3 underrated Eagles sleepers who could break out in 2026 NFL season

For better or worse, the Philadelphia Eagles are a team built on star power.

Even after trading away AJ Brown and allowing Jaelan Phillips to leave in free agency, the Birds still employ 12 players who make at least $10 million a year in AAV, with a few more, like Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, and Jalen Carter, all up next for premier market value contracts.

And yet, one of the reasons why the Eagles have remained among the best teams in the NFL during the Nick Sirianni era is because of how well Howie Roseman has stocked the cupboards not just for this season but for seasons to come.

Now granted, like every GM, Roseman has his misses, as he invested solid picks in players like Trevor Keegan, who never saw the field for the team, and will absolutely release a player or two from last year’s draft class this summer after already saying goodbye to Kyle McCord and Antwaun Powell-Ryland before throwing a single regular-season snap in 2025. Fortunately, when players like Jordan Mailata and Moro Ojomo go from seventh-round picks to starters after a few seasons of development, it helps to make up for those blunders.

So, with the Eagles’ top player locked in, and their bottom-of-the-roster guys still fighting for roster spots, who are the middle-of-the-road players who could jump into stardom in 2026 for a team in need of some fresh blood? Well, with about a third of the roster turned over from last year, there are plenty of players new and old-ish who could become household names in the City of Brotherly Love this fall if things shake out their way.

WR Makai Lemon

On paper, Makai Lemon is kind of already a star in the eyes of Philly fans. He’s the first wide receiver Roseman has taken in the first round since DeVonta Smith, and while he did fall in the draft a tad for one reason or another, he is unquestionably one of the best players in this year’s class, with highlights as good as any other rookie in 2026.

From a pedigree standpoint, Lemon is as good as they get. He’s a former wide receiver from USC, the WRU of the West Coast, and he has some very famous players in his corner, with one of the NFL’s best current players, Amon-Ra St. Brown, consistently gassing him up heading into the NFL.

Until Lemon actually produces at the NFL level, however, he is firmly in the star-in-the-making category and will need to actually put up numbers to rise into that Smith echelon.

Standing 5-foot-11, 192 pounds, Lemon is a sub-20th percentile in hand size, arm length, and wingspan, according to MockDraftables, and even though he didn’t run the 40-yard dash coming out of USC, it’s safe to assume he wouldn’t have been a 4.3 burner based on his tape and general style of player. But when Lemon is on the field, he looks like an absolute world beater, running routes at an elite level and producing to the point where he won the Biletnikoff Award for a 79-catch, 1,156-yard season.

With 157 targets freed up by the exits of Brown and WR3 Jahan Dotson, plus a few more attempts-per-game borderline guaranteed thanks to the addition of Sean Mannion, if Lemon gets at least 75 balls thrown his way, it’s safe to say he should be in the 1,000 range – and the Rookie of the Year conversation – at season’s end.

Edge Jalyx Hunt

After going from an interesting depth piece as a rookie to a certified rotational player during the 2025 calendar year, Hunt has a chance to become the Eagles’ top homegrown edge rusher as he and Nolan Smith duke it out for a long-term extension next offseason.

On paper, Smith looks like a player worthy of extending, as he’s a very good run defender, has a collegiate connection with a number of his teammates, and has proven he can be productive when he’s healthy. But in 2025, when the Eagles needed a really big defensive play, Hunt more often than not came up with it.

A crucial sack? Hunt’s 6.5 led the team. A QB hit? Hunt led the team in that too, recording twice as many, 24, as the team’s next top performer, Jalen Carter. How about a forced fumble? Hunt had two and even recovered one, both of which led the team.

Goodness gracious, Hunt even led the Eagles in interceptions at three, which feels borderline impossible but is very much the case, beating out DeJean, Zack Baun, and Andrew Mukuba for the honor despite only playing 62 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.

While the Eagles did add another starting edge rusher to their roster during the draft in Jonathan Greenard, if Hunt continues to put up crazy numbers with even more impressive talent around him, it’s going to be hard for Roseman not to give him a big-money extension, as an edge rusher who can sack a quarterback on one play and pick him off in coverage the next in a premium asset worthy of some serious investment. 

LB Jihaad Campbell

And last but not least, after flashing some interesting play as a rookie splitting time on the inside with Nakobe Dean and as an out-of-place edge rusher, the new No. 11, Jihaad Campbell, has a clear runway to become the Eagles’ full-time starter next to Baun.

Widely considered one of the big steals of the 2025 NFL Draft, Roseman was so eager to add Campbell to his roster that he traded up to secure his services, selecting him 31st overall with the pick initially belonging to the team they beat in the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Standing 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Campbell is an athletic freak. He ran a 4.52 40 coming out of Alabama, with a 1.53 10-yard split and a 10-foot-7 inch broad jump added to his resume at the 2026 NFL Draft Combine. A top-15 college recruit who was persuaded to pick Alabama by Nick Saban himself, Campbell was an absolute force in the SEC, amassing 184 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and a pair of interceptions during his two years as a starter at inside linebacker in Tuscaloosa.

As a rookie, Campbell played fairly well, especially in coverage, where he had the speed needed to keep up with running backs and even the occasional slot receiver, but when Dean returned to full strength, his playing time quickly dried up. Dean played with more confidence in the run game, routinely picking up tackles for loss against opposing RBs, and after both Campbell and Baun failed to get much done, moonlighting on the edge, he was the unfortunate odd man out in Vic Fangio’s defense.

With Dean now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, Campbell has a chance to start on the inside right away, with the ability to form a mirrored look on either side of the defensive tackles with Baun that can drop into man coverage, remain in zone, or even rush the passer from a standup alignment from anywhere across the front.

When Roseman traded up in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, it was clear he liked Campbell’s fit in Fangio’s defense. But after a quiet rookie season, 2026 is shaping up perfectly for that investment to pay off.

The post 3 underrated Eagles sleepers who could break out in 2026 NFL season appeared first on ClutchPoints.