Why The Eagles Kept Four Tight Ends And E.J. Jenkins Over Cam Latu

PHILADELPHIA – It came down to E.J. Jenkins and Cam Latu for the final spot at tight end. That it came down to them at that position was surprising, because for one of them to win the job would mean the Eagles would have to keep four tight ends on their 53-man roster.

The roster spot went to Jenkins. Latu was released on Sunday evening, but was quickly claimed on Monday afternoon, going to the New England Patriots. Latu didn’t play much offense last year, but he was a special teams regular, recording 65 percent of the snaps. Jenkins didn’t play much on offense, either last year, but he logged 61 percent of the special teams snaps.

The difference, at least in this camp, was Jenkins caught the ball better, blocked in the run game better, and was a better pass protector.

While it’s tough to lose Latu, Jenkins was better based on those metrics. He’s also the kind of development story general manager Howie Roseman likes. He started as a receiver at St. Francis in Loretto, PA, transferred to South Carolina, and finished at Georgia Tech. He came to the tight end position late.

“E.J. is a great story,” the GM said. “When you talk about a receiver at Georgia Tech who transformed his body, he's 260 pounds, he's 6-6, he's got 34-inch arms. You see in this league where the position is going, where it's trending. A lot of similar offensive systems to some of the things that we're running where these wide tight ends, they're highly valued in free agency, they're highly valued in the draft.

“For us to be able to develop E.J. and his skillset, which as a former receiver has really not only turned to, obviously he's a big target in the passing game, but a point of attack player. His pass protection - when we went over his pass protection, it is really, really good to have a tight end who's able to pass protect like he is and then in the run game be able to help.

“It's just being highly valued, and he contributed on special teams. Just E.J.'s body of work over time … great developmental story for our organization, for the people who develop players, and really just excited about the role that he can have on this football team.”

Roseman Addresses Reports Linking Zach Ertz Back To Eagles

The last time the Eagles kept four tight ends on their initial 53-man roster was in 2023, when those four players were Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, Jack Stoll, and Albert Okwuegbunam. This year’s group is Goedert, Johnny Mundt, Eli Stowers, and Jenkins.

Of course, today’s roster spot could become tomorrow’s practice squad berth. It happened last year when Gabe Hall made the roster but was released and added to the practice squad just 12 days later. Hall is back on the practice squad this year.

So, Jenkins’ stay could be short, or he could stick around a while. Reports have indicated that the Eagles may have interest in free agent Zach Ertz, who hit the nine-month mark of his rehab since tearing an ACL while playing with the Commanders last year.

Roseman was asked about Ertz.

“What an unbelievable player, what an unbelievable person, tremendous respect for him,” he said. “At the same time, love what we have going in our tight end room, too. I would say, have talked to Zach over a period of time, obviously rehabbing his ACL and the relationship, just like a lot of our former players who've been here.

“But like anything else, wouldn't get into any conversations about anything other than from a big- picture perspective. In my opinion, one of the greatest tight ends to play the game, and just tremendous respect for him, and also excited about the tight ends that we have here.”

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