Philadelphia Eagles: Will we finally get to see Elijah Riley in Week 7?

Heading into the 2021 NFL season, safety was considered a strength of the Philadelphia Eagles.

They’d landed a very intriguing free agent addition with experience in their new defensive coordinator’s scheme, kept their long-time starter opposite him coming off of a season-ending injury and retained a solid collection of youngsters on rookie-scale deals.

Surely on paper, this unit looked like a good one, maybe even one of the better ones on the team, but in practice? Yeah, not so much.

Ravaged by injuries both new and pre-existing, the Eagles have yet to find continuity in their back seven, which is a massive blow, considering just how crucial the safety spot is for Jonathan Gannon‘s unit.

Heading into Week 7, the Eagles only have two true safeties at full strength, with K’Von Wallace still on IR, Anthony Harris back in practice with both hands completely taped up, and Andre Chachere having yet to play a snap at the position defensively.

While the team could probably make it through their trip to Las Vegas with their current motley crew, the Philadelphia Eagles might be wise to finally call up Elijah Riley for his first NFL action of the 2021 NFL season.

Elijah Riley may finally see the field for the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

Elijah Riley has been in the Philadelphia Eagles’ orbit since April 26th, 2020.

A four contributor for the Army Black Knights, Riley signed with the team after going undrafted and spent the summer competing with players like Marcus Epps, K’Von Wallace, and Grayland Arnold for a backend spot in the 53 man roster.

Though he ultimately didn’t make the team coming out of camp, Riley was quickly signed to the practice squad shortly thereafter and ultimately stuck around for the entire regular season. He was elevated to the active roster on December 16th to play out the rest of the regular season after a pair of practice squad elevations in Week 5 and Week 6 and ultimately appeared in five games as an almost exclusive special teamer.

With a new coaching staff inbound, many wondered how bottom-of-the-roster players like Riley would fare in a new defensive scheme. Would he rise to the occasion and become a surprise starter like Quez Watkins? Or would he fail to fit the scheme and fade away a la Travis Fulgham?

Well, as it turns out, it sort of landed right down the middle. Riley remained a third-team safety behind Rodney McLeod, Anthony Harris, Epps, and Wallace, and was once again waived coming out of camp to instead start off the season on the practice squad.

While the Eagles have protected Riley in each of the first seven weeks of the 2021 NFL season, the only player on the practice squad to receive said honor, according to Michael Kaye of NJ.com, he’s yet to see the field for the team so far this season.

In Week 7, that might just change.

With Wallace still technically on IR even after having his 21-day window to return activated and Harris potentially set to play with both of his hands wrapped, the Eagles will be entering their Week 7 bout against the Las Vegas Raiders with only two safeties at full strength.

If Riley was ever looking for an opportunity to see the field and play more than four defensive snaps, he may have just lucked into a prime one.

The 2021 NFL season is a weird one for the Philadelphia Eagles. They aren’t really leaning into an all-out rebuild where youngsters get every opportunity to prove their worth but aren’t quite as far along in the contention conversation as many of their peers. While it would be a poor decision to play Elijah Riley over players like Anthony Harris if he truly isn’t ready, considering the current state of the safety corps, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea to call him up and give him a helmet in a winnable game in Las Vegas.