A Too Early Look at the Final Roster

Unless they get hit with a serious injury bug, the Eagles are going to have some tough decisions to make come preseason cut-down time.  There certainly are still roster spots up in the air, pending performance evaluations from training camp and those meaningless games, but you can already start to see how the roster is shaping up.

In looking at the current roster, I think it's relatively easy to get down to a final 56.  The hard part is finding those last three cuts.  Here's what I came up with (a list of 56 with my last three non-injury cuts in red):

Position	In	Out	Notes
Quarterback	Donovan McNabb	Kelly Holcomb	No surprises here.
	AJ Feeley
	Kevin Kolb
Wide Receiver	Reggie Brown	Bethel Johnson	I think Greg Lewis is going to be a surprise cut here.  With too much talent at other positions, the Eagles can't keep six WRs.  Lewis was effective last year in his role, but check out how much his numbers dropped off once teams started paying attention to him: 12 catches for 198 yards in his first six games, 8 for 98 yards in the next nine.
	Kevin Curtis	Bill Sampy
	Hank Baskett	Michael Gasperson
	Jason Avant	J.J. Outlaw
	Jeremy Bloom
	Greg Lewis
Tight End	LJ Smith	Lee Vickers	Vickers would be great for the practice squad if we can hang on to him.
	Matt Schobel
	Brent Celek
Running Back	Brian Westbrook	Ryan Moats	Moats is gone unless he puts on a Heisman-level performance in the preseason.  Ilaoa could be this year's IR stash if he's slow to pick things up.
	Correll Buckhalter
	Tony Hunt
	Nate Ilaoa
Fullback	Thomas Tapeh	Jason Davis	Never a good sign: "At the first three-day camp, still a bit heavy from the offseason, Davis was not in top condition. He has since shed a few pounds and expects to be about 15 pounds lighter for training camp."
Offensive Line	Jon Runyan		The Eagles kept 10 offensive linemen last season, but I can't see the same thing happening this year.  Cole is safe as the back-up center and Justice is the LT of the future.  Barring a surprise Thomas trade, that leave MJG, McCoy and Young fighting for the last two spots.  MJG probably makes it through on talent and draft position.  I'm going to go with Young getting the boot here, just because it's so much easier to find guard prospects than tackles and he's had a bit more playing time to showcase his trade value.  In any case, a good football player is going home.
	Shawn Andrews
	Jamaal Jackson
	Todd Herremans
	William Thomas
	Winston Justice
	Max Jean-Gilles
	Nick Cole
	Pat McCoy          Scott Young
Defensive Tackle	Mike Patterson		If I were Montae Reagor I wouldn't get too comfortable out there.  I think he's probably safe, but if some other guys have strong showings and he starts slowly, he could face some heat.  The other guys are no-brainers.
	Brodrick Bunkley
	Montae Reagor
	LaJuan Ramsey
	Ian Scott
Defensive End	Jevon Kearse	J. McDougle	McDougle is gone.  Darren Howard is the only other guy with any pressure, and he's not likely to go anywhere.  This group is pretty set.  Murrell would be great on the practice squad.
	Trent Cole	Marques Murrell
	Darren Howard
	Juqua Thomas
	Victor Abiamiri
Linebacker	Takeo Spikes	Dedrick Roper	Some interesting things could happen here with McCoy or Trotter, but in the end I think it's going to be pretty straightforward.
	Chris Gocong	Greg Richmond
	Jeremiah Trotter
	Matt McCoy
	Omar Gaither
	Tank Daniels
	Stewart Bradley
Safety	Brian Dawkins	Marcus Paschal	Gaddis is the wild card here, the other three are set.  But his ability to play CB could have an impact on the next slot.
	Sean Considine	Chris Smith
	Quintin Mikell
	C.J. Gaddis
Cornerback	Lito Sheppard	Dustin Fox	This is a tough call.  Gaddis' versatility means the Eagles can keep just four CBs if they need to.  Hanson did an OK job last year in a tough situation, but his long-term ceiling doesn't seem that high.  Barksdale is a much better athlete, but only played college ball for one year.  It's a cop-out to say this, but it really does come down to the preseason.  If Barksdale looks good, they probably cut Hanson.  If he doesn't, they have a better chance of stashing him on the practice squad for a year and calling on him if someone gets hurt.
	Sheldon Brown
	William James
	Joselio Hanson
	Rashad Barksdale
Special Teams	David Akers	Saverio Rocca	Punting is like golf, it's all about technique and a swing that holds up under pressure.  Rocca has to be perfect in the preseason -- and I mean flawless -- to have a chance.  Bartrum seems ready to retire.
	Dirk Johnson	Mike Bartrum
	Jon Dorenbos