Eagles Spring Overreactions: Jalyx Hunt, Receivers, And More

There were plenty of unhappy campers around the NFL as minicamps opened this week. Disgruntled veterans such as the Steelers’ T.J. Watt, the Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson, and the Dolphins’ Jalen Ramsey were just three of several players not showing up because of unhappiness with their contracts.

Not in Philadelphia. The Eagles had 100 percent attendance on Tuesday for their only day of minicamp practice, which wrapped up spring workouts. The next time the Eagles will be seen is July 21, which is the tentative report date for training camp.

We witnessed just three practices, but that’s enough to overreact to. Here are four overreactions from spring.

Receivers are just fine. There has been talk of adding a veteran receiver. Forget it, the Eagles don’t need one. They are fine with what they have behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Jahan Dotson looks like a different, more comfortable player, being here in the spring after not being traded to Philly until the end of last August. Then there’s Terrace Marshall. The 2021 second-round pick of the Panthers, who just turned 25 on Monday, had an impressive day on Tuesday. He also stood out a bit on the second OTA reporters watched.

Realistically, there won’t be much traffic for either of them, but they are both solid depth pieces. As for the fifth receiver, that will likely be Ainias Smith, who had a good day of minicamp.

Bonus overreaction: Johnny Wilson won’t make the 53.

Jalyx Hunt will have a breakout season. You heard it here first. What will a breakout look like? I’m going with 10 sacks. This guy is fast. He angered Jordan Mailata on one play, when he flew past the left tackle and was easily running down Jalen Hurts from the backside – and he closed the distance between himself and a fleeing Hurts in the blink of an eye - for what would have been a sack.

Mailata came to the sideline, looked up at the big screen TV that shows the replay, and shouted, “What the (bleep) was I doing?”

Nick Muse will make the team. This would probably mean the Eagles would keep four tight ends, but, even if it’s just three, Muse deserves to be the third ahead Harrison Bryant, Kylen Granson, and E.J. Jenkins. Muse simply had a better three days (small sample but remember – overreactions).

The William & Mary product, and seventh-round pick of the Vikings in 2022 had a solid spring and it culminated on Tuesday when he worked his way open (by just a little bit) against Andre Sam on a red zone drill and made a nice catch of a dart thrown by Kyle McCord for a touchdown. The 6-5, 252-pound Muse, who played 16 games with the Vikings, mostly all on special teams, caught another pass where he head to fully extend to haul down a throw by McCord that would have been an easy completion if thrown a bit better.

Tanner McKee will be a starter in this league. The backup quarterback impressed all spring long. On Tuesday, he threw dimes to Terrace Marshall and Ainias Smith that had Saquon Barkley marveling after one of them, saying, “Damn, nice throw Tanner.”

McKee can start in this league, but with Jalen Hurts ensconced here, it won’t be here. Trading him for a second-round pick next offseason isn’t as far-fetched as some might think in a quarterback-starved league.