The Eagles dodged a bullet when it was revealed starting left guard Landon Dickerson did not suffer a season-threatening knee injury. On Wednesday, Dickerson underwent a procedure to repair the meniscus in that knee and is officially listed as week-to-week in the preseason, with the goal of Dickerson being ready for the Birds\u2019 Week 1 season-opener against the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n
That said, even if he\u2019s not ready for Week 1, Dickerson will presumably miss minimal time, barring an unforeseen setback. It was welcome news to a fanbase that has benefited from their team\u2019s remarkable health a season ago on the way to their Super Bowl victory.<\/p>\n
The Eagles have perhaps the best roster in the NFL. It is loaded with stars, to be sure, but it also has quality depth throughout most of the roster. Here is where things stand depth-wise at every position as we enter Week 2 of the preseason.<\/p>\n
Obviously, one cannot plan to keep their best players from getting injured. In the Eagles\u2019 two Super Bowl seasons under Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts missed multiple weeks at the end of the season and survived thanks to solid play from their back-up quarterbacks (Gardner Minshew in 2022 and Kenny Pickett in \u201824).<\/p>\n
This year, Tanner McKee is the No. 2 guy, and by all indications, he appears to be a legitimate high-end back-up QB<\/a> who could keep the Eagles\u2019 offense moving in the right direction should he be forced to start a handful of games in Hurts\u2019 absence. Should Hurts and McKee go down, well, there would be problems. But the same could be said for any contender who loses their top two QBs.<\/p>\n One of the few roster battles in camp is for the No. 3 job. Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Kyle McCord will duke it out in the team\u2019s remaining preseason games and joint practices to see who gets to hold the clipboard and get a potential Super Bowl ring for being good buddies with the top two guys. DTR appears to have the edge over the former 6th round pick through mid-August.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no replacing a 2,000-yard running back. There just isn\u2019t. Saquon Barkley is one of one and, should he be lost to an injury, the Eagles\u2019 offense would suffer. That said, while the running game wasn\u2019t as elite prior to Saquon\u2019s arrival as it was a year ago, it was still quite good in a rotational situation, with Hurts providing much of the yardage in the ground game from under center.<\/p>\n That said, there is less talent in a rotation that doesn\u2019t feature Barkley. Kenneth Gainwell left for greener (or, less green I guess?) pastures, replaced as the No. 2 running back by Will Shipley. I\u2019m not going to lie, the drop-off from Barkley to Shipley is vast. A.J. Dillon was acquired from the Green Bay Packers this off-season. He did not play at all a year ago, but has been a productive back in the league prior to that, with 803 yards in 2021, 770 in \u201822 and 613 two years ago. He is a big question mark.<\/p>\n Former linebacker Ben VanSumeren will be the team\u2019s fullback. Old school.<\/p>\n In short, this is not the deepest position on the roster, but that\u2019s what happens when you allocate so much cash to the very best running back in the league. And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s in line to start should A.J. Brown or Devonta Smith go down? Last year\u2019s No. 3 wideout, Jahan Dotson, appeared to grow more comfortable in Nick Sirianni\u2019s offense as the year progressed and Jalen Hurts seemed to vibe with him a bit more, especially in the playoffs. Dotson has talent, and given another year playing in the same offense with the same players, albeit a different play-caller, one should hope for even more production from the former Penn State product.<\/p>\n After that, it gets interesting.<\/p>\n Johnny Wilson is a huge target. He looks like a tight end most of the time and made multiple impressive catches in the Eagles\u2019 first preseason game against Cincinnati. Ainias Smith, Avery Williams, Darius Cooper and Elijah Cooks will likely be battling it out to see who gets the No. 5 spot on the roster, with Cooper the early training camp \u201cstar.\u201d Smith could make the roster as a punt returner and has gotten some snaps with the ones when Smith and Brown have missed practice.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt none of these players could dream of replacing Brown or Smith, though. Hopefully they won\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Grant Calcaterra and, as we\u2019ve seen over the last couple years, he\u2019s an able back-up, pass-catching tight end. Blocking, well, thank goodness we\u2019ve got linemen for that. Free agent signings Kylen Granson and Harrison Bryant are vying for a spot as the third tight end. And it\u2019s not out of the question for someone to be added to the roster later this summer.<\/p>\n