Philadelphia Eagles’ Former 3rd-Round Pick Becoming Potential Huge Breakout Candidate

The Philadelphia Eagles are still feeling the sting of their brutal late-season collapse last season. After looking the part of a legitimate Super Bowl contender for most of the season, they completely fell apart at the end of the regular season. Ultimately, they fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield in the Wild Card round of the NFC playoff picture.

Clearly, the front office was not happy with what they saw. They have made quite a few changes to the roster this offseason, as well as the coaching staff. Howie Roseman is not playing around this offseason as he looks to guide the Eagles back to Super Bowl contention.

During the 2024 NFL Draft, the Eagles found a way to add both Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean to their defense. Those two moves alone give them a huge upgrade on that side of the football.

Another player to watch is a former third-round pick by the Eagles. Milton Williams has become a relatively forgotten piece of the Philadelphia defense, but he is starting to emerge as a major candidate for a big breakout season in 2024, especially due to the departure of longtime Eagles’ star Fletcher Cox.

Pro Football Focus has listed Williams as the most underrated player on the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense heading into this season.

“Williams has been one of the best rotational interior defenders in the entire NFL over the past two seasons. While his 968 snaps over that period rank just 64th at the position, his 73.2 PFF overall grade places 32nd. Williams was playing the best football of his career before an injury in 2023, with his 77.6 overall grade between Weeks 5 and 11 ranking 14th among interior defenders.”

Can The Philadelphia Eagles Turn Things Around In 2024?

Obviously, the biggest question about the Eagles is whether or not they can figure out the reasons for their late-season collapse in 2023. Was it a coaching failure by Nick Sirianni as many fans and media members concluded? Did the roster simply stop producing at the level necessary to compete?

Looking at the roster heading into the 2024 season, there are zero excuses left for the Eagles. They have the talent in place to make another deep playoff run. All they have to do is figure out how to put it all together.

Jalen Hurts needs to bounce back from a rough all-around season in 2023. He dealt with nagging injury issues, but his production was not great. The Philadelphia Eagles will also need other leaders to step up with both Cox and Jason Kelce opting for retirement.

Can they turn things around in 2024? Absolutely they can, but it will take an entire team effort. From top to bottom, the players and coaching staff must stay consistent, produce at a high level, and handle adversity much better than they did last year.

Milton Williams could end up becoming a major X-Factor for the team this season. If he can play a pivotal role to help replace Cox, the Philadelphia Eagles’ chances will increase even more to get back to being a top-notch NFC contender.

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