September 05, 2020

Analysis of the Eagles' initial 53-man roster after final cuts

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

After a shortened training camp and no preseason, the Philadelphia Eagles have trimmed their roster to 53 players. The survivors are listed below, with analysis:

Quarterback (3): Carson Wentz, Nate Sudfeld, Jalen Hurts

Sudfeld will be the No. 2 to start the season. However, in going through the process of figuring out who will be the Eagles' five inactives Week 1, I would guess on the following:

Jalen Reagor (if he doesn't go on short-term IR)
Will Parks (if he doesn't go on short-term IR)
Alshon Jeffery
Quez Watkins
Casey Toohill

As such, there's a pretty good chance that Hurts will suit up Week 1.

Running back (3): Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, Corey Clement

For the first time in the Howie Roseman / Doug Pederson / Jim Schwartz era, the Eagles only kept three running backs at 53-man cutdowns. The feeling here is that they'll add another one at some point before the start of the regular season.

Wide receiver (7): DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward, John Hightower, Quez Watkins, Alshon Jeffery

There's a lot to unpack with Jeffery's inclusion on the roster. Earlier today, Jeff McLane of The Inquirer reported that the Eagles continued to try to trade Jeffery all the way up until final cutdowns, as they have done for almost a year now. Jeffery isn't ready to play. To be determined when that will be.

Tight end (2): Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert

Many (self included) had Noah Togiai making the roster as the third tight end. Instead, the Eagles will go thin there. It's odd that a team likely to run the most 2-TE sets in the NFL also has the fewest number of tight ends.

Offensive line (8): Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Matt Pryor, Lane Johnson, Nate Herbig, Jack Driscoll, Jordan Mailata

It's a bit of a minor surprise that the Eagles only kept eight offensive linemen. Of course, the Eagles are also looking at veterans, as Cordy Glenn worked out for the team on Friday. Earlier this morning, we took a look at Glenn's 2019 season with the Bengals.

Prince Tega Wanogho was the only rookie draft pick not to make the team.

Defensive end (6): Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, Vinny Curry, Genard Avery, Casey Toohill

The surprise cut (well, mild surprise) was Joe Ostman, who indisputably had a better training camp than Avery, who the team acquired with a fourth-round pick at the trade deadline a year ago.

Defensive tackle (4): Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Malik Jackson, Hassan Ridgeway

The Eagles should be strong up front along the D-line, especially when Hargrave joins the group. Jackson had a standout camp.

Linebacker (6): Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, T.J. Edwards, Shaun Bradley, Davion Taylor, Alex Singleton

Singleton likely survives here because the Eagles don't feel good about having to play the two rookies, Bradley and Taylor, just yet.

Cornerback (5): Darius Slay, Avonte Maddox, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Cre'Von LeBlanc, Craig James

The big news here of course is that the Eagles cut bait on Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas. We'll have more on those two guys soon.

Safety (6): Jalen Mills, Rodney McLeod, Will Parks, K'Von Wallace, Marcus Epps, Rudy Ford

Epps and Ford make it. Uh, OK. That's a signal that the Eagles don't believe that Wallace is ready to play a significant role yet. Parks will likely go on short-term IR, and Epps will be the third safety until he returns. Ford is only on the roster for special teams.