Eagles Blog

If the Eagles don’t move up for Marcus Mariota, one player they could covet is OL T.J. Clemmings. The former DL has played RT for 2 years and has huge upside. The Eagles were at his Pro Day.

3. OL coaches flock to Pitt to see Clemmings: There isn’t an offensive lineman in the 2015 draft boasting more athletic upside than Pittsburgh’s T.J. Clemmings, a former defensive end turned right tackle who some believe ultimately will be the first offensive lineman selected this year. Though Clemmings elected not to do any timed drills at his Tuesday Pro Day, that didn’t stop offensive line coaches from the Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams from traveling to personally view the 6-foot-5, 310-pounder’s position workout. Scouts on hand tell me that Clemmings’ workout was outstanding.

And this.

Eagles spent long time w/ him. RT @NFL_CFB: OL coaches from 4 NFL teams check out Pitt's T.J. Clemmings. –> http://t.co/lEaYd5Unxl

— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) March 4, 2015

Very interesting.

CB Tye Smith is 6-0 and 195. So of course the Eagles are interested in him.

Smith had formal meetings at the combine with the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles. He met with Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis.

“It was a good meeting,” said Smith, who had 85 tackles last season and eight pass deflections. “They had me going over plays. They drew stuff up on the board and showed me film and asked me how I would respond in their defense.”

The Associated Press All-American and first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association seleciton also met Eagles coach Chip Kelly.

“Chip Kelly is definitely a great football mind,” Smith said. “He’s great person, too.

Smith would be a developmental type CB.

Chip Kelly likes going to Pro Days. He was down at Clemson recently.

The prospect he was most likely checking out…ILB Stephone Anthony. Tony Pauline reported the Eagles had dinner with him the night before Pro Day. That’s more than casual interest.

Another article here.

Anthony Patch is the senior scout for the Eagles. And he was at Northwestern’s Pro Day. One would assume he was there to check out Safety Ibrahim Campbell, but he had a bum hamstring and won’t run for another week or so.

One player did stand out.

Linebacker Jimmy Hall (6-foot-1, 228 pounds) ran the 40-yard dash in 4.50 and 4.45 seconds. He had a 4.19-second 20-yard short shuttle time and a 6.96-second three-cone drill. Hall had a 39 1/2-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-10 broad jump. He performed 24 lifts of 225 pounds on the bench press. Hall will get a look from an NFL team, mostly like as a priority free agent following the events of the2015 NFL Draft, because of his speed at the linebacker position.

Hall played Safety in the season finale for NW. You wonder if NFL teams might look at him there. Those are some really athletic numbers.

Ever heard of Obum Gwacham? He was a WR for Oregon State for 3 years. This year the 6-5, 246 athlete moved to DE. The Eagles are showing a lot of interest (as a LB).

I’m going to meet with the Eagles the day before Pro Day to do some chalk talk, I believe. Then I’m actually heading up to Philadelphia on, I think, April 3 for a meeting with them. They’re the ones that have been showing a lot of interest since the combine has been over.

I’d call that interest.

Has the size and background Chip likes in players. Long, tall athlete.

Riley Cooper did not have a good year in 2014, no matter what Chip Kelly says to the media. He is due to make $4.8M this year. If the Eagles cut him now, Cooper will have a cap hit of $6.2M. At that rate, you can’t cut him.

But Eliot Shorr-Parks points out that the Eagles can cut him after June 1 and save money. Cooper would only count for $3.8M against the 2015 cap if done that way. So the Eagles could save money and get rid of an inconsistent player.

Kelly likes Cooper so that may mean he stays, but do remember that the Eagles looked into trading for Vincent Jackson last year. This is a situation worth watching.

March 2 –  4pm – Teams must place franchise or transition tag on players.

March 7-10 – Teams allowed to negotiate with free agents and their representatives. But no deals allowed to be signed.

March 10 – Teams must give offers to restricted free agents.

March 10 – 4pm – New league year begins. Teams can sign free agents. Teams can conduct trades with other teams.

March 22-25 – League meetings in Phoenix (good interviews with coaches)

April 24 – Deadline for RFAs to sign offer sheets.

April 30-May 2 –  NFL Draft. Runs Thursday night through Saturday. Moved to Chicago this year.

May – Minicamp will be either the weekend after the draft or 2 weeks from the draft.

July 15 – 4pm – Players with franchise tag must sign long term deals by this point or play under one-year deal for 2015 season.

Late July – Training Camp. Dates haven’t been announced yet.

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I have mixed feelings on Pro Football Focus. They do some good work, but there are other times when I greatly disagree with their assessments. Here are some comments on Nate Allen from an article on free agent Safeties.

6. Nate Allen
2014 Grade: +3.9
2014 Snaps: 1121

Allen improved in each of the last two seasons following a -13.0 graded 2012. Last season he graded positively in both run defense and coverage while playing primarily as a deep safety, though he also saw snaps near the line of scrimmage and in the slot. Got his hands on six passes in 2014, including four interceptions, which matched his PD total over the previous two seasons. That improvement will likely be a focal point for teams and along with his age (27) may suggest that he still has a chance to reach his potential that saw him picked in the second round in 2010.

Nate has been healthy for 2 straight years. He’s had scheme and coaching stability. I think talking about potential at this point is a bit much.

Nate can be an acceptable starter, but I think any hope of him being a good player is probably gone at this point.

Some funny stuff on Twitter during and after the Super Bowl.

No way the Seahawks can think about extending Russell Wilson now after throwing a pick like that. Probably have to let him test FA next yr.

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) February 2, 2015

Nationwide: "Have a horrible night and many nightmares, parents."

— Noah Becker (@Noah_Becker) February 2, 2015

@SigmundBloom pic.twitter.com/k9pIxFFpzB

— Insidious (@paintpimp5280) February 2, 2015

Pete Carroll showed big time guts there, not the kind of guts Nationwide did killing off that kid, but guts nonetheless #SB49

— Eric Stangel (@EricStangel) February 2, 2015

Somewhere deep in the Northwest woods right now, Sasquatch is going “f*****g Pete Carroll!”

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 2, 2015

Gronk is going to try to bang the Grand Canyon tonight… #SB49

— Eric Stangel (@EricStangel) February 2, 2015

And for the old school Jim Rome fans…

Who want to sex Mutombo?

— Silkbrah (@Silkbrah) February 2, 2015

The Eagles are in good shape for the season finale.

Nick Foles is out. Bradley Fletcher (hip) is questionable. Everyone else is good to go for #PHIvsNYG

— Eagles Insider (@EaglesInsider) December 26, 2014

Of course, you can insert your Bradley Fletcher joke of choice.