An Analysis of the Eagles' 53-Man Roster

There were some surprises and there will be some tweaks over the next 48 hours, but here is a look at some of the decisions at various positions

It’s done.

The Eagles 53-man roster is in place. For the moment, anyway.

It is, as always, subject to change over the next 24 hours.

General manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni said after the deed was done Tuesday in th late afternoon that this isn’t just a 53-man roster, but a 70-man roster with the addition of practice squad players. 

The ability to add 16 players in this still-COVID environment impacted their decision on the 53 players they have chosen to keep for now.

So, what were some of the surprises?

There were several.

Let’s start with the offense:

• Three running backs were kept, with Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, and Kenny Gainwell. Jordan Howard was not, despite not dressing for the final exhibition game.

It’s a solid group, but this was a position that was one of the strengths of this roster, after the offensive and defensive lines. Now, it’s difficult to say that, not after Howard, who is the best pass protector in the bunch and short-yardage hammer, gone.

• Four tight ends made the roster, and not one of them was veteran Richard Rodgers. It’s likely Rodgers returns after Tyree Jackson is safely tucked away on Injured Reserve, but to keep Stoll over someone like Howard, well, surprising.

Now, Stoll had a nice camp, but he had some inconsistencies, too, especially with drops. It might’ve been worth the risk to try to get him to the practice squad.

Of course, if Howard makes it the PS, then it will have worked out.

CUTDOWN TRACKER: Eagles Cutdown Tracker to 53-Man Roster

• Five wide receivers seems a bit low, which leads me to believe the Eagles will add one during the waiver process. Perhaps that receiver will be Collin Johnson, who was cut by the Jaguars, or Tyron Johnson, who was cut by the Chargers.

Sirianni has familiarity with the Chargers while Dave Caldwell, whose title with the Eagles is “personnel executive” was Jacksonville’s GM from 2013-2020 and had a hand in bringing in QB Gardner Minshew and CB Josiah Scott, as well as WR Michael Carter, who was waived-injured during camp.

Maybe even a veteran like John Brown, released by the Raiders, could be claimed.

“I feel really comfortable and really confident in the guys that we have on this roster right now to be able to run the offense that we want to run and we have guys to do that, whether that’s option routes, whether that’s force blocks, whether that’s speed routes, I feel we’re well rounded at that position," said Sirianni.

“And at the running back position. … The guys that are here I’m very confident in that we can do the things we want to do and we adapt to what they do well and we have a really good feel about what they do well as well, and we have a really good feel about what they do well at this particular point and we feel we have a well-balanced roster at those two positions.”

Now, the defense:

• Roseman gets a lot of grief over not investing in the linebacker position, but somehow seven ended up on the final roster.

How?

Well, they’re actually deserving at this point.

One who didn’t make it was JaCoby Stevens, the only one of the nine players who were drafted last spring to not make the roster.

Davion Taylor could end up being placed in Injured Reserve after missing most of camp with a calf injury and Genard Avery also struggled late in camp with a groin issue, so there’s a chance he could be placed in IR as well.

PLAYERS EAGLES COULD CLAIM: Recently Cut Players that Could Draw Interest from Eagles

• The Eagles went with just nine players along the defensive line after releasing Hassan Ridgeway and placing T.Y. McGill on the Reserve/COVID list. Expect one or both to come back depending on who goes on IR.

• In the secondary, the Eagles released veteran cornerback Craig James, who is a solid special teams performer, and safety Andrew Adams an offseason free-agent pickup who won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay last year.

The Eagles went with just four safeties, opting to cut Elijah Riley, as well, despite a good camp from Riley.

Here’s the 53-man roster:

QUARTERBACK (3)

Joe Flacco

Jalen Hurts

Gardner Minshew

RUNNING BACK (3)

Kenneth Gainwell

Miles Sanders

Boston Scott

WIDE RECEIVER (5)

J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

Jalen Reagor

DeVonta Smith

Greg Ward

Quez Watkins

TIGHT END (4)

Zach Ertz

Dallas Goedert

Tyree Jackson

Jack Stoll

OFFENSIVE LINE (10)

Brandon Brooks

Landon Dickerson

Andre Dillard

Jack Driscoll

Nate Herbig

Jason Kelce

Lane Johnson

Jordan Mailata

Isaac Seumalo

Brett Toth

DEFENSIVE END (5)

Derek Barnett

Brandon Graham

Tarron Jackson

Ryan Kerrigan

Josh Sweat

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (4)

Fletcher Cox

Javon Hargrave

Marlon Tuipulotu

Milton Williams

LINEBACKER (7)

Genard Avery

Shaun Bradley

T.J. Edwards

Patrick Johnson

Alex Singleton

Davion Taylor

Eric Wilson

CORNERBACK (5)

Avonte Maddox

Zach McPhearson

Steven Nelson

Josiah Scott

Darius Slay

SAFETY (4)

Marcus Epps

Anthony Harris

Rodney McLeod

K'Von Wallace

SPECIALISTS (3)

Jake Elliott

Rick Lovato

Arryn Siposs

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.