The Eagles have released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of Thursday’s pre-season game against the Buccaneers. While it may have been compiled by the Eagles PR staff which means we could see a few changes between now and Thursday, it paints a pretty clear picture.
#Eagles' first depth chart, but a word of caution: it was composed by the team's PR staff: pic.twitter.com/5EYMfW3wB3
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) August 8, 2016
Here are some interesting things to note at this stage:
Kicker:
As it stands, Caleb Sturgis appears to be the Eagles starting kicker, implying that he’s won the role during Training camp. Sturgis has outperformed Parkey all Summer so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Cornerbacks:
As expected, Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks are the starting cornerbacks for the Eagles..but behind them is where things get interesting. Eric Rowe appears to be behind Jalen Mills on the depth chart while CFL star Aaron Grymes appears to have won the “best of the rest” battle. Denzel Rice and JaCorey Shepherd seem to be buried on the depth chart, but it is worth noting their presence.
Running back:
Despite an injury that sidelined him for the opening week of camp, Ryan Mathews appears to be the lead running back at this stage. Smallwood still seems to have a role as the fourth back on the roster despite missing significant time due to injury, with Marshall listed as the fifth back on the chart.
Offensive line:
Wisniewski looks to be the backup center despite asserting earlier on in the year that he wanted a starting role. He had plenty of time to earn one too, with Seumalo missing all of OTA’s through no fault of his own. Allen Barbre is still the starter at LG heading into camp which shows that Pederson is sticking to his guns when it comes to stating starters. Kelly is also still ranked higher than Big V, a sign the rookie isn’t quite as ready as we thought? Andrew Gardner has also lost a lot of ground, dropping down to a third string role.
Wide receiver:
Below Jmatt and Randle who are naturally the best options to have starting roles, it all seems a bit questionable. Agholor and Givens will look to battle it out for the final starting spots but has David Watford really outshone Xavier Rush and Hunter Sharp?
Defensive end:
Curry and Graham have the starting roles locked in while Barwin and the rest of the guys will seemingly rotate. It’s interesting to see how far down the chart Braman is however, ranking below Alex McCalister.
Defensive Tackle:
Mike Martin looks to be the team’s backup DT..which isn’t really a surprise. Destiny Vaeao and Aziz Shittu are wildcards to make the final roster with Martin’s place seemingly cemented..but the Eagles will likely look to keep four DT’s for health and rotation purposes. So is another battle going to open up with pre-season approaching?
Linebacker:
No surprises here, other than Najee Goode seemingly earning a higher spot than some of the rookies who seemed prime to strip him of a special teams role. It will be interesting to see how this pans out in Pre-season.
Safety:
The battle for the third Safety spot appears to be between Blake Countess and Jaylen Watkins…let the war begin!
Special teams:
Kenjon Barner looks to have an increased role in terms of returning kicks and punts. Pederson said earlier today that Sproles won’t be returning punts in pre-season in a bid to keep him healthy so that role could increase even further. Josh Huff on kick returns is questionable after his struggles during Training camp..but again, this is all subject to change.
Photo credit: USA-Today
