No preseason is no problem for rookies with new roster rules
While NFL draft picks and undrafted rookies won’t have preseason games to make an impression on coaches, the numbers are in their favor.
The Eagles and their league counterparts will go into the season with basically a 69-man roster, including the 16-man practice squad. That means just 11 cuts if the Birds, who drafted 10 players, go into camp with an 80-man roster.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson didn’t mention the math this week. But his spirited rebuttal to the premise that no preseason makes this is a bad year to be a fringe rookie spoke volumes.
“I think that this is actually a good time to be a late-round pick and possibly a free agent, even these young draft picks,” Pederson said during a Zoom conference earlier this week. “We’ve already had a week with them practicing on the grass. We’re going to get some really good opportunities here in these next coming weeks. They are going to learn a lot from the veterans. The way I have the schedule set up is for them to learn and to be successful. Once we get into the padded portion of training camp is where we really get to see where these guys are.
“We truly feel these young guys are going to be the ones who are going to have to help us throughout the entire season.”
Assuming the pandemic doesn’t turn training camps into COVID-19 outbreaks once teams begin practicing in shoulder pads Aug. 17, you can make an argument for the Eagles keeping all of their draft picks.
First-round selection Jalen Reagor could wind up starting, considering the injury issues with DeSean Jackson and the Eagles’ need for speed after Marquise Goodwin opted out of the season.
Fast-tracking quarterback Jalen Hurts, the second-round pick out of Oklahoma, is a necessity because of the damage a positive COVID test could cause to the Birds. Hurts, by the way, is adept at running the same packages of plays that Nick Foles did during the Super Bowl title run in 2017.
Unless they get hurt, Davion Taylor (third round) and Shaun Bradley (sixth) of Temple will likely make the squad on special teams and be part of the linebacker rotation.
Fourth-round offensive lineman Jack Driscoll of Auburn also has a shot to make the 53-man roster. He has a master’s degree in business. The Eagles think he might be able to master guard, tackle and possibly center.
Receivers John Hightower (fifth round) and Quez Watkins (sixth), offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho (sixth) and defensive end Casey Toohill (seventh) all can be stashed on the practice squad, which has several team-friendly tweaks this year.
Six members of the 16-man practice squad can be experienced players. Teams can protect, or block, four players from being signed off the unit by Tuesday of each game week. Practice squad players can be promoted to the active roster up to 90 minutes before kickoff time. The flexibility hopefully will help teams adapt COVID outbreaks.
Two or three preseason games might have been helpful for evaluation purposes. It’s not the big deal that it used to be. Each year, teams play the bulk of their 53-man roster for fewer and fewer snaps in the preseason. How much can you learn about a bunch of guys who weren’t going to make your team playing against a bunch of guys who weren’t going to make the other team?
Toohill, the product of Stanford, got over the lack of a preseason in hurry.
“I was definitely disappointed for a second,” Toohill said on a Zoom conference call. “But I mean at the end of the day with everything going on, everyone has to make adjustments. It’s an unprecedented time. And there’s also no excuses for that. Even though there are no preseason games, I’m not going to whine about something like that. It’s really just putting your best foot forward every day in everything you do. Having the same energy, passion, attention to detail, whether you’re in the meeting room, around the building, in the weight room or on the field.
“It’s a waste of time to dwell on what might have been.”
Toohill, Driscoll and many of the rookies are fortunate to have a week to acclimate before the rest of the veterans check in. The NovaCare Complex has changed
The Eagles put three-time Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Brooks on the active-physically unable to perform (PUP) list Tuesday.
The Eagles also claimed tight end Caleb Wilson of Washington off waivers.
Brooks, who turns 31 in August, could come back at some point this season if his torn Achilles’ tendon heals sufficiently. Until then the Eagles have insisted they signed veteran Jason Peters to a one-year contract to fill in for Brooks.
Peters, a career left tackle, could just as
considerably so that the Eagles can comply with NFL, state and local coronavirus safety and social distancing regulations.
In terms of the offseason, the rookies’ was no different than the veterans. It was almost impossible to find a safe place to workout, and the danger of getting infected with COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate based on service time.
“The Eagles have done an unbelievable job of making sure that we feel 100 percent safe,” Driscoll said. “Kind of leading into this, it was just being really cautious. I was home. I had friends who wanted to see me or invite me places. That was one of the sacrifices you make. I just had to say no. Really all I did, any time I left the house was to go work out and that was it.”