Three official roster changes have been released by the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of their Week 12 road game against the Buffalo Bills. A synopsis
Quez Watkins was added to the active roster after being taken off of injured reserve.
Ben VanSumeren, a linebacker, and Noah Togiai, a tight end, were promoted from the practice squad.
Note: Before being forced to be placed on waivers, players on the practice squad may be temporarily elevated to the active roster up to three times in a season. For VanSumeren, this is the third and last rise; for Togiai, it is the first.
Let’s go over this information player by player.
Watkins was restricted in practice all week after the Eagles opened his 21-day window to return off injured reserve on Wednesday, so his activation is a bit of a surprise. Perhaps the team would like to give him an opportunity to demonstrate his readiness to play during the pregame warm-ups?
It’s safe to assume that Watkins won’t play his typical WR3 position in this game after returning from a hamstring injury. For the time being, he might play with fewer options. However, we’ll see.
Before being ill, Watkins wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire; this season, four of his five targets have resulted in 25 yards (5.3 average) in receptions. this following a difficult final stretch in 2022 when he
NOAH TOGIAI
Olamide Zaccheaus, Julio Jones, and Watkins are the wide receivers that might split time behind DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown. In terms of snap counts, Jones surpassed OZ to become the third wide receiver last week; however, we’ll see if that changes for this week.
BEN VANSUMEREN
Given that the Eagles are missing Goedert and Grant Calcaterra, two of their top three tight ends, it seemed clear that Togiai would rise. For the Bills game, they now have Albert Okwuegbunam, Togiai, and Jack Stoll as their alternatives. They shouldn’t be too enthusiastic about this squad, but it’s their best option till Goedert comes back.
By promoting BVS, the Eagles not only increase depth at off-ball linebacker but also get another special teams player.
Going ahead, it will be fascinating to observe how the Eagles manage BVS. Now that his elevations are complete, will they try to find him a position on the roster? Is he going to remain on the practice squad? And partly because, if they can sign Darius Leonard, they won’t need him once he joins the team!? Before Week 13, we’ll see what they do.
