Five Biggest Questions Temple Must Answer During Fall Camp

Tagged under: News, Pennsylvania Colleges, Temple

Mike Livingston | July 8, 2026

Temple is just a few weeks away from getting its fall camp underway, and for all the hype surrounding the Owls squad, there are undeniably numerous questions about the team as well.

Preseason camp is a time for programs to work out their kinks, settle roster spots, and set into place the game plan for the upcoming season – and while the questions may not be as rampant as in years past, Temple may just be a few good days of practice away from really understanding what they have on the field in 2026.

I’ll break down the five biggest things I believe need to be resolved in the Owls’ fall camp this August.

No. 5 – Find Depth at Outside Linebacker

Outside linebacker is easily Temple’s top-heavy position going into 2026.

With debatably the team’s best player in Lafayette transfer Jaylon Joseph, along with Sam Houston transfer Jamair Diaz, Temple has what looks to be a terrifying pairing on the linebacker wings.

However, as far as experienced depth goes at the position, Temple is lacking. Fifth-year walk-on David Kpeglo (Neumann-Goretti) and second-year recruit Adriano McLean (Penn Wood) are the top options off the sidelines who are natural edge linebackers. Kpeglo has appeared in eight games in his career, while McLean has yet to see the field.

Assuming neither Kpeglo nor McLean takes big steps in camp, the Owls will need to look elsewhere for situational depth at the position, assuming the team continues to run Brian Smith’s signature 3-4 defense.

It’s easy to assume guys like Tyree Alualu, Jayvant Brown, or Wesley Brown could make the move if need be, and that is likely the most realistic scenario; nonetheless, they’ll still need to work in position changes mid-year, which isn’t always the easiest.

No. 4 – Figure out how deep you can go in the defensive backfield

On the contrary to Temple’s outside linebacker spot, the defensive backfield spot is one of the team’s deepest; the question that remains now is just how deep they can afford to go in game situations.

At safety, the Owls are headlined by a top returner in Avery Powell along with Illinois transfer Saboor Karriem. UCF transfer Jaeden Gould, JUCO transfer Josiah Jackson, and Pooh Lawton have all shown starting-caliber ability for the Owls so far as well.

And at the corner, Denzel Chavis, Adrian Laing, and Devontae Ward-Grant have become shoo-ins on the depth chart. The issue Temple will need to fill out now is simply figuring out who to play and when to play them, to give everyone their equal and rightful share in playing time.

No. 3 – Make sure Sam Brown Is The Guy in the backfield

Sam Brown was perhaps Temple’s biggest and best surprise in spring camp.

Joining the Owls after four seasons at Rutgers, where he was regularly on and off the field for the Scarlet Knights with injury, Brown took what was originally projected to be a running back by committee situation and quickly turned it into a one-horse show with spectacular performances throughout camp.

Following a lower-body injury that sidetracked him in 2025, Brown seemingly regained his pre-injury strength and some, using his size, power, and newfound acceleration to bull his way through defenders on the regular.

Now the Owls will cross their fingers and hope that spurt of greatness from Brown wasn’t short-lived. If Temple can come into 2026 with a stalwart in the backfield along with the numerous options they have in the passing game, they can easily have one of the best offenses in the American Conference.

No. 2 – Decide the D-Line Rotation

Similar to the defensive backfield, Temple is stacked in the defensive trenches and has a lot of sorting to do.

If Temple stays in the 3-4 defensive set, Temple will only have three defensive linemen out on most plays, two of which will usually be edge rushers – in most cases, Davier Bishop and Cameron Jones, who have taken themselves to the top of the pecking order in the edge room.

At the defensive tackle/nose tackle spot is where things get interesting, however. In a spot where 75% of the time, the Owls will only be able to have one guy on the field at any given time, Temple boasts six starting-caliber guys between Joseph Auzenne, Kevin Hornbeak, Russell Sykes IV, Kaleb Artis, Troy Cunningham, and Lamar Fairfax, all of whom have a real chance to see meaningful playing time.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Smith and head coach K.C. Keeler shake things up a bit with defensive sets, especially across the trenches to afford more playing time at defensive tackle. But in the worst-case scenario, the Owls will always have a fresh body on the line with a nearly constant situational rotation.

No. 1 – Find A Starting QB

It is beginning to sound cliché, but it is the truth.

By the end of fall camp, Temple needs to decide who their starting quarterback will be.

While it isn’t the end of the world if the Owls wait until after their season opener against Rhode Island to make the call – akin to what they did last year following a 42-10 week one victory over UMass when Evan Simon was named the team’s starter over Gevanni McCoy.

However, towards the end of fall camp, it did begin to feel as though Jaxon Smolik may be pulling ahead in the competition a bit over Ajani Sheppard – if that trend continues into the beginning of the fall stint, it should not come as a surprise if the Owls name a starter a week or two out from week one.

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