The most important player (arguably) on the Eagles defense didn't earn his starting spot until two weeks ago. He spent almost all of the offseason rehabbing a broken ankle and wasn't 100 percent back until three weeks ago.
He signed a one-year, incentive-laden contract in March and has never started an entire season. Little is guaranteed in the NFL, but he has spent his career toiling in the shadow of others. He isn't flashy and speaks softly, which is probably why his story has been undersold.
But Nolan Carroll's ascension back from the all-too-familiar depths of a late-season, contract-year injury has been as notable as anything to emanate from the Eagles preseason.