Who’s in, who’s out?

And yes, the Philadelphia Eagles indeed kept five running backs. Here’s the initial Eagles’ 53-man roster.

53-Man Roster

QB- Carson Wentz, Nick Foles
RB- LeGarrette Blount, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement, Donnel Pumphrey
WR- Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins, Shelton Gibson, Marcus Johnson
TE- Zach Ertz, Brent Celek, Trey Burton
T- Jason Peters, Lane Johnson, Halipoulivaati Vaitai
G- Isaac Seumalo, Brandon Brooks, Chance Warmack
C- Jason Kelce, Stefen Wisniewski
DE- Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry, Chris Long, Steven Means
DT- Fletcher Cox, Timmy Jernigan, Destiny Vaeao, Beau Allen, Elijah Qualls
LB- Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham, Mychal Kendricks, Joe Walker, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Najee Goode
CB- Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Rasul Douglas, Patrick Robinson, Dexter McDougle
S- Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Corey Graham, Chris Maragos, Jaylen Watkins
K- Caleb Sturgis
P- Donnie Jones
LS- Rick Lovato

It didn’t surprise me that the Birds kept five backs.

The Eagles traded up in the fourth round to select the FBS’ all-time leading rusher Pumphrey and despite how atrocious he’s looked this preseason, they weren’t giving up on him already. If you put him on the practice squad, that risks another team scooping him up. By the way, even if the Eagles wanted to place Pumphrey on IR prior to final cuts, he’d still be subjected to waivers. So he has to be on the roster, at least initially.

We all know about the struggles. He carried the ball 26 times for only 49 yards during the preseason, a putrid 1.9 yards per carry. He tied fellow fourth-round rookie Mack Hollins for the team’s preseason receptions lead, but Hollins’ 13 catches went for 139 yards as opposed to Pumphrey’s 72.

Undrafted running back Corey Clement on the other hand has totaled 105 yards on 28 attempts and looks like the better back right now. The game looks too fast for Pumphrey at the moment, and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson had a lot of plans for him. He had him lining up in the slot, with Darren Sproles in pony packages and in the backfield during OTAs and Training Camp.

That’s a lot to digest for a rookie. I wouldn’t give up on him yet, but he certainly has a long, long way to go.

The big surprise is Shelton Gibson making the team despite struggling with drops all Training Camp and preseason. While he did look better the final two games of the preseason, I don’t think he warranted a roster spot over Treggs, who  led the team in receiving yards with 141 on 12 receptions.

I’m a little surprised Dillon Gordon didn’t make the roster either. He has struggled tremendously during the preseason, but was a project that Pederson seemed interested. Jaylen Watkins’ versatility is why he made the team instead of C.J. Smith. Watkins moved back to cornerback from safety the last two weeks and notched an interception against the Miami Dolphins and followed that up with another fine performance against the New York Jets.

Athletic tight end Billy Brown was also a surprise omission to some, although I didn’t have him making the team.