Is This Eagles Roster Even Better Than Last Year? Lets Find Out

Last season, the Eagles had a pretty historic roster. Before the season, and then throughout it, Howie Roseman seemed to patch every single hole. They needed a Cornerback to play alongside Slay. Bring in James Bradberry. Needed a Safety. So they made a trade for CJ Gardner Johnson. Needed Defensive Tackle Depth? They added Linval Jospeh and Ndamukong Suh. It was nearly the perfect roster, with no holes. It’s why they had such a historic season, losing just 3 games in the regular season, with two of those losses coming without Jalen Hurts. They came up short in the Super Bowl. But the Eagles’ roster was about as good as we have ever seen.

It is why going into the off-season, a lot of people were nervous. The Eagles had the perfect depth chart, and couldn’t get it done. And chances seemed pretty low that Howie could put together a team that good again. It looked like they may lose most of their secondary, as well as their best interior pass rusher. And some of that did happen. Javon Hargrave walked to get a massive deal in San Francisco. CJ Gardner-Johnson waited too long and ended up settling for a small deal with the Lions. But Howie did hold onto James Bradberry. Something no one thought would happen.

But then they kept adding. On paper, they knocked the draft out of the park. They brought in some key free agents too. Which begs the question. Did Howie Roseman somehow put together an even better roster than last season? It is strange to say, and we need to see them prove it on the field first. But he just may have done it. Let’s go position by position, to see if this Eagles roster is better, on paper of course, than last year’s.

• Quarterback

  Going Out: Gardner Minshew

  Coming In: Marcus Mariota, Tanner Mckee

  Obviously, Jalen Hurts is still the starter. But we saw the jump he took from 2021 to 2022. Could he somehow improve again? Maybe. But at the very least he should be just as good. We might see him run less, at least in the regular season. And now there is the pressure of being one of the highest-paid players in league history on his back. But Hurts does not seem like the type of guy to let pressure get to him. He dealt with the pressure of facing Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, and gave us a historic performance, even if the team lost.

  What is different, is the backup. They swap out Gardner Minshew for Marcus Mariota. Probably an improvement. Ideally, we will never see him anyway. But Gardner Minshew looked pretty awful filling in for Hurts in those two games last year. Mariota at the very least is a better scheme fit. You can slide him in without having to change how the offense runs.

  Verdict- Slightly Better

• Running Back

  Going Out: Miles Sanders

  Coming in: D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny

  They lost Miles Sanders. As disappointing as Sanders was in the playoffs, replacing 1,347 total yards, and 11 TDs, is not easy. How are the Eagles planning to do it? With the quartet of Kenny Gainwell, Rashaad Penny, D’Andre Swift, and Boston Scott.

  Can they duplicate what Sanders did as the lead back? Last year Penny and Swift combined for 1,295 total yards, and 10 TDs. Despite Penny being hurt, and Swift’s role being limited. Add in Kenny Gainwell getting more of a role, it feels like as a team they should be able to at least match their production from the RB spot next season. And having 3 guys rotating in and out should keep all of them fresher, so we don’t see a dramatic falloff in the playoffs the way we did with Sanders who got used a ton last year.

  Verdict: Draw

• Wide Reciever

  Going Out- Zach Pascal

  Coming In: Olamide Zaccheaus

  Pascal made for a decent blocker, but he was not very productive. The Eagles’ offense likely won’t feel any sting from losing him. But they did add a fairly productive Slot WR to contend with Quez Watkins. Watkins had 33 catches, 354 yards, and 3 TDs on 51 targets, with Jalen Hurts throwing to him. Zaccheaus had 40 catches, 533 yards, and 3 TDs on 61 targets last year, with inferior QB Talent throwing to him.

  Will Zaccheaus beat him out? Maybe. But either way, it is a better WR group. Even if Zaccheaus is your 4th guy, he is better than Pascal. And Watkins would be an improvement over Pascal if he is your 4th guy too. They needed a better option in the Slot with how Watkins performed last year. Is Zaccheaus a star? No. But he is a more dependable version of what they thought Watkins would be.

  Verdict: Better

• Tight End

  Going Out- N/A

  Coming in- N/A

  Tight End didn’t change. It will likely be Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, and Grant Calcaterra again. Which is still very good. The wild card is Tyree Jackson. He blew the Eagles away a few years ago in camp and has been a no-show since. Injuries have kept him off the field, and when he did get on the field, he didn’t play well. Grant looked decent at moments last year, maybe he can take a step up. But TE didn’t really need that much of an upgrade. It may have been nice to add a reliable guy in the case Dallas Goedert gets hurt. But that wasn’t that high on the list of needs.

  Verdict- Even

• Offensive Line

  Going Out- Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard

  Coming In- Tyler Steen

  The Eagles O-Line was the best in the league last year. They bring back 4 of their 5 starters. The one change will be at Right Guard. Isaac Seumalo left to sign with the Steelers. In his place will be either Cam Jurgens, or Tyler Steen. Both are guys we think are capable of being good starters in the league. We don’t know if they can yet though.

  The Offensive Line should still be elite though, even if Steen/Jurgens aren’t as good as Seumalo was last year. There is a chance they are better, but for now, I will stay on the side of caution and say it’s a very slight downgrade.

  Verdict- Very Slightly Worse

• Edge Rushers

  Going Out- Robert Quinn

  Coming in- Nolan Smith

  Last year the Eagles had 3 Edge Rushers rack up 10+ sacks. Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham. 38 total between the 3 of them. All 3 return. Could we see a slight regression from Graham? Maybe, he is 35, and last year was his first double-digit sack season.  But they also bring in rookie Nolan Smith. Can Nolan Smith and Graham combine for 11 sacks? That feels very likely. They swap out Robert Quinn, who didn’t do anything anyway, and add a first-round pick who got comparisons to Haason Reddick. As great as their Edge Rush room was last year, it got even better.

  Verdict- Better

• Defensive Tackle

  Going Out- Javon Hargrave, Ndamukong Suh, Linval Joseph

  Coming In- Jalen Carter, Kentavius Street, Moro Ojomo

  Replacing Hargrave will be tough. 11 sacks from the inside is hard to come by. But the Eagles managed to swap Hargrave out for what many believe was the most talented defender in the draft, Jalen Carter. Now will Carter immediately have that impact his rookie season? Probably not. Even Aaron Donald had just 9 sacks his rookie season. Fletcher Cox had 5.5. The overall production from the inside will probably be down, next year. But long term, Carter could be better than Hargrave.

  As for the depth, they lost Joseph and Suh, but added a solid rotational piece in Street, and Jordan Davis is hopefully ready to step into a larger role. Overall, they are probably a little bit worse on paper. But DT could still be an elite unit for the Eagles.

  Verdict: Slightly Worse

   

• Off-Ball LineBacker

  Going Out- TJ Edwards and Kyzir White

  Coming In: Nicholas Morrow

  The Eagles lost both of their starting linebackers. TJ Edwards to the Bears, and Kyzir White to the Cardinals. TJ Edwards played pretty well last year. White had his moments but tailed off a bit as the season went on. Nakobe Dean replaces one of them. We don’t know what he is, but expectations are high. And Nicholas Morrow is a solid starter who should make for a good Kyzir White replacement.

  It’s another position that is hard to judge because we are relying on someone who has very little NFL experience to step into a starting role. But if Dean is as good as we think, Linebacker will be at the least just as good, if not better. For now, we will call it a draw.

  Verdict: Draw

• Cornerback

  Going Out- N/A

  Coming In- Greedy Williams, Kelee Ringo

  No one thought the Eagles would keep both Bradberry and Slay. They did. So the 3 starting corners all return this year. On top of that, they brought in Kelee Ringo and Greedy Williams. Those two will rarely see the field, but they are better depth options than Zech McPhearson or Josiah Scott. They are just as good at starter and now have much better depth.

  Verdict: Better

• Safety

  Going Out- Marcus Epps, CJ Gardner Johnson

  Coming In- Terrell Edmunds, Sydney Brown

  The Eagles lost both starting Safeties. CJ Gardner Johnson was looking like a pro bowler before he got hurt. And Marcus Epps was solid, while not spectacular. Terrell Edmunds comes in to replace CJ. He has been a  solid dependable starter. Maybe not as flashy as CJ, but perhaps a bit better in coverage overall. The wildcard is the 2nd Safety spot. Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown will compete for the job.

  On paper, it is probably a bit worse. But if Brown steps up and is the type of player he was at Illinois, they could be better.

  Verdict: Slightly worse

• Special Teams

  Going Out: N/A

  Coming In: Ty Zentner

  Jake Elliott returns, and over the last two years, he has been one of the most dependable kickers in the game. The question will be at Punter. Arryn Siposs has to fight for his job vs Ty Zentner, a UDFA Punter out of Kansas State. Siposs has been pretty bad. Hopefully, Zentner shows up and beats him out. POunting was one of their lone weaknesses last year. Both in terms of actual punting and punt coverage.

  It is not yet clear what the Eagles’ plan on Punt/Kick Returns will be. They brought in no clear replacement for Britan Covey at either spot.

  Verdict: Draw

• Overall Verdcit

  They need some young guys to step up. On paper, they are probably a bit worse overall. They swapped out veteran guys for young guys who have not proven anything yet. But all of those young guys have a chance to be better or as good as the guys they are replacing. They also swapped out the loser at Defensive Coordinator for Sean Desai.

  QB- Slightly Better

  RB-  Draw

  WR- Better

  TE- Draw

  OL- Slightly Worse

  Edge- Better

  DT- Slightly Worse

  LB- Slightly Worse

  CB- Better

  Safety- Slightly Worse

  Special Teams- Draw