A rival scout's evaluation of Eagles' roster

YOU HAVE your opinion of the Eagles' season-opening roster and I have mine. Here's how an NFC scout broke it down for the Daily News, position-by-position, heading into Monday night's game against Atlanta:

Starter: Sam Bradford; Backup: Mark Sanchez

Scout: "I watched the tape of that first quarter against Green Bay. I think every one of Bradford's completions was a first read. He never had to get to a second read. When you play at the tempo they play at, there are only so many coverages a defense can play.

"I think Chip [Kelly] wanted a quarterback who could see what he sees. I'm not sure Nick Foles was always able to do that. But Bradford can. He's an extremely smart guy who is able to process information very quickly and get the ball out quickly and accurately.

"There's a big drop-off from Bradford to Sanchez. Sanchez doesn't have the arm strength that Sam has. He doesn't see things as quickly. And even when he does, he can't always put it where he needs to put it."

Starter: DeMarco Murray; Backups: Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Kenjon Barner

Scout: "LeSean McCoy is a terrific back, but they're better with Murray and Mathews. They're both extremely strong north-south runners. They're very interchangeable. They both catch the ball very well. Mathews probably needs to be a little better in pass-protection.

"But both of these guys are really good. Murray is fast and strong. He was perfect from the 1-yard line last year [6-for-6] and is really going to improve their red-zone production. He just makes people miss as he goes north-south with power.

"He doesn't make the wrong read with his eyes. Both of them have a very good base. They're going to break tackles. They're going to hit the hole. Neither one of them is a dancer behind the line of scrimmage. They're going to get the ball and hit the hole. I think they're much better there.

"And I haven't even mentioned Sproles. For whatever reason, Kelly underutilized him as a receiver last year. But from what I've seen, it doesn't look like he's going to make the same mistake twice. This guy was incredible when he was catching passes from Drew Brees. There isn't a linebacker in this league that can stay with him. They're going to line him up in the slot and run those underneath crossing routes with him all day long."

Starters: Nelson Agholor, Riley Cooper, Jordan Matthews (slot); Backups: Josh Huff, Miles Austin, Seyi Ajirotutu

Scout: "They have a good group and a good plan for using them. The fact that they're young and relatively inexperienced doesn't seem to make any difference right now.

"Matthews isn't a Victor Cruz in the slot. He doesn't have that type of quickness. But he's got size and he knows how to use his body. He's got good hands. He's dependable and runs the precise routes that Kelly wants.

"Agholor is electric as soon as the ball touches his hands. In my mind, he's better - or at least soon will be better - than [Jeremy] Maclin. I don't know if his hands are as good as Maclin's. But as soon as Agholor touches the ball, he is electric in what he can do with it after the catch. He just has a knack for avoiding what's coming at him. He almost always makes that first guy miss.

"I'm not a big fan of Cooper's. He's a good blocker for a wide receiver. But he's got bad hands. He always jumps to catch the ball. Double-catches a lot of balls. Seldom catches a ball cleanly. They have better players than him that catch the ball better than he does. Austin is a much better player. You can look at Austin's age and injury history and say that works against him. But he's extremely dependable. I think he's going to be a bigger part of that offense than people think right now, particularly with an accurate guy like Bradford at quarterback."

Starter: Brent Celek; Backups: Zach Ertz, Trey Burton

Scout: "There's a big drop-off between Celek and the other two guys when it comes to blocking. Celek has made himself into one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. He's unbelievable at sealing the perimeter. Haven't seen anybody in the league do it better. And he still is a dependable receiver who is difficult to bring down after the catch.

"Ertz is slowly improving as a blocker, but he's never going to be in Celek's league. And that [sports hernia] injury has kept him out the entire preseason, which has set him back.

"You want to play Ertz more because he's a very, very good receiver. But you can't just put him out there on first down when it's a run-pass situation if he can't hold that point [of attack] the way Celek can."

Starters: LT Jason Peters, LG Allen Barbre, C Jason Kelce, RG Andrew Gardner, RT Lane Johnson; Backups: Matt Tobin, Dennis Kelly, David Molk, Josh Andrews

Scout: "Their starting five looks pretty good. Releasing [LG Evan] Mathis didn't make much sense to me. He still has a couple of pretty good years left in him and there wasn't a center-guard tandem in the league that could get outside or to the second level like him and Kelce. Barbre isn't nearly as athletic as Mathis, but has looked pretty good in the preseason. Same with their new right guard [Gardner].

"Peters is a future Hall of Famer. But he's 33 and did not have a great season last year, which concerns me a little bit. But he's dropped some weight and looks like he's moving a lot better from what I saw in the preseason. He's the second most important guy on that offense behind Bradford. He has to play great for them to be successful.

"Gardner has been a pleasant surprise for them, especially in pass protection. He gets a lot of one-on-one blocks. He uses his hands well and locks out. He runs well. He's big.

"Kelce, in my mind, is one of the two or three best centers in the league right now. And Lane Johnson may be the most athletic right tackle in the league.

"They have five really good players up front right now. But they need to stay healthy, because they don't have much depth."

Starters: Fletcher Cox, Bennie Logan, Cedric Thornton; Backups: Vinny Curry, Brandon Bair, Taylor Hart, Beau Allen

Scout: "This is an awfully good group. Cox is an All-Pro. No one can stop him one-on-one. No one. But the development of Logan, I don't think anybody could have seen this coming. He wasn't this type of player at LSU. They played a four-man front. He wasn't a nose tackle. At LSU, you pin your ears back and get after the quarterback. To see him play nose tackle, if anybody does block him, he doesn't stay blocked. He's never on the ground. He's really, really good.

"There wasn't a game you can watch from last year where Cox wasn't a dominant player. They have him playing a lot of snaps, but he is just relentless.

"Another guy that has impressed me in the preseason was Hart. He's really played well. The thing about this entire group is they're all young, they're never hurt, and they're two-gappers.

"It's not about stats. None of them have that mentality. Their position coach [Jerry Azzinaro] does a phenomenal job with that group. With the possible exception of running back, it's probably the strongest unit on the team."

Starters: Connor Barwin, Brandon Graham; Backups: Bryan Braman, Marcus Smith, Brad Jones

Scout: "There's not a lot of depth here after you get past Barwin and Graham. It's one of their biggest weaknesses heading into the season, in my opinion. If anything happens to Barwin or Graham, [defensive coordinator Bill] Davis is really going to have to get creative. I think they would have to seriously think about sliding either [Mychal] Kendricks or [Kiko] Alonso outside. Both could do it.

"Barwin is one of the league's most underrated players. You never hear him mentioned with the league's top outside 'backers, but he can do it all – rush, drop, set the edge. Graham has turned into a pretty good player, but I'll be interested to see how he holds up now that he's going to be playing a lot more snaps.

"Braman probably is their next best outside linebacker after Barwin and Graham. But I don't get the sense Kelly or Davis view him as that. But he's got pass-rush ability.

"Smith does nothing for me. I don't know what the hell they were thinking when they took this guy in the first round. I watched the tape of their first preseason game against Indy. He was on the ground seven times in the first half. He's just not a good athlete. He can't stay on his feet. The common denominator with most good pass-rushers is they're never on the ground. This guy can't stay up.

"Jones is just a body on defense. His only real value is on special teams. He can't beat you with his pass rush. He doesn't have power. He knows how to play both the inside and outside spots. But you're not going to get much production from him if he has to play."

Starters: Mychal Kendricks, DeMeco Ryans; Backups: Kiko Alonso, Jordan Hicks

Scout: "Watching Ryans, there's not a lot of explosive speed there anymore. He's what, 31 now? Coming off of his second Achilles' injury? He's a warrior, a throwback, and I completely understand why Kelly hung on to him. But his days as a 900-snap-a-year guy are over. He can be exploited in coverage and in space. At best, he's a first- and second-down thumper now.

"Alonso missed most of the preseason. Kendricks didn't play a lot of snaps, either. They're all going to have to play themselves into shape, which isn't uncommon. They're going to have to get their timing down in September.

"Alonso and Kendricks are basically the same guy, even though they've got slightly different body types. They're both basically WILL linebackers. The best thing they do is run and chase. And blitz. You can see Davis having a lot of fun with both of those guys because they have very, very similar skill sets."

Starters: Byron Maxwell, Nolan Carroll; Backups: Eric Rowe, E.J. Biggers, Denzel Rice

Scout: "Maxwell is an interesting guy. He's got all of the physical tools. He's exactly what Davis wants in a press corner. Long, fast, physical, smart. But he's got just, what, 16, 17 career starts? I don't know what his mentality is going to be like if they have him shadow the other team's top wideout every week. How's he going to handle it if he gets beat a couple of times by Julio Jones or Dez Bryant?

"Carroll has looked OK. He was a starter outside for a couple of years at Miami. But I can't say with any certainty that he's better than what they had out there last year.

"I'm not a big Eric Rowe fan, at least as a cornerback. We had him as a safety coming out. He doesn't look like a corner. He doesn't move like a corner. He doesn't run like a corner. He's not fast-twitch. He's struggled since they started playing him inside at nickel.

"I didn't understand their decision to trade [Brandon] Boykin, and now it looks like it may come back to bite them in the ass.

"It's going to be interesting to see what they do with Rowe. If they move Carroll inside in nickel and put Rowe outside, good offenses and good quarterbacks are going to go after Rowe early and often. Maybe they think Biggers can handle the nickel. If they do, then I think they're overrating him.

"I know they put a lot of time and money into rebuilding their secondary. But honestly, I'm not sure they're that much better than they were last year there."

Starters: Malcolm Jenkins, Walter Thurmond; Backups: Chris Maragos, Jerome Couplin

Scout: "Jenkins is a good player who is a good scheme fit for their defense. Thurmond has never played safety, but should be able to make the transition. He's a good player. His biggest problem has been staying healthy. That still would be my biggest concern with him.

"This is just me, but I think they would have been much better off putting Rowe at safety from the get-go, which is where he's probably going to eventually end up anyway, and using Thurmond at nickel. If Couplin develops like they hope, my guess is that's going to happen at some point.

"I really like Couplin's upside. Signing him off the Lions' practice squad late last year was a pretty smart move. He could develop into a good third safety. Maragos is a terrific special teams guy, but that's where his value pretty much ends. You don't really want him taking a lot of defensive snaps."

Blog: eagletarian.com