Final Roster Prediction

I’m sure some of you will say that I cheated by waiting for the Eagles to cut Joe Callahan and Christian Hackenberg before posting my prediction. Fine. I’m guilty. I was worried they might beat out Wentz and Foles so I waited.

Now onto the other 51 guys.

QB – 3 – Wentz, Foles, Sudfeld

RB – 4 – Ajayi, Sproles, Clement, Smallwood

WR – 6 – Jeffery, Agholor, Wallace, Hollins, Gibson, Wheaton

TE – 3 – Ertz, Goedert, Rodgers

OL – 9 – Peters, Wisniewski, Kelce, Brooks, Johnson, Vaitai, Seumalo, Mailata, Pryor

Analysis:  Some may question the choice of Smallwood over Josh Adams. Smallwood is a better receiver and better returner. Neither guy is a gifted blocker. Both are effective runners. Smallwood has more experience. Adams was banged up this summer. I still like his long term potential, but I think he needs a year on the practice squad. Go with Smallwood for now.

I hated cutting DeAndre Carter, but the Eagles put Markus Wheaton on the field early Thursday night. They wanted to see him in action. He got deep and should have had a TD, but the ball was underthrown. Wheaton is a veteran player with speed. Carter is a better version of Paul Turner. Go with Wheaton.

I don’t know what to do at TE. I’m assuming Rodgers’ knee isn’t hurt for the next month or two. If that’s the case, you cut him and find another TE. With no move to this point, the Eagles seem to be hoping he gets better.

Chance Warmack is gone. The Eagles have younger, better players to replace him.

*****

DE – 6 – Graham, Barnett, Long, Bennett, Means, Sweat

DT – 4 – Cox, Ngata, Vaeao, Hector

LB – 6 – Bradham, Hicks, Grugier-Hill, Gerry, Reynolds, Walker

S – 4 – Jenkins, McLeod, Graham, Sullivan

CB – 5 – Darby, Mills, Jones, Douglas, Maddox

ST – 3 – Elliott, Lovato, Johnston

Analysis:  No real surprises on this side of the ball. De’Vante Bausby just didn’t play well enough to win a spot. The Eagles will cut him and see about putting him on the practice squad.

*****

MISC

Tim Jernigan starts on the NFI list.

Chris Maragos starts on the PUP list.

*****

Practice Squad

RB Josh Adams
WR DeAndre Carter
WR Bryce Treggs
OG Aaron Evans
OC Jon Toth
DE Danny Ezechukwu
DT Aziz Shittu
LB Kyle Wilson
S Jeremy Reaves
CB Chandon Sullivan

Adams and Carter should be obvious. If the Eagles could put Adams on IR, they could keep Pumphrey here.

You need a certain amount of WRs just for practice reps. Treggs would be good for this, if healthy. If he’s not ready yet, the Eagles might go find another WR to look at in practice. I don’t see any reason to keep Greg Ward around another year.

I thought Evans played very well vs the Jets.

Toth was solid vs the Jets. Tall OL with narrow hips, but he moves well, which is key for Eagles C.

I thought Ezechukwu outplayed Joe Ostman. Ezechukwu is longer, stronger and just flat out better.

Shittu can be disruptive with his quickness, but needs to develop other moves and ways to beat blockers.

Wilson played MLB and showed some potential.

Reaves played very well in the Jets game. He was a priority UDFA target, but was mostly disappointing. The light finally came on for him so I’m sure the Eagles would love to keep him around.

I like Sullivan better than Bausby. I’m betting Jim Schwartz does too. It is also possible that another team grabs Bausby.

The team could also look at a TE, but no one on the roster now played so well that you feel they need to be kept around to develop.

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