Eagles Blog

I don’t care much for draft grades, but I very much respect Rob Rang as a draft analyst and very smart football mind. He reviewed the drafts of the NFC East teams. I found his comments on Matt Barkley to be very interesting:

“Having coached against him, Kelly certainly knows Barkley well and must really like him (as I do). While Barkley does not possess elite straight-line speed, he does have the intelligence to make decisions quickly as well as excellent accuracy while on the move, making him a potentially very nice fit in this offense. The USC product possesses the best combination of the three traits that I’ve found to be the best indicators of future success in the NFL — accuracy, anticipation and awareness — and I believe he’ll prove his doubters wrong and emerge as the most successful of the 2013 quarterback class. “

Rob had good things to say about all 4 teams.

Here is an interview with Jordan Poyer from not too long ago where he discusses the pre-draft process and a few other things.

The most interesting note for me is that he didn’t have any visits or private workouts. That may seem crazy, but the NFL knew all about him. Poyer was a star player at a major school. He went to the Senior Bowl, where he was interviewed. He went to the Combine, where he was interviewed. Teams saw and met with him at his Pro Day. There just weren’t any new questions or compelling reasons to check Poyer out further.

Next up is Chip Kelly interviewing Poyer from the summer of 2012 at the Pac-12 Media Day.  Funny stuff.

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Syracuse OL Justin Pugh was drafted in the 1st round by the NY Giants. Congrats to Pugh, who the Eagles had a lot of interest in. Pugh is from the Philly area and a lifelong Eagles fan.

Tom Coughlin called Pugh as the Giants were about to make the pick and said this:

“Hey, it’s time to burn all your Eagles stuff.”

Coughlin is stripping Pugh of his 1st Amendment rights. This must be stopped. Someone call the ACLU.

I’m sure Pugh is jealous of Vinny Curry, Eagles fan and Eagles player.

Paul Domowitch predicted the starting lineup now that the draft is in the books.

The 2 biggest surprises…

* Nick Foles over Michael Vick at QB

* No Trent Cole. The OLBs were Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin

I have to admit that it is pretty cool to look at RT and see Lane Johnson listed. Can’t wait to see him in action.

The Eagles have reportedly signed DL Damion Square from Alabama and WR Russell Sheppard from LSU.

Here are a few other names of interest:

ILB Kevin Reddick – UNC
ILB Jake Knott – Iowa State
ILB Travis Johnson – SJSU (played LB in college)
LB Tristan Okpalaugo – Fresno State
LB Travis Long – Washington State
LB Walter Stewart – Cincinnati
FS Rontez Miles – Calif PA
C Dalton Freeman – Clemson
RB DJ Harper – Boise State
RB George Winn -Cincinnati
RB Dennis Johnson – Arkansas
TE Chris Gragg – Arkansas      drafted…I’m an idiot

Keep in mind that there are all kinds of crazy reports with players. We won’t know for sure probably til Monday who is going where. Lots of negotiating going on.

A lot of fans want to know why teams are passing on Stanford LB Chase Thomas?

Here’s the deal. Thomas is one of those guys who was a terrific college player, but he just doesn’t project well to the NFL. He was a good 3-4 pass rushing LB for Stanford, but is undersized at 6-3, 244. Most people want a 3-4 OLB to be 260-270 pounds.

Chase ran 4.87 at the Combine, 4.80 at his Pro Day. That’s slow for 244. Eagles OT Lane Johnson is faster. Thomas did 21 reps, which is solid, but not special strength. His 3-cone time of 7.17 is okay. His VJ of 33.5 inches is okay. There is nothing compelling about him athletically.

Watch the Senior Bowl practices and you see Thomas is awkward when he’s playing in a 4-3 offense. He really looks lost if he’s not attacking off the edge. The problem is that he doesn’t have the size or athleticism to project well to being an NFL pass rusher.

I understand Thomas was a really good player at Stanford. We’ve seen many tweener guys over the years that didn’t have a home at DE or LB and couldn’t make it in the NFL. Jason Chorak from Washington is the first guy I remember. He played in the mid-90s. Was dominant in the Shrine Game after a great college career, but failed in the NFL.

Part of Thomas success at Stanford was based on effort and intensity. You cannot count on that in the NFL. There must be the right size/speed/skill combination to project a player to be successful in pro football. I actually think Thomas might be best suited to playing ILB in the 3-4. His size fits there. Still, it is a projection to a new position. I wish Thomas luck, but I wouldn’t bet on him becoming the player that his fans think he can be.

I’ve not done a good job with knowing who the Eagles are looking for today, but maybe my luck will change in the 7th round.  Here are some players I like. We’ll see if the Eagles agree.

DE Joe Kruger – Utah
LB Mike Catapano – Princeton
ILB Kevin Reddick – UNC
RB Kerwynn Williams – Utah State
CB Jordan Poyer – Oregon State
CB Marc Anthony – Cal

Guys who have fallen due to unknown issues that might not be on the board, but have talent:

LB Michael Buchanan – Illinois (possible character)
WR Da’Rick Rogers – Tennessee Tech (character)
ILB Mike Mauti – Penn State (ACL)
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Okay, here are some 5th round targets for the Eagles:

CB Jordan Poyer
CB Sanders Commings
LB Michael Buchanan
LB Quanterus Smith
FS Bacarri Rambo
FS Don Jones
WR Ryan Swope
DE Joe Kruger

I’d love a defensive player, but stick to the board. Get the best player.

This article says teams looked at Logan to play various roles.

“A lot of teams are looking at me to play nose guard, defensive tackle, and a few teams are even talking about me playing defensive end,” Logan said last week at LSU’s Pro Day of various speed and agility drills. “Teams are looking at me to play up and down the line, not just a set position.”

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Pete Prisco of CBS Sports is a big Bennie Logan fan. He wrote an aticle in late March on Logan and it had a great line:

“Landing a guy like Logan in the third round could prove to be a big hit for the team that takes him.”

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Lance Zierlein of the Houston Chronicle had Logan listed as an underrated DT in his rankings.

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Here is a great story on Logan and his background. Sounds like a great young man.

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Official LSU bio

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Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel polled scouts about DL prospects. He asked them to name the Top 5 guys at various positions.  10 scouts were from 4-3 teams. 6 scouts were from 3-4 teams. Here are the voting results involving Logan:

“Defensive tackle in a 4-3: Sharrif Floyd, 41 points (five firsts); Sheldon Richardson, 34 (one first); Star Lotulelei, 31 (three firsts); Johnathan Hankins (one first) and Sylvester Williams, nine; Kawann Short, seven; Jesse Williams, five; Bennie Logan, four; John Jenkins, three; Montori Hughes, Datone Jones and Brandon Williams, two; and Jordan Hill, one.

Nose tackle in a 3-4: Lotulelei, 30 (six firsts, unanimous); Hankins, 16; Jenkins, 13; Sylvester Williams, 10; Jesse Williams, eight; Short and Brandon Williams, five; Hughes, two; and Logan, one.”

Jimmy Bama offers his thoughts on what the Eagles might do in the 2nd round.

Nothing new in terms of names, but he offers good info and always covers an angle or two that no one else does. Good read.