PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Eagles roster bubble watch: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Ainias Smith make their move

Episode Date: August 17, 2025

After the Eagles' second preseason game, we're running through the roster battles that saw movement, from the race for QB3 between Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Kyle McCord to the competition for starting cornerback between Jakorian Bennett, Adoree' Jackson, Kelee Ringo and Mac McWilliams and much more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bo Wolf coming to you from the link where the Eagles have wrapped up their second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. Here's what you need to know about the bubble players and the roster competitions, how things have moved after preseason game number two. Let's start a quarterback where there is a battle for the quarterback three drop after Jalen Hertz and Tanner McKee. McKee was given the day off. So that means we saw a lot of Dorian Thompson Robinson and Kyle McCord, the rookie sixth round pick. And I think it's fair to say that over the first couple weeks of the day, the summer, Thompson Robinson was out playing McCord a little bit and was getting a few more reps. I'm not so sure that that was the case today. Now, neither quarterback lit the world on fire

very seriously. Dorian Thompson, five of eight for 17 yards and a sack while Kyle McCord was eight of 16 for 47 yards and a touchdown, a nine-yard pass to Anaya Smith, who we will get to. But I did think today that Kyle McCord looked a little bit more composed in the offense. These are matters of degrees. And I think the more important thing is that Dorian Thompson Robinson was going to have to really outplay Kyle McCord to win this job, given the fact that McCord is a draft pick. And you get four years of team control if he makes the roster, as opposed to Dorian Thompson Robinson being in his third year of his rookie deal. And so I don't think that Dorian Thompson Robinson did enough today to go steal that job unless things change significantly over the course of the next week. Let's go to wide receiver where I think we know we've got the top three in Devonte Smith,

AJ Brown, and Johan Dotson. Johnny Wilson, I think pretty safely on the roster at the moment, although he played today and did not have any receptions. You then go to Darius Cooper. The star of the first preseason game had no catches in this game. And you might think, uh-oh, like is his bubble popping? I don't believe that that is the case. Darius Cooper was also very involved in special teams today, started on a

a kickoff coverage unit and the kickoff return unit. You saw his hustle on the KJ Henry pick six by the Cleveland Browns on an ugly play for the Eagles offense. He almost caught Henry at the goal line. That's the kind of thing that, you know, Nick Siriani is going to love. I think that despite having no catches today, Darius Cooper will still make this Eagles roster. And then you get to a nice Smith. They're going to keep six receivers.

Is he going to be the punt returner? Does he give you enough in the passing game to make it worth keeping him? Two touchdowns in two games. Nyas Smith, no doubt, looks better this summer than he did a summer ago. I think right now he is squarely on the bubble, and I would say like, you know, 51, 52% more likely to make it than not. Maybe the Eagles keep six. Good job by Anaya Smith in this game. Let's talk about the offensive line where I think the depth is really a question mark.

You've got your starting five, and Tyler Steen is one of those five. He did not play tonight. Meanwhile, Brett Toad did play, and if Lennon Diggerson were not ready for week one, looks like right now it would be Brett Tooth at left guard. Drew Kendall got to start at center. He's solidly on this roster. He's going to be the backup center, and he got some reps at guard in the second half of this game, which tells me the Eagles are grooming him to be able to be active on game day.

But after that, there are a lot of question marks. Dering Kennard has been the player this summer who Jeff Stettlin has moved around the most between right tackle, right guard, and left guard. I think that he is safely on this team right now. But there is nobody right now who gives you the comfort you had when, for instance, last year, Tyler Steen was a backup or two years ago Cam Juergens was a backup. And you had Fred Johnson reliably there on the outside, even a guy like Jack Driscoll who you knew had worked with Jeff Stoutland. Right now there's a bigger question mark there.

Matt Pryor, who I thought was probably more likely than not to make this team. He had a pretty tough day on Saturday, gave up a sack that he was responsible for, had a penalty, probably not his favorite day at the office. Kendall Lamb, the veteran who has been at left tackle all summer, just okay. We will see. We will see how that plays out and whether Hallie Roseman wants to make an addition from the outside to bolster the offensive line depth. Miles Hinton, the rookie, who has had a pretty good summer.

He also gave up a sack in this game and didn't look as good as he had over the past week or so. And Cameron Williams, the big guy from Texas, the rookie, also a little bit uneven on the outside. So the Eagles, I think, need to add something at some point here to make them feel a little bit more comfortable about their offensive line depth. Then again, in stat we trust. Let's go to the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker was great to see Jahad Campbell have a sack in this game. He seems to me to be more likely than not to win that starting job next to Zach Bond, although Jeremiah Traynor Jr. did acquit himself very well.

The biggest change, I think, from Friday to Saturday, to Sunday in terms of jockeying at different jobs was the safety position, where Drew McCuba, who has missed a lot of time this summer and did not play in the first preseason game, really excelled. He had a pick six, which you've probably already seen by now. He also recovered a fumble. And it's not just a flashiness of those plays. It is combined with Sidney Brown being sort of just okay out there. And I think before the second preseason game, everybody would have thought that Sydney Brown

was a little bit more likely to start week one. Now we may look at this as a turning point that Vic Fanjo is going to be willing to let Andrew McCuba grow on the job if you can offer that kind of upside and not have the kind of negatives that you might expect from a rookie. So that was a big needle mover. The thing that I don't think anybody knows what to make sense of is cornerback too.

So we know that Quinauette Metro is going to be on the outside. It doesn't seem like the Eagles want to mess with Cooper DeGine being on the outside right now. He has spent all summer at the nickel and has the safety in the base defense. And so in this game, we saw Keeler Ringo. We saw Adori Jackson. We saw Jacori and Bennett and we saw rookie MacMac Williams. All of those guys playing significant snaps on the outside, although Keeley Ringo

did not get a ton of snaps in Thursday's joint practice against the Cleveland Browns. And then in this game didn't get a ton of snaps either. He started with Adori Jackson. Then Jacori and Bennett rotated in. Then Ringo came back in at the end of the first half. I think he played about three series total. And it wasn't bad, but it's more about reading the tea leaves about the way that Vic Fangio was using him.

Adori Jackson probably did not look as good as you would hope from a veteran playing in a second preseason game, had some ups and downs. Chakorin and Bennett probably had the best day of those four, had a flashy pass breakup on a crossing route following Gage Larvanan all the way across the field. He saw his length. You saw his physicality. It was probably his best day as an eagle thus far. And Mac McWilliams is very interesting.

It remains very interesting that he spent time in the nickel. It seemed like he was being groomed as the backup nickel this summer. And now he's spending all of his time on the outside. And there was only one ball thrown his way, I believe, gave up a reception in the red zone, but it was a short completion, something that you would take if you were Vic Fangio. Do not sleep on the possibility of Mac Mac MacMick Williams taking that job. Although I would say right now, Jacori and Bennett is probably the most likely. of those guys to start week one.

But that is, I mean, that is very unsure. Last thing to highlight, I would say, in terms of guys who maybe solidify in a roster spot, Aziz O'Jolari, who has had sort of a up and down and maybe underwhelming summer so far, had a sack in this game. He also had a sack in the joint practice on Wednesday, the most competitive day against the Cleveland Browns.

And so OJolari coming on late in the summer, which is what you would like to see. I would say now as the Eagles are looking for edge depth, OJolari feels pretty safely on the roster. So there is your update on the roster battles, the position battles for the Eagles as they enter the third week of the preseason, the final week with the roster cuts to 53 looming. Check out PHLY for much more.

Like the video, subscribe, all that good stuff.