Bubble Players Making Life Difficult For Howie Roseman

The goal of any NFL bubble player is to make things difficult for the decision-makers that will determine their futures. 

In Philadelphia, a host of players are providing GM Howie Roseman plenty to think about and while the initial 53 might not be in the immediate future for all of them, strong performances have set the floor at either a waiver-wire pickup and game checks from another team or a practice squad berth with the Eagles.

Here are the six players who are going to force Roseman to seriously mull their cases before cutdown day on Aug. 27: 

Edge Rusher Patrick Johnson: Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, Brandon Graham, Nolan Smith, and rookie third-round pick Jalyx Hunt are locks for the 53-man roster and it’s tough to keep six on the edge.

That said, Johnson looks like a candidate for the most improved Eagles player and has gotten himself into excellent shape. If the Eagles need a fifth rusher Johnson is more likely to help right now than Hunt and the Tulane product doubles as one of Michael Clay’s best special teams players.

Johnson is almost forcing Roseman to go heavy on the edge.

Safety Tristin McCollum: The Eagles have plenty of potential backups to starters C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship, including transitioning veteran cornerbacks James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox plus rehabbing young options with upside in Sydney Brown and Caden Sterns.

The latter duo likely isn’t going to be ready to help Week 1 and a potential Bradberry trade would open the door for McCollum, who has excelled in the preseason games.

DT Thomas Booker - Booker has been excelling as both an athlete and as a bull rusher inside.

The numbers game looks difficult for Booker unless the Eagles feel like giving up on Marlon Tuipulotu. That said the worst-case scenario for Booker is the practice squad for Philadelphia.

WR Joseph Ngata - Ngata proved he was better than more-hyped rookie Johnny Wilson against the Patriots on Thursday night although the Clemson product’s ceiling is not as high.

Ngata is not the kind of athlete to stop Roseman from looking for a better fit but his work ethic is top notch and his teammates love him. A culture fit on the PS is worth one of 16 spots.

TE E.J. Jenkins - A former king-sized receiver in college, Jenkins has a Darren Waller-vibe about him, and his leaping, twisting reception of a Will Grier throw against the Pats showed off his upside as a receiver. At 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, he’s also got the size to lose slowly as a blocker, often the job description these days.

The other part to this is that veterans C.J. Uzomah and Albert Okwuegbunam have not done enough to default to them at TE3.

OL Darian Kinnard - A futures signing by Roseman, Kinnard is a 2022 fifth-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs who has given the Eagles solid snaps at both right guard and right tackle during practice and preseason games.

Jeff Stoutland isn’t going to want to lose Kinnard and Stout banging the table for a player will always carry some serious cachet.