Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reached far down the roster on Monday when asked to name top training camp performers so far.
Former first-round pick Nolan Smith was one. Well-documented breakout candidate Jalyx Hunt was another.
But the third name was a sleeper – Patrick Johnson.
Johnson was a seventh-round pick in 2021 who had a career-high snap count of 22 percent in 2022. Otherwise, he’s been another name on depth charts stuck behind deep rotations.
It would be a luxury for the Eagles to suddenly get a fourth-year breakout from Johnson as the pass-rush begins to lean more than ever on Smith after Haason Reddick’s departure. Bryce Huff came over in free agency to help a contract-year Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham, but more production from the rotation this year could be a good sign of things to come for Johnson and the Eagles.
Granted, Johnson breaking out could make the cut to 53 players more difficult, but when it comes to pass-rush, that's a good problem to have.