The Philadelphia Eagles settled on their initial 53-man roster for the 2012 season and unlike last year, when super-talented guys like Derek Landri and Cedric Thornton didn't make the week 1 cut because of a numbers game, this year's team actually consists of the best 53 players on the field regardless of position.
The media keeps talking about "shocking" cuts like (QB) Mike Kafka, (CB) Joselio Hanson and (WR) Chad Hall, but let's get real:
Mike Kafka is a horrible, awful, terrible football player. He has a high school arm and wilts under pressure. It didn't surprise me in the least that he couldn't beat out Trent Edwards, a player who is almost as worthless, but showed SOMETHING in meaningless preseason games against defenders who won't play a down this season. Sadly for Kafka, that made him expendable. I won't miss watching him short-arm throws in Bethlehem.
Joselio Hanson was out-played by rookie Brandon Boykin for the nickel spot. It's not like Hanson is a shutdown outside guy in case one of our starting corners goes down (hopefully Curtis Marsh can become that guy), so he didn't have another niche to fall back on.
Chad Hall is a tough kid with solid hands, but Damarius Johnson looks like the return and outside receiving threat DeSean Jackson did going into his rookie season. Without punt return duties, Hall had to excel as an inside receiver to make the squad. Jason Avant has a strangle-hold on that job. Hall just wasn't going to have as much impact as the 10th-best defensive lineman on this team.
The one guy who really performed well and didn't make the team, even though he probably should have based on training camp and preseason performance, was linebacker and special teams dynamo Ryan Rau. I thought Rau outperformed Casey Matthews by a wide-margin. The Eagles are betting on Matthews' pettigree, and I hope those genes kick in because Rau was a manimal out there. He would have been a great addition to special teams, especially with Colt Anderson out for a few more weeks.
I'll bet draft picks Marvin McNutt and Brandon Washington are signed to the practice squad. Those guys just aren't ready to contribute this year.
You can check out the Eagles 53-man roster in detail with this spreadsheet I put together, which includes measurables, 2011 statistics and more:
2012 Philadelphia Eagles 53-Man Roster Spreadsheet
