Saturday Combine – QB, RB, and WRs

Lots of great prospects to watch today.

I’ll post some thoughts this evening.

Eagles Draft Talk

More Combine stuff involving the Eagles.

Alabama RB T.J. Yeldon said Eagles are one of four teams he's met with so far at combine. Others: Seattle, Pittsburgh and Jacksonville.

— Paul Domowitch (@pdomo) February 19, 2015

Yeldon is an outstanding talent. Junior RB with very good potential.

Brett Hundley says he loves Chip Kelly to death, confirms he met with the Eagles http://t.co/pO6ZLN36qW pic.twitter.com/glhLIQ7JCE

— Bleeding Green Nation (@BleedingGreen) February 19, 2015

UCLA’s Brett Hundley sees himself as a good fit for Eagles offense, was recruited by Chip Kelly: http://t.co/1SLeDuD5Xh

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 19, 2015

Brett Hundley said the Eagles' scheme most resembles what he ran at UCLA.

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) February 19, 2015

Good to know that Hundley likes Kelly and the Eagles. Do they like him is the more important question?

Marcus Mariota said he met with new #Eagles QB coach Ryan Day here. Has not yet met with Chip Kelly.

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) February 19, 2015

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I was re-reading part of Bill Walsh’s Finding the Winning Edge book recently. The QB that he wanted in 1979 was Phil Simms. But he knew Simms would go early. Walsh finally decided that Joe Montana was his guy. The question was where he would go. Some thought Montana might be a 5th round pick. Apparently he was an inconsistent player at Notre Dame, lacked a strong arm and had a slight build. Walsh liked his athleticism and potential. The rest is history.

I don’t think we need to go over the Tom Brady story from 2000, but he lasted to pick 199 overall.

A 3rd rounder and a 6th rounder combined for 8 Super Bowl titles. There have been a slew of QBs taken #1 overall in the last 25 years. The only title winners? Peyton Manning (1) and Eli (2).

Getting the big name QB doesn’t guarantee anything.

Walsh made the point that you need the right guy. That sounds simple, even obvious, but too often we overlook that and focus on the big shiny object. Guys like Michael Vick, Carson Palmer and Matt Stafford are #1 picks with more physical gifts than Brady, but none of them have ever played in a Super Bowl, let alone won 4.

It would be great to see the Eagles get Marcus Mariota because he seems like such a good player, good person and good fit, but let’s not fall into the trap of thinking that getting him guarantees anything or missing on him means disaster.

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The Eagles cut TE James Casey. He was a good STer and role player, but never became the offensive weapon we expected when he was signed. I’m not sure how much of that was on him. Brent Celek has been a terrific blocker and good receiver the past 2 years. Zach Ertz is a gifted young pass catcher. Those two limited the chances for Casey to get on the field.

Casey became expendable with the emergence of UDFA rookie Trey Burton. He was an outstanding STer this year and is a gifted athlete with the potential to become a quality offensive player. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of progress Burton has made as a TE.

The Eagles could draft a TE or sign another UDFA if they want to keep 4 again this year. Or they could decide that going with 3 is fine. That would allow them to keep a player at another position that might not be as good (like LB or DB).

This isn’t a strong class of TEs, but Chip Kelly went to a few Delaware games this year. They happen to have a TE named Nick Boyle who is 6-5, 267 and is a good blocker. Could be an interesting target for the Eagles if they want a big TE to develop for the future.

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