We have entered the final weekend of the NFL Preseason schedule before teams make their final cuts to get rosters down to 53 players for the 2025 season. It's safe to say that a lot of former Virginia Tech players are getting their last chance to make an impression to remain on the roster beyond Tuesday's cutdown date. One of those players is Antwaun Powell-Ryland.
Drafted in the sixth round and 209th overall, Powell-Ryland made his case to make the Philadelphia Eagles roster this season in their preseason final against the New York Jets on Friday night. His pass-rush ability came into play against the Jets when he had a strip-sack of quarterback Adrian Martinez.
Ya love to see it 🙂↕️ @TwaunPowell pic.twitter.com/SJEkGP9ruo
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 23, 2025
Did Antwaun Powell-Ryalnd do enough to make the Eagles roster?
Going into the game against the Jets, Powell-Ryland's status with the defending Super Bowl champs was still in doubt, as Glenn Erby of Eagles Wire released his projected roster before the Jets game, and Powell-Ryland was not on it and was the toughest cut from the edge position for him. Again, that was before the game.
However, Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports listed Powell-Ryland as a sixth-round pick who was an under-the-radar rookie who could be a difference-maker in 2025.
He played two seasons in Blacksburg after coming over from the University of Florida through the portal, and what a two years it was for the Hokies. He registered 83 tackles in two seasons, with 52 of them being solo. He was a sack machine for Brent Pry's defense with 25.5 sacks, including 16 last year alone.
Projected to be picked a little higher in the draft than he was, Powell-Ryland fell to the Eagles and now hopes he has done enough to earn a spot on their roster for the 2025 season. He hopes his explosive sack and forced fumble against Martinez and the Jets helped his cause.