Eagles Day 16 Overreactions: Rookie Tackles Present Roster Conundrum

PHILADELPHIA – And on the 16th day, it rained.

That was something new because the previous 15 camp days were dry and, for the most part blistering hot and stinking humid. That was new, too. The temperature was downright comfortable, maybe a bit chilly when the rain start to fall heavily about halfway through the 90-plus minute practice on Monday.

There were two other noticeable changes, too.

-Zack Baun was back at practice for the first time since the early days of camp. The linebacker was on the first team, of course, sometimes with Jihaad Campbell, sometimes with Jeremiah Trotter, Jr.

-Drew Mukuba took most of the first team reps at safety, though defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was not ready to concede that the rookie earned the starting job after a sparkling performance against the Browns on Saturday when he accounted for a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery.

“Not yet, no,” was Fangio’s response when asked if Mukuba had done enough in that game to separate himself from the competition to start with Reed Blankenship.

Here are some overreactions from Day 16, and with only two more days of camp remaining before the preseason finale at MetLife Stadium against the Jets on Friday night.

Receiver battle over. These are the five roster locks: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jahan Dotson, John Metchie (the trade was made official Monday evening), and Johnny Wilson. Ainias Smith will be the sixth if they keep six. So, is it even worth mentioning anymore that Darius Cooper had a strong practice? Again.

He’s not making the 53-man roster. Nor are any of the other receivers who showed well during three weeks of camp, including Terrace Marshall, Elijah Cooks, and Taylor Morin. They are practice squad candidates, though.

Rookie Tackle Conundrum When It Comes Time To Cut Roster

Rookie tackles. It’s hard to know what the Eagles will do with the two tackles they drafted on the third day – Myles Hinton and Cam Williams. They are both improving, and both showed well on Monday. Williams made a nice pull block and blew up Quinyon Mitchell on the edge. Just swallowed the cornerback whole. Hinton held his own against Moro Ojomo on back-to-back rushes during team drills.

They can’t keep both on the 53 can they? Here’s who I see them keeping as of now: Cam Jurgens, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Tyler Steen, Drew Kendall, Brett Toth, Matt Pryor, Kendall Lamm, and Trevor Keegan. There’s some room to wiggle in there to get both Hinton and Williams on there. Pryor could be the reserve swing tackle, making Lamm expendable and Keegan hasn’t done anything that screams he needs to stay, but trusting Hinton and Williams would be a big step.

No A.J. worries. Anyone concerned that A.J. Brown could miss the start of the season after a hamstring has sidelined him for most of camp should not worry, even after the Eagles added receiver depth with the Metchie acquisition. Brown was goofing around, firing footballs at receivers during pass-catching drills, spraying them high, wide, and some even into their hands. He was laughing a lot while doing it. More importantly, he seemed to be moving well.

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