5 Philadelphia Eagles breakout candidates for 2025 season
Last year, Zack Baun, Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, Cam Jurgens and more had breakout 2024 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles en route to a Super Bowl win.
With training camp beginning this week, here are five candidates who could have breakout seasons in 2025 with the Eagles.
Jalyx Hunt
The Eagles enter the 2025 season with less depth on the defensive line than in previous years, especially at edge rusher.
Josh Sweat and Milton Williams both departed in free agency. Brandon Graham retired, and the team traded Bryce Huff after signing him to a massive contract. The Eagles didn't make a splashy move on the defensive line this offseason, which sets up second-year edge rusher Jalyx Hunt for the potential of a breakout 2025 season.
Hunt, who emerged at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs with a half-sack in the Super Bowl, will start on the opposite side of Smith on Philadelphia's defensive line.
Hunt, 24, is still relatively new to playing defensive line, despite some of his early success with the Birds. He began his college career at Cornell as a safety, and then moved to defensive line when he transferred to Houston Christian for his final two collegiate seasons.
Azeez Ojulari
Staying on the defensive line, Azeez Ojulari is another name to watch for a potential breakout 2025 season.
Ojulari, who spent the past four seasons with the New York Giants after the team selected him in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft, has dealt with several injuries early in his career.
Ojulari has only played one full season, his rookie year in 2021 when he had a career-high eight sacks. Last year, Ojulari missed the final six games of the 2024 season with a toe injury. He had six sacks in 11 games, including five starts.
If Ojulari, another former Georgia Bulldog, can stay healthy, he'll get plenty of chances at edge rusher behind Smith and Hunt.
Kelee Ringo
Speaking of former Georgia players, cornerback Kelee Ringo is another player the team picked out of the college football powerhouse who appears set for a breakout season.
The starting cornerback spot opposite of Quinyon Mitchell is Ringo's to lose entering training camp. Veterans Darius Slay and Isaiah Rodgers are both off the team, and all the Eagles did at cornerback in the offseason was sign Adoree' Jackson and draft UCF's Mac McWilliams in the fifth round.
Ringo has all the physical tools NFL teams want out of starting cornerbacks on the outside. He has the size at 6 feet, 2 inches and speed, as evidenced by his 4.36 40-yard draft time at the 2023 NFL scouting combine, but he needed to work on his technique.
Ringo has mainly played special teams in his first two seasons in Philadelphia, but he's set up to take a major leap in the 2025 season.
Will Shipley
Philadelphia's offense is loaded with stars, but second-year running back Will Shipley is expected to be more involved in the 2025 season.
Saquon Barkley will still handle a majority of the carries, but the Eagles might reduce his workload slightly this upcoming season after he recorded the highest number of touches in a season in his career in 2024.
Kenneth Gainwell signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason, so Shipley is expected to fill his role. Gainwell had 75 carries in the regular season in 2024 to go for 290 yards and one touchdown.
Entering camp, Shipley and former Green Bay Packers running back AJ Dillon, who missed all of 2024 with a neck injury, are Barkley's backups.
Shipley, a former five-star recruit at Clemson University, flashed when given the opportunity in 2024, but he played mostly special teams as a rookie.
Moro Ojomo
Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman came away with a steal in the seventh round of the 2023 draft when he selected defensive tackle Moro Ojomo out of the University of Texas.
Ojomo emerged last season along Philadelphia's defensive tackle rotation with Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Williams.
With Williams' 501 snaps from last season gone, Ojomo is expected to fill that void.
Ojomo played 388 snaps on defense in 2024, which was tied with Davis.
In 17 regular-season games, Ojomo had 20 total tackles and five quarterback hits.
