Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Latest Visitors

Posted April 14th, 2025 | 4 Comments »

The draft is just over a week away. We now have most of the visit info for the Eagles. Teams are still having prospects come in so we could learn about another player or two, but let’s take a look at what we know.

The two most recent players are safety Malaki Starks from Georgia and LB Kobe King from Penn State.

Starks, 6-1, 197, is one of the top safety prospects in the draft. He would be good value at 32. The question is whether Starks lasts that long. He isn’t a great athlete or huge playmaker, but he is a smart, versatile, productive player. He led UGA in tackles last season. He picked off 6 passes in his career. Starks can play in the slot, in the box or back deep. He might remind you of CJGJ.

Starks has a strong reputation in terms of intangibles. He is a team leader. The coaches rave about him holding his teammates and himself accountable. Is there a coach in eastern PA who kinda likes the word accountability?

The Eagles don’t tend to value safety in the first round. Go read this piece by Jimmy Bama for his thoughts. So why bring Starks in for a visit? Howie Roseman has admitted in the past that teams will occasionally bring in a player they don’t have interest in so that they can throw a curve ball to other teams. All 32 teams keep up with who goes where.

The more likely possibility in this case is that the Eagles don’t see Starks as just a safety. He gives them a player they can move around if needed. If one of the CBs got hurt, they could move Cooper DeJean outside and then put Starks in the slot.

As for King, he was the MLB for Penn State for the past two seasons. He was a team captain. King had a chance to stay in school, but opted to leave early. That surprised me. He was a tough, productive run defender, but struggled mightily in coverage. King is 6-1, 236, which is good size for a MLB these days. Dane Brugler rates him as a 4th round prospect. I think of King more as a 5th rounder. He tested okay at his Pro Day, but I don’t think you see that athleticism on the field on a consistent basis.

With Nakobe Dean likely to miss the start of the season, the Eagles need depth at LB. Zack Baun will start. Jeremiah Trotter Jr has the inside track to be the other starter as of now. King would offer depth and could play on STs.

*****

One thing to keep in mind with visitors is that they aren’t all first round prospects and key targets. These are players the Eagles have a question about. Maybe a medical issue. Maybe a character issue. They could want to talk to the player about a position change. Eagles scouts have been working on this class since last May. There aren’t a lot of unknowns at this point.

*****

This is very cool.

*****

Really good stuff here from Zach.

Don’t be afraid to take chances.

But also be smart enough to know what risks are worth taking. Taking chances just to be bold and different is a good way to get fired. Sometimes the consensus makes good sense. If you have Abdul Carter as the #4 edge rusher, you’re probably stupid. If you prefer Colston Loveland over Tyler Warren, there is an argument to be made for that.

Be bold.

Don’t be stupid.

_

The Key Piece

Posted April 13th, 2025 | 1 Comment »

The NFL Draft is always an interesting time of the year. All 32 teams are excited to see who they can add to their rosters, hoping they can find those players who can change the fortunes of a franchise. One of the dangers of this time of the year is when teams talk themselves into players. And it sure feels like a lot of that is going on right now.

Cam Ward is a good QB prospect. Is he worth taking first overall? I sure don’t think so. The Titans don’t exactly have a great set of options. They can try to trade the pick to a desperate team. It feels like the Titans will take Ward themselves.

Cleveland has Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco. They’re stuck with Deshaun Watson for another year. If Ward fell to #2, they would likely take him. I don’t think they’ll trade up. The prevailing thought is that the Browns will take a positional player at 2 and then try to trade back into the first round to take a QB late. Maybe Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough or Jalen Milroe.

The Giants would love to find a good QB at 3. It doesn’t sound like they will go for Shedeur Sanders, though. If Ward slips, that would make them happy. They may be another team trying to trade back into the first round if there is a QB they like in the 20’s or 30’s. GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll are trying to win games to save their jobs while also building for the future. That rarely works.

New Orleans found out the other day that QB Derek Carr may be out for the season due to an injury. They could take Sanders with the ninth pick. They could also decide it is finally time to look more to the future. Draft the best player available and add a QB on Day 2.

The Steelers have been looking for a QB for a while. They have an empty cupboard right now. They want Aaron Rodgers to sign with them. They also would love to add a rookie. That could be Sanders, Dart or Milroe.

The takeaway from all of this…be thankful the Eagles have had such stability at QB for a while. Carson Wentz, Nick Foles and Jalen Hurts have manned the spot for the past nine seasons. All three were Eagles picks. One of them was on pace to win an MVP award. The other two won Super Bowls.

People thought the Eagles reached when they took Hurts back in 2020. They had Wentz. He had some injury issues and the Eagles saw Hurts as a backup QB who could help the team win games if needed. They wanted Russell Wilson back in 2012, but waited a round too long to make the pick. Seattle snatched him up and the Eagles moved to Plan B, Foles. Both Wilson and Foles won one SB, but there is no question that Wilson had the better career.

The Eagle weren’t going to take any chances with Hurts. They jumped on him in the second round in 2020 and the rest is history.

Howie Roseman has done a great job with drafting stars like Lane Johnson, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Those moves wouldn’t matter nearly as much without the right QB to lead the team.

Howie hasn’t had to reach for a QB. He’s been able to identify QBs the Eagles like and then he has been able to go get them. He did a masterful job at moving up to #2 in 2016 to get Wentz. He took Hurts in 2020. That pick might have been a bit earlier than some expected, but he went 53rd overall. That’s not much of a reach.

The Eagles took Tanner McKee in the sixth round in 2023. They traded for Kenny Pickett last spring. They added young guys like Ian Book, Nick Mullens and Carson Strong in recent years. They signed veterans like Joe Flacco and Marcus Mariota. Not all of the moves worked. But none of the moves required a major use of resources. McKee looks like he could be a terrific backup. That’s a great return on a sixth round pick.

Right now the Eagles have Hurts and McKee as their top QBs. Dorian Thompson-Robinson is the #3 guy. I expect the team will either draft a QB or sign a priority undrafted free agent. Always be looking. You never know what you’ll find.

*****

The Eagles have had good RBs for a while now. Saquon is on a whole other level, but there have been good runners for a while. There were a bunch of one-year guys between Saquon and Shady. Before that you had Brian Westbrook. And Duce Staley. Then Ricky/Charlie, aka Thunder and Lightning.

There was a time in the late 80’s and early 90’s when the team struggled at RB. Then they signed Herschel Walker in the summer of 1992.

I can’t tell  you how exciting it was to watch him run for 100 yards in that MNF win over Dallas. He and Heath Sherman formed a good 1-2 punch and helped the Eagles to lead the NFC in rushing.

_