Draft.

A force on the defensive line at Nebraska, where he amassed 12 sacks, 26.5 tackles for a loss, and 134 combined tackles, Robinson never really got going as a rookie, collecting just five tackles, a QB hit, and a pass defensed over 104 total defensive snaps.

On paper, that production isn’t great. While Robinson was a fourth-round pick, not, say, a second, he was still viewed as the kind of player who could contribute as a rookie, even if few projected him to become an immediate star right out of the gates. And yet, because Fangio is as old school as they come, he probably felt more comfortable with Byron Young and even mid-season addition Brandon Graham in his regular rotation, with the vast majority of his production coming in Week 4 and 11 when the Birds were dealing with injuries.

With Young set to return in 2026 alongside the starters and most likely BG, plus reserves Gabe Hall and Uar Bernard, who is unlikely to play a single snap as a rookie, Robinson doesn’t exactly have a clear path to the field as a second-year player. If, however, Robinson is the player the Eagles liked when they selected him 111th overall, he really should be cracking that top-4 rotation over Young, who was even occasionally used on obvious passing downs despite being more of a reserve nose tackle. With Ojomo set to become a free agent in 2027, Robinson has an inside track to become a starter as soon as Year 3 of his rookie contract, so a step forward in 2026 would do wonders for his ceiling in South Philadelphia.

Bonus: G Micah Morris

It’s unlikely that Micah Morris will play much, if at all, for the Eagles.

If they suffer an injury at offensive tackle, Fred Johnson and Markell Bell appear set as reserves, Morris doesn’t play center, and if a guard were to go down, Howie Roseman is far more likely to call Super Bowl starter Mekhi Becton off the street than to start their sixth-round pick right out of the gates.

With that in mind, who is the Eagles’ top reserve guard heading into training camp? Is it Lampkin, who is beyond undersized? Would they give Drew Kendall a shot despite also being their backup center? Or how about one of last year’s Day 3 picks, Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams, who are both more tackles than guards?

As things presently stand, Morris might just be the Eagles’ top guard off the bench, which is both concerning but also interesting for Eagles fans in Athens who have come to adopt Philly’s finest as their own. With 700 snaps at left guard last season for Georgia and early efforts playing right guard for the Eagles, Morris might just be the biggest wildcard of the year, especially with Tyler Steen set to become a free agent next year, even if he’s unlikely to play unless it’s an emergency.

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