Eagles Tier 2 Spring Standouts

A look at some lesser-known Eagles who elevated their stock with the coaching staff during spring work.

Eagles QB Tanner McKee / John McMullen/Eagles SI

PHILADELPHIA - NFL offseason rosters are 90 players deep. That number will magically trim to 53 for the Eagles by August 29 ahead of the Sept. 6 opener against the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Heading into the summer break Philadelphia is at 89 after signing veteran tryout player Parry Nickerson after the recent mandatory minicamp, along with with International Player Pathway exemption Laekin Vakalahi.

The stars and projected key players are well-documented but what about the rest?

After the conclusion of spring work, the goal here was to identify a Tier 2 player at each position who raised his stock with the coaching staff during the five open practices (two OTAs and three mandatory minicamp sessions) reporters were able to observe.

Quarterback - Tanner McKee - Any thought that Will Grier would threaten McKee for the QB3 job because of his history with Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeier has quickly dissipated. McKee, a second-year project from Stanford, was sharp in four of the five practices and took every third-team rep.

Running Back - Kendall Milton - The book on Milton, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia, was a one-cut runner who probably wouldn’t help much in the passing game. He was able to show clean hands when targeted in the flats and showed some juice after the catch.

Wide Receiver - John Ross - The 2017 No. 9 overall pick still has twitch in his body and the late-signing had already earned some first-team reps by the end of the minicamp. There’s still some rust after a two-year layoff but Ross has a real chance barring a meaningful outside addition to the room.

Tight End - E.J. Jenkins - A first-year pro out of Georgia Tech, the 6-foot-6, 245 pound Jenkins showed real promise as a flex tight end and dominated at times among the third-team players.

Offensive Line - Mekhi Becton - Understanding spring work is about the passing game and it’s not the time to judge offensive linemen, Mekhi Becton certainly opened some eyes with his versatility, standing in for excused Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson.

Defensive Front - Julian Okwara - The same OL sentiment holds true on the defensive front regarding evaluation. The spring is not the time. That said, Vic Fangio liberally uses a flat or hook defender in coverage at times so you did get to see those kinds of players in coverage and Okwara looked comfortable doing it.

Off-Ball Linebacker - Zack Baun - At this stage, it’s probably not fair to put Baun in the Tier 2 category because the Eagles certainly look like they have significant plans for him but until we see how the Fangio handles a fully healthy Nakobe Dean we will use that as an excuse to get Baun in here. A very versatile player described as a Swiss Army knife by LB coach Bobby King, Baun even got some first-team work as the only LB on the field in dime packages.

Secondary - Tyler Hall - The top rookies – Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean – were very good, Isaiah Rodgers was arguably the best Eagles player in the spring, and Kelee Ringo looks like a future starter in this league. Those were all headlines, though. Hall, a low-key free-agent acquisition from Las Vegas, was the slow and steady win-the-race guy elevating to the point he got some first-team reps as the slot corner.  

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