Philadelphia Eagles training camp preview: The defensive tackles

There are battered bodies in the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive tackle rotation. If old guys struggle and young guns can’t step up, there may be problems.

All offseason, Philadelphia Eagles fans have celebrated a world championship and smiled over the fact that the team that returns in 2018 will actually be even better than the one that they will forever remember from 2017. Part of the reason for that is the play of the defensive line.

Sure, many of the faces are the same along the defense’s front, Fletcher Cox for example, but the interior has been remixed slightly. Beau Allen is gone, but Philly added Haloti Ngata. There’s also one other major concern.

Timmy Jernigan had surgery in May and may not be ready for the start of the season. Then, when he is ready, no one’s sure how effective he’ll be or what kind of shape he’ll be in. If Jernigan and Ngata struggle and if none of the young guys can step up, there may be some issues.

First thing’s first though. We need to come up with a roster. Here’s a quick look at everybody who’s coming to camp.

1. Fletcher Cox

Here’s a bold prediction. Fletcher Cox will be cut. Calm down boys and girls. We’re just messing with you.

2. Timmy Jernigan

Surgery was May 3rd. His estimated recovery time was four to six months. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. An absent Timmy Jernigan leaves a huge hole to fill, but he won’t have to worry about his roster spot. He’s in.

3. Bruce Hector

The biggest guarantee of all of the Eagles undrafted free agent signings went to Hector. Unfortunately, that doesn’t guarantee him a roster spot. Here’s the thing though. He definitely has a shot. If not, there may be a spot on the practice squad. He’ll have to play his butt off though to get to either position.

4. Winston Craig

Despite being signed to the Eagles practice squad twice in 2017, Craig wasn’t on the team when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. As awful as that sounds, he has a chance at redemption this season. Unfortunately, the long and the short of it is Craig’s probably on a collision course with the waiver wire or with the practice squad for a third time.

5. Haloti Ngata

If Haloti Ngata can recapture some of what he used to be, the Eagles are in great shape. They don’t need him to be a starter. They need him to provide quality snaps when called upon. He’s, in all likelihood, in unless some major occurrence happens.

6. Destiny Vaeao

This is a name Eagles fans are familiar with. He may never be a starter in an ultra-competitive NFL, but he can be a quality rotational player who plays for a while. First things first though. He’s got to make the team.

7. Elijah Qualls

Year two of Qualls’ journey through the NFL is set to begin. There are some whispers that some are disappointed with where he is in his development, but this is, again, only his second year. As of now, he does have a leg up on that fourth spot on the depth chart.

He can play himself into a job or play himself out of one. It’s time for ‘Number 98’ to step up to the challenge.

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