Sydney Brown Could Start The Season As Red Zone Specialist

Ever since the Eagles drafted Sydney Brown, Eagles fans have had a level of hype about him. If you watch his tape at Illinois, it is hard not to be excited. Sydney Brown is all over the field. It often felt like he was involved in every play at Illinois. Then he came into camp and talked about how he wanted to be a player people fear, and Eagles fans were officially in love. 

Ever since Brian Dawkins, Eagles fans have been hungry for that type of Safety. Malcolm Jenkins was fantastic, but he filled a different role than Brian Dawkins did. Jenkins wasn't running around taking people's heads off and making big plays. But Sydney Brown could be that type of guy. Not to say he will be as good as Dawkins. Very few Safeties in NFL history are. But he could fill that role as the hard-hitting playmaking safety we have been missing for over a decade. 

The issue is that his playstyle does not always fit what the Eagles want to do at Safety. For years, going back to the Jim Schwartz era, the Eagles have liked their Safeties to play a more conservative style. Nothing over their head are words that have been said on our air by many Eagles beat writers. And Sydney Brown is more the type of guy who will take a risk to make a play. Which is why many beat writers, while praising Brown, have also said the Eagles may not start him right away while they try to get him to be a bit more selective with when he takes those risks. 

That makes a lot of sense to me. Eagles fans would probably just prefer he starts right away. But it sounds like the Eagles will be more cautious with how they deploy him, at least early in the season. But this would be a great way to utilize what he does best.  

The Safety position is very much in flux for the Eagles. Reed Blankenship is locked in as one of the starters. But 4 different guys. Brown, Terrell Edmunds, KVon Wallace, and Justin Evans, have all shared time as the other starting safety. The thought is it will eventually be Sydney Brown, but as Tim mentioned to us, they may want him to get some seasoning before they fully deploy him as a starter. And this sounds like a great way to do that.  

At the end of the week, NFL teams start to make their final cuts. Very soon we will know what the Eagles 53-Man Roster will look like this season. By August 29th at 4 pm, teams need to trim rosters to 53 players. But the actual cuts will probably start before that.

The Eagles already started this past weekend. They cut Greedy Williams, Ty Zentner, and a few other names that at one point people thought could make the roster. They replaced them, but the guys they brought in aren't very likely to make the team and are only here to fill out the roster for the final game of the Pre-Season this Thursday.

There have been some big battles going into camp. One of those battles was already decided when the Eagles cut Zenter. But there are still a lot of questions. Which linebackers and safeties will won a job? Will any of the young corners or Wrs grab a spot on the team? What surprising names could find themselves off the team this time next week? Here is m,y 3rd and final guess at who will be making the Eagles 53-man roster this season.

And to be clear, this is not who I think will make the fake 53-man roster. Every year a big deal is made when they initially get to the 53-man roster. Even though we all know that is not final. There will be players who make that, just to then be put on the IR, or cut to make room for someone who was cut by another team and the Eagles want to bring in. This is who I think will be on the Eagles 53-man roster when they take the field in week 1 vs the Patriots.

Cut- Ian Book 

There is some talk that Tanner McKee could supplant Marcus Mariota. But for now, I don’t see it. Maybe if for some reason Mariota had to play, god forbid, and he looked like he did in the pre-season games, they would swap him out. But as long as the backup doesn’t have to play, they will likely still list Mariota as the backup.  

Practice Squad- Joseph Ngata, Devon Allen, Greg Ward, Jadon Haselwood 

Cut: Charleston Rambo 

There was a chance for a few guys to maybe force the Eagles into keeping 6 guys. Joseph Ngata had the best case to be that guy. But none of them have done enough in the games to make the case to do that. Maybe if Tyrie Cleveland had stayed healthy he could be that guy. But unfortunately, he suffered a significant injury. And the Eagles being contenders makes it harder to keep a guy just to stash them if they won't be contributing in some way, even if it is on Special teams. There should be lots of room on the practice squad for them though.  And Greg Ward will likely be up on the roster for a few games here and there as usual. 

Practice Squad- Trey Sermon 

Cut- Kennedy Brooks 

There was never really a chance for Trey Sermon to make it. The 4 guys on the roster were locks already and keeping 5 RBs felt unlikely. The only chance Sermon really had is if he did really well as a return man and convinced them to keep him over Britain Covey. But he didn’t really show much in that role.  

Swift probably made the best case to be the main guy. But Gainwell and Penny should still get a lot of touches. And week to week it will probably just be the hot hand who gets the most playing time.  

Practice Squad- Jack Stoll, Brady Russell 

Cut- Dan Arnold 

Tyree Jackson needed a big camp to convince the Eagles to keep him. And I think he accomplished that. He flashed a ton in that 2nd preseason game and has reportedly been showing up in camp a lot too. The depth behind Dallas Goedert has been a concern. Especially considering he has missed time in each of the past two seasons. But Tyree Jackson has the upside to steady the ship if Goedert gets hurt. Stoll ends up being the odd man out. 

Practice Squad- Josh Andrews, Julian Good-Jones, Fred Johnson, Brett Toth 

Cut: Dennis Kelly, Brett Toth, Roderick Johnson, Cameron Tom 

It has been a disappointing camp for many of the depth guys along the Eagles' D-Line. Only Tyler Steen has really played well from the backups. Driscoll and Opeta we give a pass because we have seen them play well in real games. Josh Sills looked awful, but they kept him through a whole legal trial, so they are probably willing to keep him after a couple of bad games.  

Dennis Kelly is the real surprise. I thought they were getting a great backup with him. But he looks a bit washed and may be out of a job altogether. So at LT, there is now a concern about who would come in if Mailata gets hurt. Last year it was Andre Dillard, but he is gone. Driscoll has looked good at RT but has no experience on the left side. Their best option may be Tyler Steen, who played some LT at Alabama.  

With no center, that would mean if Kelce has to go out, Cam Jurgens slides into the middle, and either Steen, Opeta, or Driscoll plays RG. The good thing is the guys they have as depth have a ton of versatility. But OL depth is not as great as we may have once thought it was.  

Practice Squad- Janarius Robinson 

Cut: Tarron Jackson 

Before Zech McPhearson and Shaun Bradley got hurt, Kyron Johnson may have been in danger. But after losing two of their special team’s aces, they probably have to keep him. Edge is probably their best position at this point. 3 guys had double-digit sacks last year. And Nolan Smith is a guy who could get to double digits, if not this year, then down the road.  

Starts Season on IR- Moro Ojomo 

Practice Squad- Kentavius Street, Olive Sagopolu 

Cut- Marvin Wilson 

Moro Ojomo will be on the team eventually. After his scary injury, he could start the season on the IR. When he does get back, I don’t think it would be to replace any of these 5 guys. Marlon Tuipulotu needed a good camp, and he had one. And the other 4 are locks to make it. So once Ojomo is eligible, if that is the choice they make, the Eagles would likely just keep 6 Tackles, as they did last season. 

Combine the depth and talent here with what they have off the edge, and the Eagles likely have the best D-Line in the league.  

Practice Squad- Ben Vansumeren 

Zach Cunningham has come on and immediately established himself as the likely starter. He played great in both pre-season games and has looked better in camp each day. Likewise, Elliss has come on strong too and may have also jumped Morrow. That said, I still think Morrow makes it, at least until Ojomo is eligible to come off the IR if that is what they do with him. As unfortunate as that injury is, it does let them put off making any major decisions at LB. They can them real games to audition for their role on the team now. But after week 4 Morrow could be the odd man out. 

Practice Squad- Eli Ricks, Mekhi Garner 

Cut- Josiah Scott 

The top 5 are all locks. The question is who do they keep as the 6th guy? It would have been Zech McPhearson, but he is out for the year. And because his role would have been Maddox’s backup, the guy they keep will likely be someone who plays in the slot. So while fans may prefer Eli Ricks, who had a pick 6, Mario Goodrich probably makes more sense, because the slot is where he has been playing in camp, and like Ricks he has looked pretty good in camp. There is an outside chance they keep 7, but most likely Ricks spends this season on the practice squad.  

Cut- Tristin McCollum  

Reed is locked in as one of the starters. The question is who starts the season next to him? I still think the veteran Edmunds gets the first nod. But K’von Wallace has surprisingly come on strong in camp. Sydney Brown might eventually take over as the starter, but according to Tim McManus, the Eagles might want to give him a bit more time to adjust before they throw him in.  

Justin Evans sticks around as depth for now, but like Morrow, he could be an odd man out once Ojomo is back.  

Arryn Siposs won the battle vs Ty Zentner, but that does not mean he is a lock for the real job. Once teams make their cuts, there will be some punters out there. The fact they brought in Zentner at all tells you they don’t have full faith in Siposs. And Siposs has not exactly looked good so far. So it's cheating, but I am putting Punter as someone who is not here yet.  

QB-3 

WR- 5 

RB-4 

TE-3 

OL-9 

Edge- 6 

DT- 5 

LB-4 

CB-6 

S-5 

ST- 3