One Man's Guess at Eagles' Final 53

(Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

As they have for most of this decade, the Philadelphia Eagles will enter training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. secure in the knowledge that they're among the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl.

They will be under the weight of harsh scrutiny from the local media, their ever-present legion of fans, and even the burgeoning football egghead community. Just about everyone who pays more than scant attention to the NFL is expecting big things from pigskin's preeminent devotees to "Moneyball."

Their offseason was widely lauded as a how-to primer for the rest of the league.

They basically stole Jason Peters, a two-time Pro Bowl left tackle entering his prime from the Buffalo Bills for the 28th pick of the draft. 

They nabbed Jeremy Maclin, a fellow many teams believed to be the best receiving prospect in the nation with their other first rounder.

They still deftly manuevered to solve their problems at running back, tight end, and cornerback as well.

The Eagles will march into Lehigh with a roster as loaded as it's ever been.

Or, to put it another way, the "nobody believes in us" motivational banner will not be hung on the locker room wall this year. That's going to be a tough sell when you're a touchdown favorite week in and week out.

Then again, these are football players we're talking about, and an NFL grunt who feels he's being given the proper amount of respect from the outside world is about as common as a sportswriter looking for more greens in the press box's spread.

While, in all likelihood, several of their discards will be gratefully scooped up by the talent-impaired across the league, the time has come to hazard a preliminary guess as to which 53 gentlemen will be deemed fit to keep.

Why, you ask?

Because it's late June, there is nothing else to talk about, and the less said about the Phillies the better.

At quarterback the team is set, as they've been, by-and-large, for the past decade.

Donovan McNabb, recently the recipient of a raise given for his contributions to last season's playoff run, has been mostly healthy the past two years. Kevin Kolb will remain the starter-in-waiting for his third straight season.

The team might look to deal veteran third-stringer A.J. Feeley to some desperate team unfortunate enough to suffer some horrific injury in some meaningless game. They could then replace Feeley with a street free agent and no one would be the wiser.

Kyle Eckel, last season's running back/fullback/short yardage specialist/hero to the everyman, is quite likely doomed, and is so for three seasons.

Leonard Weaver, the do-everything fullback acquired from the Seattle Seahawks, is capable in his own right as a third-and-inches guy.

Brian Westbrook's constant gimpyness and LeSean McCoy's inexperience will necessitate Lorenzo Booker's spot on the roster as the emergency third running back.

And most important of all, Reid will not keep a running back on the roster that he will not suit up on Sundays, and there is no way he's suiting up five backs.

You can confidently write four of the wide receivers' names in ink. Kevin Curtis, DeSean Jackson, Maclin, and third-down target extraordinaire Jason Avant have jobs.

The battle for the fifth and sixth spots, if there will even indeed even be a sixth spot, will be between veterans Reggie Brown and Hank Baskett, and fifth-round pick Brandon Gibson out of Washington State.

Brown will be the odd man out. He doesn't play special teams and would make a fuss about being scratched on game day.

Gibson, on the other hand, will and won't. Also, his strengths (route running, a solid frame) match Brown's.

Barring injury, Brown's one shot to stick on the roster is if Baskett, or more accurately, his wife, Kendra Wilkinson, the former Playmate and current reality star diva, proves to be too much of a distraction for Reid's liking.

Wilkinson reportedly had a run in with Reid at a team function last year where she demanded more playing time for her then fiance.  Reid may well be wary of his fifth receiver generating a media circus and decide that whatever little Baskett can provide in the form of fade patterns in the end zone isn't worth the trouble.

More than any other position, tight end might be the spot where the team might be looking to bring in outside help.

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