Philadelphia Eagles face a 2020 draftee after New Years day
Are you having issues with following all of the Philadelphia Eagles roster moves?
Watching a Philadelphia Eagles legend, DeSean Jackson, battle his behind off to get back onto the playing field and then watching him need assistance to get off of the field during the very game in which he makes his return is enough to start a weeklong conversation. So is the knowledge that Lane Johnson’s knee and ankle issues will probably be an issue all year long.
‘D-Jax’ is back on the Eagles’ injured reserve now, along with defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway. Obviously, both of those moves are huge news, as is another announcement that the Eagles made on the final Monday in October. They’ve activated 21-day practice windows for safety and special teams ace Rudy Ford, for linebacker T.J. Edwards, for offensive tackle Jason Peters, and for wide receiver Jalen Reagor.
Again, that’s enough to keep ‘Birds’ fans talking all week, so it may have been easy to miss a few things that flew under the radar or to ignore those issues because there were so many other things to talk about.
Does anyone want to talk about a Philadelphia Eagles draftee joining a rival?
Did you miss this one? Two days after the Eagles showed some mettle but lost versus one of the AFC’s best teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers, they waived their seventh-round draft choice from 2020’s NFL Draft, defensive end Casey Toohill. The Washington Football Team added Toohill to their roster by claiming him off of waivers a day later.
Here’s why that’s a problem.
Unlike guys who have had more light shone on them (Genard Avery and Shareef Miller), Toohill made some noise during Eagles camp. Miller was released during final roster cuts. Avery made the team to the chagrin of quite a few ‘Birds’ fans and members of the Philly media that felt he was occupying a roster spot that should belong to Toohill.
The Eagles’ decision to waive Toohill and bring the less-talented Miller back to the practice squad raised a few eyebrows as well, but hey! What do you do? For now, Toohill has concerns of his own, like trying to play his way onto the field in Washington while staring up at guys like Chase Young, Montez Sweat, and Ryan Kerrigan on the depth chart (though Sweat has been injured). Toohill is obviously the low man on the totem pole.
How’s this for a story though? The Eagles end their season on January 3rd versus the same team that they met to open the campaign, the Washington Football Team. Philly had all kinds of problems in that one.
Can you imagine what would happen when, in addition to battling what Washington’s defense threw at them with all of those pass rushers in Week 1, they’d have to contend with a former ally? Can you imagine what the headlines will look like if Toohill gets home on a rush and gets to Wentz? For now, it seems like a longshot, but then again, this is the NFL. You can’t rule anything out these days.