said Lemon, who\u2019s wired the same way<\/a>. \u201cOnce you have a guy like that lined up right next to you, that\u2019s only going to make you better.\u201d<\/p>\nThe two also might have the same all-business approach off the field. Lemon and Smith spent time with each other last week at the Philadelphia 76ers\u2019 playoff game. It wasn\u2019t a deep, get-to-know-you session. It was enough exposure for Lemon to feel like he had found common ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuper humble guy, super chill, super calm,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cMy kind of vibe. I feel like me and him clicked on those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Smith joined the Eagles, the other first-round pick in the room was Jalen Reagor. At the time, Smith was essentially drafted over Reagor. In this case, Smith is the clear No. 1 receiver and could be a resource for Lemon. He vows to do that \u2014\u00a0in a way that befits his personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever he needs, he can ask me. I\u2019m not going to try to get in his way,\u201d Smith said Saturday at his celebrity softball game. \u201cIf he needs me, I\u2019m there for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_28855564-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Tight end Eli Stowers will be working on developing his blocking. (Bill Streicher \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Eli Stowers<\/p>\n
Eli Stowers went through blocking drills at practice under the watchful eye of tight ends coach Ryan Mahaffey. There was a particular focus on positioning and technique. This will be a major development to track for Stowers, who was the Mackey Award winner at Vanderbilt as the nation\u2019s top tight end because of his prolific receiving ability, but he\u2019s underdeveloped as a blocker.<\/p>\n
Stowers, a converted quarterback, only played tight end for three years. He explained that it\u2019s not a matter of inability \u2014 it\u2019s just a skill he still must develop because he was never asked to block until he made the conversion.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just have to learn the technique,\u201d said Stowers, the Eagles\u2019 second-round pick. \u201cI think that was not necessarily a hurdle, but the thing you have to learn the most. You have to get the technique down. A lot of it is reps and so you get the muscle memory down. And the other side of it is just the will to want to block. And I have that, and I want to be the best blocker I can be from that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
There had been reports that teams viewed Stowers as a big slot rather than a tight end. He\u2019s a tight end for the Eagles \u2014 he\u2019s listed as such, he practices with the tight ends. Even if he\u2019s not a traditional in-line tight end, he still must improve his blocking, just as some blocking tight ends must improve their pass-catching.<\/p>\n
\u201cI view myself as a tight end, but I think I can be a really good weapon in the passing game as well,\u201d Stowers said. \u201cI\u2019m thankful that I\u2019m viewed that way because it shows that people think I\u2019m explosive enough to view me as a receiver. But the fact is that I\u2019m a tight end, and I want to be used that way in the offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Markel Bell<\/strong><\/p>\nPull up to offensive line drills, and Markel Bell stands out. The sheer size of Bell is like watching Jordan Mailata on the practice field. Bell is actually taller, and he\u2019s every bit 6-foot-9. (He actually measured 6-foot-9 1\/4 at the combine, and that\u2019s without shoes.) There was a drill in which he was working with 6-foot-8 guard Hollin Pierce and Bell cast a shadow.<\/p>\n
By the way, Bell said he must still be growing.<\/p>\n
Mailata and Lane Johnson have both reached out to Bell. He watched both of them while he played at Miami. Bell\u2019s size is more comparable to Mailata\u2019s; he\u2019s built almost like a power forward, wearing the weight well. (Bell is listed at 346 pounds.) What did he take from Mailata?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a big guy, he\u2019s his own player, he\u2019s a big freak, and one thing I admire about him is the way he moves, the way he anchors on power, plays his own game,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n
Bell, who did not allow a sack last year at Miami, stopped playing basketball in the 10th grade to focus on football. That\u2019s when he added weight. The Eagles targeted him in the draft, calling him a \u201cpassion player\u201d after bringing Bell to Philadelphia for a visit and meeting with him in Miami during the pre-draft process. He\u2019ll have time to develop this season behind Mailata and Johnson, but it\u2019s clear why the Eagles did not trade out of the No. 68 pick in the third round. Players with this size, length and coordination are hard to find. When he was in the range for the Eagles\u2019 pick, they pounced. And unlike Mailata, he arrives with a clear baseline from playing the position at a high level in college. It\u2019s hard to develop into the player that Mailata has become, but Bell won\u2019t require the same runway.<\/p>\n
Cole Payton<\/strong><\/p>\nCole Payton was the only quarterback at the rookie minicamp, so he received considerable attention from offensive coordinator Sean Mannion and quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier. There was not much to interpret from Payton\u2019s practice session (with a camera affixed to his helmet), although it looked different seeing a left-handed quarterback. Payton might be the first lefty quarterback at an Eagles practice since Tim Tebow. Michael Vick was the last one in a game. Payton didn\u2019t think his left-handedness required any adjustments for the offense \u2014 it can change the side for which the quarterback is apt to roll out, which is a part of Payton\u2019s game \u2014 and Sirianni said the only difference is it can be difficult for coaches to demonstrate drills.<\/p>\n
When Payton practices next, he\u2019ll be fourth in the quarterback rotation behind Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton. Howie Roseman said he\u2019s not opposed to keeping four quarterbacks. That would break convention for the Eagles; it would need to be a situation in which Payton demonstrates clear down-the-road potential and the Eagles do not draw a strong trade offer for McKee or Dalton. (And if they believe Dalton provides value as the No. 3 quarterback.)<\/p>\n
There had been speculation that the Eagles might not only keep Payton, but also find an offensive role for him, given his size and athletic ability. Payton is 6-foot-3, 232 pounds and ran a 4.56-second 40-yard dash with a 40-inch vertical jump.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s what the team wants, if that\u2019s what the team needs, I\u2019m all for it,\u201d said Payton, with a Tayson Hill-type role the root of the question.<\/p>\n
This seems unlikely. Even if Payton makes the roster, the Eagles would need to dress more than two quarterbacks. They seldom do that, especially when they can designate an emergency quarterback. If that were the case, Payton would likely need to present special teams value. Unlike most quarterbacks, Payton actually has special teams experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn college, I got a couple reps at running back, tight end, even in the game, so we played with that a little bit,\u201d Payton said. \u201cIn practice, I was doing special teams drills. As a junior, I also started on punt even as the backup quarterback, so I\u2019ve done a little bit of it. I just love the game of football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Micah Morris<\/strong><\/p>\nMicah Morris, the Eagles\u2019 sixth-round pick, was greeted at the team facility last week by familiar faces. His former Georgia teammates wanted to see the newest member of the Athens-to-Eagles pipeline.<\/p>\n
When Morris arrived at Georgia as a 17-year-old offensive lineman in 2021, he needed to block Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter in practice. Morris\u2019 \u201cWelcome to the NFL\u201d moment might be the same as his \u201cWelcome to Georgia\u201d moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I tried to sit down a Jordan Davis bull rush,\u201d Morris said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I realized this isn\u2019t high school.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also mentioned Carter\u2019s \u201cendless\u201d array of pass rush moves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going against Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, so I know I\u2019m prepared,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n
Carter, Davis and Nolan Smith all reached out to Morris when the Eagles drafted him. When they greeted him at the facility, they saw how much Morris had changed since he was 17. He didn\u2019t have facial hair then, and he was fresh out of high school. They\u2019re teammates now with a 6-foot-5, 334-pound lineman who was at Georgia for five seasons.<\/p>\n
They also didn\u2019t know Morris as a starter. He needed to wait until his fifth season to become a full-time starter in college. If Morris makes the Eagles\u2019 roster, it\u2019ll require waiting for a turn to play. Morris understands as much; in fact, the need for patience in college has shaped his perspective entering the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrepared me not only for the NFL, Morris said, \u201cbut life in general.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Philadelphia Eagles completed their two-day rookie minicamp last weekend, an event that\u2019s like the NFL\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":778060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,1105,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-778059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116529574771261529","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}