After a few grueling weeks of training camp, the Eagles finally got to play another team when they hosted the Steelers to kick off the preseason Thursday night.
Some players did very well in the first game action of the summer. Some … not so much.
Here are three “stock up” players and three “stock down” from the first preseason game:
Stock up
Kamu Grugier-Hill
Nate Gerry got the start at WILL, but Grugier-Hill is making a serious push right now. He has been making plays all training camp and kept it going during the first preseason game. He ended up with six solo tackles on defense, to lead both teams. And he showed off his athleticism and speed.
Dallas Goedert
Zach Ertz sat out last night, so Goedert started. He was very impressive. Doug Pederson made an effort to get him involved early and that paid off. While there were a couple of mistakes — including a bad drop — Goedert more than made up for it. He had four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown in the first half before getting pulled.
I love how he realized when this play was off script and gave the QB a target.
Josh Adams
I want to see more of Adams. The undrafted rookie from Notre Dame got six carries for 30 yards and showed some explosiveness. He also caught two balls for 11 yards. Wendell Smallwood got in the game before Adams, but I want that flipped next week. I want to see Adams at least go up against second-team players. I wouldn’t rule him out of a roster spot just yet.
Stock down
NFL
Donnel Pumphrey
I was really looking forward to seeing Pumphrey last night, but he apparently got hurt earlier in the week during practice and was held out of the game. That’s a shame. Because after how terrible he was last summer, he’s looked much better in this training camp. These preseason games are a chance for him to earn a roster spot and not playing in the first one is rough.
Elijah Qualls
I bet Qualls made sure to stay clear of defensive line coach Chris Wilson last night in the locker room. While Qualls showed a little bit of pass-rush ability last night, he also got called for three penalties, which is just a killer. His defensive offside was declined when the Steelers got a 71-yard touchdown pass on the play, but his two defensive holds counted.
Kamar Aiken
We were going to go with Isaac Seumalo here, but you already know his stock is down. I’m going with Aiken because he started the game in place of Mike Wallace, got 18 snaps and wasn’t targeted once. Mack Hollins was actually worse, no catches on 21 snaps, but Hollins already has a roster spot locked up. Aiken is fighting for one of those last positions and didn’t get any action. Now, maybe Nate Sudfeld just didn’t look his way, but Aiken hasn’t been standing out at training camp either.