Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Roster Construction

Posted June 29th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

Building an NFL roster would seem to be simple. Choose your 53 best players. But that is an oversimplification. You’re looking for the right 53. What makes a player “right”? That’s where things get complicated.

Gameday

The first focus is finding your starters and key backups. You want to have an idea of who would be active on gameday. Obviously you can only project that so far because of all the unknown factors (injuries, matchups, etc.).

Special Teams 

This ties into the gameday stuff mentioned above. You need guys to be good and willing contributors on STs. Elijah Moore is a better WR than Darius Cooper, but which guy is more likely to cover punts and/or kickoffs? That is an important consideration when choosing backups. You’re looking for guys who can cover, block or have return ability. Kelee Ringo is not a good CB. He is an outstanding gunner and that could earn him a roster spot and playing time.

Money

Finances are a key part of the modern NFL. If a young, cheap player outplays a veteran, you might pass on the experience to save some money and take a chance on the young guy. Every bit of cap savings can help.

The Future

You build a roster with one eye on this season and one on the future. You need young talent in place to be ready for the future. The Eagles signed safety JT Gray to give them depth and to help on STs. If UDFA Kapena Gushiken plays as well as Gray, you go with Gushiken. He could develop into something in the future. We know who/what Gray is. There isn’t much upside with him.

Numbers Game 

You need a certain amount of players at each position. You can go heavy or light at some spots, but there are general numbers you need to hit. The Eagles have better depth at LB than safety, but may keep the same number of guys at each spot. Some teams go light at QB. The Eagles seem to like having three deep there. Sometimes you think 25 on offense, 25 on defense and 3 on STs. There are times when you skew to one side of the ball, but not by much.

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Here are some recent roster predictions.

Your humble friend and narrator

Brandon Lee Gowton

Anthony Dibona

None of us agreed on all 53. We had different ideas and reasonings.

One key thing to keep in mind is that we haven’t seen the 2026 Eagles in pads or hitting. You can see movement ability from the OL/DL and there is value in that, but the real evaluation comes when things go live. Who is tougher? Who is stronger? Who wins battles?

We also saw young players just getting started. Guys get better over time. You might not like WR Johnny Wilson for some reason. If the guy has a terrific Training Camp, he deserves to make the roster. You might doubt Ty Robinson, who had a quiet spring. Maybe the light comes on for him in August and he plays well. You always want to judge players on the most current info.

Right now we are guessing more than anything. But that is part of the fun. It is always interesting to see how players handle TC. Gabe Hall looked completely lost as a rookie. He was worlds better in Year 2. Some guys struggle or even regress. We saw veteran pass rushers having poor camps last summer. The Eagles used to have a nice tradition of a veteran LB disappointing us each summer (LJ Fort, Corey Nelson, etc.). I’m glad those days are over.

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Only 10? Jimmy Bama continues to be a slacker.

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I love discovering new players. I’d never heard of Bill “Boom Boom” Brown, a FB for the Vikings in the 60’s/70’s. These highlights are a lot of fun. Boom Boom did not like being tackled. It is also interesting to see how weather was so much more of a factor back in the day.

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I love old school football.

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The Haley Lesson

Posted June 28th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

Charles Haley had an amazing career. He was a 5-time Pro Bowler, won 5 Super Bowls, finished with 100.5 career sacks, 25 FFs and made the Hall of Fame. Not too shabby for a fourth round pick. Haley was also a HOF whacko who drove his teammates and coaches crazy. He was ideal on the field, but a real headache off of it.

Haley went to James Madison and played at a high level. Bill Walsh saw him make one amazing play on tape and was sold that Haley was a legit NFL talent. A team tried to run the option at Haley. His job was to take the QB and force him to pitch. Haley shot upfield and did just that. Then he pivoted and exploded toward the RB and tackled him for a loss. Walsh wanted a LB who could make plays like that and took him 96th overall in 1986.

Haley played SF’s “elephant position”, a designated pass rusher. He had 12 sacks as a rookie coming off the bench. Walsh hit another home run in the draft. Haley piled up 63.5 sacks from 1986-1991. He helped SF have a Top 10 defense in each of his seasons with them. They were #1 overall one year. They won the SB in both 1988 and 1989. Haley was a difference-maker and defensive star.

Walsh loved Haley at first, but grew tired of him over time. Haley was a handful to deal with. Walsh traded Haley to Dallas in 1992.

Oops.

Haley then became a force for the Cowboys and helped them win 3 SBs in 4 years. They beat SF in the NFC title game in both 1992 and 1993. Haley went to a pair of Pro Bowls, was twice All-Pro and got Defensive Player of the Year votes in two different seasons for Dallas. Walsh may have cost SF a trip or two to the SB because he wanted to get rid of Haley the headache.

I’m bringing him up because some people are so casual when talking about trading Jalen Carter. If you have a player who is special, you need to be very careful about letting him go, especially at a critical position like DT. Moving on from CJGJ is one thing, Carter is worlds different. The Eagles have already won a Super Bowl with Carter and he was key in helping them get there as you might recall.

The Eagles needed a Top 10 pick to get a talent like Carter. If you trade him there is no guarantee you’ll get a high pick. You would need at least one first round pick, maybe two. You can find good DTs all over, but it isn’t easy. That’s why some other team would trade for Carter. That’s why Cincy gave up the #10 pick for Dexter Lawrence. And so on. If you find one of those guys, you try to keep them around.

Carter is also an interesting player. He’s smart and instinctive. Think about him diving for balls when the QB is trying to spike it to kill the clock. He’s come close to getting one of those. He has good size at 6-3, 314. Carter is powerful and explosive. At his best, he plays with violence and is tough for one guy to block. He can eat up blockers or make plays. He’s proven to be good at blocking FGs. Put simply, Carter is an impact player.

There is baggage to deal with. He’s got some growing up to do. You hope his shoulders are going to be fully healed and good for the upcoming season. If there are long term medical concerns, that changes things. Vic Fangio seemed optimistic about Carter this spring so that makes me think he’ll be healthy.

The Eagles control Carter contractually for 2026 and 2027. They need should sign him to an extension. You want your star players to be happy. Corey Simon was disgruntled late in his Eagles career and it affected his play. This defense is solid without Carter, but is one of the best in the league with him. The Eagles can’t hand Carter a blank check. The contract will need to be structured carefully, to benefit both sides. Carter needs his payday and the Eagles need some protection.

Keep him in Philly.

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Good stuff here from Devin.

Woolen feels like he’ll be a one-year Eagle. If he’s good, he’ll be too expensive to keep. If he struggles, they wouldn’t want to bring him back. I’ll be focusing on CBs for the upcoming draft since there is a good chance the Eagles will need one next offseason.

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If you’re like me, you have loved Jimmy Bama’s pressbox food reviews. Sadly, he’s decided to end them. Here is his magnum opus. Warning…very long read.

I’m generally not a mac ‘n cheese guy, but he makes me want to go to Dallas and try some of that stuff.

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If you want some positivity about Saquon Barkley and the OL, here you go.

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