The last time I projected the Eagles' 53-man roster was on May 11 (check it out), before the team ever stepped on the field for OTAs.
That was waaaaaaaaayyyyyy too early.
This is just waaayyy too early.
We won't have a true sense of what the Eagles' roster will look like until we see the team on the field this summer at training camp in full pads. But we've at least seen some football since the last projection, enough to change a few things.
Because football never sleeps β and because things are a little slow right now, cut me a break β here is the latest Eagles 53-man roster projection:
QB (3): Sam Bradford, Chase Daniel, Carson Wentz
No changes here. All three had pretty good performances this spring, but Bradford clearly separated himself. For now, he's the best quarterback on the roster. There wasn't anything these three could do this spring on the field to change the roster at this position.
RB (4): Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood, Kenjon Barner
No changes here either. The team would probably like to keep an extra spot here, but it's hard to cut any one of these players. If anyone went, it would probably be Kenjon Barner, but with Mathews' injury history, keeping four backs makes sense.
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WR (5): Nelson Agholor, Rueben Randle, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Chris Givens
This is the same too. (I promise there will be some changes.) A little light at wideout, but who else would you keep? Maybe T.J. Graham? I wouldn't be too shocked to see him make the team over Huff, but for now, these are the five on the squad. I thought Givens had a really good spring.
TE (4): Zach Ertz, Brent Celek, Trey Burton, Chris Pantale
It's hard to tell if a player can be a good fullback in spring practices, but the Eagles made it pretty clear they're at least going to take a long, hard look at Pantale for the position. The first three are set, but Pantale is an addition on this roster projection. He got first-team reps at fullback during the spring and if he looks good in pads, will make the team.
OL (10): Jason Peters, Allen Barbre, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Dennis Kelly, Stefen Wisniewski, Isaac Seumalo, Matt Tobin, Big V
The only spot changed here from the last projection is that Tobin is now in for Andrew Gardner. This is just a change made after watching the way the team practiced this spring. I liked Gardner early last season, but he seems to be behind Tobin in order. I still think both draft picks make the team.
DE (5): Connor Barwin, Vinny Curry, Brandon Graham, Bryan Braman, Marcus Smith
In the last projection, I had the team taking six defensive ends. Now, I think that might be too high of a number, so rookie Alex McCalister is gone; I think the team can keep him on the practice squad and work with him more this season. I don't think Smith is going anywhere, by the way.
DT (4): Fletcher Cox, Bennie Logan, Mike Martin, Destiny Vaeao
Big changes from the last two spots. In the previous projection, I had Beau Allen and Aziz Shittu making the team. Last time, I left off Martin because I wasn't convinced, but the team thought enough of him to put him in Cox's spot while he was away. Martin doesn't just seem like a lock to make the roster, he seems like the first guy off the bench at DT. And Shittu, the undrafted DT from Stanford, has a shot but missed the spring because of the NCAA graduation rule. During that time, Vaeao impressed the coaching staff. Allen and Taylor Hart just don't seem like scheme fits.
LB (5): Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham, Mychal Kendricks, Najee Goode, Joe Walker
No changes at linebacker, but the positional depth here is troubling for sure. Walker got a ton of reps this spring, which only convinced me more that the seventh-round pick will be on the roster.
S (5): Rodney McLeod, Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Maragos, Ed Reynolds, Blake Countess
In the first projection, I had Jalen Mills listed as a safety. He played corner β and well β during the spring, so Countess sneaks onto the team in his place at safety.
CB (5): Eric Rowe, Leodis McKelvin, Nolan Carroll, Ron Brooks, Jalen Mills
On this list, Mills is in and JaCorey Shepherd is the odd man out. It's not a knock on Shepherd, simply an indication of how good Mills was this spring. I think the first four are locks.
Specialists (3), LS: Jon Dorenbos, P: Donnie Jones, K: Caleb Sturgis
I swapped Sturgis for Cody Parkey on this one because in the practices I watched this spring, Sturgis was simply better. Now, Parkey is coming off an injury, so take it with a grain of salt. The real competition will be during training camp.