Eagles

Some Thoughts on the Eagles’ Initial 53-Man Roster

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 30th, 2026 · 8:47 PM EDT

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The Eagles’ first 53-man roster of the 2026 season:

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Alright, some observations as we go through the slides sequentially:

• They kept four quarterbacks. It would have been nice if one of Tanner McKee or Andy Dalton had outplayed the other, establishing a real pecking order and resulting in a trade. But here we are. They’ll keep shopping these guys.
• Running back: The beats say that Will Shipley had a strong finish to camp. Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby will get the bulk of the carries. Carson Steele looked pretty good against third stringers but wasn’t going to make the team.
• Elijah Moore was a bubble player on some of these 53-man projections. He makes the team along with Smitty, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, and Darius Cooper. It’ll be really interesting to see who claims the unofficial WR2 spot and gets a healthy dosage of targets in the post-A.J. Brown era.
• Tight end is a bit of a concern. Dallas Goedert had a great 2025 season on that reworked deal, but the Birds knew they needed to find their TE1 of the future and that’s why they drafted Eli Stowers, who doesn’t appear to be ready yet. Hopefully his development picks up. Grant Calcaterra is on IR and when the Birds play a game that actually matters we’ll see how much 12 and 13 personnel they use, and how important tight end blocking will be in this system.
• Nothing remarkable on the offensive line. You have to be excited for a healthy Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and Lane Johnson after last year’s glut of injuries. Rookie draft picks Markel Bell and Micah Morris are both in this group.
• The interior of the defensive line is sick. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo is as good of a top 3 as you’ll find.
• They lumped the linebackers and EDGE players together in the graphic. Jonathan Greenard making the 53 and not starting the season on PUP is positive. Means he’ll be back sooner rather than later. It’s a good group with Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, Arnold Ebiketie, and A.J. Epenesa, though there was some grumbling that rugby convert Joshua Weru didn’t make the team. He flashed quite a bit in the preseason, and will have to clear waivers to make the Birds practice squad. Same situation with 7th round draft pick Uar Bernard, who hadn’t played football until a few weeks ago. You’d think he’ll slide through the waiver process and the Eagles can then work on developing him.
• Kelee Ringo making the team gives a little bit of PTSD. Maybe he becomes prime Deion Sanders this year. You never know!
• Rocco Underwood will be the long snapper this year. He’s a rookie, and unrelated to Tiquan Underwood of Rutgers University and Frank Underwood of House of Cards.
• Feeling… a little iffy about the safety group of Marcus Epps, Drew Mukuba, and Michael Carter. We’ll see. Mukuba flashed a bit before the rookie-year injury.
• Jakorian Bennett is on IR with Calcaterra.
• All three of the 7th round draft picks were waived. That’s Bernard, plus safety Cole Wisniewski and OLB Keyshawn James-Newby.

Anyway, I don’t have any concerns regarding Howie Roseman’s decision making. Do you? This season largely hinges on QB1, Vic Fangio’s defense, and whether or not the Birds can run the ball the way they did in 2024.