The Roster

Posted: August 31st, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on The Roster

We finally know the Eagles roster. For now, of course. There will be changes.

Let’s take a look at the initial 53-man roster.

QB – 3 – Carson Wentz, Josh McCown, Nate Sudfeld

RB – 4 – Jordan Howard, Miles Sanders, Corey Clement, Darren Sproles

WR – 5 – Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Nelson Agholor, JJ Arecga-Whiteside, Mack Hollins

TE – 2 – Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert

OL – 10 – Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Andre Dillard, Jordan Mailata, Matt Pryor, Nate Herbig

DE – 6 – Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry, Daeshon Hall, Josh Sweat, Shareef Miller

DT – 4 – Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson, Tim Jernigan, Hassan Ridgeway

LB – 6 – Nigel Bradham, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Zach Brown, LJ Fort, Nate Gerry, TJ Edwards

S – 5 – Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Andrew Sendejo, Johnathan Cyprien, Rudy Ford

CB – 5 – Ronald Darby, Avonte Maddox, Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, Cre’Von LeBlanc

STs – 3 – Jake Elliott, Rick Lovato, Cameron Johnston

There were no shocking cuts. The biggest surprise was DT Treyvon Hester. He had a good spring and summer, after showing ability last year. He simply caught in a numbers situation. The Eagles decided to go heavier at DE, keeping six. Guys like Graham and Curry can slide inside in passing situations so they didn’t need to have as many DTs.

The Eagles are also likely hoping Hester or Bruce Hector (who got traded last week) could be added to the practice squad. Hector did get cut by Arizona today so we’ll have to wait and see if one of them makes it to the PS.

In terms of position, the biggest surprise is only keeping two TEs. That will change. You need to have three for gamedays (offense and STs). The Eagles are going to check out the cuts and decide who they want to get. I thought Perkins had done enough to make the team, but the coaches likely want someone who is a better blocker and is better on STs.

Luke Willson was cut by the Raiders and would make some sense. He’s a big, veteran player who has 45 career starts. The Browns cut Seth DeValve, who has been a productive backup. The Ravens cut rookie Charles Scarff. The Eagles got to see him for two days of practices. No idea if they were impressed. We don’t know who, but someone will be added.

Some might wonder why Mack Hollins made it. Howie Roseman talked about his value to the offense and STs. Greg Ward was in the mix for that final spot, but didn’t have the same impact on STs. That gave Hollins the advantage.

Howie raved about Daeshon Hall, and the DE group as a whole.

“We look at that defensive end group and I know Coach Schwartz Jim Schwartz has talked a lot about how excited he is about Derek Barnett, and Derek Barnett we think is a really good football player and he’s going to get an opportunity here to start. We all know about Brandon Graham, and what he can add,” Roseman said.

“Vinny (Curry) looks better than he did two years ago. Vinny is a guy who has come back with a renewed focus and a renewed energy. His leadership and his energy on the practice field has been great.

“And then we are excited about our young group. If you were scouting and looking around and saying what young defensive end had the best preseason, I don’t know that there’s a better young defensive end in football than Daeshon Hall this preseason. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit. He went and worked on his body in the offseason. He came back 30 pounds heavier, and then he proved it on the field.”

Howie also had some interesting things to say about the safeties. He talked about how impressive Rudy Ford was as a STer, just jumping off the tape. Howie also talked about the veteran backups the Eagles added this offseason, starting with Andrew Sendejo.

“Since the day he walked in this building, sometimes you get guys and they are even different than you thought. You know, sometimes in bad ways, sometimes in good ways. Until you kind of live with them, you don’t know. And he’s been really one of the biggest surprises for us the whole offseason and really Training Camp and just the kind of player he is, how he presents himself every day, how he works, how he studies, his athleticism. So for us and with him, and the things that he can do for the defense, it’s been exciting,” Roseman said of Sendejo.

“And then bringing in Cyp, we talked about here just about transitioning, and transitioning from collecting talent to having roles and responsibilities, and for Cyp, this is a different role for him. He’s started every game that he’s played and he was hurt last year, and now in that fourth safety role, we need something different from him. We need him to be really a leader on special teams and really good on special teams, and we’ve had that conversation with him, and he embraces it. He wants to win and so that’s kind of where you have Cyp’s role and we know he can come in and play on defense if we need that.”

It is one thing to talk about STs being important, but the Eagles put actions behind those words. They expect to be good on STs and design their roster accordingly.

I don’t have any major complaints with the roster as it stands. I think they’ll add a TE. My guess is that OL Nate Herbig will be cut to make room.

Howie and the personnel staff will study Saturday’s cuts to see if there are any players the Eagles want to claim or sign. They are always looking to upgrade the roster.

LeSean McCoy was cut by the Bills. More than a few fans would love to see him return to the Eagles. I don’t think it will happen, nor do I think it should.

Shady is a declining player. The argument for him is that coming back to Philly and playing behind a good OL and on a winning team would bring out the best in him. Maybe, but there are no guarantees. He’s got a lot of wear and tear on his body. Age may have finally caught up to him.

Also, I don’t know where he would fit in. Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders are your feature runners. Darren Sproles and Corey Clement are your role players. Where does Shady fit in that group? He’s not a RS. He’s not a STer. He’s either RB1 or RB2.

I know Howie loves him so I’m sure they’ll at least have a talk about whether this could make any sense.

One cut that did catch my attention was Jaylen Watkins. I know he’s nothing to get excited about, but Watkins can play CB, NB, S and on STs. The Eagles aren’t deep at CB right now due to injuries so Watkins could be of interest. Remember that the bottom of the roster is about versatility and STs.

We’ll find out if they added anyone on Sunday. We’ll also find out about the practice squad.

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