5 Eagles Most Likely to Be Inactive Against Patriots on Sunday

Eli Ricks

Eli Ricks making the 53-man roster was an awesome development, and the undrafted free agent is more than just a feel-good story. But that means we also have to deal with the reality of how precarious his spot on the roster is.

Philly is incredibly deep in the secondary, and there’s not much reason to dress all 11 defensive backs on the roster.

When factoring in special teams contributions it makes sense that all four safeties will dress, and that means picking one of the seven cornerbacks to remain in street clothes on Sunday.

That one is obviously not going to be James Bradberry, Darius Slay or Avonte Maddox.

The conversation is then narrowed down to Ricks, Kelee Ringo and a pair of 2022 undrafted free agents in Josh Jobe and Mario Goodrich.

Ricks played 1 snap in the slot and Jobe played zero this preseason. Unless the Eagles want to rely on a safety or bumping a starting corner inside, that means Goodrich is in line to suit up as the direct backup to Maddox.

Ringo was largely considered a steal as a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and despite an underwhelming preseason, I think he’s done enough in training camp to secure a spot on Sunday

So is it Jobe or Ricks that makes it?

Well, Jobe is ahead of Ricks on the unofficial depth chart. While that shouldn’t be taken as gospel, it’s definitely a potential hint. And it would track with what we often see in the NFL — veterans getting slight preference over rookies to start the year.

Like the Calcaterra/Okwuegbunam situation, don’t assume that this means Jobe will remain ahead of Ricks for long. But for now Eagles fans might need to be patient about seeing Ricks in a jersey on gameday.