The Eagles released their first unofficial depth chart of the summer, and a loaded roster is full of undrafted free agents making a dent in the roster.
Howie Roseman gets a lot of flak for missing on draft picks, but his retooled roster building style includes an emphasis on giving the biggest guarantees to the more talented players who go unselected on draft weekend.
Over the past two years, Philadelphia has had four or five undrafted free agents make the 53-man roster, and if you count Josh Sills, they’ll likely have five players who could see crucial snaps in 2023.
With the Birds heading to Baltimore for the preseason opener, here are four undrafted free agents who are rising up the depth chart.
Christian Ellis
The Eagles announced a roster move one Thursday morning two years ago, signing linebacker Christian Elliss to the practice squad.
Elliss was originally signed by the Vikings as a rookie free agent out of Idaho. A first-team All-Big Sky selection in each of his last two seasons, Elliss saw his 2020 season wiped out by COVID-19.
Elliss one of the final cuts in 2022, and spent the bulk of the season on the practice squad before getting elevated ahead of the Week 13 matchup against Tennessee.
Philadelphia’s special teams improved and Elliss has been a mainstay sense.
Joseph Ngata
The former Clemson pass catcher is currently fourth on the depth chart at one wide receiver spot behind A.J. Brown, but he’ll certainly move past Deon Cain and Greg Ward with a solid preseason debut on Saturday.
Reed Blankenship
All 32 NFL teams passed on Blankenship during the 2022 NFL draft, and he’s now a lock to start at one safety spot heading into the preseason opener.
Josh Jobe
If not for a late season injury two years ago, Jobe wouldn’t have went undrafted and could have been a second day pick.
Now the former Alabama coverguy has made his presence felt and if the season ended today, he’d be the third outside cornerback behind Darius Slay and James Bradberry.
Jobe has the intangibles to develop into a key starter in the next two or three years.
