Cutdown day has come and gone, and it's therefore time to once again roll out our unit grades for the coming season. As always, the units I grade are QB, SKILL, OL, DL, LB, DB, special teams and the coaches. All units are graded on a scale of 1-10, and I'm providing the historical grades I gave from 2018-2021 for reference.

QB (7.5). This grade reflects my cautious optimism that Jalen Hurts will continue to improve as well as my belief that Gardner Minshew is a top backup QB in this league. I'm on record that Hurts is already a borderline top 15 QB and with some improvement in his passing can get into the 10-12 range league-wide. I belief Minshew is a top 25 QB in his own right, and probably the top backup not named Jimmy Garoppolo in the league. Ian Book is a bit of a mystery but thankfully will likely not come in to play.

2018 grade: 8.5

2019: 8.5

2020: 6.0

2021: 4.0

4 year average: 6.75

SKILL (6). Most analysts would give a higher grade, and I can see that. Philly has elite talents in Dallas Goedert and AJ Brown, and it's possible we'll see Devonta Smith get to that level this season. Miles Sanders is in great shape for his contract season. Quez Watkins is underrated, as is Zach Pascal. My concern is depth at TE (Stoll, Calcaterra and Jackson have seven career combined NFL catches, and no starts). They've got some depth at RB but not too much proven depth; something to keep our eyes on.

2018: 8.0

2019: 10.0

2020: 7.5

2021: 4.0

4 year average: 7.38

OL (10). An easy grade. Isaac Seumalo is probably the weakest starter, and he's going to push for a Pro Bowl spot if he's healthy. The depth sets this group apart as much as anything; Philly's second string group would be better than several team's starting groups. Dillard, Opeta and Driscoll all have starting experience and are still ascending. Cam Jurgens will be a solid starter at some point, and possibly much more. Minimally I'd say he's justified the 2nd round pick invested. Josh Sills was a surprising roster inclusion but has top shelf versatility (started at all five positions at some point in college). Jeff Stoutland remains the best in the business.

2018: 10.0

2019: 10.0

2020: 6.0

2021: 8.0

4 year average: 8.50

DL (9). Similar to their OL, the depth sets this unit apart, especially at DT. Any one of Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Milton Williams or Jordan Davis would probably start for most teams. Several roster-worthy tackles got cut. At end, Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham should continue to be solid. Derek Barnett may have finally crossed from being overrated to underrated; he's really good for a rotational guy. Tarrion Jackson impressed me in the preseason; there's a little under the radar Brandon Graham similarity there.

2018: 8.5

2019: 9.0

2020: 10.0

2021: 7.0

4 year average: 8.63

LB (5). Some would fight to get this grade higher, and similar to the skill guys above, I see the point. I think that in another year or two this will be a top unit in the NFL. Before we get to that point we need to see the development of some of these young players; there's a long list of guys that have shown promise at one point or another but need to do it when it matters most (Nakobe Dean, Shaun Bradley, Patrick Johnson, Kyron Johnson). Kyzir White looks promising but the Bird's recent history of importing linebackers forces a wait-and-see approach (here's the recent list: Corey Nelson, Paul Worrilow, LaRoy Reynolds, LJ Fort, Zach Brown, Jatavis Brown, Eric Wilson; yuck). Haason Reddick provokes a lot of excitement but we'll need to see how he integrates. All of that said, TJ Edwards is a star and we should feel really good about this group relative to the past few years. Check out how bad it's been:

2018: 3.0

2019: 5.0

2020: 3.0

2021: 2.0

4 year average: 3.25

DB (6). The starters are not the problem. Assuming good health, they've got above-average to Pro Bowl caliber players at all five spots. Marcus Epps is the only one that hasn't been a full time starter yet but he has the chops to be a good one. CJ Gardner-Johnson has been in the same stratosphere as Philly Fan Fantasy Jessie Bates on a play-by-play basis and came much cheaper (both in trade compensation* and in the cost of the contract). So why only a six and not eight or nine? Simply put, this team has no depth at any spot. Zech McPhearson is the top CB off the bench but has not yet really seized the moment. None of the backup safeties (or the backup corners, for that matter) have yet demonstrated anything. Bottom line: if somehow this group stays healthy, I think they'll be fine. If they don't, they won't be.

2018: 8.0

2019: 6.0

2020: 6.0

2021: 4.0

4 year average: 6.00

*This was yet another huge trade victory for Trader Howie. The transaction really needs to be looked at as the final trade of a trilogy, the first two of which centered around Ugo Amadi. Once you balance it all out, it effectively works out to JJAW and a fifth round pick for CJ. It's impossible for me to see how this isn't a big win.

ST (2). This unit is an undersold weakness of this roster. Frankly, if Jake Elliott hadn't returned to a Pro Bowl level last year, the Eagles may well have had the worst special teams in the league. Their kick and punt coverage was weak at best, and their return game has had no juice in several years. Siposs turned in the worst season by an Eagles punter in a decade. Don't pass over the importance of special team, either; approximately one in eight plays are special teams oriented (placement kicks, kickoffs and kickoff returns, punts and punt returns, etc).

2018: 8.0

2019: 8.0

2020: 8.0

2021: no grade

Coaching/Management (7). Jury is still out a bit on the coaching staff (other than Jeff Stoutland, of course). I think they showed real progress as the season moved along last year, as well as a certain humility in admitting that their initial pass-heavy approach on offense (not to mention their laid back approach on defense) were not working. One wonders why it took seven games to figure this out, but I suppose that's water under the bridge. As far as I'm concerned, their grade this season will depend entirely on their ability and willingness to build on that progress in playing to their strengths as a roster. Howie Roseman is not perfect as a GM but is better than a lot of options. A lot of front office turnover this past spring but I suspect we'll really notice those changes this coming offseason. I'm eager to see how we feel about this group in a few months.

2018: no grade

2019: 9.0

2020: 9.0

2021: rated as a ? due to new coaching staff

There you have it; one man's take on the state of the roster going into the season. The overall average grade per unit comes in around 6.5. I think I'd slot this team in around the #12 spot league wide, all things considered. In a few days we'll have a more detailed read on the entire depth chart.