53-Man Roster Prediction Time

Now that minicamps and spring practices are over and we have all the answers to the upcoming season I figured it was time to let you know who will be making the roster.

QB – 3 – Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Cole Payton

No Red Rifle? He could make the practice squad or be traded or simply let go. The Eagles believe in focusing on young talent when possible. If Payton really struggles, he could be a PS candidate. I think the Eagles feel strongly enough about his potential to keep him around. And he has had some good flashes this spring. Here is a note from Jimmy Bama.

After a shaky day on Tuesday, Cole Payton made the most of his limited reps. He made a strong sideline throw to Ford-Wheaton, followed by an absolute beauty of a touch pass in the middle of the field to Joaquin Davis. That was the throw of the day.

***

RB – 3 – Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley

The Eagles like to keep 4 RBs, but I think Barkley and Bigsby give them a great 1-2 punch. And Shipley is a a good complement because he’s got more of a third-down back/RS skill set. Elijah Mitchell’s last good season was 2022. Dameon Pierce’s was 2024. I don’t consider either a serious roster candidate. Carson Steele could be interesting since he can be RB or FB.

***

FB – 1– Cam Latu

Latu can be a good lead blocker. He is outstanding on STs.

***

WR – 6 – DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, Johnny Wilson, Darius Cooper

The top four spots should be basically locks. Wilson had a good spring and impressed as a rookie back in 2024. I’m erring on the side of youth with taking Cooper over Elijah Moore. Moore would be ideal for the PS. I would expect them to try to keep Britain Covey on the PS as well. He still has value as a PR. We didn’t hear much about Quez Watkins this spring, but he still has elite speed. And that always makes him a possibility.

***

TE – 3 – Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt, Eli Stowers

Goedert seems to be in a better place than last year. If he can get back to being a plus blocker, the offense will be better. Mundt is a plus blocker and he is a definite upgrade on Grant Calcaterra in the run game. You lose some speed/athleticism, but Stowers can fill that void. He got off to a slow start this spring, but that doesn’t concern me. I wasn’t expecting Stowers to be a key player. He should be a good role player this year. EJ Jenkins had a strong spring and could push for a roster spot if the Eagles want to go heavy at TE. UDFA Dae’Quon Wright is a good developmental prospect. And Stone Smartt has value as a STer. The team finally has some good options at TE. Calcaterra could be PS material since the team seems to like him, but he will need a strong summer. No more free rides for him. There is real competition.

***

OL – 10 – Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson, Fred Johnson, Markell Bell, Drew Kendall, Micah Morris, John Ojukwu

It is tough to project the OL coming off practices with limited contact. The 5 starters plus Johnson, Bell and Kendall should be locks. Morris has a lot of potenial, but must start playing up to it consistently or he’ll find himself on the outside looking in. Ojukwu has 9 career starts and has played both OG and OT this spring. That combination of experience and versatility makes him valuable.

The team recently added veteran OG Michael Jordan to give them some more experience. He could make the roster or end up on the PS. Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams feel like PS material at this point. Hinton has played OG and OT so that should give him a leg up. I was hoping Willie Lampkin would make  strong push for a spot, but he’s been running behind Jake Majors so far. We’ll have to see what happens when the pads go on and hitting starts. Undersized OL aren’t going to impress in spring drills.

***

DL – 5 – Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, Ty Robinson

The first 4 guys are pretty obvious. Robinson is included for now, but will need to show definitive improvement from last year. He must do a better job with block destruction. He can’t rely on athleticism to beat blocks consistently. Gabe Hall made huge strides from his rookie season to last year and could push for a spot. I’m interested to see Zion Wilson in action. The team went after him aggressively so they see something. Uar Bernard will likely spend the season learning. I think they will use the roster exemption on him.

***

Edge – 5– Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, Arnold Ebiketie, AJ Epenesa

The Eagles have a good trio of edge rushers and Ebiketie should make that a good foursome. Epenesa just signed, but he has size and experience, which Vic Fangio will value. Jonny Page did a good piece on him for BGN.  Keyshawn James-Newby flashed in the spring, but still feels like he will need time to develop. Joshua Weru would be ideal for the PS or IR, should he get some minor injury that would allow the team to stash him away. Fangio focuses more on quality than quantity when it comes to edge rushers and he’s got a solid group to work with.

***

LB – 5 – Zack Baun, Jihaad Campbell, Jeremiah Trotter Jr, Chance Campbell, Smael Mondon

Baun, JC, and Trot are locks. Chance Campbell had a good spring and feels like a player the team likes. He has gotten some first team reps in the spring. Maybe I’m making too much of that, but it got my attention. Mondon played in all 17 games last year, mostly on STs.

***

Safety – 4 – Drew Mukuba, Marcus Epps, Michael Carter, Cole Wisniewski

Mukuba and Epps are the projected starters. Carter has moved from nickel to safety to provide veteran depth. Wisniewski didn’t do a lot in the spring due to an injury, but he was a draft pick and the team likes to keep those guys around. He will have competition. Andre Sam has spent parts of the past two seasons with the Eagles. There are a couple of UDFAs to watch as well. Maximus Pulley was a playmaker in college. If he shows the ability to do that in TC, he’ll make a strong push. Kapena Gushiken could play S or CB. He is a gifted athlete and Fangio talked about him in a PC. That’s always a good sign for a rookie.

***

CB – 5 – Quinyon Mitchell, Riq Woolen, Cooper DeJean, Jonathan Jones, Mac McWilliams

The top 3 guys have a good chance to be the top trio of DBs in the league. Howie Roseman talked in the offseason about needing better CB depth and signed Jones. He’s got a ton of experience and is versatile enough to play nickel or outside. Fangio seems to like McWilliams. Hopefully he’ll focus on playing outside this summer. Kelee Ringo has real value as a STer, but he just hasn’t enough at corner. Maybe they keep him or try to put him on the PS. Jakorian Bennett has good physical tools, but hasn’t impressed in his time in Philly. Brandon Johnson has potential as a nickel and could be PS material.

***

ST – 3 – Jake Elliott, Braden Mann, Rocco Underwood

Elliott needs to be more consistent this season. Mann just got a new deal so he’s all set. Underwood is the LS for now. STs coordinator Michael Clay had a lot of good things to say about him.

_

Minicamp – Day 2

The Eagles concluded their mandatory minicamp yesterday. Let’s jump right in to what went on in the final practice before Training camp begins in late July.

Tanner McKee was finally QB2, with Andy Dalton dropping to QB3. This was the first time the media got to see McKee in that role this spring. Jimmy Bama had some thoughts on that competition.

Tanner McKee got second-team reps for the first time in media-attended practices. The Eagles have said that he and Andy Dalton have been splitting reps, but we hadn’t seen that yet.

McKee had a solid, unspectacular day, but he outperformed Dalton (again), as Dalton threw an INT to Ambry Thomas on a pass intended for Bryce Ford-Wheaton.

Prior to practice, Nick Sirianni was asked point blank if McKee is the QB2.

“We’re rotating there at the two spot,” he said. “I’m not ready to say anybody is anything as far as positions. We don’t have to make any determinations there, but what Andy and Tanner have been doing every other day is rotating there with the two’s and both getting a lot of good work.”

So, you know, that appears to be an open competition, which remains silly to me.

(In the media-attended practices, McKee was clearly better, for the record.)

I think most of us will be shocked if McKee isn’t the backup. Sirianni is a strong believer in competition so I don’t blame him for letting Dalton and McKee battle it out. Good coaches push their players, especially young ones.

Jeff McLane had some praise for the offense.

I’m going to lead with the first-unit offense because I thought it had its best set of the four open practices during team drills. The first three plays came with Hurts under center and two were well executed. On the first play, the offense was in 13 personnel with all three tight ends with their hands in the ground. Hurts’ play-action fake and a deep post route by receiver Hollywood Brown seemingly created space for tight end Dallas Goedert on a crossing route. Hurts hit him in stride. On the second, Barkley bounced outside through a gaping hole and was off to the races. There was also a successful pass play out of shotgun with Hurts layering a throw over the outstretched hand of a defender to receiver Dontayvion Wicks.

DeVonta Smith was absent as he prepares to get married this weekend. That meant more chances for Wicks and he had his best day. It does say something that Smith was out and AJ Brown is gone and the receivers were still a capable group of Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore and Wicks.

Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby both look really good.

Jalen Hurts Saquon Barkley pic.twitter.com/azsXP5StfT

— Johnny McGonigal (@jmcgonigal9) June 10, 2026

Tank Bigsby has had some juice this spring. pic.twitter.com/lAuV6TAvoa

— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) June 10, 2026

Bigsby has certainly earned more touches with what he showed last year and this spring.

The RBs will benefit from a healthy OL. Cam Jurgens spoke to the media and was encouraging.

Cam Jurgens says his “pain is down” and his quality of life is a lot better this year (as opposed to last year) after having a longer offseason and doing stem cell treatment.

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) June 10, 2026

Great to hear the treatments worked. Getting Jurgens back to his 2024 level would be huge. Drew Kendall was finally able to play in team drills. He was getting work at OG. I think they expect him to be the top backup interior OL. Markell Bell didn’t practice. Here are the OL lineups per Dave Zangaro.

First-team: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson

Second-team: Fred Johnson, Drew Kendall, Jake Majors, Micah Morris, John Ojukwu

Third-team: Hollin Pierce, Jaeden Roberts, Willie Lampkin, Myles Hinton, John Ojukwu

Interesting to see Morris go up to the second team. OL coach Chris Kuper wants to move guys around and see what he’s got. I’m curious about Willie Lampkin. I thought he had a chance to be in the mix for backup G or C. The coaches must think Jake Majors has out-played him. The team signed journeyman OG Michael Jordan to give them some more experience. He has 49 career starts playing for CIN, CAR, NE and TB last year.

Let’s shift over to the defense. As good as they’ve been, the defense still isn’t at full strength. Jonathan Greenard is recovering from a shoulder issue and isn’t in team drills. Jalen Carter also is missing team drills. We don’t know if that is injury related or the I want a new contract flu. We’ll see how that goes. He still looks good.

Moro Ojomo and Jalen Carter: pic.twitter.com/8FDBa7ySxj

— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) June 10, 2026

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has been missing from practices. We don’t know why. He had an uphill battle to make the roster, but I thought he would be a good PS candidate. The Eagles signed AJ Epenesa to add to their edge depth. Here is some background info from BGN on him.

Epenesa was primarily a backup, with only 19 career starts. He has good size at 6-6, 260 so Vic Fangio will like that. You need big guys to mix in with the speed rushers. I like Epenesa and think he’s a good addition.

Greenard had good things to say about Jalyx Hunt.

Eagles EDGE Jonathan Greenard with high praise for Jalyx Hunt:

“Jalyx (Hunt) is like a freak. He’s an athlete…and how young he is and where his game can really go is crazy. He’s making certain pass rush moves, I’m like ‘man, this kid has the athletic bend that you can’t really… pic.twitter.com/JeGZX5q91e

— Anthony DiBona (@DiBonaNFL) June 10, 2026

It will be interesting to see how much of a jump Hunt makes this year.

LBs Jeremiah Trotter Jr and Chance Campbell took advantage of Jihaad Campbell’s sitting out as he recovers from shoulder surgery. Trot has played well enough that you’d be comfortable with him playing meaningful snaps. As for Campbell, he has a legit shot to make the roster.

The defensive star of the spring is Riq Woolen. Zach Berman shares his thoughts.

The spring standout has been cornerback Riq Woolen, who has excelled in every session open to reporters and is earning praise from teammates and coaches. Woolen finished the offseason program with perhaps his best performance yet, including intercepting Hurts while in tight coverage on a pass across the middle to Dallas Goedert and blanketing a receiver on a deep ball. Woolen has caused fits for almost every top pass catcher on the roster.

Howie seems to have found a major steal.

_