Philadelphia Eagles 53-man roster prediction: Preseason Week 3 edition

With Week 2 of the preseason in the books, the roster battles seem to be a bit more settled. As Brandon Gowton did his 53-man roster prediction before the second preseason game, it's my now my turn to make an educated guess. Below are my predictions for the roster and practice squad based on the first two preseason games.

Mike Kaye's 53-man roster

QB: Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley (3)

Foles has struggled at times and Sanchez has been mostly terrific, but it's all just the preseason. Foles earned the Week 1 start by his performance last season and will be "the guy" until he proves otherwise in the regular season. Sanchez has proven that he may be among the top backups in the league while Barkley sticks around due to his knowledge of the offense and his pedigree.

RB: LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, Chris Polk, Matthew Tucker (4)

Henry Josey was fantastic the other night, but it was one game. I think if he were to take a job, it would put Polk out on the street, as oppose to Tucker. There are people who differ from that opinion, but Tucker offers something that no other back does: Power. Josey is similar to Polk, who has been hampered with injuries. It will be interesting to see how that all shakes up.

WR: Jeremy Maclin, Riley Cooper, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Brad Smith (5)

I do think Josh Huff could be put on the short-term injured reserve, but since he hasn't been yet, we'll count him in this exercise. At this point, I could see the Eagles making a trade or watching the waiver wire to find another receiver, but I don't believe a sixth member of the corps is actually on the roster right now. I haven't seen enough from Jeff Maehl, Ifeanyi Momah and Arrelious Benn to them a spot at this point.

TE: Brent Celek, Zach Ertz, James Casey (3)

This has been and clearly will be the lineup heading into the season.

OL: OT Jason Peters, OG Evan Mathis, C Jason Kelce, OG Todd Herremans, OT Allen Barbre, OT Andrew Gardner, OG Matt Tobin, C David Molk, Dennis Kelly (9) Lane Johnson (suspended)

With Johnson suspended, the Eagles need backups that can play tackle effectively. Gardner and Molk have surprised a lot of people with their play this offseason and will probably be shoe-ins at this point. Tobin was as close to a lock as a fringe guy could be and Kelly has experience and is recovered from his back injury. All four backups have played well in the preseason.

DL: Fletcher Cox, Bennie Logan, Cedric Thornton, Vinny Curry, Taylor Hart, Beau Allen, Brandon Bair (7)

The first four were locks, but the back three have played well enough to earn spots.The team clearly loves Bair, while Hart and Allen have showed progress and potential in the preseason. It would not shock me if Allen started at nose tackle down the road and Hart seems to be a solid future asset. Bair is a bit of a dark horse but he has been put in a position to make the team.

ILB: DeMeco Ryans, Mychal Kendricks, Najee Goode, Emmanuel Acho (4) Jake Knott (suspended)

I am pretty sure the fourth inside linebacker is not on the roster, but for this practice we will go with Acho. Really, he and Casey Matthews are both "blah" performers at this point. I think Howie Roseman has been able to find diamonds in the rough before at the position. Goode is going be an important player this season.

OLB: Trent Cole, Connor Barwin, Marcus Smith II, Brandon Graham, Travis Long, Bryan Braman (6)

I am going heavy here because I think all six deserve to make the team. That said, I do believe that either Long will be cut or Graham will be traded. Cole and Barwin are the starters and Braman is the utility guy, while Smith is the first round pick that has been almost too polarizing.

CB: Cary Williams, Nolan Carroll II, Bradley Fletcher, Brandon Boykin, Jaylen Watkins (5)

Similarly to wide receiver, the options for the sixth cornerback really have just not earned a spot. Hopefully, Carroll will get healthy by the game against the Steelers and take Fletcher's job. Watkins is going to mostly play special teams.

S: Malcolm Jenkins, Nate Allen, Earl Wolff, Chris Maragos (4)

Much like last season, the Eagles have three starter-level safeties and a special teams ace. Maragos has played better than Colt Anderson ever had at safety, so that's an upgrade. I think they will bring in a waiver wire player and put Ed Reynolds on injured reserve with some mysterious injury.

ST: Kicker Alex Henery, Punter Donnie Jones, Long Snapper Jon Dorenbos (3)

Same old, same old.

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Practice Squad (8): Ifeanyi Momah, Kevin Graf, Henry Josey, Quron Pratt, Joe Kruger, Will Murphy, G.J. Kinne, Trey Burton

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Now it's YOUR turn. Predict the Eagles final 53 man roster below in the comments.