Eagles 53-Man Roster Predictions After OTAs: Who Gets Cut?

It was a fleeting glimpse of the Philadelphia Eagles this past spring, so much of the roster appears set, though some tough decisions will need to be made. Here's a stab at predicting the 53-man roster.

PHILADELPHIA – It was an all-too-brief look the Philadelphia Eagles gave everyone during the spring, but the bulk of the roster spots are locked in stone. There are several openings, however, for the final 15 or so spots.

Here’s my 53-man roster projection, the 1.0 version.

QUARTERBACK (3)

Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota, Tanner McKee

One of the summer’s hottest competitions – as hot as a third-string QB competition can get, anyway – will be for the right to be the emergency gameday QB behind Hurts and Mariota. Preseason games will go a long way in determining who wins that job, but the guess here is it will be this past spring’s sixth-round draft pick from Stanford.

RUNNING BACK (4)

D’Andre Swift, Rashaad Penny, Kenny Gainwell, Boston Scott

Head coach Nick Sirianni said he is looking forward to seeing what Trey Sermon can do, so the San Francisco 49ers’ third-round castoff will see plenty of time in the preseason. What he does with it could determine the fate of Scott. Otherwise, the Eagles may have to try to sneak Sermon to the practice squad.

RECEIVER (5)

A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus, Britain Covey

If it’s a group that looks familiar, it should, minus Zach Pascal. The Eagles signed Zaccheaus to take Pascal’s place. Keep an eye on undrafted free agent Joseph Ngata as well as old standby Greg Ward. Charleston Rambo, who played a season with Hurts at Oklahoma, could be worth a look as well.

TIGHT END (3)

Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, Dan Arnold

Last year’s sixth-round pick Grant Calcaterra is the odd man out and will head to the practice squad if the Eagles can get him there. That could be the fate for Tyree Jackson, too, a training camp star two seasons who had the misfortune of fracturing a bone in his back midway through the summer of 2021.

Arnold is the newcomer and probably a better run blocker than Calcaterra at this stage of his career and can also be a weapon in the passing game if needed.

OFFENSIVE LINE (8)

Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Jack Driscoll, Tyler Steen, Brett Toth

It's not an ideal number to keep, but I’m not ruling out the possibility that the Eagles could sign Dalton Risner at some point this summer, but for now, there are no real surprises here. Maybe Opeta counts as one, but the undrafted free agent from 2019 may have hit the end of the road in Philly.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (6)

Fletcher Cox, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Milton Williams, Kentavius Street, Moro Ojomo

Ojomo could find himself on the practice squad, allowing the Eagles to keep another player at another position. The team could also find a way to keep Marlon Tuipulotu after a decent showing last year in which he played more than 40 percent of the snaps in five of his nine games before an injury ended his season on Nov. 14.

DEFENSIVE END (3)

Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, Janarius Robinson

There’s something about Robinson that intrigue me. Perhaps it’s his size – 6-5, 260 pounds – or that he reminds me of Sweat, who is 6-5, 265. Both went to Florida State and both were drafted in the fourth round, though Robinson is three years younger. He’s got a chance to make the roster. 

Barnett, we’ll see. He is still rehabbing a torn ACL, so he may not be ready to start the season. Also, the Eagles may want to find a way to keep Tarron Jackson on the 53.

EDGE/OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (3)

Haason Reddick, Nolan Smith, Patrick Johnson

Kyron Johnson is on the outside looking in, for now.

LINEBACKER (4)

Nakobe Dean, Nicholas Morrow, Christian Elliss, Shaun Bradley

Undrafted free agent Ben VanSumeren from Michigan State could be someone to watch while Davion Taylor needs to play like he is out of chances, and very well could be.

CORNERBACK (7)

Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Avonte Maddox, Zech McPhearson, Kelee Ringo, Greedy Williams, Josh Jobe

This is a deep group, and Josiah Scott could be the odd man out, though he was cross-trained some at safety last year and that might help him stick around. Two to watch are UDFAs Mekhi Garner from LSU and Alabama’s Eli Ricks.

SAFETY (4)

Reed Blankenship, Terrell Edmunds, Sydney Brown, K’Von Wallace

Wallace is in the final year of his rookie deal but could find himself in a battle with free-agent signing Justin Evans. I’ll go with the fourth-round pick from 2020 in Wallace until I get to see more of Evans.

SPECIAL TEAMS (3)

Jake Elliott, Arryn Siposs, Rick Lovato

The only real drama here is UDFA punter Ty Zentner, who was brought in to compete with Siposs. He is really going to have to excel to beat out Siposs.

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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