Philadelphia Eagles 2026 Outlook: Everyone Agrees, and the Agreement Is Worth Almost Nothing

Philadelphia has made the playoffs in each of the last five seasons the site holds records for — 9-8 in 2021, 14-3 in 2022, 11-6 in 2023, a 14-3 title in 2024, 11-6 in 2025. Nick Sirianni is still the head coach, Howie Roseman is still the general manager, and the punditry reflects that: the Eagles are a team almost everyone is confident about, which is a different thing from a team anyone is saying anything checkable about.

Across our whole database there are 754 Eagles takes tied to a position group. Here is where they land.

Two rooms — receiver and running back — account for a third of it. The offensive line interior, the specialists and the edge rushers get one honest paragraph each below, because that is all the evidence there is.

Quarterbacks

Sixty-one QB takes, 14 of them graded, and they average 30.3 accuracy with a skill delta of -17.38 — the worst-scoring Eagles position group on the board. Quarterback punditry is the loudest thing here and it has been the least reliable.

Nobody is predicting a competition for the starting job. The argument is about how good Jalen Hurts will be. Derek Brown is the most aggressive buyer: *"I'm actually talking about Jalen Hurts, who's one of the best values on the board for fantasy... He's going to cook this year"* (Sept. 1), after saying a day earlier that *"Hurts still has top 3-5 upside in fantasy"* and *"I'm not shying away from buying the dip with Hurts despite the worries."* Brown's overall record is strong — 62.71 accuracy, a 35.62 MissedTakes Score over 114 graded takes — but positional-finish calls are his weakest bucket by a distance: 12.85 accuracy over 19 graded. A "top 3-5" projection is exactly the kind of claim he has historically missed.

Simon Hunter is on the same side (*"Me saying he's a top five quarterback, it's like people are– they kill me"*), as is Nathan Jahnke's PFF work, which lists Hurts as a "league winner" at an ADP of 5.06. Jahnke has exactly one graded take on the site, so that record tells you nothing yet. The dissent comes from Mike Fanelli, who has Hurts as an overpriced bust: *"Fantasy players can draft Justin Herbert nearly two rounds later and get similar upside out of the quarterback position."* An unsigned FantasyPros piece splits the difference: *"a buy-the-dip candidate coming off his worst year."*

The real competition is behind him, and Jeff Kerr — who does not have a pundit page here, so nothing of his is graded — changed his mind twice in a week. Aug. 16: *"Dalton still has the slight lead in the QB2 race."* Aug. 20: *"Dalton took a big step in locking down the QB2 job."* Aug. 23: *"McKee should have the QB2 job after the atrocious performance from Andy Dalton on Saturday night."* Aug. 24 on Dalton: *"The Eagles just can't trust Dalton to play a football game against a first-team defense. They should look to move on."* Fifth-rounder Cole Payton is a practice-squad question — Josh Edwards wrote that *"Philadelphia's plan at quarterback may be as simple as trying to slip fifth-round pick Cole Payton onto the practice squad,"* while Kerr expects Payton to stick as an inactive QB3.

The receiver room

The busiest unit in the file: 167 takes, 20 graded, 63.4 accuracy, +4.24 skill. A.J. Brown's departure to New England reorganized everything, and the WR1 question is settled by acclamation. Jahnke: *"DeVonta Smith is the new top target in Philadelphia."* Jordan Dajani: *"DeVonta Smith, who is Jalen Hurts' new No. 1."* Richard Sherman: *"Devontae Smith is going to be the number one."* Mike Harmon ranked Smith sixth among all receivers for fantasy. Jahnke's stated finish — *"Smith's ability to be a top-five or top-10 fantasy wide receiver will somewhat depend on the Eagles' ability to rebound as a team, but given the talent on the unit, that is a decent bet"* — is the one that will actually grade.

WR2 is genuinely contested, and the split is clean. Brown: *"Dontavion Wicks is the clear wide receiver two for Philly."* Henry McKenna on first-rounder Makai Lemon: *"he is expected to contribute immediately as the team's WR2."* Kerr, Aug. 28: *"Makai Lemon will start... he'll start Week 1."* Against them, Evan Tarracciano says Lemon *"appears to be listed behind Dontayvion Wicks and Marquise Brown on the Eagles' depth chart,"* and Pat Fitzmaurice has him as *"Philadelphia's primary slot receiver"* rather than an outside starter.

On Lemon's fantasy price the field is actively arguing. Brown: *"I'm out on Lemon at cost... he is going to force Makai Lemon into a very Luther Burden-esque rookie season where he has trouble getting on the field."* Hunter: *"I'd much rather have Wicks at cost."* Andrew Erickson (22.08 score, 57.03 accuracy, 143 graded) lists Lemon as a straight sleeper. Two pundits have him at Offensive Rookie of the Year — Ty Butler at +1400 (*"a nice little sneaky pick"*) and Veejay Huskey at +1150. Award picks on Eagles players have graded at 12.5 accuracy across 16 settled calls, so those are lottery tickets, correctly priced as such.

The running backs

Seventy-four takes, 22 graded, 24.8 accuracy — the worst-grading Eagles room we have. The current takes are unanimous and unadventurous. Tom Strachan, across four different draft-slot columns: *"Barkley is the undoubted No. 1 RB in an offense that will score points,"* citing *"a new offensive coordinator and a healthy offensive line."* Hunter calls Saquon Barkley *"a back-end first-round pick. That's great value."* Chad Workman has him at ADP 15 and *"deserving of first-round draft capital."*

Behind him, Tank Bigsby is the consensus handcuff — Brown (*"one of the best handcuffs in the NFL"*) and an unsigned FantasyPros piece (*"the most talented handcuff nobody talks about"*). Kerr has Will Shipley locked in at RB3. No fullback takes exist beyond Kerr noting the Eagles were looking for one and that the spot was *"trending towards Cameron Latu."*

The tight ends

Fifty-eight takes, 10 graded, 56.1 accuracy, +14.61 skill. Dallas Goedert is a value play almost everywhere: Brown (*"At his floor, he's a strong TE1"*, and *"I wouldn't rule out Goedert finishing as a top six fantasy tight end again in 2026"*), Fitzmaurice (*"The 31-year-old Goedert clearly has gas left in the tank"*), Erickson, and a FantasyPros projection that has him TE8 against a TE13 consensus. Tarracciano expects *"a dramatic rise in targets, thanks to the departure of A.J. Brown to New England."* The lone fade is Eric Karabell: *"Goedert isn't durable, and he likely isn't coming close to double-digit TDs again."*

Second-rounder Eli Stowers is being written down, not up. Jahnke: *"Stowers appears unlikely to make a significant impact as a rookie."* Erickson lists him under "Rookies to Avoid." Kerr has him as the TE3.

The offensive line

Almost nothing predictive. Tackle draws 49 takes (14 graded, 68.4 accuracy, +38.82 skill — the best-scoring Eagles group, on a sample of 14), guard has one graded take and center two. Everything current is roster mechanics: Kerr on third-rounder Markel Bell (*"the right tackle of the future,"* *"He earned the No. 3 tackle job"*), John McMullen on Lane Johnson (*"took a week away to ponder his future (this will more than likely be his last season)"*) and Tyler Steen (*"in line for a significant contract extension"*). Bill Barnwell expects Johnson to reach the Hall of Fame. Nobody has made a gradable claim about how the interior of this line will play.

The defensive line

Forty-one defensive tackle takes (8 graded, 43.6 accuracy) and eight at defensive end — three of which are 2027 mock-draft picks sending an edge rusher to Philadelphia next April (Mike Renner has Jordan Ross at 27, Charlie Campbell has Will Heldt at 29, Justin Melo has Yhonzae Pierre at 28). That is the shape of it: more punditry about replacing the edge room than about watching it.

The one production call is Gordon McGuinness's PFF breakout pick for Moro Ojomo: *"As he enters a contract year, don't be surprised if Ojomo starts to draw much more attention if he maintains that level of production."* Kerr and McMullen both named Jalyx Hunt their standout of camp, with Kerr floating a first Pro Bowl. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis appear in this database only as names on roster projections.

The secondary

Twenty-eight cornerback takes (6 graded, 34.8 accuracy) and 18 at safety (3 graded). Bryant McFadden ranks Philadelphia's secondary second in the league behind Houston and predicts Quinyon Mitchell's breakthrough: *"This is the year where we see regular season interceptions."* Edwards on the new corner: *"Riq Woolen should bring accountability opposite Quinyon Mitchell, but the team felt the need to invest in the position."* Joel Corry floats Mitchell as *"the league's first $35 million defensive back."* Kerr has Marcus Epps starting next to Andrew Mukuba; McMullen has Michael Carter II as the dime back.

The cautionary note: the last graded accolade call on this unit — Pushing the Pile naming Mitchell a second-team All-Pro — scored 0, with a skill delta of -100.

Special teams

Four takes, none graded, all from Kerr's roster projections. The most declarative: *"There won't be competition for Elliott this summer. He's the kicker."* Jake Elliott and Braden Mann are listed as locks; Kelee Ringo is described as *"one of the elite gunners in the game."* There are no return-game predictions in the database at all.

The rookie class

Ground truth: WR Makai Lemon (1-20, USC), TE Eli Stowers (2-54, Vanderbilt), OT Markel Bell (3-68, Miami), QB Cole Payton (5-178, North Dakota State), G Micah Morris (6-207, Georgia), S Cole Wisniewski (7-244, Texas Tech), DT Uar Bernard (7-251), DE Keyshawn James-Newby (7-252, New Mexico).

Fifty-one graded mock calls named Lemon before the draft, and not one of them sent him to Philadelphia. The field clustered him at 11–16 — Rams at 13 was the single most common landing spot — while he actually went 20th. The closest calls were on the slot, not the club: Danny Parkins at 19 (95.76 accuracy), JP Acosta at 21 (95.76), David Harrison at 22 (91.7). Gregg Rosenthal at 16 scored 84.09; Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks, Peter Schrager and Colin Cowherd all had him 13th, for 73.84 apiece.

Everything else about this class is roster arithmetic from Kerr: seventh-rounders James-Newby and Wisniewski to the practice squad, Bernard protected on the 53, Bell winning the third tackle job.

The overall outlook

The site holds no settled 2026 win-total consensus yet, but 21 Eagles win-total takes are on file. The 2026 crop runs from 7 to 13.

Nick Wright is the high, at 13-4 with the division. Rosenthal sided with the Eagles at 11 and over 10.5. Dave Dameshek split the difference in an interesting way: *"I don't think this team is winning the division, but I do think they're going to win 11 games."* Jason McIntyre took the over at 10.5. Conor Orr has them 9-8 and second, behind a 12-5 Dallas. Jeff Cavanaugh is alone at the bottom: *"They're on their way to a seven and ten season."* Rich Eisen declined to pick a number and instead said *"it would take a massive influx of injury for the Eagles to be out. They're too damn talented to have more losses than wins."*

On the division, the field is lopsided. Cowherd has picked the Eagles at least five separate times (*"The Eagles have won the division three of the last four years... It's a great roster"*), joined by Wright, McIntyre, Anthony Gargano, Clarence Hill and Rosenthal, who noted: *"I went Eagles and was surprised to see that more writers went Cowboys."* Orr and Chris Broussard take Dallas, with Broussard keeping Philadelphia in as a wild card.

Here is the part worth sitting with. Every graded Eagles division-winner call in the database — all 22 of them — was correct, and their average skill delta is exactly zero, because the naive baseline is "last season's winner won again." Playoff picks are similar: 94.4 accuracy, skill of -11.11. Conference-champion calls are where the field actually got hurt: 26 graded, 26.9 average accuracy, because the 2025 finalists were New England and Seattle and a long queue of pundits had Philadelphia there.

The two loudest voices backing the Eagles in the NFC East also carry the two worst graded division records here. Cowherd is at 5.88 accuracy across 53 division-winner calls; Wright is at 12.5 across 14, with a MissedTakes Score of -45.46. On win totals, Wright grades at 43.63 accuracy over 50 calls and a -10.42 score; Cowherd at 43.33 over 22 but a positive 21.92.

And even being right pays little here. In 2025, the naive number on Philadelphia was 11.25 and the team won 11. Wright's 11-6 call scored 100 accuracy for a skill delta of +10. Brady Quinn and Parkins each said 12 and took 80 accuracy with -30 skill. Picking the Eagles to be good is the easiest call in football and the site pays out accordingly. The interesting Philadelphia predictions this year are Cavanaugh's 7-10, Orr's second-place finish, and Karabell's fade of Goedert — the ones that will have actually said something if they land.