February 12, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles are remarkably healthy heading into the Super Bowl, as they will have all 22 starters available for the big game. The Kansas City Chiefs are also in great shape, with only one starter out.
Here are Eagles' and Chiefs' inactives, with analysis.
The Eagles' inactives:
• QB Ian Book: No. 3 quarterback.
• RB Trey Sermon: No. 4 running back.
• LB Kyron Johnson: The Eagles like Johnson on special teams, but there really aren't any better options for the inactive list.
• CB Josiah Scott: With Avonte Maddox playing and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson capable of playing the slot if need be, Scott isn't an essential depth player.
• P Brett Kern: The Eagles have two punters on their roster.
• WR Greg Ward: Britain Covey will play and return punts.
• S Anthony Harris: The Eagles called up Harris from the practice squad for this game, but he's inactive anyway. They're probably just getting Harris an extra game check.
• DE Derek Barnett (IR - Week 2): Barnett tore his ACL Week 1 against the Lions, and his season is over. After a 2021 season in which he had 8 penalties vs. 2.5 sacks, Barnett lost his starting job, but remained a depth player poised to get his share of snaps in 2022.
• DT Marlon Tuipulotu (IR - Week 11): Tuipulotu has 16 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery in a rotational role this season.
The Chiefs' inactives:
Here are our inactives for #SBLVII:
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 12, 2023
QB Shane Buechele
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
DE Joshua Kaindoh
C Austin Reiter
T Darian Kinnard
TE Blake Bell
DE Malik Herring
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is the most notable name above. He was not given an injury designation, bo he appears to be a healthy scratch.
• WR Mecole Hardman: Hardman injured his pelvis Week 9 against the Titans. He missed the rest of the regular season, but returned for the AFC Championship Game, when he reaggravated that injury.
In the eight regular season games he played, Hardman had 25 catches for 297 yards (11.9 yards per catch) and 4 TDs. He is a big-play threat with 4.33 speed, so this is a significant absence for the Chiefs. As you're all aware, the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins this past offseason for a bunch of draft picks. In Hill's absence, the Chiefs' receivers put up the following numbers in 2022:
| Chiefs WRs | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | 78 | 933 | 12.0 | 3 |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 42 | 687 | 16.4 | 2 |
| Justin Watson | 15 | 315 | 21.0 | 2 |
| Mecole Hardman | 25 | 297 | 11.9 | 4 |
| Skyy Moore | 22 | 250 | 11.4 | 0 |
| Kadarius Toney | 14 | 171 | 12.2 | 2 |
Hardman was being counted on by the Chiefs to make explosive plays in Hill's absence.
• DE Tershawn Wharton: Wharton is a rotational defensive lineman who has 64 tackles, 5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles in three years with the Chiefs after making the team as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2020. He suffered a torn ACL Week 5.
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