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The Philadelphia Eagles are set to play the Washington Commanders in Week 1, a crucial test in the NFC East. Even though the Eagles have won the last two NFC East titles, this is their opportunity to make a statement early in the division title race.
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Here’s how the Eagles are projected to line up on Sunday against the Commanders. Your Week 1 starting lineup.
Offense
QB — Jalen Hurts
RB — Saquon Barkley
WR — DeVonta Smith
WR — Dontayvion Wicks
WR — Makai Lemon
TE — Dallas Goedert
LT — Jordan Mailata
LG — Landon Dickerson
C — Cam Jurgens
RG — Tyler Steen
RT — Lane Johnson
This new-look offense by Sean Mannion has a lot of familiar faces to it. The major change on offense is at wide receiver, as A.J. Brown departed and Dontayvion Wicks and Makai Lemon are the new wideouts.
Smith was elevated to the WR1 , while Wicks is the WR2 and Lemon will start in the slot for his rookie year. The Eagles have been preparing Lemon to start in the slot, ramping him up after he missed the majority of training camp with a hamstring injury.
They are expecting an instant impact from Lemon, even if his timing and chemistry with Jalen Hurts isn’t down just yet.
“He’s been getting better and better each day,” Mannion said. “We spoke during camp. Unfortunately, [he] missed some time in practice, but I think what’s been impressive is, mentally, he’s been very sharp: alignments, motions, route detail. He’s done a really nice job of that.
“His confidence is growing with each practice. Again, he’s a young player. He’s getting better and better. I think the mental focus that he had while he was injured, staying engaged, has shown because each time we go out there on the practice field, his confidence is just growing and growing, and you can see the talent. I mean, it stands out every time you’re out there, and it’s going to keep getting better and better.”
The Eagles will have the same starting offensive line combination entering Week 1 as the season prior for the first time since the 2007-2008 seasons. This group is healthy entering the year, as teh offensive line will be the backbone of this offense.
Defense
DE — Jonathan Greenard
DT — Jalen Carter
DT — Jordan Davis
DE — Jalyx Hunt
LB — Zack Baun
LB — Jihaad Campbell
CB — Quinyon Mitchell
CB — Tariq Woolen
Slot CB — Cooper DeJean
S — Andrew Mukuba
S — Marcus Epps
This defense is going to be one of the top units in the NFL. The Eagles have the No. 1 pass defense in the league over the past two years, and added Woolen as the CB2 so DeJean can stay in the slot.
Epps earned the starting job at safety opposite Mukuba, when the Eagles go to nickel defense. In base, DeJean will play safety.
“He was just solid the whole way through” said Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. “But we still like Michael [Carter], and we have the ability to play him some there too.”
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Greenard is listed as “day-to-day” and has been limited in practice all week. If the Eagles are patient with Greenard, he’ll sit out until he’s 100%. Let’s project Greenard as the starter, but it’s 50-50 if he’s good to go.
“There’s a minimal amount of practice, real practice, that you have to go through, especially for a guy coming off an injury,” Fangio said. “It’s like [Aaron] Donald with the Rams. He’s just coming off rustiness, no injury and wasn’t ready this week. So, we’ll see.”
If Greenard doesn’t go. Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt will start at pass rusher. The Eagles can get by without Greenard for a week or two.
Special Teams
K — Jake Elliott
P — Braden Mann
LS — Rocco Underwood
KR — Will Shipley, Tank Bigsby
PR — Britain Covey
The interesting part of special teams are teh returners. Shipley and Bigsby were returners last season, although the Eagles could use Dameon Pierce as a practice squad elevation this weekend to change it up.
Covey could be a practice squad elevation, even though the Eagles have Lemon listed a sthe punt returner on the depth chart. The punt returner job is out in the open, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Lemon had the opportunity on Sunday. Let’s project Covey since the Eagles can elevate him three times, and he’s arguably their bets punt returner.
“We’ve been able to work with Makai the last — obviously, in the spring before he got dinged up a little bit,” Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “Then, at the latter part of training camp. He’s been diligent in working out, catching a ton of footballs after practice, after he gets his work with the offense.
“I’m always going to have confidence in the work that they put and the work that I see [from] them going in.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as Predicting Eagles Starters vs. Commanders for NFL Week 1: Offense, Defense, Special Teams.
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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 12:16 PM.