The Eagles Player Who Left Observers Wanting More This Spring

One of the more interesting developments for the Eagles this spring was the chemistry between rookie quarterback Kyle McCord and tight end Nick Muse, a late arrival to Philadelphia last season who spent the run to Super Bowl LIX on the practice squad.

An intriguing true Y-back option with blocking ability and strong hands, Muse was able to flash the latter during the team’s minicamp practice earlier this month when he snatched a McCord fastball out of the air for a touchdown in a red-zone situation drill before recording the play of the spring, a diving, one-handed stab of another McCord pass over the middle.

The Philadelphia TE room is a lot deeper this year after the team worked out a contract impasse to make sure starter Dallas Goedert returned after previously adding veteran contributors Harrison Bryant and Kylen Granson in free agency.

With Goedert, incumbent fourth-year TE2 Grant Calcaterra, Bryant, Granson and E.J. Jenkins available, the numbers game looks daunting for Muse.

However, it was the South Carolina product via William and Mary who left many wanting to see more when things pick up again this summer.

“It was cool to see [Muse] take advantage of his opportunities,” Goedert told Eagles On SI. “With a room with so many veterans he gets less and less and I'd have to talk to him every day and be like ‘You know you might not get a lot [of reps] but when you get them take advantage.”

The Eagles are enamored with the processing skills and accuracy of McCord and the fact that the rookie’s favorite target during third-team reps was Muse, speaks volumes when it comes to trust.

“It was cool to see [Muse] have the success he had, especially at the last day of camp, making plays, diving, showing up all over the field, and that's what you want from the people in your room,” Goedert said. “You want us to be able to make plays, you want other quarterbacks to have trust in it. You want the coordinators to have trust in the tight ends, because that can just grow what we're asked to do. 

“I think that’s important.”

Muse was originally drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, 29 spots after the Eagles selected Calcaterra in the sixth. He spent the first three seasons of his career bouncing between the Vikings 53-man roster as the TE3 and the practice squad before signing with the Eagles' PS after Minnesota was bounced from the playoffs in January.

At 6-foot-5 and 252 pounds, Muse has the size and strength to play in-line, perhaps the only other TE on Philadelphia’s roster who can somewhat replicate what Goedert gives the offense as both a blocker and receiver, albeit with less big-play ability in the passing game.

The others are receivers who struggle as blockers and Bryant, who has proven to be a serviceable blocker but doesn’t have the size to be a true Y-back.

The numbers game is still against Muse but he should have earned some second-team reps over the summer and the opportunity to change that narrative.