Philadelphia Eagles surprisingly replace McLeod with DeAndre Carter

In a surprising turn of events, the Philadelphia Eagles have filled Rodney McLeod’s roster spot with fan favorite WR DeAndre Carter, as opposed to a safety.

After placing Rodney McLeod on injured reserve following an MCL tear against the Indianapolis Colts, everyone knew that the Philadelphia Eagles were going to sign someone to fill his spot on the 53 man roster, but did anyone think it would be DeAndre Carter?

Now granted, it was a bit surprising to see Carter waived last week following two successful weeks on the active roster, but Josh Adams‘ performance against the Colts quickly eased the minds of any reluctant fans in no time.

Rushing for 30 yards on five carries (for a very impressive YPC of 5), it’s abundantly clear that Philly has a glut of talent in their offensive backfield, but on the defensive side of the ball, not so much.

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And following Week 3, that depth took a serious hit.

Though Philly entered the season with one of the top safety tandems in the NFL and a slew of young options at cornerback, the team went surprisingly light at safety, keeping only four players on their active roster in McLeod, Malcolm Jenkins, Corey Graham, and Tre Sullivan. Fast forward less than a month and the team is down to only three: Jenkins, Graham, and Deiondre’ Hall, who served a one-game suspension following a last-second trade from the Chicago Bears.

While there is plenty of experience in the unit, with Jenkins and Graham having 312 games of NFL action between the two of them, they are far from a duo that strikes fear in the hearts of opposing offensive coordinators. Sure, Jenkins is elite, but at the tender age of 33, it’s clear Graham’s best football days are behind him.

Could he still be a solid center fielder in Jim Schwartz‘s attacking wide-nine scheme? Sure, but he clearly doesn’t have the breakaway speed to make up for any lapses in coverage, effectively handcuffing the defense’s ability to blitz the quarterback on obvious passing downs.

And as for Hall, well, no one knows what he’s capable of because, at this point, he’s yet to log a single snap in midnight green.

A small school wonder at Northern Iowa, Hall has struggled to find ways to get on the field over his first three professional seasons, 97 total snaps on special teams and 80 on defense. Could he suddenly turn around and become the rangy, do-it-all safety that Philly would love to deploy alongside Jenkins? I guess anything is possible, but he’s yet to show that level of production thus far in his professional career.

Next. 3 key questions for Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 against Tennessee Titans. dark

While this could all be for not, as the team could finally decide to give Rasul Douglas a shot in the middle of the defense, as many believed that safety was his natural position and his playmaking ability could truly shine, it’s certainly going to be interesting to see how Schwartz adapts his defensive philosophy in the Eagles’ Week 4 bout against the Tennessee Titans in the Music City, especially with only three safeties on the roster.

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