Eagles Training Camp Awards: The 2024 Edition

The Eagles had a strong summer featuring a consistent offense against an improving defense.

The Eagles' 2024 training camp awards. / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - The official training camp portion of the Philadelphia Eagles' summer is over after the team's 16th practice open to reporters, one of them of the joint variety vs. the New England Patriots in Foxborough.

The punctuation on the sessions that can be observed in full means it's time to hand out Philadelphia Eagles on SI's annual camp awards.

That includes the 2024 Mr. NovaCare award winner, the player honored with the mythical "Paul Turner Trophy," although that piece of hardware could be changing names in the future. More on that later.

So without further adieu, Price Waterhouse has handed us the envelopes:

Most Improved: Edge Rusher Patrick Johnson - The fourth-year edge rusher, who can moonlight at off-ball linebacker and remains one of Michael Clay's core special teams players, devoted his offseason to remaking his body.

Johnson came back bigger, stronger, and more explosive. The numbers game is tough on the edge with Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, Brandon Graham, Nolan Smith, and rookie third-round pick Jalyx Hunt all 100-percenters but Johnson has forced his way onto the 53.

Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

Best Rookie: CB Quinyon Mitchell - The chalk holds.

Mitchell has looked every bit like the top corner in the draft and has even been more versatile than expected, showing the ability to move inside and handle slot work. Mitchell will be a Day 1 starter and likely play opposite Darius Slay when only two CBs are on the field and move inside when a third corner is needed with Isaiah Rodgers or Kelee Ringo rotating in.

Mitchell was ultra-competitive in camp and didn't shy away from 1-on-1s with star receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. In fact, after Brown beat Mitchell for a long touchdown on Tuesday of this week, Slay said he was champing at the bit to get back at Brown something he did on a 1-on-1 rep late in Wednesday's practice, punctuating the play with folded arms and a long stare down of the Eagles' best player.

Biggest Disappointment: TE C.J. Uzomah - The early thought was that the veteran tight end might slot in as the replacement for Jack Stoll at TE2 and that never materialized with Grant Calcaterra placing a stranglehold on that role.

From there, Uzomah was unable to even lock down the TE3 job over the fledgling E.J. Jenkins or injured Albert Okwuegbunam with the Eagles releasing the former Cincinnati starter on Wednesday.

Toughest Rookie Debut: WR Ainias Smith - The fifth-round pick lost his confidence in the spring and that continued over the first few weeks of the summer with the former Texas A&M playmaker fighting the football.

The good news is that Smith turned it around a little bit over the past week and even finished camp with a brilliant one-handed catch on a seam route Wednesday that was arguably the second-best of camp behind a one-handed circus snare by Brown on a back-shoulder 1-on-1 rep vs. Slay.

It will be interesting to see if Smith's late life saves him because Howie Roseman obviously doesn't want to cut the No. 152 overall pick.

Best Undrafted Rookie: tie between RB Kendall Miltin and S Andre Sam' - Roseman warned that this would be a lesser year on the undrafted front and that sentiment has played out.

There are no UDFAs who've placed themselves in a position to make the initial 53. That said, Milton brings size to the running back room at 6-foot-1 and 232 pounds and has shown more wiggle than advertised both as a runner and receiver. Sam' is an older rookie at 25 and has shown that maturity, proving to be a tough-minded player who fights in coverage. Both are locks for the practice squad.

Toughest Injury: RG Tyler Steen (ankle) - Steen was taking all the first-team reps at right guard into the Eagles' third practice of the summer when a sprained ankle forced him to the sideline. When Steen returned in just over a week, probably too soon because the second-year player exited the second preseason game with New England, it was Mekhi Becton's job to lose.

And Becton has not lost it.

Toughest to Figure Out: RB Saquon Barkley - Barkley's reputation is that of a superstar but that hasn't shown up yet other than a nice play on a wheel route against the soon-to-be-traded Matthew Judon in the joint practice against New England.

The excuse machine tends to kick into high gear with Barkley and a common refrain is that RBs tend to not show up until things are live and while that is the case, both Kenny Gainwell and rookie Will Shipley have managed to make more plays with far fewer meaningful reps.

Biggest Flame Out: WR Johnny Wilson - Some had penciled in the rookie 6-foot-6 sixth-round pick into the WR3 spot early in camp before a concussion suffered against the Pats in the joint practice.

The Jahan Dotson trade has taken WR3 off the table and Wilson will now get to disappear under the radar and continue his development in a more laid-back environment.

Best Late Pickup: OL Nick Gates - Dotson was a day late.

Gates, a veteran offensive lineman who likes to go belly out for practice, was signed on July 30 and has quickly usurped fellow vets Matt Hennessy and Max Scharping as the Eagles' interior safety net.

Gates has started 39 NFL games with Washington and the New York Giants and can play all three interior line positions. It was notable that when Becton part of practice over the weekend and Steen was out Gates had already ascended to getting some first-team RG reps despite being a late addition.

The Lane Johnson Award for Best Quote: That goes to the trash-taking extraordinaire C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who did not hold back with the struggling Ainias Smith when the rookie came up empty on a 1-on-1 rep with Sam in a practice-closing session earlier this summer with "Man, you ain't done S@#$ all camp."

Mr. NovaCare: QB Tanner McKee - The mythical "Paul Turner Trophy" has a new sponsor in McKee, who is the first back-to-back winner.

There is no backup quarterback controversy within the organization. The Eagles traded for 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett to be the cost-effective backup for the next two seasons but McKee has looked better at times and captured many imaginations.

The most popular player being the backup QB is a familiar refrain around the NFL but it only holds if you don't have a star like Jalen Hurts so in Philadelphia the most popular has become the backup to the backup.

Ironcially, McKee hasn't been great at NovaCare but his play in the fourth quarter at New England cemented his defense of the title. The No. 1 contender was Wilson but he had dropped off significantly before the concussion took him completely out of the running.

MVP - QB Jalen Hurts: The headline was no interceptions in 15 practices before Slay finally baited Hurts in No. 16.

The most impressive part of Hurts' summer was his consistency, though. If you were playing the thumbs-up, thumbs-down game with Hurts, you may have gone with one or two thumbs in the middle but no negatives.

It was an exceedingly sharp summer for the QB1.

Favorite Tweak: Balcony Vic - The Eagles typically hold an operational practice or two at Lincoln Financial Field but Pink's Summer Carnival concert prevented that over the past week prompting Nick Sirianni to try to replicate the game-day coaching feel by placing the coaches who typically spend game day up in the booth in the facility's balcony that overlooks the practice field.

Something about Balcony Vic Fangio makes me smile.

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