Tuesday Night Draft Update

Posted: April 9th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 40 Comments »

I’m mentioned the Eagles showing interest in Canadian OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Apparently they are more than casually interested in him.

Let’s keep a few things in mind. Just because teams are interested doesn’t mean he’s an early target. This feels a little like Todd Herremans when he was coming out. Todd played in a D-2 all star game and that got the attention of some scouts and coaches. He had something like 20 teams at his Pro Day, even some OL coaches. Todd still went in the 4th round.

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is raw. He’ll need some time to develop. The interest in him is due to the fact he’s got a good frame and is naturally athletic. He has good feet. Check out his Pro Day results:

At his pro day, Duvernay-Tardif ran the 40 in 4.94 and 5.08 seconds. He had a 31 1/2-inch vertical and a 9-6 broad jump. He ran the three-cone drill in 7.30 seconds and had 33 bench-press reps. Duvernay-Tardif was not at the combine, but those numbers were as good as any offensive linemen there, including Taylor Lewan. I would imagine that a team will take a chance on him around the sixth or seventh round and hope to turn him into an NFL player

Some will try to compare LDT to Danny Watkins. I’ve been guilty of making the jokes myself, but they really are very different guys. LDT has a better frame and more athletic ability.

Watkins – 6-3, 310
5.36 in the 40
VJ – 26 inches
BJ – 7’8″
3-cone – 7.61

Watkins was a more physically dominant run blocker, but you can see he’s shorter, slower, less agile and less explosive. Neither guy was a lifetime football player. Both came to the sport at a late age. LDT is a medical student so we know he is smart and willing to grind away learning complex subjects.

Here is LDT’s Pro Day workout.

* * * * *

FOXSports.com is reporting that Marqis Lee will be visiting Philly. This makes total sense. Lee is a terrific WR prospect and should be a 1st round pick. I would rank him 3rd among WRs, behind only Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans.

* * * * *

Chip Kelly was in State College checking out WR Allen Robinson and other PSU prospects on Tuesday. On Wednesday he should be down at LSU for their Pro Day. The focus could be on WR Odell Beckham.

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40 Comments on “Tuesday Night Draft Update”

  1. 1 Charlie Kelly said at 12:36 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Allen Robinson beasted his pro day in a big way, but he also lost a lot of weight since the combine. weighed in at 220 at combine and 208 at the pro day.

    Happy that Lee is making a visit.

    Just get me one of Kelvin, Robinson or Lee and id be a happy camper!!

  2. 2 Anders said at 4:18 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    How can you like Lee, he is not a giant?

  3. 3 Charlie Kelly said at 1:34 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    he can play like one tho

  4. 4 Insomniac said at 1:40 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    They’re obviously down there for Jarvis Landry. Howie/Chip can’t ignore the second coming of Anquan Boldin.

  5. 5 A_T_G said at 6:20 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    I guess it would wear off, but when I hear Jarvis Landry all I can think of is when my wife tried to convince me to watch Friday Night Lights. “It is a show about football!” Yeah, right.

  6. 6 Buge Halls said at 11:05 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Yeah, but the cheerleaders were hot!

  7. 7 GermanEagle said at 6:10 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    LDT and ODB to the Eagles might be the cure to my OCD after all.

  8. 8 A_T_G said at 6:18 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    LDT playing ROG and ODB lining up against, oh, DBs all sounds very zen to me.

  9. 9 Average__Joseph said at 7:01 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    OMG!!!

  10. 10 Corry said at 7:42 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    If we get ODB, do we get the rest of the Wu Tang Clan?

  11. 11 A_T_G said at 8:12 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Collectively they do swarm on defense, and they have mad different methods, fitting Chip’s versatility requirement, but I am not sure they would fit the culture we are trying to develop:
    •Rae Kwon insists on cooking up his own smoothies,
    •U God is demanding the NFLPA mandate a pad that will protect your neck,
    •The RZA keeps trying to develop his own projects on the side, and we know how well THAT goes over, and
    •Method Man is refusing to play in the games against the Washington team. He says he is too close with Redman to battle against him.

  12. 12 kevinlied said at 8:49 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Fantastic work.

  13. 13 GermanEagle said at 9:17 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Congrats to BP OTD!

  14. 14 A Roy said at 10:41 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    I couldn’t follow the whole thread due to having ADD.

  15. 15 GermanEagle said at 8:08 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Is this a rhyme in DeSean’s new rap song called ‘it’s a Was(h)’?!

  16. 16 A_T_G said at 8:15 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    It can’t be. That would be 16 words in a row without saying how great he is or what he is wearing.

  17. 17 A_T_G said at 7:23 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Watching that Tardiff video, it sounds like he has the heart, work ethic and drive to be successful. You might even say he seems bigger on the inside.

  18. 18 ztom6 said at 8:43 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    can’t wait for that joke to get beaten into the ground when they draft him

  19. 19 A_T_G said at 11:55 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    That’s why I wanted to get a head start.

  20. 20 D3Center said at 10:53 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    The only issue is I hear he spends a lot of time with the Doctor.

  21. 21 Mac said at 1:22 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    Man if he’s friends with Dr. J. we have to get him!

  22. 22 A_T_G said at 2:18 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    Oh, I thought he meant Dre.

  23. 23 Maggie said at 6:01 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    “Doctor, Doctor, Give me some news, I got a bad case of loving you…etc.”

  24. 24 D3FB said at 3:04 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! NERDDDDDDD!

  25. 25 Neil said at 11:09 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    Am I the only one who wonders why football players are allowed to bench like that? Nobody relaxes between reps. They do it so fast and sloppy, most make the weight bounce off their chest. This guy not so much, but he gets in like five reps lifting his hips off bench. It’s impressive he can use his lower body to compensate for his tired arms until he hurts himself using his muscles inappropriately, and either way you’re not getting a good read on how strong he is pushing from his chest when his legs have their own work. It’s always like I’m watching a clinic on what not to do while benching.

  26. 26 D3FB said at 3:06 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    Fatigue. If you use a rep calculator, alot of these guys lift way more than that, however somewhere around 20 reps the lactic acid starts to build up. That’s why they try to do them so quickly. As far as throwing their hips, it’s bad form and I imagine none of the S&C coaches let them do it in college, but with such relatively light weight, there really isn’t much risk for injury.

  27. 27 Neil said at 5:43 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    True. But what I end up wondering is just how useful a measurement for teams this kind of bench pressing is. Maybe it would be better to do a single rep max for every player, or a weight they can handle 5-10 reps and judge their strength based on how much weight they can do with good form. The only problem is you’d have to load/unload the bar for each prospect.

  28. 28 D3FB said at 6:05 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    It’s probably not the most useful test in the world. It mostly help when you get a guy like Cassius Marsh the DE from UCLA this year put up like 11, so you immediately red flag it. Personally I would love to see them add the power clean. It’s much more applicable to football power, and seeing the weights some of these guys could put up would be amazing.

  29. 29 Mike Cappelli said at 11:20 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    What attributes make marquise lee special? I couldn’t tell by watching his highlights but I don’t have an eye for it.

  30. 30 nickross23 said at 11:54 AM on April 9th, 2014:

    He’s a very explosive player with the ball in his hands, can help out in the return game like ODB, came from a pro style offense who understands a full route tree combination. His hands are decent though as he had some concentration problems on some very catchable balls. Was really surprised he didn’t run fast at the combine and even more surprising he didn’t run again at his pro day, as he plays much faster on tape. Played along side Robert woods and our own Matt Barkley to put up ridiculous numbers as a sophomore. This past year he was the main threat out wide as USC was breaking in a couple new QBs. Had a slow start to the yr and his production dropped off due to injury and QB play. IMO he’s a player that can play inside and out all while giving added value in the return game. Solid #2 wr but a player chip can move around in multiple ways.

  31. 31 Charlie Kelly said at 1:38 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    I wouldnt put Lee at KR.. its like maclin when he came out yeah he can KR but he isnt special at it and it gives him extra hits.

  32. 32 nickross23 said at 5:22 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    His impact would be as a punt returner not as a KOR man. The bottom line is you want the ball in his hands any way you can get it

  33. 33 Charlie Kelly said at 6:46 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    His impact will at WR. He shouldnt do either KR or PR. Get a real PR.

  34. 34 nickross23 said at 8:35 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    Disagree, his impact would be whenever he touches the ball period. I doubt he’s worried about taking extra hits and Chip has said he values guys that are multi talented versitle individuals so If he can do both then you let him do both. You can’t afford to have a guy taking up a roster spot just as a return guy, that’s how you end up with a Demeris Johnson. All I’m saying is that he’s a talented guy who you’d want to have the ball in his hands any way you can get it.

  35. 35 Charlie Kelly said at 9:08 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    He isnt that good of a KR. Therefore not worth taking the hits. He delt with injuries last season in college, let him learn the offense and go all out in the offense while we get a specific guy whos trait is kick return.

    You end up with damaris when you dont value speed back there.. i like damaris, he does have the pedigree coming out of college.. he just doesnt have long speed. but he is capable so let him compete. But get someone in the draft with some speed to compete with him.

  36. 36 nickross23 said at 1:47 AM on April 10th, 2014:

    Don’t know how you can say he isn’t that great of a return guy when he lead the Pac-12 in return yards at 28.5 this past season on a injured leg for most of the year. And for his career he has averaged 26.1 yrds and 2 TDs. Lee is dangerous with the ball in his hands. That 2012 season he had over 2,600 yrds of total offense with an average of 16.7 yrds per touch. 16 plays of 40 plus yards, 11 plays of 50 plus yards and 7 plays of 70 plus yards.. Point is get him the ball anyway possible. I don’t get where your getting your info from on Lee but the dude can definitely help out any team in the return game. The specific guy you speak of is Sproles he will likely handle both PR and KOR.

  37. 37 Charlie Kelly said at 2:29 PM on April 10th, 2014:

    In college its different then the NFL. Maclin was good in college too infact he was better then Lee

    I dont like the idea of it. Just dont see a great NFL KR/PR in him.

  38. 38 Charlie Kelly said at 1:41 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    He can go up and win at the catch point. And he can move the chains. As well as being explosive and a good route runner, no waste in his movement in and out of cuts.

    And a good kid who has overcome some things. He is like jason avant as far as back ground. from a rough neighborhood, his brother was killed by gang members.

  39. 39 ACViking said at 1:29 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    I like Lee. A lot. Great in and out of cuts. Physical. Looks way ahead of the competition in route running.

    But I wonder what his wrist/ankle/knee measurements were? That is, Lee seems kind of narrow in the hips — so does he have much room to get bigger without losing any speed?

  40. 40 austinfan said at 5:42 PM on April 9th, 2014:

    Eagles aren’t just collecting data on the top 100 players, they want data on every player that might be a fit. Players drop, fall out of the draft, get cut in August, end up on a practice squad – so the more information you can collect when you have the most access to players, the better prepared you are down the road.

    This kid could be a middle-round pick, a potential UDFA, a guy who they pick up in August, someone they watch while another team trains him and uses him as a backup OL, and then sign him as a FA in four years.