Philadelphia Eagles: Pre-preseason 53 man roster prediction
Wide Receivers: Devonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Travis Fulgham, Quez Watkins
The Philadelphia Eagles realistically have seven wide receivers who could conceivably earn a spot on their 53 man roster, but if they opt to keep three quarterbacks and five running backs, there simply aren’t enough roster spots to do so.
But who is the odd man out? Surely Devonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, and Travis Fulgham are safe, so really, it’s just a three-man competition for two roster spots.
Quez Watkins, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and John Hightower enter the ring, but only two can leave with their current contract intact.
As tough as it may be to admit, for my money, Hightower just seems expendable.
A few months ago, Watkins felt like the clear odd man out, as he was a borderline non-factor for the Birds as a rookie, and he lacked his teammates’ draft position pedigree. Fortunately, things appear to have clicked for the Southern Miss product, and he’s now not only a favorite to earn a roster spot with the other Eagles this fall but actually earn snaps as a YAC-specialist deployed out of the slot.
So really, that just leaves JJAW and Hightower competing for a single spot, with the other surely ending up elsewhere if subjected to waivers.
As easy as it would be to feed into the narrative and give Arcega-Whiteside the boot, he looks like a different player than seasons before – as fans in attendance at the team’s open practice can attest – and might still have a career with the Eagles yet. Considering the sheer volume of outside receivers the Eagles have under contract, keeping JJAW as a potential big-bodied slot who can contribute as a blocker in the run game could give him the nod over the pride of Boise State.
Tight Ends: Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, Tyree Jackson
This might just be the easiest trio of players to project on the entire roster.
While there was some initial speculation that Nebraska educated UDFA Jack Stoll may be a dark horse to earn a roster spot and the addition of Richard Rodgers guaranteed the team would at least have three viable veterans in camp depending on how the Zach Ertz situation shook out, Tyree Jackson has effectively run away with the TE3 spot and could be an ideal partner in crime for Dallas Goedert once everyone’s favorite Stanford Cardinal leaves the confines of the City of Brotherly Love for one reason or another.
In a spot where things get incredibly complicated real quick, why not play this one easy and give the best three options the three available slots? It makes sense for the present, the past, and the future, all in one tidy little three-man rotation.