Eagles Initial 53-Man Roster: What About Special Teams?

The Philadelphia Eagles seemed to leave special teams coordinator Michael Clay on an island at the cut to 53.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles obviously had one of the best teams in the NFL last season with a top-five offense and defense.

The third phase, however, proved to be the Achilles Heel that unveiled itself in the Super Bowl when a mishit punt by the new-deposed Arryn Siposs enabled Kansas City’s Kadarius Toney to nearly take one to the house on the play that tilted the game toward the Chiefs.

Nearly seven months later, a unit that finished in the bottom five of Pro Football Focus’ ratings, as well as Rick Gosselin’s yearly breakdowns, was further gutted over the summer and at the cut to 53 to the point that you have to start thinking if anyone at the NovaCare Complex is thinking about special teams coordinator Michael Clay.

After losing two core special-teamers to season-ending Achilles injuries in Shaun Bradley and Zech McPhearson during the preseason, the Eagles cut two more on Tuesday by waiving fourth-year safety K’Von Wallace and second-year edge rusher Kyron Johnson.

More so, the two undrafted rookies who excelled on special teams during the preseason were also overlooked, cornerback Mekhi Garner and linebacker Ben VanSumeren.

The initial 53 also didn’t include a punter after scapegoating Siposs for his Super Bowl sins nor a punt returner after jettisoning Britain Covey in a prime example of you can’t make the club in the tub philosophy after Covey’s stock nosedived when a hamstring injury that wiped out his preseason.

Now obviously the Eagles are going to have a punter for Week 1 in New England and will be working out candidates at the NovaCare Complex this week. They also wouldn’t talk about who the returner might be other than “not Jordan Mailata” but the worst-case would be Olamide Zaccheus or Justin Evans.

The team also only carried four receivers and three linebackers, going light at positions where you typically look to the back end for special teams. Cornerback is another position where Clay will have to pull but Garner was his top-rated option in the preseason, according to PFF, while Eli Ricks was No. 57

The one foundational piece to build on for Clay has to be Christian Elliss, who arguably was the team’s best special teams player for the final nine games through the Super Bowl last season, and second-team slot cornerback Mario Goodrich, who played well on special teams in the preseason, although in a far more limited role.

"What we do when we have these conversations -- we spend a lot of time with conversations about the depth chart and roles," GM Howie Roseman told Si.com's Eagles Today. "So, we make sure that Coach Clay is in a position to put out his best guys too in the game."

Dating back to the days of Andy Reid and John Harbaugh and continuing through Chip Kelly and Dave Fipp, the Eagles were known for keeping one of two players that led their resume with special teams, names like Ike Reese, Chris Maragos, and Bryan Braman.

That changed in the latter stages of the Doug Pederson era and now Clay is trying to make lemonade with the rhines he’s been given despite the assurances from Roseman.

The 53 will change in the coming days and 16 more will be added to the practice squad with two potential elevations each week so it won’t look as bad as the snapshot does right now. Still, for an organization that is typically regarded as one of the savvier in the NFL, the Eagles don't seem to have learned their lesson in Super Bowl LVII.

"We'll talk about every role on special teams, from wing to gunner to kickoff returner and make sure that [Clay] feels really good," said Roseman. "Our full focus is on having the best possible season we can have. 

"And so, that starts with the first game of the season. That's been Coach's message, "keep your eye on the first game." So, everything we do is focused on trying to give our coaches the best opportunity to win that first game."