Eagles Have 34 'Permanent-Marker Players'

That is the number virtually guaranteed a roster spot, but there is a big group right behind those players

Forget the final 53 and get out the permanent-marker if you want to figure out the foundation of the 2020 Philadelphia Eagles.

Chip Kelly used to say the Eagles depth chart was “written in sand.”

In the first virtual offseason, the inaugural 53-man roster projections stemming from the bloated 90-man placeholders are even more speculative than usual with first impressions of athleticism replaced by Zoom-background evaluations and football IQ deciphered by how quickly a prospect is able to find the mute function.

The more valuable exercise is always what we’ve dubbed as the “permanent-maker players.” Forget sand, these guys have breezed by pencil and lapped pen, right into permanent-marker status.

In other words, barring injury, these players are going to be on the 2020 Eagles and from there, you can figure out from there how much competition there really will be for the back end of the roster.

There are tweaks to roster building as well under the new CBA, most notably an expanded practice squad from 10 to 12 players, and the freedom to move players more easily between the PS and the active roster without exposing them to the waiver process.

Any team can also essentially expand its roster to 55 during any given week if they choose, which seems like it will be used as a motivational tool by coaches for those on the PS and game-day rosters move from 46 to 48 with one of the added slots having to be used on an extra offensive lineman.

All these changes will affect the strategy when it comes to assembling the final 53.

Either way, here are the Eagles current permanent-marker players:

QB (2) - Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts

RB (2) - Miles Sanders, Boston Scott

WR (4) - DeSean Jackson, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward, Jalen Reagor

TE (2) - Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert

OL (6) - Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard, Jack Driscoll

DL (5) - Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat

LB (3) - Nate Gerry, T.J. Edwards, Davion Taylor

DB (7) - Darius Slay, Avonte Maddox, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Rodney McLeod, Jalen Mills, K’Von Wallace, Cre’Von LeBlanc

Specialists (3) - Jake Elliott, Cam Johnston, Rick Lovato

That’s 34 of 53 on an ultra-conservative scale.

The 90-plus percenters like Nate Sudfeld on offense and Malik Jackson, Hassan Ridgeway, Duke Riley, and Will Parks on defense aren’t included.

Why aren’t players like that an absolute certainty?

In the case of Sudfeld, the Eagles behavior tells you more than their words. You don’t bring in Josh McCown last season and draft Jalen Hurts this year if you’re sold on Sudfeld as a legitimate backup and with this likely being his last season in Philadelphia, any upside shown by Kyle Lauletta is more likely to get noticed.

In the debate regarding players like Jackson and Parks, contracts come into the equation on both sides of the spectrum. Jackson simply makes too much money to be just a third rotational DT and if he balks at moving outside on occasion, something he’s indicated he doesn’t like to do, Philadelphia could try to shop him. 

As for Parks, he’s in the Corey Nelson-club, in that the contract is so team-friendly if he has a bad training camp the Eagles could easily walk away.

Although the path toward unemployment is small, options like Ridgeway and Riley are hardly proven commodities so the door has to be left ajar for a young player wowing the coaching staff.

Those are all very small windows, however, and when you add in the “pen players” the number gets pushed to 39, meaning the real competition is for 14 or so spots.

Broken down by position you are looking at two RBs with Corey Clement having the inside track on one slot, one or two receivers with Marquise Goodwin, rookies John Hightower and Quez Watkins, and yes even Alshon Jeffery in the conversation.

A tight end, Josh Perkins, Alex Ellis, or Noah Togiai, although the Eagles could again carry only two to start and manipulate the PS like they did at the beginning of last season. Multiple offensive linemen with swing tackle candidates Jordan Mailata and Prince Tega Wanaogbo and interior options like Nate Herbig and Matt Pryor.

D-end candidates are Genard Avery, Casey Toohill, Shareef Miller, and Joe Ostman while a young DT would really have to excel.

At LB, the mix includes rookie Shaun Bradley and low-cost free agent Jatavis Brown.

In the secondary, Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas is the most interesting debate.

Rewind to January's playoffs and Jim Schwartz proved to be more comfortable with moving Maddox outside and letting LeBlanc handle slot work rather than play Jones or Douglas. Neither player even got a defensive snap in the game and the Eagles defense wasn’t the reason for the loss against the Seahawks so Schwartz’s thinking was at least somewhat validated.

Since then, Douglas has been put on the trade block and GM Howie Roseman compared Maddox to other shorter cornerbacks that have excelled on the outside like Aaron Glenn. The tea leaves from that seem clear.

As for players like Craig James, Alex Singleton, and Rudy Ford, they will need to count on special teams coach Dave Fipp pounding the table for them.

John McMullen covers the Eagles for SI.com and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every day on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, Every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio, and every weekday on ESPN 97.3 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen