Directly after the draft, I took a shot at predicting the Eagles 53-Man Roster. Unsurprisingly, I have already been proven wrong about a few guesses. But other guesses I made, even some longshot ones, are looking decent. I figured with the first pre-season game coming up this week, I would take a second swing at predicting the final team. Now that I am armed with more information about how they have looked in camp, and they are done in free agency, for the most part, I can probably predict a more accurate final roster.

The Eagles made a few additions since I first attempted this. Namely signing James Bradberry and Jaquiski Tartt. And while I did predict free agent signings at both of those positions, those are not the two names I guessed. And I also predicted there would be a couple draft busts that would get moved out, and they are still here. For other players I expected them to have a big camp, and haven’t even shown up on the map yet. So now I am ready to try again, and hopefully make some better guesses.

A lot of the spots are already pretty locked in. We can lock in perhaps 80%, maybe more, of the players who will make the final cut. But there are a good handful of spots open for competition. These handful of guys will be fighting for their careers in these preseason games. Can camp standout Britain Covey crack the roster? Which long-time Eagle may lose his roster spot? I took my best shot at predicting the final 53 guys. Here are my guesses.

• Quarterbacks (3)

  1) Jalen Hurts

  2) Gardner Minshew

  3) Reid Sinnett

  Out- Carson Strong

   

  Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew are locks. But the third spot is up for grabs. After the draft, I predicted Carson Strong would win the job. But that seems to have been a very wrong prediction. Strong has not looked very good in camp. Some would even say he has looked bad. He’s going to have to really show out in the Preseason games to make the roster. And Sinnett meanwhile has apparently looked good, at least by 3rd QB standards.

   

   

• Running Backs (3)

  1) Miles Sanders

  2) Boston Scott

  3) Kenny Gainwell

  Out) Jason Huntley and Kennedy Brooks

   

  These 3 are all locks. Huntley has a chance to make the roster, especially as a kick returner. But I think another person who squeaks onto the roster will end up with those duties. I predicted Kennedy Brooks would make the roster last time, but he doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact. Either of them still could make the roster, but for now, I am predicting only 3 runningbacks.

• Wide Receivers (6)

  1) AJ Brown

  2) Devonta Smith

  3) Quez Watkins

  4) Zach Pascal

  5) Jalen Reagor

  6) Britain Covey

  Out) Greg Ward, Devon Allen

   

  Brown, Smith, and Watkins are absolute locks. Pascal is pretty much a lock. And while I predicted Jalen Reagor would be moved, he hasn’t been. With his contract, they are not going to cut him, so he is also a lock. That leaves one spot open for a WR, and that’s only if they keep 6. I think they will. Britain Covey has been a camp standout. And as I predicted in my initial attempt, and will stick by, I think he stays on as the return specialist. I don’t think he will get many reps as a WR, but his ability to return the ball can help him make the roster. Devon Allen is a cool story, but he is a track star, not a WR. And there is a reason we only hear about him when he is racing, and not from camp. Unfortunately, Greg Ward’s time ends. Zach Pascal basically came in to fill his role.

   

• Tight Ends (3)

  1) Dallas Goedert

  2) Grant Calcaterra

  3) Jack Stoll

  Out- JJ Arcega Whiteside, Richard Rogers

  PUP- Tyree Jackson

   

  As of now, I think this is fairly set in stone. They will have some decisions to make whenever Tyree Jackson is healthy, but while he sits on the PUP list they can stash him for now. Dallas Goedert is a lock. Grant Calcaterra has some promise as a pass catcher, and Jack Stoll is a good blocker. JJ Arcega Whiteside’s time has come. He was pretty much  TE last year only being used as an extra blocker. Jack Stoll does that better.

• Offensive Line (10)

  RT) Lane Johnson

  RG) Isaac Seumalo

  C) Jason Kelce

  LG) Landon Dickerson

  LT) Jordan Mailata

  1) Cam Jurgens

  2) Jack Driscoll

  3) Andre Dillard

  4) Sua Opeta

  5) Jack Anderson

  OUT) Kayode Awosika, Josh Sills, William Dunkle, Le’Raven Clark

  PUP) Brett Toth

   

  The starters are locked in. I thought there was some chance Driscoll could win the RG spot, but the Eagles don’t seem to be treating it as a competition. Jack Driscoll and Sua Opeta are a lock to make it as backups because of their experience and their versatility. Cam Jurgens is the future at Center, and will obviously be the primary backup at Center. Andre Dillard is someone I predicted would be traded, but he never was. Maybe he will at some point, but he will be on the roster to start the season. Even if it would be better to have a backup who is more versatile. Jack Anderson will start the season on the 53 now because of the Jason Kelce injury, just in case, he can’t go.

• Edge Rushers (7)

  1) Hasson Reddick

  2) Josh Sweat

  3) Brandon Graham

  4) Derek Barnett

  5) Tarron Jackson

  6) Kyron Johnson

  7) Patrick Johnson

   

  This one is weird because the Eagles will run some 4-3, and some 3-4. So I am combining the defensive ends and the SAMs into one category here. The top 5 are locks. Hasson Reddick should give them their first true edge rusher in a while who can be a sack monster. Even in his best years, Brandon Graham was never a guy pushing to lead the league in sacks.  Kyron Johnson is probably safe as a draft pick and someone who can contribute on special teams. Patrick Johnson is my wild card pick here. I liked the little I saw from him last year, and think he can stick to the roster.

• Defensive Tackles (4)

  1) Fletcher Cox

  2) Javon Hargrave

  3) Jordan Davis

  4) Milton Williams

  Out-Marlon Tuipulotu

   

  This was one I had a tough time with. Not concerning the 4 who made it, because they are locked in. But I didn’t wasn’t to leave Marlon Tuipulotu off. But I had to find space somewhere, and with the team having 4 really strong players at DT, Tuipulotu gets left out. I do think there is a chance they keep him because he is a solid player. But I had to pick someone to be left off somewhere and preferred to keep depth elsewhere.

   

• Linebackers (5)

  1) Kyzir White

  2) TJ Edwards

  3) Nakobe Dean

  4) Shaun Bradley

  5) Davion Taylor

  Out- Jacoby Stevens

   

  The Eagles linebackers went from being their weakest position to perhaps a position of strength. TJ Edwards took a big step forward, and they added Nakobe Dean and Kyzir White. Shaun Bradley is a special teams ace. And Davion Taylor flashed potential before his injury. These 5 guys are locked in. Jacoby Stevens is an interesting prospect, but I have a hard time seeing him break the lineup.

   

• Cornerbacks (5)

  1) Darius Slay

  2) James Bradberry

  3) Avonte Maddox

  4) Zech McPhearson

  5) Josiah Scott

  Out- Kary Vincent, Tay Gowan

   

  The top 4 can be written in pen. For the first time in a while, corner will be a position of strength. There is a lot of competition for the final spot, or spots, at corner. They could easily keep 6, or even 7 corners. But I think the top 3 corners being so strong, gives them the luxury to keep just 5 and stack up depth elsewhere on the roster. I give Scott the edge because of his value on special teams. Last time I predicted a different free agent signing than Bradberry. Which is good because I predicted Kevin King and Bradberry was a much better move than that. I also predicted a couple of the UDFAs would crack the roster. But we have heard nothing from guys like Josh Jobe or Mario Goodrich, so that seems unlikely now. The final spots will be between Tay Gowan, Kary Vincent, and Josiah Scott.

   

• Safety (4)

  1) Anthony Harris

  2) Marcus Epps

  3) Jaquiski Tartt

  4) Andre Chachere

  Out- K’von Wallace, Reed Blankenship

   

  The top 3 are locks. Back when I made my first prediction, they had not signed Tartt yet. I correctly predicted they would sign someone. My guess was wrong though. I guessed Landon Collins. Instead, they brought in Tartt. The question will be who the 4th guy is. My original prediction was Reed Blankenship. But everyone seems to agree the standout has been Andre Chachere. So I will fall in line with the consensus and put him as the 4th guy at Safety. K’von Wallace had so much hype coming out of Clemson in the 4th round, but he has yet to show anything apart from a few good special team plays. Maybe he can stick on as a practice squader. 

• Special Teams (3)

  K) Jake Elliott

  P) Arryn Sippos

  LS) Rick Lovato

   

  I thought that they would replace Sippos by now. They have not. I still think after how bad he was at the end of last year they need an upgrade, but the Eagles seem to be confident that the Sippos from the first half is the real guy. Hopefully, they are right. The other two are locks.

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