Philadelphia Eagles: 3 UDFAs who can make the initial 53 man roster

Goodness gratuitous, what a three-day period for the Philadelphia Eagles.

They traded for A.J. Brown, traded up for Jordan Davis, and effortlessly moved around the draft board to come away with four more quality players, some of whom, like Nakobe Dean, could be Week 1 starters this fall.

So naturally, with his afternoon over before pick 200, Howie Roseman would take a break from the game of football and maybe go out to walk his dog, get some gas, and buy some sushi, right? Wrong; the Eagles’ general manager instead took to the phones and started signing up undrafted talent in order to fill out his 90-man roster with even more high-end talent who probably should have been drafted but hey, who are we to complain?

Will any of these players ultimately make the team? Only time will tell, but four players in specific: Nevada quarterback Carson Strong, Alabama cornerback Josh Jobe, and Clemson CB Mario Goodrich, have a very good chance of sticking around with the Philadelphia Eagles long-term.

The Philadelphia Eagles crushed their UDFA picks so far.

In 2021, the Philadelphia Eagles signed a quarterback, Jamie Newman, who some thought should have been drafted.

That, unfortunately, did not work out; Newman didn’t even make it to camp with the Eagles and has only recently found a new opportunity as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL.

Will Carson Strong suffer a similar fate? Considering many had Strong pegged as a top-6 quarterback in this year’s class and expected him to go well before eventual New England Patriot Bailey Zappe, something tells me he has a pretty good chance to stick around for some time.

Now granted, like all of the Eagles’ UDFAs, there is a reason Strong dropped out of the draft. His medical reports reportedly aren’t good, and his knees may not bode well with a long and healthy NFL career, but when you turn on his tape at Nevada, you see a professional quarterback even if he’s more pocket passer than a dual-threat.

Josh Jobe has injury issues, in his case a foot, that left his on-field production diminished during his fourth and final season at Alabama. Despite his pedigree as a two-year starter on the outside at a school known for their extensive history of churning out pro-ready defenders, evaluations knocked his age – 24 – his measurables and his pension for being overly physical to the point of penalties and ultimately passed on him with each of the 262 picks in this year’s draft. Still, if Jobe can clean up his hands at the next level and get 100 percent healthy, there’s little reason to believe he couldn’t be right there in competition with Zech McPhearson and Tay Gowan for the Eagles’ second outside cornerback spot.

Do you know who else will be featured prominently in that competition? Yeah, that’d be Mario Goodrich, who agreed to a UDFA deal with a whopping $217,000 fully guaranteed, which is second-most on the team behind only Oklahoma power back Kennedy Brooks. Goodrich played his college ball at Clemson, recorded five picks over four seasons, and was even named a captain during his final season – a season capped with being named the Cheez-it Bowl MVP.  While Goodrich isn’t the biggest, fastest, or even strongest cornerback in this year’s class, he’s battle-tested and played across from a legitimate stud in Andrew Booth Jr., which means he was targeted a lot on coverage.

And hey, while we’re here, let’s talk about Brooks, who will certainly give Jordan Howard a run for his money for the Eagles’ fourth and final roster spot. Though Brooks doesn’t have Howard’s dominant trucking abilities, he’s a decisive runner who can go inside or out and played with Jalen Hurts in his second of three 1,000-yard rushing seasons at Oklahoma. If he can flash during camp and show value as a short-yardage specialist/pass protector, don’t be surprised if he is the third UDFA who makes the initial 53-man roster over one of the three undrafted corners Howie Roseman scooped up.

Who knows, maybe the Philadelphia Eagles won’t keep a single UDFA, or, by contrast, will keep even more than four. Still, after entering the Draft Weekend with 10 picks, Howie Roseman only picked five players and could easily take on a few more young, cost-controlled players to help fill out a roster that is in need of young ascending talent. If one, two, or even four of these players actually make the team or *gasp* become starters like Tony Romo, Rodney McLeod, or Arian Foster, well that, my friends, would be just gravy.