Trey Burton made the roster, one of four Birds tight ends
The Eagles cut down to the 53 players who will start the season next Sunday again Jacksonville at the Linc:
Quarterbacks (3): Matt Barkley, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez
Grade: A — Foles and Sanchez are a very solid set of quarterbacks.
Running Backs (3): LeSean McCoy, Chris Polk, Darren Sproles
Grade: C-minus — Polk’s injury, and the question mark around it, makes keeping only three running backs very risky.
Wide Receivers (6): Riley Cooper, Josh Huff, Jeremy Maclin, Jeff Maehl, Jordan Matthews, Brad Smith
Grade: A — Maehl is better than he is given credit for, and Huff on active roster was a good decision.
Tight Ends (4): Trey Burton, James Casey, Brent Celek, Zach Ertz
Grade: A — Burton gives head coach Chip Kelly another toy in the passing game.
Offensive Line (9): Allen Barbre, Andrew Gardner, Todd Herremans, Jason Kelce, Dennis Kelly, Evan Mathis, David Molk, Jason Peters, Matt Tobin
Grade: A — With an older offensive line, keeping depth at the position was a wise move.
Defensive Line (7): Beau Allen, Brandon Bair, Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Taylor Hart, Bennie Logan, Cedric Thornton
Grade: B-plus — Keeping Square would have added another solid player to the line, but it is hard to kill the team over cutting him.
Linebackers (9): Connor Barwin, Bryan Braman, Trent Cole, Brandon Graham, Najee Goode, Mychal Kendricks, Casey Matthews, DeMeco Ryans, Marcus Smith
Grade: A — Had Travis Long remained healthy, they might have kept 10. The team’s decision to stock up on linebackers is a good one.
Defensive Backs (9): Nate Allen, Brandon Boykin, Nolan Carroll, Bradley Fletcher, Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Maragos, Jaylen Watkins, Cary Williams, Earl Wolff
Grade: A — Cutting Reynolds had to sting, but it was the right decision, and good to see general manager Howie Roseman willing to admit he might have made a mistake.
Specialists (3): Jon Dorenbos, Donnie Jones, Cody Parkey
Grade: A — Parkey is the man going forward, and for now, the team will live and die with the rookie. It is a bold, but calculated move.
