Eagles worked out six guys

The Eagles have worked out six players for their roster, including defenders Elerson Smith, William Jackson III and Isaiah Moore.

BY JIMMY KEMPSKI
PhillyVoice Staff

VINCENT CARCHIETTA/USA TODAY SPORTS

Elerson Smith blocks an Arryn Siposs punt in 2022.

The Philadelphia Eagles worked out six players, according to Tuesday's NFL transaction report. A quick look at the six guys, in order of my perceived relevance.

• CB William Jackson: Our Shamus Clancy covered him here.

• EDGE Elerson Smith: In 2019 at Northern Iowa, Smith had 63 tackles, 14 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss, and 5 forced fumbles. Even if you can see that many of those were against tomato cans at OT, those were impressive numbers nevertheless. Smith also has good length, at 6'6, 252, with NFL athleticism: 

Smith was a COVID opt-out during the 2020 college football season, and the Giants selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. 

The knock on Smith coming out of college was that he was skinny for an edge rusher, and could be a liability against the run, but in the fourth round he seemed like a reasonable enough developmental project. He just never developed to the Giants' satisfaction, and was derailed some by injuries.

• LB Isaiah Moore: Five-year starter at NC State, three-time team captain. 82 tackles (15 for loss), 3 sacks, 3 pass breakups his final season there in 2022. He was thought to have good instincts and leadership qualities, but lacked ideal NFL athleticism. He signed as a UDFA with the Chiefs during the 2023 offseason, but suffered an injury during camp and was waived. 

• TE E.J. Jenkins: Jenkins (6'6, 245) was a Jets undrafted free agent in 2023, after he caught 17 passes for 316 yards (18.6 YPC) and 3 TDs for Georgia Tech in 2022. He has good size and willingness to block coming from GT's run-heavy offense. 

• RB John Kelly: Kelly (5'10, 205) was a Rams sixth-round pick in 2018. 32 career carries for 96 yards.

• RB Bryant Koback: Koback (6'0, 210) had 208 carries for 1400 yards (6.7 YPC) and 15 TDs for Toledo in 2021. The Vikings signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2022. He has also spent time on the Seahawks' practice squad. He has not appeared in an NFL game.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-worked-out-six-guys-elerson-smith-william-jackson-john-kelly-isaiah-moore-ej-jenkins-bryant-koback/

7 minutes ago, time2rock said:

RB John Kelly: Kelly (5'10, 205) was a Rams sixth-round pick in 2018. 32 career carries for 96 yards.

Why have they worked out Kelly? Are they considering moving on from Penny? Do they think Gainwell or Scott are going to miss more time? I mean in fact they worked out 2 RBs.

13 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Why have they worked out Kelly? Are they considering moving on from Penny? Do they think Gainwell or Scott are going to miss more time? I mean in fact they worked out 2 RBs.

The only guy under contract next season is Gainwell. They were just looking for PS guys worth developing. Some of these guys might have some special teams value as well. We go into most games with 3 active RBs. In the last 2 games, we finished with 2 of the 3. Koback was signed to the PS and is the only RB on the PS. We absolutely need at least 1 there.