Third-Year Player Is The Biggest Early Surprise Of Eagles' Camp

The TE2 job is Grant Calcaterra's to lose.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and tight end Grant Calcaterra (81) prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - If you’re looking for surprise over the first two practices of Eagles training camp, focus on tight end where third-year player Grant Calcaterra has emerged as Philadelphia’s No. 2 option.

Despite a total of just nine receptions over his first two seasons It’s fair to say the TE2 job is Calcaterra’s to lose after getting extensive work in 12 personnel packages with Dallas Goedert, perhaps a nod to Kellen Moore’s desire to get the tight ends involved in his offense, coupled with the realization that WR3 for the Eagles, a job that would be earmarked for veteran Parris Campbell if the Eagles played Sunday, is not a strength.

Head coach Nick Sirianni has brought up Calcaterra unprompted a few times this spring and has also noted there are different ways to find an extra weapon for the passing game that doesn’t involve the receivers, a potential foreshadowing of the Goedert and Calcaterra pairing.

“Grant's first year he got a hamstring early in camp and, you know, it kind of set him back that first year but the last two years I feel like you just see him grow every day,” Goedert told Eagles on SI when asked about Calcaterra. 

“You know, he asked me a lot of questions -- what I see, why I do that – and you see him just put his own little flair in the game. He does a good job of finding a way to get open on the top of routes.”

Not known for his blocking, the real test for the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Calcaterra will be when the pads come on later this summer.

Goedert, meanwhile, is one of the better two-way tight ends in the NFL and can excel at both the receiving and blocking phases. What you don’t want to do is telegraph what’s coming by personnel groupings.

Calcaterra’s main competition for the TE2 job is coming from veteran C.J. Uzomah, who is more blocker than receiver at 262 pounds, and Albert Okwuegbunam, who is bigger than Calcaterra at 6-5, 258 but more receiver than blocker.

The winner will ultimately be the one that can make the use of Goedert less predictable.

For now, the Eagles seem to believe that’s going to be Calcaterra as long as he proves to be a serviceable blocker.

“He's one of the people that just knows what he's supposed to do, knows where he's supposed to be, when he's supposed to be there,” Goedert said. “And when you do that, you just gain a lot of trust from the quarterback and the coaches. So it's been seen really fun seeing him grow over the last three years. And hopefully, we can be on the field a lot together." 

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