Eagles add former 3rd-round pick to practice squad in roster flurry

Eagles add former 3rd-round pick to practice squad in roster flurry originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles made a flurry of practice squad transactions on Tuesday and one of them was bringing in former third-round pick Danny Gray.

Here’s a recap of the moves:

Signed: WR Danny Gray, DB A.J. Woods

Released: LB Brandon Smith, WR Griffin Hebert

In addition to these moves, the Eagles are also losing 2024 sixth-round center Dylan McMahon. The Rams are signing McMahon to their 53-man roster from the Eagles’ practice squad. So there’s one spot still open on the practice squad.

One other practice squad note: Former Eagles cornerback Zech McPhearson signed to the Jaguars practice squad. McPhearson was a fourth-round pick out of Texas Tech in 2021. He was released at final cuts this summer after recovering from an Achilles tear that took away his 2023 season.

The 49ers drafted Gray in the third round (No. 105 overall) in 2022 out of SMU. Gray was the Niners’ second third-round pick that year behind RB Tyrion Davis-Price at No. 93.

That means that both of the 49ers’ third-round picks from the 2022 draft are now on the Eagles’ practice squad. Davis-Price had a good summer and is basically the Eagles’ fourth running back on the P-squad.

Running back Trey Sermon was another recent 49ers’ third round pick who then joined the Eagles in 2022.

Gray, 25, played in 13 games as a rookie back in 2022 but had just 1 catch for 10 yards and 1 rushing attempt for 9 yards. Gray began the 2023 season with the 49ers on Injured Reserve with a shoulder injury. They opened his practice window in December but never activated him so he missed the entire year. Gray was waived by the 49ers at final cuts this summer.

While Gray’s NFL career hasn’t gone to plan, he was a third-round pick for a reason. At the 2022 NFL Combine, Gray ran a blazing 40 time of 4.33 seconds after averaging 15.3 yards per catch in his two seasons at SMU.

2020: 33 catches, 448 yards, 4 TDs

2021: 49 catches, 803 yards, 9 TDs

Here’s what NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote about Gray during the pre-draft process:

“Two-year starter on the FBS level with athleticism and play speed to project a continuing ascent at the next level. Gray stepped into a top playmaking role for SMU in 2021 and showed an ability to work all three levels of the field. His long, gliding strides separate from coverage on attack-oriented routes but he has the bend and agility to become a quality target working underneath. He needs to get a little stronger and limit the focus drops, but Gray has an inside/outside skill set with intriguing upside as a future WR3 with more work.”

Woods, 23 was with the Commanders this summer as an undrafted rookie out of Pittsburgh. During his college career, Woods played in 59 games with 14 starts. The 5-10, 187-pound cornerback had 4 career interceptions and 29 career pass breakups.