Eagles stock up, stock down after preseason game vs. Browns

Here's a stock watch after the Eagles' preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon.

By Dave Zangaro • Published August 16, 2025

After two joint practices against the Browns this week, the two teams faced off in a rare preseason afternoon game on Saturday.

The Eagles really struggled on offense with their backups and lost 22-13 to the Browns.

They will have one more preseason game next Friday night ahead of final cuts. This week is the final week of training camp.

Here’s a stock watch from the game: 

Stock up

LB Jihaad Campbell: On the first drive of the game, Campbell got to blitz the A-gap (on a zone blitz with Josh Uche dropping into coverage) and was able to sack Dillon Gabriel. Campbell’s ability to blitz is a real weapon.

S Drew Mukuba: In his first NFL preseason game action, Mukuba picked off a pass and returned it 75 yards for a pick-6. It was Mukuba’s first pick-6 dating back to at least high school. The pass looked like it was intended for tight end Blake Whiteheart but there were two targets in the area so he let it through. That’s when Mukuba was there waiting for the ball. The rookie showed good speed on the return after the pick.

LB Smael Mondon: After a few rough plays in the preseason opener, Mondon looked better in his second game action. He had back-to-back tackles early in the third quarter, including one to shut down a screen pass on third down.

OLB Azeez Ojulari: While Ojulari did get beat on an end-around early in the game, he had a big sack on third down to force a field goal in the second quarter. Ojulari beat veteran OT Cornelius Lucas cleanly. Ojulari flashed a bit in joint practices and carried it over to the game.

OLB Patrick Johnson: The veteran just always shows up in the preseason. He had a big TFL for a loss of 11 yards in the third quarter. He also had a pressure on a 4th-down incompletion in the fourth quarter.

DT Byron Young: The former Raiders' third-round pick missed the first preseason game with a groin injury but played in this one and played well. He had a tackle on third-and-short early in the fourth quarter. He also got a ton of snaps at nose tackle and if the Eagles want a backup nose behind Jordan Davis maybe he has a shot at making the roster.

QB Kyle McCord: After an atrocious first NFL preseason game, McCord was able to hang in and deliver a touchdown to throw to Ainias Smith late in the second quarter before drawing a personal foul on the hit. It still wasn’t a great outing — 8-for-16, 47 yards, 1 TD — but a baby step in the right direction.

OG Tyler Steen: If there was any question about whether or not Steen has won the right guard spot, it was answered on Saturday afternoon. Steen got the afternoon off along with the rest of the Eagles’ starting offensive line. It has been a solid camp for Steen.

RB Will Shipley: It’s worth noting that Shipley got the afternoon off along with Saquon Barkley. Meanwhile, A.J. Dillon started the game at running back. Keep that in mind when we’re trying to figure out the RB rotation this season.

Stock down

Backup OL: The Eagles’ offense had just 38 yards in the first half behind the second-team OL of Kendall Lamm, Brett Toth, Drew Kendall, Darian Kinnard and Matt Pryor. This group struggled to get much going. The Eagles averaged just 2.4 yards per rush in the first half. And then Myles Hinton gave up a pressure to Julian Okwara on the pick-6 in the third quarter after Toth’s snap was high. The Eagles had just 88 offensive yards and the line was a big reason why.

Backup running backs: The offensive line obviously struggled but the Eagles’ running backs weren’t able to create much on their own. Montrell Johnson was their leading rusher and the rookie UDFA had just 20 yards on 6 carries. Keilan Robinson had 9 on 6 carries, A.J. Dillon had 7 on 3 and ShunDerrick Powell had -5 on 3.

CB Brandon Johnson: The backup nickel corner had some decently tight coverage but Jamari Thrash caught three passes for 24 yards on him in the first half and two of those catches were for first downs. Overall, it has been a good summer for Johnson, who passed Parry Nickerson on the depth chart. But Nickerson had a good game on Saturday.

QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson: While DTR has had a nice training camp, he couldn’t control a snap that came out a little high from Brett Toth and then threw a pick-6 as he took a hit in the third quarter. He was 5/8 for 17 yards and a pick.

S Andre Sam: Both offenses were really struggling to get much going in the second half until Pierre Strong Jr. ripped off a 54-yard run when Sam had a bad angle to the rusher and missed a tackle.

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