Position Battles to Track During the Offseason
Organized Team Activities have been going on for a while now, having just reached the start of their final week. As is the case with any team practice, potential standouts were mentioned, and everyone is going on and on about how good players looked on the field.
That’s all great in a vacuum, but the most important part of OTAs, minicamps and the almighty Training Camp is the competition it creates within the roster. There are starting, backup and even roster spot up for grabs. So, you’ll likely see fringe players on all levels giving 120% effort to ensure they keep or take such spots. Here’s a look on the closest and most crucial battles of the Eagles offseason.
Backup QB: Nate Sudfeld vs. Cody Kessler
The coaching staff really seems to like Sudfeld, enough to thrust him into the pivotal role of backup to an injury-prone star. He showed promise in limited action over the last couple of years, but one must wonder if he can handle longer relief stints. To challenge him comes Kessler, former Browns and Jags starter who looked somewhat decent in a completely dysfunctional Jacksonville offense last year, has also shown positive traits in his time with Cleveland.
The question here is whether the Eagles roll with Kessler as a known commodity, even if a mediocre one, or with Sudfeld’s presumed potential to be something more, even perhaps a nice trade piece down the line. Rookie Clayton Thorson is also a possibility, but he would have to light the camps on fire to even have an outside shot of being the #2 in the QB room.
Outside Cornerback #2: Jalen Mills vs. Rasul Douglas vs. Sidney Jones vs. Avonte Maddox
Ronald Darby is all but penciled in as the #1 CB for this defense coming into 2019 (which doesn’t mean a whole lot, as he will likely not be shadowing any receivers and will still be getting plenty of safety help), but the second spot is apparently an open battle, judging by how HC Doug Pederson highlighted three corners as defensive OTA standouts.
Mills has been the starter over the last two seasons, but his play is inconsistent at best and many fans were clamoring for an upgrade over the free agency and draft periods. Perhaps such an upgrade will be homegrown instead.
Backup Guard: Stefen Wisniewski vs. Matt Pryor vs. Sua Opeta
This is a battle that will likely have two winners, with the loser potentially being sent to the practice squad. Wisniewski is basically a lock as the best iOL option off the bench for the Eagles, as he was last year. Pryor spent all of 2018 in the practice squad and figures to have an edge over the undrafted rookie Opeta. The latter, however, received an unusually high amount of bonus cash from the team when signing after the draft, so the team brass might be counting on him to give Pryor at least a run for his money.
Fun Fact: Matt Pryor would instantly become the tallest guard in the league at 6’7”, should he make the Week 1 roster.
Backup Defensive End: Daeshon Hall vs. Josh Sweat vs. Joe Ostman vs. Shareef Miller
After Chris Long’s retirement, the cupboard was left very bare at the Edge spots, with only three proven players left in Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and Vinny Curry. Considering that the Eagles love to rotate defensive linemen to keep everyone with fresh legs, it only makes sense to have at least one more reliable player in the rotation. Hall played with the team in the later parts of last season and is the only player of the bunch with more than zero NFL sacks (0.5). Miller is a rookie, and a mid-round one at that, so his path is the least likely of everyone here.
Now, Ostman vs. Sweat is where this gets really interesting. Sweat has the edge on pure physical talent, being a former #1 high school recruit, always praised for his freak athleticism and natural rusher capabilities, even drawing comparisons to former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney. Injuries have slowed him down, however, as he had a major knee procedure before going to college and thus failed to live up to the hype at Florida State. He still had a very, very good combine showing in 2018 though, so the athletic ability is likely still there.
Joe Ostman is the locomotive of the most surprising hype train of the Eagles offseason. He was very productive in his last two seasons at Central Michigan and spent last year on Philadelphia’s practice squad. He reportedly gave Eagles linemen fits during the playoffs while emulating the likes of Khalil Mack in practice, and now everybody, from players to coaches to even GM Howie Roseman, is raving about his work ethic and potential coming into the season. This should be a fun battle to track, and Joe Ostman is certainly a name to keep an eye on.
As you can see, most major position battles are for backup spots, which shows a nicely established core as well as great depth with quality players pushing each other to their maximum capabilities to earn their stay with the team.
No matter who comes out on top of the individual matchups, the real winners will be the Eagles, who will be left with reliable backups at every position coming into the season.
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