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Predicting Eagles' 53-man Roster After Spring Practices

The Eagles are now in summer break mode until training camp in late July, when training camp starts. 

That's obviously when the real practices begin, but we have seen them for several OTAs and then the mandatory minicamp, so we at least have something to work off of. 

It's too early, but here's my first crack at the Eagles' 53-man roster: 

QB (3): Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, Nate Sudfeld
This is easy … for now. There's always the possibility Foles gets traded during training camp. Remember, this happened a couple years ago when Sam Bradford was shipped to Minnesota after the Teddy Bridgewater trade. But for now, we'll keep all three of these guys on the list. 

RB (4): Jay Ajayi, Darren Sproles, Corey Clement, Matt Jones
The Eagles kept five out of the gate last summer. That included Donnel Pumphrey, who landed on IR shortly after. I have Pump and Wendell Smallwood both missing the cut in favor of Jones. The Eagles signed Jones this offseason and head coach Doug Pederson talked like the veteran is really in their plans. In order to get on the field, he'll need to cut down on his fumbles, but he's on the squad for now. 

TE (3): Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Richard Rodgers 
Billy Brown didn't have a great spring, so we can't give him the nod over Rodgers, who didn't do anything to lose his spot. Josh Perkins had a decent camp, but it's hard to imagine he'll make the team. Rodgers for now, but Brown could sneak in with a great training camp. 

WR (6): Alshon Jeffery, Mike Wallace, Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins, Markus Wheaton, Shelton Gibson 
Greg Ward and Rashard Davis had good springs, but it's hard to see either of them beating out these guys and that's with the Eagles keeping six. I have them with six because the top four are locks, Gibson stuck last year and has improved and Wheaton is coming off an impressive spring. He's the last guy in. 

OL: (9) Jason Peters, Stefen Wisniewski, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Chance Warmack, Matt Pryor, Isaac Seumalo
The five starters and Vaitai are no-brainers. I then kept Warmack as a backup guard, Pryor as a backup tackle and Seumalo as a backup everything. Seumalo has struggled early in his career, but that versatility is enough to keep him on the roster. No Jordan Mailata. It's possible the Aussie makes the team, but there's no way he can play this year. If he makes the team, it's just because the Eagles don't want to chance him going elsewhere. 

DE (6): Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Michael Bennett, Chris Long, Josh Sweat, Steven Means
Really, the top five here are pretty easy. The question is if they keep a sixth, which would be a pretty high number of ends. But it's just good to have Means around. He's a great practice player who brings a ton of energy and is also versatile enough to move inside on certain downs. He's worth keeping in the building. 

DT (4): Fletcher Cox, Haloti Ngata, Destiny Vaeao, Elijah Qualls 
We're light on defensive tackles, but Bennett and Graham can slide inside sometimes, so we don't need as many. Until I see Tim Jernigan on the practice field, I'm going to assume that he'll start the season on the NFI. That keeps a spot open for Qualls. Keep an eye on Aziz Shittu too. He is healthy after a knee injury last year and had a great spring. 

LB (5): Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham, Corey Nelson, Nate Gerry, Kamu Grugier-Hill 
I left Joe Walker off this list for now, but I think he still has a shot to make the team; he's just had trouble staying healthy in his short NFL career. Either Nelson, Gerry or Grugier-Hill will win the WILL job left by Mychal Kendricks. The Eagles also have veteran LaRoy Reynolds, but he wasn't able to practice all spring. We'll see what he can do in training camp. 

CB (6): Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, Avonte Maddox, De'Vante Bausby
This time last year, we were talking about cornerback as a positional weakness for the Birds. A lot has changed. Darby and Mills will start and I still think Sidney Jones is going to win the nickel job. And then the team still has Bausby, who has come on strong, Douglas, who is a great guy off the bench and a rookie draft pick in Maddox. Maddox might not make the team on merit, but they drafted him and can't afford to lose him. D.J. Killings is off the roster for now. 

S (4): Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Chris Maragos, Corey Graham
Tre Sullivan is left off this list, which is hard to do based on what the team thinks of him and based on how he looked this spring. But I still can't see the team being comfortable enough to really give him playing time. I also haven't seen enough from undrafted Jeremy Reaves. Graham is on the street right now, but he reportedly wants to play and the Eagles still seem interested and have the cap space to get it done. That makes too much sense to me; I think he'll be back. And as long as Maragos is healthy, I think he's still a valuable special teamer. 

Specialists (3): Jake Elliott, Rick Lovato, Cameron Johnston
Easy for now. They're the only ones on the roster. 

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