Iniital 53 man roster

[taz]

First let me say this team is loaded with talent. There are going to be a good amount of players cut that will catch on with other teams.

QB, Hurts, Mariota, Mckee
RB, Swift, Gainwell, Penny & Scott
WR Brown, Smith, Watkins, Oz. Allen, Covey
OT Mailita, Johnson N Johnson
Swing Driscoll & Steen
OG Dickerson, Jurgens, Sills
C Kelce,
TE Goedert, Calcaterra, Stoll
(25)

DE BG, Barnett & Sweat
DT Carter, Cox, Davis, Ojomo, Williams, Tuipolto
Rush LB - Reddick & Smith

MLB - Dean & Morrow
WLB - Ellis & Cunningham

S - Blankenship, Brown , Edmonds, Evans
CB - Slay, Bradbery, Maddox, Jobe, Ringo, Ricks & Goodrich.
(26)

Eilliot, Lovato,

(2)

Syposs is not getting claimed. They can sign him to the practice squad and evaluate him the first two weeks. Or they can sign Zetner to the practice squad or both. My guess is they get another punter by game one.


Other than the punters the practice squad is hard to predict. There are going to be guys like Sermon, guys like Van Suberan who have done enough to be claimed by other teams. I think a guy like Wallace could be also. Patrick Johnson & Kyree Johnson have shown a glimpse here and there. Not enough to keep them on the team in my opinion. They could get claimed.

I went heavy at DT and CB, With the age of Cox, the age of Slay and Bradberry along with the young players like Ricks, Ojomo, Goodrich showing they could be something for the now and the future it makes sense to carry them. Same with a guy like Sills.

Wouldn't be surprised if another WR is brought in here over Allen or Covey. Wouldn't be surprised if another safety is brought in or Wallace is kept over Evans. I wouldn't be surprised if another LB is brought in but Edmonds versatility is probably why he is on the team at least at this point.

Going to be a fun next 6 days or so. One roster cut down is wild.

[flyered]

I like creativity of creating a roster spot by not keeping punter but not sure Eagles will do that. I think Wallace makes the team. Do hope they keep Allen but skeptical. Think they need to trade for LB. Devin White is the dream scenario. Inexperience at S and LB is a concern.

[FairOaks]

That's a rather good guess. Cowboys did something similar last year, keeping some obvious roster spots (QB2, kicker, and long snapper) off the initial 53 man roster, and got them (as vested veterans) through to the practice squad, giving them 2-3 games to figure other bits out. I think they had a couple of IR candidates to make a couple of those spots easy to bring back just days later. I can't imagine Zentner coming back in any form though.

I'm not as sure on Allen vs Covey. They could keep both, though Covey has been injured enough you wonder if they could get him through to the practice squad. Or get Allen through. Don't think Allen is a PR though and they really don't have anyone else with experience at it, and Covey was something of a weapon there by the end of last season. They may keep Opeta instead of Sills -- they could probably get the latter through to the practice squad this year. Of course they did demote Opeta to the practice squad last season. Opeta did not play last night, which is often an indicator they have made the team.

Kentavius Street also didn't play last night. Not sure who I'd cut on your list in favor of him though. Maybe Morrow as a vested veteran.

The CB question will be interesting. Ricks was one of those UDFAs people thought could crack the roster, and has certainly flashed in preseason. Goodrich is the one who was playing slot corner though, and they need a backup to Maddox there.

Covey didn't play, but I think he and Quez are still injured, so that may not be as much of an indicator. Not that I think Quez is going anywhere.

[taz]

Very interesting the guys who didn't play. Either their roster fate was already decided or they wanted to see others.


I have both Allen and Covey on the roster. They could go with one , both or none. Hard to predict what is going to get cut. OZ has returned punts before. Boston Scott has returned punts and kicks before. Heck Greg Ward didn't play last night he could return punts.

Opeta vs Sills, they did keep Sills all last year. His legal issues caused him to miss time in the offseason. But he looked good in the time he played this preseason. I think they like him. Opeta was cut and brought back several times. He is one I think they can get to the practice Squad.

Street really didn't show enough. It comes down to Street vs. Ojomo (pending his concussion) and they are going to go with the upside of Ojomo and he is also signed longer term

CB is fascinating for sure. They have 8 NFL caliber guys on the roster. Slay, Bradberry, Maddox, Ringo, Ricks, Goodrich, Gardner, Scott & Jobe. Two are gonna get cut or traded. I don't think they sneak any through to the practice squad. They have all flashed and in some cases like Ricks really showed up. Jobe not playing yesterday tells alot. Ringo and Ricks played really well (Ringo did give up a few passes but nothing to be concerned about I mean he was playing against their first team). As far as slot corner. Don't sleep on the fact that Bradberry has been playing there a bit in the preseason. They will take who they think is their best six or seven and piece together that slot corner position if something happens to Maddox.

Howie always add one or two players from the outside after the preseason. He will do that again. He could really add anywhere, I think less of a chance at CB, RB, QB and D line but everywhere else he could conceivably add. Bottom of the roster.

I think the game day 47 (including the 3rd QB) is pretty much set. Unless he gets a deal like he did for a guy like Gardner Johnson

[andrewaters]

I think they keep Opeta and don't keep Devon Allen. I know he had that nice return last night but to me Boston Scott did a fantastic job on KR last year. I would also not be surprised if they didn't cut Covey and keep Ngata instead. I think the Eagles coach the PR to almost always fair catch it so the key back there is to have someone with good hands. You could honestly put DeVonta back there and tell him to fair catch it every time. He is as sure handed as any of them including Covey. And if DeVonta is near the sideline he could catch it and run forward a bit and then out of bounds.

[Eaglebreath]

Am I the only guy that is concerned about punting? Syposs is not consistent at all, and will go shankapotamus at the worst possible time. Zetner? Yikes. I know this is a really high powered offense, and yada yada, but I still wish they had done a better job of upgrading here.

[Eagle60]

I think they keep Opeta and don't keep Devon Allen. I know he had that nice return last night but to me Boston Scott did a fantastic job on KR last year. I would also not be surprised if they didn't cut Covey and keep Ngata instead. I think the Eagles coach the PR to almost always fair catch it so the key back there is to have someone with good hands. You could honestly put DeVonta back there and tell him to fair catch it every time. He is as sure handed as any of them including Covey. And if DeVonta is near the sideline he could catch it and run forward a bit and then out of bounds.

I could have written this post myself AW. Many of these guys everybody thinks won't get through the practice squad are mistaken IMO.The others we cut I don't feel are going to be that valuable to other teams except ours. I've said before that we could start the season with only two tight ends. As a side note I thought Jackson had a good game last night with a couple of nice catches while high pointing the ball. I don't see any way that they can cut Ngata. Unfortunately it seems that the Eagles love Covey but I would use his roster spot elsewhere. He doesn't do anything for you in the passing game and he's not that great of a returner.

[taz]

Am I the only guy that is concerned about punting? Syposs is not consistent at all, and will go shankapotamus at the worst possible time. Zetner? Yikes. I know this is a really high powered offense, and yada yada, but I still wish they had done a better job of upgrading here.

I think we are all worried about the punter. The thing is who is out there at is better than Syposs today. Now by Wednesday when the dust clears there will be better options for sure. That is why I think they cut him and either bring back if nothing better is out there or move on. Certainly putting him on the practice squad would make sense. On a side note my Zetner idea is gone, he signed with the Texans.

[NoDakIggle]

Texas must be really hurting.
He may wait for cuts but I wouldn’t be surprised Howie is shopping a draft pick or a player to get a punter. really can’t count on Siposs

[FairOaks]

I don't think Ngata has a chance at the 53-man. Practice squad, probably. There is a pretty good chance they could get Allen through to the squad too; he's 28 years old so not a young guy to stash. They could cal him up for up to 3 games, and then find a way to permanently promote him later in the season. Or keep both if they go light elsewhere (if Allen is KR they may cut Boston Scott, and put him on the practice squad instead).

Olamide Zaccheaus had five punt returns total in college from what I can see and zero in four years in the NFL. Maybe he did in preseason, but looks like he has not actually done it any in real games. Boston Scott not much better. I would not want to use someone like Devonta Smith back there. I've also seen what happens when you go into a season with no PR -- it cost us the first game in 2007 and we brought back Reno Mahe. Greg Ward could be OK at it, but he's not making the roster either and Covey was much better anyways.

Punter is obviously a concern. Kempski put up an article on a handful of punter battles on other teams; could be interesting to watch who wins those. Texans must have liked Zentner from earlier scouting but he looked terrible here -- Siposs looked worse this preseason than either of the last two (it was cold weather / playoffs where he went bad before), and Zentner still lost decisively.

I think they do like Sills, but the initial question may be do they think they could get him through waivers. They did not think so last year, but he may not be the most desirable guy to claim given he's fresh off that court case (and could still face a civil suit). The Fred Johnson stuff was a bit surprising; seems obvious he's going to be taking up a roster spot I was not counting on (or had pencilled in Kelly or someone). Doubt any other team was looking to sign him, given he just cleared waivers anyways. They could have used him to play roster spot cute gymnastics if they were planning to.

[Pliny]

I think One problem with letting Siposs go is that Elliott is comfortable with him as holder. Unfortunately, I think that holds some weight.

[Eagle60]

It's a little late to start looking for a decent punter. They had all summer to find one and couldn't.

[FairOaks]

It's a little late to start looking for a decent punter. They had all summer to find one and couldn't.

Not really. Teams that wanted competition signed two punters at the start of the summer. A number of those are about to become free agents. Anyone else good has been on someone else's roster all this time.

[NoDakIggle]

There will be quite a few available. Quality is certainly a question since they didn’t make another team’s roster. But like anything you might find a young guy that didn’t make a team because they wanted to go with a veteran. Hit or miss for sure.

[musicman]

I think One problem with letting Siposs go is that Elliott is comfortable with him as holder. Unfortunately, I think that holds some weight.

Don't fuck with Elliott's mojo, he's hammering his kicks right now