OTA Nuggets

While they may not be as tasty as chicken nuggets, OTA nuggets can get the job done. Just make sure you have plenty of honey mustard. Now let’s talk some football.

I’ll start with the usual caveats. Spring “football” isn’t real football. There isn’t any tackling. There is limited hitting, to put it mildly. The focus is on teaching. We aren’t looking for any definitive conclusions. We’re just trying to get a feel for some things.

Brandon Lee Gowton’s practice notes

Jimmy Bama’s practice notes

Here is a great note from BLG.

• Parris Campbell saw a lot of targets from Hurts. His best grab was a leaping contested catch on a short-to-medium throw to beat Isaiah Rodgers. Campbell clearly seems to have already earned Hurts’ trust. That’s significant because we’ve seen that Hurts doesn’t automatically trust anybody they put out there with him.

So true. The QB has to trust his receivers. They need to have a tight bond. If Campbell already has good mojo with Hurts, that will give him a much better chance of succeeding as the number three receiver for the Eagles.

DeVonta and AJ are both studs. The Eagles need someone to emerge as a good number three. Quez Watkins couldn’t do that. Julio Jones was too old. Maybe Campbell can do it. He’s got experience and speed. He also won’t expect a ton of touches. I think he’ll be good with the number three role, if he can prove to be reliable when the ball does come his way.

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College DBs are allowed to be very physical with receivers so coming to the NFL is a big adjustment.

• Quinyon Mitchell was a bit too grabby while covering Jacob Harris on a couple deep routes. The rookie finished practice on a strong note by breaking on the ball and batting down a Kenny Pickett pass intended for Johnny Wilson.

Mitchell will have to learn how to play and use his hands strategically. Grab a little, but be careful about it. If not, it will be flag city.

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Jimmy on Saquon.

• Saquon Barkley is 6’0, 233, and you’ve all seen pictures of his quads, right? Still, seeing him in person among his teammates on the field, my first impression of him was… he’s big! D’Andre Swift is 5’9. 215, so his “on paper” dimensions aren’t *that* much different from Barkley’s (Swift actually has a higher body mass index), but Barkley just looks so much bigger out there. One of the areas where the Eagles were outstanding in 2021 and 2022 was putting away opponents in their four minute offense, when their run game would dominate and they’d just run out the clock. In 2023, they lost some games because they could not salt away games late on offense. They hope that Barkley can be a closer of sorts in the fourth quarter of games.

I watched Barkley for three years at Penn State and have seen him a lot in the NFL, but I still get where Jimmy is coming from. Some guys are built so different that when you see them in person there is a bit of a shock. Barkley is thick with a capital T. I am genuinely excited to see what he can do in a creative offense and behind a good OL.

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The backup QB got from praise from Jimmy, as well as others.

• I mostly liked what I saw from Kenny Pickett. He threw with more zip than I was anticipating, and he was mostly accurate. Two throws stood out:

1. 1. He hit Albert Okwuegbunam on the money on a deep ball down the seam. (Albert O. later had a bad drop.)
   2. He put a back shoulder throw in a perfect spot in the end zone to Kenny Gainwell who was being guarded by Ben VanSumeren.

Low bar here, but I thought Pickett looked better throwing the football than Marcus Mariota ever did in Mariota’s one season in Philly.

Pickett didn’t turn out to be the franchise QB that Pittsburgh expected. That hardly means he lacks talent or won’t become that guy. The Steelers had a lot of issues (coaching/talent/philosophy). The Eagles offense is a very different beast. It will be interesting to see if Pickett can take advantage of the situation and show what he’s capable of.

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LB Zach Baun worked with Devin White as the first team LBs. Vic Fangio recently talked about Baun being an off-ball LB so this wasn’t a surprise. I was impressed with Baun as a pass rusher so it is interesting that Fangio likes him more as a LB than a rusher. White had some good moments, but OTAs are good for him. He is a speedy LB who looks good in space. Training Camp will be a much better test for him.

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RB Will Shipley got some reps in the slot. That should be no surprise. He was a terrific receiver at Clemson. They didn’t just throw him screens or swing passes. Shipley showed good ability as a route runner and looked natural at catching the ball. This stood out to me as I watched games live last fall. Some RBs run routes as if they are going through the motions. Shipley ran routes to get open.

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Cooper DeJean played in the slot and outside. With good depth on the outside (Slay, Mitchell, Rodgers, Ringo), I think it makes sense to work DeJean in the slot. See what he can do. He spent some time there at Iowa and has the skill set to play inside.

Avonte Maddox, who could start in the slot, got some backup reps at safety. He played some safety in the past so moving him around makes some sense. The Eagles have a lot of bodies in the secondary. The coaches have to figure out who plays where and who can be a backup somewhere else.

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The Eagles signed WR John Ross. They needed veteran depth after DeVante Parker retired. Ross won’t be the only WR move, but he gives  the team a body to help them get through OTAs for now.

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