Roster Update as Eagles prepare to take on Redskins

Back from the abyss…Thanks to all of you who helped to update the Eagles roster moves over the past weekend while I was off the grid.

The first thing I did when I got back today was to check the Practice Squad roster. I figured I’d work my way backwards to re-live some of the drama of the “final” roster cuts:

C/G Josh Andrews

TE Billy Brown

LB Nathan Gerry

T Dillon Gordon

DT Justin Hamilton

RB Byron Marshall

CB C.J. Smith

QB Nate Sudfeld

WR Bryce Treggs

WR Greg Ward

So we’re telling these guys there’s a chance…Amazingly some of these guys were still PS eligible considering the regular-season game time they had previously logged, specifically Gordon, Treggs and Marshall.

Eagles-NJ-69 of the PE.com gallery warns us against what we may already fear— some of these PS guys are gonna get poached by other teams:

” ‘Tis the best time for poaching. The wheat has been separated from the chaff. The teams have done the work for you in terms of who they wanted to keep around. Most teams now have a tentative PS. Hope we’re not poached but it’s the name of the game. One thing, any team poaching a player has to place that player on their 53. So, who are you gonna drop off the original 53 to poach someone’s PS. Hard decisions for all teams continue…”

From there I went to David George’s column at PE.com to confirm what many of you had already pointed out in your live comments over the weekend.

David covered Doug Pederson’s press conference on Monday afternoon (September 4) and here are the key points:

“Pederson addressed the running back position, where they decided to keep five backs on the roster but will only be suiting up three or four during gamedays. He also announced that the team will be taking more of a running back-by-committee approach with the lead back selection being strictly “game-plan specific” for the upcoming matchup.

“I don’t want to just sit here and say, ‘Darren (Sproles), you’re obviously a third-down guy,’ or ‘Wendell (Smallwood), you’re a first-, second- and third-down guy,’ because you know we want to get all these guys involved in the game plan. I think it’s important to what we do,” Pederson stated.

“If LeGarrette (Blount) has the hot hand he continues to carry the ball. If it’s Wendell, it’s Wendell. I can’t sit here and tell you exactly how many touches these guys are going to get but at the same time that when we put game plans together we’re very mindful of not only the run game, but also the pass game with these guys as well.”

Here’s what else Pederson spoke about Monday:

• On the inactive and practice squad players: “I think with that bottom third on the roster, I think one thing that I’m going to implement this year is actually time spent after practice with those guys developing their talents. They likely won’t get a bunch of reps with the offense or defense from a game plan standpoint. They get all the service team reps as you know but at the same time you want to make sure that you’re maximizing their talents and also maximizing my younger coaches there on the staff. By developing those guys and spending time after practice for 10-12 minutes and just going through drill work specific to what we’re doing offensively and defensively, so we don’t let those guys just sort of drift by the way side.

• On the entire team roster: “I think we’re in a better position roster-wise obviously going into this season than we were a year ago. Definitely, we had the quarterback situation a year ago and now that’s behind us and we’re full steam ahead so I’m excited about this week of practice.”

• On what he’s learned about Alshon Jeffery: “I tell you one thing, just his attention to detail. His focus, his drive feels like and seems like he’s eager and ready to go. Kind of champing at the bit a little bit with my decision to kind of rest him during camp. You know he’s obviously a big target. I spent the last couple of days watching his targets over the last couple of seasons. Just seeing how he runs routes and how he plays on gameday and it’s exciting to watch him. He’s a big, physical guy that we’re excited to have on our team and really look forward to he and Carson (Wentz) connecting and doing some good things.”

• On how many offensive linemen will be available for gamedays: “Seven.”

So we kept 5 running backs and only 8 offensive linemen? Hmmm… But Fran Duffy explains why it’s not that big a deal:

“The important thing to keep in mind when it comes to constructing the 53-man roster is that you have seven players who are inactive on gamedays. Some of those seven will get worked into the rotation, but a handful of those players will rarely be activated throughout the season. In that case, it doesn’t necessarily matter what position you’re “heavy” at because at the end of the day you are purposely stashing those players and keeping them safe from being scooped up by another team. Keeping five running backs allows both rookies, Corey Clement and Donnel Pumphrey, to develop at their own pace.” – Fran Duffy

So it is written: Here is the roster we go into battle with against Washington this weekend: