Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Pre-Draft PC

Posted April 20th, 2023 | 2 Comments »

Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni met with the media on Thursday to give out the Eagles specific draft plans, as well as talking about the signing of Olamide Zaccheaus and the addition of Matt Patricia to the coaching staff.

Howie shocked everyone by announcing the Eagles primary target. His name is Uniqueplayer Toolsintheirbody. I had a feeling this might be Howie’s guy, but it was cool for him to confirm it a week before the draft.

“I think the most important thing when you’re picking in the first round, and certainly when you’re picking 10, is that you get a unique player for our team,” Roseman said. “We understand how important it is to get this right and how do you get it right? You get a unique player.

“Sometimes it pays to take chances, whether it’s incredible tools in their body to become elite…”

I kid, I kid.

He is right that when you pick at 10 you should be looking for someone special. It can be tough to nail down exactly what that means. OT Peter Skoronski isn’t big or overly athletic. He is highly skilled. Would Howie consider being a polished product a special trait at a position like OL?

The first person I thought of when Howie spoke was Lukas Van Ness.

6-5, 272
40 – 4.58
10 – 1.64
VJ – 31
BJ – 9’10”
3C – 7.02
SS – 4.32
BP – 17 reps
34-inch arms
11-inch hands

Let’s compare that to Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat

HR

6-1, 237
40 – 4.52
10 – 1.59
VJ – 36.5
BJ – 11’1″
3C – 7.01
SS – 4.37
BP – 24 reps
32 3/4-inch arms
10 1/8-inch hands

JS

6-5, 251
40 – 4.53
10 – 1.55
VJ – 39.5
BJ – 10’4″
3C – n/a
SS – 4.28
BP – n/a
34 5/8-inch arms
10 1/4-inch hands

All three of them are gifted athletes, but Van Ness is doing that stuff at 272 pounds. That’s 35 more than Reddick and 21 more than Sweat. That is crazy. I guess you could say Van Ness has tools in his body.

Howie talked about not needing to take a polished player. It is up to the coaches to mold the raw talent and develop the player. Sweat is a good example of that. Jordan Mailata is the ultimate example.

There are other players that could be described as unique and talented. CB Christian Gonzalez has special tools and tremendous potential. LB Nolan Smith probably fits that description. Both could be there at 10.

Will Anderson and Tyree Wilson fit this description. The question with them is whether Howie wants to trade up and how much he’s willing to pay.

Bijan Robinson certainly fits the bill. He just happens to play the wrong position. We’d all be shocked if the Eagles took him. It would make for a really dynamic offense.

Jalen Carter also is special. We don’t have testing numbers for him, but his game tape is special. He was “the dude” on the best defense in college football for two years in a row.

Howie expanded on this.

“This is a huge game of poker and all you want to affect is the outcome of your desired results. Am I going to give you guys any answers today? No. Not even a little bit. But I think the reality of it is anyone who is sitting there and saying, ‘Hey, I know exactly what is going to happen at pick 11 or pick 12 or pick 6 or 20, it’s all a guess.”

Howie talked about not avoiding the LB and RB positions. He said you get into trouble if you choose position over talent. Some people are taking that to mean Bijan Robinson could be the pick. As I mentioned earlier, I just don’t see that happening.

Still, I did find this interesting.

Probably much ado about nothing, as Billy Shakes once said.

Howie had plenty of interesting nuggets. He joked about trading some of next year’s picks. They have 12 as of now so they could use some of them to move up next week. He talked about moving back and how that is based on the board more than a desire for more players. Howie is focused on adding talented players, not a bunch of players.

He was asked about age and said that is a factor, especially this year. There are plenty of guys that are 23 and 24. There are even a few guys who are 25. That requires context when you watch their game film.

Here is the full PC.

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Nick Sirianni and Howie both expressed a lot of confidence in Quez Watkins.

Watkins showed a lot of promise in 2021. He was up and down last year, but disappointing overall. Howie and Nick are right to express confidence in him. Their actions will speak louder than words. We’ll see how early they take a receiver next week, or if they do at all.

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The Eagles hired Matt Patricia to be a Senior Defensive Assistant.

This move won’t be popular with a lot of people, but Sirianni has been masterful when it comes to building a staff. He deserves the benefit of the doubt with a move like this. He said he did have a talk with Darius Slay to make sure this can work.

Patricia can be a help. The Patriots never finished outside the Top 10 in points allowed during his 6-year tenure as DC. They won a pair of Super Bowls. I’m guessing one of the reasons to bring Patricia in is that he learned about creative gameplans from Bill Belichick. You need those in the postseason. The Eagles couldn’t come up with any answers in the Super Bowl. Patricia has been in big games and should be able to help with planning.

Sirianni said it would also be good to have another former head coach to lean on. If you learn from mistakes, Patricia should be a fountain of knowledge.

Just keep Matty Patty as far away from the offense as possible.

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Olamide, Oh My

Posted April 19th, 2023 | 1 Comment »

Teams have been busy the past week, adding fringe players to fill roles and help them go into the draft with a more complete roster. You can add the Eagles to that list now.

The Eagles lost Zach Pascal in free agency. Now they’ve added a player who can help make up for his absence. Zaccheaus is small at 5-8, 193. He is a good athlete and has been productive in Atlanta, despite the lack of a good passing game down there. He averaged 35 catches and 3 TDs over the past two seasons.

Zaccheaus shows good RAC ability. He’s not explosive, but has some speed and runs hard. He can make some really tough catches. I think he’s got the potential to help as a downfield threat.

https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status/1159615958996025344

So what does this mean?

First, Quez Watkins has competition for the #3 spot. Watkins had a down year. The Eagles needed someone to push him. Zaccheaus can do that. At the same time, if he’s the #4 receiver, that works too. Zaccheaus isn’t going to come in expecting a ton of touches. He can start and be a key role player, but has also gone through a season with only 20 catches.

Zaccheaus makes sense from a fit standpoint. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith can play outside. Zaccheaus is at home in the slot. Watkins can play in there or out wide.

Adding Zaccheaus doesn’t mean the Eagles will pass on receivers in the draft. It could be a sign that they aren’t high on their likely choices. Or it could just be the Eagles playing it safe. Add a veteran now and you don’t have to take a receiver unless there is someone you really want.

The Eagles are still very top heavy at WR.

AJ Brown
DeVonta Smith

Quez Watkins
Olamide Zaccheaus

Britain Covey
Devon Allen
Tyrie Cleveland

I hope they add a player in the draft. I would like a more talented backup as part of the group.

*****

We got some more visit info today.

Harrison is an athletic LT. Some people think he could go in the late 1st or early 2nd round. I don’t like him as much as others so I need to re-watch a couple of games to get a better feel for him. There is no question that he’s got good feet and knows how to pass block. Harrison ran 4.98 at the Combine (at 6-4, 315) so he is a good athlete. The Eagles value that in O-linemen. He’s been an OT since high school so he doesn’t have the versatility the Eagles normally prefer. Still, this is a really talented player.

The Eagles did pretty well the last time they took an athletic OT from Oklahoma. It would be wild if the Eagles drafted Harrison to be Lane Johnson’s replacement.

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McDonald reminds me a lot of Reddick so he would make sense as an Eagles target. Could be in play at pick 30 or in the 2nd round.

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The Eagles could use a playmaking safety so Branch should be of interest. Pick 10 is early for him. The question is whether he would last to pick 30. The Eagles are doing their homework in case he does fall that far.

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Fast, athletic CB. Would be in play at pick 30.

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Big play RB. Nick Sirianni loves players who can deliver chunk plays and Evans certainly falls into that category.

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This is interesting.

Teams have done plenty of work on him. They didn’t have a lot of questions, beyond arm-length. And a visit wasn’t going to affect that. Should go in the 25 to 40 area.

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I don’t expect Clifford to get drafted. Had a good career at PSU, but has limitations.

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Local pro days don’t count toward the 30 visits. Sutherland is worth taking a look at. I think the key to an NFL future for him is special teams.

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