Eagles Add Rookie OT

Stony Brook RT Michael Bamiro wasn’t eligible for the Supplemental Draft. The NFL just declared him an outright free agent. The Eagles agreed to terms with him on Tuesday.

Bamiro started 36 games at RT for the Sea Wolves over the last 3 years. Bamiro redshirted in 2009. Prior to that he attended Pitt for a year, but didn’t play football.

I’ve watched a few game tapes of him. Simply put, Bamiro is a developmental prospect. You can’t coach size and he’s 6-8, 335. That’s Runyan/Tra Thomas size. He doesn’t jump out on tape the way you’d like him to. A guy with his size and experience should have dominated I-AA competition, but that wasn’t the case.

There are times when Bamiro will really impress you. He can come off the ball quickly, get to the second level and engage a LB. I think he’s impressive on run plays away from him. He will fire off the ball and take out a backside DL. Bamiro blocks to the whistle. Effort isn’t an issue.

The biggest problem for me is that Bamiro should have been more physically dominant than he was. He engulfed players occasionally due to sheer size, but rarely got great movement due to strength/physicality. He has long arms, but doesn’t extend them. He plays too much like a T-Rex.

Pass blocking is tough to rate. Stony Brook is a running team. The QB averaged 17 passes per game. I’d bet half or more were play-action passes. You didn’t get many chances to see just how good Bamiro’s feet were. He did show good movement skills as a run blocker. He’s big, but not stiff.

We knew Chip Kelly liked big guys, but Bamiro didn’t seem like a natural fit to me since he’s nothing special athletically. In the NFL he will need to play RT or OG. I do think he’s a player worth bringing to camp and seeing what you can do with.

In a normal draft, I’d have given Bamiro a very late grade. He has an uphill battle to make just the practice squad. I can see where the Eagles felt he was worth the risk since he does have such good size.

Here’s the PE.com story on why he’s in the NFL and with some other details.

Nice addition, but I wouldn’t get excited about him.